PG | Find New Ways to Keep Warm
Title: Find New Ways to Keep Warm
Words: 2900
Rating: PG SCHMOOOOOOP
Summary: Jared's job at a downtown café has gotten incredibly boring thanks to the construction outside. But all is not lost ...
Notes: Thanks to raeschae for the beta! Written for elless18's prompt on the Schmoop Meme: Kisses in the snow. This got insanely long because it is mostly inspired by the real construction going on outside my office building.
The café is pathetically quiet at 8:30 in the morning. Especially for a Monday, when so many commuters are usually rushing around downtown, tired as hell after the weekend and having to face the first day of a new work week.
Jared sits at the counter that looks out the floor-to-ceiling windows and onto the construction zone on the street where the café sits. He sighs and leans with his elbows on the counter. Yeah, the street needed serious improvements -entire overhaul, really, like it’s finally getting now - but it’s awful on business. With this street blocked off, the only foot traffic the shop sees is from people who work in this high-rise and pass the café in its lobby.
The construction is blocked by high fencing, but the demolition can still be seen. The road is tore up with heavy machinery creaking loudly through the heavy glass windows as cranes move rubble and shift around the site.
The café smells heavenly with a mix of sweet bakery goods and coffee, and every once in a while there’s a whiff of savory breakfast sandwiches cooked up for the few patrons they do get. Dressed in the corporate black polo, khakis, and bright orange apron, Jared’s ready and able to work, but there’s literally nothing to do except watch the workers shuffle around the site. The only times he gets up is to ring up a customer every ten or fifteen minutes. This is nothing like the typical rush, and while it’s nice to get a break every once in a while, the long time that passes between each transition is too much day after day.
Genevieve hops up to the stool beside Jared and sighs miserably. “This sucks.”
“Yep,” Jared agrees easily. He tips his head as he watches a handful of construction workers join together. They’re wrapped up in multiple layers, heavy jackets, thick gloves, beanies and skull caps, and so red-faced from the cold that Jared suddenly feels a small pang of guilt for thinking his situation stinks. “At least we’re not out there?”
“Small blessings,” she grumbles and kicks her feet out impatiently. Suddenly she smacks Jared’s shoulder and makes a small, excited noise. “Alright, money’s coming in!”
Jared sees the workers exchange money and one walks towards the café. As the short, stocky guy approaches the café, Genevieve hops off the stool and heads to her register. Seconds later, Jared shivers when the front door opens and wonders who the hell plans construction in the dead chill of winter.
*
Temperatures drop below zero the next week and the construction continues, workers wrapped up as tightly as they have been since the beginning. While the café is still slow as hell, Jared thanks his lucky stars that he’s at least indoors and kept warm with an extra layer of a long-sleeve tee under his polo.
Jared opens the shop as if it matters; no one’s banging down the doors to get in. An hour later, Genevieve rushes inside for the start of her shift and shakes out her arms with a high, loud Brrr. Jared smirks when she won’t remove her jacket until she’s officially on the register, and she punches him in the side for it.
“It’s like negative a hundred out there,” she whines.
Jared gives her a skeptical look. “Really?”
“With windchill!” She sighs and wraps her arms around herself. “You know how cold it is to walk all the way around?”
Sure, it sucks that, with the street closed, all foot traffic has to travel a handful of extra blocks to get around and back. “Could be worse,” he offers. “We could be stuck outside working.”
“Amen,” someone says behind them, making Jared jerk around. Jared recognizes him as one of the construction workers based on how bundled up he is, and moves out of the way so Genevieve can take care of him. The guy smiles at Jared - rather nicely - and nods off to the side. “He’s got four large coffees,” he says, pointing out another construction worker carrying a full tray of cups.
She rings up the order while Jared pretends to be busy at the register next to her, but he can’t ignore how the construction worker keeps glancing over. There’s nothing notable about him except a smooth, cold-burnt face and bright, watery eyes from the wind.
“Thanks,” the worker says with a smile, taking the change from Genevieve. As he walks out, he stalls at the door and smirks at them both. “Try and keep warm inside, eh?”
Genevieve appropriately looks shamed and Jared chuckles at her then goes back to the counter to watch the workers proceed with setting up the metal framework for the new street.
