Domestic Bliss (3/3)
For once, Jensen’s home first and he’s lining himself up a glass of soda as a pan of noodles boils and sauce bubbles on the stove.
There’s a huge ruckus at the doorway and Jensen hurries into the living room just as Jared’s stumbling into the apartment, cursing and shoving at the nearby bookcase as he loses his balance and tries to stay upright.
“Hey! Are you okay?” Jensen asks as he hurries to the living room.
Jared’s face is tight and red, and he hops a foot forward to disentangle his foot from the strap of Jensen’s bag. “Yeah, I’ll live,” he says tiredly.
“I made dinner. Or I’m making it now. It’s making itself on the stove,” Jensen finishes with a smile.
“Really?” Jared asks skeptically as he hauls Jensen’s bag off the floor and passes it over. “Is it gonna be edible?”
Jensen huffs playfully and heads back into the kitchen. “I am offended, just so you know.”
Jared joins him at the stove, lingering at Jensen’s side. “I’m sure you are.” He grabs a paper towel and wipes at a splatter of sauce on the stove top. “What is that?”
“Spaghetti.”
“And what?”
Jensen glances over his shoulder. “And red sauce.”
He slowly turns toward Jensen. “What does red constitute?”
“Tomatoes?”
“Were they fresh?”
“Yeah,” Jensen insists. He stirs the sauce around then mumbles, “I think.”
“So I’m guessing this spaghetti deal means you didn’t wanna go to dinner?” Jared asks as he moves to the fridge.
“For what?”
“Chad’s thing.”
Jensen turns against the counter and stares. “His thing?”
“His birthday,” Jared replies slowly. “I told you about it weeks ago. We’re going out for dinner then hitting the bar.”
They watch each other for a moment.
“You forgot.”
“No, I didn’t forget,” Jensen argues.
“I told you about it yesterday, too.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Last night. In bed,” Jared tries, though his voice gets more flat. “After I fucked you against the wall.”
Jensen perks up. “That I remember.”
There’s silence as Jared pulls a two liter from the top shelf then shakes it, a few ounces spinning in the mostly empty bottle. He turns to Jensen, holding the bottle, and gives quite possibly the shittiest look Jensen’s ever seen.
Jensen finally asks, “Why’re you so pissy?”
Jared snorts. “Right. I’m pissy.”
“Dude, no offense,” Jensen tries carefully. “But you’re pissy right now.”
“No offense?” Jared chuckles harshly.
Suddenly, the sauce bubbles over the side of the pot and sizzles on the stove top. “Oh, shit!” Jensen yelps as he shoves the pot to the back burner. But the handles burn his fingers and he drops the pot, sauce going everywhere.
It’s pouring down the front of the stove, and Jared immediately rings his arm around Jensen’s waist to haul him away from the steaming mess. “You okay?” he asks anxiously.
Jensen looks at his hands; his fingertips and the heels of each hand are burnt red and throbbing.
“I got it, c’mon, over here,” Jared soothes, nudging Jensen to the sink. He turns the water on cold, plugs up the sink, and guides Jensen’s hands into the water as it fills. He hurries to the freezer then unloads three ice trays into the water.
Bending at the waist, Jensen rests his elbows at the edge of the sink and sets his head on his bicep. He bites his bottom lips to divert his attention from the stinging, insistent pain of his hands.
Jared shuts the water off and takes a loud, deep breath. His hand is warm at Jensen’s back, sliding in between his shoulder blades as he leans into Jensen. He kisses the side of Jensen’s head and stays close. “You okay?”
“Hurts like a bitch,” Jensen admits.
Getting even closer, Jared wraps his arms around Jensen and holds firmly as his hands brush over Jensen’s shoulder and his side.
The embrace is awkward with the angle of Jensen trying to keep his hands underwater. He bites the inside of his cheek to not say anything about the hug, and looks over at the stove. “I guess dinner’s out of the question.”
Jared softly laughs and kisses Jensen’s cheek. “We can grab something on the way.”
“We really gotta go to Chad’s birthday?” Jensen asks warily.
“He’s my best friend.”
“Yeah, but -”
“I went to Danneel’s with you,” Jared argues quickly.
“Okay, but, really? We have to?”
