Paid in Full - Part 3
A few Saturdays later they’re playing basketball at the park again, Jared and Jensen playing horse until the rest of the guys show up.
Conversation is flowing nicely, Jared bitching about work again when Rick jogs onto the court. He’s got red hair and he’s super smart and nice, the kind of guy Jensen could see being friends with for awhile.
“Dudes.” He says breathlessly, like he ran all the way from his car. “Fair warning. Nick took Craig’s little sister out on a date last week and I’m pretty sure he took her V-card.”
Jensen’s eyebrows shoot up and he hisses through his teeth, looks over at Jared with an oh-shit glance.
“Uh oh.” Jared says. “Does Craig know?”
“I think so.” Rick nods to parking lot where Craig and Nick are talking loudly, shouting almost. Enough to make a scene for mom’s with strollers passing by. “And I’m thinking we ought to go break it up.”
Aaron’s already trying to separate the two, spreading his arms out and pushing them apart.
“I can’t believe you did that to my little sister! What the fuck, man!”
“She’s twenty years old! She can make her own damn decisions!”
“Doesn’t matter! It’s a fucking bro code that you don’t do that! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me? What the fuck’s wrong with you? You ever think about the fact that I might actually like her?”
“Might!? You fucking moron!”
And that’s when Craig twists out of Aaron’s hold and lunges at Nick, fists flying and Jared runs to get in the middle and break it up. And also catches an elbow right in the nose.
“Oh Jesus. Is that blood? Holy shit, blood makes me puke!”
It’s not until then Jensen notices a steady flow of red streaming heavily from Jared’s nostrils, running down his lips and chin.
“Ow.” Jared winces and cups his bruised face, touching delicately along the bridge of nose. “Dude, not cool.”
Craig and Nick quickly stop fighting now that someone’s actually hurt, but are still shooting death glares at each other. Jensen takes off his shirt and presses it to Jared’s mouth to catch the blood.
“I’m taking him home.” Jensen says, steering Jared away. “You guys cool or is someone gonna end up calling the cops?”
The guys grumble, eyes on the sidewalk and Jensen doesn’t have a doubt that they feel bad their friend got hurt.
“We’ll catch you later then. Jared, come on. You okay to walk?”
Jared just nods and they start across the field. If they cut through the grass it’ll only take a few minutes to get home.
“You think it’s broken?” Jensen asks softly after they’re a few feet away.
“I don’t think so. Hurts like a bitch though.”
A loud whistle takes Jensen’s focus away from Jared and he looks across the field only to spot a group of girls pointing and smiling at him.
“You’re hot!” One of them yells with another catcall whistle right after. Then, “Lookin’ good, baby!”
“Oh my god that’s so embarrassing.” Jensen groans and tries to hurry Jared up.
Jared struggles to laugh but every time he does, he winces hard. “I would make fun of you so much right now if I wasn’t in pain.”
“Wanna play, hot stuff?” Another girl yells and now Jensen sees a volleyball being tossed among them.
“This is why I’m gay.” Jensen explains. “Girls are aggressive and scary.”
“But they think you’re hot. At least you’re not bleeding all over yourself right now.”
Jensen pats Jared on the shoulder and leaves his hand there until they reach their building. Five minutes later Jared drops onto Jensen’s couch and leans back carefully, his head propped up on pillows and Jensen’s shirt still held to his nose. Jensen leaves him there while he goes to the kitchen and grabs a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and some towels with some warm water and tissues.
“Okay, you’re gonna have to let me see.” Jensen pulls up the coffee table and sits down right besides Jared’s head. He feels weird without his shirt on, probably because the guy on his couch is built like a gigantor and while Jensen is proud of his body, his chest isn’t as defined as Jared’s. Although, the chicks at the park might not mind and that lifts his self esteem right up.
Jared still has his eyes closed and it doesn’t seem like the amount of pain is too bad, but he still flinches as the blood soaked t-shirt is lifted away.
“That was my favorite one.” Jensen says smiling, tossing the ruined material to the side. “Now it looks like road kill.”
“Sucks so bad for you,” Jared groans and Jensen can see bruising starting to form under his eyes.
“You sure you don’t want to go to the doctor?” Jensen asks, smoothing the hair from Jared’s forehead and wiping his nose carefully with the damp towel. He keeps stroking his hair until Jensen realizes what he’s doing and pulls away.
“I’m not some pansy.”
Jensen grabs the tissue, twisting it before gently shoving it up Jared’s nostril. “Never said you were. Here, hold onto these peas and the swelling should go down. We’ll see how you are in an hour.”
“Is it cool if I chill here for awhile? Feels like I’m gonna fall asleep.” Jared admits quietly, gets more comfortable and sighs, overcome with mixture of shock and a throbbing face. “Want me to go to my place?”
Jensen can’t help it. His fingers find their way back to Jared’s hair, carding through his bangs, slow and soothing. “Nah, man. Just sleep. I got ya.”
“Mmm. Thanks, Jen.” He turns his head towards Jensen, gives a little smile and blinks slowly, staring for awhile before his eyes drop.
It won’t be the first time Jared falls asleep at Jensen’s place.
Jared gets made fun of profusely at work the next day with a big bandage over his nose and tells Jensen all about it over some pork chops late that night after he'd had a long day of meeting with clients.
“So I told ‘em all I was in a fight, you know, trying to be the good guy and break it up and then all the girls were like, oh my god Jared you are soooo sweet and such a cool guy and practically a super hero--”
“Uh.” Jensen interrupts. “I doubt that’s what they said.”
“Well pretty much. I know it’s what they were thinkin’ anyway.”
Jensen takes a big bite of mashed potatoes and starts thinking about the hot girls at Jared’s office who probably throw themselves at him all the time.
“Why don’t you go out with one of ‘em?”
Jared stops eating, which doesn’t happen too often, totally confused. “One of who?”
“One of the girls from work. They seem interested enough in your big dumb hairy ass.”
“Woah. My ass is not hairy. And besides, I’m not about to dip my pen in company ink. Not gonna screw up something I’ve worked so hard for.”
“Your pen, huh?” Jensen lips twitch, trying not to say something really dirty. Apparently, Jared has a mind just as pornographic.
Jared gets this evil little smile as he picks up his beer, says slowly, “Yep. My ten inch pen. And that’s on a bad day,” before he takes a sip.
Jensen nearly chokes, has to cover his mouth with his napkin before he sprays food all over the table. Jesus fucking Christ, Jared is going to kill him. Jensen immediately gets hard under the table and knows it’ll take a few minutes before he’ll be able to get up without sporting a tent in his pants.
