Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Chapter One
Chapter Wordcount: 1895
He wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Jared was tied up in shooting, it was one of ‘his’ episodes, which left Jensen free for most of the day, even if he was still on set.
Jared of course had been moaning all day about running out of precious dog food that morning and what were poor Sadie and Harley gonna do when Daddy came home without munchies? And seeing as Jared wasn’t about to get a break Jensen made the run for him. He needed some shampoo and coffee and a couple random things anyways.
He was halfway across the parking lot, juggling the keys to the car in his hand and humming along with a song that was playing from some car off in the distance when he realized what exactly it was he was singing.
He slowed his stride, glancing around for the source of sound, finally spotting a car with the hood open over by the dumpsters, Jason Manns blaring from the downed windows.
Not that his buddy down south didn’t have his own rabid fanbase, but Jason’s music wasn’t exactly widespread so hearing it blasted across a random Wal-Mart parking lot in Canada was a bit of a shock.
He glanced at his watch making sure he had time for a detour before altering his course to take him closer to the car.
The closer he got he realized not only did the car have its hood up, and what a nice car it was, it was also up on jacks.
A bright yellow bottle of Pennzoil was sitting in the engine bay and a pair of boots were stuck out from under the front end, the distinct thick pour of oil audible from where he stood.
But who the hell changes oil in a Wal-Mart parking lot?
“You uh…need any help?”
The body froze, before it wiggled its way out from underneath the car.
Jensen’s eyebrow arched when the boots ended up being attached to a girl.
She seemed to be trying to hide a smile as she wiped some hair from her forehead, leaving a black smudge in its wake.
“Uh,” she chuckled, “uh, no, actually I’m okay.”
He nodded, shifting nervously on his feet as she continued to bite the inside of her cheek, ghost of a grin across her features.
“It’s a good song,” he nodded, referring to the music which had now switched over to another of Jason’s songs.
“Yea, it is,” she smiled wider. “You heard of him?”
Jensen couldn’t help but grin.
“Uh, yea, I think. It sounds familiar.”
“Uh huh,” she grinned again before disappearing back under the car.
Jensen didn’t know whether that meant to get lost, or whether she just had to finish up under the car.
“So…uh, mind me asking why you’re changing oil at Wal-Mart?”
“It’s either here or the motel, either way, needed to be done,” she said, as he heard the clank of a wrench hitting pavement before she again squirmed her way out from under the car, pulling a pan of black oil out behind her.
She wiped her hands on her rag before walking around the side to crack the seal on the new oil.
“Where ya from?”
“Florida.”
“You’re from Florida?” he squawked, eyebrows shooting to his hairline, “And you drove?”
She just laughed, watching as the gold liquid poured from the bottle into her valve cover.
“Yea I did…I made it one big long road trip, made a lot of stops.”
“Mind me asking why you came all the way to Vancouver?”
She smiled, pulling up on the bottle and halting the flow before looking at him for a split second, grin tugging her lips before she went back to pouring.
“Well, you see…there’s this TV show that I love, and they film here, thought I’d come up here just to say I have.”
Jensen shifted on his feet again, scratching at the back of his neck and trying to hold back his own chuckle. Jason’s music, Vancouver, the smile she kept trying to bite back, it was all coming together now. Course, it wasn’t like she had freaked out and yanked him into a photo or anything, and he had been the one to walk up to her.
“Is that so?”
She grinned again, setting the now empty bottle on the ground and replacing the cap on her engine.
“Yea, it’s called ‘Supernatural,’ dunno if you’ve ever heard of it.”
He couldn’t help but grin, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Uh yea, I think I’ve seen it once or twice.”
“Uh huh,” she grinned, using a funnel to pour the old oil into the empty bottle, and somewhere in the back of his mind Jensen noted that at least she wasn’t pouring it out on the ground.
“It’s a really good show, you should watch it sometime.”
