Smoke & Lightning: City Of Angels (21/?)
Title: Smoke & Lightning : City Of Angels (21/?)
Authors: eviltwin and bloody_adorable
Fandoms: Supernatural RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki.
Wordcount: 7,081
Rating: Adult.
Summary: Jared, Jensen and Holly get to work on the shop, and Rob, Jared's boss at the Blue, has something he needs to tell the boys.
Disclaimer: None of the following is true in any way, and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
MASTER POST
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
They had made it through the first day, but Jensen wasn't sure about the rest. He was up early out of habit, and had left Jared in their bed to continue sleeping. He saw that Holly was also still in her bed, Maya stretched out by her feet. He smiled to himself on his way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him before relieving himself and then washing his hands and brushing his teeth. He was halfway through shaving when he heard a loud yell of distress and, heart pounding, he dropped the razor and threw the bathroom door open, going straight for Holly's bed. She wasn't there.
Shit, Jay, he thought, dashing for the bedroom door.
"Jared, Holly's-" He stopped short, the words of panic dying on his lips. Holly was sat on Jared's stomach. Jared himself was wide awake and looked indulgently pissed off, his hands on her waist to hold her in place.
"Awake," Jared said, looking up at Jensen. "She's awake and decided I need to be too."
"So I see."
"How come you're up already?"
"Can't help it. I'll go and make some breakfast, okay?"
"What're we doing today?" Holly asked, scrambling down from Jared's stomach, kneeing him in the crotch as she went, Jensen figured, judging by the expression on Jared's face.
"Uh, let's get breakfast out of the way first, right?"
"Hey, Jensen? You got some.." Jared waved vaguely at his face and Jensen huffed. "Do you need a hand with that?"
"Find Holly something to wear while I finish up," was all Jensen said to him, before he turned and left them both to it.
Eventually they'd eaten breakfast, done the dishes, and Jared had brushed Holly's hair out and put it up in a ponytail for her. It was still early, but that was a good thing in Jensen's opinion. It meant they could get a decent start on the day, and since they both planned to take Holly to Six Flags then an early start was needed. Holly insisted on wearing her new Hard Rock baseball cap and Jared poked her ponytail through the gap at the back of it, pulling the cap down tight. With her white t-shirt and flower-embroidered jeans, she looked like the picture of innocence. Jensen remembered the minor food-fight the night before though, and wondered just what she'd try and pull today.
"Ugh, whose idea was this?"
Jensen smiled round at Jared, then turned back to look for Holly in amongst the crowd of kids who pretty much filled the 'Looney Tunes Lodge'. He nudged him gently in the ribs with his elbow and relaxed when Jared's arm came around his waist. "My idea, I admit. But you're having fun, right?"
"I'd be having more fun chilling out on the beach with a beer."
"We can do that tomorrow."
Jared kissed the back of his neck. "I think tomorrow's going to be too busy."
"Oh yeah? How come?"
"I should go pick up the keys for the shop tomorrow. I thought we might all go over there and take a proper look inside. I mean, I've been inside, but now I know it's mine I want to take a look and try and work out how I'm going to set it up."
"There's an exciting day for Holly," Jensen said, rolling his eyes.
"It will be, she'll love it. Trust me. She'll get to meet Memo and all the other boys and maybe she can help us come up with a name for the place."
"Transformer Harleys."
Jared laughed. "Maybe. I think she's grown out of Transformers now. Jeff says she likes hanging around the site. Or she has the few times he's had to take her there, anyway. We can find her a hard hat and she could help clear some stuff out with us."
"Your sister's going to love you."
"She already loves me."
They both looked round as Holly came running over to them, calling Jared's name. He let go of Jensen and caught her, lifting her up. "You should take it easy," Jensen told him, but Jared ignored him because Holly was excitedly asking if they could go on the Pounce and Bounce.
"I have no idea what that is," Jared told her, "but it sounds like something that might be a good idea to do before lunch."
It turned out that it was a good idea, but the rollercoaster that Holly made them take her on maybe wasn't. Jensen knew without asking that she looked about ready to throw up and he told Jared to wait, steered her away from everyone else and towards the nearest bathroom. They just made it in time, Jensen still pushing the door of the stall open even as Holly leant over and was sick. She wasn't too ill, thankfully, and Jensen had her drink from the water fountain to wash her mouth out, smiling apologetically at the moms who were in there too. When they came out, Jared was waiting right outside and Holly hugged his legs, not wanting to let go.
