Best Laid Plans | 1
Jensen is late and Danneel is going to kill him. She won’t take excuses or the sorriest of looks he can aim at her. It doesn’t matter how awful traffic is or how poorly this cabbie is navigating it, she’ll fire him an ugly glare and rip into him the second they’re alone for missing such an important appointment.
He knocks on the fiberglass keeping the cabbie secure from troublesome customers, or probably so they don’t strangle him when he doesn’t manage to change lanes at the right time or get them where they’re going in a decent amount of time. Like now: Jensen is already ten minutes late to meet Danneel and it’s likely he won’t be getting there any time soon.
“Can you take Madison?” he asks as nicely as possible, even when he’s sure he looks aggravated. “Or Senate?” he says before mumbling, “Anything that moves.”
The cabbie tilts his head towards Jensen, but only responds to whoever’s on the other side of his blue tooth.
“They’ll give anyone a license.” Jensen rolls his eyes and pulls his cell out, typing a quick message to let Danneel know he’s on the way and trying to make it. With a sudden jerk of the cab, Jensen smacks his face into the fiberglass and drops his cell in the footwell. He curses as he grabs it and when he looks up, he sees the cabbie smirking
Sighing, Jensen fishes his wallet out of his back pocket and counts enough bills to cover the trip so far. “Thanks anyway!” he complains and tosses the money through the small opening of the fiberglass. He hops out of the cab and rushes up to the sidewalk, hustling as he eyes the approaching street sign, then he writes a text to Danneel for an update and attempts to get his bearings for where he is and where he needs to be.
He jogs around the corner then smacks into something hard, dropping right to his back with a loud groan, pain shooting across the back of his skull and down his spine. “Oh, god,” he moans, shifting on the cement and blinking up to a blurry giant wincing down at him.
“Man, you okay? What’s with people always in such a hurry? Jesus,” the guy rattles off as he pulls Jensen up by the elbow.
Jensen stretches from side to side, feeling a hard pull of his back and looking around. The impact of the cement has him woozy and he’s suddenly confused as to what he was doing before he fell. He looks to the guy in front of him and blinks. “What?”
“That guy,” he says, pointing from where Jensen had come. “He rammed right into you and then just took off. Hit and run on foot seems to be a pretty criminal offense. Where’s the police when you need them?”
Glancing over his shoulder, Jensen can’t spot any one specific in the rush of pedestrians hurrying through their lunch hours. Suddenly the guy is wiping down Jensen’s suit shirt and dusting off his back, so Jensen spins to stare at him.
“You okay?”
Jensen’s still completely lost, and he takes some time to look the guy over. He’s built like a freaking train, but that betrays how earnest and worried (and good looking) he is when he watches Jensen. “You sure I didn’t run into you?” The guy’s eyebrows draw together and Jensen tries to smirk despite the headache brewing at the base of his skull. “I mean, look at you,” he says, motioning up and down the tall man.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Nah, I’m sure. I probably wouldn’t have let you back up if that were the case.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Jensen smiles easily. “Then I wouldn’t have anything to complain about.”
“That’s a great answer,” he grins, putting his hand out. “Jared Padalecki.”
“Jensen Ackles,” he replies easily, returning the strong grip. “Nice to not run into you.”
“Well, it could’ve been better, as we’ve already established,” Jared replies with a playful tilt of his head. “You good, though?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Jensen is mindful enough not add now with an inappropriate look, considering they’ve only just met and are standing on a busy sidewalk, though it’s hard to ignore the want to keep flirting right where they stand.
“Well, good,” he agrees with an easy smile and nod. “Would hate to think you’re totally useless for the rest of the day, considering how quickly you were rushing around anyway.”
“Oh shit,” he groans, rubbing over his neck as pain spikes there upon being reminded. “I’m late, and Danneel’s gonna kill me. My roommate, she’s got this hormonal thing - short temper and -” He starts to shuffle away. “I gotta go, but it was nice to meet a Good Samaritan. Thanks!”
As Jensen’s jogging off, Jared calls out to him and hurries to catch up. “Hold up, you dropped these.” He’s got Jensen’s wallet and cell in his hands, and he’s fumbling to hold them both while typing at the phone. “Here,” he smiles. “Maybe we can meet up without you laid out on the sidewalk.”
Jensen takes his things back and smirks at the newly programmed contact. “Definitely, we will. If she doesn’t kill me first.” Jensen makes quick steps and waves over his shoulder as he runs off.
He’s sweaty when he makes it into the doctor’s office and to the exam room where Danneel’s reclining on the medical bench in a blue gown. He knows he’s late enough to have missed the important parts and he’s certain Danneel’s going to gut him for it given the way her face is all twisted and pained.
“I’m so sorry, traffic was a bitch, and I had this shitty cab, and then,” he rambles and then he stops. He spots the flush on her normally beautiful face and how she bites into her lower lip with wet eyes pinning him in place. “Dan?” he asks softly.
She shuts her eyes and barely shakes her head, mouthing no.
