Fic: "With One Look - An epic love story (according to Mike)", Jared/Jensen, R
Fic title: "With One Look - An epic love story (according to Mike)"
Author name: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, Jared/Sandy
Rating: R
Word Count: 17.436
Beta: parka_girl
Warnings/Spoilers: non-graphic m/m sexual situation, language
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary:
Chad is an awesome friend and outs Jared in front of a whole nation. Jared has to deal with the fall-out and with Jensen showing up.
Notes: This was written for whenboymeetsboy and is based on the movie In & Out.
I took some of the plot lines of the movie but dropped a lot of them.
Even though I like the movie I think it is rather clichéd and I hope I managed to maintain the loose structure of the plot without too many clichés being in there.
And I think I have to say that this is not as comedic as the movie is. I tried but it didn't want to work that way.
More Notes:
Thanks go to peaches for holding my hand during sprints, to purequicksilver for helping with the plot idea and encouraging me and to everyone else who talked me into finishing this even when I thought I couldn't.
And again as usual a really huge Thank You to my beta and encourager parka_girl.
She went over everything so all remaining errors are mine.
Dedicated to anjaliss, for her Birthday and Christmas. I know I am late.
Sorry.
Jared can’t believe how much everything has changed. It still feels like home and mostly looks just like it did when he left. But the people are different, and he’d never thought that would happen.
Mike’s bar is packed. Before he'd left, it was only used when nothing else was open. The place always fought against prejudices, half-truths and opinions based on decades of discrimination. And all that only because Mike had refused to stay in the closet during high school.
Jared can’t believe that he's having problems finding a free space at the bar and he's happy about it. He's happy that Mike’s hollering towards the kitchen for more instead of just stepping back and looking sadly at the food inside he’d have to throw away when no one wanted it.
“Jay! Man, it’s good to see you. I've been waiting for you to show your face here. Free beer for Jared, Sandy. Now.”
Jared only grins, knows the procedure and has long ago given up on protesting. He doesn’t even flinch at Sandy’s name being shouted, doesn’t feel guilty anymore. Maybe things are normal now, are the way they're supposed to be.
When he finds a free stool at the bar, he isn’t surprised to find himself squeezed in between two of his former players. The second they realise who he is, they straighten up and for a tiny moment Jared braces himself against the rejection he always fears. But then he is squished by two pairs of strong arms and welcomes are shouted his way.
He can’t help but grin. The slight feeling of claustrophobia is stomped down thoroughly by feelings of joy and gratefulness.
It seems, he thinks, that things have changed a lot. But Jared won't ever take credit for it, even if Mike insists on it being his achievement that the town and the people in it finally understood what self respect and love for others really means. It hadn’t been Jared alone and Mikes knows it. But he'll still hand Jared a free beer first; before he lets Jared order anything else.
Jared comes into town from time to time. When he can afford to take a break, when something important such as big birthdays or holidays are happening, or when Chad is giving one of his huge parties to introduce a new book or author. This town is still home, still the place he loves to come back to, the place he grew up in.
But it’s not his only home anymore and Jared doesn’t miss it as much as he thought he would when he left three years ago.
***
+
Three years earlier
Mike just shrugs at Jared’s questioning look and places the plate and the beer in front of him. It’s not like anybody else would want the food. It makes Jared sad. The food is brilliant, the drinks are awesome and the bar/restaurant looks unlike everything else in their town.
It should work. It should be the place to go in town, the place to be seen. But few people come inside, people who aren’t afraid to be seen here or tourists who have no idea about the town’s archaic hierarchy.
As much as Jared loves his hometown, sometimes he hates it for its conservative way of thinking.
He's known Mike since school, never had much to do with him back then, though. Once they hit college, Jared discovered that Mike was a decent guy, and Jared never thought twice about being his friend. Seeing Mike wasting his talents in a place like this makes him disappointed, annoyed and frustrated over and over again. But Mike simply refuses to give up. He'd rather throw away some food instead of caving under the town’s pressure.
Jared is amazed by his courage. He knows he'd never be this brave. Couldn’t be, even though he knows his parents will always be there for him. Jared just doesn’t think he’d have the strength to stand up against a whole town, against people he likes, and maybe even loves like family.
And because of his love for the town and its people, he doesn’t understand how they can treat Mike the way they do. Mike’s has never done anything to them. Nothing except live his life the way he wants and Jared can't find anything wrong with that.
So far, no one's ever told him not to be friends with Mike, the town would never do that. They just simply try to ignore it, which might be worse than saying anything. But Jared isn’t sure.
“Why are you still making so much food, then?”
“No idea, Jay. Really, no idea. I guess I still hope people will overcome their old-fashioned opinions and prejudices and try new things. But I guess that’s too much to ask for around here. Sometimes I wish I had just shut up during high school. Maybe then things would have happened differently.”
“I … I don’t know.”
Mike smiles a sad smile and grabs root beer from behind the bar. It’s a routine by now. Jared comes in for lunch every day. It’s his break between coaching the local high school basketball team and leading the drama club there. Mike cooks, gets him cold root beer and apple pie for desert and they’ll talk about their days and life in general. Usually it’s not a depressing event, but sometimes things can’t be ignored any longer.
Jared settles in with is food and watches Mike fiddle with the tabs so that they don’t dry up. There is one other guest in the whole of the bar and he's immersed in the newspaper, so there is nothing Mike can do to keep himself occupied.
“So … how is the wedding preparation going, Jay?”
Jared blinks at the sudden topic change. He shouldn’t be surprised, because he knows Mike and the other man isn’t one to wallow in his misery nor fond of dragging others down with him. Jared just feels like he should be doing more for Mike, more than just being a trustworthy customer of his establishment and a friend. Jared feels like he isn’t doing enough to help.
“Stop thinking, Jared. It’s hurting my brain just looking at you.”
“Yeah. I can imagine. Thinking was never your strong suit.”
“Oi. No need to get mean or the food won’t be free today.”
“Mike, I always pay anyway. Even if you try to sneak it back into my pocket every single time. And every time I sneak it back into the register.”
They both grin at that and Jared actually feels okay again. This is really not the time and the place to have such dark thoughts and Mike wants to know about the wedding, so Jared is only too happy to oblige. Weddings plans are something he can talk about all day, and everybody knows it.
“Sandy is on a shopping spree with my mom and my sisters. They want to complete the wedding outfit, so it’s the dress today and the flowers. I am not supposed to be anywhere near Main Street for the whole day and seeing as I have a lot to do for the play for Graduation Day, I think I can manage to follow that order.”
“Man, you are practically giddy with excitement. That’s cool. Really cool.”
“Thanks. And yes. I can’t wait. I love her so much and I just want to spend the rest of my life with her. I know people say we're young, maybe too young, to get married, but I don’t think you can be too young for commitment if it’s the real thing.”
Jared knows he is sporting a goofy grin and maybe even a flush, but he's used to it by now because just thinking about the day that's just a week away makes him happy. So happy that he doesn’t mind some of the talk that goes around town.
Only because Sandy's still seen as an outsider. She moved here when she was already 12, so people still don’t see her as a ‘real’ member of the community. But Jared thinks, hopes, that things will be okay once they're married and live their happy life. The life he's been dreaming about for years. He's happy that the person in his dreams finally has a face, even if it sometimes feels a little odd.
Mike sends a look Jared knows. Mike always does that when Jared is close to freaking out over the wedding and all things attached to it. Freaking out, not because he's getting cold feet, but because he's so damn excited about it. But even so, Jared never really knows just how to interpret that look.
It’s like Mike either thinks he is totally crazy for being so excited or that he thinks Jared should maybe think about that whole wedding thing again. Jared doesn’t want to think about the latter option, he wouldn’t know how to deal with it. So every time Mike has that look in his eyes, Jared silently forces himself to go with the “Mike-thinks-I-am-totally-crazy” option.
Jared wonders if he should ask Mike about it, but then he also waits for Mike to say something. Mike never does. So Jared doesn’t either.
“You think the women will be finished with everything to get here on time?”
“On time?”