*
A few days later, a heavy blanket of snow covers the ground, making a mess of every walkway, and lunch is the busiest it’s been since construction started. Office workers flood the shop to grab soup and hot sandwiches instead of braving the weather outside, and Jared’s happy to be rushing through the afternoon.
At the tail-end of the surge, Jared’s cleaning up the counter around his register when someone asks, “Is there more chili?”
Jared checks his watch as he glances up and replies, “I bet there’s more in the back,” then freezes to find the construction worker from earlier in the week carefully smiling at him.
The guy pulls off his heavy gloves then his thick hat to reveal short dark blonde hair. It’s soft and messy, pressed in all directions, even up and out, and Jared feels a twitch through his hand with the want to touch and stroke it into shape.
Jared had thought the guy seemed kind of cute - and okay, the air of blue-collar construction worker was an added bonus. Now all pink-faced from the cold, hair mussed up from his hat, Jared is finding his heart rate bumping up. This guy is gorgeous.
The guy waves a ten and looks awkward when he asks, “Can I get a cup? And you can ring me up for a water and cornbread.”
Swallowing, Jared forces a smile that hopefully isn’t too manic. “Yeah, of course.” Once the order’s all paid up, Jared takes a deep breath and easily smiles. “If you wanna take a seat, I’ll bring the food out for you.”
Okay, so the place is mostly self-serve with trays available for dine-in patrons to gather up everything themselves. But the shop’s slowing down, Jared’s due a break soon, and this guy is incredibly handsome and standing in front of him. Jared’s not going to pass up the chance to talk a little.
“Alright, thanks,” the guy replies awkwardly, like he knows this is out of the ordinary.
When the next batch of chili is ready, Jared ladles a large bowl - larger than he charged for - and grabs a few pieces of cornbread and two waters, then joins the construction worker at the end of the counter along the window.
With the jacket off, Jared can admire the soft dark flannel that’s unbuttoned to reveal the layers of cotton and thermal fabric underneath. There’s just something about him that screams hard work and Jared can’t stop admiring it, or the ruggedness of the guy’s hands when he reaches for his food.
“You didn’t have to serve me,” he jokes lightly.
Jared glances around and ignores how Genevieve’s watching him with a sly smile. He grabs a water and piece of cornbread for himself and tries to sound nonchalant. “It’ll be slow for the rest of the day. And I have a break coming anyway.”
He looks at Jared for a few long, potentially uncomfortable moments until he smiles boyishly, and Jared’s stomach flips at the sight of it. He puts his hand out and nods a little. “I’m Jensen.”
Gladly taking the handshake, Jared smiles back. “Jared.”
“Not Jay Dog?” he asks, pointing at Jared’s nametag, and Jesus, Jared wants to shoot his coworkers right now for the stupid nicknames they each have on their pins.
“Uh, no,” Jared chuckles, trying to ease his embarrassment. “Though I do go by Jay on occasion.”
“Good to know,” Jensen says thoughtfully then sips some piping hot chili into his mouth.
As he watches the way Jensen’s pink, wet lips move, Jared has never wanted to be a spoon so much in his life.
*
Over the next few days, Jensen comes into the café more often. He grabs coffee for the crew, hot soups and stews for late lunches, and once or twice he listens to Jared’s suggestions for an apple-filled croissant and, later, a chocolate mocha moon pie.
“It’s good, yeah?” Jared asks as Jensen sucks the remnants of mocha cream off his index finger.
Jensen freezes with his fingertip stuck between his lips, and he possibly blushes - his face is still pink from the cold and wind outside, so it’s hard to tell, even if it is endearing. “Mmm, yeah, it’s pretty good,” he allows with a nod.
Jared can’t help the grin burning up his face, growing wider as Jensen begins to smile back. “White chocolate,” Jared says, setting a new hot drink down for Jensen.
He nods and looks down at the cup, as if he’s hiding his face, and Jared is now certain that Jensen is smiling and blushing.
*
The café is the slowest it’s been since the construction started. The cold outside is so bitter that most transportation has halted and the news is reporting that a majority of the city is shut down with heat problems and reduced staff as most workers have called in or are working from home.
The construction, however, continues.
Jared sits at the counter by the window, letting his legs dangle and swing as he runs a finger across the top of his coffee cup. He watches Jensen work; even if the guy’s all bundled up with heavy layers and a ski mask covering most of his face, Jared can still admire the effort Jensen’s putting into the physical work on site.
