Why I'm Talking to You Timestamp
The absolutely lovely and sweet-hearted enablelove created a PDF of the entire Why I'm Talking to You verse, so I decided to pay her back with this nugget (which is obviously not in the PDF, funny how that happens).
Title: That Time Jensen Finally Got It
Words: 2100
Notes: This follows the last timestamp in the timeline, That Time Jensen Hated Lucida
“You’re gonna be in so much trouble,” Danneel singsongs from the doorway as Jensen shuffles through drafts on his desk.
“It’s just a couple hours,” Jensen excuses away, still focused on his work.
“So much trouble.”
He rolls his eyes and looks up at her. “Don’t you have something better to do?”
Danneel checks her watch and continues to look comfortable leaning against the doorframe. “Nope. I’m pretty sure my life will be easy-peasy for the next few weeks.”
He has to admit that she’s right. But he’s not going to vocalize that. “Can you at least go look busy?”
“That’s no fun.”
“We’re at work, Danneel. It’s not supposed to be fun.”
“And you’re not supposed to be here.”
He huffs and glares at her. “And I could get out of here faster if you left me alone.”
She raises her hands in innocence and goes back to her desk. Jensen is thankful for the quiet so he can mark up drafts that need to be done early next week and back to PTS, a new client he’s just snagged. He’d rather all the drafts were out of his hands. He doesn’t need to spend the next few weeks worrying over the ads and wondering if any of the client managers that Randy promised would handle it all could screw everything up.
He’s getting far into his edits when the phone rings. He pushes the speakerphone button and quickly greets, “Jensen Ackles.”
“Hi there,” Jared says brightly.
Jensen freezes and looks to Danneel’s desk, but she’s not there and he wonders if she started all of this just to be a pest. He really is in trouble now. “Hi. Hey, how are you?” Jensen asks faking the same level of brightness.
“I’m good. Whatcha up to?”
Here, Jensen can sense a bit of bitterness leaking into Jared’s voice. “I’m just … I’m checking a few things.”
“At work.”
Jensen flinches and bites his lower lip. Meekly says, “Yes, at work.”
“That’s awesome,” Jared says tightly. “Really awesome for you to be checking a few things at work.”
“Jared, I’m … it’s only a couple of hours. I’ll be home soon.”
“Jensen,” Jared says flatly. Jensen can picture him rubbing a hand over his face and trying his best to keep his annoyance at bay. “We are getting married.”
Tomorrow, Jensen’s mind so unhelpfully supplies.
“And you’re at the office. Can you see how troubling this is?”
Jensen pulls his glasses off and covers his face. “I know, I know,” he mumbles.
He knows he’s too focused on work, even when Jared has chilled him out over time. He’s a workaholic with a very important new client on his hands, and he’s about to get married and go on his honeymoon for two longs weeks without contact for anything work-related.
They didn’t sign a pre-nup, but Jared did demand Jensen sign a contract against working during their honeymoon. Jensen mocked Jared at the time, insisted he was overreacting. Jared asked for Jensen just to sign the damn paper.
Jensen’s not sure if he’s more pissed at himself for signing it or at Jared for being right.
He picks the receiver up to talk as privately as possible in the office. “Jared, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s the day before, Jensen. This isn’t making me feel very good about it.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. But-”
“And you laughed at me for asking you to sign that stupid contract, but this is why.”
“I know,” Jensen stresses. “But I wanted to finish this stuff for PTS so I wouldn’t be thinking about it anymore. I just want to get away and not worry about it.”
Jared sighs and Jensen goes on before Jared can interrupt.
“I am absolutely committed to tomorrow and the next two weeks, and not having a single thought about work.”
“How about tonight?” Jared asks with an awkward laugh.
Tonight is the rehearsal and following dinner, and honestly, he’s feeling anxious about it in a worrying way. He doesn’t understand why when he’s sure that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Jared, but there’s something nagging him about spending an evening surrounded by their friends and family in anticipation of the big day. He actually just wants the whole to-do over with and to escape to a fantasy island with Jared and no one else.
“I’ll be done in thirty minutes,” Jensen insists, “And home right after. I promise.”
*
He does good on his promise, walking in the door less than an hour later. He goes to the bedroom when he hears the shower running, and a minute later the water shuts off followed by Jared coming out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.
