A Lie of the Heart - Part 5
Masterpost | Part Four
Jensen tried to tell himself that he wasn’t falling for Jared. He told himself that it was just false intimacy since they were practicing being a couple. They were feelings borne out of closeness and had no root in reality. Sure, and pigs were about to fly out of Jensen's ass.
Jensen's mother would be there by the end of the week and he only hoped she would buy what he and Jared were selling. They had recently upped the ante by accepting Michelle’s invitation to get dinner with her and her fiancé Joey. Apparently they had even convinced Michelle that they were dating since she asked Jensen the next day how long he had been keeping Jared a secret before bringing him to the fundraiser dinner.
Jared was a frequent guest star in Jensen’s dreams and his face had surfaced more than once while Jensen jacked off in the shower. The less he thought about that, the better. Jensen didn't want to pop a woody in front of his mom.
Jensen was interrupted from his moment of introspection by his phone ringing. It was Jared.
“Hey, Jay. What’s up?” Jensen asked.
“Not much, I’m just bored. What are you doing?”
Trying not to picture myself with a flagpole when you meet my mom next week seemed like possibly the worst answer, ever. Jensen spurted out that he was at Steph's Subs for lunch.
“If you're downtown, you could join me?”
“Sorry, I can’t. I have to meet Chad to discuss some rent issues. Maybe we could meet up this evening though? I think there’s a Megalodon marathon on SyFy tonight.” Jared suggested.
“Yeah, we could probably do that. Wanna meet at my place? I’ll get home around five and we could order in.”
“Sounds good. I can come by around six then. I’ll bring some beer with me.”
“Perfect, see you then.”
After Jared hung up, Jensen stared at his phone. When he put it in his pocket and looked up, he saw Mike staring at him like he’d grown another head.
“What?” Jensen asked warily.
“What the hell was that?” Mike shot back.
“What was what? I was talking to Jared.”
“Yeah, I could tell.” Mike responded, a slight sneer in his voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just that whenever you talk to him, you get this goofy-ass smile on your face. You look like he’s the best thing to happen in your life since, well, me. I dunno, man, it’s not right.”
“What the hell? How is that ‘not right’, exactly?” Jensen fired at him.
Mike placed his hands on the countertop, leaning in conspiratorially. “Uh, maybe because you’re paying the guy to hang out with you? Or have you forgotten that already? You shouldn’t look that excited to be hanging out with a hooker.”
“Dude,” Jensen hissed at him, “Jared is not a hooker. Don’t you dare fucking call him that again. We’re friends. Not everything is about money and sex, Mike. Sometimes it’s just about friends hanging out, having a good time.”
“Yeah, I know what hanging out with friends is about. At least, I used to. Seems all of your free time consists of Jared Padalecki and I hardly see you anymore.”
“Mike- ” Jensen started.
“Shit, I’m sorry, dude.” Mike pushed himself back up. “I didn’t mean that about Jared. It’s just… I never see you anymore except for when you’re grabbing lunch or maybe in passing here and there. I miss you, man.”
“Dude, it’s cool. Look, why don’t you come over tonight? We can knock back some Keystones, watch shitty movies on SyFy, and you can get to know Jared. What do you say?”
“Yeah, alright.”
Mike suddenly whipped Jensen's tuna salad sub away from him, “Uh, yeah, I think this got left out over night, again. Let me get you a fresh one, hold on a sec.”
“Do I even want to know what the hell you put in there, Mike?”
“No fucking way, dude. No fucking way.”
“Mr Padalecki, could I see you in my office?” Dr Kehoe called after Jared as he tried to leave the classroom without being noticed.
Shit, busted. Jared turned and followed Kehoe back down the hall. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and crash for a few hours. Looks like those plans were going down the shitter. Fuck.
Kehoe settled herself behind her desk and gestured to the only other chair in the room. “Take a seat, Jared. We have a few things we need to talk about. Starting with your proposal.”
Jared groaned internally. He knew this day was destined to be total shit; he'd felt it when he woke up late, thinking it was the next day. Jared made himself as comfortable as possible on the rigid chair. This was probably going to take awhile if the stack of papers in front of Kehoe was any indication.
“I see here that you're looking to intern with a few of the local planning companies. While I'm pleased to see that you've put careful thought into this, I have to wonder if it's what you really want.” Kehoe glanced at him over the top of her glasses and made a mark on the topmost paper. Jared couldn't tell if it was one of his proposals or something else. He hoped it was the latter.
“Dr Kehoe, I very much want to work at one of those companies this summer. Even just the chance to do some intern work would help me get a better grasp on the planning field.” Jared tried not to sound too desperate. He could tell Kehoe would see right through his bullshit.
“I understand that, Jared, but you really haven't been applying yourself lately. I've talked with a few of your other professors and they all agree: you're distracted, your grades are suffering, and your attendance is spotty at best. Now, I know you're a bright young man, with plenty of potential in this field,” Kehoe's gaze softened a bit as she continued on, “but I can't in good conscience write you a recommendation for a firm like Kripke and Associates if this is how you would behave in a business setting. There are so many other students who are looking for the same opportunities you are, and it's my job to select the best candidates out of the lot.”
Kehoe looked disappointed in him. Jared tried not to squirm in his seat, feelings of shame and failure swirling inside of him. His head was pounding and for a moment, he thought he was going to be sick. He couldn't lose the chance at an internship, no matter what.
As he ran different scenarios in his head about what he'd do if he didn't get picked, Jared tuned back into the conversation. He hoped he didn't miss much of what Dr Kehoe was saying. It was a fine line between looking deep in thought about what someone was saying and zoning out completely.
“Yes, Dr Kehoe. I understand. And I promise you that this is a one-time thing. Monday morning, things will be right back to normal.” Jared tried to seem sincere; it was hard between the feelings of nausea and self-doubt.
Kehoe took her glasses off and set them on the desk. “Alright, Jared. You may go. I want you to take the weekend to get yourself together. I want you to really evaluate what you want out of this program and how exactly you aim to achieve those goals. And get some sleep, you look like death on legs.”
“Thanks, Dr Kehoe. You won't regret this. I promise.”
Jared left her office in a bit of a daze. The throbbing behind his eyes was only getting worse and any thoughts of lunch were officially off the table. Screw it, I'm just gonna go back to the apartment. Hopefully I'll feel better before going over to Jensen's.