“Yes,” he replies firmly. “Unless you’ve got third degree burns and require skin grafting, I’m demanding we go.”
Jensen pulls his hands up, now numb from the icy water. “What do we do about these?”
Jared releases him and carefully holds the back of Jensen’s hands with his thumbs soft against the palms. “They don’t look so bad. Just really red.”
“Really red, Alright, good thing you’re not a doctor.”
With a small smirk, Jared looks at him then leans in to kiss. “Tell my mother that.”
Jensen smiles then frowns when he flexes his fingers to some tightness and lingering pain. He stares down at the skin, blotchy but not blistering, so he considers himself pretty lucky.
Jared moves to the stove, wiping up some of the mess and filling the sink with dishes that Jensen dirtied while preparing dinner.
“Alright, I’m gonna go change,” Jensen says slowly, taking in his pale blue button-up now unattractively stained red. “Then we can head out?”
“After we take care of the dishes,” he returns absently as he kneels to clean up the mess on the ground
“We can do ‘em after.”
Jared looks up at him. “After what?”
“After tonight.”
“When we get in? After midnight and drunk?” Jared snorts. “That’s a great idea, Jensen.”
“Then in the morning.”
“When it’s all dried and crusty?”
Jensen scratches at the back of his head and winces with the pain of his hand. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little handicapped right now.”
Jared stands and licks his lower lip. “You can’t even help me dry?” When Jensen shrugs, Jared sighs. “At least let me clean up? This place is a pigsty and I’d rather not come home to it tonight or wake up to it tomorrow.”
“Jared, it’s fine, we’ll get it tomorrow. I’m sure my hands’ll be a hundred percent then.”
“You know how much more work it’ll be tomorrow? With everything sitting around getting stained and crusted over?”
Jensen puts a hand in the air and takes a moment before arguing, “You wanted to meet them for dinner, didn’t you? How’re we gonna do that if you’re cleaning?”
Jared pushes at Jensen’s shoulder, forcing him out of the kitchen. “Just, go, and I’ll clean up while you’re changing.”
---
It’s still tense at the bar, but Jensen breathes easy when he sees Danneel. “What’re you doing here?”
“You know I can’t pass up a reason to drink,” she smiles as she bumps his hip.
“I think the line is ‘celebrate,’” he laughs.
“Fashionably late, huh?” Chad asks when he joins them. He eyes Jensen quite sharply before he gives just a passing glance to Jared. “You missed a hell of a dinner.”
“Probably would’ve been here earlier if Jared wasn’t in love with the dish rag,” Jensen jokes, smiling at the group then frowning when he catches Jared’s dark stare.
“It’s not funny,” Jared mumbles.
“It was a little funny.”
“I’m gonna get some food,” Jared says with a pointed look at Jensen. “And beer. Chad you ready?”
Chad shakes his bottle and shrugs. “Can’t hurt.”
As soon as they’re gone, Danneel grabs Jensen’s arm. Hard. “What’s going on with you two?”
“It’s not me.” He tugs out of her grasp and grimaces. “He’s being impossible. It’s like I can’t ever win with how much shit he gives me.”
“For what?”
Jensen immediately runs off at the mouth: “He’s pissed I forgot about tonight. Pissed that we’re late. He was judging me on the food I made tonight. Like, just because it’s not his cooking it’s disgusting? And he’s always one step away from picking fights. It’s like living with my mother.”
Danneel purses her lips and her eyes slowly move over Jensen’s shoulder; Jared’s right there, handing over fresh drinks for Danneel and Jensen.
The silence between them is uncomfortable, especially as the bar is loud with music blaring through the speakers and Chad carries on a rather loud and boisterous conversation with a few friends just beyond Jared.
“So, I heard you got a new guy,” Jensen says awkwardly to Danneel, praying to break the strain.
She chokes on a rough swallow of her drink. “Who says that?”
Jensen grins at the success of deflecting attention. “I ran into Matt the other day and he said he’d seen you with a tongue down your throat.”
“Matt?” Danneel laughs. “Which one was he?”
“The one with the,” and Jensen makes a crooked move with his index finger, causing them both to laugh.
Jared laughs, too, but it’s harsher, making them both look at him.
“What?” Jensen asks.
He motions with his beer at Danneel. “Just, you tell her everything about other people, too.”