He lifted her up and she buried her head against his shoulder, apparently embarrassed about what had happened. He turned and kissed the side of her head, squeezed his arm around her.
"Feelin' better?" he asked.
She made a small sound, but didn't lift her head up.
"Do you think something to eat is a good idea, Jen?"
"We'll see. Let's get something light, see how she does with it. I definitely need some lunch."
Holly was fine for the rest of the day, though they stuck to the more kid-friendly rides, the ones that wouldn't make her dizzy or scare her. It may have been boring to both Jared and Jensen, but Holly was enjoying herself so much that they really didn't care. They left very late in the afternoon and got home tired out. Jensen threw together a quick meal, healthier than what they'd had so far, and they ate all piled up together on the couch with the TV on and Maya watching them hopefully, waiting for some food to fall.
Jared dozed off while they sat there and Holly watched him for a little while. Jensen saw her looking and squeezed her hand. "He's okay," he reassured her, remembering her worry from before. "He's just had a long day. Hey, do you want to come take Maya out for a walk with me? We can leave him in peace for a little while then."
"Can we go to the park?"
"Sure, Maya loves the park. We can definitely go there."
He waited while Holly found her sneakers and fastened them onto her feet, and then he called Maya to the door and clipped on her lead. With the lead in one hand and Holly's fingers wrapped tightly around the other, they set off.
"Today was really fun," Holly told him, as they walked. "Thank you for taking me."
"That's okay. We enjoyed it too."
"I wish I was staying for longer."
Jensen looked down at her and smiled. "You only just arrived, Hol. We still have a little while together."
"Not that long," Holly protested. "Only five more days."
"You know we'd love to have you for longer. Maybe you can come back another time after this trip, you think? But you have school again after you go back and I have to go to Miami for a few days. Jay's coming with me."
"Who's looking after Maya?" Holly asked, leaning over to pet the dog's head.
"One of the doctors I work with is going to look after her for a little while. She'll be okay."
"Are we going to Disneyland while I'm here?"
"Not this time, sweetheart. If you're allowed to come for longer next time we can take you for sure. But this time we still have lots of fun stuff planned. Tomorrow we get to go and see Jared's shop."
"Oh!" Holly stopped, tugged at his hand once.
"What? What's the matter?"
"I forgot! Daddy put something in my backpack to give you and Jay. I need to look for it when we go home."
"No problem. What, was it about the shop?"
"He said something about it. He told me to say well done to Jay. I forgot that, too."
Jensen laughed. "It's all right. You had a lot of other things to think about, I guess."
There were few other people at the park when they arrived so Jensen let Holly run riot, mostly, in the hope that she'd wear herself out enough that she'd manage the walk home, but fall asleep soon after that. An early night was his only thought right then, the chance to quietly curl up in bed with Jared and get some much-needed sleep. Tomorrow, from what Jared had said, could turn out to be a very busy day, and he wanted them all to be ready for it.
As planned, she was tired when they got back to the apartment, but the first thing that she did was to tug her backpack out from behind her bed and start going through the pockets. Jensen watched, Jared still dozing on the couch. She finally came up with an envelope in her hand and a triumphant smile. It was a little bent, but Jensen could see that it was some kind of greeting card. He sat down on the couch with it, next to Jared, and Holly climbed up to perch on his knee. He nudged Jared awake gently, while Holly looked impatient.
"Mm, sorry," Jared mumbled, rubbing at his mouth as he straightened and sat up properly. "Was I out long?"
"An hour at least. Don't worry about it. Feeling better?"
"Still damn tired. What's that?"
Jensen handed him the envelope. "From Jeff and Stevie. Holly remembered about it while we were out."
Jared opened it up, curious. Sure enough, there was a card inside, 'congratulations' printed on the front in giant letters. Jared opened it up and read the message, which seemed to take a while, his eyes widening as he did. "Holy shit."
"What?" Jensen asked, wondering what Jeff had written.