When Jared showed up at Jensen’s that night, he felt like garbage. Scratch that, he felt like garbage dragged through a sewer then set out in the sun all day. He had been fighting off a sinus headache all day and it had only gotten worse since morning. He felt like his head was going to explode. Knocking on the door, he heard a voice from inside telling him to just “come in.” He opened the door and followed the sounds of the television to find Jensen and a bald man on the couch, drinking Keystone Light.
“Hey, Jared! I want you to meet Mike. Mike, this is Jared.” Jensen gestured at each man in turn.
“Nice to finally meet you, man.” Mike said, extending his hand.
“Like wise.” Jared said, shaking his hand.
“Grab a seat. We just started Megalodon 3 and it’s already worse than the second one.” Jensen said.
“Actually, I can’t stay. I just stopped by to talk to you about the weekend. Can we talk somewhere quieter? My head is killing me.” Jared replied.
“Yeah, of course. Let’s go in the kitchen. Mike, don’t you dare touch my beer.” Jensen hopped up from the couch and made his way into the kitchen.
Jared followed him, dragging his leaden limbs as he went. When they reached the kitchen table, Jensen sat down in a chair and indicated for Jared to do the same. Jared took that as his cue to speak.
“I was just wondering if you’d gotten a time estimate from your mom yet about when she would be in and when we would be going out to dinner with her. I have some things I need to take care of, so I kind of need to plan my weekend accordingly.” Jared sighed. “Sorry, I know this is kind of short notice.”
“Hey, no. Don’t apologize. I should have called you sooner to let you know. She called me yesterday to let me know she’d be here tomorrow and that she’d like to have dinner with us on Saturday. I told her I would have to make sure you were available, so if that’s no good for you, just let me know.” Jensen reached over and squeezed Jared’s hand, a smile on his face.
“Saturday should be fine. I’m just really feeling the crunch with my other obligations. Seems like everything is conspiring to happen at the same time, you know?” Jared asked, somewhat robotically.
“I know exactly what you mean. I deal with that all the time at work.” Jensen assured him. “But things will work themselves out. Try not to stress too much, okay?”
Thursday was easier said than done. Jared scrambled to print out his first draft of his term paper for Bodenman’s class, was late to GIS class, and got stuck waiting for an empty computer in the library. None of it was exactly rage-inducing by itself; combined it made Jared want to pull his hair out. When he finally slumped into the apartment, Jared was surprised to find Chad cooking dinner. It smelled good, too. Kicking his shoes off and throwing his things toward the couch, Jared walked into the kitchen to get a better whiff of what Chad was making.
“It’s three-bean chili. Your mom sent me the recipe last fall, remember? You were complaining about how cold it is here and how much you missed her chili. So I decided to make some.” Chad told him. Jared reached a finger toward the pot, only to be whacked on the hand. “Back off, bitch. It’s not done yet.”
“It smells amazing, dude. Thanks for making it.”
“Go get ready for dinner. It should be ready in half an hour.”
Jared didn’t need to be told twice. He hopped out of the kitchen and back the hall to his bedroom. He needed to shower and put on some comfortable clothes. By the time he was done, the chili was served up in bowls.
“Oh, hey, before I forget. Jensen called and wanted me to let you know that his mom got in early and maybe you guys could have dinner tomorrow instead. I told him I’d let you know and that you’d call him back later.” Chad told him as they cleaned up their dishes.
“Damn. Guess I need to shuffle some plans around.” Jared sighed. He was so damned tired and he still needed to work on both his term paper and his internship shit.
“Dude, no. Just go to bed and forget about it. I know you have stuff you need to get done for your classes and that’s more important right now. Just call him back and tell him you can’t make it.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got it under control. Thanks for making dinner, Chad. It was great.”
Jared made a quick call to Jensen saying he'd gotten the message, it was all cool. Two minutes later, he passed the fuck out.
Jensen was pacing in his kitchen. He hadn’t heard from Jared all day and he was beginning to worry. Well, he'd started to worry hours ago. He'd careened past worry, made a pit-stop at pissed off, and now had sped straight into full freak-out mode. Every time he'd called Jared, it went directly to voicemail. Even calling his apartment got him nothing but the answering machine. Hell, even when he'd called Chad, all he got was more voicemail.
Standing in the kitchen after his latest attempt at getting a hold of Jared, he had to accept the guy had bailed on him. Fucking A, this sucked. He gnawed on a hangnail for a minute before he steeled himself to go tell his mom he'd been stood up.
“So, dear, where’s Jared? I’ve been looking forward to meeting him.”
“Something must have come up. I know he’s been really busy lately and he was really looking forward to meeting you as well. He wouldn’t just ditch plans like this, honest.” He supposed this was karma for lying to her in the first place about Jared.
“I see. Well, I just wish I were staying in town longer.” She sighed. “Maybe next time.”
“Sorry, mom. Did you want to go out for dinner tonight, instead? I know a pretty good Italian place we could try.” Jensen awful for getting his mother’s hopes up about meeting Jared.
“I suppose so. I hope they have a decent lasagna. I haven’t had one in quite a while.”
Driving to the restaurant, Jensen decided right then that he was done dealing with Jared. He had been increasingly distant the last week, impossible to get a hold of, and now he blew off the one thing that mattered, what the whole point of hanging out in the first place was. He'd cut a check for what he owed Jared and drop it off at his apartment in the morning. And that would be that.
God, he felt like a total fool.
Jensen didn’t actually get a chance to drop the check off. Which was just as good, since he’d gotten himself wrapped up in ridiculous soap opera level of self-righteousness as the night wore on. He probably would have flung the check at Jared, saying something incredibly asinine. It was a talent that Mike had called him on more than once.
Instead, Jensen had spent the morning fending off his mother’s needling questions about Jared before taking her out to lunch just to get on another topic. He even sacrificed his sanity by indulging in his mom’s scrapbooking obsession. They’d spent approximately 27 hours at the local craft store, and if Jensen never had to discuss the relative merits of papyrus versus recycled newspaper again, he’d freaking kill himself.
On the way back to his place, his mom turned characteristically wistful. “Oh Jensen, I just wish your daddy were still alive. He’d be so proud of you. You’ve accomplished so much already. I really miss him some days.”
“I know, mom. I miss him, too. So does Mack.”
Jensen’s father had died when Jensen was still in grad school. His dad had been coming home from work late one night and been run off the road by a drunk driver who had crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane. Both vehicles had tumbled over the embankment, coming to rest on their roofs. It was a small mercy that his dad had died instantly.