Jensen turns to Jared with a glare. “I don’t tell her everything.”
Jared gives him a long look then snorts. “Okay. How about when she said it was perfectly normal when you know what happened.”
Danneel smiles comfortingly. “It is perfectly normal, Jared. Lots of guys have trouble -”
“Just stop!” Jared yells at her as Jensen yells, “You’re not helping!”
She raises her hands. “Alright! Fight amongst yourselves.” Then she walks away.
“What’s going on?” Jensen asks. “Why’re you so pissed at me?”
Jared laughs to himself, wiping at his nose as he looks across the bar. “Why’re you always asking me?”
“It just seems like we’re -”
“I’m gonna go get some more drinks with Chad,” Jared says as he steps away. “No sense ruining his birthday.”
“Always fighting,” Jensen mumbles as Jared moves across the bar.
He finds Danneel with the rest of the group, and he can see from the corner of his eye that Jared glances over before going back to the conversation he’d been listening in on. Just as Jensen steps up to her, Chad moves in with an arm around her shoulders and she’s shrieking and pushing him away and into the bar.
“God! How many times do I have to tell you?”
Jensen puts his hand to Chad’s chest with a hard look. “Hey, leave her alone.”
Chad laughs and shoves back at him. “Man, why don’t you go back to fighting with Jared, huh?”
“What’s wrong?” Danneel asks, moving closer to him. “Are you two really fighting?”
He rubs a hand over his head and sighs. “I dunno. Just not in the celebratory mood. Gonna head home.”
“What the hell?” Chad bitches. “You two are leaving because you’re being an ass?”
Jensen’s ready to argue with Chad but he can tell that the guy looks honestly hurt that they would leave his birthday party. It bothers Jensen in a completely different manner, and makes him force a careful smile. “Nah, we’re not both leaving. I’m just heading out. Jared’s staying.”
Before anyone can argue, he leans into Danneel for a kiss on the cheek and she strokes a hand at the side of his face as he pulls back. She’s frowning and he can’t stand to see real emotion from her, because it makes him think something really is wrong.
“You know where to find me,” she says.
He nods then walks up to Jared, putting a soft hand at his back as he leans in to talk at Jared’s ear. “I’m going home. Think you can get a ride?”
“What?”
Jensen shrugs oddly. “I don’t wanna ruin Chad’s birthday by stewing. I thought you’d be happy I’m leaving.”
“I’m not ha- Jesus, Jensen,” he sighs, reaching around Jensen, trying to pull him close.
Jensen shrugs out of it with a tired glance.
Jared huffs. “It’s not a contest where you get to be the better guy by leaving the party and saying you’re doing it to make me happy.”
He pats at Jared’s side. “Have a good time. Seriously. It’s your friend’s birthday.”
---
Jensen’s home for only twenty minutes when Jared comes through the door, slamming it shut.
“I’m home now, too. Are you happy?”
Jensen throws the cap from his beer bottle to the sink and walks into the living room. “Why would I be happy that you left your friend’s birthday?”
“Because you ruined not just my night but his, too,” Jared says as he spreads his hands out.
“I didn’t make you leave,” Jensen argues. “I left so you could stay without being miserable.”
“Right,” Jared laughs. “In the span of fifteen minutes, I was asked four times why you left and what was wrong.”
“Not my fault,” Jensen laughs harshly.
“It absolutely is!” he yells back. “You’ve been starting shit for weeks and it’s not like it got any easier tonight with all my friends there.”
“What kind of shit’m I starting? You’re the one who’s judging me every time I turn around!”
“I am not!” Jared shrieks.
“Yes you are!” Jensen shouts, and his voice remains there as he throws his hands around. “You were all bitchy about doing dishes before we left today. And you’re constantly questioning what I make for dinner, like it might kill you. And your fucking hugs, Jared!” He laughs deliriously. “Hugs don’t solve the world’s problems, you know? Sometimes they’re suffocating and make things worse!”
Jared shouts back: “I ask about your food because I wonder how in the hell you never wind up in the hospital from malnutrition, given the crap you eat. And all the soda all the time! You leave it out on the counter and it goes flat and there’s never more than an inch in the bottle! I always have to throw it away for you. The kitchen is always a pigsty!”