Jensen thinks about the infinite number of times he’ll see this: Jared’s sculpted chest damp and shining, hair smoothed away from his face, and only one piece of cloth between them.
Smiling, Jensen steps up to Jared, sets his hands on Jared’s bare hips, and leans in to kiss him. “What do you say we just stay home tonight?”
Jared holds Jensen’s upper arms and puts space between them. “What? Why?”
Jensen squeezes Jared’s hips. “Because you look really good and I don’t want to share you with anyone.”
Jared laughs and nudges Jensen far enough away he can move freely around the room without Jensen stopping him. “A little possessive, Mr. Ackles?”
“I know you hate pompous dinner parties, anyway,” Jensen plays up. “I’m just trying to save you.”
As Jared dresses, he eyes Jensen oddly. “This is a pompous dinner party?”
“No, I didn’t mean … ” Jensen immediately closes his eyes and wishes he could take better command of his words. He’s been completely incapable of saying what he really means lately and he blames it on the stress of wrapping up a month’s worth of work in the last five days.
It’s yet another reason he’s not exactly looking forward to being the focus of tonight.
Jensen sighs and throws his hand up, unable to control the whine in his voice. “We’re gonna go and everyone’s gonna get ga-ga over you and I’ll just stand there feeling like a tool when I can’t get overly excited about rehearsing a wedding. I want to be married, not pretend that we’re getting married.”
Jared smiles and crosses the room to Jensen, running his hands down Jensen’s arms. “Everyone’s gonna be ga-ga over the both of us.”
“You don’t see how everyone loves you, though,” Jensen tries to joke. Jared gives him a playful frown, and Jensen feels appropriately pathetic. “I mean it.”
Jared brings his hands up to Jensen’s neck, holds carefully then squeezes as he softly smiles. “We’re going to go be fancy in front of everyone at a really nice restaurant you picked out, eat really good food that you planned, drink a lot of great liquor, and come home to spend the last night of our singles lives together. I think that sounds pretty awesome.”
Jensen blinks, thrown off by how confident Jared is right there. “Who are you and what did you do with my fiancée?”
He squeezes Jensen’s arms again, kisses him quickly, then smacks his ass. “Go get ready. We’re on a schedule. And I know how much you love schedules.”
*
Just as Jensen had predicted, Jared is charming the hell out of everyone and has commanded many of their guests throughout the night. Jensen can’t stop watching it happen even when it still bugs the crap out of him after all this time. He’s not possessive, but he’d like to actually have some time with his co-guest-of-honor. And not be laughed at when he’s tense or dry or fumbling with the right words.
“Why are you not enjoying yourself?” his mom asks as she passes him a fresh drink.
“I am,” he says, but it sounds hollow even to him.
She hums and leans against his side. He sets his arm around her and they both watch Jared sit at a round table with Josh’s youngest boy on his lap and animatedly tell the dozen guests surrounding him about a fishing trip from his childhood. Jeff and Megan are standing near him laughing their asses off as Jared playfully amps up the story, and the seven-year-old in his lap is watching with wide, wondrous eyes.
“Everyone loves him,” Jensen says.
“It’s better than the alternative.”
“It’s just weird. Like some Twilight Zone that he opens his mouth and everyone stops and stares.”
His mom elbows him. “You should stop complaining that you got yourself one of the good ones.”
He concedes with a light smile and nod. “Yeah, I could’ve brought home some windbag who wouldn’t shut up and everyone hated to see.”
“Thank God you never did that.”
Jensen snorts then smiles at Jared when they’re suddenly looking at each other, even while Jared is still circled by half the party. “Yeah, thank God.”
As dinner is served, the party settles down to eat in the private dining room. Jared sits next to Jensen at a table in the corner with their parents joining them. He kisses Jensen’s cheek with a soft, “Hey.”
“Hey,” Jensen says back, losing himself in Jared’s soft look.
“This party’s not so bad.”
Jensen chuckles. “No, it’s not.”
Jared scoots closer with his arm around Jensen’s back and lowers his voice. “I know I overreacted earlier, but then I thought about it and I’m secretly happy you went into work today.”
He searches Jared’s eyes and is glad that he seems really comfortable about it. “You are?”
“Yeah. Because starting Sunday, it’s just gonna be me, you, and two weeks of bathing suits and beaches. No work.”