The accident devastated Jensen’s family. His mom could barely get in a car, much less drive, for over a year afterward. Mack withdrew into herself, barely speaking. Jensen pushed himself harder in school; it was the only thing that kept him feeling like he was still part of the world.
He tried to remember that his mother wasn’t always like this, that the accident had made her cling harder to her children. He wished she’d realize that the harder she pushed, the more he retreated. It made him isolate himself - from his family, from his friends, from pretty much everything except work. Probably explained why kept dating guys that would never last; without the commitment, he couldn’t actually lose them.
He tried to sort out, then, why Jared blowing him off was so damned painful. This was a guy he technically had less of a commitment with than Rob. The check burning a hole in his pocket made out to Jared was a strong reminder of that. Still. Still, though, he genuinely liked the guy, and they’d had a really good time. Or maybe just Jensen did, and Jared was really that fucking good to make Jensen believe Jared had enjoyed himself, too.
God, it was a mess, and Jensen was exhausted from the mental gymnastics by the time he pulled up to his place. He didn’t even protest when his mom made them watch Beaches. As his mom cried through the last half hour, Jensen willed numbness to settle into his bones. Otherwise, he’d probably be crying right along with her for an entirely different reason.
When Jared finally woke up, it was to the smell of antiseptic. Blinking dazedly, he tried to get a bearing on where exactly he was and why it smelled so funny.
“Oh thank God, you’re awake. You had me scared, Jaybird!” Chad’s voice came from his left.
“Huh? Wh- whas goin’ on?” Jared slurred.
“Dude, you passed out Thursday night after dinner and then I couldn’t get you to wake up for your classes on Friday. I figured maybe you were just overworked, so I let you sleep until the afternoon. When you still wouldn’t wake up, I called 911. You’ve been out for two days, dude.” Chad told him, relief flooding his voice.
“Wha’ happened?”
“The doctor said something about being severely dehydrated and overly exhausted. Said you were ‘burning the candle at both ends’ or some shit. He said you need to take it easy the next few days and recuperate. I’ve already emailed your profs, so don’t worry about your late shit. Just relax, okay?” Chad rubbed his shoulder soothingly.
“Jensen?”
“He hasn’t been here. But don’t worry about him, dude. Get some rest. I’ll let the doctor know you were awake. I think he wanted to check some reflexes or something, I don’t know.”
Jared allowed himself to fall back to sleep, despite just waking up from a two-day nap. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something, though.
The hospital released Jared on Monday after giving him the all-clear. He was under strict instructions not to drink alcohol, stay up too late, or over exert himself. If Chad had his way, he probably wouldn’t even be allowed to go to classes. Thankfully, the semester was nearly over and all but two classes had given them take-home exams for their finals.
After promising Chad he'd turn his phone off right after, Chad let him check his voicemail. As soon as he turned on the phone, it lit up; six missed calls, four text messages and three voicemails. All from Jensen. They all pretty much said the same thing Dude, so, what's up? Where are you?
That feeling of forgetting something kept nagging at him, even if Jensen hadn't actually said anything about anything in particular. Shit, what was it?
Jared called Jensen’s phone back, but he didn’t answer his phone. He was about to call Jensen’s home number when Chad put out his hand. “Uh-uh. You’re cut off, buddy, hand it over.”
It was a measure of how freaked Chad had been about Jared that he didn’t say a word when Jared propped his feet on the coffee table. That and the constant full glass of Gatorade in his hand. The stuff tasted like ass on a good day. Jared seriously doubted he’d be let off the couch, though, if he didn’t guzzle the piss colored liquid to Chad’s satisfaction.
Three hours later, as Jared was peeing for the fifth time, it hit him like a ton of bricks: He was supposed to meet Jensen’s mom. He almost smacked his forehead before remembering they were kinda covered in urine at the moment.
Jared barreled down the hallway, yelling at Chad, “Dude, shit, I was supposed to do that thing with Jensen!”
“What thing?”
“Don’t play stupid, shithead, you know what I’m talking about. He didn’t call at all over the weekend?”
“Ah, maybe?”
“Maybe? What the hell, man, did he call or not? Shit, whatever, it doesn’t matter, I gotta go talk to him.”
Jared bent down to put his shoes on when he almost fell down from a wave of dizziness.
“Whoa, Jaybird, c’mon, you just got out of the hospital, alright? Here,” Chad guided Jared back to the couch, “Sit down and take a deep breath. Christ, I don’t wanna have to drag your sorry ass back in because you were angsting about a fucking client.”
“He’s not just a client, Chad.”
“Yeah, well, whatever he is, he can wait one more damned day before you go running over there expecting some kind of Pretty Woman shit.”
Jared thumped his head on the back of the couch, muttering, “If you hadn’t just saved my ass, I’d be kicking yours right about now.”
“Okay, big talker, we’ll put a rain check on this supposed beat down you’re gonna hand out. In the meantime, calm the fuck down.”
Jared sighed, he really did feel like twice heated shit. “Look, will you at least drive me over there tomorrow so I can talk to him?”
“Whatever you need, Julia.”
Jensen watched his mom drive off toward his aunt's that Monday morning. Despite her innate ability to drive him up a wall, he still loved her. It might be a while before another visit, though. Seriously, that scrapbook paper discussion was soul-sucking.
He so was wiped out from his mom’s visit and Jared’s no-show and sorting out his screwed-up feelings about it, he didn’t realize he hadn’t brought his phone to work until he went to call Mike at the end of the day.
When he got home that evening and saw nothing, still, from Jared, he ran the gamut of worried to pissed off to concerned and finally settled on fuck it.
As he worked his way through cold, leftover barbecue and coleslaw, Jensen stewed about the “other obligations” Jared had mentioned. Maybe he'd gotten popular. Maybe he was trying to milk Jensen for more money. Maybe he forgot.
Or maybe he just didn’t care.
Trying to squash down that trip to crazy town, Jensen chugged a beer. Jared wasn’t like that. He was caring and thoughtful, wasn't he? He wouldn’t ditch Jensen on purpose, would he? But what did he really know about Jared? Every time they talked about their personal lives, Jared always managed to steer the conversation back around to Jensen. He never wanted to go into detail about his own life. What if he really was as uncaring and money-hungry as Jensen’s doubts were making him out to be?
Jensen cracked open another beer, channel flipping until he hit the SyFy monster movie of the night. It was stupid and banal, and combined with the steady influx of beer into his bloodstream he could kinda forget about Jared for a while.
Which was a total effing lie. He wasn't gonna be able to not think about Jared and where he was and who he could be with.
