Beyond The Sea: Chapter 2
| Chapter 2 |
The store seemed incredibly busy compared to usual, a half dozen people standing in line in front of Jensen. He looked down at the couple of items in his arms, milk, bread and a jar of peanut butter. Until the cheque from his godfather cleared, he still needed to be careful with what he spent.
“Next,” one of the cashiers called out, Jensen edging a person closer to the registers. He sighed as he lifted his full arms higher and looked over to where he’d left Jared. He raised an eyebrow as he watched Jared, who had a puzzled expression on his face. Jensen laughed to himself. Jared was somewhat odd, and yet strangely alluring, as he examined the rows of magazines. Jensen bit thoughtfully on his lip as he tried to remember what kind of magazines they might be.
“Next.” Jensen shuffled forward another place and gently turned his arm to look at the time; it was just after three. Smiling, he turned back to look at Jared, a magazine now in Jared’s hands, open and causing him to tilt his head slightly. Jensen snorted as he caught sight of the front cover, Busty Asian Beauties typed in large red font. He watched Jared look curiously through the pages and wondered what he must be making of it.
“Next.”
“Would you like me to buy that for you?” Jensen said as he came to stand beside Jared. He grinned as Jared turned his head and closed the magazine, a flush of heat in his cheeks. “Find something you like?” Jensen asked as he took the magazine from Jared’s hands.
Jared shook his head. “It was…” He watched as Jensen replaced it on the top shelf. “Kind of scary.”
Jensen laughed and reached into his back pocket, a coin and scratch card pulled from inside the denim material. “Got to agree with you there,” he said as he wrapped his arm around the paper bag containing his purchases, and held the scratch card in the palm of his hand. He gently rubbed at the silver coating.
“What is that?” Jared asked.
Jensen smiled. “It’s a scratch card,” he said. “I never win anything, but they were by the register.” He lifted his head. “You never know, right?” He looked back at the scratch card, a sniffed laugh as he looked down at the various amounts and numbers. “Hah!” He grinned and waved the card in Jared’s direction. “Fifty dollars.”
Jared looked at Jensen curiously.
“I just won fifty dollars. This is like the best day ever,” Jensen said happily. “Oh, wait here. I need to go cash this in.”
Jared smiled. “Okay,” he said.
Jensen handed Jared the bag of food. “I’ll be right back.”
Jensen sat on the front porch and stared at the kitten sitting on the bottom step. He eyed it suspiciously. “Ever feel like you’re being watched?” he said and turned to Jared, who was sat beside him.
Jared leaned forward. “It’s sweet,” he decided, and gave a smile as he listened to it meow. “Can we keep it?”
Jensen rested his chin on the top of his knees as he turned back to stare at the small ball of black fur. “I think it has a collar,” he said. “Therefore it has a home.”
Jared nodded. “You get to keep your home now, right?” he checked. “Your godfather’s gift fixed that for you?”
“It did,” Jensen agreed. “I just…” He considered how he might never have known about the money. “It’s weird how things change.”
Jared smiled.
“I mean,” he started as he turned to Jared. “Last night, I was…”
Jared lowered his eyes.
“Yet today, I’ve just deposited a cheque for twenty six thousand dollars in my beyond overdrawn bank account. I got a free meal and managed to win not just fifty dollars on a scratch card but then ten, fifteen and then another two.” He sighed as he looked back at the kitten, the little thing curling up in a patch of sun. “It’s all happened since I met you. If you hadn’t pulled me out of the water, then…”
Jared shrugged. “Good things happen sometimes,” he said.
“Not to me,” Jensen told him.
Jared lifted a hand and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear. “Jensen,” he said. “Can I stay?” He shifted slightly on the porch. “Stay with you tonight?”
Jensen drew his lower lip between his teeth as he thought about Jared’s question. “You want to stay?” he asked, his eyes shyly meeting Jared’s.