Back at their apartment, he brings a cup of tea into her bedroom, but she shuts her eyes when he offers it to her, so he puts it on the bedside table. He lies down next to her, sitting up so he can rest his arm above her head, pull her hair away from her face, and set his other hand over hers at her belly. “It’s gonna be okay,” he murmurs. When she doesn’t reply, he threads his fingers through hers and squeezes.
Her fingers tighten around his and she breathes deep. “Five times now. When does it all become just a stupid pipe dream?”
Jensen shuffles lower to hold her closer and kiss her cheek. “It’s not just a dream. It takes time.”
“I’m not getting any younger,” she mumbles. “Even if it does work, whenever that is, I’ll be the oldest mother in the books.”
He snorts and squeezes her tight.
It’s been nearly twenty years now for their friendship, and they’ve seen more of each other than any lifetime of friends - from partying in college to surviving Masters theses and first jobs, laughably bad relationships to ones that had gone sour too soon and made them both irritable and skeptical. After countless years of living together and being everything for one another, and both fearing their far-too-impending forties, he made the ultimate commitment to his best friend and agreed to help her get pregnant. He’s been with her every step of the process thus far, a never-ending string of doctors’ appointments, vitamins and hormones, check-ins, and baby names. He’s sworn to father and raise a child with Danneel.
Not many know about it, but none of their friends or family has questioned the bond they share. He can’t imagine his life without her, or letting her go through this without any help. Over the years, she’s hardly asked him for much of anything beyond love and support for all that they’ve lived through together.
He hasn’t once questioned the arrangement, but he’s beginning to think that living through Danneel’s pain each time the procedure fails could make him call it off.
“We just keep trying,” Jensen insists anyway, certain they both need a dose of good faith. “It’s gotta stick sometime.” She clenches her eyes shut and he winces at his poor choice of words. “You know what I mean.”
“But when is enough, enough?” she asks emotionally.
He rubs their hands over her stomach and smiles warmly. “When we’ve got a li’l bun in the oven.”
She chuckles thickly and a tear spills out. “Since when are you the optimist in this relationship?”
He’s seen all sides to Danneel. This one here - heartbroken and defeated - isn’t new so much as hardly witnessed. It makes his heart hurt all the same.
Jensen wipes her stray tear away and keeps his smile in place. “Since you needed me to be.”
Thank you she mouths, and he kisses her cheek. “Maybe it’s better you weren’t there,” she says softly.
“I promise I’ll be there every time. No matter what.”
Danneel carefully smiles and turns into him to snuggle against his chest. “You’re the best man I’ve ever had in my life.”
“I know,” he responds smugly and pinches her side, making her laugh. “No one can compete with me.”
She rests against him and picks at a button on his shirt with one of her sweeter smiles in place. “What’m I gonna do when some guy realizes how great and modest you are?”
“Well, they haven’t yet, so I think we’re safe from that horror.” Just then, his phone beeps in his pocket, alerting him of what’s likely a work email, and he frowns. He pulls it out and after a few mishits on the menu, he’s staring at the new contact entered just an hour or so ago. He tries to stop the smile coming with the memory of his run-in on the sidewalk, but it’s useless. Instead of checking email, he shuts the phone off and tosses it onto the mattress just beyond Danneel. “Speaking of, some guy knocked me down when I was running to meet you.”
“Did you slap the shit out of him? With these hormone levels, I would have.”
“I know you would,” he chuckles. “But no, I didn’t even see him - before or after. And then this other guy helped me up, hit on me even harder, and gave me his number.”
She pulls back enough to give him a strange look, one he knows is her preparing to mock him for something or other. “How unfortunate for you,” she says flatly. He laughs and she smiles warmly, way more familiar to their friendship and easy talking. “Are you gonna call him?”
“I don’t know.” Jensen thumbs a few strands of hair off her cheek. “I’ve got a pretty good thing here.”
“You could at least have some fun while dealing with my drama.”
“What’re you talking about?” he asks with playful confusion. “I love your drama.”
“And I love yours,” she insists, softly laughing. “So go do something stupid then come back and tell me all about it.”
“I’ll think about it.”
He doesn’t think about Jared. Much.
There’s a small nag that he should, and could, call the guy, but he’s set himself to the notion that he’ll be single forever. Not lonely, though; he’s got Danneel, and he knows they’ll be here forever and tied together as parents of whatever little bundle they create.
Besides, he’s not about to ruin Danneel’s surprising change of mood when he returns from a mid-morning run that weekend.
“Thirsty?” she asks before he’s even made it three feet into their apartment. He steps up to the counter splitting the living room from the kitchen. She’s got a new bounce in her step as she moves to her side of the counter and slides a glass of something orange and pulpy towards him.
“Well look at you,” he breathes out, lungs still working through his cool-down. She had stuck to her bed since they returned from the doctor on Wednesday, holed up in her room longer than she had after all the other times the doctors told her the procedure hadn’t worked. But here she is dressed, hair done, and smiling.
“You’re all fresh-faced and … cooking,” he says, almost like a question. He taps the side of the glass, wary of whatever’s in it.