“Oh, Jesus. You’re such a pissy little-! You think I’m a pig? Maybe you have OCD! Maybe that’s the problem!”
“Oh, right,” Jared laughs then marches to the doorway. He kicks at Jensen’s shoes and coat piled next to the Welcome mat. “I come in and trip over your shit all the time. Almost break my neck half the time. So I’m sorry that I’m a little pissy because my life flashes before my eyes on a regular basis.”
“What’re you talking about? You’re always telling me to clean up after myself, how the hell could it not be clean enough for you?”
Jared walks around the room, grabbing items off every surface and waving them at Jensen as he counts each CD, DVD, book, and envelope Jensen has left behind in the last two weeks.
Jensen’s fight deflates as he looks around the space and realizes that what he’d always considered tidy is anything but to someone else.
“This isn’t a bachelor pad, Jensen! This is my home. And every day, I come home to more mess from you.”
“It’s your home?” Jensen asks slowly. His voice is lower now, but he’s still angry and it’s obvious in the hard edge of his words. “This is your home? How do we not share a place?”
“I’m the one who cooks and cleans, And I pay most of the bills.”
Jensen’s mouth drops. “How do you pay most of the bills? We split everything.”
Jared licks his lips and sighs, staying quiet long enough to make Jensen repeat the question. He puts his hands on his hips and shifts his stance. “I pay more on the rent.”
“And why’s that, Jared?”
“I didn’t think … I wasn’t sure you could handle the payments.”
Jensen tips his head to the side. “Couldn’t you ask me that first? Instead of just taking things into your own hands? Maybe if we split the rent then I could share your self-righteousness.”
Jared’s head falls back with outrageous laughter. When he looks back at Jensen, his hand is spread wide over his chest and he’s shaking his head. “You’ve really got some anger in you over the fucking dishes. I cannot believe it.”
“It’s not just the dishes!” Jensen shouts, complete with a stomp of his foot.
“Then what is it?” Jared yells back.
“You‘re crazy. You’re picky and finicky and a nag!” Jensen complains. “You make me crazy!”
“Oh, that’s rich. Pot calling kettle black!”
Just a few seconds later, he’s stalking to the doorway, yanking his coat off the ground and shoving his feet into his shoes. “Alright, Kettle. Pot’s gonna leave so we can be assholes in separate parts of town.”
“You gonna run to Danneel and tell her all about this?”
“What?”
Jared’s face falls for a moment but he’s still pissed when he complains, “Jensen, you tell her everything. I'm starting to wonder whose relationship it really is and if you’re gonna hook up a monitor for her to watch us.” Jensen gives him an odd look and Jared argues, “Not like that. Stop being an ass. You know what I mean.”
“She’s my best friend. Sometimes I talk to her.”
“Sometimes you talk too much.”
He watches Jared, sees how his shoulders drop and his face loses a bit of anger. He feels much the same, like the fight’s leaving him, but he’s not sure he wants to even talk through more of it at this point.
They’ve both said stupid and hurtful things, and Jared’s pointed out so many of Jensen’s flaws, ones he’d never realized before and can’t think through at the moment.
Jensen pulls the door open and with one last look at Jared, he says, “I need some space,” and leaves.
Jensen’s keys are still good, and he calls out Danneel’s name as he enters his old apartment.
He stumbles through the dark living room, feet catching on the couch in its new spot, on Danneel’s purse lying middle of the walkway, and then on a pile of clothes in the hallway a few feet from her closed bedroom door.
As he untangles his foot from a tank top, he calls her name again. Then his head shoots up to the familiar sounds coming from behind her closed door.
Jensen picks up the tank top and realizes it’s a man’s shirt and not Danneel’s. “Oh,” he laughs to himself. When the door slides open enough for her to slip through, just a sheet covering up her most intimate parts, he lets out a more exaggerated, “Ohhh.”
Danneel sweeps hair out of her face and licks her lips nervously. “What’re you doing? You don’t live here anymore.”
“I’m well aware.” He smiles at her. “Kinda like old times though, huh?”
She pushes him into the living room and onto the couch before dropping next to him and turning on the lamp on the side table. “So, what’s wrong with Jared?”
“Who says anything’s wrong and I don’t just wanna visit my roommate?”
Danneel huffs. “Because it’s four in the morning and you’re not giving me the decent courtesy to finish having sex.”