Genevieve settles on the stool next to him with a warm, moist, absolutely heavenly smelling triple berry muffin. She splits it open and passes a piece to Jared as they quietly watch the construction carry on with the low tones of the shop’s music system keeping them.
“He likes you,” she insists with a bump to his arm.
Jared’s heart speeds up with the thought, then he tears apart the muffin, focusing on that instead. “He’s just nice.”
“And always in here.”
“Where else are they gonna eat?” he excuses away.
She makes a thoughtful noise and pops the last morsel of muffin in her mouth. “And he’s always looking at you.”
A chill runs up his spine because at that very moment, Jensen shifts from his place on site and glances towards the café. Jared’s certain that Jensen’s not specifically looking at him, but it’s possible given how long he’s facing the windows.
To best ignore Genevieve, Jared grabs the paper to his left and flips through the pages to read the local news.
Half an hour later, after she’s gone back into the kitchen to find something better to do, Jensen slides into place beside Jared. He’s tugging his gloves off, shucking his jacket off and onto the stool on the other side, and sliding his hat off to reveal that soft mess of hair Jared has been dying to touch for weeks.
“You’re out of coffee,” Jensen says with playful annoyance.
Jared turns toward the rest of the shop and none of his coworkers are in sight. They’re all in the kitchen, and he bets they’re doing nothing more than keeping warm near the oven and talking about whatever can keep them from dying of boredom.
“They’re probably making more in back,” he lies and then stares at Jensen’s hair because there’s a bright red piece of fabric left behind from his hat.
Jensen looks up and runs fingers over his hair. “What?”
“You have a-” Jared mumbles as he reaches towards it yet doesn’t touch, even if he so wants to.
“A fuzzy?” he asks, scrubbing at his hair.
It’s still there, and Jared chuckles at Jensen’s fuzzy comment. Jensen leans towards him, and Jared finally goes for it, pulling the piece from Jensen’s hair. His fingers tingle from the feeling of how soft Jensen’s hair is and then he feels completely ridiculous and likely goes as red as Jensen’s face is for a completely different reason.
“Lemme get you that coffee,” Jared rushes to say as he jumps off the stool and hurries to the kitchen.
When Jared returns with Jensen’s coffee - French roast with skim milk and two sugars, the order burned into the back of Jared’s mind - Jensen’s leaning his elbows on the counter and rubbing at the back of his neck with both hands. He smiles that crazy boyish smile when he sees the coffee, going even brighter when Jared sits next to him again.
“Thanks, but you didn’t have to serve me,” he insists, even if he seems extremely happy that Jared did.
Jared snorts. “It’s not like I’m doing anything else.”
“Just keeping me company.” Jensen smirks just before sipping his coffee and humming.
*
The temperatures get above zero, which is a small comfort. The downside is it’s snowing like crazy. Even still, the construction carries on and Jared is at his usual spot at window watching Jensen move around the site.
“Looks cold out there,” Genevieve murmurs as she places a covered coffee cup at Jared’s elbow.
He glances at it for a second before looking back to the scene outside. “I’m good, thanks.”
She hmphs and nudges the coffee closer. “Not for you.” When he stares at her, she rolls her eyes and smiles. “French, skim and sugar.”
It takes a few moments to convince himself, but Jared finally gets up, grabs his coat and scarf from the back room, and takes the coffee outside.
He stands at the fencing that keeps him off site and suddenly feels stupid for coming out here. The snow’s wet and coming down fast, melting in his hair and on his face. He winces at the cold and figures he should just head back to work because he can’t get inside the fence and to Jensen without any of the other workers stopping him from trespassing, especially the short, stocky guy who’s eying him.
“Hey, Ackles!” the guy calls out even as he shoots Jared a cocky grin.
Across the site, Jensen stands from where he’d been crouched down by the framework he and other workers were setting down, and a few seconds later, he’s heading to the fence with an easy smile. “Hey, what’re you doing out here?” he asks when he nears Jared.
Jared lifts the cup and shrugs. “Figured you guys could use some coffee.”
Jensen smiles at the cup then up at Jared. “Do we all have to share that?”
He laughs awkwardly. “Uh, no, not really.”
“Just me then?”