“I’ve got a second wind.” Danneel makes a face then crookedly smiles. “Okay, maybe a sixth wind. But the sun’s out, it’s the weekend, and I’m ready for round seven.”
“Also ready to poison me, apparently. Is this safe for human consumption?” he asks, pointing at the concoction before him.
“Yes, you jerk,” she replies. When he frowns, she narrows her eyes and punches his shoulder.
“Ow!” he snaps, flinching away from her.
“Oh, please. I’m a girl.”
“Who hits like a man,” Jensen whines, rolling his shoulder through the twinge of pain. She rolls her eyes and flicks his chin with a slim finger. “A man with very tiny hands, but you’re freaking bony.”
“Just drink it,” she groans. “I’ve finally cracked open that juicer from your work party.”
He picks the glass up and assesses the thickness of the juice, lightly swirling it and watching the pulp stick to the inside of the glass. “You dusted it off first, right? That party was in 2008.” He glances past her and sees the dish drainer full of damp dishes and one side of the counter covered by two dish towels with bowls and glasses turned over to dry. “Oh, wow. You’ve been … busy.”
“Sixth wind,” she nods with a pert smile.
“You know you’re not supposed to start nesting until after you’re pregnant, right?”
“Okay, none for you.” She grabs the glass from his hands and he plays up a groan.
“I was so looking forward to that.”
Danneel eyes him then puts it back in front of him. “On second thought, I’d rather witness your horror.”
It’s not that she’s a bad cook, really. She just doesn’t often cook or clean or do anything domestic. Her strength is all in her emotions and support, which has been proven by two decades of dedicated friendship and solidified his decision to be everything he can to her. Still, it doesn’t mean he’s not going to rib her for what she does lack.
Jensen takes a small sip, and when he’s not immediately horrified by the orange juice, he takes a fuller gulp. That’s when he tastes something bitter and off about it. “Mmm, yeah,” he says with a push, trying to cover his disgust with it. “What’s in it?” he asks, keeping some of the liquid in his mouth just so he doesn’t have to punish his stomach with more of it.
“Oranges and pineapple.”
“Is that it?”
“And carrots,” she replies with a smile. She turns back to the juicer to unload the canister and fill a clean carafe with what’s left of the awfulness, which is exactly when Jensen spits the drink back into the glass. “There’s this new high-Vitamin A, high-fiber diet supported by vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots, both of which are high in carotene.”
When she looks at him from over her shoulder, he fakes a sip and strong swallow and smiles at her. “So you’re aiming for a kid with 20/20?”
“Vitamin A is good for cellular formation, thank you very much.”
He frowns at the thought that she’s reinforcing her already particularly high-vitamin specialty diet to account for the bad news of Wednesday. Then he takes a long moment to eye her. “You’re reading those message boards again aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” she admits oddly.
He knows he sounds sharp when he asks, “Why?”
She sighs and rolls her eyes. “They are not witches, Jensen.”
“I did not call them witches,” he insists.
“You’re always mocking them and saying they’re crazy, pathological liars.”
“I would never,” he argues. “I called them holistic psychosomatics.”
“You said they’re all psychotic bitches,” she fires back, hands planted on her hips and aiming a dark look at him.
His eyes lift up towards the ceiling as he thinks. “Okay, that sounds a little familiar.” He gets a towel to the face for it, but they’re both smiling and it’s more like them than it has been in weeks.
Danneel’s been strung up with worry for the recent procedure and praying through the various rounds of in vitro in hopes that this last time would be the money ball. Jensen can admit he’s been relatively reserved while being supportive, keeping his anxiety to himself to be her crutch. It’s been exhausting for them both.
“So what else did Mother Goose, Web M.D., suggest?” he asks, nudging the glass away.
“Really?” she asks, eying the juice.
He gives his saddest look and nods. “Honey, it’s awful.”
“Maybe I can spike it with some vodka, make it go down faster.” At his immediate shock, she laughs and snags the towel from his hands just to smack him in the face again, albeit nicely this time. “Kidding!” She rings the towel through the handle of the oven, pulling neatly at the edges. “The Mother Board listed some other dietary supplements I’m gonna check out, but for now, they insist that a low-stress lifestyle is in order.”
Jensen rolls his eyes; he wishes she were kidding about the name of the site she can’t keep away from. “You know what would be low stress? Not trying out your new recipes on me.”
“You’re just a taste tester, not a full-blown experiment.”
He nods at her with a smooth, “Mmhmm.” He watches her move through the kitchen and realizes it’s the cleanest it’s been in nearly two months, and when he shifts to sit at the stool tucked under the counter, he sees that the living room is nearly spotless, too. “Are we having company?”
“I’m doing manis and pedis.” He eyes her and purses his lips, because he’s not committed for that much. “Low stress, Jensen.”
“Again, I’m not your guinea pig.”
“Ahh, whatever,” she sighs then smiles. “Mom’s bringing me some Grandma Elta home remedies, and then we’re doing some new feng shui arrangement she saw in the new Rachael Ray.”