And Jared just laughs and laughs, eats up Jensen’s discomfort all he can. “You wanna hear more about my pen, Jensen?”
“No!” Jensen almost shouts. “You’re such a freak!”
“Missin’ out then.” Jared teases and shovels more food in his mouth. “Just sayin’.”
Jensen can just shake his head in amusement and keep quiet.
They call it a night since both of them have to get up early and Jared might actually get to do some accounting tomorrow. It’s become a ritual that around eleven, right before Jensen falls into deep sleep, there comes a light pound on the shared wall and Jensen does a double thud back. Sometimes Jensen does the first knock and Jared will do the second, and it’s an odd feeling, knowing Jared is sleeping right on the other side of the wall, so close but so far away at the same time.
Around two in the morning Jensen snaps awake at the sound of his cell phone. Who the hell could be texting him now?
Jared: The guy on the other side of me
Jared: Alarm going off. It’s so loud.
Jared: Ten fucking minutes now. Help me
Jensen groans, rubs his hands up and down his face to try and comprehend what the hell is happening. He finally texts back.
Jensen: Just come over. Use your key. Not getting up.
He falls back to sleep in the minute it takes Jared to come over until he hears the front door open and close, and Jared must go for the couch because Jensen doesn’t hear another peep. He can’t stop thinking about that long ass body of his trying to sleep for another few hours comfortably. An hour or two might be okay, but Jensen knows the sofa isn’t that great.
“Jared!” He calls out, hoarse from a rough throat.
“What?”
“Just come up here, man. I ain’t gonna bite your skinny ass.”
There’s silence and then movements on the stairs. Jared’s dark figure appears at the bedroom doorway.
“Huh?” Jared sounds small and sleepy, and he’s scratching his bare chest, pajama pants hanging off his hips, a little too short at the ankles.
Jensen yawns and scoots over to one side of the bed. “Wanna prove how anti - un - homophobic you are?”
“Yes, yes, yes, so fucking tired.” Jared crawls into bed without a second thought and settles quickly. After a minute, “Alarm set?”
“Yeah, set for six thirty.”
Jared answers with a snore. If Jensen weren’t so tired he’d watched him just for a few minutes, knowing that this is a rare chance, but it’s too soon that sleep overcomes him as well.
The next morning should be awkward but it isn’t. Jared just rolls out of bed, thanks Jensen for letting him crash and shuffles out the door. Jensen spends a few minutes thinking about the fact that his crush was just in his bed. It was nice to sleep with someone again, to have that closeness, even if it didn’t mean anything at all.
Jensen knows he isn’t supposed to think like that anymore, to want something he’s so afraid of. And deep down, he’s a little disappointed in himself for forgetting, even just for a second, that missing someone can only lead to bad things.
It’s a damn good thing Jared is safe.
A few days later Jensen is relaxing, sated from a good meal and is tired from a long week. He hasn’t seen Jared in awhile and thinks maybe he can sneak in some quality time with his TiVo.
He’s really getting into his show, totally caught up in the drama and can’t look away, even ignores his phone when it rings in favor of the train wreck in front of him.
Then Jared bursts through his front door.
“Jesus, don’t you knock?” Jensen scrambles to find the remote and turn the channel. He’s not as smooth as he probably could’ve been and that just comes across suspicious.
“Sometimes,” Jared says. “But not when I’m about to go on a wing run and I’ll know you’ll want some of mine if I don’t get extra.”
“I’m good, man. Already ate.”
“Already ate?” Jared frowns, looks a little hurt that he wasn’t included, but hot damn Jensen can’t plan his entire night around inviting Jared for dinner. Even though now that he thinks about it, maybe they’ve been eating more dinners together than he does alone.
“Yeah, was starving when I got home.”
“Oh.” Jared’s shoulders kind of slump, but then his mouth is doing the twitchy thing it does when he’s trying not to smile. “Jen… what were you watching?”
“Nothing.” Jensen says way too fast. Fuck, he’s so caught.
“Yeah?” Jared circles the couch slow and then dives for the remote. “So you won’t mind if recall?”
Jensen makes a not so masculine noise and tries to wrestle Jared but when he hears the theme song for Housewives of Beverly Hills, he knows it’s over.
“Oh no. No. No. No. No.” Jared laughs as he turns the volume up. “Jensen you should be so embarrassed with yourself right now!”
“God, shut up!” Jensen moans and launches himself to get the remote. He ends up practically in Jared’s lap, squirming to get at it and Jared eventually shoves him to the floor, still laughing his stupid ass off.
“I’ll leave you to your precious show, princess. I’m sure you don’t wanna miss one second of that kid’s pink birthday party.”
Jensen just glares and holds up his middle finger.
“Hey, check out the rack on her.” And now Jared’s watching the screen with this glazed, dumb look on his face.
“Mmm hmm. Just wait till they get to the pool.” Jensen says. “Sometimes the twins almost pop out.”
“Nice.” Jared watches for a few more minutes, until a commercial comes on. He looks guilty when Jensen sits back with a smirk.
“Let me guess. You wanna stay and watch the rest.”
“It’s good for me to keep up on these kinda things. I mean, I work in an office filled with females who watch this shit and I need to be able to converse about it. Really, it’s for my career, Jensen.” Jared plops himself down on the couch and kicks his feet up.
“Jared?” Jensen says. “Do you hear yourself sometimes?”
“Hear what?”
“The complete bullshit that comes out of your mouth.”
That offends Jared. “Is bullshit the same thing as awesome?”
Jensen just shakes his head and turns up the volume once the show comes back on. “No, it’s not. You should be a fucking lawyer with your crazy ass logic.”
“I woulda made a kick ass lawyer.” Jared sighs. “Too bad I’m not as smart as you.”
“You’re plenty smart, Jared. More than you give yourself credit for.”
Nothing much is said after that. They both make fun of the show and laugh, but Jared is quieter than normal and something just seems off. Maybe they’re spending too much time together. Or maybe Jensen’s working too much and Jared finally realizes that Jensen isn’t great friend material. Maybe Jared wants to pull away and just doesn’t know how. But then why would he come over all the time, seeking out Jensen’s company?
Still, the thought of losing Jared’s friendship hits Jensen low in the gut. He’s getting too attached and this feeling is unwelcomed, unfamiliar and Jensen hates that he let himself get this close. Jared’s personality is addicting though and Jensen admits that he’s becoming a victim to his charm.