By now the grin and mischievous silver glint in her blue eyes was a permanent fixture as she put the oil container in the dumpster and bent back down, letting both jacks ease down simultaneously, the car groaning as it accepted its own weight again.
She yanked them out and went walking around to the back, lifting up on the trunk and stowing them back inside.
“Nice car by the way.”
“Thanks, he’s my baby.”
Jensen smiled. “Guess you like the Impala then?”
“Are you kidding me, I love the Impala…maybe more than you,” she winked, reaching in her downed window to start the engine and let the new oil run its course.
When she came back to the front, yanking the hood closed with a metallic clang he held out his hand.
“Jensen Ackles…but I guess you knew that,” he smiled as she reached out and shook it firmly.
“You can say that,” she grinned, “Tareena Lyman.”
“That’s pretty…unusual.”
“Yea, my mom made it up,” she shrugged, bending down to double check for leaks before going back to the side and shutting off the engine.
“So uh, how long you in town for?”
“Four weeks…five if I can make my money stretch,” she smiled with a shrug of her shoulder.
“Cool, maybe I’ll see you around. I would tell you where we’re filming the next couple days but you probably know more about that than I do,” he laughed.
“I’ve heard some rumors,” she smirked.
“Yea…so, umm, I’ve gotta go, you know, get some things, Jared’s dogs need food,” he stuttered, pointing over his shoulder towards the monster store.
She nodded with a smile.
He smiled awkwardly, taking a couple steps backwards before finally turning and heading back towards the store, he spun back around another three steps away.
“You, uh, didn’t want an autograph or anything, did you?” he asked motioning with his hands, feeling like he was forgetting something, the way she was just everyday calm throwing him.
She smirked and shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
“Right, yea…okay, see you, you know, around,” he waved before finally forcing himself to march back to the store.
Damnit, this is why he always took Jared with him. Jared had an air and an all around goofy, inviting personality that just drew people in, and he was such a big flopping extrovert that whenever Jensen felt awkward or at a loss for words he could smoothly hand it over to Jared. But no, Jared had to be filming, thus leaving Jensen’s awkward stumbling ass to run into a normal fan.
And sadly the normal part is what threw him.
Three days later, waiting for the props and camera men to get set back up in between takes he spotted her across the street.
There were always a few fans scattered about anytime they were filming on location. He and Jared always tried to be courteous and at least say hi if they had time.
There were maybe a dozen people gathered around today. Bundled up in coats and scarves, clutching cameras and grinning with their friends, pens and notepads tucked in their pockets.
She stood on the other side of the street, alone, leaned against her car, sipping on her coffee like she was just killing time.
Maybe that’s the reason he couldn’t bring himself to shake off their previous encounter. She didn’t act like a fan. Well, like the normal fans he ran into. She had never asked for an autograph or a photo, hadn’t even had a conniption when he went up to her.
He quick grabbed a PA asking what the ETA was on the next take, when she replied another twenty minutes he went and grabbed his hat and sunglasses, and snuck out the side, bypassing the smiling, giggling girls milling around the front.
He could tell she had spotted him as soon as he turned the corner, the corner of her lips twitching into a grin. But besides that she still didn’t react.
He slinked past the fangirls and jogged across the street.
“Hey.”
“Hey you.”
“Was wondering if I was going to see you again.”
She laughed, “Yea, same here.”
“So uh…why you over here?” Smooth Jensen, real smooth.
“Didn’t feel like being one of the herd,” she smiled.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Yea, I hear ya. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love our fans, but you guys are crazy.”
She laughed out loud, shaking her head at him as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, Dean’s jackets not quite enough for the cold.
“Here,” she offered, popping off the lid on her still steaming coffee and holding it out to him.
He eyed the coffee, eyebrow shooting high before looking back at her.
“What? It’s not like I backwash, it’s safe I promise,” she smiled, “You just look like you need it more than me.”
“Oh, so I look like shit now?” he grinned.
“Warmed over,” she shot right back.