Jensen groans immediately, twisting around on the stool and wincing. “No, Danneel! We have a rule - it’s the only rule!”
“This apartment is mine as much as it is yours,” she fights back. “The lease and our rent says so. I’m free to do what I need to do.”
“Damnit, Danneel!” he whines. “You know you have to warn me when your mom’s coming.”
“But she loves you!”
He groans again and gives her a pitiful look. “Yeah, well, too much sometimes.”
“She’s coming to help.”
Jensen’s eyes widen and he snarks, “Oh, I bet she will.”
Danneel forces a lame smile and waves him off. “Whatever, you stink. Go shower.”
Hopping off the stool, he steps down the hallway with a long sigh. “I’d say happily, but this totally sucks.”
“Hey, Jensen?” she calls after him.
“What?”
“As warning? My mother’s coming.”
He’d called pretty much everyone in his phone and was met with the same result: no one’s available and there’s no escaping Mama Harris. He at least puts it off for a bit when there’s steady knocking at the front door and he doesn’t budge from where he’s laid out on his bed with a Supernanny marathon on the TV in the corner.
He knows it ain’t pretty, but he excuses it away as research for the big day.
“Get the door!” Danneel calls from the bathroom.
He doesn’t care if she’s holed up with a long bout of irritable bowel syndrome; he’s not answering the door.
“Jensen!”
“No!”
When Danneel finally stomps down the hallway and stops at his door, he feeds her a winning smile. “You are cruel and heartless,” she complains then adds, “And ugly.”
“No need to get rude,” he whines.
She laughs as she heads to the front door and, even from across the apartment, he can hear the outburst of Danneel’s mom cooing over her only daughter. Jensen makes faces and mocks the words, but he freezes when he hears her mom ask where he is.
With Helene Harris loudly calling for him, repeatedly, he groans, rolls off the bed, and drags himself into the living room. “Helene,” he sounds out sweetly when he reaches them in the front room. “How are you?”
“Oh, my favorite guy,” she gushes and shoves three bags into Danneel’s arms before dumping another two onto the counter. “Come here youuuuu,” she coos at him.
Jensen moves into her embrace and shouldn’t be surprised when she wraps him in a bear hug, shucks them from side to side, and wetly kisses his cheek, but he always is. “Hi,” he says pathetically.
She cups his cheeks and squeezes his face as she grins at him. “How are you, sweetheart? You doing okay? Getting enough sun? Are you eating? You look so thin and pale.”
“I am thin and pale,” he replies as he pulls her hands away.
She frowns and instantly inflicts motherly guilt. “But you look … more so than the last time.”
Jensen shoots Danneel a quick glare. “Well, thank you.”
Danneel grins at him, all tart and smug, like she’s happy he’s tortured by this. “Mama, why don’t you sit down and we’ll take care of this stuff,” she offers while rearranging the bags in her arms.
“Yeah, why don’t you relax and Danneel will take care of things,” he nods with a smile.
“You are helping,” Danneel insists.
“I have plans.”
“Since when?”
“Since now.” He grins and pats Helene’s shoulder as he steers her towards the couch. “I bet you had a long drive into the city and need to take a load off. Get your feet all comfy for those great pedicures you guys have lined up tonight.”
“You’re not joining us?” Helene asks sadly.
“I’m afraid I can’t. But next time, sign me up.”
“I’m holding you to that,” Danneel says from the kitchen. He grimaces at her and she sweetly smiles. “Have fun with your new plans.”
“I promise I will.”
He doesn’t have a single thing lined up, but getting away from the apartment and out from under Helene’s critical, motherly eye is his main concern. He loops around the neighborhood, stops at a corner coffee shop for a cup, and ropes through a nearby park. Sitting on an empty park bench before a wide lawn of a dog park, he fiddles with his phone and plays Scrabble with Tom. After he clears his letters for a 56-point score, he fires off a message to him: too busy to hang, but not too much for this?
Jamie’s cousin’s wedding. How many points for sanctimonious?
Jensen laughs and shuts down his messaging system when something occurs to him. He flips through his contacts, hovering over Jared the Good Samaritan as he smiles at the details in the entry. The address is “The Intersection of 12th and Sidewalk”, where he’d been plowed over by an unknown pedestrian, and he chuckles.
In seconds, someone’s answering with a rushed, “Yeah, hi.”
“Hi? Jared?”
“Yeah,” is the short reply.
“Hey, it’s Jensen, from 12th and Sidewalk,” he tries playfully, sitting back. “Is this a bad time?”
Jared starts off with a crabby, “Bad time, good time? Does it really matter with random phone calls,” and ends with a short laugh. “Wait, nevermind.” Another quick laugh, bright but nervous, and Jared is nicer, more like he was on Wednesday. “12th and Sidewalk. That was one of my better moments.”
“Much better than the last few minutes,” Jensen jokes.
“Sorry, it’s just been a long day.”
“Day ain’t half over.”
“I know, right?” Jared chuckles tiredly. “God, I’ve been running around for hours it seems, chasing after my stupid dog. Who really isn’t that stupid considering he’s figured out how to get my front door open and ran right out the front lobby.”
