Fic: "Just one of those stories...“ Part 1 One time at camp, Jared/Jensen, PG-13
Fic title: "Just one of those stories...“ Part 1 One time at camp
Author: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4.996
Notes: written for schmoop_bingo, Prompt: fair/carnival at my schmoop_bingo card
Beta: Thanks so much for the help and the suggestions enablelove
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary: Jensen has had a bad day so far and it's not getting better. He really didn't need to get plowed down and end up covered in slushies, especially not during the one day at camp that is supposed to be awesome. It doesn't really help that the guy being responsible for it all is seriously hot.
1. One time at camp.
This day isn’t one Jensen will think back to with fond memories. It hasn’t given him anything that actually is worth remembering. At least, nothing good anyway.
He wakes to the sound of his bed breaking down right beneath him and to the laughter of the boys standing around him with gleeful grins. Jensen is tempted to just go back to sleep and ignore everything and everyone. Unfortunately though, being camp counselor never even allowed him that option. The day can only get better from there.
It doesn’t. The showerhead breaks off only to barely miss Jensen’s forehead and clunk down on his naked foot, and Jensen just knows that the bruise will be spectacular. This, though, is just the beginning of the day and of multiple not so nice things happening to Jensen. It is like a thick red line starting with his bed, moving on to the shower and ending with Joey McQuee puking is breakfast out all over Jensen’s flip flops because two guys from another cabin think it’s funny to play box camp with the little geek.
The day is almost over now, though, and Jensen prays that things will keep quiet and will spare him any other accidents because he doesn’t know how often he can take Daniel and Jacob ending up at the nurse. Five times in one day is definitely a record even for them. It’s not like Jensen hates being a camp counselor, he has been doing it for years and most of the times it’s really cool and a nice job. Only this year, especially today, seems to be kind of cursed.
Everything that can go wrong does and Jensen has just had it.
He wants to go, take his mattress somewhere quiet and just shut everyone up and out. He doesn’t even care that his bed doesn’t exist anymore. He can cope with that. What he certainly can’t cope with is the fact that today is supposed to be the best day of camp and all he’s seen so far is destruction and blood.
Well, okay, that might be a little exaggerated, but Jensen is exhausted and he can’t take the loud squeals and blinking lights and the cheery music anymore. It’s a little too much after the day he’s had. Still, he can’t bring himself to actually say something out loud or to even scowl as hard as he wants to. This day is for the kids and they seem to have a lot of fun and he is not that much of a douche to actually want to take that away from them.
He’s just grumpy.
And right now the urge to scowl, to flail his hands in the air and curse all the little devils bumping into him every five seconds is very, very strong. The thing was he can’t. One reason is the tray of slushies he has been trying to manoeuvre back to his kids for a while now and the other reason is that is was Summer Camp Carnival. Jensen just can’t be too obvious with his grumpiness, this day is supposed to be the highlight of every camp.
***
Summer Camp Carnival.
Jensen tries to remember who came up with this kind of torture, but he can’t. Mainly because this day had already been an institution back when he was a kid and had been dragged along with his big brother so that his parents could have some weeks of ‘parent alone time’. He had hated it back then as well.
Now it’s just a weekend Jensen tries to avoid at all costs. Of course he can’t, seeing as he has a group of kids that, despite being total geeks and nerds, are rather excited about the carnival troop and their attractions.
So here he is, trying to stay clear of hordes of kids and teens while juggling a tray full with cups of blue/pink sticky mess and cursing under his breath. He starts to wish a brutal death upon the person who thought yellow would be the perfect color for camp counselor uniforms after the third time someone almost upends the whole tray over Jensen’s chest. He will kill Mike and send him on every food or drink errand from now on, once he gets back to their table. If he ever manages that quest.
Summer Camp Carnival is always so much more stressful and Jensen wonders how he survives it every year. He’s been wondering for the last ten. It’s not only that the carnival troop is there, but that the other two camps from around the lake are there as well. Too many kids, too many teens, just basically too many dramatics.
Jensen likes the quiet. That’s one reason he always tries to get the nerds and pre-teens. He can set them up with games and stuff and then he actually can have some minutes for to himself. Sometimes.
It’s his fourth year as a camp counselor and he again wonders how he’s managed to survive it all relatively unscathed despite Mike’s annual attempts of humiliating him in front of everyone and their mother. This year is no different, but Jensen isn’t stupid - yes, thank you, he knows what Mike and Misha gossip behind his back, being too pretty and all that - so Jensen knows what Mike is planning before Mike even opens his mouth. He went to get the slushies because he knows that if he hadn’t, Mike would have spiked them with Tabasco or something equally mean and disgusting.
Jensen’s kids sit around a picnic table at the far end of the Carnival grounds. Okay, so it’s the middle of the camp and not all that far away, but the place is packed today so it takes Jensen an inappropriate amount of time to even cross half the distance. Mike’s group is close to his and Misha’s as well and Jensen wants to get back as fast as possible. You never know what those two come up with and what Jensen will have to do to get things in order again.
He thinks he’s damn lucky that he got the youngest kids this year. It’s a lot more relaxed than he’s used to. But then again that might be because they don’t care for what certain people (girls or boys) say about them. Not yet at least.
Jensen also knows that Mike and Misha are totally jealous of him, because they got the future-jocks and cheerleaders all mixed up and have to break up wrestling matches and cat fights every hour or so. Jensen has spent more than enough time those last few weeks being smug and gleeful. But then, he has had his share of attention seeking drama queens in his years at camp.
As he swerves around a group of girls all clad in black and silver, Jensen wonders if the other camps have to deal with mundane and ordinary difficulties of growing up as well. He guesses they do.
There isn’t much difference between the three camps around the lake. They all have their unique uniform color (or colors in one case). They all are mixed camps, they all do their games and their expeditions into the woods and they all take kids ages 8 to 17. Only their programs and themes are slightly different.