He grinned, accepting the coffee graciously. “Thanks, I appreciate it,” he laughed, sarcastic lilt to his voice.
“Anytime,” she grinned right back.
He had to admit, it was pretty damn good coffee…although, he wasn’t exactly about to tell her that.
“So, you enjoying the filming?”
She smirked, “Yeah.”
He nodded, turning back to watch across the street, make sure he still had some time.
He saw the lights snap on, bright white flooding over where they were filming.
“Shit, looks like I gotta get back to work. You know where the set is?”
“Roughly,” she said, eyebrows drawing down in question.
“Well get there early tomorrow morning, like…eight, eight-thirty, and I’ll see if I can get you in.”
Her eyes went wide and Jensen smirked. Finally! Got a reaction out of her!
“You don’t have to…”
“It’s no big deal, I can’t make any promises or anything, but I can prolly get you in.”
“Um…thanks, I mean, yea, that’s awesome, I’ll be there.”
“Cool, umm, here,” he held the coffee back out.
“Keep it,” she smiled.
“Umm, thanks, so uh, yea…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“’Kay.”
He grinned again, before jogging back over to the set. He glanced across the street, meeting her eyes and sharing a smile before Jeannie came over, snatching off his hat and scolding him for messing up his hair, making quick work of fixing it. When he looked back again she was slipping into her car. He watched as the engine rumbled to life before she drove away.
Chapter Notes:
My car is an 87 Monte Carlo...you know, in case you didn't know ;) and I only use Pennzoil, blame my Daddy
That road trip she mentioned is PLANNED, I have a map with pins and everything...only thing I'm waiting on is a winning lotto ticket :D
Lyman is not my last name, it's actually the name of my high school! haha, just showing some love to my greyhounds ;)
and I have no earthly CLUE how filming/sets/blah blah works, so all that kind of stuff I'm pulling outta my ass....but Jeannie is the name of their main hair lady girl chick
Previous: Soundtrack | Next: Chapter Two
Chapter One
Chapter Wordcount: 1895
He wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Jared was tied up in shooting, it was one of ‘his’ episodes, which left Jensen free for most of the day, even if he was still on set.
Jared of course had been moaning all day about running out of precious dog food that morning and what were poor Sadie and Harley gonna do when Daddy came home without munchies? And seeing as Jared wasn’t about to get a break Jensen made the run for him. He needed some shampoo and coffee and a couple random things anyways.
He was halfway across the parking lot, juggling the keys to the car in his hand and humming along with a song that was playing from some car off in the distance when he realized what exactly it was he was singing.
He slowed his stride, glancing around for the source of sound, finally spotting a car with the hood open over by the dumpsters, Jason Manns blaring from the downed windows.
Not that his buddy down south didn’t have his own rabid fanbase, but Jason’s music wasn’t exactly widespread so hearing it blasted across a random Wal-Mart parking lot in Canada was a bit of a shock.
He glanced at his watch making sure he had time for a detour before altering his course to take him closer to the car.
The closer he got he realized not only did the car have its hood up, and what a nice car it was, it was also up on jacks.
A bright yellow bottle of Pennzoil was sitting in the engine bay and a pair of boots were stuck out from under the front end, the distinct thick pour of oil audible from where he stood.
But who the hell changes oil in a Wal-Mart parking lot?
“You uh…need any help?”
The body froze, before it wiggled its way out from underneath the car.
Jensen’s eyebrow arched when the boots ended up being attached to a girl.
She seemed to be trying to hide a smile as she wiped some hair from her forehead, leaving a black smudge in its wake.
“Uh,” she chuckled, “uh, no, actually I’m okay.”
He nodded, shifting nervously on his feet as she continued to bite the inside of her cheek, ghost of a grin across her features.
“It’s a good song,” he nodded, referring to the music which had now switched over to another of Jason’s songs.
“Yea, it is,” she smiled wider. “You heard of him?”
Jensen couldn’t help but grin.