Jared smiled and shuffled closer. “Yes,” he said, his head leaning close to Jensen’s. “I want to be with you.”
Jensen took a steadying breath. He hadn’t really been with anyone since the night Evan had left. “I don’t know you,” was the only thing he could think to say.
“Then maybe this way you could. Besides, I know you. ”
Jensen met Jared’s eyes. He couldn’t deny there was something there, something familiar behind the hazel gaze. “No you don’t,” he sighed.
Jared leaned closer, catching Jensen by surprise as his lips briefly met Jensen’s. “Close your eyes,” he said, a smile as he watched Jensen do as he asked. “I want you to remember someone for me.”
“Who?” Jensen asked, a dreamy edge to his voice.
Jared leaned back and slowly raised a hand, his hand brushing the side of Jensen’s face. “Don’t be mad,” he whispered, his fingertips lingering at Jensen’s jaw.
Jensen breathed in deeply. “Why would I be mad?”
Jared hesitated before leaning forward and whispering in Jensen’s ear.
Jensen slowly opened his eyes, dark hair brushing against his cheek as he listened to the words of a song he hadn’t heard in years.
“Jensen,” Jared said as he pulled back. “Are you okay?”
“Why did you sing that?” He looked at Jared, confused by what he’d heard. “I never told anyone that. We changed the words. I changed the words,” he corrected himself, an old argument pounding in his ears.
Jared shook his head. “We changed them.”
Jensen pulled away from Jared. “I did. I’d sing it to myself when I felt down.”
“You were six. What did a six year old have to be down about?”
Jensen lowered his head. “Maybe you should go,” he said, as he got to his feet and brushed his hands down the front of his jeans. “I should sort out something to eat, and then there’s the laundry and things.” He looked down at Jared, a painful feeling in his chest. “It’s time you went home, Jared.”
Jared considered what Jensen had said. He didn’t want to go home. “Why can’t I stay?”
Jensen sighed, and pulled a tired hand back through his hair. “Why would you want to?”
Jared smiled a bright smile. “Because I do. Because I…” He looked at Jensen and slowly got to his feet. He crossed the porch and stood in front of Jensen, watching as he swallowed uncomfortably. “Don’t be scared of me,” he said in a soothing voice.
Jensen sniffed a laugh as he tried to convince Jared and himself to the contrary. “I’m not scared of you. I’m just…You know so much about me, yet I know nothing of you.”
Jared gently raised a hand and brushed the back of his long fingers over Jensen’s cheek. “What do you want to know?”
Jensen frowned, aware that he was suddenly moving backwards, Jared guiding him toward the open door to his house.
Jared smiled and took slow steps forward until Jensen was inside. He pushed the door closed behind him and met Jensen’s eyes in the dim light of the hallway. “Ask me anything?”
“Why did you save me?” Jensen suddenly asked. “What made you think I was worth saving?”
Jared looked down, his hand reaching out for Jensen’s. “Because someone has to.”
Jensen met Jared’s eyes.
“Because you don’t think you are. You don’t think you’re worth a single moment of my time. And that I don’t understand.”
Jensen lowered his head, only to find a finger tucked under his chin and Jared lifting his head.
“I told you once that when you needed me, I’d be there.”
Jensen weakly shook his head. “I don’t know you.”
Jared leaned forward, a light kiss to Jensen’s mouth. “And yet I still hope you will.” He kissed Jensen again, aware of how Jensen’s body arched towards him. Jared smiled against his mouth, his hands falling to Jensen’s waist and pulling him close. “So,” he started, his fingers playfully lifting Jensen’s shirt. “Can I stay?”
Jensen closed his eyes as he felt warm hands against his skin. He stood for a moment and enjoyed the contact. It had been a long time since Evan had left. Five months of stress and struggling to get from one day to the next. Slowly Jensen opened his eyes and looked up at Jared. He met those familiar warm, hazel eyes and smiled. “Stay,” he decided.