Jensen’s yellow camp is called “Camp Freedom” and he doesn’t have the slightest idea why. Someone, probably Sophia or Danneel, once tried to explain it to him, told him about the history and all that. He can’t remember a single word of it, probably because he’d been too buys ogling Matt Fox from afar. Hell, he was 14 back then and not much interested in history lessons when he could be doing so many other things.
So, Camp Freedom welcomes everyone, no matter what religion, hobby or orientation, but mostly it’s just a summer camp for kids of parents who want more than just the typical football or cheerleading camp, which they do as well, but they also offer college prep workshops or reading circles. Jensen equates the freedom in the name with the freedom of mind the kids are granted here.
The second camp at the lake, close to Camp Freedom, is the arts and music camp. Jensen doesn’t know the full name, just that it ends on something with ‘star camp’ attached to it and that is basically enough for him. When he sees the red shirts he prepares for lengthy and sometimes life-altering discussions about the function of modern art and music in the life of today’s youth. He’s had that talk with Jeff, the camp leader, for years now and it never changes. He likes Jeff anyway.
The third camp is Camp Pride. It has another name but no one uses that anymore. It’s the youngest of the camps and less established but still pretty well accepted. There never had been any kind of discussion or any protest by the parents and Jensen thinks it’s the sign of how far people have come in this state or rather that this lake has always been some sort of liberal refuge.
Summer Camp Carnival brings them all together.
Every year another camp hosts the two days of mayhem. This year it’s Freedom’s turn and Jensen is eternally grateful for that. Last year he had to track back and get three of the eight guys in his group out of cabins they weren’t supposed to be in. Oh the drama and the screaming and the stomping off. Jensen is still amused by it all, even a year later, but then some of the guys are back and they still don’t dare to really look at him. Another reason why he wanted the youngest kids this time around.
The fact that he can simply walk to his cabin and drop dead on his bed is another amenity of having to host the carnival. Nothing is too far away and he can always send the kids back into their cabins if he has to.
He makes his way slowly towards his group, girls and boys sitting together awaiting his arrival. Jensen can just see them descending upon the cool goods and ravishing them like the little beast they are. Maybe he shouldn’t have watched that documentary last night.
Juggling the tray he tries not to lose a single drop of slushie goodness. His kids will count. He just knows it. Damn nerds. But it’s adorable anyway. He sees his kid’s eyes light up when they spot him coming closer.
Just a few steps now and he can unload the sticky mess and never come close to it again. Only, it seems like fate has other plans. Suddenly the tray isn’t in his hands anymore, not properly anyway, and then Jensen finds himself on the ground. The blue-pinkish sweet mess all over him, sliding down his skin and making him shiver.
Silence. Heavy and shocked. Then Mike snorts and sets everyone else off. Jensen’s kids, as well as Mike and Misha, are roaring with laughter.
Great. Just great.
***
There is a shocked gasp, then a hand on his arm and he’s being dragged to his feet again. Hands on his shoulders are holding him steady and Jensen has to admit that he’s a little dizzy. Just tiny little bit but it’s enough to make his head spin. He tries to take a look at his rescuer and blinks when all he can see are perfectly cut lips and dimples.
Oh.
Oh. no…
“Oh God… I.. I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. Are you okay? Oh God, I hope you’re okay. You’re sticky. Damn… Man, I’m really sorry.”
The lips move and Jensen can here the words but he still has a hard time getting everything that leaves the mouth he’s staring at. Those lips are really kind of beautiful. So are the dimples.
Strong hands on his shoulders and dimples he can stare at, Jensen is a little occupied there, can’t really reply with more than a nod and a mumbled, “’M fine.”
“You sure? Really? I’m so sorry. I’m Jared by the way,” the lips answer and twitch in a knowing smile. Jensen is still kind of transfixed.
“Uh… Jensen,” he knows he’s talking. Why? He has no idea, but something made him open his mouth and then words came out. Jensen blinks again and is almost blinded by the mutli-colored shirt that comes into view.
Jensen desperately wants a shower now. For some very, very bad reason he wants to have a shower and than come back out here to stare a little more at the guy with the beautiful lips and the adorable dimples who apparently is called Jared and wears a Camp Pride uniform. Yeah, Jensen really wants to do all that now. He doesn’t move an inch.
“So good to meet you Jensen. I’m with the Prides. You a yellow, huh?” So the brain is missing in this one then. Pity. And Jensen was ready to succumb to those lips, but they had to go and destroy is illusion.
He blinks up and finally sees the whole guy and not just parts of him. Hot. Definitely hot and gorgeous. Jensen wonders what it is that makes these kind of guys dumb as a loaf of bread. This one would have been his type. Tall. Tall and broad, even. Strong arms, big hands and a really nice face. Also, floppy hair and curious eyes. Pity, indeed.
“Very observant. What gave it away? The yellow shirt? Okay, I have to give it to you, there isn’t much yellow left right now.” Jensen has absolutely no idea where his snappiness is coming from, but then again he had been grumpy before and having his illusions stumped so vehemently by the obvious lack of brain in a gorgeous body sort of validates it. At least Jensen thinks so.
The guy’s… Okay, so his name is Jared. Jared blushes a very nice shade of red and looks rather sheepish. Jensen can hear Mike crow in the background and wants to flip him off. No can do though, kids are around.
“Oh God. I’ll get you new ones.” With that Jared is gone, off towards the slushie booth, stride confident and sure. Jensen still thinks the guy has some screws loose or even missing. Jared’s a blur after a while, rainbow-colored and massive, and Jensen can only stare.
“Found a new friend?”
It’s Misha, smirk firmly in place and eyes wide with mischief. That man is evil. Jensen has sworn to stay away from him when he has that look in his eyes, but yeah, too late now.
“Yeah, right. No. He plowed into me. And man, seems like he has some screws missing there or something.” Jensen is grumpy again.
“Dude! Harsh much? He looked really nervous and flustered.”