It’s a good that Jared is straight or Jensen would be in way over his head.
Jensen’s at work, going over some legal briefs, when Jared texts him. It’s been a long day, clients bitching and whining about not getting what they want in settlements, and his other partner lost a huge case - one Jensen had helped him with and now they're trying to figure out what went wrong. In the mean time, Jensen is trying not to lose his shit. Maybe it’s time for a vacation.
Jared: Gym after work today?
Jensen: It’s gonna be a late one
Jared: You work too hard. What time is late?
Jensen: At least after 7
Jared: :(
Jensen: I have to get this shit done.
Jared: Want me to bring you a sandwich or something?
Jensen smiles at his phone. It’s just what he needed to get out of his funk. Someone’s finally offering him some help instead of demanding everything from him today.
Jensen to Jared: It’s cool, thanks though. Be home later
Jared to Jensen: K, c ya
Jensen works faster and actually ends up making home at a decent hour. He and Jared go to the gym together and after a good run on the treadmill, his friend gabbing the whole time at his side, the day’s crappiness lifts from Jensen’s shoulders, along with the tension and stress that had been building since the morning.
Jensen has known Jared for a little more than a year before “the night that shall never be mentioned” happens.
Alcohol is involved. Specifically tequila, and Jensen drinks way too much of it. Also, crazy amounts of beer.
“The night that shall never be mentioned” happens on a Friday. It had been a bitch of a week and Jensen has nothing planned for his weekend except some serious relaxing and maybe some laundry, but chores can easily wait until Sunday afternoon.
Jared’s kind of in a sour mood and it’s not until Jensen turns up the radio and puts his kiss the cook apron on before Jared finally starts to loosen up and joke around. Rick arrives a little after the grill gets fired up, along with Aaron and Craig. Nick knocks on the door a few minutes after, a six pack under his arm as a peace offering for making Jared’s nose bleed a few weeks ago.
It’s still slightly awkward between Nick and Craig but now Nick is actually seriously dating Craig’s sister so it must have been smoothed out a little. Either way, Jensen’s not about to bring it up.
The game is on and the guys make themselves comfortable in Jensen’s living room, commenting on how nice it is to be sitting on actual furniture, a nice little stab to Jared about his place.
“Hey, I like sitting on the floor.” Jared says and if he’s insulted, no one can tell. He stretches, like usual, spreading his long legs out. “It’s the only I place I fit.”
With a plate full of food and a beer, Jensen steps over Jared’s legs to make his way to the recliner Jared’s leaning against. He immediately loses interest in the TV for Jensen’s French fries.
“Ever think about getting your own?”
“No.” Jared smiles with a mouthful. “This is way better.”
Jensen sneaks a glance to the guys on the couch and fortunately their eyes are glued to the set. In fact, they don’t even seem surprised that Jared’s practically in Jensen’s lap, eating from his plate, smiling like it’s the best thing ever.
And then Jensen gets it. And he feels like an asshole for not figuring it out sooner. What an idiot he’s been. Jared’s like this with everyone, not just him.
Jared’s all feely, and grabby, and funny and perfect and all this time Jensen kind of thought it was for him. But nope, it’s just the way Jared is.
And Jensen’s a fucking idiot.
The guys don’t give a weird look or raise their eyebrows, even when Jared puts his head on Jensen’s knee for a half a second like it’s a damn pillow and the realization just sucks.
But it really does make sense. Jensen has to keep reminding himself that Jared’s straight and this just puts all perspectives right into place. It’s the reality check that he needed now for awhile.
So after that little tidbit of insight and after observing Jared be just as touchy with his other friends as he is with Jensen. Well, it’s then that the tequila rears its ugly head.
The guys hoot and holler at the basketball game all the way to the end. They eat practically everything in the fridge and drink all the beer Jensen had, even the extra few bottles hidden on the bottom shelf. The night goes by super fast and Jared’s way more sober than Jensen would like him to be. Jensen can get really chatty if he’s been drinking and is terrified of what he’ll say tonight, even as he downs a fourth shot.
They all agree to meet at the park early Sunday morning for a b-ball game as Rick, Aaron, Craig, and Nick leave and Jensen notices how instantly quieter it is now. He gives Nick a friendly slap on the back before the door shuts and the guy proved himself tonight to not be the total douche Jensen thought he was. Maybe Craig’s sister is keeping him in line.
As Jensen surveys the mess in his house with the walls slightly spinning, he watches Jared move from the floor to the now vacant couch and yawn loudly. Jensen better sit down too before he falls down. His knee brushes against Jared’s as he sprawls out, arms and legs feeling loose and heavy.
More shots are an order. There’re three more before Jensen starts a full blown drunken ramble and he’s pretty sure that all he’ll remember in the morning is Jared’s amused expression.
But for now he’s decided to bring up Noah and for what reason exactly, Jensen will never figure out. Maybe because it’s Noah’s birthday next week and Jensen used to make it such an ordeal, a production that was fun and exciting, a time he doesn’t think Noah ever really appreciated.
“And he was perfect, you know? Like not really perfect, but good enough for me to be with for awhile. And okay, so we didn’t get along that great in the end but it was still nice.”
“What was nice?” Jared asks.
“Huh?”
“What was nice, Jen?” And if Jensen didn’t know any better, he’d swear Jared was egging him on.
“I don’t know. It was nice coming home to someone in the house n’shit. Because we lived together. So he was there, too, where we lived. Together. And having dinner with someone who at least pretended to care because Noah told me plenty of times I was boring as fuck and I think he just put up with me talking about work ‘cause he wanted to get laid. Eventually I quit talking so much. It was depressing anyway. And so yeah, it was nice. Know what I mean?”
“Not really. You kinda just said depressing and nice in the same sentence. Maybe you should be more specific.”
“H-uh?” Jensen has the hiccups now and sucks in a sharp breath every two seconds.
“Tell me what else you liked.”
“About w-hat?”
“About being in a relationship.”
“Um-m.” Jensen tries to think but his head is so fucking foggy. “I dunno. Like sleeping with someone. Not like, sex but having someone to fall asleep with. That was awesome. And holding hands, ‘specially during a movie. And just layin’ with someone on the couch I guess.”
“Like cuddling?”
Jensen waits for Jared to laugh, but he doesn’t.
“Hmm? Oh yeah. I guess.”
This time Jared does snicker. “That’s a little girly.”
“Well last time I checked I didn’t have a vagina.”