Jensen laughs, trying to imagine a dog’s paw wrapped around a doorknob. “How in the hell did he do that?”
“I have no clue,” Jared laughs back. “He’s got four stubby digits and no opposable thumbs. Some days even I can’t get the damned door open.”
“And you’ve got yourself some good paws there, if I remember correctly.” Jared’s low rumble of a laugh warms Jensen right in his chest, and he’s grateful his line wasn’t as cheesy as it seemed coming out of his mouth.
“And you’ve got yourself a good memory.”
“It’s hard to forget a knight in shining flannel.”
“Oh, and a great sense of humor, too,” Jared snips right back.
“You don’t even know,” he replies smugly.
“So, what’s up? Fall face first in a parkway lately?”
Jensen smiles. “Now who’s the funny one? I’m taking tips from your dog and escaping my apartment. I have no plan so now I’m at Smithfield Park watching dumb humans chase smart dogs.”
Jared laughs broadly, and Jensen still can’t get over how great a sound it is or how easy this conversation is going, how much they’re clicking just minutes into their second conversation. “Smithfield down on 45th?”
“That’s the one.”
“I’ll likely regret this, after all it’s not like he deserves a vacation, but I could be down there in twenty and let him loose.”
“You sure you wanna do that?” Jensen asks slyly. “Sic him on all these innocent bystanders?”
“I’ve done worse things.”
Jensen wonders if he’s about to do something even worse, but he figures he’s not left with many options. Go home to Danneel and Helene and serve himself up for some prime mothering that he never lets his own mom get away with, or take Jared up on his offer, listen to Danneel’s suggestion, and start himself some drama of his own.
“Well, I’ve got myself coffee and no place to go.”
Jared chuckles. “You’re a cheap date and I like it.”
When Jared shows up, he hands Jensen a new coffee as his dog races inside the fenced-off area with a few new friends. “Try this,” he insists with an easy smile.
“Last time I heard that, I was coughing up liquid carrot.”
“You what?”
“You heard me.” Jensen smiles and asks, “What’s in this?”
“Coffee and other stuff.” It’s said simply, but Jared’s eyes are playful as he drinks from his own cup.
“Seriously, liquid carrot. And probably sweet potato and pumpkin.”
“What?” he laughs unevenly.
“I wouldn’t put it past her to put everything orange to the mix.”
“Just drink it,” Jared insists. “I’ve got a thing about guessing coffee.”
“A thing?”
“An intuition.”
“Are you psychic?” Jensen recalls his conversation with Danneel in the kitchen this morning and eyes Jared warily, though with a hint of a smile. “Or a warlock?”
“I am neither of those things,” Jared grins. “But apparently you’re paranoid of your cook.”
Jensen nods in agreement and slowly sips from the cup. It’s fresher than his at this point and steaming like Jared just grabbed it off a nearby cart. It’s not his particular preference, but it passes.
“So how’d I do?”
“Well, it’s hot.”
Jared smirks. “Like me.”
“And sweet.”
“Also like me.”
Jensen gives him a sharp look that evens out into something more heated. “And incredibly smooth.” At Jared’s equally intimate gaze, Jensen takes another drink and nods. “You’ve done well, Young Skywalker.”
“It is a gift,” Jared nods, smirking at his coffee cup and drinking. “And a curse. But mostly a gift. Earns me a lot of points with the fellas.”
“Please tell me you don’t actually say fellas when you do this trick.”
“Is it working?”
Jensen shifts towards the fenced-in dogs trampling around as if they’re free with so many other mutts to play with, all so he doesn’t show his cards and grin right at Jared. “Maybe a little.”
He knows it’s more like a lot, and Jared apparently does, too, given the sly look he shoots Jensen’s way before he also turns to watch the dogs at play.
Jensen points towards the fence. “Which one’s yours?”
“The one about to chase his tail.”
“I thought cats did that.”
“I told you he’s kinda dumb.” Jared chuckles to himself and slides lower on the bench to stretch his far-too-long legs draped in faded but perfect denim. If they weren’t in public, Jensen would like to climb over them and plant himself in Jared’s lap. Also, if he didn’t have fresh coffee. “But he’s got heart. Also like me.”
“You’re dumb, but have a heart. Got it,” Jensen says with a knowing nod.
“This is not how I saw this going, I gotta say.”
“You found me all tree posed on the cement, I have to redeem myself,” Jensen insists.
“Tree posed?”
“It’s from chair yoga,” he answers on reflex then frowns at himself for saying it.
Jared gives him a long, skeptical glance. “You do chair yoga?”
“My roommate does.” Jensen thinks over the modified positions Danneel took on just after this last fertilized egg was implanted and immediately realizes this is not the conversation to be having with a guy who’s lined up for a good time.
Thankfully, Jared lets it go and drinks more coffee. “Your roommate is Danneel, the one you were racing to meet the other day, right? Did you make it?”