“Uh, yea, I think. It sounds familiar.”
“Uh huh,” she grinned again before disappearing back under the car.
Jensen didn’t know whether that meant to get lost, or whether she just had to finish up under the car.
“So…uh, mind me asking why you’re changing oil at Wal-Mart?”
“It’s either here or the motel, either way, needed to be done,” she said, as he heard the clank of a wrench hitting pavement before she again squirmed her way out from under the car, pulling a pan of black oil out behind her.
She wiped her hands on her rag before walking around the side to crack the seal on the new oil.
“Where ya from?”
“Florida.”
“You’re from Florida?” he squawked, eyebrows shooting to his hairline, “And you drove?”
She just laughed, watching as the gold liquid poured from the bottle into her valve cover.
“Yea I did…I made it one big long road trip, made a lot of stops.”
“Mind me asking why you came all the way to Vancouver?”
She smiled, pulling up on the bottle and halting the flow before looking at him for a split second, grin tugging her lips before she went back to pouring.
“Well, you see…there’s this TV show that I love, and they film here, thought I’d come up here just to say I have.”
Jensen shifted on his feet again, scratching at the back of his neck and trying to hold back his own chuckle. Jason’s music, Vancouver, the smile she kept trying to bite back, it was all coming together now. Course, it wasn’t like she had freaked out and yanked him into a photo or anything, and he had been the one to walk up to her.
“Is that so?”
She grinned again, setting the now empty bottle on the ground and replacing the cap on her engine.
“Yea, it’s called ‘Supernatural,’ dunno if you’ve ever heard of it.”
He couldn’t help but grin, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Uh yea, I think I’ve seen it once or twice.”
“Uh huh,” she grinned, using a funnel to pour the old oil into the empty bottle, and somewhere in the back of his mind Jensen noted that at least she wasn’t pouring it out on the ground.
“It’s a really good show, you should watch it sometime.”
By now the grin and mischievous silver glint in her blue eyes was a permanent fixture as she put the oil container in the dumpster and bent back down, letting both jacks ease down simultaneously, the car groaning as it accepted its own weight again.
She yanked them out and went walking around to the back, lifting up on the trunk and stowing them back inside.
“Nice car by the way.”
“Thanks, he’s my baby.”
Jensen smiled. “Guess you like the Impala then?”
“Are you kidding me, I love the Impala…maybe more than you,” she winked, reaching in her downed window to start the engine and let the new oil run its course.
When she came back to the front, yanking the hood closed with a metallic clang he held out his hand.
“Jensen Ackles…but I guess you knew that,” he smiled as she reached out and shook it firmly.
“You can say that,” she grinned, “Tareena Lyman.”
“That’s pretty…unusual.”
“Yea, my mom made it up,” she shrugged, bending down to double check for leaks before going back to the side and shutting off the engine.
“So uh, how long you in town for?”
“Four weeks…five if I can make my money stretch,” she smiled with a shrug of her shoulder.
“Cool, maybe I’ll see you around. I would tell you where we’re filming the next couple days but you probably know more about that than I do,” he laughed.
“I’ve heard some rumors,” she smirked.
“Yea…so, umm, I’ve gotta go, you know, get some things, Jared’s dogs need food,” he stuttered, pointing over his shoulder towards the monster store.
She nodded with a smile.
He smiled awkwardly, taking a couple steps backwards before finally turning and heading back towards the store, he spun back around another three steps away.
“You, uh, didn’t want an autograph or anything, did you?” he asked motioning with his hands, feeling like he was forgetting something, the way she was just everyday calm throwing him.
She smirked and shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
“Right, yea…okay, see you, you know, around,” he waved before finally forcing himself to march back to the store.
Damnit, this is why he always took Jared with him. Jared had an air and an all around goofy, inviting personality that just drew people in, and he was such a big flopping extrovert that whenever Jensen felt awkward or at a loss for words he could smoothly hand it over to Jared. But no, Jared had to be filming, thus leaving Jensen’s awkward stumbling ass to run into a normal fan.