“Did you check lately? Because I’m pretty sure everything you just said might’ve broadcasted directly from your ovaries.”
“Fuck you.” Jensen says. Slurs. Same thing. “Maybe I’m in touch with my emotions, Mr. Macho-man-jackass.”
“Maybe it’s that time of the month.”
“Maybe your face wants to say hi to my fist.”
“Maybe you need a boyfriend. You’re getting a little testy.”
“Maybe… whatever. Maybe I do.” Jensen yawns loudly and closes his eyes. “Too tired to fight.”
“Maybe you should get some sleep.” Jared burrows himself more into the couch pillows. “Maybe I should go.”
“Maybe.” Jensen says softly, unsure and then in barely a whisper, “Maybe I’m just a little lonely.”
“You don’t have to be lonely anymore, Jen.”
Jensen had thought Jared was asleep, but he was wrong. “I’m damaged, Jay. No one’s gonna want a guy who’s scared of commitment.”
“How can you be lonely and scared of being with someone at the same time? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“What I want and what I can’t do are two very different things.”
Jared yawns again and looks at him with tired eyes. He’s gorgeous like this, guard down, relaxed and going along with stupid drunken conversation. The fact that he hasn’t run home yet means a lot more than it probably should. “What do you want? C’mon, describe the perfect guy according to you.”
Jensen can feel the alcohol in his veins, strong and spiking his adrenaline to take a chance. He slides his foot over Jared’s so their toes are rubbing together. “He’d have to be nice, of course. And be able to put up with me. And funny, he’d have to be really funny. I like a guy with big feet, even bigger hands,” Jensen glances down, speaking softly, reaching to play with Jared’s fingers, sliding up and down each one slowly and then tickling his palm. “Long legs, thick calves, golden tan skin,” Jensen stops to brush the back of his knuckles up Jared’s arm, cup his elbow and continue to his shoulder, hand slipping under the sleeve of his t-shirt.
Jared’s voice is thick, rough and his breathing is shallow. “What else?”
“Narrow hips are a big turn on.” Jensen says, other hand inching its way around Jared’s waist. “Flat stomach, good chest, nice neck for me to suck on,” After every mentioned part, Jensen’s hands somehow find their way to the same place on Jared’s body. “I love giving hickies, did’y know that, Jay? I like kissing on the mouth too, gotta have lips made for kissing. Dimples don’t hurt either.” Jensen’s face is so close to Jared’s now, his nose tickles down the length of Jared’s temple.
“I like crazy colored eyes, blues and greens. Nice hair, long enough so I can get a good grip when we’re fuckin’ nice n’slow.” His fingers lock around Jared’s curls and tug forward, hard enough for their foreheads bump together.
Jared snaps out of his daze and rubs his head, cringing. “Smooth, Jensen. Geez.”
Jensen gaps at his own stupidity, immediately sobering up some. Did that just really happen? He prays for the couch to open up and swallow him, anything to get him away from this night that’s gone horribly wrong. “Sorry, don’t know what the hell got into me.”
“I do, too much damn tequila. No more for you.”
“I didn’t mean to like… touch you. Or whatever. And fuck you, I need one more shot.” Jensen grabs the bottle of whatever is closest to him and tips his head back, sputtering when it’s too much and almost choking.
“You’re a hot mess.” Jared says sadly, then instantly more brightly, “I’ll be sure to remind you of everything tomorrow so you can die of shame!”
“I hate you.”
“You’ll hate me even more if I don’t take this away from you right now.”
Jensen remembers pouting and falling asleep on the floor.
Which is exactly where he wakes up the next morning, completely embarrassed and a few hours later when Jared comes over, Jensen threatens to end him if he ever mentions that night again.
Jared laughs it up and swears, crosses his heart and forgives Jensen for molesting him.
Jensen figures he lost a little of his dignity, but at least it was only in front of Jared and not the rest of the guys.
Still. What he said and did last night never fucking happened. And when Jared mentions that he’s pretty sure Jensen described him as the perfect guy, Jensen denies it until he’s blue in the face, trying to convince Jared he was talking about someone else.
Jared must take pity on him and finally accepts the lame lie only to shut Jensen up. They wallow in their hangovers until late that evening, Jared making cracks about tan skin and awesome calves, all the while showing off his legs and lifting his shirt up to expose the flattest belly Jensen’s ever seen. He kicks Jared out soon after so he can go whack off in peace, swearing he can still hear Jared’s teasing laughter next door.
Jared’s grouchy mood has been growing considerably over the last couple weeks. At first Jensen thought that maybe Jared was just dealing with the transition from school to a job, but that was a few months ago. And now Jared’s been working at the office for awhile, and yeah, Jared was pissy that he wasn’t really doing anything at work but now he’s down right being a bitch.
And Jensen can’t figure out why. It’s frustrating as all hell. Plus Jared’s been disappearing right around dinner time at night and they haven’t seen much of each other for at least a few days.
“Hey you wanna go with me to get some wings? It’s Tuesday. Wings half off man, your favorite.”
Jared’s eyes are glued to the floor as he shakes his head, almost like he’s embarrassed. “Nah, that’s cool.”
“You sure? My treat.” Jensen throws the last of his socks in the washer and starts the machine. He never did get around to doing his laundry last weekend.
“I think I’m just gonna pound the pavement for awhile. I’ll check you later.” With that, Jared leaves with a soft click of the front door behind him.
Jensen stares at it for awhile, listens as Jared goes into his own house; lies about going for a run. Why’d he come over anyway? He was here for five minutes, all sad and sulky, didn’t want to get dinner and then leaves.
There’s not much to do about it. Jensen can’t go over there and demand that Jared tell him what’s wrong. So the only thing that really can be done is to go get some wings and text Jared to get his ass back over here and stop being such a grouchy ass.
Jensen does just that. He gets about as many buckets of wings he thinks he can get away with without the chick behind the counter rolling her eyes. He’s home within a few minutes and knocks on Jared’s door, struggles to not drop a few pounds of barbeque all over the ground.
Jensen knocks again, waits and then yells out, “Jared! Where you at? I can’t eat these all by myself! I’m not you.” He waits another few seconds before kicking the door and going to his place. Maybe Jared ended up going for a run after all.
Munching on a celery stick, Jensen puts his wet clothes in the dryer and then flips his phone open.
Jensen: I got wings. Come n’get ‘em
After a few minutes there’s still no response and now Jensen’s just a little irritated.
Jensen: More for me. See you tomorrow
The wings don’t taste nearly as good as they do when there are dirty napkins all over the table and Jared’s up to his elbows in sauce.