“Come on Jared, don’t tell me you forgot about it again. It’s only the single most important topic in town these days.”
“Huh?”
“Chad’s interview?”
Jared almost drops his fork, because yeah, he had forgotten all about it. Even though one would think that to be impossible, especially with all the hype going on lately.
“Damn it. Yes, of course. I think they’ll be here. No worries, Mike. We’ll be watching it together. I mean it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see my best friend opening his own TV show with a discussion about his oh-so-famous last book.”
Mike just rolls his eyes, because he knows what Jared thinks about it all. The town has been buzzing with excitement during the last few weeks, since the announcement of the TV show. Jared reverently hopes that the show will make up for every stupid question he’s had to endure during the last few weeks.
It’s not easy being the best friend of one of the most accomplished writers. Especially not when said writer has several awards to his name and a TV show being shown nationwide. The town isn’t that big, so everyone knows everybody and Jared has been referred to as the best source for information on Chad for the past two or three years. He sometimes wishes people wouldn’t be so chatty, so hyped up about everything connected to Chad.
Jared gets the hype. He really does. Every small town with a celebrity who makes it good tries to milk everything out it as much as it can. It’s about promoting the town and creating a good image, which Chad’s books have clearly done so far.
It’s good for tourism, even some kind of pilgrimage has started up during the recent years. Everyone wants to see where the famous author grew up, which house he had lived in and which school he had attended.
The thing is, Jared doesn’t even like the books.
As much as they let the town shine in a glorious light, the main character utterly depresses Jared. He doesn’t get why the guy lives a life he hates and doesn’t do the job he dreams off. Jared just doesn’t get it.
He sometimes wants to call Chad and ask where the hell he gets his ideas from, but then he fears that Chad might have created that character after one of their friends, he thinks of Mike and feels sad and ashamed to even go there, Jared just doesn’t know how he'd deal with that. How he would be able to help this person.
Because that guy? That guy has issues bigger than Texas.
***
There is no reason for it to be held here but the producers had insisted and, well, Chad is a little vain when it comes to his reputation. Showing off his Hollywood mansion is just one of the things he would do to underline it. Still, doing it in his most private quarters isn’t what he had expected to happen.
Chad is nervous as hell. It’s the nth time that he's asked himself if he's doing the right thing, if this is will be worth the hassle, the tears and the screaming that will follow. But then he thinks back to the lost looks, the thoughtful conversations they only had when both of them had been drunk and the dreams he'd witnessed over the years and then every doubt he might have had vanished.
Sure, this might be a bit drastic and he probably should have done it another way, but he thinks nothing is more useful then a good shock to the system. And, well, he's pretty sure that being so deep in denial that you don’t even know what you really want can’t be healthy anyway.
He is a fucking awesome friend. Of course, he knows that he should probably stay away from his home town for a while afterward. But, he also thinks that it'll be worth it. He is, after all, preventing his best friend from making the biggest mistake of his life.
And if anybody says it’s because the bride doesn’t like him and he's jealous, they can go where the sun don’t shine.
***
+
The TV above the bar is on and some of the students from his drama club actually followed Jared into Mike’s bar. It happens occasionally, and Mike always basks in the attention those teenagers bestow upon him. It’s rather fun to see a man in his thirties regress back to 16 again, but Jared assumes that Mike never really grew up anyway.
Sometimes, even if Jared isn’t that much older than them, his students can be pretty insistent and insolent. And these days it’s pretty hard for Jared not to just snap and yell at them or do equally drastic things that would cost him his job and the possibility to ever work as a teacher again.
Mike just snorts when Jared rolls his eyes at a particularly stupid question about Chad posed by one of the football jocks hiding among the ranks of the drama students. Jared is grateful that Mike's there to help him out with rude and rather sarcastic comments about Chad. Jared needs it to distract himself from the stupidity that seems to rule among certain groups within the student body.
Jared wonders if he ever was that bad when he was in school, and that was only five years ago.
The interview is about to start. Sandy rushes through the door of the bar, Jared’s mother and sister on her heels, just as the intro music to Chad’s very own TV show starts. The first thing Jared notices is that, this time, the show isn’t set in the usual studio surroundings but in Chad’s own private quarters.
There is no audience present like usual, but Chad seems to be relaxed and his usually cocky self. Except that something seems off and. Jared just can’t quite place it. When Mikes asks him to help in the kitchen, Jared just turns up the volume and nods yes.
Welcome to this week’s “Literature with Chad" ... I am Chad Michael Murray and with me is Liza Swanson, who wants to talk about the inspiration behind my second novel “Speeds of growing up.”
Jared smiles when he hears Chad’s voice through the kitchen door. It’s been a while since they talked and Jared feels a little bad about it.
It’s when he hears the interviewer’s voice that he realised he had zoned out a little.
“Mr. Murray was so generous to invite us to his home and get personal with us. Chad ... Can I call you Chad?”
Jared almost snorts when he hears Chad’s cocky answer. He can hear the smirk that accompanies the tone and doesn’t need to watch the screen to see what kind of picture Chad presents.
Chad’s voice slips in and out of Jared’s consciousness, talking, bragging really, about the things that made him write the book, made him realise that writing about personal experiences was so much better than having to think up new adventures for his sexually ambiguous alien hunter in a far away galaxy. Not that this is the end of the whole alien series, but Chad had wanted to start something new, something real yadda yadda…
Jared had heard it all before. Chad's been talking about nothing else since he started his new project, so Jared is pretty sure that he knows almost everything that's in the book.
Apparently not.
The first thing he realises is that everything is kind of still, not moving, not even he is. Knife poised in midair, onion clenched on his other hand, face scrunched up and eyes watering slightly. Nothing moves. He isn’t breathing. And he can’t really believe that Chad would say something like this.
There is no way he has heard right.
Just no way at all.
“Let me get this right. You're saying that not only is the town real, which we already know, but that the characters actually exist as well and that the main character for which you got the awards is based on your best friend?”
“Yes. Of course. I thought it was obvious. I mean… Jared is such a brave man, surviving in such an unfriendly kind of surroundings. Small towns really aren’t a good place for gay teenagers, you know. I did every thing I could to support him.”
What?
To say Jared's stunned would be the understatement of the year. He's not just stunned, because the second thing he feels is anger.
The knife sails through the air just as Chad starts on to ramble about the characters in all of his books are really just people he knows. Jared is frozen in time and nothing makes sense.
When he looks up, Mike’s frozen in the door way, eyes on the knife that just sailed through the air and is now embedded in the wall next to the door.
Oops.
***
“Hurry up man, it’s about to start.”
Jensen huffs, places the book on the bedside table and puts his glasses back on. He doesn’t want to spend his day off watching some uninteresting whacked talk show with a self proclaimed bestseller author, who does know jack-shit about writing. But his roommates can be pretty persuading and Jensen doesn’t fancy sleeping in a wet bed again.
“Hold your horses, Tom. I'm on my way. Not that I'll miss anything important."
He doesn’t need to look at Tom to know that his friend is scowling and maybe even pouting a little. It’s an old discussion between them. Jensen will never get how an intelligent guy like Tom can get totally fanboy over a douchebag like Chad Michael Murray. Never.
The shows is already on when Jensen plops down between Tom and ...
“Chris?”
“Yo. TV’s broken at our place, so I thought I’d watch it here. He’ll be talking about the new book.”
Chris looks totally serious when he says that, no hint of a smirk or even a glint in his eyes. Jensen eyes the coffee table but deems it to far away to be able to bang his head against it. So he just slides down the couch a little more and closes his eyes. He can’t believe he's surrounded by morons.
Sure, he has read those books as well. They aren’t bad. Not at all. And for a second try in another genre, the latest Murray novel is rather good. Jensen just can’t get along with the hype about the guy. A good science fiction series and two serious genre novels doesn’t make him the next Rudyard Kipling or Saul Bellow.
Chris pats him on the arm, smiles a little and turns back towards the screen. And really, when Chris is all caught up in this, something must be going on. Chris is not the type to follow the mainstream.
“What’s so cool about Murray anyway?”