Jared bites his bottom lip. Despite the cold, he goes warm when he catches Jensen watching the movement and softly smiling. “It might be just for you.”
“Well, I might be able to stop and have some,” Jensen teases, and that makes Jared positively giddy.
Once Jensen’s standing in front of him with the coffee in hand, Jared can’t stop the smile on his face, even if he’s still being hit by the falling snow. Jared combs some wet hair away from his cheeks and Jensen hums - at the hot coffee or Jared tucking hair behind his ear, whichever is fine because Jared likes how Jensen keeps eying him over the lid of the coffee as he drinks.
When Jensen pulls the cup away from his mouth, he licks over his bottom lip, leaving it pink and wet, and Jared just can’t think beyond leaning in. Jensen doesn’t move forward or back, instead he’s tipping his face up, but then a snowflake lands on Jensen’s cheek and he flinches. His long eyelashes flutter open and closed as a few others land on his nose and forehead, and they both softly laugh.
Jared doesn’t wait for anything else to happen because he figures it’s been weeks that he’s thought about just this. He closes his eyes and moves in, pressing his warm lips to Jensen’s cold mouth. Neither move beyond the kiss, hands kept to themselves, but it’s still a sweet, quiet moment as all construction sounds fade away and Jared can only hear Jensen’s soft breathing and the tiny hitch of breath when Jared carefully opens his mouth around Jensen’s upper lip, then pulls away.
Jensen licks his lips then smiles when he opens his eyes, the skin crinkling around them. His mouth quirks with a small dimple coming out, one Jared hadn’t ever noticed before and is far too happy to see. “You’re really committed to customer service, huh?”
Biting the inside of his mouth, Jared’s sure he goes bright red, but it’s cold enough out here that it shouldn’t matter. “Only for my favorite customers.”
“I have to get back to work,” Jensen says. He’s still smiling, so Jared can’t be too disappointed. “And you probably do, too.”
“Yeah, I should go back where it’s nice and warm,” Jared jokes.
“I’m jealous, you have no idea,” he says warmly.
“I’ll see you at lunch.”
It doesn’t quite come out like a question; Jensen still nods in reply. “Definitely.”
Jared tries not to grin as he steps back towards the shop. “I’ll save us our spot.”
Words: 2900
Rating: PG SCHMOOOOOOP
Summary: Jared's job at a downtown café has gotten incredibly boring thanks to the construction outside. But all is not lost ...
Notes: Thanks to raeschae for the beta! Written for elless18's prompt on the Schmoop Meme: Kisses in the snow. This got insanely long because it is mostly inspired by the real construction going on outside my office building.
The café is pathetically quiet at 8:30 in the morning. Especially for a Monday, when so many commuters are usually rushing around downtown, tired as hell after the weekend and having to face the first day of a new work week.
Jared sits at the counter that looks out the floor-to-ceiling windows and onto the construction zone on the street where the café sits. He sighs and leans with his elbows on the counter. Yeah, the street needed serious improvements -entire overhaul, really, like it’s finally getting now - but it’s awful on business. With this street blocked off, the only foot traffic the shop sees is from people who work in this high-rise and pass the café in its lobby.
The construction is blocked by high fencing, but the demolition can still be seen. The road is tore up with heavy machinery creaking loudly through the heavy glass windows as cranes move rubble and shift around the site.
The café smells heavenly with a mix of sweet bakery goods and coffee, and every once in a while there’s a whiff of savory breakfast sandwiches cooked up for the few patrons they do get. Dressed in the corporate black polo, khakis, and bright orange apron, Jared’s ready and able to work, but there’s literally nothing to do except watch the workers shuffle around the site. The only times he gets up is to ring up a customer every ten or fifteen minutes. This is nothing like the typical rush, and while it’s nice to get a break every once in a while, the long time that passes between each transition is too much day after day.
Genevieve hops up to the stool beside Jared and sighs miserably. “This sucks.”
“Yep,” Jared agrees easily. He tips his head as he watches a handful of construction workers join together. They’re wrapped up in multiple layers, heavy jackets, thick gloves, beanies and skull caps, and so red-faced from the cold that Jared suddenly feels a small pang of guilt for thinking his situation stinks. “At least we’re not out there?”
“Small blessings,” she grumbles and kicks her feet out impatiently. Suddenly she smacks Jared’s shoulder and makes a small, excited noise. “Alright, money’s coming in!”
