The Smile You Can't Forget (3/?)

[dualityforce]

three

Jensen wasn't too proud to admit that he spent most of the next day with his stomach tied in knots from nerves.

His boss teased him for a while, and Jensen was more than a little surprised to find himself detailing what had happened to her. Sam was the motherly type, and as soon as she realized how nervous he actually was for dinner that evening, she'd demanded he take an early break and phone his mother. He'd honestly thought she was joking at first, and it wasn't until she wrestled a spanner out of his hands and pointed to her office - slapping his ass with the metal tool for emphasis - that he realized that she was serious.

"I can't." He stalled. "Mr Green is coming back for his car in an hour. I have to get it finished."

Predictably, Sam wasn't phased. "I'll take care of it. Does me good to get a little grease under my nails every now and again."

He hesitated a few seconds later, watching as Sam tugged her overalls over her shoulders and did them up. She paused as she was tying her hair tie up, frowning at him.

"Jensen, I swear to God that if your mother isn't on the phone in the next minute I'll fire you."

He still hesitated, and finally it's the narrowing of her dark eyes that had him throwing up his hands and retreating into the office. His hands were shaking with the prospect of calling his mother - not because he was worried at what she might say, but because he didn't know how to tell her. There wasn't exactly a manual for having a one-night stand with an incredibly beautiful omega and ending up mated.

Sighing, he dialed the number on instinct, biting his lip as it rung. His dim hope that she might not answer was quickly shot down in flames when he heard the usual chirpy hello ring down the line.

"Hey, mom." He said evenly.

"Jensen!" She trills happily. "You were supposed to phone me last night, did something come up? I was going to ring and check, but I thought you might be busy - I figured I'd ring you after work, but I didn't think you finished until four."

"I don't." He confessed. "I'm in Sam's office."

"Oh," Donna replied, sounding suddenly nervous. "Is everything okay, sweetheart?"

"Of course." He said quickly, before she could work herself up. He'd never known anyone with the ability to work themselves into a frenzy as quickly as his momma could. "Everything's fine... more than fine, actually. I have some news for you."

"You do?"

"Yeah... I, uh. I met my Bondmate."

There was silence for a long moment, and Jensen felt his heart drop in his stomach.

"Jensen, that's fantastic!"

The noise that his mother made could -  honestly - only be described as a high-pitched squeel. Jensen flinched, pulling the phone away from his ear for a second and waiting for her to calm down before he put it back. He could help the heady rush of relief, even as his inner self mocked him for being so foolish. Of course his mother would be happy for him - the idea of her kids finding their Bondmates was a dream come true for her.

"When did it happen? How did you mean? What are they like?" The alpha grinned at his mother's enthusiasm, relaxing into Sam's spinning office chair for the first time. Not for the first time, he was forced to acknowledge just how awesome his parents really were. "Jensen, you have to tell me everything! When are we going to meet them? Oh, gosh, I'm so excited for you!"

"His name's Jared." Jensen revealed, unfazed by the realization that he had a sappy smile across his face. "He's awesome, mom. He comes from San Antonio, and he's beautiful and sweet, and he knew all about the Impala before I even told him anything!"

Donna laughed. "Sounds like you really like him - you're acting like a school girl with a crush! Is he a mechanic, too?"

"Uh, no." Jensen said, somewhat awkwardly. "He's actually studying English at UT, wants to work with kids, he thinks."

"UT?" Donna laughed. "Just imagine, if you hadn't changed your mind about going there, the two of you might have met a lot sooner!"

Jensen coughed a little awkwardly. "Pretty unlikely, momma. He's nineteen."

"Nineteen?" Donna queried, and Jensen winced a little at the surprise in his voice. "My mistake - I just assumed he was about your age, which was silly of me. I mean, look at me and your father - he's seven years older than me! So I guess that means that I'll be waiting a few years for grandkids to fawn over, then?"

Jensen laughed. "More than likely that it'll be a while. We barely even know each other yet - we've got a long way to go before we even think about adding kids to the mix. I want to really get to know him first, you know? Besides, he's still so young... he needs to enjoy being young before he's forced to settle down."

"Completely understandable. So, come one, tell your mother - how did you meet the fine young man?"

Jensen faltered again, flushing all the way to his roots.