Jensen breathed in deeply as he opened his eyes, a smile on his lips as he looked up at the man leaning over him. He leaned upward, his mouth meeting Jared’s in a slow kiss. “I must be insane,” he murmured against soft lips, a grazing of stubble on Jared’s chin. He gently raised a hand and brushed it back through the tangled mass of Jared’s hair, the dark locks between his fingers and falling about Jared’s face. Insane somehow felt good right now.
Jared’s hand rose off the bed, and he gently ran a line across Jensen’s cheek. “You are not,” he disagreed, a gentle sound as he leaned forward and brushed his nose against Jensen’s. “You’re just Jensen.”
Jensen smiled and closed his eyes again, aware of Jared nudging a firm leg between his own. He reached down, his hands running over Jared’s naked back to rest on his firm jean covered ass. He squeezed Jared slightly through the material, a smile as he felt the heat of Jared’s hand against his chest as it moved on down to his stomach. “Maybe just a little,” he sighed and opened his eyes. “You’re just…” He ran his hands over Jared’s back, his fingers idly feeling out dips and ridges of muscle. “I don’t usually…” He cleared his throat as he felt Jared’s crotch push down against his. “This. I don’t usually do this.”
Jared smiled, his lips trailing a line of kisses across Jensen’s jaw. He closed his eyes as he lingered in the bend of Jensen’s neck, his teeth grazing and nipping at the warm skin he found there. “Different,” he said as he lifted his head. “It’s different.”
Jensen looked up into Jared’s eyes and nodded. “I know. I don’t know why but…” He raised a hand and cupped Jared’s face. “I just know.”
Jared turned his head, a kiss to the palm of Jensen’s hand. “I want to stay,” he whispered against Jensen’s skin.
Jensen smiled as he told Jared, “I already said yes.”
The evening drew in as Jensen rolled over in his bed. He sighed as he slowly opened his eyes and looked towards the light shining through his bedroom window, an orange glow across his bed sheets. He raised his hand and curled it around the pillow he was laying on, a soft sigh as he looked at the empty space beside him. Quietly he considered what had happened between him and Jared, each touch and taste, and gentle word. Slowly Jensen turned onto his back and closed his eyes, listening to the silence of his house. Had he been dreaming?
With a small groan, Jensen pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked around the room, a small smile as he noticed the discarded clothes on his bedroom floor. Not a dream. He looked towards his open bedroom door, and stared out into the hallway. He sat and listened for a while, a smile spreading across his face as he heard a low sound. It sounded like Jared was singing, and doing it badly.
With a small laugh, Jensen got out of bed, and reached down for his underwear. He pulled the dark material up over his legs and up to his waist, the boxers hanging just off his hips as he scratched a hand back through his ruffled hair. He slowly made his way along the hallway, stopping as he found himself outside the bathroom. He smiled as he leaned forward to listen. The radio was playing, and Jared was singing along in a key Jensen wasn’t sure even existed. Gently he rapped his knuckles on the back of the door. “Jared,” he said. “You okay?” Jensen listened as there was a low thud, a splashing sound as Jared moved inside the bath tub. “You taking a bath?” he asked.
“Er…” Jared grunted.
Jensen raised an eyebrow. “Jared?” He listened as there was more movement from inside the room. “What are you doing?” He reached out and took the door handle in his hand. Slowly he pushed down on the handle, surprised as the door hit something firm. He jumped as the door stopped, with a thud and a scuffling sound on the other side of the wooden door. “Jared?” He looked through the small gap between the door and its frame. “What are you doing in there?”
“N-nothing,” Jared managed.
Jensen frowned and pushed against the door. “Jared, let me in.”
“In a moment,” Jared replied, more sounds as something was knocked over.
Jensen shook his head. “I’m coming in,” he insisted, his shoulder pressed to the door as he began to push. “What the…” He pushed harder, his hand flat against the wooden panel as he forced it slightly. “Just let me in.” A hundred and one thoughts rushed through his head. Drugs. Maybe Jared was doing drugs. “Get out of my bathroom,” Jensen huffed, the door finally giving way as he fell forward and into the room.