He passed it over to Jensen and watched him read it. On the right hand side was the message of congratulations, telling Jared well done on getting his business plan through the first major step and wishing him good luck with it. On the other side, there was a list of names, trades and phone numbers. Underneath that was another message from Jeff:
These are all people in and around L.A. who I know and who are willing to help out with what you need. Give them a call, they'll be expecting it.
Jensen read through the list of trades again and nodded. "With these guys helping out, I don't think it's going to take very long at all."
"But-"
"Jay, I know you wanted to do it on your own, on our own, but maybe this is a helping hand you need to take a hold of."
Jared smiled, leaned against Jensen's side. "I was going to say, genius, that I still need to design the place."
"So get to work. Mickey's bar was good practice. I know it was some time ago, but I'm sure you haven't lost your touch. Go on, go and set the laptop up and start something. I'll get Holly ready for bed."
Holly, who had been quiet throughout the exchange, now spoke up, telling Jensen that she wasn't tired.
"Nice try. You'll be tired after a bath and a story, trust me."
"Another bath?" Holly asked, pulling a face.
"What can I say, kiddo? You're a stinky little girl."
"Am not!"
Jensen grabbed her ankles and pulled her over his lap, laughing at her squealing. "Are too! Phew, I can smell you from here. I think we should just throw you straight in the tub and run the water over the top of you."
She screamed at Jared to help her, but all he did was grab her up off Jensen's lap and throw her over one shoulder. Jensen took the chance to dash to the bathroom, Holly yelling at him that she didn't want to be thrown in and that he was mean, while all Jared could do was laugh at them both.
It was an hour before Holly was bathed, dry, and asleep. Jensen closed up the book he'd been reading to her and turned the light off before he went to his and Jared's bedroom. Jared was also in bed already, his laptop open and resting on his knees.
"Did Prince Charming rescue the princess?" he asked, as Jensen got undressed and slid into bed beside him.
"Prince Charming didn't even make it as far as the castle before the princess fell asleep. How's it going?"
"I have a color scheme. Still need a name so I can work out a logo. But it's going to be mostly red and chrome. Checkered floor for the reception area."
"You're having a receptionist?"
Jared grinned. "Sure, I need something to look at while I'm working. I'd offer the job to you, but I think you're already busy."
"I'm hiring the receptionist."
"You're still so easy, Jen."
"No, you just got better at pushing my buttons."
Jared prodded him in the shoulder. "Especially the big one right there, marked 'jealousy'. You know you have nothing to worry about anymore."
"I know I don't have to worry about you making a move on someone else. It's everyone else I'm worried about, making a move on you."
Jared shut the laptop and shoved it onto his nightstand, then moved until Jensen was trapped beneath him. "Yeah, you don't have to worry about that, either. Trust me." He kissed Jensen then, slow and hard, and Jensen realized he wasn't as tired as he'd thought. At least, for now.
Holly stood in the archway that led through to the back of what would be Jared's shop and watched her older brother, her hands on her hips. She looked especially sweet today, in the little pink hard hat that Jensen had bought for her at a nearby hardware store, her hair in a tight braid. Jared had told Jensen he was scary for knowing how to do that until Jensen reminded him that he'd grown up with a younger sister. Jared was in the front, shovelling up the build-up of junk mail that had continued to be delivered to the empty shop, and Holly followed his progress with an annoyed glare.
He stopped, looking up at her. "Okay, I give in. What?"
"Uncle Jensen told you to take a rest," she reminded him. Jensen wasn't there to back her up, having gone out to fetch them some coffee and a juice for Holly.
"Well, sometimes Uncle Jensen worries too much. And so do you. I'm okay, Holly."
"Uncle Jensen said you still had some recovering to do."
"I'll take a break when he comes back with the coffee. Tell you what, you can come give me a hand. If I shovel this into piles, you can lift as much as you can into one of those sacks. We need to load this into the car so that we can recycle it."
Holly agreed to his idea and they soon had the floor cleared between them, just in time for Jensen to return. The place was looking better inside already, as they'd spent the morning so far washing down the walls and getting rid of the cobwebs that had formed and the layers of dust over everything. With the floor now empty as well, it was much easier to imagine the place as Jared's vision of how it would look. They sat in a row on the counter at the front of the shop, their backs to the window, and drank the drinks that Jensen had come back with. Jensen looked around when the door opened, smiled as Memo came in. Holly looked around too, and shifted closer to her brother when she saw the man.