"Actually, I met him at Morgan's," He confessed. "We hit it off, and..."

"Oh, Jensen," She sighed, but she only sounded vaguely exasperated. Jensen could imagine her fond expression; loving eyes contrasting the frown on her face. "Only you would manage to take your Bondmate home as a one night stand."

"Not exactly the ideal way to mate, is it?" Jensen offered. "Not that I regret it, because I really don't. Jared's... everything I could have imagined myself wanting, and that's before we've even really had the chance to get to know each other. I just wish things had happened a little differently - that we could have done things in the normal order."

Donna made a noise of agreement. "Again, that's completely understandable. Have the two of you talked about how things are going to work? I mean, there's a lot to discuss. Having a Bondmate is an incredible privilege, but mating is a huge commitment."

"We're gonna take things slow," Jensen told her. "I'm taking him to dinner tonight. I want him to understand that I'm not going to rush him into anything... he's a little freaked out. Thinks his parents are gonna be pissed. Apparently they aren't huge fans of the fact that their son is an Omega."

The idea still struck Jensen as absurd. He'd been raised to believe that omegas, so much rarer than alphas or betas, were something to be loved and cherished. Donna had confessed to him once that, whilst she loved the Jensen and his siblings with all of her heart, she was a little sad that she'd never been able to bring an omega into the world.

Indeed, the woman sounded more than a little shocked.

"That's terrible. I'll never understand people who think that way." She paused. "Still, I'm sure you'll make him understand the things that I taught your and those siblings of yours. He's special, but that's not a bad thing."

"I know, momma." Jensen smiled. "Trust me, I know."
*
By the time that Jensen had emerged from Sam's office, his nerves had been almost completely soothed. His mother had gently reminded him that, when he thought about it logically, he and Jared were made for each other. A Bondmate was something that most people spent most of their lives longing for, and Jared and Jensen had been lucky enough to find it in each other - there was no way that they could ever hate each other. It simply wasn't in their nature.

That didn't meant that, by the time that he pulled up in front of Jared's apartment, his hands hadn't started shaking all over again.

He located a parking spot fairly quickly, and hesitated for only the briefest of seconds before ringing the buzzer.

"It's Jensen." He said awkwardly, speaking into the small microphone. "Here for Jared?"

It was a voice that he didn't recognize that answered, and his stomach flipped sickeningly. "Sure. Come on up."

The small buzzing noise told him that he'd been beeped in, and he slipped inside, choosing to take the stairs to the fourth floor rather than the elevator. He was almost surprised that it was a pretty nice building inside, having expected something less neat and tidy from a student building. The doors and hallways were neatly painted, and it smelled fresh.

It didn't take him long to track Jared's small apartment down, and he took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

It swung open almost instantly, and Jensen found himself face-to-face with a guy that he could only assume was one of Jared's three flatmates. He was probably a few inches shorter than Jensen, and the look on his face wasn't entirely welcoming.

"Hi." He said curtly, stepping back and waving an arm in a vague gesture that Jensen took to mean that he was allowed inside. "I'm Chad, and you're the guy that mated with my best friend during a one-night stand. Classy."

Jensen blinked, feeling himself flushing in embarrassment.

"I also go by Jensen." He offered awkwardly, rubbing the back of the neck. "It's nice to meet you, Chad."

The younger man nodded. "I bet it is. Now, listen here-"

"Chad." Jared's voice interrupted, and Jensen's eyes flew over the top of Chad's shoulders to lock on him. If anything, Jared looked even more beautiful than the night before - he was wearing a slightly baggier pair of jeans, with a similar style black t-shirt and a loose jacket. "Don't even think about being an ass."

Chad frowned, but Jared was already moving past him, pulling up short just a few inches in front of Jensen, obviously nervous.

"You, uh, didn't say where we were going... do I need to change?" He glanced down at his clothes, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"No, no. What you're wearing looks great." He offered, smiling in what he hoped was a reassuring fashion.

Still stood behind Jared, Chad sighed. "Dudes, this is beyond awkward. Can you please just get out of here, already? I'm worried that my head might explode from all of the unresolved sexual tension.

"Chad!" Jared snapped, whirling to smack his friend on the arm. He seemed genuinely embarrassed by his friend's comment, and Jensen couldn't help the laugh that escaped from him. Jared turned back to him, face deceptively young looking as he eyed the alpha in surprise.