Part 4
Conversation is flowing nicely, Jared bitching about work again when Rick jogs onto the court. He’s got red hair and he’s super smart and nice, the kind of guy Jensen could see being friends with for awhile.
“Dudes.” He says breathlessly, like he ran all the way from his car. “Fair warning. Nick took Craig’s little sister out on a date last week and I’m pretty sure he took her V-card.”
Jensen’s eyebrows shoot up and he hisses through his teeth, looks over at Jared with an oh-shit glance.
“Uh oh.” Jared says. “Does Craig know?”
“I think so.” Rick nods to parking lot where Craig and Nick are talking loudly, shouting almost. Enough to make a scene for mom’s with strollers passing by. “And I’m thinking we ought to go break it up.”
Aaron’s already trying to separate the two, spreading his arms out and pushing them apart.
“I can’t believe you did that to my little sister! What the fuck, man!”
“She’s twenty years old! She can make her own damn decisions!”
“Doesn’t matter! It’s a fucking bro code that you don’t do that! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me? What the fuck’s wrong with you? You ever think about the fact that I might actually like her?”
“Might!? You fucking moron!”
And that’s when Craig twists out of Aaron’s hold and lunges at Nick, fists flying and Jared runs to get in the middle and break it up. And also catches an elbow right in the nose.
“Oh Jesus. Is that blood? Holy shit, blood makes me puke!”
It’s not until then Jensen notices a steady flow of red streaming heavily from Jared’s nostrils, running down his lips and chin.
“Ow.” Jared winces and cups his bruised face, touching delicately along the bridge of nose. “Dude, not cool.”
Craig and Nick quickly stop fighting now that someone’s actually hurt, but are still shooting death glares at each other. Jensen takes off his shirt and presses it to Jared’s mouth to catch the blood.
“I’m taking him home.” Jensen says, steering Jared away. “You guys cool or is someone gonna end up calling the cops?”
The guys grumble, eyes on the sidewalk and Jensen doesn’t have a doubt that they feel bad their friend got hurt.
“We’ll catch you later then. Jared, come on. You okay to walk?”
Jared just nods and they start across the field. If they cut through the grass it’ll only take a few minutes to get home.
“You think it’s broken?” Jensen asks softly after they’re a few feet away.
“I don’t think so. Hurts like a bitch though.”
A loud whistle takes Jensen’s focus away from Jared and he looks across the field only to spot a group of girls pointing and smiling at him.
“You’re hot!” One of them yells with another catcall whistle right after. Then, “Lookin’ good, baby!”
“Oh my god that’s so embarrassing.” Jensen groans and tries to hurry Jared up.
Jared struggles to laugh but every time he does, he winces hard. “I would make fun of you so much right now if I wasn’t in pain.”
“Wanna play, hot stuff?” Another girl yells and now Jensen sees a volleyball being tossed among them.
“This is why I’m gay.” Jensen explains. “Girls are aggressive and scary.”
“But they think you’re hot. At least you’re not bleeding all over yourself right now.”
Jensen pats Jared on the shoulder and leaves his hand there until they reach their building. Five minutes later Jared drops onto Jensen’s couch and leans back carefully, his head propped up on pillows and Jensen’s shirt still held to his nose. Jensen leaves him there while he goes to the kitchen and grabs a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and some towels with some warm water and tissues.
“Okay, you’re gonna have to let me see.” Jensen pulls up the coffee table and sits down right besides Jared’s head. He feels weird without his shirt on, probably because the guy on his couch is built like a gigantor and while Jensen is proud of his body, his chest isn’t as defined as Jared’s. Although, the chicks at the park might not mind and that lifts his self esteem right up.
Jared still has his eyes closed and it doesn’t seem like the amount of pain is too bad, but he still flinches as the blood soaked t-shirt is lifted away.
“That was my favorite one.” Jensen says smiling, tossing the ruined material to the side. “Now it looks like road kill.”
“Sucks so bad for you,” Jared groans and Jensen can see bruising starting to form under his eyes.
“You sure you don’t want to go to the doctor?” Jensen asks, smoothing the hair from Jared’s forehead and wiping his nose carefully with the damp towel. He keeps stroking his hair until Jensen realizes what he’s doing and pulls away.
“I’m not some pansy.”
Jensen grabs the tissue, twisting it before gently shoving it up Jared’s nostril. “Never said you were. Here, hold onto these peas and the swelling should go down. We’ll see how you are in an hour.”
“Is it cool if I chill here for awhile? Feels like I’m gonna fall asleep.” Jared admits quietly, gets more comfortable and sighs, overcome with mixture of shock and a throbbing face. “Want me to go to my place?”
Jensen can’t help it. His fingers find their way back to Jared’s hair, carding through his bangs, slow and soothing. “Nah, man. Just sleep. I got ya.”
“Mmm. Thanks, Jen.” He turns his head towards Jensen, gives a little smile and blinks slowly, staring for awhile before his eyes drop.
It won’t be the first time Jared falls asleep at Jensen’s place.
Jared gets made fun of profusely at work the next day with a big bandage over his nose and tells Jensen all about it over some pork chops late that night after he'd had a long day of meeting with clients.
“So I told ‘em all I was in a fight, you know, trying to be the good guy and break it up and then all the girls were like, oh my god Jared you are soooo sweet and such a cool guy and practically a super hero--”
“Uh.” Jensen interrupts. “I doubt that’s what they said.”
“Well pretty much. I know it’s what they were thinkin’ anyway.”
Jensen takes a big bite of mashed potatoes and starts thinking about the hot girls at Jared’s office who probably throw themselves at him all the time.
“Why don’t you go out with one of ‘em?”
Jared stops eating, which doesn’t happen too often, totally confused. “One of who?”
“One of the girls from work. They seem interested enough in your big dumb hairy ass.”
“Woah. My ass is not hairy. And besides, I’m not about to dip my pen in company ink. Not gonna screw up something I’ve worked so hard for.”
“Your pen, huh?” Jensen lips twitch, trying not to say something really dirty. Apparently, Jared has a mind just as pornographic.
Jared gets this evil little smile as he picks up his beer, says slowly, “Yep. My ten inch pen. And that’s on a bad day,” before he takes a sip.
Jensen nearly chokes, has to cover his mouth with his napkin before he sprays food all over the table. Jesus fucking Christ, Jared is going to kill him. Jensen immediately gets hard under the table and knows it’ll take a few minutes before he’ll be able to get up without sporting a tent in his pants.