Chris snorts and looks at Jensen like he has just asked what’s good about beer or country music. Not a good sign when he's trying to get an answer. Jensen supposes he'll have to be willing to live with that for now, except Chris actually answers him. Sort of.
“Dude, his latest book is just awesome. I mean the main character is totally fucked up and still comes across as normal to everyone else. And Murray said he’d talk about how the character was developed. I just want to know that. I'm curious. I don’t read, a lot but this book is just great. Just let me indulge in my quest for further knowledge, okay? We all know Tommy just drools over the author and doesn’t care about the message.”
“Hey. I like the books, too.” Tom’s indignant face almost manages to make up for the fact that Jensen still has to sit here and watch this show with two people who obviously think this guy is the new second coming in the literature world.
“Yeah, you just like drooling over the author better.”
Even Jensen cracks up at that. Because it's true and it distracts from the fact that Murray is talking and Jensen just wants to stand up and go back to his book, waiting upstairs for him. This all a huge waste of time. Not that Jensen has anything better to do, what with his writer’s block working out in full force and TV scripts finished for the season.
“Shut up, Chris and listen. He is talking about the book now.”
Jensen rolls his eyes. Every time someone comes up with the question about the intent of an author or about character development, he wants to shout that it doesn’t matter because you don’t write for others, you write for yourself. But then he listens to Murray spout nonsense and thinks that maybe it doesn't work that way anymore.
No wonder he's working full time for the school board and writing books and scripts only when he can afford to. But thinking about things the way means Murray readily exploits all his writing secrets and sells them of as ‘the’ method to go about writing and that truly annoys Jensen to no end. Especially when he thinks that Murray’s main character is just some depressed emo kid that never grew the balls to fight for what he wanted. It takes a special brand of people to actually pass as normal despite all the repressed angst and worry.
Sometimes Jensen thinks this character can’t possibly be real. There's no way someone this deep in denial can live a normal life and come across as happy to everyone, including himself. Most of the time, Jensen thinks it’s all made up and Murray is milking it for what’s worth, even if it means selling it as a true story.
Tom’s slight gasp brings Jensen back to the show. He has missed something. He's pretty sure of it, because both Chris and Tom are just staring at the screen without moving a muscle. Jensen is about to ask what’s going on when the squeaky, annoying voice of the reporter doing the interview comes out of the speakers again.
“Let me get this right. You're saying that not only is the town real, which we already know, but that the characters actually exist as well and that the main character for which you got the awards is based on your best friend?”
“Yes. Of course. I thought it was obvious. I mean… Jared is such a brave man, surviving in such an unfriendly kind of surroundings ...”
Well, so much for it being a figment of Murray’s imagination. Huh. Who'd have thought? The reporter looks like she's had seizure and Jensen thinks it’s the funniest thing he's seen in a while. She is literally speechless.
Jensen blinks, blinks again, looks at Tom first and then at Chris and cracks up. This is possibly the best entertainment he's had in ages. And there he was, not wanting to watch it. He is pretty sure neither Tom nor Chris wanted to know ‘that’ much about the character.
He just hopes the poor guy Murray just outed knows how to deal with it.
***
Jared doesn’t really remember how he got home. He just knows that over and over again he tried to reassure Sandy, his mom, his sister and everyone who asked that ‘No, of course I'm not gay’ and that ‘No I have no idea why Chad would say such things’.
Everything is a bit of a blur and Jared just can’t wrap his mind around it. He just can’t think of any reason why Chad would do that, what would make him humiliate Jared so openly. Chad knows about the wedding, knows what it means to Jared.
Chad fucking knows that Jared is happy.
He blinks back into reality and finds he's in his kitchen. A glass of whiskey in his hand and Sandy pressed close next to him. He moves closer, seeking the warmth and the knowledge that someone is there. It’s too warm to warp her in his arms, summer in Texas is not a good season for full body contact.
Sandy’s head is tucked under his chin and when she looks up at him with trusting eyes and a small smile, Jared only notices how messed up her hair is.
It’s an absurd thought, but he thinks that she probably doesn’t want anybody seeing her in such a disheveled state. He doesn’t even think about the reason why she is so out of breath, slightly sweaty and her hair hang around her cute face in tangles. He's just worried what she might say when she figures out how out of place she looks. There's no real reason why he thinks about that and not about what Chad had just announced.
It must be the shock, he tells himself and goes back to staring out the window. He wonders if he should water the grass later. It seems to be developing a slightly brownish tinge, which really doesn’t go with the colours of the still-blooming flowers.
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Yeah… Yes. I just need to think about it. And call Chad and shout at him. And maybe cancel our friendship or what the hell ever. I have no idea why he said that. Really. I'm so sorry, Sandy. I know this is not the way you want to spend the last week before our wedding. I’ll sort it out. Promise.”
Sandy’s lips are soft under his, her smaller body fitted against his side. Jared's happy to have her, knows he doesn’t deserve her. And he's amazed by how calm she is and how much she trusts him. But then, she never really took everything what Chad said as the truth, so Jared's kind of relieved that for once Chad’s bad reputation might actually be good for something.
Even if it only serves to strengthen the trust his future wife has in him. For the first time since the interview, Jared smiles again. All the while, kissing Sandy slow and sweet.
***
The next few days are a blur again. Jared remembers biking to school for basketball practice as usual the day after the interview and being met by a horde of reporters who stuck microphones and cameras and camera/microphone cell phones in his face.
He'd been prepared to answer questions from his players, his drama club students and even by his fellow teachers, but he sure as hell hadn’t been prepared for the chaos Chad’s announcement would cause. He hadn’t even dreamed of it.
He hadn’t thought it would be that important. It was just a book, after all. He'd clearly underestimated things. And Chad had fucking vanished. Jared can’t reach him via any of the phone numbers he has and Chad’s agent only says something about vacation when Jared manages to be connected to her.
He's not mad at Chad. Not at all. Fucking furious would say it better. And it would be really nice if he could talk to his so called best friend. Just to ask what that has been about, what Jared ever did to Chad to deserve this. But even that seems to be impossible these days.
Next time Chad gives an interview, Jared will grab his wife, camping gear and will hole up in the mountains for the next month just so that he can get away from that hell.
It’s not enough that the whole town and probably half the country - judging by the masses of reporters that are lurking around every corner - are questioning his sexuality, but now his state of mind as well. All thanks to Chad’s awesome skills of creating and describing his characters.
Jared isn’t even gay.
Weird dreams at 13 so do not count. They didn’t count for Chad so why do they suddenly count for him? That’s kind of hypocritical if you ask Jared. And really, he doesn’t know how Chad got the notion that he might be.
Sure, Jared likes pink. So what? It’s a nice warm colour. Even his students said so when he asked why someone would think of him as gay. And his students agreed that nothing about him can be seen as even close to feminine or flaming.
But then one of his drama students pointed out that this representation of homosexuals is very clichéd and incorrect, and that they shouldn’t judge someone just on his looks. Jared had wholeheartedly agreed. He likes his pink shirts way too much to abandon them, they're comfy, after all.
His players had looked kind of uncomfortable when he’d brought the topic up. But then again, that might have had something to do with them being in the locker room and talking sexuality with their coach. None of them had even thought about leaving the team though, so Jared kind of claims that as a success of his policy of open-mindedness.
Sandy had just rolled her eyes and said he shouldn’t even be thinking about it, shouldn’t let Chad destroy everything. Even if she sometimes says something about his hair, it has nothing to do with his sexuality. Jared isn’t ashamed to admit that he washes his hair with products that usually are for women, but his hair is really demanding and he hates looking like a hobo just because he can’t tame his hair properly.
The most important thing Chad should have thought about is that Jared is engaged, planning his wedding to his high school sweetheart and all that.
So yeah … He. Is. Not. Gay.
***
Three days after ‘the’ day, Jared is still aware of the looks he's getting, the whispers some people just can’t hold back. It hurts, but isn’t as bad as it could be. Right now everything is just speculation and no one really thinks Chad got it right. Not that there is anything to get right anyway.