And now Jensen feels like a dick. When even Misha comes to the rescue of a dorky stranger, Jensen knows he has messed up. He blinks, looks at Misha and shrugs.
“He just… I dunno. Kinda rambled on and on.”
“You’ve been staring anyway,” Mish sounds incredibly smug. So much that Jensen reaches out and whacks him over the head. His retorted “Shut up” is met with another smirk and knowing eyes. Sometimes he wonders why he’s friends with Misha, the guy is way too creepy sometimes.
“I need a shower,” Jensen declares and turns to strut off. Everything itches and his shirt clings to his skin. He tries to ply the fabric away from his body, but it doesn’t really work and the few hairs he pulls out in the process are just the first casualties. Jensen winces at the thought, trying to rid his mind of it.
Jensen is weaving his way through the ever-moving clusters of kids, trying not to make contact with any of them. Then he’s stopped again. By a massive chest in his field of vision. A massive chest under rainbow-colored fabric and partly hidden behind a tray filled with cups of pinkish-blue slushies.
Jensen opens his mouth and wants to snap, wants to tell Jared that he really, really wants to get out of his sticky clothes but his tongue is somehow stuck to the roof of his mouth. Then he looks up and is met with a blinding smile. It’s huge, wide, happy and shows off dimples.
Damn.
“I know you wanna change. And you probably think I’m demented or something, but… I just wanted… Again, I’m sorry. I really didn’t see you there, which I don’t even know… I mean, no one can not see you… not with the way you look… Uhm.”
Jared looks like he wants to crawl into the deepest hole available and hide for the rest of his life. Jensen thinks it’s adorable and tries to not let it show on his face. This guy in front of him is a contradiction and something inexplicably draws Jensen to him, even if he thinks Jared is maybe kind of slow or something.
Usually bubbly guys like Jared make Jensen even grumpier. There is only so much happiness Jensen can take and Jared is rapidly approaching the point of no return. Jensen would have to yell at him or you know, be grumpy towards him. It usually would make him frown and scowl and grind his teeth.
Only it doesn’t. It rather makes his lip twitch, makes him want to snort and tell Jared that he’s a dork. It’s rare that people steamroll Jensen like that, make him dizzy with the way things spin around him.
Also Jared’s chest is really, really distracting.
“Jensen?”
“Huh?” Jensen had been staring, like a freaking teenager. Had zoned out right there in the middle of all the kids and teens. Great. This day can’t go better now, he wouldn’t mind an improvement. Not that Jared’s chest sop close to him and the dimples are bad or something. He absentmindedly scratches his chest and winces when the fabric of his shirt pulls at his skin. Right, shower. That’s where he was heading.
Jared’s smiling though, seemingly not disturbed by the fact that Jensen just clearly objectified his chest.
“I just asked if you are okay. You seemed far away.”
There is a smirk, dimples still present and Jensen doesn’t know how to respond to them and Jared’s words. So Jensen grunts and stomps off, followed by a slight chuckle that somehow manages to sound smug. So yeah, maybe Jared isn’t slow or anything but that still doesn’t mean there aren’t any screws loose.
Anyway, did Jared really just flirt with him or was that just a figment of his imagination? After this day and the things he went through and the hours he spent in the sun Jensen wouldn’t put it past his mind to come up with strange things.
Jensen swerves through the kids, around the booths and games, and strides towards his cabin, trying not to think too much about the things he should have said to Jared. He’s focused on the path leading to the cabin, single-minded almost, which is probably why he ends up crashing into one of the cheerleader girls. She is probably trying to impress one of the Pride girls, that’s at least what Jensen gets before he’s mowed down, and she does a cartwheel right into Jensen.
He stumbles, catches his footing and still gets a hit right into his ribs. Foot to ribs is so not cool and Jensen wonders what else he’ll have to endure today. He groans and almost ends up on his knees, wind knocked out of him and mouth open to catch his breath. It hurts. A lot.
“Oh.. my.. God. Mr. Ackles. I’m so sorry… I.. I…”
And Jensen thinks he can’t get enough of hearing people apologizing to him. He just wishes it wasn’t necessary. The girl, one of Mike’s at it turns out, sounds like she’s about to cry. Jensen is still sort of stuck on the ‘Mr.Ackles’, because really, he isn’t that old. Okay, so maybe ten years her senior but still, this is summer camp anyway. Pain’s still making him gasp but he still tries to stop her from hyperventilating.
“Celia. It’s okay. Just a little accident,” Jensen wheezes out and hopes he sounds mature and composed. He feels anything but.
This day, if it doesn’t end soon, will probably harm him for good. Jensen sighs and limps into the cabin, finally away from any hazardous children and teens. He’s sticky, clothes and hair clinging to him unpleasantly, soaked with either sweat or slushie leftovers, and his ribs sting rather painfully. Yes, he really needs this shower now.
He prays that the water works. Groans when all the other bruises he collected throughout the day make themselves known and for some reason he can still smell puke, even though he’s changed two times since then.
Jensen almost cries with relief when the shower actually works on the first try and just steps under the water, moaning and not caring that the wooden walls are very, very thin.
***
When he’s done, freshly showered and in yet another pair of camp-issued uniform he actually contemplates just flopping down on his bed and staying there. He doesn’t want to go back out, doesn’t want to face his kids, Mike or Misha, not even Jared. The thought of Jared especially makes him want to hide and stay away.
He can’t, though. The Carnival is still going on, his kids are still out there and Jensen really wants to get a ride on the Ferris Wheel. Sure, the troop will be here for another two days, it’s just Friday anyway, but then Jensen thinks he might not survive the next night if things go on like that. He sighs and steps back out of the cabin.
It takes him almost two hours to herd his group together and get them all cleaned up. It’s past their usual bedtime when he finally closes the door behind him and just stands there on the steps, taking in the quiet of the camp and the lights on the booths still blinking. It looks peaceful, settled somehow.