And Jared just laughs and laughs, eats up Jensen’s discomfort all he can. “You wanna hear more about my pen, Jensen?”
“No!” Jensen almost shouts. “You’re such a freak!”
“Missin’ out then.” Jared teases and shovels more food in his mouth. “Just sayin’.”
Jensen can just shake his head in amusement and keep quiet.
They call it a night since both of them have to get up early and Jared might actually get to do some accounting tomorrow. It’s become a ritual that around eleven, right before Jensen falls into deep sleep, there comes a light pound on the shared wall and Jensen does a double thud back. Sometimes Jensen does the first knock and Jared will do the second, and it’s an odd feeling, knowing Jared is sleeping right on the other side of the wall, so close but so far away at the same time.
Around two in the morning Jensen snaps awake at the sound of his cell phone. Who the hell could be texting him now?
Jared: The guy on the other side of me
Jared: Alarm going off. It’s so loud.
Jared: Ten fucking minutes now. Help me
Jensen groans, rubs his hands up and down his face to try and comprehend what the hell is happening. He finally texts back.
Jensen: Just come over. Use your key. Not getting up.
He falls back to sleep in the minute it takes Jared to come over until he hears the front door open and close, and Jared must go for the couch because Jensen doesn’t hear another peep. He can’t stop thinking about that long ass body of his trying to sleep for another few hours comfortably. An hour or two might be okay, but Jensen knows the sofa isn’t that great.
“Jared!” He calls out, hoarse from a rough throat.
“What?”
“Just come up here, man. I ain’t gonna bite your skinny ass.”
There’s silence and then movements on the stairs. Jared’s dark figure appears at the bedroom doorway.
“Huh?” Jared sounds small and sleepy, and he’s scratching his bare chest, pajama pants hanging off his hips, a little too short at the ankles.
Jensen yawns and scoots over to one side of the bed. “Wanna prove how anti - un - homophobic you are?”
“Yes, yes, yes, so fucking tired.” Jared crawls into bed without a second thought and settles quickly. After a minute, “Alarm set?”
“Yeah, set for six thirty.”
Jared answers with a snore. If Jensen weren’t so tired he’d watched him just for a few minutes, knowing that this is a rare chance, but it’s too soon that sleep overcomes him as well.
The next morning should be awkward but it isn’t. Jared just rolls out of bed, thanks Jensen for letting him crash and shuffles out the door. Jensen spends a few minutes thinking about the fact that his crush was just in his bed. It was nice to sleep with someone again, to have that closeness, even if it didn’t mean anything at all.
Jensen knows he isn’t supposed to think like that anymore, to want something he’s so afraid of. And deep down, he’s a little disappointed in himself for forgetting, even just for a second, that missing someone can only lead to bad things.
It’s a damn good thing Jared is safe.
A few days later Jensen is relaxing, sated from a good meal and is tired from a long week. He hasn’t seen Jared in awhile and thinks maybe he can sneak in some quality time with his TiVo.
He’s really getting into his show, totally caught up in the drama and can’t look away, even ignores his phone when it rings in favor of the train wreck in front of him.
Then Jared bursts through his front door.
“Jesus, don’t you knock?” Jensen scrambles to find the remote and turn the channel. He’s not as smooth as he probably could’ve been and that just comes across suspicious.
“Sometimes,” Jared says. “But not when I’m about to go on a wing run and I’ll know you’ll want some of mine if I don’t get extra.”
“I’m good, man. Already ate.”
“Already ate?” Jared frowns, looks a little hurt that he wasn’t included, but hot damn Jensen can’t plan his entire night around inviting Jared for dinner. Even though now that he thinks about it, maybe they’ve been eating more dinners together than he does alone.
“Yeah, was starving when I got home.”
“Oh.” Jared’s shoulders kind of slump, but then his mouth is doing the twitchy thing it does when he’s trying not to smile. “Jen… what were you watching?”
“Nothing.” Jensen says way too fast. Fuck, he’s so caught.
“Yeah?” Jared circles the couch slow and then dives for the remote. “So you won’t mind if recall?”
Jensen makes a not so masculine noise and tries to wrestle Jared but when he hears the theme song for Housewives of Beverly Hills, he knows it’s over.
“Oh no. No. No. No. No.” Jared laughs as he turns the volume up. “Jensen you should be so embarrassed with yourself right now!”
“God, shut up!” Jensen moans and launches himself to get the remote. He ends up practically in Jared’s lap, squirming to get at it and Jared eventually shoves him to the floor, still laughing his stupid ass off.
“I’ll leave you to your precious show, princess. I’m sure you don’t wanna miss one second of that kid’s pink birthday party.”
Jensen just glares and holds up his middle finger.
“Hey, check out the rack on her.” And now Jared’s watching the screen with this glazed, dumb look on his face.
“Mmm hmm. Just wait till they get to the pool.” Jensen says. “Sometimes the twins almost pop out.”
“Nice.” Jared watches for a few more minutes, until a commercial comes on. He looks guilty when Jensen sits back with a smirk.
“Let me guess. You wanna stay and watch the rest.”
“It’s good for me to keep up on these kinda things. I mean, I work in an office filled with females who watch this shit and I need to be able to converse about it. Really, it’s for my career, Jensen.” Jared plops himself down on the couch and kicks his feet up.
“Jared?” Jensen says. “Do you hear yourself sometimes?”
“Hear what?”
“The complete bullshit that comes out of your mouth.”
That offends Jared. “Is bullshit the same thing as awesome?”
Jensen just shakes his head and turns up the volume once the show comes back on. “No, it’s not. You should be a fucking lawyer with your crazy ass logic.”
“I woulda made a kick ass lawyer.” Jared sighs. “Too bad I’m not as smart as you.”
“You’re plenty smart, Jared. More than you give yourself credit for.”
Nothing much is said after that. They both make fun of the show and laugh, but Jared is quieter than normal and something just seems off. Maybe they’re spending too much time together. Or maybe Jensen’s working too much and Jared finally realizes that Jensen isn’t great friend material. Maybe Jared wants to pull away and just doesn’t know how. But then why would he come over all the time, seeking out Jensen’s company?
Still, the thought of losing Jared’s friendship hits Jensen low in the gut. He’s getting too attached and this feeling is unwelcomed, unfamiliar and Jensen hates that he let himself get this close. Jared’s personality is addicting though and Jensen admits that he’s becoming a victim to his charm.
It’s a good that Jared is straight or Jensen would be in way over his head.