“Ow,” Jensen groaned as he found himself on his hands and knees. He slowly raised his head, a sense that something wasn’t quite right. “Oh my…” He pushed himself backwards, falling on his ass as he scrambled back toward the door. “Jared?”
Jared looked nervously at Jensen. “Jensen, please. I…”
“What are you?” Jensen looked down to where Jared lay on the bathroom floor, one hand holding tightly to the rim of the bathtub. “How is this…?” He looked to where Jared’s legs should be, a shimmer of gold and orange scales meeting his eyes. “You have a…You’re…” Jensen shook his head. “I’m still asleep. That’s it, right?” He met Jared’s eyes. “I’m dreaming.”
Jared looked at Jensen. He didn’t know what to say.
“It’s been a long week. I’m just…” Jensen raised a hand and pinched his arm, a frown as he found himself still sitting in the bathroom. “I’m not dreaming, am I?” he said quietly and looked back to Jared, his eyes trailing over the scale covered tail. “You kind of look like…” Jensen couldn’t bring himself to say the word as he reached out for the door handle and dragged himself to his feet. “I need to go,” he told Jared as he stood up, taking quick steps as he disappeared from the bathroom.
Jared sat quietly on the couch and looked down at his denim covered legs. He’d been stupid. He knew that, and yet part of him was glad Jensen had found out. Secrets, he’d never really liked them. Slowly he raised his head, the sound of keys in the lock of the front door. Swallowing nervously, he got to his feet and waited, Jensen eventually appearing from the hallway. “Hi,” he said, his hands twisting together in front of him. “I was worried.”
Jensen looked Jared up and down. “You have legs,” he noted, as he pushed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Long legs,” he added, his eyes slowly meeting Jared’s. “Were you planning on telling me?” he asked. “Or were you hoping I’d never notice?”
Jared shook his head. “I wanted to tell you. I really did. It was just…What was I supposed to say?”
Jensen sniffed a laugh.
“Would you have believed me?”
Jensen sighed and pulled a hand back through his hair. “I want you to leave,” he suddenly said. “I need you to go.”
“Why?” Jared asked.
Jensen swallowed uncomfortably. “Because I can’t handle this right now. You lied to me. Everybody lies to me.” Jensen closed his eyes. “I want you to go. Go back to wherever it is you came from, and never come back.”
Jared looked at Jensen, an ache in his chest as he listened to Jensen’s words. “You don’t mean that,” Jared told him. “I-”
“Don’t,” Jensen insisted, fearing what words may come out of Jared’s mouth. “I’m confused enough as it is. I mean…you had a tail. Like a…”
“Merman,” Jared finished.
Jensen bit nervously on his lower lip. He looked at Jared, the old memory of his parents arguing rising to the surface once more. “You said you knew me,” he finally said. “How?”
Jared looked at Jensen, a soft sigh as he gave a small smile. “When you were six.”
Jensen shook his head. “No.”
“Yes, Jensen.”
“You can’t be. That wasn’t real.”
Jared looked at Jensen firmly. “We’d play by the rocks. Our secret pool.”
“That wasn’t real. I was six. I made stuff up. Mom and Dad were angry that I’d do that. They thought it was because…” He stopped. “Look, I’m kind of freaking out right now. Can you just go?”
“I need you to remember. I want to stay.”
Jensen shook his head. “You stayed already. You got what you wanted, I’m sure. Now you get to go.” Jensen turned away, leaving Jared to watch him walk away.
Jensen sat on the end of his bed, his eyes closed tightly shut as he held an old photo album in his hands. Jared had left about an hour ago, leaving Jensen alone with a mixture of confused memories. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked down at the album. He took a deep breath and opened the front cover, a small smile as he looked at the first photograph. He stared at the two young boys who were identical in every way, the same blonde hair and smile, both in blue t-shirts and green shorts, five years old and not a care in the world.