He likes this time of the evening, when the cabins are dark, kids supposed to be sleeping and counselors having a little fun by themselves. It’s an hour, maybe two, of time they can scrounge up and enjoy the rides and booths. It’s tradition that the carnival troop lets them have some fun as well and Jensen has been looking forward to that.
Jensen almost hugs Misha when he takes over first nightwatch, ignores the smirk the other man sends him and basically runs over to where the Ferris Wheel is just waiting for him. Mike’s already there, in a seat and already high above the ground. Jensen is happy to be far away from Mike and his antics for now.
Jensen is already settled into the seat, smiling in excitement and feeling a little embarrassed because of it, when the car dips and someone takes the place next to him.
So not cool.
Jensen wants to protest, be annoyed and scowl. This is his ride after all. But there is Jared’s dimpled smile in front of his eyes when he turns his head and the words get sort of stuck in Jensen’s head.
What the hell? What is it about Jared that makes Jensen a speechless, staring and hopefully not drooling idiot?
“Saved you one.”
Something cold is pressed into Jensen’s hand and he startles a little, even yelps in surprise. It’s a pink slushie and Jensen wants to protest again just on the basis of the color. Jensen really wants to feel offended, but Jared’s smile makes him forget those kind of important things.
Jensen blinks at the pink slushie and just blurts the first thing that comes to his mind.
“Wanna tell me something?”
Jared’s still smiling and then raises his eyebrows, then shrugs.
“They were out of blue?”
“Oh really? How convenient, huh?”
Jared laughs. Loud and whooping. Jensen is transfixed, staring again. The sight there next to him is something that makes his heart skip, makes the car move as well. It’s beautiful and suddenly Jensen knows he shouldn’t be thinking like that. He doesn’t know Jared, not at all.
“Why does everything have be color-coded anyway?” Jared asks with a wistful smile, looks out across the lake. Jensen thinks this here means more than it should. For both of them. He can’t shake the feeling that he misjudged Jared completely all those hours ago. Jensen thinks he doesn’t mind being wrong.
“Good question,” he answers after a while, a second maybe but still maybe a little too long. “Thanks for this.”
“You’re welcome. I owed you anyway,” Jared sounds and looks shy, a look so fitting and yet so unfitting that it makes Jensen blink again. There is still such a confidence in Jared though, that Jensen knows Jared means every word he says. It’s a refreshing thought, not having to guard his words and question every thing he hears, not like he has to with Misha and Mike, who always seem to be planning something.
The car stops at the top. Jensen’s favorite place, where he can see things he usually can’t. The lake looks spectacular in the moonlight, stars sparkling in the water and the darkness not dangerous but calming, as a soothing backdrop.
Jensen wants to ask Jared what he thinks of the view and snorts when he sees the way Jared is sitting there. Rigid, knuckles white, clutching the edges of the car. Jared’s eyes are half closes, mouth pinched tight and face drawn into a frown. Jensen knows what this is.
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you are afraid of heights.”
“I am not.” Jensen thinks that comes out less vehement than Jared had intended it to.
“Okay. Then take a look around, it’s awesome.” He knows it’s cruel but he can’t help it. Jared is clutching to his dignity and Jensen just has to needle him. It’s like they have been doing that for years instead of just a few minutes. It feels like he’s sitting there with someone he’s known for a long time. It’s weird, strange and still, Jensen can’t stop it from making him feel good.
“Fuck you,” Jared almost spits out but it lacks venom, sounds small and Jensen pats one of the white-knuckled hands, stops teasing. “Okay, so maybe a little.”
The slushie is still resting cold against his sigh, Jensen had forgotten about it but now he thinks he might have an idea. Stupid as it sounds in his head he doesn’t do anything to stop himself. He takes the straw in-between his lips and starts sucking.
As unplanned as it is, it seems to be working because Jared’s eyes are wide now, focused solely on Jensen’s lips, hands slack on the bar functioning as a railing on the car. Jensen grins around the straw and sucks some more. It’s fun, teasing like this, seeing Jared’s eyes widen even more.
Jensen winks at him playfully and actually savors the cold, sweet ice in his mouth. It feels good after the heat of the day and it makes him smile around the straw again. Jared smiles back now, secret and grateful.
There is something between them. Already. After just one day. Jensen doesn’t know if this is good or bad. He’s not exactly out in camp, it never came up, but then he’s not hiding anything either. This could mean that he has to explain himself soon. He’s not ready to think about that just yet. Who knows, maybe nothing comes out of this anyway. Jensen has no idea why he’s suddenly thinking like this.
He likes Jared’s smile, that much he knows. He finishes his sugary, cold treat in silence, looks out over the lake again and lets his thoughts run astray. But he’s always aware of Jared’s eyes on him, of the body next to him, close and warm. It’s been a while since Jensen had the chance to actually enjoy someone being close, being just there. It makes Jensen fidget a little.
“So if you are afraid of heights why did you get on in the first place?” It’s a question he’d wanted to ask since he saw Jared clutching the car’s side.
Jared actually lets go of said side and scratches the back of his head. The rainbow colored bracelet moves along tanned skin, catching Jensen’s eyes. It looks like a statement and it also looks very good against Jared’s slender wrist.
“Uh… well… saw you running towards it… I thought it would be a good chance to say sorry again. I probably spilled your own slushie on you as well, so… uh… I got you a new one. Again, I’m sorry. I’m a spaz.”
Jared says it with such conviction that Jensen thinks Jared expects every camp counselor to love candy and slushies as much as the kids do and probably as much as he does. Jensen saw the candy bars on the tray Jared carried earlier. He smiles.
“Apology accepted.”
There is another whoop, which makes the car move again and Jared desperately trying to attach his hands to the side of it again. Jensen laughs, laughs even harder when Jared scowls.
Jensen thinks he might be a little screwed right now. But then, camp just got interesting for him again.
This day turned out to be better than Jensen would have thought. He can ignore the smell of puke and the bruises in favor of feeling Jared against his side.