Jensen’s at work, going over some legal briefs, when Jared texts him. It’s been a long day, clients bitching and whining about not getting what they want in settlements, and his other partner lost a huge case - one Jensen had helped him with and now they're trying to figure out what went wrong. In the mean time, Jensen is trying not to lose his shit. Maybe it’s time for a vacation.
Jared: Gym after work today?
Jensen: It’s gonna be a late one
Jared: You work too hard. What time is late?
Jensen: At least after 7
Jared: :(
Jensen: I have to get this shit done.
Jared: Want me to bring you a sandwich or something?
Jensen smiles at his phone. It’s just what he needed to get out of his funk. Someone’s finally offering him some help instead of demanding everything from him today.
Jensen to Jared: It’s cool, thanks though. Be home later
Jared to Jensen: K, c ya
Jensen works faster and actually ends up making home at a decent hour. He and Jared go to the gym together and after a good run on the treadmill, his friend gabbing the whole time at his side, the day’s crappiness lifts from Jensen’s shoulders, along with the tension and stress that had been building since the morning.
Jensen has known Jared for a little more than a year before “the night that shall never be mentioned” happens.
Alcohol is involved. Specifically tequila, and Jensen drinks way too much of it. Also, crazy amounts of beer.
“The night that shall never be mentioned” happens on a Friday. It had been a bitch of a week and Jensen has nothing planned for his weekend except some serious relaxing and maybe some laundry, but chores can easily wait until Sunday afternoon.
Jared’s kind of in a sour mood and it’s not until Jensen turns up the radio and puts his kiss the cook apron on before Jared finally starts to loosen up and joke around. Rick arrives a little after the grill gets fired up, along with Aaron and Craig. Nick knocks on the door a few minutes after, a six pack under his arm as a peace offering for making Jared’s nose bleed a few weeks ago.
It’s still slightly awkward between Nick and Craig but now Nick is actually seriously dating Craig’s sister so it must have been smoothed out a little. Either way, Jensen’s not about to bring it up.
The game is on and the guys make themselves comfortable in Jensen’s living room, commenting on how nice it is to be sitting on actual furniture, a nice little stab to Jared about his place.
“Hey, I like sitting on the floor.” Jared says and if he’s insulted, no one can tell. He stretches, like usual, spreading his long legs out. “It’s the only I place I fit.”
With a plate full of food and a beer, Jensen steps over Jared’s legs to make his way to the recliner Jared’s leaning against. He immediately loses interest in the TV for Jensen’s French fries.
“Ever think about getting your own?”
“No.” Jared smiles with a mouthful. “This is way better.”
Jensen sneaks a glance to the guys on the couch and fortunately their eyes are glued to the set. In fact, they don’t even seem surprised that Jared’s practically in Jensen’s lap, eating from his plate, smiling like it’s the best thing ever.
And then Jensen gets it. And he feels like an asshole for not figuring it out sooner. What an idiot he’s been. Jared’s like this with everyone, not just him.
Jared’s all feely, and grabby, and funny and perfect and all this time Jensen kind of thought it was for him. But nope, it’s just the way Jared is.
And Jensen’s a fucking idiot.
The guys don’t give a weird look or raise their eyebrows, even when Jared puts his head on Jensen’s knee for a half a second like it’s a damn pillow and the realization just sucks.
But it really does make sense. Jensen has to keep reminding himself that Jared’s straight and this just puts all perspectives right into place. It’s the reality check that he needed now for awhile.
So after that little tidbit of insight and after observing Jared be just as touchy with his other friends as he is with Jensen. Well, it’s then that the tequila rears its ugly head.
The guys hoot and holler at the basketball game all the way to the end. They eat practically everything in the fridge and drink all the beer Jensen had, even the extra few bottles hidden on the bottom shelf. The night goes by super fast and Jared’s way more sober than Jensen would like him to be. Jensen can get really chatty if he’s been drinking and is terrified of what he’ll say tonight, even as he downs a fourth shot.
They all agree to meet at the park early Sunday morning for a b-ball game as Rick, Aaron, Craig, and Nick leave and Jensen notices how instantly quieter it is now. He gives Nick a friendly slap on the back before the door shuts and the guy proved himself tonight to not be the total douche Jensen thought he was. Maybe Craig’s sister is keeping him in line.
As Jensen surveys the mess in his house with the walls slightly spinning, he watches Jared move from the floor to the now vacant couch and yawn loudly. Jensen better sit down too before he falls down. His knee brushes against Jared’s as he sprawls out, arms and legs feeling loose and heavy.
More shots are an order. There’re three more before Jensen starts a full blown drunken ramble and he’s pretty sure that all he’ll remember in the morning is Jared’s amused expression.
But for now he’s decided to bring up Noah and for what reason exactly, Jensen will never figure out. Maybe because it’s Noah’s birthday next week and Jensen used to make it such an ordeal, a production that was fun and exciting, a time he doesn’t think Noah ever really appreciated.
“And he was perfect, you know? Like not really perfect, but good enough for me to be with for awhile. And okay, so we didn’t get along that great in the end but it was still nice.”
“What was nice?” Jared asks.
“Huh?”
“What was nice, Jen?” And if Jensen didn’t know any better, he’d swear Jared was egging him on.
“I don’t know. It was nice coming home to someone in the house n’shit. Because we lived together. So he was there, too, where we lived. Together. And having dinner with someone who at least pretended to care because Noah told me plenty of times I was boring as fuck and I think he just put up with me talking about work ‘cause he wanted to get laid. Eventually I quit talking so much. It was depressing anyway. And so yeah, it was nice. Know what I mean?”
“Not really. You kinda just said depressing and nice in the same sentence. Maybe you should be more specific.”
“H-uh?” Jensen has the hiccups now and sucks in a sharp breath every two seconds.
“Tell me what else you liked.”
“About w-hat?”
“About being in a relationship.”
“Um-m.” Jensen tries to think but his head is so fucking foggy. “I dunno. Like sleeping with someone. Not like, sex but having someone to fall asleep with. That was awesome. And holding hands, ‘specially during a movie. And just layin’ with someone on the couch I guess.”
“Like cuddling?”
Jensen waits for Jared to laugh, but he doesn’t.
“Hmm? Oh yeah. I guess.”
This time Jared does snicker. “That’s a little girly.”
“Well last time I checked I didn’t have a vagina.”
“Did you check lately? Because I’m pretty sure everything you just said might’ve broadcasted directly from your ovaries.”