Jared sees the workers exchange money and one walks towards the café. As the short, stocky guy approaches the café, Genevieve hops off the stool and heads to her register. Seconds later, Jared shivers when the front door opens and wonders who the hell plans construction in the dead chill of winter.
*
Temperatures drop below zero the next week and the construction continues, workers wrapped up as tightly as they have been since the beginning. While the café is still slow as hell, Jared thanks his lucky stars that he’s at least indoors and kept warm with an extra layer of a long-sleeve tee under his polo.
Jared opens the shop as if it matters; no one’s banging down the doors to get in. An hour later, Genevieve rushes inside for the start of her shift and shakes out her arms with a high, loud Brrr. Jared smirks when she won’t remove her jacket until she’s officially on the register, and she punches him in the side for it.
“It’s like negative a hundred out there,” she whines.
Jared gives her a skeptical look. “Really?”
“With windchill!” She sighs and wraps her arms around herself. “You know how cold it is to walk all the way around?”
Sure, it sucks that, with the street closed, all foot traffic has to travel a handful of extra blocks to get around and back. “Could be worse,” he offers. “We could be stuck outside working.”
“Amen,” someone says behind them, making Jared jerk around. Jared recognizes him as one of the construction workers based on how bundled up he is, and moves out of the way so Genevieve can take care of him. The guy smiles at Jared - rather nicely - and nods off to the side. “He’s got four large coffees,” he says, pointing out another construction worker carrying a full tray of cups.
She rings up the order while Jared pretends to be busy at the register next to her, but he can’t ignore how the construction worker keeps glancing over. There’s nothing notable about him except a smooth, cold-burnt face and bright, watery eyes from the wind.
“Thanks,” the worker says with a smile, taking the change from Genevieve. As he walks out, he stalls at the door and smirks at them both. “Try and keep warm inside, eh?”
Genevieve appropriately looks shamed and Jared chuckles at her then goes back to the counter to watch the workers proceed with setting up the metal framework for the new street.
*
A few days later, a heavy blanket of snow covers the ground, making a mess of every walkway, and lunch is the busiest it’s been since construction started. Office workers flood the shop to grab soup and hot sandwiches instead of braving the weather outside, and Jared’s happy to be rushing through the afternoon.
At the tail-end of the surge, Jared’s cleaning up the counter around his register when someone asks, “Is there more chili?”
Jared checks his watch as he glances up and replies, “I bet there’s more in the back,” then freezes to find the construction worker from earlier in the week carefully smiling at him.
The guy pulls off his heavy gloves then his thick hat to reveal short dark blonde hair. It’s soft and messy, pressed in all directions, even up and out, and Jared feels a twitch through his hand with the want to touch and stroke it into shape.
Jared had thought the guy seemed kind of cute - and okay, the air of blue-collar construction worker was an added bonus. Now all pink-faced from the cold, hair mussed up from his hat, Jared is finding his heart rate bumping up. This guy is gorgeous.
The guy waves a ten and looks awkward when he asks, “Can I get a cup? And you can ring me up for a water and cornbread.”
Swallowing, Jared forces a smile that hopefully isn’t too manic. “Yeah, of course.” Once the order’s all paid up, Jared takes a deep breath and easily smiles. “If you wanna take a seat, I’ll bring the food out for you.”
Okay, so the place is mostly self-serve with trays available for dine-in patrons to gather up everything themselves. But the shop’s slowing down, Jared’s due a break soon, and this guy is incredibly handsome and standing in front of him. Jared’s not going to pass up the chance to talk a little.
“Alright, thanks,” the guy replies awkwardly, like he knows this is out of the ordinary.
When the next batch of chili is ready, Jared ladles a large bowl - larger than he charged for - and grabs a few pieces of cornbread and two waters, then joins the construction worker at the end of the counter along the window.
With the jacket off, Jared can admire the soft dark flannel that’s unbuttoned to reveal the layers of cotton and thermal fabric underneath. There’s just something about him that screams hard work and Jared can’t stop admiring it, or the ruggedness of the guy’s hands when he reaches for his food.
“You didn’t have to serve me,” he jokes lightly.
Jared glances around and ignores how Genevieve’s watching him with a sly smile. He grabs a water and piece of cornbread for himself and tries to sound nonchalant. “It’ll be slow for the rest of the day. And I have a break coming anyway.”