Jensen nods. “No work. Just you.”
Jared kisses him softly and Jensen has to pull back before he gets too lost in it in front of everyone. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“I’m easy to love,” Jared smirks.
Jensen rolls his eyes, nudging Jared away. “I can’t wait until we’re gone and you lose your beloved audience.”
Jared kisses his shoulder and rubs his back. Then he’s suddenly standing and whistling with his fingers to grab everyone’s attention. Jensen quickly glances up to watch, confused as to what he’s doing. He knew his dad wanted to say a few words in thanks, but Jared getting up right now is surprising, and a little bit of a reminder that Jared always commands a room while all of those around them seem to love mocking the uptight, dry way Jensen deals with others.
“Hey everyone,” Jared starts. “I just wanted to take a minute and thank you all for being a part of our night. It’s great to have friends and family with us for this, even if Jensen hates parties where he can’t easily hide or make a business deal.”
The group laughs and Jensen schools himself to not roll his eyes or cringe. He continues to watch Jared talk and goes warm when Jared sets his hand to his shoulder and squeezes.
“We’ve been together for a handful of years, and we’ve had a lot of great moments together, done a lot for each other, and learned a lot about one another. And the one thing I’ve learned is that Jensen likes to complain that everyone loves me more than him.”
Jensen pushes tension down and offers Jared a tight smile when Jared looks down at him warmly.
“But what he hasn’t learned yet is that no one else loves him more than I do. And I hope he finally gets that tomorrow, when I tell him that I will spend the rest of my life with him.”
Everyone turns to goo with a round of Aww, even Jensen. But he isn’t really paying attention to anything except Jared as he stands and pulls him into a fierce hug, never wanting to let go.
“You’re incredible,” Jensen whispers.
Jared pulls back and palms Jensen’s cheek. “You are, too. That’s why I chose you.”
“And that’s why I said yes.” He kisses Jared then they share a long, warm look. He knows that for all of Jared’s ability to smile for everyone, he never looks at anyone the way he looks at Jensen. And it’s a beautiful thing. “I have a really fantastic fiancée.”
“Husband.” Jared kisses him quickly. “After tomorrow.”
Jensen grins and suddenly, he can’t wait for it.
Title: That Time Jensen Finally Got It
Words: 2100
Notes: This follows the last timestamp in the timeline, That Time Jensen Hated Lucida
“You’re gonna be in so much trouble,” Danneel singsongs from the doorway as Jensen shuffles through drafts on his desk.
“It’s just a couple hours,” Jensen excuses away, still focused on his work.
“So much trouble.”
He rolls his eyes and looks up at her. “Don’t you have something better to do?”
Danneel checks her watch and continues to look comfortable leaning against the doorframe. “Nope. I’m pretty sure my life will be easy-peasy for the next few weeks.”
He has to admit that she’s right. But he’s not going to vocalize that. “Can you at least go look busy?”
“That’s no fun.”
“We’re at work, Danneel. It’s not supposed to be fun.”
“And you’re not supposed to be here.”
He huffs and glares at her. “And I could get out of here faster if you left me alone.”
She raises her hands in innocence and goes back to her desk. Jensen is thankful for the quiet so he can mark up drafts that need to be done early next week and back to PTS, a new client he’s just snagged. He’d rather all the drafts were out of his hands. He doesn’t need to spend the next few weeks worrying over the ads and wondering if any of the client managers that Randy promised would handle it all could screw everything up.
He’s getting far into his edits when the phone rings. He pushes the speakerphone button and quickly greets, “Jensen Ackles.”
“Hi there,” Jared says brightly.
Jensen freezes and looks to Danneel’s desk, but she’s not there and he wonders if she started all of this just to be a pest. He really is in trouble now. “Hi. Hey, how are you?” Jensen asks faking the same level of brightness.
“I’m good. Whatcha up to?”
Here, Jensen can sense a bit of bitterness leaking into Jared’s voice. “I’m just … I’m checking a few things.”
“At work.”
Jensen flinches and bites his lower lip. Meekly says, “Yes, at work.”
“That’s awesome,” Jared says tightly. “Really awesome for you to be checking a few things at work.”
“Jared, I’m … it’s only a couple of hours. I’ll be home soon.”