"You guys got a lot done," Memo remarked, walking through the empty room. "Need a hand with anything?"
Jared slid down from the counter and looked around, shrugged. "I think you helped more than I could have hoped for already, man. We're okay."
"You know where I am if you change your mind. So," he said, his gaze falling on Holly. "This is your little sister, right?"
Holly lifted her chin, nodded. She stared when Memo held out a hand for her. Jared had to nudge her before she stuck out her own hand and Memo gave it a gentle shake.
"Nice to meet ya," he said. "You helping Jay out while you're here?"
She nodded again, and Jensen looked down at her. "That's the quietest she's been the whole time she's been here."
"Guess she's just shy," Memo said, taking a step back. "Something that doesn't run in the family, I'm thinking."
Jensen snorted at that. "Definitely not."
"Uh-huh. Listen, I know you're busy, but Jay, you need to come round to the shop sometime soon. This week, next week, whenever. I need to talk to you about something." He held up a hand as Jared started asking what. "It can wait, I promise you. And if you need any help in the meantime, come see us."
"We will," Jared promised, as Memo headed back towards the door. He left without another word and Jared looked over at Jensen, frowning. "That was weird," he said.
Jensen shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. Can't be anything bad, else he wouldn't tell you to wait."
"I guess."
They worked for a little longer before stopping to take Holly to lunch, and after they'd all eaten they went back to the shop and finished as much as they could. Jared knocked down the counter that was already there and Jensen helped break it up so they could get rid of it easier, while Holly was given gloves and a cloth with some soapy water so that she could wipe down what she could reach of the front windows. It kept her busy and quiet, but also, Jensen noticed, she did a very good job of it.
By the time they left, it was dark and they were all in desperate need of food and a shower, but they all felt like they'd accomplished a lot. Jared locked the shop doors behind them as they left and pocketed the keys, then just stood there for a couple of moments, peering in through the glass front. Holly took his hand and tugged on it and he looked round, then up to meet Jensen's eyes. He looked like he knew exactly what Jared was thinking.
"I can't believe it's finally happening," Jared said. Jensen didn't answer, but took a step forward and kissed him gently on the mouth. It seemed to break him out of his thoughts and he squeezed Holly's hand. "Okay, since you helped so much today, you get to decide where we take you to dinner."
They spent the next couple of days sightseeing and the last day of Holly's vacation relaxing on the beach. Jared had slept well after their day's work in the shop, but he'd woken up a little sore the next day. Jensen thought the heat would do him good, and a swim in the ocean certainly wouldn't hurt. Holly loved the beach, too. So many people for her to watch and other kids for her to play with while Jensen kept a close eye on her. She threw a frisbee for Maya for quite a while too, until she got bored and Maya went to lay down in the shade, behind the small shelter Jensen had put up. They ate a picnic and built sandcastles and didn't mention once that Holly was due to go home the following day. She seemed to have forgotten herself, at least until Jensen began packing her things into her suitcase that night, while she sat on the couch with Jared and watched Ice Age. Again.
Jensen could tell that she was watching him do it, but was pretending not to see. He hoped she'd be all right come the morning, when the time came to get her ready and drive her back to the airport. He had a feeling it might not be that easy, but knew that Jared planned to talk to her about it later. Maybe that would help.
She was quiet, and Jared knew why. She wasn't sleeping; her eyes were open. And he could already see her grumpiness. As soon as she had seen him enter the room, she'd turned her back to him, her shoulders hunched. "Hol," he said again. "You gotta get up, pip."
"Don't wanna," she snarled.
Sighing, Jared sat down on the edge of her bed, rubbing at her back. "I know, pip," he told her. "But you've gotta."
Holly sat up, spinning around and looking at Jared, her gaze throwing daggers in his direction. "You're stupid," she almost screamed. "Stupid brother, stupid plane and stupid home. I hate you!"
Jared watched in silence as she scrambled off the bed, and ran into the bathroom, her bare feet pounding on the thinly carpeted floor. She slammed the bathroom door, and he could hear her crying. He looked down at his feet, feeling bad that she was taking it so tough, and sighed. He got up and headed towards the bathroom, still somewhat limping on his broken leg. He'd been doing better lately. Doing his own weight lifting program, as well as physical therapy, was making him heal unbelievably fast. The physical therapist decided that within six months, Jared would be completely back on his feet. While he was proud of that, he felt very old this morning. Very old, and very mean.
