Along Came Jared - Chapter 2

[namichan89]

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Jensen's first day at work starts off with a meeting of all staff in the boardroom. It’s pretty relaxed, as far as first meetings go. The C-level staff is familiar anyway, and the rest of the guys are very nice, even though Jensen is sure he'll have to ask for their names again later.

In the afternoon, he has a lot of paperwork to take care of with Kim, and he doesn't get to sit down at his own desk until it's almost time to go home.

Not half an hour later, Jared stands in front of him with his backpack in hand. “You ready to head home?”

“Almost. Give me five minutes?”

And so their habit of taking the bus to and from work together starts.



On Jensen's third day at work, they get sandwiches from the deli down the street for lunch, and when they take them back to the office Jared pushes the button for the fifth floor with a perfidious smirk.

After they step out of the old freight elevator, Jared leads them up a flight of stairs, and Jensen follows him without thinking twice. They get to a heavy metal fire door, which Jared pushes open with his shoulder, and Jensen finds himself out on the roof.

The sky is clear for once, only a few fluffy clouds dotting it here and there, and the sun shines down mostly unhindered. It's a decently warm day for winter in the Pacific Northwest. Jensen blinks up into the rays of sunlight, relishing what little warmth they grant at this time of the year.

Then he notices that they're standing in a roof top garden. To the side, there's a roofed-over corner with benches and a table, and the huge flower pots around are occupied by robust plants, from bushes to small trees. In summer, it's probably beautiful up here, but the cold and the constant rain of winter have made the plants soggy and leafless.

Still, Jared is beside him, and the skyline of Seattle surrounds them. The sound of cars honking and driving down the road fills the air; the city’s pulse is beneath them.

It's kind of breathtaking.

Jared is smiling beside him, and Jensen can't help it; he smiles right back. “Wow.”

“Right?” Jared grins, then walks down the short flight of stairs, heads for a table, and places the take-out bag on it.

Jensen follows, sits down on the bench beside him, and squints into the sun.

“So, you come up here often?” He takes another look around before meeting Jared's eyes again, which are sparkling and amused.

“Misha and I do-for coffee breaks,” he nods. “You should see this in summer.”

“I figured, yeah,” Jensen replies, staring into space. “It must be beautiful.”

“Oh, it is,” Jared smiles.

They sit in companionable silence, eating their sandwiches, without saying a word, and it's comfortable between them, as always.

“By the way, since you did your law degree in Texas, do you have to take the bar exam over here, too?” Jared asks when he's finished.

“Luckily, no. I'll just have to do 4 hours of pre-admission continuing legal education and go through a background investigation, and then take the oath of attorney.”

“Okay,” Jared nods. “So, if you don't need to study, how about sightseeing next weekend? I'd really like to show you the library, and the monorail, and the Needle.”

Jensen looks at him thoughtfully, and then smiles. “I guess we can squeeze that in.”



Working at Ferris & Gamble Publishing does wonders for Jensen's mood. He had felt way too out of place back home in Dallas. Not only does he now like the work he is doing, but now that he's here, in a new city with a new life, he realizes he's rarely felt so comfortable in his own skin as he does when he's watching the Super Bowl with Jared, Misha and Vicky. Or when they spend the day roaming around town. Jared showed him all the places they need go to dinner, because, “That's the most delicious Thai food you'll ever have, promise!”. They go sightseeing, go to the Space Needle Jensen had only seen from afar, they attend the book readings at the Seattle public library, and they visit the farmer's market to pick up ingredients for a home-cooked dinner.

When Jensen doesn't have to work late or attend business dinners, he spends the evenings at Jared's place more often than not - in a house too big for just one man and his two dogs.

“I bought it together with my ex-boyfriend, when we thought we would start a family soon. And I didn't want to sell it after he left. I loved the place too much to do that,” Jared explains one Saturday. “Covering the mortgage isn't always easy, but the bank helped me out with that.”

“Why did he leave you, if you don't mind me asking?”

“He left me for someone else. For a woman.”

“Oh.”

Jared waves him off.



On one of their rare Saturdays off, Jared invites Jensen to accompany him to the Seattle public library. There's the 'It's about time writers' reading series' with readings and open mikes, involving two authors whose books are published by Ferris & Gamble. Misha has had an eye on it for weeks now.

Since books by Ferris & Gamble often feature LGBTQ themes, Jensen finds himself sitting beside Jared, listening to people reading from books that tell the story of a 67-year-old and how she found out she was bisexual, and the story of a teenager dealing with his dad coming out as gay to him and getting divorced from his mom.

It's undoubtedly interesting; it's a topic Jensen never had to think about and never thought about. Simply because he hasn't been affected or concerned by these matters, and it's new to hear it from another person's point of view.

Afterwards, he's still kind of in a daze as Misha and Jared discuss the authors, and only snaps out of it when Jared sidesteps him to hug a stranger. “Hey, Paul!” he greets him cheerfully.

“Jared! Knew I'd meet you here,” Paul laughs, and then turns to Jensen as soon as Jared unwraps his arm from his shoulders.