Tuesday, Chad and Jared pulled into the parking lot of Kripke and Associates just after four. Jensen’s car was one of the few that were still there, which was a good sign in Jared’s eyes. They made their way into the office building, Jared leading the way to Jensen’s office. It seemed he and Michelle were the only two left working. Michelle was in Jensen’s office, talking about some meeting they were having the next day. Jared tentatively knocked on the door frame, earning the attention of both Jensen and Michelle. Chad hung back in the hallway, out of sight.
“We’re busy. Can you come back later?” Jensen said coolly.
“Jensen. Don’t be like that,” Michelle scolded him. “Jared, you come on in. I have to go get some fresh coffee anyway.” Michelle all but ran out of the office.
“Well? What do you want?” Jensen asked.
“I wanted to talk to you. You haven’t been answering your phone.” Jared said. He walked into the room and took a seat in front of Jensen’s desk.
“Why should I bother answering if I don’t want to talk to you?” Jensen retorted.
“What did I do? Are you really this pissed about me missing dinner with your mom?” Jared asked incredulously.
“Are you really asking me that? Jared, everything we’ve done since my first appointment with you was just for that. Not only do you blow me off, you come in here like this? Jesus, you played me. I can’t believe how stupid I was. I actually believed you were my friend. But I see how it is now. I’m nothing but a paycheck and you must have decided I wasn’t worth the work. Congratulations! You duped a poor schmuck like me into believing your lies,” Jensen laughed bitterly.
Jared leaned forward in his chair. “Jensen, that’s not like it at all. I never lied to you. And I do consider you to be my friend. I haven’t been playing you at all. I came to tell you what happened.”
“Save it.” Jensen spat out. “I don’t care.”
Jensen rooted the dog-eared check out of his wallet, pushing it across the desk.
“Here’s your check. I estimated what I owed you based on the figures Chad gave me from that first phone call. If you want more, have him call me but we’re done.”
Jared just stared at it.
“Jensen, please. This was never about the money.”
“Sure it wasn’t. Keep telling yourself that. I may have lost sight of that for awhile, but I’m sure you never did. Hell, I even started to fall for you. I guess it’s a good thing you ended our business arrangement before I did something stupid like kiss you. I’m sure that would’ve been quite a bit extra, huh?” Jensen’s mouth twisted into an ugly shape. He left the office, leaving Jared sitting in the office chair, still staring at the check on Jensen's desk.
As Jensen stormed down the hall, Chad grabbed his arm. He tried to wrench free, but Chad’s grip was firm.
“What the hell? Let go of me, Chad.”
“Listen up, Ackles. I don’t know what you’ve got going on in that stupid little head of yours or if it's crammed so far up your ass, you have to bend over to talk, but you don't get to talk to my friend that way. He didn’t ‘skip out’ on dinner with your precious mommy on purpose, asshole. Maybe you should let him explain.”
“Why bother? It’s not like it will matter at this point.” Jensen replied, some of the fight draining out of him.
“Because I’ve been in the hospital since Friday. I just got out yesterday morning. I tried to call you yesterday. Right after I got out. But I kept getting your voicemail.” Jared said from behind Jensen. He sounded weary.
“The hospital? What happened, are you okay?” Jensen turned around; eyes searching Jared for whatever the hell it could be that landed Jared there in the first place.
All he saw was exhaustion.
“Sure, now he cares.” Chad mumbled.
Jared shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I overworked myself and ended up dehydrated.” Jared moved closer to Jensen. “But I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry.”
“I thought maybe,” Jensen reached for Jared's hand, clutching his fingers, “maybe you found a new client, a better one.”
“What? No. I was scrambling to finish my term papers for class, that’s why I was so hard to get a hold of. Even Chad barely saw me,” Jared whispered as he squeezed Jensen's hand back.
“Classes? Are you. Wait, Jared, are you still in college?” Jensen asked, astonished.
“Um, yes. Didn’t you know? I’m a senior at the university. I swear I mentioned that at some point?”
“Fuck it, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re alright. You are, aren’t you?”
Jensen reached up to Jared's face with his other hand, feeling the warm flush there.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just need to take it easy and get plenty of fluids.” Jared smiled and leaned into Jensen’s touch. He placed his forehead against Jensen's, softly saying, “I can't take the money. Those ‘appointments'. They’ve been dates for me. I can’t take money for something that wasn’t even business in the first place. I broke the rules when I answered your phone call about meeting in Starbucks that day. Nothing has been the same since.”
“So, you. You like me, huh?” Jensen asked hesitantly.
Jared nodded his head against Jensen's.
“Every time you flirted with me, I had to hold myself back. Every time you made a move toward me, all I wanted to do was kiss you.”
“Well, maybe you should stop holding back,” Jensen murmured as he lifted his head off Jared's to catch Jared’s lips with his own.
The kiss was short and sweet, nothing more than a peck, really. But Jensen had been waiting for it for so long, had so convinced himself it would never happen, that when it did, it shot sparks straight down to his toes.
He was about to go in for another one when Chad cleared his throat from behind them.
“Guys, I’m still right here and I really don’t want to see this PDA shit. So either take it in your office or take it home, Ackles.”
“That’s a great idea. Jared, do you want to go home with me?” Jensen knew he had a big, sloppy grin on his face and he couldn't give a shit.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
When they got back to Jensen’s house, they stumbled through the front door, their hands roaming all over each other. Jensen managed to get the door shut before Jared was pulling him into the living room by his belt loops.
“Easy, tiger. We have all the time in the world.” Jensen stole another kiss. “And you’re supposed to take it easy.”
“I am taking it easy,” Jared pouted. “Trust me, if I was at the top of my game, I would be dragging you down the hall to your bedroom.”
Jared's mouth turned into that first smile Jensen had seen on him - sweet and mischievous. This time, though, it reached his eyes, and Jensen felt warmth bloom in his belly.
So of course, Jensen's phone started to ring.
“Are you going to get that?” Jared asked between kisses.
“Nah, I’ll let the answering machine get it. Whoever it is can wait.”
When the answering machine picked up, Jensen's mom's voice echoed through the room.
“Jensen! Sorry, sugar, I’ll be back through this evening for dinner. It seems your Aunt Hazel didn’t want company after all, so I had to cut my visit short. I’ll see you soon, dear.”
Jensen pulled back from kissing Jared, a grin on his face.
“Hey Jared, do you want to meet my mom?” He asked.
“I’d love to.”