The wedding preparations are in full swing, Sandy doesn’t even seem to think about it anymore and Jared's immensely relieved. The wedding itself is putting a lot pressure on him and his fiancé doubting would unquestioningly double that.
His mom is freaking out over the whole wedding, that is nothing new, but now she seems to be looking at him even more and Jared has no idea what she is expecting him to do. But as long as she has her proud little smile on her face, he doesn’t worry. His dad just vanishes when everything gets too much and hasn’t really commented on anything. He'd just said how he’d known Chad would pull something to get attention and that had been it.
So his family and friends are there for him, nothing has changed and everything else is going its way, only now Jared feels like a bunny trying to get away from the prying eyes of the eagle circling over the field. Yeah, that was definitely too much coffee this morning. His analogies used to be better.
There is not a single reporter in front of the school when Jared arrives and he lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. They are still around, still want exclusive stories, exclusive interviews with him and his family. But none of them seemed to have the patience to wait the whole day. They usually pile up when school finishes. Jared wishes it would die down already, but it's not like he's giving interviews anyway.
The only interview he’ll give is when he has to defend himself for smashing Chad’s face in the next time they see each other. But seeing as Chad is playing possum, Jared is close to give up on the hope for his 15 minutes.
He is about to enter his classroom when Principal Mayers blocks his way. The look Jared gets doesn’t bode well and suddenly everything seems to come crashing down. Jared shudders and silently curses Chad again.If he gets to hear about wearing pink to school now he’ll scream.
“Good morning, Jared. Would you please accompany me to my office? Your students are being supervised and there is something I’d like to speak to you about.”
“Uhm.. yes, sure, Principal.”
Jared tries not to shuffle his feet and feel 12 again as he follows the other man to the main office building. He just hopes he’ll at least have a job when this ‘talk’ is over, but he doesn’t hold out much hope.
***
Jensen chokes on what must be his fifth coffee of the day and tries not to spray the remainder of it across the table and at his boss.
Everyone in the room is stunned into silence.
“You want me to do what?”
The other members of the board seem to be equally shocked by the request their president just posed. But Jensen isn’t sure if it’s because of the request itself or because the president asked him to follow through on it. It might be the latter of the two reasons.
Sometimes he wonders why he's still working for the school board instead of just concentrating on his small publishing company and on writing his books. But seeing as they can’t seem to function or know how to deal with such a situation without their token gay, Jensen doesn’t even dare to think what it might look like without him on the board.
The board president coughs a little to hide his embarrassment, but he's as bad an actor as he is as leader during meetings, so it doesn’t really work. Jensen has to fight hard not to roll his eyes or to leave the room, because this just ridiculous.
“I… Look Jensen, I know it’s not a good situation and with the book being so widely known… I mean, parents have called and issued concerns. And we just want to make sure that nothing happens or you know… goes out of control.”
“That nothing happens? What is supposed to happen anyway? You think he might infect the students with his gay? Not to mention that he apparently isn’t gay at all, considering the huge wedding ad in the newspaper I saw yesterday. Just what exactly am I supposed to do there? Open a group for gay support or a self help group ‘How to live with gays in our community?’ Might not work at all, since the parent’s issues seem to be unjustified. You sure it’s not the image of the school board you're concerned about? Are there really any complaints at all?”
That gets a reaction out of the whole board. No one lets accusations like that sit unanswered and Jensen has a hard time not to smirk. Never accuse conservative school board members of being homophobic or discriminating when the minority is present. Works every time and just like a charm.
“Jensen, please. The parents are just concerned and we just want to… Well, we want you to watch him teach. How he does it and if there is anything to complain about. You know that we have to follow up on every complain.”
Jensen nods. He doesn’t like it at all. Especially the fact that nothing has been confirmed yet. Jared Padalecki has just been claimed as the basis for a rather depressing book character and everyone suddenly seems to be concerned about the children and teenagers he's been working with for some time now. No one even bothered to actually ask if it is true or if this Murray guy just wanted to have something scandalous to say in an otherwise boring interview.
The fact that Jared is a rather young and new teacher might play a role as well. The board, as well as the parents, don’t seem to know him that well. Perhaps if he was middle-aged and had been member of the faculty for over ten years, no one would probably say anything. But Jensen isn't too sure of that, either.
“So, you want me to baby-sit a grown man who is fighting rumours just now? And face it, it’s nothing but rumours and a rather suspicious claim by a guy who usually writes dirty fantasy novels. If it turns out not to be true, this will fall back onto the board. You know that, right?”
Looking at the faces around him, Jensen silently sighs, his speech has had no immediate effect whatsoever. Baby-sitting it will be. He already knows what his report will say and it won't be any of the things the board is seemingly hoping for.
Jensen won’t destroy someone’s career just because the higher-ups are bigoted assholes. Not when nothing is actually wrong with the person in question. Jensen silently hopes that this Jared character really isn’t as dysfunctional as Murray created him to be. Because that wouldn’t be such an easy thing to pass off.
“Okay, how long am I supposed to watch Mr. Padalecki?”
The sighs of several of the board members are very audible. Jensen hates this job, hates that he still needs it, hates that he has to talk to and work with these kind of people. But he'd rather it be him than any one of them dealing with Jared Padalecki’s unique case.
“You’ll start tomorrow morning and will do observation of Mr. Padalecki’s work for at least a week. I'm sorry, I know it is on a short notice, but Blue Haven is not that far from Dallas.”
Jensen just nods, takes his bag and the papers, leaving without saying anything else. There isn’t anything he can do or say anyway, and leaving this way says more than any words could anyway.
Blue Haven and one emo character/teacher it will be, then.
Even though Jensen finds this whole thing ridiculous, he doesn’t really look forward to geting to know this Jared. He can’t help but think about the description in the book and it makes him cringe. There are pictures in the papers and one in Jared’s board file, but Jensen hadn’t had the time to look at them and he doesn’t really know if he even wants to.
This is not going to be fun.
***
+
Jared can’t help but shuffle slightly as Mayers leads him into the office. He turns to grab one of the seats the principal motions to when he see that they're not alone in the room.
Someone is already sitting in one of the chairs. Someone with really intense green eyes and a rather pretty face. Jared blinks. Then blinks again and finally moves when he realises that he's staring.
“Jared. This is Jensen Ackles from the Texas School Board. He's here to talk to you about some issues that have come up recently.”
Mayers says it all with an air of indifference and even a hint of disgust and Jared has a hard time not scowling. He knows it’s directed toward him and not toward the guy from the school board, because Mayers isn’t that kind of guy who would defend a teacher. At least not a teacher who, in his eyes, has done something that doesn't conform with his own ideas. Somehow, Jared thinks he's already done that with being innovative in his teaching and coaching methods. He thinks the recent events are just the icing on the cake.
“Mr. Padalecki, I'm sorry I have to be here. I’d rather not, at least not under these circumstances.”
Jared is actually surprised by the genuine regret he hears in the board guy’s voice. He blinks again and tries to remember the guy’s name, but somehow ends up stuck at the green eyes again. Jared wonders what’s up with that and why he suddenly doesn’t seem to be able get his tongue unstuck and say something.
“Uh … yeah.”
The board guy just raises an eyebrow, which makes him look rather silly but still kind of gorgeous and attractive in a way Jared isn’t used to being aware of. So he just kind of continues staring at the man in front of him without really knowing what to say or what to do next.
Mayers coughs slightly and brings Jared out of his stupor. This is really not the best moment to freeze, for whatever reason.
“Sorry. I'm sorry. These past few days have been a bit much for me. And I'm trying not to take off and go search for Chad. Nice to meet you, though. I'm Jared.”
His hand shoots out in front of him, seemingly out of its own accord, and Jared feels himself go red. It’s such a teenager thing to do that he doesn’t even know where it’s coming from, other than the fact that he obviously spends too much time among them.
“Jensen.” So the name thing is solved now.
The smile he gets is as genuine as the regret he heard earlier and is just as unexpected. It shouldn’t make him weak in the knees. It shouldn’t have any effect on him. Especially not when the last person who made him feel like this at first sight is going to be his wife in less than three days.