“Jensen,” Jared says flatly. Jensen can picture him rubbing a hand over his face and trying his best to keep his annoyance at bay. “We are getting married.”
Tomorrow, Jensen’s mind so unhelpfully supplies.
“And you’re at the office. Can you see how troubling this is?”
Jensen pulls his glasses off and covers his face. “I know, I know,” he mumbles.
He knows he’s too focused on work, even when Jared has chilled him out over time. He’s a workaholic with a very important new client on his hands, and he’s about to get married and go on his honeymoon for two longs weeks without contact for anything work-related.
They didn’t sign a pre-nup, but Jared did demand Jensen sign a contract against working during their honeymoon. Jensen mocked Jared at the time, insisted he was overreacting. Jared asked for Jensen just to sign the damn paper.
Jensen’s not sure if he’s more pissed at himself for signing it or at Jared for being right.
He picks the receiver up to talk as privately as possible in the office. “Jared, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s the day before, Jensen. This isn’t making me feel very good about it.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. But-”
“And you laughed at me for asking you to sign that stupid contract, but this is why.”
“I know,” Jensen stresses. “But I wanted to finish this stuff for PTS so I wouldn’t be thinking about it anymore. I just want to get away and not worry about it.”
Jared sighs and Jensen goes on before Jared can interrupt.
“I am absolutely committed to tomorrow and the next two weeks, and not having a single thought about work.”
“How about tonight?” Jared asks with an awkward laugh.
Tonight is the rehearsal and following dinner, and honestly, he’s feeling anxious about it in a worrying way. He doesn’t understand why when he’s sure that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Jared, but there’s something nagging him about spending an evening surrounded by their friends and family in anticipation of the big day. He actually just wants the whole to-do over with and to escape to a fantasy island with Jared and no one else.
“I’ll be done in thirty minutes,” Jensen insists, “And home right after. I promise.”
*
He does good on his promise, walking in the door less than an hour later. He goes to the bedroom when he hears the shower running, and a minute later the water shuts off followed by Jared coming out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.
Jensen thinks about the infinite number of times he’ll see this: Jared’s sculpted chest damp and shining, hair smoothed away from his face, and only one piece of cloth between them.
Smiling, Jensen steps up to Jared, sets his hands on Jared’s bare hips, and leans in to kiss him. “What do you say we just stay home tonight?”
Jared holds Jensen’s upper arms and puts space between them. “What? Why?”
Jensen squeezes Jared’s hips. “Because you look really good and I don’t want to share you with anyone.”
Jared laughs and nudges Jensen far enough away he can move freely around the room without Jensen stopping him. “A little possessive, Mr. Ackles?”
“I know you hate pompous dinner parties, anyway,” Jensen plays up. “I’m just trying to save you.”
As Jared dresses, he eyes Jensen oddly. “This is a pompous dinner party?”
“No, I didn’t mean … ” Jensen immediately closes his eyes and wishes he could take better command of his words. He’s been completely incapable of saying what he really means lately and he blames it on the stress of wrapping up a month’s worth of work in the last five days.
It’s yet another reason he’s not exactly looking forward to being the focus of tonight.
Jensen sighs and throws his hand up, unable to control the whine in his voice. “We’re gonna go and everyone’s gonna get ga-ga over you and I’ll just stand there feeling like a tool when I can’t get overly excited about rehearsing a wedding. I want to be married, not pretend that we’re getting married.”
Jared smiles and crosses the room to Jensen, running his hands down Jensen’s arms. “Everyone’s gonna be ga-ga over the both of us.”
“You don’t see how everyone loves you, though,” Jensen tries to joke. Jared gives him a playful frown, and Jensen feels appropriately pathetic. “I mean it.”
Jared brings his hands up to Jensen’s neck, holds carefully then squeezes as he softly smiles. “We’re going to go be fancy in front of everyone at a really nice restaurant you picked out, eat really good food that you planned, drink a lot of great liquor, and come home to spend the last night of our singles lives together. I think that sounds pretty awesome.”
Jensen blinks, thrown off by how confident Jared is right there. “Who are you and what did you do with my fiancée?”
He squeezes Jensen’s arms again, kisses him quickly, then smacks his ass. “Go get ready. We’re on a schedule. And I know how much you love schedules.”