“Jensen, this is Paul, head of our LGBTQ support group at the community center in Capitol Hill. Paul, my friend and co-worker Jensen,” Jared introduces them.

“Nice to meet you,” Jensen says as he shakes Paul's hand, quickly takes note of the jeans and a plaid shirt and of Paul's shaggy, light brown hair. He can't be much younger than Jared.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Paul smiles, then shoots a teasing grin at Jared. “I'm surprised I haven't heard about you from Jared yet. Which is a miracle in itself, since he usually can't shut up for two minutes.”

“Hey!” Jared protests meekly. “Don't blame me. We haven’t had much time to talk lately andwe need to catch up some time soon.”

“Yeah, I know. Will you be there the Sunday after next?” Paul asks.

“Definitely.”

“Cool! And hey, you're invited, too,” he adds towards Jensen, who eyes him confused. “We're having an event for supporting the local LGBTQ youth, basically giving advice on coming out and other topics concerning teenagers. We do that every other week,” Paul elaborates.

“I'm usually there for the 'dealing with your parents' part,” Jared says, not without pride.

“Oh, I don't-” Jensen scratches the back of his neck. “I think this is a misunderstanding. I don't think I'd exactly fit in there.”

“Jensen, you don't need to be gay to be able to take part in this,” Jared adds.

Jensen feels kind of trapped with his hand in the cookie jar.

Paul whistles to himself right then. “Ah, I see. Jared is right, though. Everybody is welcome. Oh, and speaking of- Do you know if Ty is gonna be there?”

“If he doesn't want to, I'll promise to drag him to it,” Jared smiles.

“Great,” Paul says and practically beams.

After a short goodbye, Jensen is still wondering. “Does that mean that Ty is active at the community, too?”

“Well, yeah,” Jared nods and quickly checks that Paul is out of earshot before he continues, “Paul has a bit of a crush on him, but it's really sweet. I don't think Ty has noticed anything yet, since Paul is very shy about it. Sometimes you just want to knock their heads together. If I'm sure of one thing, it's that Paul is exactly Ty's type.”

“Wait,” Jensen looks up at his friend. “What? Ty's gay?”

“Yeah?”

“Wow. I didn't notice that,” Jensen says surprised.

“Well now you know,” Jared winks and laughs when Jensen's confused glance doesn't change.

“The things I learn about you guys,” Jensen mumbles, more to himself.



When it's 6 p.m. and the event at the community center is winding down, Jensen stands at the sidelines and waits for Jared. He's still busy talking to Paul.

“Had fun?” Ty's appears beside him, a glass of coke in his hands.

“Yeah, it was pretty interesting,” Jensen answers. “And, you know, I don't have much experience with the topic, but it's good that there's people like you out there, helping these teenagers.”

Ty nods simply. “Someone's gotta. There's still too many out there who are too afraid to come out to their parents, and it's hard for a lot of them. You know, it's events like these that make me grateful for being long over that phase. I'm glad I can live the life I want and I'm glad to be out and proud.”

“Yeah,” Jensen says, swallowing heavily.

His eyes drift over to Jared, who's just laughing unabashed at something Paul said, head thrown back and the curve of his neck on display. Jensen smiles at the picture, and like he somehow noticed, Jared turns to look at him. Their eyes meet over the distance and Jared smiles widely, leaving Jensen with warmth spreading in his chest.

“Thanks for helping out with the equipment, by the way,” Ty adds, effectively making Jensen snap out of it.

“That little bit with the microphones? Sure-was no problem,” Jensen smiles.

For a moment, they stand there in silence, watching Jared and Paul saying goodbye.

“Guess that's my cue, too,” Ty says, and Jensen can hear something new in his voice. “I'll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Are you gonna head out with Paul?”

“We're getting dinner, yes.”

When Jensen turns to Ty, he has a secretive smile on his face and his eyes focused on Paul. “Have fun,” he says, heartfelt.

“Thanks, we will,” Ty slaps his shoulder lightly and waves at Jared as the other man passes by.

Jared waves back and nods towards Jensen. “Ready to go?”

“Ready to go where? Dinner?” Jensen gives him a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, I know a great place right around the corner,” Jared grins. “If you're interested.”

With a shrug, Jensen starts walking towards the exit.



They end up getting dinner together that night, some delicious Thai food at a restaurant down by the harbor. If Jensen is a bit too deep in thought during the meal and lets Jared do the talking - which the other man does gladly- then that has most definitely something to do with meeting Paul and learning about Ty, plus the book reading the other day. Hearing about someone discovering their sexual identity while they were already retired, or married with kids, had made him ponder. And three of the men he works or spends time with on a daily basis have surprised him with their sexuality.

Well, never judge a book by its cover.

Because looking at Jared now - in jeans, white and blue plaid shirt with a white v-neck peeking out from the open buttons on his collar, drinking beer - he couldn't be more different from how Jensen has always pictured gay men. He isn't wearing anything sparkly or in rainbow colors, and he's as far from flamboyant as he'll ever get. And Ty? Ty even ups Jared in being down-to-earth, being Johnny Everyman. And Misha is just Misha-but Misha is married.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Jensen asks after a particularly long pause, when they're done with their meals. He swirls the last of his RedHook beer in the glass before draining it.