The End
Author's Notes & Thanks
Jensen tried to tell himself that he wasn’t falling for Jared. He told himself that it was just false intimacy since they were practicing being a couple. They were feelings borne out of closeness and had no root in reality. Sure, and pigs were about to fly out of Jensen's ass.
Jensen's mother would be there by the end of the week and he only hoped she would buy what he and Jared were selling. They had recently upped the ante by accepting Michelle’s invitation to get dinner with her and her fiancé Joey. Apparently they had even convinced Michelle that they were dating since she asked Jensen the next day how long he had been keeping Jared a secret before bringing him to the fundraiser dinner.
Jared was a frequent guest star in Jensen’s dreams and his face had surfaced more than once while Jensen jacked off in the shower. The less he thought about that, the better. Jensen didn't want to pop a woody in front of his mom.
Jensen was interrupted from his moment of introspection by his phone ringing. It was Jared.
“Hey, Jay. What’s up?” Jensen asked.
“Not much, I’m just bored. What are you doing?”
Trying not to picture myself with a flagpole when you meet my mom next week seemed like possibly the worst answer, ever. Jensen spurted out that he was at Steph's Subs for lunch.
“If you're downtown, you could join me?”
“Sorry, I can’t. I have to meet Chad to discuss some rent issues. Maybe we could meet up this evening though? I think there’s a Megalodon marathon on SyFy tonight.” Jared suggested.
“Yeah, we could probably do that. Wanna meet at my place? I’ll get home around five and we could order in.”
“Sounds good. I can come by around six then. I’ll bring some beer with me.”
“Perfect, see you then.”
After Jared hung up, Jensen stared at his phone. When he put it in his pocket and looked up, he saw Mike staring at him like he’d grown another head.
“What?” Jensen asked warily.
“What the hell was that?” Mike shot back.
“What was what? I was talking to Jared.”
“Yeah, I could tell.” Mike responded, a slight sneer in his voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just that whenever you talk to him, you get this goofy-ass smile on your face. You look like he’s the best thing to happen in your life since, well, me. I dunno, man, it’s not right.”
“What the hell? How is that ‘not right’, exactly?” Jensen fired at him.
Mike placed his hands on the countertop, leaning in conspiratorially. “Uh, maybe because you’re paying the guy to hang out with you? Or have you forgotten that already? You shouldn’t look that excited to be hanging out with a hooker.”
“Dude,” Jensen hissed at him, “Jared is not a hooker. Don’t you dare fucking call him that again. We’re friends. Not everything is about money and sex, Mike. Sometimes it’s just about friends hanging out, having a good time.”
“Yeah, I know what hanging out with friends is about. At least, I used to. Seems all of your free time consists of Jared Padalecki and I hardly see you anymore.”
“Mike- ” Jensen started.
“Shit, I’m sorry, dude.” Mike pushed himself back up. “I didn’t mean that about Jared. It’s just… I never see you anymore except for when you’re grabbing lunch or maybe in passing here and there. I miss you, man.”
“Dude, it’s cool. Look, why don’t you come over tonight? We can knock back some Keystones, watch shitty movies on SyFy, and you can get to know Jared. What do you say?”
“Yeah, alright.”
Mike suddenly whipped Jensen's tuna salad sub away from him, “Uh, yeah, I think this got left out over night, again. Let me get you a fresh one, hold on a sec.”
“Do I even want to know what the hell you put in there, Mike?”
“No fucking way, dude. No fucking way.”
“Mr Padalecki, could I see you in my office?” Dr Kehoe called after Jared as he tried to leave the classroom without being noticed.
Shit, busted. Jared turned and followed Kehoe back down the hall. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and crash for a few hours. Looks like those plans were going down the shitter. Fuck.
Kehoe settled herself behind her desk and gestured to the only other chair in the room. “Take a seat, Jared. We have a few things we need to talk about. Starting with your proposal.”
Jared groaned internally. He knew this day was destined to be total shit; he'd felt it when he woke up late, thinking it was the next day. Jared made himself as comfortable as possible on the rigid chair. This was probably going to take awhile if the stack of papers in front of Kehoe was any indication.
“I see here that you're looking to intern with a few of the local planning companies. While I'm pleased to see that you've put careful thought into this, I have to wonder if it's what you really want.” Kehoe glanced at him over the top of her glasses and made a mark on the topmost paper. Jared couldn't tell if it was one of his proposals or something else. He hoped it was the latter.
“Dr Kehoe, I very much want to work at one of those companies this summer. Even just the chance to do some intern work would help me get a better grasp on the planning field.” Jared tried not to sound too desperate. He could tell Kehoe would see right through his bullshit.
“I understand that, Jared, but you really haven't been applying yourself lately. I've talked with a few of your other professors and they all agree: you're distracted, your grades are suffering, and your attendance is spotty at best. Now, I know you're a bright young man, with plenty of potential in this field,” Kehoe's gaze softened a bit as she continued on, “but I can't in good conscience write you a recommendation for a firm like Kripke and Associates if this is how you would behave in a business setting. There are so many other students who are looking for the same opportunities you are, and it's my job to select the best candidates out of the lot.”
Kehoe looked disappointed in him. Jared tried not to squirm in his seat, feelings of shame and failure swirling inside of him. His head was pounding and for a moment, he thought he was going to be sick. He couldn't lose the chance at an internship, no matter what.
As he ran different scenarios in his head about what he'd do if he didn't get picked, Jared tuned back into the conversation. He hoped he didn't miss much of what Dr Kehoe was saying. It was a fine line between looking deep in thought about what someone was saying and zoning out completely.
“Yes, Dr Kehoe. I understand. And I promise you that this is a one-time thing. Monday morning, things will be right back to normal.” Jared tried to seem sincere; it was hard between the feelings of nausea and self-doubt.
Kehoe took her glasses off and set them on the desk. “Alright, Jared. You may go. I want you to take the weekend to get yourself together. I want you to really evaluate what you want out of this program and how exactly you aim to achieve those goals. And get some sleep, you look like death on legs.”
“Thanks, Dr Kehoe. You won't regret this. I promise.”
Jared left her office in a bit of a daze. The throbbing behind his eyes was only getting worse and any thoughts of lunch were officially off the table. Screw it, I'm just gonna go back to the apartment. Hopefully I'll feel better before going over to Jensen's.