Before he made it to the bathroom, Jensen stepped into the bedroom doorway. "Not taking it so good, huh?"
Jared frowned. "I thought, talking to her last night, that she was okay with it."
"She was," Jensen nodded. "Last night."
"What's the fucking difference?" he asked, more than a little annoyed.
"Last night was last night," Jensen reminded him. "It wasn't real. Don't take it personally, Jay. She loves you. She's just mad that she has to leave you. She'll be okay. Just go talk to her."
Jared sighed again, raking his fingers through his hair. "Yeah." He continued towards the bathroom, not finding it locked. Which wasn't really surprising. There was a standing order in both their house, and Jeff's, that no kids locked any doors, unless it was the front door, and they had Mommy and Daddy's permission. Jared remembered finding out how serious Jeff was about that rule when he locked him out, after being brought home yet again by the cops. Jeff had taken a sledgehammer to Jared's door. Knocked the damn thing right down to the floor. Jared, who had only been fourteen at the time, screamed at Jeff. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"One more stunt like that, kid," Jeffrey had growled, out of breath, "and I'll ship you off to military school."
For years, that room remained door-less. It wasn't until Jared moved out into the garage, two years later, that Jeff finally fixed the jamb and put on a new door.
Opening the bathroom door, Jared stepped inside. He saw Holly in the bathtub, her knees pulled up to her chest, her face hidden against her knees. Her arms wrapped around her legs, Holly didn't look up at Jared when he stepped inside. Jared sat down on the toilet lid, watching her for a few seconds. He could see Jensen in the bathroom doorway, leaning against the casing, watching them.
"Holly?"
She didn't respond.
"Holly, come on," Jared spoke again. "I know you're mad, pipsqueak, but you've gotta go back home."
"Why?" Her voice, sharp and angry, was muffled against her knees.
"Because," he said. "Mom and Dad are waiting for you. I bet they miss you like crazy, kiddo. Just like Jen and I are going to miss you when you're gone."
This made her turn her head and look at him. "You will?"
"Yeah," he nodded heartily. "Man, I already miss you, and you haven't even gone yet."
"But I don't wanna go."
He nodded again. "I don't want you to either," he agreed. "But just think of all the fun stuff you can do next time you come. Maybe, by then, we'll even have a bigger place and you can have your own room."
She met Jared's eyes, her own a bit brighter, at the mention of her own room.
"And the shop will be done," he smiled. "You'll be able to help me out there. Maybe paint a bike with me."
"Really?"
"Hell, yeah," he chuckled. "Who wouldn't want a Holly Davidson original?"
She smiled, even giggled a little. "Just like the motorcycle place," she said.
"You know it, pip," he agreed. He held his hand out to her, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders when she took it, crawled out of the tub, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you, Jay-Jay," she said, her head resting upon his shoulder.
Though he wouldn't admit it, Jared felt a wave of emotion crash over him. He quickly choked back any sign of tears and hugged his sister. "Me too, Pip," he agreed. "Me too."
Jared watched the scenery roll by, gazing out the car window. They were back to taking cabs now, since the Saturn had gone back to Rob. Having it available to them while Holly had been there had made them both realize again how much they needed a car. Now Holly had only been gone a few days, and already he wanted to plan for next year with her. She'd done well, had gone with the chaperone much easier than Jared had thought. They'd watched her until she was out of sight and, even then, Jared refused to leave the airport until he knew she was in the air.
Rob had called early in the morning, sounding rushed. Jared asked him if everything was okay, but Rob had only replied that he needed Jared's help right away. They'd agreed to meet at the location Rob gave them. Jensen had asked if Jared thought it was something illegal. Jared had laughed and said no. Rob wasn't a bad guy.
He and Jensen were quiet, only vaguely listening to the cabby go on and on about something neither of them cared about. Jensen was the one to notice that they were close to the place. He spoke to the cabby, interrupting him, telling him to pull into the drive.
Without help, Jared got out of the taxi. He leaned down into the cab to grab the one crutch he allotted himself, and only when he knew he'd be walking a fair bit. He settled it at his side while Jensen paid for the cab ride to the house. They both watched the yellow and red taxi back out of the drive and pull away.