“Shoot,” Jared prompts.

“When did you realize that you were gay?”

A smirk tugs at the edges of Jared's lips. “When Gary Smith kissed me in the locker room in high school. I was... sixteen, I think. Needless to say it wasn't serious, but we were seeing each other for a while.”

“Hm,” Jensen comments, because he's kind of at a loss. “Just... like that?”

“Nah. I mulled it over for weeks, since I couldn't accept it right away. For the record, I have yet to meet a guy who could do that so easily. And I never thought I'd be that guy, you know. That queer kid. But, as horrible as that identity crisis was, the kiss got me thinking,” Jared sighs. When he looks up at Jensen, who just stares at him speechlessly - well, not at Jared, but at Jared's lips - Jared grins. “Sometimes you need a reason to start that thinking process.”

“Yeah, I totally get that,” Jensen answers, and avoids Jared's eyes in favor of turning to the light rain falling down at the other side of the window, to wonder some more.

Luckily, he's saved by the waitress, who suddenly arrives at their table. Jared asks for the check and, when she's gone, he turns back to Jensen.

“So, you never thought about it?”

“About what?”

“What it's like to be with a man,” Jared says. “If the kissing or the sex would be different.”

“Not really, no,” Jensen huffs, and peels at the label of his beer before he slowly turns towards his friend. “I never had a reason to. Except lately, there's... Well.”

For a moment, Jared just looks at him in surprise, then chuckles. “Lately there's what?”

“Nothing,” Jensen quickly returns. He is so not ready for this.

And Jared, the saint that he is, lets him go. Just watches him a bit more closely for the rest of the evening.



Two weeks later, it's already past 9 p.m. when Jensen stumbles through Jared's front door, feeling hungry and prissy and dead on his feet.

"Dude," Jared shoots him a surprised look, "Don't think I’m not happy to see you, but didn't you want to head home after work?"

"Yeah, I did. I also wanted to work through lunch so I could get this done quickly, but it didn't really work out that way," Jensen sighs heavily, toeing off his shoes behind the door. "Also, sorry for ditching you at lunch like that."

Jared waves him off. "'s okay. You want a beer?"

"If there's some left of that microbrew you had last weekend, yes."

While Jared hurries off, barefoot and in his sweatpants, Jensen sighs again. It's one of those days where he worked his ass off and still got nowhere, and he's more than glad that it's over. And he just had to come see Jared, because now, at his place, alone, he would've lost his mind.

Jensen flops down on Jared's sofa, sinks into the soft cushions and feels like he's in heaven, especially when Jared appears beside him with two bottles of beer in his hands.

"So, you wanna tell me what happened?" Jared asks and takes a sip.

"You don't wanna know," Jensen huffs, "but uh... there was a letter this morning. From Green Publishing."

Jared frowns at the mention of their competitor. Their huge, successful, big name competitor. "Okay."

"We got a letter from their lawyer in the Mail today. You remember Rosenbaum?"

"Mike? The one with the 'Homoeroticism in Video Games' book?"

"Exactly," Jensen nods and twists the bottle around in his hands. "I recently drew up a contract for an author who's been under contract with us for years, and noticed that you used a phrase in his contract that was unfortunately also used in Mike's. I cut it, for various reasons. It wasn't a big deal, but... well, you basically said in there that Ferris & Gamble has the right to publish the author’s older works, if other publishers have put it out of print."

There's a few moments where they sit in silence, then Jared says, "Yeah, I did. I thought it was a foregone conclusion, since the author always has the original rights to his story."

"Yes, he does. But the definition of 'put out of print' is individually set for each contract. Often the author has to follow a set procedure to get his or her rights reverted, usually by terminating the contract. And that's the problem. Green stopped printing and promoting Mike's book on their website five years ago, but they claim that in their contract there's a clause that won't make them lose their rights to publish the book until 10 years after putting it out of print. That is, if the contract isn't terminated, and apparently, Mike didn't terminate the contract."

"I always thought it would terminate without further notice after two years?"

"That's our common clause, yes. However, if they had an individual clause that Mike agreed to and we published that book - which we did - then we're stuck with copyright infringement and violation of a contract."

Jared swallows heavily when Jensen looks at him from the side. “We made a hefty amount of money off that book. It's one of our most popular ones.”

“I know. And that's what I'm gonna have to tell Sam tomorrow.”

“Shit,” Jared says. “I'm sorry. I didn't-”

“I know you didn't know, Jared. It's no excuse in law, but it is in my book, okay? I'm gonna fix this. That's my job, alright?”

They wallow in silence for a while, each nursing their beer.

“Sorry for ruining your evening,” Jensen eventually says meekly.

“No, don't,” Jared sighs. “But now that you're here, you want something to eat? I've still got some leftover chicken in the fridge.”



“So, what do we do?” Sam asks the next day, rubbing her temples.