And yet, Jared can’t help but smile back.
Part TWO
Author name: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, Jared/Sandy
Rating: R
Word Count: 17.436
Beta: parka_girl
Warnings/Spoilers: non-graphic m/m sexual situation, language
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary:
Chad is an awesome friend and outs Jared in front of a whole nation. Jared has to deal with the fall-out and with Jensen showing up.
Notes: This was written for whenboymeetsboy and is based on the movie In & Out.
I took some of the plot lines of the movie but dropped a lot of them.
Even though I like the movie I think it is rather clichéd and I hope I managed to maintain the loose structure of the plot without too many clichés being in there.
And I think I have to say that this is not as comedic as the movie is. I tried but it didn't want to work that way.
More Notes:
Thanks go to peaches for holding my hand during sprints, to purequicksilver for helping with the plot idea and encouraging me and to everyone else who talked me into finishing this even when I thought I couldn't.
And again as usual a really huge Thank You to my beta and encourager parka_girl.
She went over everything so all remaining errors are mine.
Dedicated to anjaliss, for her Birthday and Christmas. I know I am late.
Sorry.
Jared can’t believe how much everything has changed. It still feels like home and mostly looks just like it did when he left. But the people are different, and he’d never thought that would happen.
Mike’s bar is packed. Before he'd left, it was only used when nothing else was open. The place always fought against prejudices, half-truths and opinions based on decades of discrimination. And all that only because Mike had refused to stay in the closet during high school.
Jared can’t believe that he's having problems finding a free space at the bar and he's happy about it. He's happy that Mike’s hollering towards the kitchen for more instead of just stepping back and looking sadly at the food inside he’d have to throw away when no one wanted it.
“Jay! Man, it’s good to see you. I've been waiting for you to show your face here. Free beer for Jared, Sandy. Now.”
Jared only grins, knows the procedure and has long ago given up on protesting. He doesn’t even flinch at Sandy’s name being shouted, doesn’t feel guilty anymore. Maybe things are normal now, are the way they're supposed to be.
When he finds a free stool at the bar, he isn’t surprised to find himself squeezed in between two of his former players. The second they realise who he is, they straighten up and for a tiny moment Jared braces himself against the rejection he always fears. But then he is squished by two pairs of strong arms and welcomes are shouted his way.
He can’t help but grin. The slight feeling of claustrophobia is stomped down thoroughly by feelings of joy and gratefulness.
It seems, he thinks, that things have changed a lot. But Jared won't ever take credit for it, even if Mike insists on it being his achievement that the town and the people in it finally understood what self respect and love for others really means. It hadn’t been Jared alone and Mikes knows it. But he'll still hand Jared a free beer first; before he lets Jared order anything else.
Jared comes into town from time to time. When he can afford to take a break, when something important such as big birthdays or holidays are happening, or when Chad is giving one of his huge parties to introduce a new book or author. This town is still home, still the place he loves to come back to, the place he grew up in.
But it’s not his only home anymore and Jared doesn’t miss it as much as he thought he would when he left three years ago.
***
+
Three years earlier
Mike just shrugs at Jared’s questioning look and places the plate and the beer in front of him. It’s not like anybody else would want the food. It makes Jared sad. The food is brilliant, the drinks are awesome and the bar/restaurant looks unlike everything else in their town.
It should work. It should be the place to go in town, the place to be seen. But few people come inside, people who aren’t afraid to be seen here or tourists who have no idea about the town’s archaic hierarchy.
As much as Jared loves his hometown, sometimes he hates it for its conservative way of thinking.
He's known Mike since school, never had much to do with him back then, though. Once they hit college, Jared discovered that Mike was a decent guy, and Jared never thought twice about being his friend. Seeing Mike wasting his talents in a place like this makes him disappointed, annoyed and frustrated over and over again. But Mike simply refuses to give up. He'd rather throw away some food instead of caving under the town’s pressure.
Jared is amazed by his courage. He knows he'd never be this brave. Couldn’t be, even though he knows his parents will always be there for him. Jared just doesn’t think he’d have the strength to stand up against a whole town, against people he likes, and maybe even loves like family.
And because of his love for the town and its people, he doesn’t understand how they can treat Mike the way they do. Mike’s has never done anything to them. Nothing except live his life the way he wants and Jared can't find anything wrong with that.
So far, no one's ever told him not to be friends with Mike, the town would never do that. They just simply try to ignore it, which might be worse than saying anything. But Jared isn’t sure.
“Why are you still making so much food, then?”
“No idea, Jay. Really, no idea. I guess I still hope people will overcome their old-fashioned opinions and prejudices and try new things. But I guess that’s too much to ask for around here. Sometimes I wish I had just shut up during high school. Maybe then things would have happened differently.”
“I … I don’t know.”
Mike smiles a sad smile and grabs root beer from behind the bar. It’s a routine by now. Jared comes in for lunch every day. It’s his break between coaching the local high school basketball team and leading the drama club there. Mike cooks, gets him cold root beer and apple pie for desert and they’ll talk about their days and life in general. Usually it’s not a depressing event, but sometimes things can’t be ignored any longer.
Jared settles in with is food and watches Mike fiddle with the tabs so that they don’t dry up. There is one other guest in the whole of the bar and he's immersed in the newspaper, so there is nothing Mike can do to keep himself occupied.
“So … how is the wedding preparation going, Jay?”
Jared blinks at the sudden topic change. He shouldn’t be surprised, because he knows Mike and the other man isn’t one to wallow in his misery nor fond of dragging others down with him. Jared just feels like he should be doing more for Mike, more than just being a trustworthy customer of his establishment and a friend. Jared feels like he isn’t doing enough to help.
“Stop thinking, Jared. It’s hurting my brain just looking at you.”
“Yeah. I can imagine. Thinking was never your strong suit.”
“Oi. No need to get mean or the food won’t be free today.”
“Mike, I always pay anyway. Even if you try to sneak it back into my pocket every single time. And every time I sneak it back into the register.”
They both grin at that and Jared actually feels okay again. This is really not the time and the place to have such dark thoughts and Mike wants to know about the wedding, so Jared is only too happy to oblige. Weddings plans are something he can talk about all day, and everybody knows it.
“Sandy is on a shopping spree with my mom and my sisters. They want to complete the wedding outfit, so it’s the dress today and the flowers. I am not supposed to be anywhere near Main Street for the whole day and seeing as I have a lot to do for the play for Graduation Day, I think I can manage to follow that order.”
“Man, you are practically giddy with excitement. That’s cool. Really cool.”
“Thanks. And yes. I can’t wait. I love her so much and I just want to spend the rest of my life with her. I know people say we're young, maybe too young, to get married, but I don’t think you can be too young for commitment if it’s the real thing.”
Jared knows he is sporting a goofy grin and maybe even a flush, but he's used to it by now because just thinking about the day that's just a week away makes him happy. So happy that he doesn’t mind some of the talk that goes around town.
Only because Sandy's still seen as an outsider. She moved here when she was already 12, so people still don’t see her as a ‘real’ member of the community. But Jared thinks, hopes, that things will be okay once they're married and live their happy life. The life he's been dreaming about for years. He's happy that the person in his dreams finally has a face, even if it sometimes feels a little odd.
Mike sends a look Jared knows. Mike always does that when Jared is close to freaking out over the wedding and all things attached to it. Freaking out, not because he's getting cold feet, but because he's so damn excited about it. But even so, Jared never really knows just how to interpret that look.
It’s like Mike either thinks he is totally crazy for being so excited or that he thinks Jared should maybe think about that whole wedding thing again. Jared doesn’t want to think about the latter option, he wouldn’t know how to deal with it. So every time Mike has that look in his eyes, Jared silently forces himself to go with the “Mike-thinks-I-am-totally-crazy” option.
Jared wonders if he should ask Mike about it, but then he also waits for Mike to say something. Mike never does. So Jared doesn’t either.
“You think the women will be finished with everything to get here on time?”
“On time?”
“Come on Jared, don’t tell me you forgot about it again. It’s only the single most important topic in town these days.”