“Was it any good?” he asks with a smirk.
She smacks the back of his head, and he instantly scowls while cradling the side of his head.
The bedroom door opens again. “Everything okay?” the guy asks as he comes into the living room, squinting at the light and absently scratching his shoulder.
Jensen gawks as he realizes it’s Chad shuffling into the living room in just his boxers and one of Danneel’s pink, silky robes tied to cover his torso. He watches Chad walk around the couch and settle in an arm chair, legs sprawled open to show a dangerous amount of skin.
Danneel shoves at Chad’s knee to close his legs and when she turns back to Jensen, he smacks her across the back of her head. “Ow! You asshole!” she shouts, pushing at his shoulder. “What was that for?”
“For sleeping with Chad! What the fuck?!” Jensen looks at Chad and grimaces. “No offense, dude.”
Chad waves it off. “None taken.” He puts his feet up on the coffee table and stretches his arms behind his head. “So, what’s going on with you and Jared?”
Jensen smiles tightly. “Nothing. And if there was, it’s not like you’d really care. I appreciate the offer though.”
“I’d care,” Chad argues, sounding a bit sad.
Danneel pats at Jensen’s knee. “Jen, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
Jensen rubs a hand over his face. “I don’t even know. Everything he does drives me up the fucking wall. And now, apparently, I do the same for him.”
“What happened?”
He glances at Chad and is surprised that the guy looks interested and as though he’s listening with care. Looking back at Danneel, Jensen admits, “We had a fight, and I don’t know … We’ve just never fought before. There’s been little things but then it always lightens up.” He wipes his hand over his mouth and sighs. “He says I’m always making a mess and leaving shit everywhere for him to fall over.”
“So, that’s where she gets it from,” Chad says then frowns when Danneel glares at him. “Babe, I’m sorry, but you’re a slob.”
“Babe?” Jensen asks.
Danneel winces then frowns. “Long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
She fumbles through a few words until Chad simply says, “Hate sex.”
Danneel nods with quick agreement. “Yes. hate sex. It’s hate sex.”
Jensen scrubs over his face again. “I don’t even wanna know.”
“What else did Jared say?”
“He says I run to you for everything.”
Chad and Danneel both snort and he gives them a sharp look.
“What?”
“Well, honey,” Danneel starts with a soft touch at his knee. “You are here in the middle of the night.”
Jensen leans forward, arms to his knees and hands over his face. It takes some time to steady his breathing, and he finally murmurs, “I’ve never lived with anyone but you.”
She leans into him, hand moving in soft circles at his back. “Honey, I know. But you’ve also never been serious with anyone before.” When Jensen looks over, she softly smiles. “You’re gonna fight like hell but then you love the hell out of them, too.”
“Yeah, like us,” Chad says.
“Oh, no. We’re not serious,” Danneel argues. “No offense.”
“Why does everyone keep saying ‘no offense’?”
Jensen and Danneel share a look but wisely remain quiet.
“Well, whatever,” Chad says. He drags his feet off the table and sits forward. “Look, Jay’s wild about you. And you drive him crazy, too. So, you know, don’t be so hard on him. It’s not like you’re a perfect angel.” He makes a face and when both Danneel and Jensen look at him and he adds, “Or so I’ve heard.”
Jensen snorts then pats Danneel’s knee as he rises. “Sorry for interrupting, whatever,” and he waves between them.
Danneel stands with him and grabs his elbow. “It’s late, why don’t you crash on the couch then deal with him in the morning?”
“Yeah, he probably needs a night to chill out, too,” Chad says. “He’ll be a lot easier to deal with after sweating it out with you being out and all. Trust me.”
Jensen considers it, wavering in his stance as he begins to sit back down. But then he stands up and claps his hands together. “No, I should go back.”
“Aww, you’re so mature,” Danneel coos while patting at his face.
He knocks her hand away and glares at her. “For the record, this whole thing never happened. And I mostly mean you two.”
“I tell myself that every morning,” she mumbles.
---
Jared’s asleep on the couch, turned into the back of it with the TV as the only light in the room.
Jensen toes his shoes off by the door then pauses to stare at them. He picks them up and puts them into the closet just a few feet away. As he nears the couch, his heart warms with Jared all tucked into himself despite his size, still taking up a good two-thirds of the couch.