“Schedule a meeting, and try to get them to agree to a mediation and to not sue us.”

“And you think that's gonna work?”

“I'm an optimist. And a skilful negotiator. At least, I like to think so.”



Jensen's 35th birthday isn't a big deal. For him.

But when he gets called to an “important meeting” at 3 p.m., the entire staff is waiting for him in the boardroom, and there's cake and they sing him Happy Birthday. No one at his old firm would've done something remotely close to that for him, and Jensen finds himself standing in front of his co-workers and his boss, speechless.

“I'm really happy that I applied for this job, you know,” he coughs, covering the fact that he's pretty touched, and his eyes involuntarily wander to Jared. “Thanks.”

“We're lucky to have you,” Sam says simply and smiles.

One after the other, they wish him a happy birthday, with hugs and handshakes, and a good-natured punch to the shoulder from Misha. The last one to congratulate him is Jared, and he embraces Jensen tightly and with so much force that it leaves him breathless. Jensen can't help but grin.

“Happy birthday, man,” he says in a fond tone.

“Thanks,” Jensen's voice breaks unexpectedly, but he covers it yet again by burying his face in Jared's shoulder. Jared has easily become one of his best friends, if not his best friend, over the course of the last few months.

He pulls away from the taller man, then, and Jared asks, “How about we have dinner tonight? At Jim's bar & grill?”

“Yeah, I'd love to,” Jensen grins.



“Thanks for the nice evening,” Jensen says later, when they arrive at his apartment and he lets them in.

The Talisker that Jared presented him with was good, but they aren't drunk, not after delicious grilled steaks that were so good they almost made Jensen homesick. Since it's Friday, they had all the time they wanted, and ended up talking through the evening with Misha and Ty, leaving Jim's bar at last call, and taking a cab to Jensen's apartment to crash there.

Jared's arm curls around his waist, squeezes him tight. “You're welcome.”

Jensen squeezes back before he turns to stand in front of his friend, his hand slipping to rest at Jared's waist.

That's when he meets Jared's eyes, and the words he intended to say are acutely forgotten. His mouth goes dry.

Jared's eyes are hooded, and his eyelids drop to half-mast as he watches Jensen with a warm, almost affectionate smile. They are way too close to each other, Jensen realizes, but he can't find it in himself to protest or shove Jared away. His body is warm and feels nice and solid under Jensen's hands. He hasn't felt anything like this in a while. So instead of breaking the moment, he takes in the fine lines of Jared's eyes and nose, down to the soft curve of his lips, which are full and slightly parted and huffing out short puffs of air. Jensen can feel them on his cheek.

He licks his lips in a fruitless attempt to distract himself from the sudden urges spiking up in him. He's felt them building for weeks, but right now, standing so close to Jared in his dark living room, the feeling is amplified beyond anything Jensen has ever wanted.

He wants to lean in, wants to feel Jared's lips against his, wants to know what he tastes like. If it's any different from kissing a girl. Because damn, Jared's lips look kissable, and the way his heart suddenly leaps in his chest makes Jensen breathless. And Jared is his friend, and he's gay, so he won't mind, right?

Fuck it.

Jensen curls his hand around Jared's neck and pulls him down, meeting him halfway in an experimental, quick kiss. Jared takes a second to catch up with what's going on, but then he's flicking his tongue over Jensen's bottom lip and kissing him back with passion Jensen didn't expect. Their lips lock, and while they share a quiet grin between them, Jensen nips and teases at Jared's lips playfully. There's stubble scratching along Jensen's cheeks, which is completely new.

But.

Jesus, he's kissing Jared, and it's kind of amazing.

And he doesn't really know if he should be shocked or freaked out or none of the above.

Until Jared pushes himself away with a jerk, hands falling to his sides, and asks, “Why are you kissing me?”

For a moment, Jensen blinks, but the answer is obvious. “Because I wanted to.”

Jared huffs, shakes his head. “I should probably go.”

“Dude, the couch is right there,” Jensen deadpans as he points at said piece of furniture, “and it's all yours.”

And who's the one freaking out now? Not Jensen. He can deal with this, whatever it is, in the morning. But that doesn't mean that Jared needs to take another cab when they purposefully shared one so Jared could sleep over at his place.

“No, no... I should definitely go,” Jared insists and raises both hands in defense.

“If you want to, but it's really okay if you stay.”

“But I... you... this wasn't supposed to-”

Jensen grabs both of Jared's shoulders, shaking him lightly to make him snap out of his thousand-yard stare. “It's okay. We can talk about it in the morning, alright? I don't know about you, but I'm too tired for that discussion now. I just... that was a gut reaction, okay? Let's go to sleep.”

With that, Jensen pushes a blanket into Jared's hands and goes to fetch a bottle of water from the fridge. “Fine,” Jared mumbles, putting on his best puppy dog eyes. He pulls off his shirt, shucks off his jeans, and then settles on the couch.

Jensen can't help but smile at the adorable picture of Jared-the-giant curled up on his couch under Jensen's favorite fluffy blanket. “Night, Jare.”