And sadly the normal part is what threw him.
Three days later, waiting for the props and camera men to get set back up in between takes he spotted her across the street.
There were always a few fans scattered about anytime they were filming on location. He and Jared always tried to be courteous and at least say hi if they had time.
There were maybe a dozen people gathered around today. Bundled up in coats and scarves, clutching cameras and grinning with their friends, pens and notepads tucked in their pockets.
She stood on the other side of the street, alone, leaned against her car, sipping on her coffee like she was just killing time.
Maybe that’s the reason he couldn’t bring himself to shake off their previous encounter. She didn’t act like a fan. Well, like the normal fans he ran into. She had never asked for an autograph or a photo, hadn’t even had a conniption when he went up to her.
He quick grabbed a PA asking what the ETA was on the next take, when she replied another twenty minutes he went and grabbed his hat and sunglasses, and snuck out the side, bypassing the smiling, giggling girls milling around the front.
He could tell she had spotted him as soon as he turned the corner, the corner of her lips twitching into a grin. But besides that she still didn’t react.
He slinked past the fangirls and jogged across the street.
“Hey.”
“Hey you.”
“Was wondering if I was going to see you again.”
She laughed, “Yea, same here.”
“So uh…why you over here?” Smooth Jensen, real smooth.
“Didn’t feel like being one of the herd,” she smiled.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Yea, I hear ya. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love our fans, but you guys are crazy.”
She laughed out loud, shaking her head at him as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, Dean’s jackets not quite enough for the cold.
“Here,” she offered, popping off the lid on her still steaming coffee and holding it out to him.
He eyed the coffee, eyebrow shooting high before looking back at her.
“What? It’s not like I backwash, it’s safe I promise,” she smiled, “You just look like you need it more than me.”
“Oh, so I look like shit now?” he grinned.
“Warmed over,” she shot right back.
He grinned, accepting the coffee graciously. “Thanks, I appreciate it,” he laughed, sarcastic lilt to his voice.
“Anytime,” she grinned right back.
He had to admit, it was pretty damn good coffee…although, he wasn’t exactly about to tell her that.
“So, you enjoying the filming?”
She smirked, “Yeah.”
He nodded, turning back to watch across the street, make sure he still had some time.
He saw the lights snap on, bright white flooding over where they were filming.
“Shit, looks like I gotta get back to work. You know where the set is?”
“Roughly,” she said, eyebrows drawing down in question.
“Well get there early tomorrow morning, like…eight, eight-thirty, and I’ll see if I can get you in.”
Her eyes went wide and Jensen smirked. Finally! Got a reaction out of her!
“You don’t have to…”
“It’s no big deal, I can’t make any promises or anything, but I can prolly get you in.”
“Um…thanks, I mean, yea, that’s awesome, I’ll be there.”
“Cool, umm, here,” he held the coffee back out.
“Keep it,” she smiled.
“Umm, thanks, so uh, yea…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“’Kay.”
He grinned again, before jogging back over to the set. He glanced across the street, meeting her eyes and sharing a smile before Jeannie came over, snatching off his hat and scolding him for messing up his hair, making quick work of fixing it. When he looked back again she was slipping into her car. He watched as the engine rumbled to life before she drove away.
Chapter Notes:
My car is an 87 Monte Carlo...you know, in case you didn't know ;) and I only use Pennzoil, blame my Daddy
That road trip she mentioned is PLANNED, I have a map with pins and everything...only thing I'm waiting on is a winning lotto ticket :D
Lyman is not my last name, it's actually the name of my high school! haha, just showing some love to my greyhounds ;)
and I have no earthly CLUE how filming/sets/blah blah works, so all that kind of stuff I'm pulling outta my ass....but Jeannie is the name of their main hair lady girl chick
Previous: Soundtrack | Next: Chapter Two