“Huh?”
“Chad’s interview?”
Jared almost drops his fork, because yeah, he had forgotten all about it. Even though one would think that to be impossible, especially with all the hype going on lately.
“Damn it. Yes, of course. I think they’ll be here. No worries, Mike. We’ll be watching it together. I mean it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see my best friend opening his own TV show with a discussion about his oh-so-famous last book.”
Mike just rolls his eyes, because he knows what Jared thinks about it all. The town has been buzzing with excitement during the last few weeks, since the announcement of the TV show. Jared reverently hopes that the show will make up for every stupid question he’s had to endure during the last few weeks.
It’s not easy being the best friend of one of the most accomplished writers. Especially not when said writer has several awards to his name and a TV show being shown nationwide. The town isn’t that big, so everyone knows everybody and Jared has been referred to as the best source for information on Chad for the past two or three years. He sometimes wishes people wouldn’t be so chatty, so hyped up about everything connected to Chad.
Jared gets the hype. He really does. Every small town with a celebrity who makes it good tries to milk everything out it as much as it can. It’s about promoting the town and creating a good image, which Chad’s books have clearly done so far.
It’s good for tourism, even some kind of pilgrimage has started up during the recent years. Everyone wants to see where the famous author grew up, which house he had lived in and which school he had attended.
The thing is, Jared doesn’t even like the books.
As much as they let the town shine in a glorious light, the main character utterly depresses Jared. He doesn’t get why the guy lives a life he hates and doesn’t do the job he dreams off. Jared just doesn’t get it.
He sometimes wants to call Chad and ask where the hell he gets his ideas from, but then he fears that Chad might have created that character after one of their friends, he thinks of Mike and feels sad and ashamed to even go there, Jared just doesn’t know how he'd deal with that. How he would be able to help this person.
Because that guy? That guy has issues bigger than Texas.
***
There is no reason for it to be held here but the producers had insisted and, well, Chad is a little vain when it comes to his reputation. Showing off his Hollywood mansion is just one of the things he would do to underline it. Still, doing it in his most private quarters isn’t what he had expected to happen.
Chad is nervous as hell. It’s the nth time that he's asked himself if he's doing the right thing, if this is will be worth the hassle, the tears and the screaming that will follow. But then he thinks back to the lost looks, the thoughtful conversations they only had when both of them had been drunk and the dreams he'd witnessed over the years and then every doubt he might have had vanished.
Sure, this might be a bit drastic and he probably should have done it another way, but he thinks nothing is more useful then a good shock to the system. And, well, he's pretty sure that being so deep in denial that you don’t even know what you really want can’t be healthy anyway.
He is a fucking awesome friend. Of course, he knows that he should probably stay away from his home town for a while afterward. But, he also thinks that it'll be worth it. He is, after all, preventing his best friend from making the biggest mistake of his life.
And if anybody says it’s because the bride doesn’t like him and he's jealous, they can go where the sun don’t shine.
***
+
The TV above the bar is on and some of the students from his drama club actually followed Jared into Mike’s bar. It happens occasionally, and Mike always basks in the attention those teenagers bestow upon him. It’s rather fun to see a man in his thirties regress back to 16 again, but Jared assumes that Mike never really grew up anyway.
Sometimes, even if Jared isn’t that much older than them, his students can be pretty insistent and insolent. And these days it’s pretty hard for Jared not to just snap and yell at them or do equally drastic things that would cost him his job and the possibility to ever work as a teacher again.
Mike just snorts when Jared rolls his eyes at a particularly stupid question about Chad posed by one of the football jocks hiding among the ranks of the drama students. Jared is grateful that Mike's there to help him out with rude and rather sarcastic comments about Chad. Jared needs it to distract himself from the stupidity that seems to rule among certain groups within the student body.
Jared wonders if he ever was that bad when he was in school, and that was only five years ago.
The interview is about to start. Sandy rushes through the door of the bar, Jared’s mother and sister on her heels, just as the intro music to Chad’s very own TV show starts. The first thing Jared notices is that, this time, the show isn’t set in the usual studio surroundings but in Chad’s own private quarters.
There is no audience present like usual, but Chad seems to be relaxed and his usually cocky self. Except that something seems off and. Jared just can’t quite place it. When Mikes asks him to help in the kitchen, Jared just turns up the volume and nods yes.
Welcome to this week’s “Literature with Chad" ... I am Chad Michael Murray and with me is Liza Swanson, who wants to talk about the inspiration behind my second novel “Speeds of growing up.”
Jared smiles when he hears Chad’s voice through the kitchen door. It’s been a while since they talked and Jared feels a little bad about it.
It’s when he hears the interviewer’s voice that he realised he had zoned out a little.
“Mr. Murray was so generous to invite us to his home and get personal with us. Chad ... Can I call you Chad?”
Jared almost snorts when he hears Chad’s cocky answer. He can hear the smirk that accompanies the tone and doesn’t need to watch the screen to see what kind of picture Chad presents.
Chad’s voice slips in and out of Jared’s consciousness, talking, bragging really, about the things that made him write the book, made him realise that writing about personal experiences was so much better than having to think up new adventures for his sexually ambiguous alien hunter in a far away galaxy. Not that this is the end of the whole alien series, but Chad had wanted to start something new, something real yadda yadda…
Jared had heard it all before. Chad's been talking about nothing else since he started his new project, so Jared is pretty sure that he knows almost everything that's in the book.
Apparently not.
The first thing he realises is that everything is kind of still, not moving, not even he is. Knife poised in midair, onion clenched on his other hand, face scrunched up and eyes watering slightly. Nothing moves. He isn’t breathing. And he can’t really believe that Chad would say something like this.
There is no way he has heard right.
Just no way at all.
“Let me get this right. You're saying that not only is the town real, which we already know, but that the characters actually exist as well and that the main character for which you got the awards is based on your best friend?”
“Yes. Of course. I thought it was obvious. I mean… Jared is such a brave man, surviving in such an unfriendly kind of surroundings. Small towns really aren’t a good place for gay teenagers, you know. I did every thing I could to support him.”
What?
To say Jared's stunned would be the understatement of the year. He's not just stunned, because the second thing he feels is anger.
The knife sails through the air just as Chad starts on to ramble about the characters in all of his books are really just people he knows. Jared is frozen in time and nothing makes sense.
When he looks up, Mike’s frozen in the door way, eyes on the knife that just sailed through the air and is now embedded in the wall next to the door.
Oops.
***
“Hurry up man, it’s about to start.”
Jensen huffs, places the book on the bedside table and puts his glasses back on. He doesn’t want to spend his day off watching some uninteresting whacked talk show with a self proclaimed bestseller author, who does know jack-shit about writing. But his roommates can be pretty persuading and Jensen doesn’t fancy sleeping in a wet bed again.
“Hold your horses, Tom. I'm on my way. Not that I'll miss anything important."
He doesn’t need to look at Tom to know that his friend is scowling and maybe even pouting a little. It’s an old discussion between them. Jensen will never get how an intelligent guy like Tom can get totally fanboy over a douchebag like Chad Michael Murray. Never.
The shows is already on when Jensen plops down between Tom and ...
“Chris?”
“Yo. TV’s broken at our place, so I thought I’d watch it here. He’ll be talking about the new book.”
Chris looks totally serious when he says that, no hint of a smirk or even a glint in his eyes. Jensen eyes the coffee table but deems it to far away to be able to bang his head against it. So he just slides down the couch a little more and closes his eyes. He can’t believe he's surrounded by morons.
Sure, he has read those books as well. They aren’t bad. Not at all. And for a second try in another genre, the latest Murray novel is rather good. Jensen just can’t get along with the hype about the guy. A good science fiction series and two serious genre novels doesn’t make him the next Rudyard Kipling or Saul Bellow.
Chris pats him on the arm, smiles a little and turns back towards the screen. And really, when Chris is all caught up in this, something must be going on. Chris is not the type to follow the mainstream.
“What’s so cool about Murray anyway?”