“G'night, Jen,” Jared mumbles, and Jensen thinks he already hears him snoring when he places the bottle on the table and heads for his own bedroom.



Jared is still asleep and snoring away on the couch when Jensen goes to fetch himself a drink in the morning. The blanket is halfway down Jared's legs and mostly piled up on the floor. His hair is a wild mop of brown strands, and his hand is curled under his head. And yes, Jensen is kind of standing beside him and staring.

It's also the moment that memory hits his sleep-clouded brain.

So, he kissed Jared last night.

Well, shit.

Jensen feels his heart picking up the pace, and he flees to the kitchen. The door of the fridge squeaks when he opens it, and Jensen winces when he grabs a bottle of water. He hasn't even gotten the chance to think about how to handle the situation when he hears a groan and footfalls on the wooden floor, and then there's Jared standing in the doorway of the kitchen in his boxers, hair disheveled, with a small smile on his face.

“Mornin',” he drawls, followed by a yawn.

Jensen mumbles a good morning to him and quickly turns to avoid Jared's eyes. “You want some coffee?” he asks, busying his hands with the coffee machine.

“Yeah, that'd be great.”

Awkward silence stretches between them, making Jensen jittery. Yesterday, he was so sure that he could talk about it, but things don't seem that easy in the harsh light of day.

When Jensen pours the water into the tank, he spills a bit of it- and Jared is quickly standing right beside him, towel in his hands to wipe it up. Jensen flinches and wants to turn away, when Jared rests his hand on his elbow.

“Listen,” he says seriously. “We don't need to talk about it, ever. But if you want to, I'm here. Otherwise, I'll pretend it never happened.”

And Jensen feels just as strange as Jared sounds. That's not Jared talking there, because Jensen is sure that Jared wants to talk about the kiss; he can see it in his face when he looks up.

“Seriously?” he asks back. “That's not what you want to do, and we both know it.”

Jared startles, but eventually huffs. “You're right, but I want to give you all the time you need.”

Jensen huffs, unable to understand why Jared goes so easy on him.

“You're too understanding for your own good.”

“Probably,” Jared sighs. “I also like you a lot, so if I can help in any way, let me know.”

“Help with what?” Jensen asks, confused for a second there.

“Well, in case you're wondering if you're straight or just curious-”

Jensen jerks away abruptly in shock. “I'm not-I'm not gay!”

Jared shrugs. “If you don't identify as gay, that's okay.”

“Just because that happened, I'm not-”

“Jensen,” Jared raises his voice slightly to cut through Jensen's rambling, grabs his shoulder firmly. “It's fine. I don't want to push anything. We're good.”

“We're good?” A deep sigh drops from Jensen's lips as he leans back.

“Yeah, of course,” Jared smiles, and the smile warms Jensen more than the cup of coffee that's currently brewing in the machine beside him will.

“I don't want to pretend that that... I mean, that the kiss never happened,” Jensen blurts out. It cost him a lot of courage to act on this urge of his in the first place.

“Me neither,” Jared admits, after a moment of hesitation.

When Jensen looks up at him, his eyes are immediately drawn to the pair of lips he kissed in that bold move yesterday. Jared's lips are full and reddened, as if he nibbled and bit down on his bottom lip a bit too much. “If anything...” Jensen starts, but trails off to clear his throat. “If anything, I'd like to do it again.”

“That so?” Jared asks, and his lips slowly spread into a grin. He steps closer, cups Jensen's cheek carefully with one hand, waiting.

“Yeah,” Jensen confirms, his voice breaking at that one small word.

Then he takes the chance he's offered and presses his lips firmly to Jared's. It's slow and languid, nothing like the rushed kiss yesterday. It's not about making contact, but savoring it. Jared follows the slow drag of Jensen's lips against his, lets him set the pace, and Jensen gets to explore unhurriedly. The stubble on Jared's cheek is longer now, scratching against Jensen's skin occasionally, but he doesn't really mind - especially not when Jared sighs blissfully in response to Jensen sucking his bottom lip between his.

When it gets too much, Jensen breaks the contact to catch his breath again. “Jesus,” he says on the exhale.

Jared grins, wide and goofy. “Good?”

“U-huh,” Jensen answers, returning the grin.

“So you're okay with it?”

“I don't know, but I- I want this, I know that much,” Jensen admits.

“As in, you want this repeatedly? Because I can provide that,” Jared chases him with a mischievous smirk.

Instead of answering his question, Jensen kisses him again, less tentative and more sure of it this time. But right when they border on crossing a line, when Jensen lets his lips go slack and allows the kiss to turn open-mouthed, they both quickly pull apart.

“I need a toothbrush,” Jared grimaces. “And then we need to continue this.”

His deadpan statement makes Jensen laugh out loud. “Also breakfast,” he reminds Jared.

“Right, food.”

Jared nips at Jensen's lips one last time before heading towards the bathroom, shouting, “Scrambled eggs?”

“On it!” Jensen shouts back, the joyful grin now permanently fixed to his face.