This summer might even end differently than any other before. But then, it just could be a summer fling. Jensen decides not care about that for now. It feels too good to think about anything else.
Part 2
Author: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4.996
Notes: written for schmoop_bingo, Prompt: fair/carnival at my schmoop_bingo card
Beta: Thanks so much for the help and the suggestions enablelove
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary: Jensen has had a bad day so far and it's not getting better. He really didn't need to get plowed down and end up covered in slushies, especially not during the one day at camp that is supposed to be awesome. It doesn't really help that the guy being responsible for it all is seriously hot.
1. One time at camp.
This day isn’t one Jensen will think back to with fond memories. It hasn’t given him anything that actually is worth remembering. At least, nothing good anyway.
He wakes to the sound of his bed breaking down right beneath him and to the laughter of the boys standing around him with gleeful grins. Jensen is tempted to just go back to sleep and ignore everything and everyone. Unfortunately though, being camp counselor never even allowed him that option. The day can only get better from there.
It doesn’t. The showerhead breaks off only to barely miss Jensen’s forehead and clunk down on his naked foot, and Jensen just knows that the bruise will be spectacular. This, though, is just the beginning of the day and of multiple not so nice things happening to Jensen. It is like a thick red line starting with his bed, moving on to the shower and ending with Joey McQuee puking is breakfast out all over Jensen’s flip flops because two guys from another cabin think it’s funny to play box camp with the little geek.
The day is almost over now, though, and Jensen prays that things will keep quiet and will spare him any other accidents because he doesn’t know how often he can take Daniel and Jacob ending up at the nurse. Five times in one day is definitely a record even for them. It’s not like Jensen hates being a camp counselor, he has been doing it for years and most of the times it’s really cool and a nice job. Only this year, especially today, seems to be kind of cursed.
Everything that can go wrong does and Jensen has just had it.
He wants to go, take his mattress somewhere quiet and just shut everyone up and out. He doesn’t even care that his bed doesn’t exist anymore. He can cope with that. What he certainly can’t cope with is the fact that today is supposed to be the best day of camp and all he’s seen so far is destruction and blood.
Well, okay, that might be a little exaggerated, but Jensen is exhausted and he can’t take the loud squeals and blinking lights and the cheery music anymore. It’s a little too much after the day he’s had. Still, he can’t bring himself to actually say something out loud or to even scowl as hard as he wants to. This day is for the kids and they seem to have a lot of fun and he is not that much of a douche to actually want to take that away from them.
He’s just grumpy.
And right now the urge to scowl, to flail his hands in the air and curse all the little devils bumping into him every five seconds is very, very strong. The thing was he can’t. One reason is the tray of slushies he has been trying to manoeuvre back to his kids for a while now and the other reason is that is was Summer Camp Carnival. Jensen just can’t be too obvious with his grumpiness, this day is supposed to be the highlight of every camp.
***
Summer Camp Carnival.
Jensen tries to remember who came up with this kind of torture, but he can’t. Mainly because this day had already been an institution back when he was a kid and had been dragged along with his big brother so that his parents could have some weeks of ‘parent alone time’. He had hated it back then as well.
Now it’s just a weekend Jensen tries to avoid at all costs. Of course he can’t, seeing as he has a group of kids that, despite being total geeks and nerds, are rather excited about the carnival troop and their attractions.
So here he is, trying to stay clear of hordes of kids and teens while juggling a tray full with cups of blue/pink sticky mess and cursing under his breath. He starts to wish a brutal death upon the person who thought yellow would be the perfect color for camp counselor uniforms after the third time someone almost upends the whole tray over Jensen’s chest. He will kill Mike and send him on every food or drink errand from now on, once he gets back to their table. If he ever manages that quest.
Summer Camp Carnival is always so much more stressful and Jensen wonders how he survives it every year. He’s been wondering for the last ten. It’s not only that the carnival troop is there, but that the other two camps from around the lake are there as well. Too many kids, too many teens, just basically too many dramatics.
Jensen likes the quiet. That’s one reason he always tries to get the nerds and pre-teens. He can set them up with games and stuff and then he actually can have some minutes for to himself. Sometimes.
It’s his fourth year as a camp counselor and he again wonders how he’s managed to survive it all relatively unscathed despite Mike’s annual attempts of humiliating him in front of everyone and their mother. This year is no different, but Jensen isn’t stupid - yes, thank you, he knows what Mike and Misha gossip behind his back, being too pretty and all that - so Jensen knows what Mike is planning before Mike even opens his mouth. He went to get the slushies because he knows that if he hadn’t, Mike would have spiked them with Tabasco or something equally mean and disgusting.
Jensen’s kids sit around a picnic table at the far end of the Carnival grounds. Okay, so it’s the middle of the camp and not all that far away, but the place is packed today so it takes Jensen an inappropriate amount of time to even cross half the distance. Mike’s group is close to his and Misha’s as well and Jensen wants to get back as fast as possible. You never know what those two come up with and what Jensen will have to do to get things in order again.
He thinks he’s damn lucky that he got the youngest kids this year. It’s a lot more relaxed than he’s used to. But then again that might be because they don’t care for what certain people (girls or boys) say about them. Not yet at least.
Jensen also knows that Mike and Misha are totally jealous of him, because they got the future-jocks and cheerleaders all mixed up and have to break up wrestling matches and cat fights every hour or so. Jensen has spent more than enough time those last few weeks being smug and gleeful. But then, he has had his share of attention seeking drama queens in his years at camp.
As he swerves around a group of girls all clad in black and silver, Jensen wonders if the other camps have to deal with mundane and ordinary difficulties of growing up as well. He guesses they do.
There isn’t much difference between the three camps around the lake. They all have their unique uniform color (or colors in one case). They all are mixed camps, they all do their games and their expeditions into the woods and they all take kids ages 8 to 17. Only their programs and themes are slightly different.