When Jared showed up at Jensen’s that night, he felt like garbage. Scratch that, he felt like garbage dragged through a sewer then set out in the sun all day. He had been fighting off a sinus headache all day and it had only gotten worse since morning. He felt like his head was going to explode. Knocking on the door, he heard a voice from inside telling him to just “come in.” He opened the door and followed the sounds of the television to find Jensen and a bald man on the couch, drinking Keystone Light.
“Hey, Jared! I want you to meet Mike. Mike, this is Jared.” Jensen gestured at each man in turn.
“Nice to finally meet you, man.” Mike said, extending his hand.
“Like wise.” Jared said, shaking his hand.
“Grab a seat. We just started Megalodon 3 and it’s already worse than the second one.” Jensen said.
“Actually, I can’t stay. I just stopped by to talk to you about the weekend. Can we talk somewhere quieter? My head is killing me.” Jared replied.
“Yeah, of course. Let’s go in the kitchen. Mike, don’t you dare touch my beer.” Jensen hopped up from the couch and made his way into the kitchen.
Jared followed him, dragging his leaden limbs as he went. When they reached the kitchen table, Jensen sat down in a chair and indicated for Jared to do the same. Jared took that as his cue to speak.
“I was just wondering if you’d gotten a time estimate from your mom yet about when she would be in and when we would be going out to dinner with her. I have some things I need to take care of, so I kind of need to plan my weekend accordingly.” Jared sighed. “Sorry, I know this is kind of short notice.”
“Hey, no. Don’t apologize. I should have called you sooner to let you know. She called me yesterday to let me know she’d be here tomorrow and that she’d like to have dinner with us on Saturday. I told her I would have to make sure you were available, so if that’s no good for you, just let me know.” Jensen reached over and squeezed Jared’s hand, a smile on his face.
“Saturday should be fine. I’m just really feeling the crunch with my other obligations. Seems like everything is conspiring to happen at the same time, you know?” Jared asked, somewhat robotically.
“I know exactly what you mean. I deal with that all the time at work.” Jensen assured him. “But things will work themselves out. Try not to stress too much, okay?”
Thursday was easier said than done. Jared scrambled to print out his first draft of his term paper for Bodenman’s class, was late to GIS class, and got stuck waiting for an empty computer in the library. None of it was exactly rage-inducing by itself; combined it made Jared want to pull his hair out. When he finally slumped into the apartment, Jared was surprised to find Chad cooking dinner. It smelled good, too. Kicking his shoes off and throwing his things toward the couch, Jared walked into the kitchen to get a better whiff of what Chad was making.
“It’s three-bean chili. Your mom sent me the recipe last fall, remember? You were complaining about how cold it is here and how much you missed her chili. So I decided to make some.” Chad told him. Jared reached a finger toward the pot, only to be whacked on the hand. “Back off, bitch. It’s not done yet.”
“It smells amazing, dude. Thanks for making it.”
“Go get ready for dinner. It should be ready in half an hour.”
Jared didn’t need to be told twice. He hopped out of the kitchen and back the hall to his bedroom. He needed to shower and put on some comfortable clothes. By the time he was done, the chili was served up in bowls.
“Oh, hey, before I forget. Jensen called and wanted me to let you know that his mom got in early and maybe you guys could have dinner tomorrow instead. I told him I’d let you know and that you’d call him back later.” Chad told him as they cleaned up their dishes.
“Damn. Guess I need to shuffle some plans around.” Jared sighed. He was so damned tired and he still needed to work on both his term paper and his internship shit.
“Dude, no. Just go to bed and forget about it. I know you have stuff you need to get done for your classes and that’s more important right now. Just call him back and tell him you can’t make it.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got it under control. Thanks for making dinner, Chad. It was great.”
Jared made a quick call to Jensen saying he'd gotten the message, it was all cool. Two minutes later, he passed the fuck out.
Jensen was pacing in his kitchen. He hadn’t heard from Jared all day and he was beginning to worry. Well, he'd started to worry hours ago. He'd careened past worry, made a pit-stop at pissed off, and now had sped straight into full freak-out mode. Every time he'd called Jared, it went directly to voicemail. Even calling his apartment got him nothing but the answering machine. Hell, even when he'd called Chad, all he got was more voicemail.
Standing in the kitchen after his latest attempt at getting a hold of Jared, he had to accept the guy had bailed on him. Fucking A, this sucked. He gnawed on a hangnail for a minute before he steeled himself to go tell his mom he'd been stood up.
“So, dear, where’s Jared? I’ve been looking forward to meeting him.”
“Something must have come up. I know he’s been really busy lately and he was really looking forward to meeting you as well. He wouldn’t just ditch plans like this, honest.” He supposed this was karma for lying to her in the first place about Jared.
“I see. Well, I just wish I were staying in town longer.” She sighed. “Maybe next time.”
“Sorry, mom. Did you want to go out for dinner tonight, instead? I know a pretty good Italian place we could try.” Jensen awful for getting his mother’s hopes up about meeting Jared.
“I suppose so. I hope they have a decent lasagna. I haven’t had one in quite a while.”
Driving to the restaurant, Jensen decided right then that he was done dealing with Jared. He had been increasingly distant the last week, impossible to get a hold of, and now he blew off the one thing that mattered, what the whole point of hanging out in the first place was. He'd cut a check for what he owed Jared and drop it off at his apartment in the morning. And that would be that.
God, he felt like a total fool.
Jensen didn’t actually get a chance to drop the check off. Which was just as good, since he’d gotten himself wrapped up in ridiculous soap opera level of self-righteousness as the night wore on. He probably would have flung the check at Jared, saying something incredibly asinine. It was a talent that Mike had called him on more than once.
Instead, Jensen had spent the morning fending off his mother’s needling questions about Jared before taking her out to lunch just to get on another topic. He even sacrificed his sanity by indulging in his mom’s scrapbooking obsession. They’d spent approximately 27 hours at the local craft store, and if Jensen never had to discuss the relative merits of papyrus versus recycled newspaper again, he’d freaking kill himself.
On the way back to his place, his mom turned characteristically wistful. “Oh Jensen, I just wish your daddy were still alive. He’d be so proud of you. You’ve accomplished so much already. I really miss him some days.”
“I know, mom. I miss him, too. So does Mack.”
Jensen’s father had died when Jensen was still in grad school. His dad had been coming home from work late one night and been run off the road by a drunk driver who had crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane. Both vehicles had tumbled over the embankment, coming to rest on their roofs. It was a small mercy that his dad had died instantly.