"It's alright," Jensen smiled. "He's actually being a lot nicer than I expected - I kind of thought I'd be leaving here an injured man."

Chad snorted. "You ever hurt him and you will be. I may be a beta, but I can still kick ass... now go on, get the hell out of here!"

He shooed Jared forwards, almost knocking him into Jensen, and the older man was surprised to find himself laughing once more as he was ushered towards the door. His amusement seemed to be relaxing Jared a little, which was a bonus, and the younger man's face had split into a small grin.

"Sorry about him," He smiled as the door swung shut behind them with an air of finality. "He can be a bit of an ass, but he's a good friend... even if he is a little overprotective at times."

Jensen nodded.

"It takes a hell of a lot more than that to scare me off," He teased. "Besides which, it's... kind of nice to know that you've got good friends looking after you. Makes all of the stupid, macho alpha instincts in me a little less paranoid, at least."

Jared blushed prettily, though whether at the implication that he couldn't take car of himself or that Jensen's alpha instincts were paranoid about his health, the older man couldn't tell for certain.

Still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat triumphant that when - partway down the first flight of stairs - he reached out and grasped the younger man's hand, Jared didn't pull away. Instead, he offered Jensen a sweet smile that had most (if not all) of his insides melting into a puddle of goo in the pit of his stomach.

Jesus, but he was more than a little gone for the kid already.
*
Jensen had picked out a small diner-type rescue that he'd gone to with a few friends before. It was, he figured, a pretty good place to go - not too posh, and not too crowded, but with a pleasant murmur of conversation drifting around the room. The staff were friendly, the bathrooms were clean and the food was frickin' delicious.

"I hope this is alright," Jensen queried, holding the door open for his younger mate without a second thought. Jared grinned at the seemingly automatic gesture.

"It looks great," The younger man said, genuine enthusiasm clear in his grin as the two of them headed towards a boot towards the back. "Man, it's been an age since I went to dinner someplace nice."

Jensen grinned, settling the booth.

"I know the feeling," He confessed. "Usually 'going out' entails Chris and Steve dragging me to some skeevy diner or bar for a burger. It's nice to go someplace where the booths don't make your ass ache after a few minutes."

Jared let out a startled laugh. "I know, right? Either so hard that it hurts or so soft that you start sinking and worry that you'll never find your way back out again. Chad once sunk so far down that he panicked and knocked everything off the table trying to get back out again. I couldn't work out if I was more embarrassed or amused."

"Jesus," Jensen laughed. "He actually did that?"

"Oh, yeah." Jared nodded. "Trust me, I only wish I was lying."

Jensen found himself laughing again, pleased to find that this wasn't even nearly as awkward as he'd feared.

The two of them joked back and forth for a while, exchanging funny stories and commiserating about what it was like to have friends who, most likely, were certifiably insane. The paused briefly for the arrival of their food, and it wasn't until then that Jared's grin smoothed out into something a little more somber looking.

"I just..." He hesitated. "I know you said it wasn't a big deal, but I really am sorry for freaking out on you yesterday. I was an idiot. I mean, I've spent half of my life hoping for a Bondmate, and then the first thing I do is flip out? That really wasn't cool. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or made you feel like I wasn't happy about it, because I really am. You're... more than I ever could have wished for, and I know that I'm lucky to have you."

Jensen's heart swelled in his chest, and for a moment he was entirely speechless. Finally, he leant over the table and grasped the kids tightly clenched hands in one of his own, using the other to cup his face.

"You think I didn't freak out?" He asked softly. "Hell, when I went into work today I was such a nervous wreck that my boss forced me into her office to phone my mom. Seriously, I was shaking and everything. It's nothing to be ashamed of or worried about, this is a huge deal; this is... the rest of our lives. And for the record? I'm more than lucky to have you."

Jared blushed, and then frowned. "You phoned your mom?"

Jensen nodded, dropping his hand from the younger man's face and squeezing his hands reassuringly. "Yeah, dude. She's super thrilled about this whole thing - said that she couldn't wait to meet you."

"Really?"

"Really." Jensen nodded. "Like I said, we're not in any rush here, but for the record? I already know that she's going to love you."

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