Taking a deep breath, Jensen looked over at Jared. "You sure he said this was the place?"
Jared nodded. "Yeah," he returned. He hopped around in place so that he was facing the house. The place was big. It had wide, bright windows, with white shutters. The siding was yellow with white trim. There was even a white picket fence around the front and back lots. Flowers grew in beds, slightly overgrown with patches of weeds, and a white porch swing lazily rocked back and forth in the light afternoon breeze. Someone had cared for the place at one time, but Jared thought it had been a while. The lawn was already looking too long. "Said to meet him here at one."
Jensen sighed again, not sure about it all. "Is he violent?"
"Rob?" Jared asked, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. "No, why?"
"Just wondering if we need to worry about getting killed."
Jared chuckled and shook his head. "Rob's a good guy, you know that," he said. "There just must be something he needs help with."
"You were just in a bike accident," Jensen reminded him. "And I should be thinking about work."
"Not just."
"What could he possibly need help with?"
"I 'on't know," Jared mumbled.
Jensen didn't have time to get frustrated with him. He heard the bike coming down the road. It was a pretty suburb. The street was lined with trees that flowered in the spring time, shaded the walk in the summer. Dogs barked in the distance, but they were drowned out by the sound of the massive Harley pulling into the cement drive, up to the garage.
"Jared," Rob greeted, turning off the bike and tugging his helmet up and off. "Glad to see you convinced him to come out here."
Jared hobbled nearer on his crutches, reaching out to slap and shake his boss's hand. "Hey, man," he greeted, smiling brightly. "You didn't bring us out here to tell me you've given my job away, have you?"
"Shit, man," he laughed, swinging his leg over the bike and standing straight. "Like I could. You're the only one dumb enough to do your job."
Jared laughed and held his hand out to Jensen, motioning him closer. "You remember Jen, right?"
"Sure, I do," Rob said, reaching out to him and shaking his hand. "The doctor extraordinaire."
Jensen smiled, his face reddening slightly. Jared liked to brag too much. Still, it made him feel loved that the man was so proud of him. "Hi again," he greeted.
"You'll forgive me if we get right down to it?"
Jared looked over at Jensen and shrugged. "Sure."
He motioned for them to follow him. "Come on in."
Rob unlocked the door and led Jared and Jensen through the back, into the kitchen. Everything was white and airy. Cheerful. Just off to the left was a laundry room, complete with a washer, dryer, sink, and clothes rack. The kitchen had an island, with barstools for a meal at the bar, but was open to a dining room just beyond. The windows were shuttered, letting the sun in, in Zebra stripes. And to the left of that was a living room. Jensen caught a quick glimpse of a banister and a stairway to the second level. Most of the furniture, save for a few things, had been cleared out. Their footsteps echoed on the tile floor.
"You like the place?"
Jared nodded, stopping at the kitchen island. He bent at the waist to take a quick peek into the living room. "Sure," he agreed. "But what's going on?"
"Do you... Can you guys get divorced?"
They were confused at the question, and Jensen also felt a flash of jealousy wash over him. "What kind of question is that?"
"No, I don't mean no harm," Rob said, holding up a hand. "I mean...Y'know."
"Can gays get divorced?" Jared said for him.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"I suppose," he returned. "We did a commitment ceremony though, so it's not really a marriage."
"But you could still go through all the bullshit of having to split things up, if you ever decided to call it quits."
Jensen didn't like where this conversation was going. He watched Jared nod his head and mumble a yes, then looked at Rob. "What's the point?" he asked.
The man took a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head. "Man," he said, raking his fingers through his hair. "You remember Kim, my ex, right Jay?"
Jared blinked, arching his eyebrows. "Vaguely."
"She's fuckin' killin' me. We just got divorced. She left me for fucking Pablo, and is nagging me to get this house sold so she can have her half of the money, move down to Mexico and marry the son of a bitch."
Jared nodded again. "Fuck, man," he cursed. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, bullshit deal," he agreed.
Jensen waited in the following silence, glancing from Jared to Ricky, and then to both of them one more time. "So, why are we here?" He suddenly worried that the deal would involve illegal activity. Trashing the house so that Kim couldn't have her share. Jensen wouldn't put that past Rob, good guy or not.