Jensen sighed, his fingers running gentle lines over the face of one of the boys. “Adam,” he said quietly, and looked at the smile on his brother’s face as he tried to remember what it was that had made them both smile. Gently he turned through the pages, more photographs of the two of them. They’d always done everything together. He turned the page again, his heart sinking as he found something missing; only one boy was sat in his grandparents’ apple tree.
Page after page, Jensen continued to look through the album; images from his childhood. He turned the page again, stopping as he found a picture of himself on the very same beach he’d woken upon the previous night. He sighed as he looked at the photograph, a frown as his eyes moved from the sandcastle he was building to the line of rocks behind him, the secret pool Jared had spoken of concealed behind them. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the rocks, a gasped breath as he looked into the background of the picture; a boy was between the rocks, a mass of dark curls on his head. “Jay,” he whispered. “Oh my God.” He shut the album. He needed to see Jared.
Jensen slowed to a jog, catching his breath as he neared the beach. He stopped, his eyes scanning the dark sand as he called out Jared’s name. It was getting late, and the remaining sunlight was starting to disappear below the horizon. Carefully he stepped forwards, his sneakers kicking up soft sand as he made his way towards the rocks he’d found Jared on that first time. He looked at the water, the tide coming in in gentle waves. “Jared?” he called again, stopping as he heard loose ground falling amongst the rocks. “Jay?”
Jensen made his way to the rocks and began to climb amongst them. He picked his route carefully. Though the rocks were maybe only six foot in height, there were plenty of spaces to get a foot stuck, or slip. With a victorious grin, he stood on top of the small mound, the grin turning to a thankful smile as he found Jared standing on a rock and watching the water lap against the edge of the hard surface. “Jared?” Jensen said again, and stepped down toward him.
“What are you doing here?” Jared asked and lifted his head, sad eyes looking at Jensen. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why?” Jensen asked as he stepped forward, noting how Jared edged toward the edge of the rocks.
Jared sighed as he looked back at the water. “Because it makes it harder.”
Jensen shook his head. He didn’t understand. “Harder?”
Jared turned to Jensen and gave a sad smile. “Going back.”
“Back where?” Jensen asked with a frown, and stepped down onto the same rock Jared stood on.
“Home,” Jared told him. “I was given the day. Twenty-four hours to see if…” Jared stopped and sighed heavily. “You should leave. I have to…”
“No,” Jensen said as he stepped closer, his hand on Jared’s arm. “I need to hear it from you.”
Jared slowly pulled his arm away. “There’s nothing left to say. You saw what I am.”
Jensen nodded. “I did, and I need you to explain it to me. Tell me how you know me. Tell me if this crazy idea in my head is just that. Crazy.”
Jared swallowed hard and stared down at the water. “What do you want to know?”
“Are you Jay?”
Jared smiled. “Jay-Jay,” he sniffed. “You used to call me that. A long time ago now.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You played in the pool behind these rocks, or you used to. You and the other boy.” Jared looked at Jensen, a small smile. “You wouldn’t go in the water when it became just you.”
“I couldn’t,” Jensen told him. “Not after…” He closed his eyes, Adam’s smiling face on the inside of his eyelids. He opened them slowly, the image disappearing. “I was too scared of the water. I was a kid, and I thought it would get me too.” He gave a shaky breath. “Kind of what I’d hoped for yesterday.”
“You’d sit at the water’s edge. I’d be there and we’d sing silly songs, and you’d bring sand from the beach and lay sandcastles across the rocks.”
Jensen met Jared’s eyes, familiarity washing through him. “I thought I made you up.”
Jared smiled. “And here I was, thinking maybe you were the one who was make believe.”
Jensen lowered his head, a soft sigh as Jared’s hand was on his arm. “My parents got upset. They said I was being unfair, and how could I make something up like that after what had happened to Adam?” He stopped as he let his mind drift back to his childhood and his stories of the boy with a tail like a fish. “I was maybe seven the last time I came down to the water.” He looked at Jared curiously. “Why are you here?”