Jensen’s yellow camp is called “Camp Freedom” and he doesn’t have the slightest idea why. Someone, probably Sophia or Danneel, once tried to explain it to him, told him about the history and all that. He can’t remember a single word of it, probably because he’d been too buys ogling Matt Fox from afar. Hell, he was 14 back then and not much interested in history lessons when he could be doing so many other things.
So, Camp Freedom welcomes everyone, no matter what religion, hobby or orientation, but mostly it’s just a summer camp for kids of parents who want more than just the typical football or cheerleading camp, which they do as well, but they also offer college prep workshops or reading circles. Jensen equates the freedom in the name with the freedom of mind the kids are granted here.
The second camp at the lake, close to Camp Freedom, is the arts and music camp. Jensen doesn’t know the full name, just that it ends on something with ‘star camp’ attached to it and that is basically enough for him. When he sees the red shirts he prepares for lengthy and sometimes life-altering discussions about the function of modern art and music in the life of today’s youth. He’s had that talk with Jeff, the camp leader, for years now and it never changes. He likes Jeff anyway.
The third camp is Camp Pride. It has another name but no one uses that anymore. It’s the youngest of the camps and less established but still pretty well accepted. There never had been any kind of discussion or any protest by the parents and Jensen thinks it’s the sign of how far people have come in this state or rather that this lake has always been some sort of liberal refuge.
Summer Camp Carnival brings them all together.
Every year another camp hosts the two days of mayhem. This year it’s Freedom’s turn and Jensen is eternally grateful for that. Last year he had to track back and get three of the eight guys in his group out of cabins they weren’t supposed to be in. Oh the drama and the screaming and the stomping off. Jensen is still amused by it all, even a year later, but then some of the guys are back and they still don’t dare to really look at him. Another reason why he wanted the youngest kids this time around.
The fact that he can simply walk to his cabin and drop dead on his bed is another amenity of having to host the carnival. Nothing is too far away and he can always send the kids back into their cabins if he has to.
He makes his way slowly towards his group, girls and boys sitting together awaiting his arrival. Jensen can just see them descending upon the cool goods and ravishing them like the little beast they are. Maybe he shouldn’t have watched that documentary last night.
Juggling the tray he tries not to lose a single drop of slushie goodness. His kids will count. He just knows it. Damn nerds. But it’s adorable anyway. He sees his kid’s eyes light up when they spot him coming closer.
Just a few steps now and he can unload the sticky mess and never come close to it again. Only, it seems like fate has other plans. Suddenly the tray isn’t in his hands anymore, not properly anyway, and then Jensen finds himself on the ground. The blue-pinkish sweet mess all over him, sliding down his skin and making him shiver.
Silence. Heavy and shocked. Then Mike snorts and sets everyone else off. Jensen’s kids, as well as Mike and Misha, are roaring with laughter.
Great. Just great.
***
There is a shocked gasp, then a hand on his arm and he’s being dragged to his feet again. Hands on his shoulders are holding him steady and Jensen has to admit that he’s a little dizzy. Just tiny little bit but it’s enough to make his head spin. He tries to take a look at his rescuer and blinks when all he can see are perfectly cut lips and dimples.
Oh.
Oh. no…
“Oh God… I.. I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. Are you okay? Oh God, I hope you’re okay. You’re sticky. Damn… Man, I’m really sorry.”
The lips move and Jensen can here the words but he still has a hard time getting everything that leaves the mouth he’s staring at. Those lips are really kind of beautiful. So are the dimples.
Strong hands on his shoulders and dimples he can stare at, Jensen is a little occupied there, can’t really reply with more than a nod and a mumbled, “’M fine.”
“You sure? Really? I’m so sorry. I’m Jared by the way,” the lips answer and twitch in a knowing smile. Jensen is still kind of transfixed.
“Uh… Jensen,” he knows he’s talking. Why? He has no idea, but something made him open his mouth and then words came out. Jensen blinks again and is almost blinded by the mutli-colored shirt that comes into view.
Jensen desperately wants a shower now. For some very, very bad reason he wants to have a shower and than come back out here to stare a little more at the guy with the beautiful lips and the adorable dimples who apparently is called Jared and wears a Camp Pride uniform. Yeah, Jensen really wants to do all that now. He doesn’t move an inch.
“So good to meet you Jensen. I’m with the Prides. You a yellow, huh?” So the brain is missing in this one then. Pity. And Jensen was ready to succumb to those lips, but they had to go and destroy is illusion.
He blinks up and finally sees the whole guy and not just parts of him. Hot. Definitely hot and gorgeous. Jensen wonders what it is that makes these kind of guys dumb as a loaf of bread. This one would have been his type. Tall. Tall and broad, even. Strong arms, big hands and a really nice face. Also, floppy hair and curious eyes. Pity, indeed.
“Very observant. What gave it away? The yellow shirt? Okay, I have to give it to you, there isn’t much yellow left right now.” Jensen has absolutely no idea where his snappiness is coming from, but then again he had been grumpy before and having his illusions stumped so vehemently by the obvious lack of brain in a gorgeous body sort of validates it. At least Jensen thinks so.
The guy’s… Okay, so his name is Jared. Jared blushes a very nice shade of red and looks rather sheepish. Jensen can hear Mike crow in the background and wants to flip him off. No can do though, kids are around.
“Oh God. I’ll get you new ones.” With that Jared is gone, off towards the slushie booth, stride confident and sure. Jensen still thinks the guy has some screws loose or even missing. Jared’s a blur after a while, rainbow-colored and massive, and Jensen can only stare.
“Found a new friend?”
It’s Misha, smirk firmly in place and eyes wide with mischief. That man is evil. Jensen has sworn to stay away from him when he has that look in his eyes, but yeah, too late now.
“Yeah, right. No. He plowed into me. And man, seems like he has some screws missing there or something.” Jensen is grumpy again.
“Dude! Harsh much? He looked really nervous and flustered.”
And now Jensen feels like a dick. When even Misha comes to the rescue of a dorky stranger, Jensen knows he has messed up. He blinks, looks at Misha and shrugs.