He leans over Jared and brushes hair off his face then kisses his temple. He turns away, content to let Jared sleep, but just a few steps later, Jared shifts and mumbles his name.
“Hey,” Jensen murmurs, crouching at the side of the couch. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Wasn’t sleeping too hard anyway,” Jared replies as he rubs the back of his hand over each eye.
“I am so sorry,” he sputters out before he loses his nerve. “I’m been awful since, well, since we got married, really. Or a few days after. After being civil unioned,” he lightly jokes.
Jared rolls over to face Jensen but remains silent.
“I’ve never been with anyone like this. Never this serious. And suddenly, being around each other all the time, it felt like every other relationship I’ve been in where they started to annoy the crap out of me.”
“That’s what happens,” Jared quietly argues. “Everyone has ticks and you just have to work through them.”
“I know. Now. I know that now,” Jensen says as he settles on his knees and leans into the couch cushion, resting his arm in the small bit of space Jared’s not occupying. “And I don’t know how to work through it, but I want to.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, of course. You drive me up a wall with stupid shit around this place,” he admits sadly, even while smiling. “But I didn’t know how bad I was to you.”
“You’re not that bad,” Jared murmurs.
Jensen chuckles. “You sure?”
He gives Jensen a look. “I lived with Chad.”
“Speaking of, did you know he and Danneel were sleeping together?”
Jared snorts. “Yeah, I did.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Jensen asks with a playful glare.
“I knew it would scar you for life.”
Jensen shivers as he recalls his visit to the old apartment. “I saw Chad in his underwear. And Danneel’s robe.”
“When?” Jared asks with a light laugh.
“At their place. I … I went over there. I didn’t know where else to go.”
Jared makes a face but only nods in return, like he’s trying in earnest to not let it bother him.
Jensen skates his hand over Jared’s cheek and into his hair. He takes a deep breath then gently smiles. “I wanna fix this.”
Jared smirks. “Well, then we’re on the same page. I want you to want to fix it.”
He takes another deep breath and looks down to his fingers snagging on the seams of the couch. “This was so much easier before living together was so official.”
“Yeah,” Jared agrees quietly. “We kinda rushed it, huh?”
Jensen fights it but he eventually nods. Then he sits up and puts on an easy smile. “But we’re gonna fix it. It’s gonna work out somehow.”
“Right,” Jared agrees. “Somehow.”
“Because we love each other, and that’s what normal people do.”
Jared softly chuckles. “That is exactly what normal people do.”
Jensen moves in to kiss, a soft press of lips that slowly progresses into him leaning over Jared as Jared slides deeper into the couch. Through their kissing, Jensen mumbles, “I may still freak out once in a while.”
“I may not always have patience for that,” Jared smiles against Jensen’s mouth.
Jensen draws back enough to glance between Jared’s eyes, stroking his thumb high on Jared’s cheek. “It’s just that … I haven’t. I’ve never loved anyone before. Not like this.”
Jared wraps his arms around Jensen to reel him in. “Stop acting like that’s such a bad thing.”
When Jared stops pulling Jensen closer, Jensen shakes his head, confused. “What? What’s wrong?”
He curls his hand over Jensen’s shoulder and squeezes while slightly frowning. “Hugs don’t heal everything?”
Jensen gets off his knees to lie on Jared, barely finding room for his legs to rest among all of Jared’s bulk. “Sometimes they do.”
It’s a whole new bedroom, one Jensen hasn’t quite figured out yet for the way the sun cuts through the windows and wakes him anywhere from thirty to ninety minutes early each morning.
When he’s showered, dressed, and ready for coffee, he runs into Danneel in the kitchen and grimaces. “I think new drapes are in order.”
“Still keeping you up?” she asks over her coffee cup.
“Waking me up is more like it.”
“You wanted the south unit.”
After a few gulps of coffee, he nods gravely. “Yeah. Big mistake.”
“You know the alternative,” Danneel points out with a high eyebrow and a smirk.
He checks the clock and clucks his tongue. “Speaking of, I gotta go grab breakfast.” He spins out of the kitchen with his travel mug raised in salute.