Rob seemed deep in thought for a moment, scratching at his scruffy chin. "How much cash you got on you?"
They both thought for a moment, trying to recall. Jared readily dug into his wallet and pulled a good number of bills out of it. "Four hundred," he said, quickly counting the money.
"Fo--four hundred?" Jensen repeated, stunned.
Jared shrugged and met his eyes. "I keep my tips from the bar in here."
Still a little surprised, Jensen fished his own wallet out of his pocket and counted his money. "Two-twenty-five," he said. "Why?"
Rob reached across the kitchen island and snagged both their handfuls of money. "Congratulations, you just bought a house," he said, jamming the bills into his pocket. He headed for the back door again, his boots clomping hollowly on the tile floor.
Jared and Jensen quickly glanced at each other, adrenaline speeding through their system. "Wait, what?" Jared called after his boss. While Jensen went after the man, Jared hopped in place, turning around on his healing leg.
"Hold on," Jensen said. "What are you doing?"
At the back door, Rob sighed and looked at them. "Look," he said. "Kim wants her half of the sale of the house so she can marry Pablo." He sneered as he said the man's name, clearly filled with anger and hatred over the matter. "I'm a vindictive bastard, and I don't want to give it to her. She's done nothing but nag at me for the six months this place has been up for sale. So, now she'll stop nagging. You guys have saved me a shitload of headache. I don't need the fuckin' money and I already have my place by the bar."
"We can't buy a house," Jensen argued.
"You just did," Rob smiled. "Don't worry. It's a great place. Great neighborhood, great schoo--" He paused and thought for a moment. "Well, great for a good couple like yourself, I'm sure. Everything that's here is yours." He nodded, watching Jensen look back at Jared, who shrugged his shoulders in response. Smiling, Rob winked and tossed the keys to Jensen. "I'll have Carlton draw up the papers for me tomorrow. Get them to you ASAP."
Jensen watched him go, closing the back door behind him. Eyes wide, he blinked away his thoughts, trying to piece together everything that had just transpired. He got it. He knew why Rob was selling the house for peanuts. It was a deliciously evil scheme. Kim would no doubt hit the roof when she found out what her ex-husband had done. But... Really? He spied at the ring of keys in his hand. Finally, he turned and looked at Jared, who was still standing by the kitchen island, his one lone crutch gripped in both hands. "What the hell just happened?"
Jared laughed, almost manically. "We just bought a fucking house."
"We just bought a house," Jensen repeated.
"We just bought a mother fucking, son of a bitch house," Jared continued to laugh. He crutched his way over to Jensen, his smile bright.
Still shell-shocked, Jensen stared at him. "We just bought a house," he said again.
"Say it with me, Jen," Jared said, reaching out to grab hold of Jensen's collar. "We just bought --"
"--a mother fucking, son of a bitch house," Jensen said with him, barely able to feel Jared shaking him by the collar. "Holy crap, Jay."
Jared laughed loudly, and it finally seemed to break through the stunned shell around Jensen. He smiled and let Jared pull him closer. And there, in the kitchen of their brand new home, Jared kissed Jensen.
The conferences were much more informative than Jensen had thought. It was important for doctors to attend the educational seminars, to keep up with the times, with the new advances in medicine. Jensen found some of them boring, the speakers too interested in telling you how awesome they were for having done what they had. But Miami had an excellent conference this time. For four days, Jensen lapped up all the information he could. He went in early and stayed later than he should have, talking to people, making connections and learning all he could. Every night, by the time he came back, Jared was usually in the room, but he was usually grumpy. Tonight was no different.
"What's wrong with you?" Jensen asked.
"What's wrong with me?" Jared said, annoyed. "I thought we'd get to do some stuff together. How often are we in fucking Miami?"
Jared frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "I told you, Jay, that this would be work time, not just play time."
"What play time? I haven't seen you at all."
"Well, what about me?" Jensen returned. "I'm working all the time. Don't you think I'm kind of jealous that you get to do all the fun stuff while I'm stuck inside a room, listening to stuffy scientists tell me how great they are?"
Jared stayed quiet for a little while, as Jensen showered. When Jensen was done, he crawled atop Jared's lap and kissed him. "What'd you do today?"