“He just… I dunno. Kinda rambled on and on.”
“You’ve been staring anyway,” Mish sounds incredibly smug. So much that Jensen reaches out and whacks him over the head. His retorted “Shut up” is met with another smirk and knowing eyes. Sometimes he wonders why he’s friends with Misha, the guy is way too creepy sometimes.
“I need a shower,” Jensen declares and turns to strut off. Everything itches and his shirt clings to his skin. He tries to ply the fabric away from his body, but it doesn’t really work and the few hairs he pulls out in the process are just the first casualties. Jensen winces at the thought, trying to rid his mind of it.
Jensen is weaving his way through the ever-moving clusters of kids, trying not to make contact with any of them. Then he’s stopped again. By a massive chest in his field of vision. A massive chest under rainbow-colored fabric and partly hidden behind a tray filled with cups of pinkish-blue slushies.
Jensen opens his mouth and wants to snap, wants to tell Jared that he really, really wants to get out of his sticky clothes but his tongue is somehow stuck to the roof of his mouth. Then he looks up and is met with a blinding smile. It’s huge, wide, happy and shows off dimples.
Damn.
“I know you wanna change. And you probably think I’m demented or something, but… I just wanted… Again, I’m sorry. I really didn’t see you there, which I don’t even know… I mean, no one can not see you… not with the way you look… Uhm.”
Jared looks like he wants to crawl into the deepest hole available and hide for the rest of his life. Jensen thinks it’s adorable and tries to not let it show on his face. This guy in front of him is a contradiction and something inexplicably draws Jensen to him, even if he thinks Jared is maybe kind of slow or something.
Usually bubbly guys like Jared make Jensen even grumpier. There is only so much happiness Jensen can take and Jared is rapidly approaching the point of no return. Jensen would have to yell at him or you know, be grumpy towards him. It usually would make him frown and scowl and grind his teeth.
Only it doesn’t. It rather makes his lip twitch, makes him want to snort and tell Jared that he’s a dork. It’s rare that people steamroll Jensen like that, make him dizzy with the way things spin around him.
Also Jared’s chest is really, really distracting.
“Jensen?”
“Huh?” Jensen had been staring, like a freaking teenager. Had zoned out right there in the middle of all the kids and teens. Great. This day can’t go better now, he wouldn’t mind an improvement. Not that Jared’s chest sop close to him and the dimples are bad or something. He absentmindedly scratches his chest and winces when the fabric of his shirt pulls at his skin. Right, shower. That’s where he was heading.
Jared’s smiling though, seemingly not disturbed by the fact that Jensen just clearly objectified his chest.
“I just asked if you are okay. You seemed far away.”
There is a smirk, dimples still present and Jensen doesn’t know how to respond to them and Jared’s words. So Jensen grunts and stomps off, followed by a slight chuckle that somehow manages to sound smug. So yeah, maybe Jared isn’t slow or anything but that still doesn’t mean there aren’t any screws loose.
Anyway, did Jared really just flirt with him or was that just a figment of his imagination? After this day and the things he went through and the hours he spent in the sun Jensen wouldn’t put it past his mind to come up with strange things.
Jensen swerves through the kids, around the booths and games, and strides towards his cabin, trying not to think too much about the things he should have said to Jared. He’s focused on the path leading to the cabin, single-minded almost, which is probably why he ends up crashing into one of the cheerleader girls. She is probably trying to impress one of the Pride girls, that’s at least what Jensen gets before he’s mowed down, and she does a cartwheel right into Jensen.
He stumbles, catches his footing and still gets a hit right into his ribs. Foot to ribs is so not cool and Jensen wonders what else he’ll have to endure today. He groans and almost ends up on his knees, wind knocked out of him and mouth open to catch his breath. It hurts. A lot.
“Oh.. my.. God. Mr. Ackles. I’m so sorry… I.. I…”
And Jensen thinks he can’t get enough of hearing people apologizing to him. He just wishes it wasn’t necessary. The girl, one of Mike’s at it turns out, sounds like she’s about to cry. Jensen is still sort of stuck on the ‘Mr.Ackles’, because really, he isn’t that old. Okay, so maybe ten years her senior but still, this is summer camp anyway. Pain’s still making him gasp but he still tries to stop her from hyperventilating.
“Celia. It’s okay. Just a little accident,” Jensen wheezes out and hopes he sounds mature and composed. He feels anything but.
This day, if it doesn’t end soon, will probably harm him for good. Jensen sighs and limps into the cabin, finally away from any hazardous children and teens. He’s sticky, clothes and hair clinging to him unpleasantly, soaked with either sweat or slushie leftovers, and his ribs sting rather painfully. Yes, he really needs this shower now.
He prays that the water works. Groans when all the other bruises he collected throughout the day make themselves known and for some reason he can still smell puke, even though he’s changed two times since then.
Jensen almost cries with relief when the shower actually works on the first try and just steps under the water, moaning and not caring that the wooden walls are very, very thin.
***
When he’s done, freshly showered and in yet another pair of camp-issued uniform he actually contemplates just flopping down on his bed and staying there. He doesn’t want to go back out, doesn’t want to face his kids, Mike or Misha, not even Jared. The thought of Jared especially makes him want to hide and stay away.
He can’t, though. The Carnival is still going on, his kids are still out there and Jensen really wants to get a ride on the Ferris Wheel. Sure, the troop will be here for another two days, it’s just Friday anyway, but then Jensen thinks he might not survive the next night if things go on like that. He sighs and steps back out of the cabin.
It takes him almost two hours to herd his group together and get them all cleaned up. It’s past their usual bedtime when he finally closes the door behind him and just stands there on the steps, taking in the quiet of the camp and the lights on the booths still blinking. It looks peaceful, settled somehow.
He likes this time of the evening, when the cabins are dark, kids supposed to be sleeping and counselors having a little fun by themselves. It’s an hour, maybe two, of time they can scrounge up and enjoy the rides and booths. It’s tradition that the carnival troop lets them have some fun as well and Jensen has been looking forward to that.