After exiting the apartment it’s just three feet to cross a tiny patch of grass and then two short steps for him to push open the door on the north unit of the townhouse. Chad’s rushing out the door just as Jensen steps inside.
“Hey, morning,” Jensen offers quickly.
“She up?”
He nods, “Yes she is.”
“Dressed?” Chad asks with a small smile as he walks backwards.
“Pajamas.”
“The lacy ones?”
Jensen makes a face and Chad waves him off as he moves just as quickly through the other door as he’d exited his place.
Jensen shudders but turns into the home anyway. “Jay?” he calls from the front room.
“Kitchen!”
Once there, he puts his mug down on the table and slides behind Jared at the stove, arms wrapping tightly around his waist as he kisses his shoulder. “Morning.”
Jared raises his arm and shifts to the side to bring Jensen around to kiss. “Hi, morning,” he smiles warmly. “How’d you sleep?”
“For shit. Those new drapes are most definitely not dark enough.”
“We should get some blackout shades,” Jared suggests as he flips scrambled eggs in a pan. “Wanna run by the store tonight after dinner?”
Jensen leans into Jared to watch the bacon sizzle next to a pan of home-style potatoes. “Those things actually work?”
“Mine work great. You’d know that if you ever stayed,” he lightly jokes.
“When’s chow time?” Jensen asks to distract Jared.
---
After a run to the Bed Bath & Beyond for blackout panels, they put them up in Jensen’s bedroom. Or, Jared does and Jensen watches from the bed, admiring the way Jared’s back stretches beneath a thin cotton tee as he reaches up and across the windows to set the drapes.
Upon finishing, Jared shifts on the short footstool and smiles. “Should be all set.”
Jensen turns to his back, lolling his head to the side and spreading his legs enough to make a point. “Just one more thing, if you don’t mind?”
Jared chuckles, stepping down the stool and to the bed. As he crawls over the mattress, he murmurs, “I really do not mind at all.”
“Good,” Jensen whispers in return, back arching him up to Jared. “Because I just spent my last few bucks. Have to pay you in other ways.”
“I think we can make arrangements.” Jared drops down to nuzzle Jensen’s jaw, moving down his neck and sucking into the dip of Jensen’s throat.
Jensen’s all harsh breathing as Jared licks across his collarbone, and his hands slip into Jared’s hair, fingers tightening as Jared grinds his hips down. Jared slides back up to mouth along Jensen’s jaw and finally at his ear, nibbling on the lobe and driving Jensen crazy … in the good way.
“You’re a really great husband,” Jensen murmurs against Jared’s hair. “Fixing my shades, and now this.”
“Not to mention letting you live in a completely different apartment.”
Jensen’s ready to comment on Jared’s common, passive-aggressive line, but he’s sidetracked with Jared’s hand slipping inside his pants and his fingers stroking over Jensen’s dick. “Yeah, that, too,” he breathes out. He rolls his head to the side, staring out the open bedroom door, and sighs. “Should get the door.”
Jared shifts to his knees and straddles Jensen’s hips. “Danneel’s next door. I think she’s spending the night.” He slowly undoes his button and fly then pulls his dick out and strokes slowly. “How about, as payment for my work today, you fuck me?”
Groping Jared’s ass, Jensen grinds up into him. “I will love you forever.”
He smirks and leans down with his mouth hovering an inch above Jensen’s. “You should anyway.”
“I will anyway,” Jensen warmly smiles. “I so will.”
In due time, they each undress, and Jared grabs lube from Jensen’s side table. He coats his fingers then slowly works his middle finger in, eyes dropping shut and mouth slipping open.
Jensen squeezes Jared’s thighs as he watches Jared’s face, and his stomach burns with how it makes him unbearably hard, still thrilled whenever Jared does this. “Go for two,” Jensen murmurs and rubs his palms up Jared’s legs, pressing his thumbs into the crease between Jared’s hips and thighs.
Jared rises off his knees and rolls his shoulder as he slips a second finger in, and they both inhale loudly. Jensen can’t manage to not do something, and he lubes his hand and starts to palm himself, fingers light as they skate up his dick.
“Can you do three?” Jensen asks softly.
Mouth curling, Jared looks down on him with dark eyes. “You want me to?”
“I wouldn’t mind it,” he smirks back.
Jared’s abdomen ripples as he repositions himself and pushes three fingers in together.