He looks at Jared for a few long, potentially uncomfortable moments until he smiles boyishly, and Jared’s stomach flips at the sight of it. He puts his hand out and nods a little. “I’m Jensen.”
Gladly taking the handshake, Jared smiles back. “Jared.”
“Not Jay Dog?” he asks, pointing at Jared’s nametag, and Jesus, Jared wants to shoot his coworkers right now for the stupid nicknames they each have on their pins.
“Uh, no,” Jared chuckles, trying to ease his embarrassment. “Though I do go by Jay on occasion.”
“Good to know,” Jensen says thoughtfully then sips some piping hot chili into his mouth.
As he watches the way Jensen’s pink, wet lips move, Jared has never wanted to be a spoon so much in his life.
*
Over the next few days, Jensen comes into the café more often. He grabs coffee for the crew, hot soups and stews for late lunches, and once or twice he listens to Jared’s suggestions for an apple-filled croissant and, later, a chocolate mocha moon pie.
“It’s good, yeah?” Jared asks as Jensen sucks the remnants of mocha cream off his index finger.
Jensen freezes with his fingertip stuck between his lips, and he possibly blushes - his face is still pink from the cold and wind outside, so it’s hard to tell, even if it is endearing. “Mmm, yeah, it’s pretty good,” he allows with a nod.
Jared can’t help the grin burning up his face, growing wider as Jensen begins to smile back. “White chocolate,” Jared says, setting a new hot drink down for Jensen.
He nods and looks down at the cup, as if he’s hiding his face, and Jared is now certain that Jensen is smiling and blushing.
*
The café is the slowest it’s been since the construction started. The cold outside is so bitter that most transportation has halted and the news is reporting that a majority of the city is shut down with heat problems and reduced staff as most workers have called in or are working from home.
The construction, however, continues.
Jared sits at the counter by the window, letting his legs dangle and swing as he runs a finger across the top of his coffee cup. He watches Jensen work; even if the guy’s all bundled up with heavy layers and a ski mask covering most of his face, Jared can still admire the effort Jensen’s putting into the physical work on site.
Genevieve settles on the stool next to him with a warm, moist, absolutely heavenly smelling triple berry muffin. She splits it open and passes a piece to Jared as they quietly watch the construction carry on with the low tones of the shop’s music system keeping them.
“He likes you,” she insists with a bump to his arm.
Jared’s heart speeds up with the thought, then he tears apart the muffin, focusing on that instead. “He’s just nice.”
“And always in here.”
“Where else are they gonna eat?” he excuses away.
She makes a thoughtful noise and pops the last morsel of muffin in her mouth. “And he’s always looking at you.”
A chill runs up his spine because at that very moment, Jensen shifts from his place on site and glances towards the café. Jared’s certain that Jensen’s not specifically looking at him, but it’s possible given how long he’s facing the windows.
To best ignore Genevieve, Jared grabs the paper to his left and flips through the pages to read the local news.
Half an hour later, after she’s gone back into the kitchen to find something better to do, Jensen slides into place beside Jared. He’s tugging his gloves off, shucking his jacket off and onto the stool on the other side, and sliding his hat off to reveal that soft mess of hair Jared has been dying to touch for weeks.
“You’re out of coffee,” Jensen says with playful annoyance.
Jared turns toward the rest of the shop and none of his coworkers are in sight. They’re all in the kitchen, and he bets they’re doing nothing more than keeping warm near the oven and talking about whatever can keep them from dying of boredom.
“They’re probably making more in back,” he lies and then stares at Jensen’s hair because there’s a bright red piece of fabric left behind from his hat.
Jensen looks up and runs fingers over his hair. “What?”
“You have a-” Jared mumbles as he reaches towards it yet doesn’t touch, even if he so wants to.
“A fuzzy?” he asks, scrubbing at his hair.
It’s still there, and Jared chuckles at Jensen’s fuzzy comment. Jensen leans towards him, and Jared finally goes for it, pulling the piece from Jensen’s hair. His fingers tingle from the feeling of how soft Jensen’s hair is and then he feels completely ridiculous and likely goes as red as Jensen’s face is for a completely different reason.
“Lemme get you that coffee,” Jared rushes to say as he jumps off the stool and hurries to the kitchen.