Chris snorts and looks at Jensen like he has just asked what’s good about beer or country music. Not a good sign when he's trying to get an answer. Jensen supposes he'll have to be willing to live with that for now, except Chris actually answers him. Sort of.
“Dude, his latest book is just awesome. I mean the main character is totally fucked up and still comes across as normal to everyone else. And Murray said he’d talk about how the character was developed. I just want to know that. I'm curious. I don’t read, a lot but this book is just great. Just let me indulge in my quest for further knowledge, okay? We all know Tommy just drools over the author and doesn’t care about the message.”
“Hey. I like the books, too.” Tom’s indignant face almost manages to make up for the fact that Jensen still has to sit here and watch this show with two people who obviously think this guy is the new second coming in the literature world.
“Yeah, you just like drooling over the author better.”
Even Jensen cracks up at that. Because it's true and it distracts from the fact that Murray is talking and Jensen just wants to stand up and go back to his book, waiting upstairs for him. This all a huge waste of time. Not that Jensen has anything better to do, what with his writer’s block working out in full force and TV scripts finished for the season.
“Shut up, Chris and listen. He is talking about the book now.”
Jensen rolls his eyes. Every time someone comes up with the question about the intent of an author or about character development, he wants to shout that it doesn’t matter because you don’t write for others, you write for yourself. But then he listens to Murray spout nonsense and thinks that maybe it doesn't work that way anymore.
No wonder he's working full time for the school board and writing books and scripts only when he can afford to. But thinking about things the way means Murray readily exploits all his writing secrets and sells them of as ‘the’ method to go about writing and that truly annoys Jensen to no end. Especially when he thinks that Murray’s main character is just some depressed emo kid that never grew the balls to fight for what he wanted. It takes a special brand of people to actually pass as normal despite all the repressed angst and worry.
Sometimes Jensen thinks this character can’t possibly be real. There's no way someone this deep in denial can live a normal life and come across as happy to everyone, including himself. Most of the time, Jensen thinks it’s all made up and Murray is milking it for what’s worth, even if it means selling it as a true story.
Tom’s slight gasp brings Jensen back to the show. He has missed something. He's pretty sure of it, because both Chris and Tom are just staring at the screen without moving a muscle. Jensen is about to ask what’s going on when the squeaky, annoying voice of the reporter doing the interview comes out of the speakers again.
“Let me get this right. You're saying that not only is the town real, which we already know, but that the characters actually exist as well and that the main character for which you got the awards is based on your best friend?”
“Yes. Of course. I thought it was obvious. I mean… Jared is such a brave man, surviving in such an unfriendly kind of surroundings ...”
Well, so much for it being a figment of Murray’s imagination. Huh. Who'd have thought? The reporter looks like she's had seizure and Jensen thinks it’s the funniest thing he's seen in a while. She is literally speechless.
Jensen blinks, blinks again, looks at Tom first and then at Chris and cracks up. This is possibly the best entertainment he's had in ages. And there he was, not wanting to watch it. He is pretty sure neither Tom nor Chris wanted to know ‘that’ much about the character.
He just hopes the poor guy Murray just outed knows how to deal with it.
***
Jared doesn’t really remember how he got home. He just knows that over and over again he tried to reassure Sandy, his mom, his sister and everyone who asked that ‘No, of course I'm not gay’ and that ‘No I have no idea why Chad would say such things’.
Everything is a bit of a blur and Jared just can’t wrap his mind around it. He just can’t think of any reason why Chad would do that, what would make him humiliate Jared so openly. Chad knows about the wedding, knows what it means to Jared.
Chad fucking knows that Jared is happy.
He blinks back into reality and finds he's in his kitchen. A glass of whiskey in his hand and Sandy pressed close next to him. He moves closer, seeking the warmth and the knowledge that someone is there. It’s too warm to warp her in his arms, summer in Texas is not a good season for full body contact.
Sandy’s head is tucked under his chin and when she looks up at him with trusting eyes and a small smile, Jared only notices how messed up her hair is.
It’s an absurd thought, but he thinks that she probably doesn’t want anybody seeing her in such a disheveled state. He doesn’t even think about the reason why she is so out of breath, slightly sweaty and her hair hang around her cute face in tangles. He's just worried what she might say when she figures out how out of place she looks. There's no real reason why he thinks about that and not about what Chad had just announced.
It must be the shock, he tells himself and goes back to staring out the window. He wonders if he should water the grass later. It seems to be developing a slightly brownish tinge, which really doesn’t go with the colours of the still-blooming flowers.
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Yeah… Yes. I just need to think about it. And call Chad and shout at him. And maybe cancel our friendship or what the hell ever. I have no idea why he said that. Really. I'm so sorry, Sandy. I know this is not the way you want to spend the last week before our wedding. I’ll sort it out. Promise.”
Sandy’s lips are soft under his, her smaller body fitted against his side. Jared's happy to have her, knows he doesn’t deserve her. And he's amazed by how calm she is and how much she trusts him. But then, she never really took everything what Chad said as the truth, so Jared's kind of relieved that for once Chad’s bad reputation might actually be good for something.
Even if it only serves to strengthen the trust his future wife has in him. For the first time since the interview, Jared smiles again. All the while, kissing Sandy slow and sweet.
***
The next few days are a blur again. Jared remembers biking to school for basketball practice as usual the day after the interview and being met by a horde of reporters who stuck microphones and cameras and camera/microphone cell phones in his face.
He'd been prepared to answer questions from his players, his drama club students and even by his fellow teachers, but he sure as hell hadn’t been prepared for the chaos Chad’s announcement would cause. He hadn’t even dreamed of it.
He hadn’t thought it would be that important. It was just a book, after all. He'd clearly underestimated things. And Chad had fucking vanished. Jared can’t reach him via any of the phone numbers he has and Chad’s agent only says something about vacation when Jared manages to be connected to her.
He's not mad at Chad. Not at all. Fucking furious would say it better. And it would be really nice if he could talk to his so called best friend. Just to ask what that has been about, what Jared ever did to Chad to deserve this. But even that seems to be impossible these days.
Next time Chad gives an interview, Jared will grab his wife, camping gear and will hole up in the mountains for the next month just so that he can get away from that hell.
It’s not enough that the whole town and probably half the country - judging by the masses of reporters that are lurking around every corner - are questioning his sexuality, but now his state of mind as well. All thanks to Chad’s awesome skills of creating and describing his characters.
Jared isn’t even gay.
Weird dreams at 13 so do not count. They didn’t count for Chad so why do they suddenly count for him? That’s kind of hypocritical if you ask Jared. And really, he doesn’t know how Chad got the notion that he might be.
Sure, Jared likes pink. So what? It’s a nice warm colour. Even his students said so when he asked why someone would think of him as gay. And his students agreed that nothing about him can be seen as even close to feminine or flaming.
But then one of his drama students pointed out that this representation of homosexuals is very clichéd and incorrect, and that they shouldn’t judge someone just on his looks. Jared had wholeheartedly agreed. He likes his pink shirts way too much to abandon them, they're comfy, after all.
His players had looked kind of uncomfortable when he’d brought the topic up. But then again, that might have had something to do with them being in the locker room and talking sexuality with their coach. None of them had even thought about leaving the team though, so Jared kind of claims that as a success of his policy of open-mindedness.
Sandy had just rolled her eyes and said he shouldn’t even be thinking about it, shouldn’t let Chad destroy everything. Even if she sometimes says something about his hair, it has nothing to do with his sexuality. Jared isn’t ashamed to admit that he washes his hair with products that usually are for women, but his hair is really demanding and he hates looking like a hobo just because he can’t tame his hair properly.
The most important thing Chad should have thought about is that Jared is engaged, planning his wedding to his high school sweetheart and all that.
So yeah … He. Is. Not. Gay.
***
Three days after ‘the’ day, Jared is still aware of the looks he's getting, the whispers some people just can’t hold back. It hurts, but isn’t as bad as it could be. Right now everything is just speculation and no one really thinks Chad got it right. Not that there is anything to get right anyway.
The wedding preparations are in full swing, Sandy doesn’t even seem to think about it anymore and Jared's immensely relieved. The wedding itself is putting a lot pressure on him and his fiancé doubting would unquestioningly double that.