The kissing part is easy to get used to, and Jensen is hardly complaining about it. Much the opposite, in fact. It's been a while since Joanna, and having Jared around, stealing kisses and being happy about it, like a teenager, is uplifting.

The next week at work is rather uneventful. Jensen has practically every evening free to spend how he likes, and of course he spends them with Jared - sprawled out on the couch in front of the TV, at the park with his dogs, or having dinner.

Initially, Jensen was afraid that now that the kissing happened something between them would change.

It didn't.

Out there and at work, they're still colleagues and friends, and Jared purposefully holds himself back from kissing Jensen until they're inside his house.

But holy shit, when they're inside his house, sometimes, it makes Jensen straight-out dizzy, the way Jared kisses him, and a lot of times he ends up with his cock straining hard against the zipper of his jeans. However, it would've been a surprise if he didn't, because Jared is one hell of a kisser.

Still, Jensen is kind of afraid of the next step. Not because he can't imagine how it would work or if it would work, but because he wants it so damn bad that it scares him.

He's never wanted to have sex with a man before.

With Jared, though, he wants to. Really, really bad.

He feels like a hormone-driven teenager all over again, and that should not happen to a guy in his thirties.

And for the record, Jared is a saint.

Jensen kind of wishes he wasn't.

Because Jared is clearly holding back, breaking contact with Jensen when it gets too much and Jensen can tell from the way his breath hitches how aroused he really is. He can tell from the soft moans that Jared keeps well in check, but can't suppress, when Jensen runs his tongue along the inside of his upper lip. And because Jared carefully angles his crotch away every time one of their kisses ends in a situation like this.

If they keep going like this, Jensen will die of blue balls one of these days.

Jared too, obviously.

And then there are pictures, circling around Jensen's head -

Jared's huge palm, wrapped around his cock, strokes him until he comes helplessly all over himself. Jared is on his knees before him, with Jensen's dick in his mouth and a deep groan falling from his lips, and the vibrations make Jensen crazy. Jensen doesn't want to dwell on the third thing that regularly comes to mind, too, because he's definitely scared of that: both of them on Jared's bed, limbs tangled impossibly as one of them fucks the other one into the mattress. He can't decide who would be in which place, so it changes every time his thoughts wander that way. Which is mostly during his morning shower jerk-off session.

He comes, to the image of Jared's mouth going slack as he hits his climax, more often than he likes to count.

Jensen wants Jared, in every sense of the word, and he has no idea how to tell him.



The meeting with Green is scheduled for next Thursday, and Jensen already has a bad feeling about it. Still, that's no reason to doubt his ability to turn this around.

But Jensen is nervous.

“Dude, stop fidgeting,” Jared says over dinner, the day before the meeting, when Jensen is busy either pushing around the food on his plate-delicious chicken parmesan with steamed vegetables, made by Jared himself-or twisting his fingers into the hem of his shirt.

“I can't help it.”

“You can't also help the situation. And you're good; you're gonna make the best of it. Since when are you so self-conscious?” Jared asks.

“Since I know this case is pretty damn clear and I'm out of options.”

“How are you out of options?” Jared frowns.

Jensen grunts. “The copy of the contract they sent says ten years. The profits we made from that book are so high that we seriously need to worry about reparations. They'd be stupid to not sue the crap out of us, since that's basically a gold mine. It's what any good lawyer would do.”

With a sigh, Jared puts down his fork. “Okay, I know. Once again, I'm sorry-” Jared waves off the objection Jensen already had on his tongue, “but at least try to relax, and get your mind off these things. If you don't wanna eat, I won't be angry.”

“Nah, I'm actually hungry,” Jensen shakes his head, “Just... too lost in my mind. Can't relax at the moment.”

“I'll help you with that later.”

Jared makes good on his promise. When they're finished, he pulls Jensen easily up and guides him to the couch, where they flop down together-Jared with his back in the corner, Jensen sitting between his legs with his back towards him. Jared's arms are securely wrapped around his shoulder and waist, strong and grounding. And after a quick moment of feeling unsure, of doubting if it's okay, Jensen lets himself sink into Jared's arms, enjoying the warmth and the comfort.

“I know I can't do much,” Jared adds, when he leans forward, whispering into Jensen's ear. “But I can do this.”

Tipping Jensen's chin up and to the side, Jared kisses him quickly. “For good luck.”

Jensen is pretty speechless at that, but decides that the warmth spreading in his chest is definitely something enjoyable. Instead of saying anything, he returns the kiss quickly, captures Jared's lips in his.

They kiss slowly, without urgency, for god knows how long, and Jensen loses track of time, loses himself in the touch of his friend. Only when Jared finally breaks the kiss to gasp for air and whisper his name, short and breathless and so obviously aroused, does Jensen notices that it's the same with him. He's hard from just that kiss, but it's also the sheer need to get some relief, and the desire to let him have this, that makes him breathless.