He fights the frown at what all happened that afternoon. “No, I was still late.” He clears his throat and asks, “So, what do you do?” as he slides to the side, hitching his knee onto the bench beside Jared and deflecting all possibility for where that line of talk could go. “You know, besides coffee genie?”
Jensen learns quickly that Jared talks, a lot, but he’s fun and engaging and also listens when Jensen adds to the conversation. He’s got a great, wide smile, addictive dimples in the middle of his tan cheeks, and a set of killer hands that restlessly stroke his own cup once it’s gone empty.
When the sun’s dropping down and the dog park is thinning out, Jensen joins Jared to walk the excitable Harley back to Jared’s apartment, wanting to stretch out his escape from Mama and Daughter Harris, not to mention his time with Jared.
They’ve covered simple topics, all easy talk and even easier flirtation. Jensen decides that Helene should visit more often if it means running out for an impromptu coffee date that’s this entertaining and going this well, considering Jared’s shooting him a smooth smile at the front steps to his three-story apartment building.
“You wanna come up and check out Harley’s digs? He’s got a sick collection of pig ears and a stash of my half-eaten flip flops.”
Jensen glances up at the building and grants Jared a smooth smile. “I love pig ears.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to fight my boy off,” Jared jokes as he lets Harley and Jensen inside. “He’s got a mean possessive streak he picked up on the streets.”
“On the streets? He’s totally hard core.”
“He is,” Jared nods, leading the way up two flights of stairs. “He’s settled now, but the kid’s still got some fight in him. Lord only knows what he was up to before the shelter got him.”
Jensen nods with him, following the last few steps as Jared keeps going.
“Poor mutt just stared at me with the saddest eyes and I couldn’t help but bring him home. In addition to my coffee instincts, I’ve got a bit of a hero complex. Just as a warning.”
He laughs, and then feels his stomach swoop when Jared unlocks his apartment, lets Harley rush ahead, and motions him inside. He’s really going into Jared’s apartment, after spending just a few hours of modest coffee talk at the park with the guy, and while he’s more than content to make the most of whatever time they have today, it still makes him anxious. “What else do you save?”
“Kids in burning buildings, cats in trees, and the occasional damsel on the sidewalk.”
Jensen’s so close to gushing at Jared for all the easy banter they’ve got going, but he’s quickly quieted, and eased, by Jared’s sudden show of nerves.
Jared spins in the living room and vaguely gestures around. “So this is my place.”
Jensen points towards the corner where pieces of raw hide are precariously stacked. “And Harley’s pyramid.”
“I told you he’s got himself magic paws.”
“Some magic teeth, too,” Jensen says sympathetically. He rubs at a side table with chew marks at the corner and frowns. “I’d hate to see where he sleeps.”
“Mainly in my bed. Boy has himself some codependency issues,” Jared jokes.
Jensen looks Jared over, from head to toe and back up just to make his point. “That’s too bad.”
The way Jared’s eyes flicker down Jensen’s body says he gets Jensen’s meaning. “That can be rectified very quickly. He’s gotta learn some time.”
He tips his head with a leading smile and Jared makes quick work to move Harley from the bedroom and into the kitchen, locking a kiddie gate in the doorway. Jensen eyes the height of it compared to Harley’s size and asks, “That thing actually work?”
“It’s enough to distract him.” Jared smirks and walks backward through the hallway. “You still game?”
Jensen takes a deep breath and his smile is broad as he says, “Put me in, coach.”
Once they’re in the bedroom with the door closed, there’s loud rattling in the front of the apartment that Jensen figures is Harley getting free from the kitchen. Jared waves it off with an easy, “He’ll live.”
More unsafe sounding noises erupt and Jensen says, “I’m not sure your stuff will.”
“Let me worry about that later.”
He’ll readily state that their back-and-forth it satisfying, but he’s not disappointed when it’s put on hold for better things. Mostly Jared undressing and showing off more skin than most of L.A. “Oh, wow,” Jensen stutters when Jared’s back ripples with his movement to drag his pants down his legs. While he’s pleased with Jared’s initiative, he’s still shocked by it. “You just go for the gold, huh?”
Standing in a pair of tight Jockeys that do little to hide his interest, Jared smirks and puts his hands out in the air. “Go all in or don’t go at all.”
“Jesus,” Jensen laughs, suddenly wondering what kind of mess he’s getting himself into. A guy this good-looking, this funny, and this open and free is barely seducing him, yet drawing him right in. Jensen’s sure he’s about to dive right into the deep end.
Jared’s interested look is enough to set Jensen off. It’ll probably serve him for future jack-off sessions, and Christ, if that isn’t a great promise of things to come, Jensen doesn’t know what is.
“Not to complain,” Jared says slowly. “But I’m feeling a little underdressed here.”
“Alright, yeah, okay,” Jensen mumbles to himself, pulling his shirt off and his pants down in record time.
Jared’s already on the bed, and Jensen quickly crawls up and hovers over him. “I’d say I don’t normally do this, but-”
“It’s kinda late for that,” Jared smiles.
Jensen smiles right back. “That’s my thought.”