Jensen almost hugs Misha when he takes over first nightwatch, ignores the smirk the other man sends him and basically runs over to where the Ferris Wheel is just waiting for him. Mike’s already there, in a seat and already high above the ground. Jensen is happy to be far away from Mike and his antics for now.
Jensen is already settled into the seat, smiling in excitement and feeling a little embarrassed because of it, when the car dips and someone takes the place next to him.
So not cool.
Jensen wants to protest, be annoyed and scowl. This is his ride after all. But there is Jared’s dimpled smile in front of his eyes when he turns his head and the words get sort of stuck in Jensen’s head.
What the hell? What is it about Jared that makes Jensen a speechless, staring and hopefully not drooling idiot?
“Saved you one.”
Something cold is pressed into Jensen’s hand and he startles a little, even yelps in surprise. It’s a pink slushie and Jensen wants to protest again just on the basis of the color. Jensen really wants to feel offended, but Jared’s smile makes him forget those kind of important things.
Jensen blinks at the pink slushie and just blurts the first thing that comes to his mind.
“Wanna tell me something?”
Jared’s still smiling and then raises his eyebrows, then shrugs.
“They were out of blue?”
“Oh really? How convenient, huh?”
Jared laughs. Loud and whooping. Jensen is transfixed, staring again. The sight there next to him is something that makes his heart skip, makes the car move as well. It’s beautiful and suddenly Jensen knows he shouldn’t be thinking like that. He doesn’t know Jared, not at all.
“Why does everything have be color-coded anyway?” Jared asks with a wistful smile, looks out across the lake. Jensen thinks this here means more than it should. For both of them. He can’t shake the feeling that he misjudged Jared completely all those hours ago. Jensen thinks he doesn’t mind being wrong.
“Good question,” he answers after a while, a second maybe but still maybe a little too long. “Thanks for this.”
“You’re welcome. I owed you anyway,” Jared sounds and looks shy, a look so fitting and yet so unfitting that it makes Jensen blink again. There is still such a confidence in Jared though, that Jensen knows Jared means every word he says. It’s a refreshing thought, not having to guard his words and question every thing he hears, not like he has to with Misha and Mike, who always seem to be planning something.
The car stops at the top. Jensen’s favorite place, where he can see things he usually can’t. The lake looks spectacular in the moonlight, stars sparkling in the water and the darkness not dangerous but calming, as a soothing backdrop.
Jensen wants to ask Jared what he thinks of the view and snorts when he sees the way Jared is sitting there. Rigid, knuckles white, clutching the edges of the car. Jared’s eyes are half closes, mouth pinched tight and face drawn into a frown. Jensen knows what this is.
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you are afraid of heights.”
“I am not.” Jensen thinks that comes out less vehement than Jared had intended it to.
“Okay. Then take a look around, it’s awesome.” He knows it’s cruel but he can’t help it. Jared is clutching to his dignity and Jensen just has to needle him. It’s like they have been doing that for years instead of just a few minutes. It feels like he’s sitting there with someone he’s known for a long time. It’s weird, strange and still, Jensen can’t stop it from making him feel good.
“Fuck you,” Jared almost spits out but it lacks venom, sounds small and Jensen pats one of the white-knuckled hands, stops teasing. “Okay, so maybe a little.”
The slushie is still resting cold against his sigh, Jensen had forgotten about it but now he thinks he might have an idea. Stupid as it sounds in his head he doesn’t do anything to stop himself. He takes the straw in-between his lips and starts sucking.
As unplanned as it is, it seems to be working because Jared’s eyes are wide now, focused solely on Jensen’s lips, hands slack on the bar functioning as a railing on the car. Jensen grins around the straw and sucks some more. It’s fun, teasing like this, seeing Jared’s eyes widen even more.
Jensen winks at him playfully and actually savors the cold, sweet ice in his mouth. It feels good after the heat of the day and it makes him smile around the straw again. Jared smiles back now, secret and grateful.
There is something between them. Already. After just one day. Jensen doesn’t know if this is good or bad. He’s not exactly out in camp, it never came up, but then he’s not hiding anything either. This could mean that he has to explain himself soon. He’s not ready to think about that just yet. Who knows, maybe nothing comes out of this anyway. Jensen has no idea why he’s suddenly thinking like this.
He likes Jared’s smile, that much he knows. He finishes his sugary, cold treat in silence, looks out over the lake again and lets his thoughts run astray. But he’s always aware of Jared’s eyes on him, of the body next to him, close and warm. It’s been a while since Jensen had the chance to actually enjoy someone being close, being just there. It makes Jensen fidget a little.
“So if you are afraid of heights why did you get on in the first place?” It’s a question he’d wanted to ask since he saw Jared clutching the car’s side.
Jared actually lets go of said side and scratches the back of his head. The rainbow colored bracelet moves along tanned skin, catching Jensen’s eyes. It looks like a statement and it also looks very good against Jared’s slender wrist.
“Uh… well… saw you running towards it… I thought it would be a good chance to say sorry again. I probably spilled your own slushie on you as well, so… uh… I got you a new one. Again, I’m sorry. I’m a spaz.”
Jared says it with such conviction that Jensen thinks Jared expects every camp counselor to love candy and slushies as much as the kids do and probably as much as he does. Jensen saw the candy bars on the tray Jared carried earlier. He smiles.
“Apology accepted.”
There is another whoop, which makes the car move again and Jared desperately trying to attach his hands to the side of it again. Jensen laughs, laughs even harder when Jared scowls.
Jensen thinks he might be a little screwed right now. But then, camp just got interesting for him again.
This day turned out to be better than Jensen would have thought. He can ignore the smell of puke and the bruises in favor of feeling Jared against his side.
This summer might even end differently than any other before. But then, it just could be a summer fling. Jensen decides not care about that for now. It feels too good to think about anything else.
Part 2