His mom is freaking out over the whole wedding, that is nothing new, but now she seems to be looking at him even more and Jared has no idea what she is expecting him to do. But as long as she has her proud little smile on her face, he doesn’t worry. His dad just vanishes when everything gets too much and hasn’t really commented on anything. He'd just said how he’d known Chad would pull something to get attention and that had been it.
So his family and friends are there for him, nothing has changed and everything else is going its way, only now Jared feels like a bunny trying to get away from the prying eyes of the eagle circling over the field. Yeah, that was definitely too much coffee this morning. His analogies used to be better.
There is not a single reporter in front of the school when Jared arrives and he lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. They are still around, still want exclusive stories, exclusive interviews with him and his family. But none of them seemed to have the patience to wait the whole day. They usually pile up when school finishes. Jared wishes it would die down already, but it's not like he's giving interviews anyway.
The only interview he’ll give is when he has to defend himself for smashing Chad’s face in the next time they see each other. But seeing as Chad is playing possum, Jared is close to give up on the hope for his 15 minutes.
He is about to enter his classroom when Principal Mayers blocks his way. The look Jared gets doesn’t bode well and suddenly everything seems to come crashing down. Jared shudders and silently curses Chad again.If he gets to hear about wearing pink to school now he’ll scream.
“Good morning, Jared. Would you please accompany me to my office? Your students are being supervised and there is something I’d like to speak to you about.”
“Uhm.. yes, sure, Principal.”
Jared tries not to shuffle his feet and feel 12 again as he follows the other man to the main office building. He just hopes he’ll at least have a job when this ‘talk’ is over, but he doesn’t hold out much hope.
***
Jensen chokes on what must be his fifth coffee of the day and tries not to spray the remainder of it across the table and at his boss.
Everyone in the room is stunned into silence.
“You want me to do what?”
The other members of the board seem to be equally shocked by the request their president just posed. But Jensen isn’t sure if it’s because of the request itself or because the president asked him to follow through on it. It might be the latter of the two reasons.
Sometimes he wonders why he's still working for the school board instead of just concentrating on his small publishing company and on writing his books. But seeing as they can’t seem to function or know how to deal with such a situation without their token gay, Jensen doesn’t even dare to think what it might look like without him on the board.
The board president coughs a little to hide his embarrassment, but he's as bad an actor as he is as leader during meetings, so it doesn’t really work. Jensen has to fight hard not to roll his eyes or to leave the room, because this just ridiculous.
“I… Look Jensen, I know it’s not a good situation and with the book being so widely known… I mean, parents have called and issued concerns. And we just want to make sure that nothing happens or you know… goes out of control.”
“That nothing happens? What is supposed to happen anyway? You think he might infect the students with his gay? Not to mention that he apparently isn’t gay at all, considering the huge wedding ad in the newspaper I saw yesterday. Just what exactly am I supposed to do there? Open a group for gay support or a self help group ‘How to live with gays in our community?’ Might not work at all, since the parent’s issues seem to be unjustified. You sure it’s not the image of the school board you're concerned about? Are there really any complaints at all?”
That gets a reaction out of the whole board. No one lets accusations like that sit unanswered and Jensen has a hard time not to smirk. Never accuse conservative school board members of being homophobic or discriminating when the minority is present. Works every time and just like a charm.
“Jensen, please. The parents are just concerned and we just want to… Well, we want you to watch him teach. How he does it and if there is anything to complain about. You know that we have to follow up on every complain.”
Jensen nods. He doesn’t like it at all. Especially the fact that nothing has been confirmed yet. Jared Padalecki has just been claimed as the basis for a rather depressing book character and everyone suddenly seems to be concerned about the children and teenagers he's been working with for some time now. No one even bothered to actually ask if it is true or if this Murray guy just wanted to have something scandalous to say in an otherwise boring interview.
The fact that Jared is a rather young and new teacher might play a role as well. The board, as well as the parents, don’t seem to know him that well. Perhaps if he was middle-aged and had been member of the faculty for over ten years, no one would probably say anything. But Jensen isn't too sure of that, either.
“So, you want me to baby-sit a grown man who is fighting rumours just now? And face it, it’s nothing but rumours and a rather suspicious claim by a guy who usually writes dirty fantasy novels. If it turns out not to be true, this will fall back onto the board. You know that, right?”
Looking at the faces around him, Jensen silently sighs, his speech has had no immediate effect whatsoever. Baby-sitting it will be. He already knows what his report will say and it won't be any of the things the board is seemingly hoping for.
Jensen won’t destroy someone’s career just because the higher-ups are bigoted assholes. Not when nothing is actually wrong with the person in question. Jensen silently hopes that this Jared character really isn’t as dysfunctional as Murray created him to be. Because that wouldn’t be such an easy thing to pass off.
“Okay, how long am I supposed to watch Mr. Padalecki?”
The sighs of several of the board members are very audible. Jensen hates this job, hates that he still needs it, hates that he has to talk to and work with these kind of people. But he'd rather it be him than any one of them dealing with Jared Padalecki’s unique case.
“You’ll start tomorrow morning and will do observation of Mr. Padalecki’s work for at least a week. I'm sorry, I know it is on a short notice, but Blue Haven is not that far from Dallas.”
Jensen just nods, takes his bag and the papers, leaving without saying anything else. There isn’t anything he can do or say anyway, and leaving this way says more than any words could anyway.
Blue Haven and one emo character/teacher it will be, then.
Even though Jensen finds this whole thing ridiculous, he doesn’t really look forward to geting to know this Jared. He can’t help but think about the description in the book and it makes him cringe. There are pictures in the papers and one in Jared’s board file, but Jensen hadn’t had the time to look at them and he doesn’t really know if he even wants to.
This is not going to be fun.
***
+
Jared can’t help but shuffle slightly as Mayers leads him into the office. He turns to grab one of the seats the principal motions to when he see that they're not alone in the room.
Someone is already sitting in one of the chairs. Someone with really intense green eyes and a rather pretty face. Jared blinks. Then blinks again and finally moves when he realises that he's staring.
“Jared. This is Jensen Ackles from the Texas School Board. He's here to talk to you about some issues that have come up recently.”
Mayers says it all with an air of indifference and even a hint of disgust and Jared has a hard time not scowling. He knows it’s directed toward him and not toward the guy from the school board, because Mayers isn’t that kind of guy who would defend a teacher. At least not a teacher who, in his eyes, has done something that doesn't conform with his own ideas. Somehow, Jared thinks he's already done that with being innovative in his teaching and coaching methods. He thinks the recent events are just the icing on the cake.
“Mr. Padalecki, I'm sorry I have to be here. I’d rather not, at least not under these circumstances.”
Jared is actually surprised by the genuine regret he hears in the board guy’s voice. He blinks again and tries to remember the guy’s name, but somehow ends up stuck at the green eyes again. Jared wonders what’s up with that and why he suddenly doesn’t seem to be able get his tongue unstuck and say something.
“Uh … yeah.”
The board guy just raises an eyebrow, which makes him look rather silly but still kind of gorgeous and attractive in a way Jared isn’t used to being aware of. So he just kind of continues staring at the man in front of him without really knowing what to say or what to do next.
Mayers coughs slightly and brings Jared out of his stupor. This is really not the best moment to freeze, for whatever reason.
“Sorry. I'm sorry. These past few days have been a bit much for me. And I'm trying not to take off and go search for Chad. Nice to meet you, though. I'm Jared.”
His hand shoots out in front of him, seemingly out of its own accord, and Jared feels himself go red. It’s such a teenager thing to do that he doesn’t even know where it’s coming from, other than the fact that he obviously spends too much time among them.
“Jensen.” So the name thing is solved now.
The smile he gets is as genuine as the regret he heard earlier and is just as unexpected. It shouldn’t make him weak in the knees. It shouldn’t have any effect on him. Especially not when the last person who made him feel like this at first sight is going to be his wife in less than three days.
And yet, Jared can’t help but smile back.
Part TWO