Jensen looks at Jared. He takes in his flushed cheeks and parted, full lips, and the hungry, urgent gaze with which he's watching Jensen. Another wave of arousal washes over Jensen, and Jared's fucking lips, goddamn-

Before he knows what's happening, they're kissing again. Jared's tongue slips into his mouth smoothly, curling around his own and circling the tip, and Jensen can't help but moan deeply. No one has ever kissed him this way. The women before Jared had always kind-of expected him to take the lead, because he was the man in those relationships or something.

This is so much better, though.

Because Jared... Jared is different. Jared knows and takes and makes Jensen mindless with it.

So, when Jared doesn't retreat, just breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against Jensen's temple, asking, with his lips brushing over Jensen's cheek because he's still way too close, “Jen, may I touch you?”

“Huh?” is Jensen's intelligent answer.

A shy smile appears on Jared's lips. “You know, here,” he adds in a low rumble, and he places his hand on Jensen's thigh, slowly running upwards to his crotch, and leaving Jensen plenty of time to protest or shove it away. “If you'd like that. It's just us, right?”

The thing is that Jared's big palm is right there, and despite how nervous it makes Jensen, it makes his stomach decide to do somersaults. That delicious curl and twist is both excitement and lust rolled up into a powerful cocktail of hormones. Jensen surrenders.

He grabs for Jared's neck, pulls him into a more desperate, passionate kiss this time. “Yes,” he moans against Jared's lips. “God, yes, please...”

Jared's hand presses against the bulge in Jensen's pants, cupping his erection through the thick fabric of his jeans, massaging it and getting used to the shape-and Jensen can only moan softly in response. If Jared keeps on rubbing his palm against him like that, it won't take long for him to-

“Jensen,” Jared whispers breathlessly. “Let me take care of this for you?”

It takes Jensen a moment to get what he means, with his brain hazy from arousal. The other man's lips are twisted into a playful smirk, and it basically makes Jensen melt.

“Yes,” he hisses again, right as Jared's lips nibble down the shell of his ear, making him shiver. “Finally,” Jensen utters to himself.

“You know that I'll stop immediately if you're not comfortable with it?” Jared adds then, worry and consideration in his voice.

“U-huh,” Jensen hums.

Jared raises an eyebrow, so Jensen just nods. “I'm comfortable,” he says, hoping that it would get the point across. Jensen shifts his weight so that their bodies slot smoothly together, and it's a surprisingly good fit. It's always been a shorter person in his arms, but never have any of those fit the way Jared's taller figure does.

The eyebrow sinks, and Jared's lips curl into another smile. “Still. Stop me if I'm going too far, okay?”

Jensen doesn't answer, because Jared's hand closes around the bulge once again, and he's momentarily rendered speechless. Again. A short gasp for air makes Jared smile even wider, before he gets back to work with both hands on Jensen's zipper and button. Next thing Jensen knows, his pants are down around his knees, and it's only the thin cotton of his boxer briefs separating Jared's hand from his cock.

Watching him carefully, Jared cups him through the underwear and applies pressure to his dick with long, skilled fingers, and Jensen sighs at the contact. Feels good, go on, is everything his brain can supply to the situation.

Jared is careful with his touches, and Jensen appreciates that, but the kiss from earlier left him pretty damn desperate. So he pushes his hips into Jared's hand, a demanding, slow roll of his pelvis. Jared's gaze wavers for a moment from Jensen's face down to his cock, and he raises a questioning eyebrow as he places both hands on Jensen's hips and slips his thumbs underneath the waistband. Jensen nods his silent consent, and the next second, he's met with cold air on his bare cock.

Jared, general tease that he is, pauses to appreciate the view. Jensen can clearly make out the movement of his Adam's apple bopping up and down before his palm is wrapped around Jensen's dick once again, this time without anything separating skin from skin. Closing his eyes quickly, Jensen leans back against Jared, so he doesn't have to look at him. It's too real, this-everything. No time to think about it.

A moan escapes Jensen's lips as Jared slowly works his hand up and down the shaft, teasing at the tip, with just the right amount of pressure and angle.

“Feels good?” Jared whispers from above him, his voice a deep growl.

“God, yes,” he moans in response.

He can safely say that he hasn't gotten a handjob like this in years. Jared is attentive and still watches him carefully, obviously takes note of every moan and sigh from Jensen. The strokes quickly become faster and more frantic, and Jensen feels how one wave of arousal after another washes over him, and takes him to the edge in no time. He finds himself moaning once more, but this time, it's Jared's name on his lips.

“I'm about to-” he warns, eyes flying open despite his struggle.

“Yeah, c'mon,” Jared drawls deeply, his warm Texan slang making Jensen's toes curl. He pushes Jensen's shirt up with his other hand. On Jensen's cock, his hand adds a twist on the upstroke, right across the head, and that's it.

Jensen's orgasm hits-not unexpected, but with unexpected force-and punches the air right out of his lungs as his body convulses and he groans out deeply, with his head thrown back against Jared's shoulder. He feels his come hitting his stomach, hot spurts and warm drops running down to his belly button. Jared chuckles huskily and lifts his hand to show it to Jensen. It's covered in Jensen's semen, and Jared grins when he licks over his thumb.