The accident devastated Jensen’s family. His mom could barely get in a car, much less drive, for over a year afterward. Mack withdrew into herself, barely speaking. Jensen pushed himself harder in school; it was the only thing that kept him feeling like he was still part of the world.
He tried to remember that his mother wasn’t always like this, that the accident had made her cling harder to her children. He wished she’d realize that the harder she pushed, the more he retreated. It made him isolate himself - from his family, from his friends, from pretty much everything except work. Probably explained why kept dating guys that would never last; without the commitment, he couldn’t actually lose them.
He tried to sort out, then, why Jared blowing him off was so damned painful. This was a guy he technically had less of a commitment with than Rob. The check burning a hole in his pocket made out to Jared was a strong reminder of that. Still. Still, though, he genuinely liked the guy, and they’d had a really good time. Or maybe just Jensen did, and Jared was really that fucking good to make Jensen believe Jared had enjoyed himself, too.
God, it was a mess, and Jensen was exhausted from the mental gymnastics by the time he pulled up to his place. He didn’t even protest when his mom made them watch Beaches. As his mom cried through the last half hour, Jensen willed numbness to settle into his bones. Otherwise, he’d probably be crying right along with her for an entirely different reason.
When Jared finally woke up, it was to the smell of antiseptic. Blinking dazedly, he tried to get a bearing on where exactly he was and why it smelled so funny.
“Oh thank God, you’re awake. You had me scared, Jaybird!” Chad’s voice came from his left.
“Huh? Wh- whas goin’ on?” Jared slurred.
“Dude, you passed out Thursday night after dinner and then I couldn’t get you to wake up for your classes on Friday. I figured maybe you were just overworked, so I let you sleep until the afternoon. When you still wouldn’t wake up, I called 911. You’ve been out for two days, dude.” Chad told him, relief flooding his voice.
“Wha’ happened?”
“The doctor said something about being severely dehydrated and overly exhausted. Said you were ‘burning the candle at both ends’ or some shit. He said you need to take it easy the next few days and recuperate. I’ve already emailed your profs, so don’t worry about your late shit. Just relax, okay?” Chad rubbed his shoulder soothingly.
“Jensen?”
“He hasn’t been here. But don’t worry about him, dude. Get some rest. I’ll let the doctor know you were awake. I think he wanted to check some reflexes or something, I don’t know.”
Jared allowed himself to fall back to sleep, despite just waking up from a two-day nap. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something, though.
The hospital released Jared on Monday after giving him the all-clear. He was under strict instructions not to drink alcohol, stay up too late, or over exert himself. If Chad had his way, he probably wouldn’t even be allowed to go to classes. Thankfully, the semester was nearly over and all but two classes had given them take-home exams for their finals.
After promising Chad he'd turn his phone off right after, Chad let him check his voicemail. As soon as he turned on the phone, it lit up; six missed calls, four text messages and three voicemails. All from Jensen. They all pretty much said the same thing Dude, so, what's up? Where are you?
That feeling of forgetting something kept nagging at him, even if Jensen hadn't actually said anything about anything in particular. Shit, what was it?
Jared called Jensen’s phone back, but he didn’t answer his phone. He was about to call Jensen’s home number when Chad put out his hand. “Uh-uh. You’re cut off, buddy, hand it over.”
It was a measure of how freaked Chad had been about Jared that he didn’t say a word when Jared propped his feet on the coffee table. That and the constant full glass of Gatorade in his hand. The stuff tasted like ass on a good day. Jared seriously doubted he’d be let off the couch, though, if he didn’t guzzle the piss colored liquid to Chad’s satisfaction.
Three hours later, as Jared was peeing for the fifth time, it hit him like a ton of bricks: He was supposed to meet Jensen’s mom. He almost smacked his forehead before remembering they were kinda covered in urine at the moment.
Jared barreled down the hallway, yelling at Chad, “Dude, shit, I was supposed to do that thing with Jensen!”
“What thing?”
“Don’t play stupid, shithead, you know what I’m talking about. He didn’t call at all over the weekend?”
“Ah, maybe?”
“Maybe? What the hell, man, did he call or not? Shit, whatever, it doesn’t matter, I gotta go talk to him.”
Jared bent down to put his shoes on when he almost fell down from a wave of dizziness.
“Whoa, Jaybird, c’mon, you just got out of the hospital, alright? Here,” Chad guided Jared back to the couch, “Sit down and take a deep breath. Christ, I don’t wanna have to drag your sorry ass back in because you were angsting about a fucking client.”
“He’s not just a client, Chad.”
“Yeah, well, whatever he is, he can wait one more damned day before you go running over there expecting some kind of Pretty Woman shit.”
Jared thumped his head on the back of the couch, muttering, “If you hadn’t just saved my ass, I’d be kicking yours right about now.”
“Okay, big talker, we’ll put a rain check on this supposed beat down you’re gonna hand out. In the meantime, calm the fuck down.”
Jared sighed, he really did feel like twice heated shit. “Look, will you at least drive me over there tomorrow so I can talk to him?”
“Whatever you need, Julia.”
Jensen watched his mom drive off toward his aunt's that Monday morning. Despite her innate ability to drive him up a wall, he still loved her. It might be a while before another visit, though. Seriously, that scrapbook paper discussion was soul-sucking.
He so was wiped out from his mom’s visit and Jared’s no-show and sorting out his screwed-up feelings about it, he didn’t realize he hadn’t brought his phone to work until he went to call Mike at the end of the day.
When he got home that evening and saw nothing, still, from Jared, he ran the gamut of worried to pissed off to concerned and finally settled on fuck it.
As he worked his way through cold, leftover barbecue and coleslaw, Jensen stewed about the “other obligations” Jared had mentioned. Maybe he'd gotten popular. Maybe he was trying to milk Jensen for more money. Maybe he forgot.
Or maybe he just didn’t care.
Trying to squash down that trip to crazy town, Jensen chugged a beer. Jared wasn’t like that. He was caring and thoughtful, wasn't he? He wouldn’t ditch Jensen on purpose, would he? But what did he really know about Jared? Every time they talked about their personal lives, Jared always managed to steer the conversation back around to Jensen. He never wanted to go into detail about his own life. What if he really was as uncaring and money-hungry as Jensen’s doubts were making him out to be?
Jensen cracked open another beer, channel flipping until he hit the SyFy monster movie of the night. It was stupid and banal, and combined with the steady influx of beer into his bloodstream he could kinda forget about Jared for a while.
Which was a total effing lie. He wasn't gonna be able to not think about Jared and where he was and who he could be with.