When Jared returns with Jensen’s coffee - French roast with skim milk and two sugars, the order burned into the back of Jared’s mind - Jensen’s leaning his elbows on the counter and rubbing at the back of his neck with both hands. He smiles that crazy boyish smile when he sees the coffee, going even brighter when Jared sits next to him again.
“Thanks, but you didn’t have to serve me,” he insists, even if he seems extremely happy that Jared did.
Jared snorts. “It’s not like I’m doing anything else.”
“Just keeping me company.” Jensen smirks just before sipping his coffee and humming.
*
The temperatures get above zero, which is a small comfort. The downside is it’s snowing like crazy. Even still, the construction carries on and Jared is at his usual spot at window watching Jensen move around the site.
“Looks cold out there,” Genevieve murmurs as she places a covered coffee cup at Jared’s elbow.
He glances at it for a second before looking back to the scene outside. “I’m good, thanks.”
She hmphs and nudges the coffee closer. “Not for you.” When he stares at her, she rolls her eyes and smiles. “French, skim and sugar.”
It takes a few moments to convince himself, but Jared finally gets up, grabs his coat and scarf from the back room, and takes the coffee outside.
He stands at the fencing that keeps him off site and suddenly feels stupid for coming out here. The snow’s wet and coming down fast, melting in his hair and on his face. He winces at the cold and figures he should just head back to work because he can’t get inside the fence and to Jensen without any of the other workers stopping him from trespassing, especially the short, stocky guy who’s eying him.
“Hey, Ackles!” the guy calls out even as he shoots Jared a cocky grin.
Across the site, Jensen stands from where he’d been crouched down by the framework he and other workers were setting down, and a few seconds later, he’s heading to the fence with an easy smile. “Hey, what’re you doing out here?” he asks when he nears Jared.
Jared lifts the cup and shrugs. “Figured you guys could use some coffee.”
Jensen smiles at the cup then up at Jared. “Do we all have to share that?”
He laughs awkwardly. “Uh, no, not really.”
“Just me then?”
Jared bites his bottom lip. Despite the cold, he goes warm when he catches Jensen watching the movement and softly smiling. “It might be just for you.”
“Well, I might be able to stop and have some,” Jensen teases, and that makes Jared positively giddy.
Once Jensen’s standing in front of him with the coffee in hand, Jared can’t stop the smile on his face, even if he’s still being hit by the falling snow. Jared combs some wet hair away from his cheeks and Jensen hums - at the hot coffee or Jared tucking hair behind his ear, whichever is fine because Jared likes how Jensen keeps eying him over the lid of the coffee as he drinks.
When Jensen pulls the cup away from his mouth, he licks over his bottom lip, leaving it pink and wet, and Jared just can’t think beyond leaning in. Jensen doesn’t move forward or back, instead he’s tipping his face up, but then a snowflake lands on Jensen’s cheek and he flinches. His long eyelashes flutter open and closed as a few others land on his nose and forehead, and they both softly laugh.
Jared doesn’t wait for anything else to happen because he figures it’s been weeks that he’s thought about just this. He closes his eyes and moves in, pressing his warm lips to Jensen’s cold mouth. Neither move beyond the kiss, hands kept to themselves, but it’s still a sweet, quiet moment as all construction sounds fade away and Jared can only hear Jensen’s soft breathing and the tiny hitch of breath when Jared carefully opens his mouth around Jensen’s upper lip, then pulls away.
Jensen licks his lips then smiles when he opens his eyes, the skin crinkling around them. His mouth quirks with a small dimple coming out, one Jared hadn’t ever noticed before and is far too happy to see. “You’re really committed to customer service, huh?”
Biting the inside of his mouth, Jared’s sure he goes bright red, but it’s cold enough out here that it shouldn’t matter. “Only for my favorite customers.”
“I have to get back to work,” Jensen says. He’s still smiling, so Jared can’t be too disappointed. “And you probably do, too.”
“Yeah, I should go back where it’s nice and warm,” Jared jokes.
“I’m jealous, you have no idea,” he says warmly.
“I’ll see you at lunch.”
It doesn’t quite come out like a question; Jensen still nods in reply. “Definitely.”
Jared tries not to grin as he steps back towards the shop. “I’ll save us our spot.”