Jared doesn’t reply, only grabs onto Jensen’s neck and reels him in for their first kiss, a wet, searing, pushy thing that obliterates any past memories of kissing anyone, and Jensen can’t care. Especially not when Jared’s huge hands stroke down his back and over his hips.
The kiss lasts long enough to leave Jensen breathless, and then Jared turns them over to Jensen’s back and slips right down between his legs. He can’t complain because suddenly he’s surrounded by all of the wet heat of Jared’s mouth as he slinks down and squeezes the base of Jensen’s dick.
There are a million words zipping through Jensen’s brain as Jared slips up and down his dick, all slick with the intent to blow Jensen’s mind. It works, given how tight the suction is and how pure the heat of Jared’s mouth is, closing right around him.
Jensen’s restless on the mattress, bringing his knees up and willing them to not clamp around Jared’s head, and his hands slide over Jared’s hair, fingers winding through the long tendrils. He sits up a little to watch Jared go down, and uselessly guides him by the hair. He starts panting short directives to egg Jared on, but he doubts Jared needs it, what with him so eager to be so filthy and quick about it.
Before he can fathom how much time Jared’s been blowing him - or how little, really - Jensen feels his energy draw up from his toes, down from his brain, and settle low in his gut as he shallowly rolls his hips to Jared’s rhythm. Then he suddenly peaks, arching forward and tightening his grip in Jared’s hair, only faintly apologizing for it, because this is really one hell of a quick blow job.
Jared licks him over, clearing the mess of what he couldn’t swallow, and then grins before licking at the corner of his mouth.
“God damn,” Jensen breathes, dropping back to the mattress. He vaguely gestures towards Jared when he catches his breath. “Okay, you set a high bar, but I’ll give it my all.”
With a grin, Jared moves back over Jensen and kisses him soundly, all hard tongue and fast movements Jensen can barely keep up with in his altered state.
“Go all in,” Jared says with a low voice. Then his breath hitches when Jensen closes his hand around Jared’s dick and strokes smoothly. Jared’s already incredibly hard and long like the rest of him, and Jensen does his best to make it matter, especially after the way Jared just treated him.
It seems to do the trick, because Jared starts panting against Jensen’s mouth and hitching his hips into Jensen’s hand, and then Jared’s shuddering and moaning, coming between them.
Jared falls to the mattress beside Jensen, chest rising hard and fast as he struggles to catch some air.
Jensen thunks his head to the bed and turns to look at Jared. He’s tempted to say thank you, just for laughs, but he’s far too content with how this day has shaped up for him, considering where it started.
Yet, that makes him frown a little.
“Seriously? You’re disappointed?” Jared mumbles as he shifts to his side to look at Jensen.
“No, not that. Just … ” Jensen full-on frowns at the situation he’s bound to return to. Helene and Danneel either in full-on girls mode with manis and pedis and some emotionally hysterical romcom on the TV, or being dragged into a potentially damning conversation about how Danneel and Jensen aren’t taking enough care for themselves and setting themselves up for heartache with their arrangement. He’s pretty certain Helene wouldn’t play the dark card so soon after this last doctor’s visit, but it still turns his stomach a little.
“I wouldn’t normally ask, but,” Jensen says carefully. “There’s a delicate situation at my apartment and I’m not really up for heading back to it.”
“Delicate like?”
“My roommate’s mom is visiting. She’s a lovely woman, but an incredibly involved mother. To us both,” Jensen tacks on with a sigh.
“It could have its upsides.”
“In just five seconds, she asked if I’m feeding myself properly.”
“Mothers are scary,” Jared agrees with a nod.
“Especially Helene Harris.”
Jared laughs and settles comfortably on his side of the bed. “You can stay, don’t worry about it.” He stretches an arm over his head and Jensen’s drawn to the twist of muscles across Jared’s ribcage as he moves. “We can make sure you eat to make Ms. Harris happy, and then do some more exercises to make each other happy.”
Jensen looks over and smiles, fully satisfied and pleasantly surprised at the turn of today’s events. He’s never been so happy to be plowed over on a city sidewalk in all his life.
He strolls back into the apartment in the early morning hours of the next day. Danneel’s in the kitchen starting coffee, though she’s thoroughly disheveled with bedhead and wrinkled pajamas. She silently slides a mug of coffee across the counter then eyes him, tired and nonplussed.
“Morning,” he mumbles as he settles on a stool on his side of the counter, though he’s sure a smile is working its way onto his face and negating the sleepiness he feels from the hours spent awake with Jared.
“And where were you?”
“Gettin’ into all kinds of trouble. How was mother-daughter night?”
“Great,” she replies shortly before drinking from her own mug. “She raided the cupboards and fridge for diet-appropriate foods.”
“Did you offer her your carrot shake.”
“She rather liked it. So you can bet that will reappear on the menu.” Danneel takes a long drink of coffee then releases an even longer sigh. “Then she slept in your room, so I guess that’s the upside to you being gone.”
He quietly moans. “She cleaned it, didn’t she?”
Danneel shrugs. “I can’t control the woman after sundown.”