Tuesday, Chad and Jared pulled into the parking lot of Kripke and Associates just after four. Jensen’s car was one of the few that were still there, which was a good sign in Jared’s eyes. They made their way into the office building, Jared leading the way to Jensen’s office. It seemed he and Michelle were the only two left working. Michelle was in Jensen’s office, talking about some meeting they were having the next day. Jared tentatively knocked on the door frame, earning the attention of both Jensen and Michelle. Chad hung back in the hallway, out of sight.
“We’re busy. Can you come back later?” Jensen said coolly.
“Jensen. Don’t be like that,” Michelle scolded him. “Jared, you come on in. I have to go get some fresh coffee anyway.” Michelle all but ran out of the office.
“Well? What do you want?” Jensen asked.
“I wanted to talk to you. You haven’t been answering your phone.” Jared said. He walked into the room and took a seat in front of Jensen’s desk.
“Why should I bother answering if I don’t want to talk to you?” Jensen retorted.
“What did I do? Are you really this pissed about me missing dinner with your mom?” Jared asked incredulously.
“Are you really asking me that? Jared, everything we’ve done since my first appointment with you was just for that. Not only do you blow me off, you come in here like this? Jesus, you played me. I can’t believe how stupid I was. I actually believed you were my friend. But I see how it is now. I’m nothing but a paycheck and you must have decided I wasn’t worth the work. Congratulations! You duped a poor schmuck like me into believing your lies,” Jensen laughed bitterly.
Jared leaned forward in his chair. “Jensen, that’s not like it at all. I never lied to you. And I do consider you to be my friend. I haven’t been playing you at all. I came to tell you what happened.”
“Save it.” Jensen spat out. “I don’t care.”
Jensen rooted the dog-eared check out of his wallet, pushing it across the desk.
“Here’s your check. I estimated what I owed you based on the figures Chad gave me from that first phone call. If you want more, have him call me but we’re done.”
Jared just stared at it.
“Jensen, please. This was never about the money.”
“Sure it wasn’t. Keep telling yourself that. I may have lost sight of that for awhile, but I’m sure you never did. Hell, I even started to fall for you. I guess it’s a good thing you ended our business arrangement before I did something stupid like kiss you. I’m sure that would’ve been quite a bit extra, huh?” Jensen’s mouth twisted into an ugly shape. He left the office, leaving Jared sitting in the office chair, still staring at the check on Jensen's desk.
As Jensen stormed down the hall, Chad grabbed his arm. He tried to wrench free, but Chad’s grip was firm.
“What the hell? Let go of me, Chad.”
“Listen up, Ackles. I don’t know what you’ve got going on in that stupid little head of yours or if it's crammed so far up your ass, you have to bend over to talk, but you don't get to talk to my friend that way. He didn’t ‘skip out’ on dinner with your precious mommy on purpose, asshole. Maybe you should let him explain.”
“Why bother? It’s not like it will matter at this point.” Jensen replied, some of the fight draining out of him.
“Because I’ve been in the hospital since Friday. I just got out yesterday morning. I tried to call you yesterday. Right after I got out. But I kept getting your voicemail.” Jared said from behind Jensen. He sounded weary.
“The hospital? What happened, are you okay?” Jensen turned around; eyes searching Jared for whatever the hell it could be that landed Jared there in the first place.
All he saw was exhaustion.
“Sure, now he cares.” Chad mumbled.
Jared shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I overworked myself and ended up dehydrated.” Jared moved closer to Jensen. “But I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry.”
“I thought maybe,” Jensen reached for Jared's hand, clutching his fingers, “maybe you found a new client, a better one.”
“What? No. I was scrambling to finish my term papers for class, that’s why I was so hard to get a hold of. Even Chad barely saw me,” Jared whispered as he squeezed Jensen's hand back.
“Classes? Are you. Wait, Jared, are you still in college?” Jensen asked, astonished.
“Um, yes. Didn’t you know? I’m a senior at the university. I swear I mentioned that at some point?”
“Fuck it, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re alright. You are, aren’t you?”
Jensen reached up to Jared's face with his other hand, feeling the warm flush there.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just need to take it easy and get plenty of fluids.” Jared smiled and leaned into Jensen’s touch. He placed his forehead against Jensen's, softly saying, “I can't take the money. Those ‘appointments'. They’ve been dates for me. I can’t take money for something that wasn’t even business in the first place. I broke the rules when I answered your phone call about meeting in Starbucks that day. Nothing has been the same since.”
“So, you. You like me, huh?” Jensen asked hesitantly.
Jared nodded his head against Jensen's.
“Every time you flirted with me, I had to hold myself back. Every time you made a move toward me, all I wanted to do was kiss you.”
“Well, maybe you should stop holding back,” Jensen murmured as he lifted his head off Jared's to catch Jared’s lips with his own.
The kiss was short and sweet, nothing more than a peck, really. But Jensen had been waiting for it for so long, had so convinced himself it would never happen, that when it did, it shot sparks straight down to his toes.
He was about to go in for another one when Chad cleared his throat from behind them.
“Guys, I’m still right here and I really don’t want to see this PDA shit. So either take it in your office or take it home, Ackles.”
“That’s a great idea. Jared, do you want to go home with me?” Jensen knew he had a big, sloppy grin on his face and he couldn't give a shit.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
When they got back to Jensen’s house, they stumbled through the front door, their hands roaming all over each other. Jensen managed to get the door shut before Jared was pulling him into the living room by his belt loops.
“Easy, tiger. We have all the time in the world.” Jensen stole another kiss. “And you’re supposed to take it easy.”
“I am taking it easy,” Jared pouted. “Trust me, if I was at the top of my game, I would be dragging you down the hall to your bedroom.”
Jared's mouth turned into that first smile Jensen had seen on him - sweet and mischievous. This time, though, it reached his eyes, and Jensen felt warmth bloom in his belly.
So of course, Jensen's phone started to ring.
“Are you going to get that?” Jared asked between kisses.
“Nah, I’ll let the answering machine get it. Whoever it is can wait.”
When the answering machine picked up, Jensen's mom's voice echoed through the room.
“Jensen! Sorry, sugar, I’ll be back through this evening for dinner. It seems your Aunt Hazel didn’t want company after all, so I had to cut my visit short. I’ll see you soon, dear.”
Jensen pulled back from kissing Jared, a grin on his face.
“Hey Jared, do you want to meet my mom?” He asked.
“I’d love to.”
The End
Author's Notes & Thanks