Jared looked into Jensen’s glistening, green eyes. “You never said goodbye.”
Jensen held Jared’s gaze, a guilty lining in the pit of his stomach.
“I waited for you at the pool for…I don’t remember now. I hadn’t thought about you in so long, and then there you were, your voice inside my head.”
“You can hear what I’m thinking?”
Jared nodded.
“So you can hear what I’m thinking right now?”
Jared tilted his head slightly, a smile spreading across his face. “You have a dirty mind.”
Jensen laughed, his hand nervously taking Jared’s in his. “Will you come back with me?”
Jared looked back at the water around the rock he stood on. “I want to,” he said hesitantly, “but…”
“Please,” Jensen tried. “Come back with me. I need to...”
Jared looked at Jensen. “What?” he asked.
“Talk,” Jensen said. “Explain. I’m just kind of confused right now.”
Jared chewed thoughtfully on his lip. Was it enough? “My time is almost up,” he told Jensen as he looked up at the dark sky.
“I don’t understand. You changed. One minute you were…and now you’re you again.”
Jared sighed as he crouched down and dipped his hand into the rising water. He closed his eyes as he felt the cool liquid between his fingers, as he felt the pull of what his life had been for almost thirty years. “If I go back, I can never return. If I stay,” he said as he lifted his head, “I can never go back.”
Jensen felt a heavy lump in his throat. How could he expect Jared to choose him? “You can’t go home?”
Jared shook his head and looked up at the darkening sky, the moon partially visible as the sun died away. “Not if I choose…” He hesitated. “You.”
Jensen crouched down beside Jared, his hand on Jared’s back. “Then you should go. I’m not worth losing that for.”
Jared sighed as he wiped his hand on the jeans he wore. “What if I think you are?” he asked as he turned his head.
“Then I’d think you were crazy. Family’s important. I’ve learned that the hard way,” Jensen told Jared. “I can’t ask you to make a choice based on my need to talk. I don’t know if I can give you all that you want.”
Jared met Jensen’s eyes, a lingering stare as he considered the options. Stay or go? “I thought about you for so long,” he admitted. “The sweet blonde boy who shared his snow cone with me, who would carry Bo-Bo the bear around with him everywhere he went, and who I found myself longing to be with.”
“I was six,” Jensen reminded him. “We were just kids. We had to grow up.”
Jared smiled. “The big wide world,” he sighed and reached out to take Jensen’s hand in his own. “One word, and we could see that world together. Go to all those places you talked of.”
Jensen chewed at the inside of his mouth thoughtfully. “I don’t remember.”
Jared smiled. “You were learning the names of the States.”
Jensen laughed. “How do you remember this stuff?”
“Magic,” Jared said with a grin, and squeezed Jensen’s hand. He held Jensen’s gaze, a hopeful need in his chest.
Jensen stared into Jared’s eyes, a warmth washing over Jensen as he looked at him. He noted how quiet the world around them was, only a gentle roll of waves against the rocks they were crouched on. “I don’t know if I can ask you,” he finally said. “I have no right to do that.”
Jared sighed and lowered his head, a moment’s hesitation before he said, “I love you.” He raised his eyes to Jensen’s and waited.
Jensen’s eyes widened as he heard the words. “You don’t mean that,” he told Jared. “You can’t mean that.”
“Why?” Jared asked. “You make me feel so…” He leaned forward, a kiss to the side of Jensen’s cheek. “You make me feel,” he said, before covering Jensen’s mouth in kisses, soft lips touching his. “I want to stay with you.”
Jensen closed his eyes and started to kiss Jared back. He didn’t know why but it somehow felt so right. It felt like the piece he’d been missing from his life for so long. Slowly he opened his eyes and rested his hands on Jared’s chest, gently pushing him away. He looked at Jared thoughtfully.