“Jensen!” Helene calls as she joins them at the counter. “Good, you’re here. Now I can make breakfast.”
“Can I nap first?” he asks, giving her a tired smile.
She pinches his cheek and grins. “You’re so cute when you’re tired and cranky.”
Danneel shoots him a smug grin and he rolls his eyes as her mother pulls things together in the kitchen. “Danni and I were talking, and we’re thinking you both need to get onto this new diet. Make sure your sperm is nice and strong.”
Jensen drops his head to his hand, shoving the heel of his palm into his eye. More than a year ago, he’d argued with Danneel over telling her mom about what they were doing, but Danneel insisted it was impossible to keep this kind of information from her. Especially since she’d have to explain the whole scenario when she actually became pregnant.
“See what you missed?” Danneel whispers, patting his arm.
Helene gets to work at the stove with bacon sizzling and pancakes rising. Jensen can’t complain too much when she feeds them well, he supposes. “So, we have one to two months until Danneel’s body shifts back into regular ovulation,” she announces as she flips pancakes on the griddle. “And according to the Google, she should also start hormone treatments again to up her egg count.”
The Google Jensen mouths at Danneel, who just shakes her head to keep him further silent.
A plate of golden flapjacks and fresh bacon appear in front of Jensen and he smiles lazily. “Helene, you are an angel.”
“And until then, you’re both gonna drink down Nature’s goodness.” She grins and pushes a glass of Danneel’s orange smoothie towards him.
Jensen instantly frowns and gets to work on the hot food on his plate.
A week later, Jensen escorts Danneel to her doctor’s appointment over lunch to discuss her diet and the game plan to go for round six of fertilization. Jensen sits beside her with his hands clamped around one of hers as she taps her free fingers at edge of the doctor’s desk and asks any number of questions that have come up over the year and a half of this matter. She’s double-checking everything, dotting Is and crossing Ts. He backs up some of her concerns, but mostly lets her lead the conversation and get comfortable with all the doctor’s answers to smooth over her worries.
“But the fertilization is okay? That’s not the problem?” she asks slowly.
Dr. Stewart, a salt-and-pepper-haired man in his fifties with a smooth, comfortable demeanor, has been with them through all the steps, ticking off every suggestion with a smile and making directives more like suggestions to lead them in the right direction. Even if it weren’t for his friendly manner, the pictures tacked to the cork boards behind his desk speak volumes to his capabilities; dozens of healthy, smiling babies are proof that he knows what he’s doing.
As the doctor drags his pen down her chart, Danneel tacks on, “I mean, it’s not the eggs?”
“There have been times where that was a concern,” Dr. Stewart says. “But your levels have been within reason lately.”
Danneel straightens her shoulders. She still sounds worried, but it’s not as bad as times before. “Then what is it?”
Jensen squeezes her hand. “Hey, it’s just science, all that tricky stuff having to do its job.”
“But what if our science isn’t doing its job?” she asks Jensen.
“Danneel?” Doctor Stewart asks, “What is it specifically that you’re worried about?”
She takes a deep breath. “I’ve been following all the rules, eating well, exercising within reason, and lowering my stress levels.”
“And?”
Her eyes flicker to Jensen, and he sits up straight with a slightly shocked, mostly defensive look. “What’re you saying?” Jensen asks tightly.
She lets out a sad smile. “What if it’s you?”
“Oh, no, it’s not,” he laughs hard.
Quietly, she argues, “We’re not following the rules together, Jensen.”
“Is this about the carrot milkshake? That thing is rancid.”
“No, not that-”
“Because my guys are healthy, Danneel,” he insists, bitter and even more defensive. “Sweet potatoes and kale aren’t gonna make them swim better. They’re healthy and aplenty, trust me on that one.”
Dr. Stewart chuckles and interrupts them. “Jensen’s levels are fine. We’re very happy with him.”
“See!” Jensen smiles tightly. “They’re happy with my guys.”
“And Danneel, your eggs are good, and also many,” the doctor says with a smile. “We’re really just waiting for one li’l guy to hang on.”
Jensen remembers during their initial appointments, Danneel would insist she wanted a girl. This far down the line, they just want ten toes and ten fingers. When she frowns and looks down to their hands together and Jensen’s a little worried for her.
“So, it’s my body?” she asks quietly. “It doesn’t want to take to it?”
The doctor leans forward, folding his hands over her file. “Danneel, Jensen, these things are so particular, you just never know what’s really going on when it’s not working right away. It could be as innocent as a full moon or the tides pulling in.”
“When’s the next quarter moon?” she asks.
“I think he was kidding,” Jensen points out gently.
“I was kidding,” Dr. Stewart agrees with a warm smile. “You two just keep doing what you’re doing, but with a little less worry, and we’re gonna make you two parents. Good swimmers or not.”
Jensen starts to argue, but Dr. Stewart winks at him, and he laughs to himself. “Okay, so a little more positive thinking, for us both,” Jensen says firmly, smiling at Danneel.
“Okay, positive thinking,” Danneel nods in agreement.
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