He couldn't ever be really mad. Jensen had warned him that the conferences were pretty boring. He should have stayed home with Maya. "Went down to the beach," he said. "Went swimming."
"No fair," Jensen complained, though he was smiling.
"Then I went and got some lunch. Stayed for awhile at the bar. Got to draw up some ideas for the shop."
"Well, that's not so bad," Jensen said. "I want to see the drawings."
Jared shook his head. "They're not ready yet." Instead, he wrapped his arms around Jensen's waist and held him there, his hands clasped together behind him. "Can you believe we have a house?"
"I can't believe that whole thing happened still," he said. "It's frigging insane."
Jared laughed. "You're so eloquent one second, and then I slip in there every once in awhile. I was a bad influence, wasn't I?"
Jensen chuckled, leaning in closer. "Maybe a little," he agreed. "But I'll give you an idea of where you can slip into next, if you want."
Jared's eyes brightened. "You're not tired?"
Jensen nodded. "Like hell," he agreed. "But you're worth being a little tired tomorrow."
"Or, a lot tired."
Jensen chuckled, nodding again. "I can sleep on the plane."
The airport had been extremely busy. There had been some bad weather while the boys were away, and the airport was scrambling to make up the delayed or cancelled flights. It was still raining, big black clouds clustering around the planes, hovering over all of Los Angeles, and especially Jared's head.
"Why are you so grumpy?" Jensen finally asked as they headed into the door of their apartment building. "You got what you wanted last night, didn't you?"
Slumping in the hallway, Jared looked like a four year old that had been refused any time on the playground. "I just want my own bed," Jared told him. "Leave me alone."
"Fine," Jensen rolled his eyes. "But don't blame your bad trip on me."
"How could I?" Jared said. "I never saw you."
"Shut up, Jared," he growled as they walked.
"Do you know how many little umbrellas I went through down at the hotel bar?"
Jensen grunted, still annoyed, as he got the weight of his bags comfortable and started up the stairs. "No, but I'm sure you do."
"Fifty fucking two," Jared said. "And I have proof."
"What proof?" he asked, pausing to glare back at Jared.
Without taking his eyes off of Jensen, Jared pulled open the front zipper to his bag and showed Jensen the collection of fifty-two little tiny paper umbrellas that he had collected.
"Jesus," Jensen grumbled. "Were you drunk every night you went to bed?"
"It's so disturbing that you have to ask that," Jared told him.
Jensen frowned, however, when he noticed scraps of paper inside the pocket. He reached in and fished some of them out. "What are these?"
Jared looked at them. "Phone numbers."
"People just gave you their phone numbers?"
Jared nodded, leaning heavily on the railing. "They thought I was alo--oh, wait, I was."
The way he'd jokingly pondered his comment before he added the last four words to the sentence made Jensen smile. Jared wasn't angry anymore, he was playing it up for sympathy. "You ass," he said. "Why did you even take them?"
Jared shrugged. "Thought I'd lost you," he said. "Was thinking about getting myself a new cabana boy."
Jensen laughed. "I'm throwing these out," he told him. "And the umbrellas."
Shaking his head, Jensen rooted through the bag to find all of the phone numbers. Some of them Jared had made up. He'd miss Wanda the circus contortionist, Jenna the slut, and Bambi the underwear model.
Jensen rolled his eyes at the names, shoving them back into the pocket. He turned again and continued up the stairs, feeling bad that he'd agreed it would be fun for Jared to go along, but had been too busy to make sure it was. Honestly, he'd never thought the conference would be that interesting. They stopped outside their apartment door, dropping the bags for a moment, and Jensen fished out his keys and unlocked the door. He threw it open and stepped aside to let Jared go first. Jared took a step in, and then stopped, Jensen nearly walking into him.
"Dude, what?"
"We.... We cleaned before we left, right?"
"Yeah," Jensen answered, nodding.
"And Maya was definitely with Sam the whole time we were gone, right?"
Jensen nodded again. "Yeah," he said. "We have to go get her tomorrow."
Jared returned the nod and motioned for Jensen to step inside. Jensen did as he was asked and was stunned to see the place ransacked. He could say nothing, just staring off at the overturned chairs, the clothes and DVD cases strewn all over the floor. The curtains had been ripped down, and the back of the couch slashed.
Jared sighed, looking at the damage. "I think we've been robbed."
NEXT