“Fuck you.” Jensen says. Slurs. Same thing. “Maybe I’m in touch with my emotions, Mr. Macho-man-jackass.”
“Maybe it’s that time of the month.”
“Maybe your face wants to say hi to my fist.”
“Maybe you need a boyfriend. You’re getting a little testy.”
“Maybe… whatever. Maybe I do.” Jensen yawns loudly and closes his eyes. “Too tired to fight.”
“Maybe you should get some sleep.” Jared burrows himself more into the couch pillows. “Maybe I should go.”
“Maybe.” Jensen says softly, unsure and then in barely a whisper, “Maybe I’m just a little lonely.”
“You don’t have to be lonely anymore, Jen.”
Jensen had thought Jared was asleep, but he was wrong. “I’m damaged, Jay. No one’s gonna want a guy who’s scared of commitment.”
“How can you be lonely and scared of being with someone at the same time? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“What I want and what I can’t do are two very different things.”
Jared yawns again and looks at him with tired eyes. He’s gorgeous like this, guard down, relaxed and going along with stupid drunken conversation. The fact that he hasn’t run home yet means a lot more than it probably should. “What do you want? C’mon, describe the perfect guy according to you.”
Jensen can feel the alcohol in his veins, strong and spiking his adrenaline to take a chance. He slides his foot over Jared’s so their toes are rubbing together. “He’d have to be nice, of course. And be able to put up with me. And funny, he’d have to be really funny. I like a guy with big feet, even bigger hands,” Jensen glances down, speaking softly, reaching to play with Jared’s fingers, sliding up and down each one slowly and then tickling his palm. “Long legs, thick calves, golden tan skin,” Jensen stops to brush the back of his knuckles up Jared’s arm, cup his elbow and continue to his shoulder, hand slipping under the sleeve of his t-shirt.
Jared’s voice is thick, rough and his breathing is shallow. “What else?”
“Narrow hips are a big turn on.” Jensen says, other hand inching its way around Jared’s waist. “Flat stomach, good chest, nice neck for me to suck on,” After every mentioned part, Jensen’s hands somehow find their way to the same place on Jared’s body. “I love giving hickies, did’y know that, Jay? I like kissing on the mouth too, gotta have lips made for kissing. Dimples don’t hurt either.” Jensen’s face is so close to Jared’s now, his nose tickles down the length of Jared’s temple.
“I like crazy colored eyes, blues and greens. Nice hair, long enough so I can get a good grip when we’re fuckin’ nice n’slow.” His fingers lock around Jared’s curls and tug forward, hard enough for their foreheads bump together.
Jared snaps out of his daze and rubs his head, cringing. “Smooth, Jensen. Geez.”
Jensen gaps at his own stupidity, immediately sobering up some. Did that just really happen? He prays for the couch to open up and swallow him, anything to get him away from this night that’s gone horribly wrong. “Sorry, don’t know what the hell got into me.”
“I do, too much damn tequila. No more for you.”
“I didn’t mean to like… touch you. Or whatever. And fuck you, I need one more shot.” Jensen grabs the bottle of whatever is closest to him and tips his head back, sputtering when it’s too much and almost choking.
“You’re a hot mess.” Jared says sadly, then instantly more brightly, “I’ll be sure to remind you of everything tomorrow so you can die of shame!”
“I hate you.”
“You’ll hate me even more if I don’t take this away from you right now.”
Jensen remembers pouting and falling asleep on the floor.
Which is exactly where he wakes up the next morning, completely embarrassed and a few hours later when Jared comes over, Jensen threatens to end him if he ever mentions that night again.
Jared laughs it up and swears, crosses his heart and forgives Jensen for molesting him.
Jensen figures he lost a little of his dignity, but at least it was only in front of Jared and not the rest of the guys.
Still. What he said and did last night never fucking happened. And when Jared mentions that he’s pretty sure Jensen described him as the perfect guy, Jensen denies it until he’s blue in the face, trying to convince Jared he was talking about someone else.
Jared must take pity on him and finally accepts the lame lie only to shut Jensen up. They wallow in their hangovers until late that evening, Jared making cracks about tan skin and awesome calves, all the while showing off his legs and lifting his shirt up to expose the flattest belly Jensen’s ever seen. He kicks Jared out soon after so he can go whack off in peace, swearing he can still hear Jared’s teasing laughter next door.
Jared’s grouchy mood has been growing considerably over the last couple weeks. At first Jensen thought that maybe Jared was just dealing with the transition from school to a job, but that was a few months ago. And now Jared’s been working at the office for awhile, and yeah, Jared was pissy that he wasn’t really doing anything at work but now he’s down right being a bitch.
And Jensen can’t figure out why. It’s frustrating as all hell. Plus Jared’s been disappearing right around dinner time at night and they haven’t seen much of each other for at least a few days.
“Hey you wanna go with me to get some wings? It’s Tuesday. Wings half off man, your favorite.”
Jared’s eyes are glued to the floor as he shakes his head, almost like he’s embarrassed. “Nah, that’s cool.”
“You sure? My treat.” Jensen throws the last of his socks in the washer and starts the machine. He never did get around to doing his laundry last weekend.
“I think I’m just gonna pound the pavement for awhile. I’ll check you later.” With that, Jared leaves with a soft click of the front door behind him.
Jensen stares at it for awhile, listens as Jared goes into his own house; lies about going for a run. Why’d he come over anyway? He was here for five minutes, all sad and sulky, didn’t want to get dinner and then leaves.
There’s not much to do about it. Jensen can’t go over there and demand that Jared tell him what’s wrong. So the only thing that really can be done is to go get some wings and text Jared to get his ass back over here and stop being such a grouchy ass.
Jensen does just that. He gets about as many buckets of wings he thinks he can get away with without the chick behind the counter rolling her eyes. He’s home within a few minutes and knocks on Jared’s door, struggles to not drop a few pounds of barbeque all over the ground.
Jensen knocks again, waits and then yells out, “Jared! Where you at? I can’t eat these all by myself! I’m not you.” He waits another few seconds before kicking the door and going to his place. Maybe Jared ended up going for a run after all.
Munching on a celery stick, Jensen puts his wet clothes in the dryer and then flips his phone open.
Jensen: I got wings. Come n’get ‘em
After a few minutes there’s still no response and now Jensen’s just a little irritated.
Jensen: More for me. See you tomorrow
The wings don’t taste nearly as good as they do when there are dirty napkins all over the table and Jared’s up to his elbows in sauce.
Part 4