And subsequently scrunches up his nose.

Somewhere in the haze that Jensen's still in, he fears that it will be awkward between them afterwards. But, as it turns out, Jared's sour expression makes them both burst into laughter and every possible awkwardness is gone.

“Not really a fan of that,” Jared admits as he reaches for some tissues lying on the couch table.

“I thought that was, like, a requirement for the gay scene or something,” Jensen muses, still basking in the afterglow.

“You're confusing porn with reality. Ever tried your own come?” Jared shoots back, and pauses with his hand on a tissue.

Jensen shifts uncomfortably, having a “Who hasn't?” already on the tip of his tongue when suddenly there's Jared's come-covered hand in front of his face, the prompt clear in Jared's expression.

So instead of saying anything, Jensen lifts his head and licks a small stripe along Jared's index finger. The taste is bitter and slimy on his tongue, and he, too, scrunches up his face. “Hasn't gotten better over the years,” he admits with a wink.

Jared's bubbling laughter is worth it, though, and Jensen chuckles along while grabbing for a tissue himself and cleaning up his stomach. With a smile on his face, Jared wipes the jizz off his hand.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Jensen tucks himself back into his boxer briefs and pants, and watches Jared. “Uhm, should I-” he vaguely waves at Jared's crotch. You know, return the favor.

“Do you want to?”

“I... yes,” Jensen clears his throat, then turns around to kiss Jared. Surprisingly, he doesn't feel unsure about this. It's Jared, after all. And Jared had his dick in his hand just a minute ago. Actually, he can still taste a bit of himself on Jared's lips when he kisses him, which is all kinds of hot.

And when Jared moans, Jensen takes it as encouragement to lay him out flat on the couch and work his pants open. All the while, Jared watches him with his bottom lip between his teeth. As soon as Jensen has his boxers down, he takes a moment to look. Jared is definitely bigger than him, but that's to be expected, and he’s neatly cut like a good Texas boy. Not dwelling further on the thought, Jensen wraps his hand around Jared's dick, and Jared arches his back and groans.

“Good?” Jensen returns Jared's question from before.

Wordlessly, Jared nods, his eyes burning bright.

His cock is thick and heavy in Jensen's hand, and although Jensen only has experience with his own dick so far, there's not much of a difference, except for the angle. He notices that Jared loves it when he lightly strokes only the tip, and loves it even more when he places his thumb at the frenulum, and stimulates the tip just with his index finger.

“Tease,” Jared complains.

“You like it,” Jensen grins and chuckles when Jared just groans frustrated.

All told, it's not nearly the huge step that Jensen thought it would be. Sure, he hasn't seen Jared naked-or half-naked, in this case-before, and he hasn't ever jerked off a guy, but the equipment is familiar. And the rest is just like it was with every other new partner he's ever had sex with - explore and try and see what the other one likes.

When Jared moans out, “Yeah, just like that, just... faster,” and Jensen does as he's told, Jared doesn't last any longer. He locks eyes with Jensen, grins, and then the feeling of Jared's cock in his hand, twitching with his orgasm, makes Jensen stare in wonder. Because Jared is beautiful like this, throwing his head against the armrest with a grunt and arching his back slightly, as every muscle in his body goes taut.



Jensen genuinely hates Green's lawyer on first sight. He's way too smug and self-confident. Okay, so he's also, objectively speaking, pretty hot and he obviously knows it.

“Welling,” the other man introduces himself and holds out his hand for Jensen to shake. Jensen knows a bigheaded corporate lawyer when he sees one. He's been one himself long enough.

“Ackles,” Jensen returns with a firm handshake and a cold smile that says 'don't fuck with me'.

Welling, in return, checks him out blatantly; his deep blue eyes traveling unashamed over Jensen's body. Jensen lifts his eyebrow in disbelief.

Then again, it could be a plan to make him uncomfortable and make him nervous, so Jensen steels his nerves and asks, “Is there a problem, Mr. Welling?”

“Not at all,” Welling answers, eyes finally locking with Jensen's.

Welling watches him warily, but then turns around to sit down at the conference table without another word. The tension in the room is almost palpable. It makes Jensen's blood boil, but he wills himself to take a deep breath, and closes his eyes to refocus. Jared's kiss is what he thinks of, and the memory causes Jensen to smile.

He's gonna make it.

When he opens his eyes, Jared is sitting down beside him, smiling encouragingly. Across the table, Welling's eyes go squinty, and Jared shoots him a triumphant smirk.



Afterwards, they get their cup of coffee in silence and take it up to the roof top garden.

If Jensen leans against Jared, and chases the warmth he radiates under the crisp spring sun, then that's just how it is.

“Don't feel like this is your fault, because it isn't. You've basically wiped the floor with him and he didn't budge. I don't get it.”

Jensen huffs. “You don't blame yourself, either,” he says.

With a loud sigh, Jared shakes his head, and obviously forces himself to smile. "Nah. You wanna have dinner tonight if I'm cooking?"

"Yeah. But first, I gotta get through a debrief with Sam.”

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