“Dear, God,” Jensen groans as he quickly sits up and mouths at Jared’s chest, wanting to be all over him. He moves his hand to Jared’s ass and runs his fingers around the stretched rim of Jared’s hole, padding at Jared’s fingers as they slide in and out.
“Jensen,” he whimpers with his mouth down to the top of Jensen’s head. “I’m ready.”
“You sure?” Jensen asks as he strokes himself with his other hand, spreading lube over the tip and down the shaft.
“If you don’t stop touching me and I keep doing this, then I’m done.”
Jensen rubs over Jared’s hip. “Okay, I’m ready, too.”
Jared lifts up then lowers himself onto Jensen’s dick. It’s a slow slide until Jensen’s balls deep, and the heat and tightness of Jared around him makes his breath catch. “God, I love you,” Jensen murmurs.
Their mouths meet with tongues pressing against each other, all wet and messy as Jared starts to rock over Jensen. Jensen kicks his hips up into Jared as best he can, but it’s mostly just Jared sliding down onto Jensen, hips rolling to increase each movement, to hit different angles each time.
“Love you,” Jared mumbles into Jensen’s mouth, and he speeds up as he keeps mumbling the words. He swings his hips back and forth as he rises and drops back down, fucking himself faster and faster.
Jensen rings his arms around Jared’s waist and holds him tight, whimpering into Jared’s chest as he gets lightheaded and his orgasm builds. He pulls Jared in tight each time he comes down and pushes up as hard as he can. Until finally, he comes in Jared’s ass, still holding Jared impossibly close.
Jared slips away just enough to get his hand between them to jerk himself off. Jensen pushes his head into Jared’s chest as he watches and pulls on Jared’s hips to move him over his dick as Jared finishes, shooting come on both their bellies.
Falling back to the bed, Jensen sighs with a lazy smile. Jared lifts off and rolls to the side as Jensen rolls the other way and off the bed. He comes back with a wet washcloth to clean up and when Jared’s done, Jensen sucks a kiss at Jared’s mouth then drops back to the mattress. He rests on his side with his elbow under his head, and Jared turns to his side, ringing an arm over Jensen’s waist.
“I don’t wanna move,” Jared grumbles.
Jensen snorts and Jared moves in to nip at his jaw.
“Just gimme five minutes and I’ll go back.”
He pulls Jared close and slips a leg between Jared’s. “You can have a little more. I’m not counting.”
They each fall into a light sleep, but when Jensen slips to his back and softly snuffles, Jared wakes and turns over to grab his clothes.
After pulling his pants and shirt back on, he kisses the corner of Jensen’s mouth. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jensen just barely nods and smiles. He grabs Jared’s neck, squeezing as he brings him down to kiss properly. “G’night.”
“Night, hubby.”
He groans, but lets it go.
When he meets Jared for breakfast - pancakes with honest-to-goodness maple syrup and extra crispy hash browns - Jensen’s grinning from ear to ear.
“How’d you sleep?” Jared asks just after Jensen kisses him.
Jensen leans into him, humming and again sucking on Jared’s lower lip. “Like a baby,” he murmurs.
“Good. I’m glad,” Jared says warmly in return, hand soft over the curve of Jensen’s back.
He settles against Jared’s side, mouth to Jared’s shoulder as he watches him flip the last few pancakes on the griddle. “Been a few days since you stayed the night.”
Jared looks over his shoulder. “Yeah?”
“The shades look great,” Jensen says absently. Their eyes meet for a moment before Jensen focuses on the food again. “You should check out your hard work.”
There’s a soft curl to Jared’s mouth, growing slowly but lighting up his face as it goes. “I’d love to stay the night.”
“Don’t get too comfy,” Jensen insists as he turns to the fridge, though he’s smiling, too. “I just would like a morning blow job once in a while.”
Jared laughs and shakes his head. “I promise to not smother you at night and to blow you in the morning.”
“That should’ve been in our vows.”
They’re now grinning at each other as they stand at the table, putting plates of food and glasses of juice down. “We can use it in a re-commitment ceremony.”
Jared sits first and Jensen leans over to kiss him. “You’re the best husband I’ve ever had.”
“I best be your only,” Jared playfully warns.
“Without a doubt.”