*
Just as Jensen had predicted, Jared is charming the hell out of everyone and has commanded many of their guests throughout the night. Jensen can’t stop watching it happen even when it still bugs the crap out of him after all this time. He’s not possessive, but he’d like to actually have some time with his co-guest-of-honor. And not be laughed at when he’s tense or dry or fumbling with the right words.
“Why are you not enjoying yourself?” his mom asks as she passes him a fresh drink.
“I am,” he says, but it sounds hollow even to him.
She hums and leans against his side. He sets his arm around her and they both watch Jared sit at a round table with Josh’s youngest boy on his lap and animatedly tell the dozen guests surrounding him about a fishing trip from his childhood. Jeff and Megan are standing near him laughing their asses off as Jared playfully amps up the story, and the seven-year-old in his lap is watching with wide, wondrous eyes.
“Everyone loves him,” Jensen says.
“It’s better than the alternative.”
“It’s just weird. Like some Twilight Zone that he opens his mouth and everyone stops and stares.”
His mom elbows him. “You should stop complaining that you got yourself one of the good ones.”
He concedes with a light smile and nod. “Yeah, I could’ve brought home some windbag who wouldn’t shut up and everyone hated to see.”
“Thank God you never did that.”
Jensen snorts then smiles at Jared when they’re suddenly looking at each other, even while Jared is still circled by half the party. “Yeah, thank God.”
As dinner is served, the party settles down to eat in the private dining room. Jared sits next to Jensen at a table in the corner with their parents joining them. He kisses Jensen’s cheek with a soft, “Hey.”
“Hey,” Jensen says back, losing himself in Jared’s soft look.
“This party’s not so bad.”
Jensen chuckles. “No, it’s not.”
Jared scoots closer with his arm around Jensen’s back and lowers his voice. “I know I overreacted earlier, but then I thought about it and I’m secretly happy you went into work today.”
He searches Jared’s eyes and is glad that he seems really comfortable about it. “You are?”
“Yeah. Because starting Sunday, it’s just gonna be me, you, and two weeks of bathing suits and beaches. No work.”
Jensen nods. “No work. Just you.”
Jared kisses him softly and Jensen has to pull back before he gets too lost in it in front of everyone. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“I’m easy to love,” Jared smirks.
Jensen rolls his eyes, nudging Jared away. “I can’t wait until we’re gone and you lose your beloved audience.”
Jared kisses his shoulder and rubs his back. Then he’s suddenly standing and whistling with his fingers to grab everyone’s attention. Jensen quickly glances up to watch, confused as to what he’s doing. He knew his dad wanted to say a few words in thanks, but Jared getting up right now is surprising, and a little bit of a reminder that Jared always commands a room while all of those around them seem to love mocking the uptight, dry way Jensen deals with others.
“Hey everyone,” Jared starts. “I just wanted to take a minute and thank you all for being a part of our night. It’s great to have friends and family with us for this, even if Jensen hates parties where he can’t easily hide or make a business deal.”
The group laughs and Jensen schools himself to not roll his eyes or cringe. He continues to watch Jared talk and goes warm when Jared sets his hand to his shoulder and squeezes.
“We’ve been together for a handful of years, and we’ve had a lot of great moments together, done a lot for each other, and learned a lot about one another. And the one thing I’ve learned is that Jensen likes to complain that everyone loves me more than him.”
Jensen pushes tension down and offers Jared a tight smile when Jared looks down at him warmly.
“But what he hasn’t learned yet is that no one else loves him more than I do. And I hope he finally gets that tomorrow, when I tell him that I will spend the rest of my life with him.”
Everyone turns to goo with a round of Aww, even Jensen. But he isn’t really paying attention to anything except Jared as he stands and pulls him into a fierce hug, never wanting to let go.
“You’re incredible,” Jensen whispers.
Jared pulls back and palms Jensen’s cheek. “You are, too. That’s why I chose you.”
“And that’s why I said yes.” He kisses Jared then they share a long, warm look. He knows that for all of Jared’s ability to smile for everyone, he never looks at anyone the way he looks at Jensen. And it’s a beautiful thing. “I have a really fantastic fiancée.”
“Husband.” Jared kisses him quickly. “After tomorrow.”
Jensen grins and suddenly, he can’t wait for it.