“Show me your world,” Jared continued. “Show me its magic.”
Jensen swallowed, a heavy lump in his throat as he tried to utter some kind of words. “But you, and…” He stopped and reached up to cup Jared’s face, his thumb running gentle lines over Jared’s skin. “Yes,” he eventually said. “Okay, yes.”
Jared smiled. “Are you sure?”
Jensen nodded. “I can’t predict the future, but I know what I want right now. I want this. I want you.”
Jared wrapped an arm around Jensen’s waist and pulled him close, a deep kiss as their bodies fell against each other. “Thank you,” he said. He had the validation he needed, a reason to support a decision he thought he’d be crazy to make. “No more secrets, I promise you that. Anything you want to know, just ask. Anything.”
Jensen leaned his head against Jared’s shoulder. “You can never go back?” he checked.
Jared breathed in deeply as he held Jensen, his chin resting on the top of Jensen’s head as he looked out across the water. “I was told to choose one or the other. I don’t know how, but I will just be Jared, a human.”
“You can’t be both?”
Jared shook his head, a small smile. “You saw what happened today. Imagine the look on peoples’ faces if I got caught out in the rain.”
Jensen laughed and slowly pulled away. “Are you sure you want this?” he asked as he met Jared’s eyes for a further time.
Jared nodded. He was sure. He loved his family, but he also knew that they loved him. He had said his goodbyes already, his mind already made up from the moment he’d heard Jensen’s voice again and he’d pulled the unconscious man up onto the beach. In that moment, he’d already chosen Jensen. “I’m kind of getting used to having legs,” he joked, a smile as he looked at Jensen. “Take me home.”
Jensen returned the smile, what seemed like a heavy weight lifting from around him. He watched as Jared got to his feet and offered his hand. With a warm smile, he wrapped his hand around Jared’s and stood up. He looked up at Jared as he agreed, “Home.”
Jensen moved his head against the pillow and smiled, his eyes meeting Jared’s across the bed. He sighed softly as he rested his hand across Jared’s bare chest. They’d talked for what seemed like hours, small details of both their lives being shared. “You know I really should get some sleep,” he told Jared. “I need to start looking for a job.”
Jared smiled and laid his hand over Jensen’s. “A job?” he wondered.
Jensen grinned. “My godfather’s money won’t last forever. I need to find work.”
“Me too,” Jared stated. “I can help.”
Jensen laughed and snuggled closer to Jared. “I guess you can.”
Jared smiled brightly. “Of course I can, though I’m not sure at what,” he said with a frown.
Jensen shrugged as he rested his head on Jared’s shoulder. “I’m sure you must be good at something,” he decided. “There’s plenty of time for all that anyway. For now maybe you should just get used to being you. The new you.”
Jared gave a low laugh, his hand coming up to stroke back Jensen’s sun-kissed hair. “It is strange. I’ve lived in the ocean for all my life, but up here there’s so much to see and do.”
“I guess,” Jensen said and closed his eyes, a smile as he felt Jared’s finger twist in the hair at the back of his neck.
“Like pizza. I love pizza. Pepperoni, right?”
Jensen grinned. “You mean you don’t have pizza down there?” he joked.
Jared kissed Jensen’s forehead and said, “Stop teasing me.”
Jensen wrapped an arm over Jared’s chest and squeezed him tightly. “Is this make believe?” he whispered, holding onto Jared for fear that maybe he was dreaming, that perhaps he’d finally gone insane.
“Not make believe,” Jared insisted and tucked a finger under Jensen’s chin, raising Jensen’s face to his. “Although,” he started and laid a kiss to Jensen’s lips, “I do want a happily ever after.”
Jensen sighed softly as he melted into the kiss, and found large warm hands brushing across his skin. “I’d like that,” he agreed, and deepened the contact, Jared’s hand curling beneath his thigh and pulling his leg upwards. Happily ever after, that sounded perfect.
Fin