Time of Your Life, Ch 4, NC-17, RPS, AU, Jensen/Jared

[sandymg]

Jensen urged Jason to spend the night given the bad weather. He brought out the bedding and proceeded to set up his sofa best he could into a bed. It was long and wide and Jensen had taken enough naps on it himself to know it was pretty comfortable.

He glanced out the window, Jason peering with him. “Wow. Can’t believe this storm.”

He agreed with his friend’s assessment. A quick glance around showed that Jay was missing. Good. He couldn’t handle teenage Jay and Jason at the same time. He made quick work of getting ready for bed. He was rummaging in his dresser drawer for an old pair of sweats to sleep in when a soft voice made him jump.

“You look so different all grown up.”

“Goddammit, you have to stop doing that.”

Jensen spun around. Jared was shorter again. Jensen did his best to guess at his age and came up with around fifteen. Lanky and slight. Muscles not yet there. Body trying to grow into its sudden height. Jay was wearing his favorite Cowboys sweatshirt and a baggy pair of jeans that hung ridiculously low on those impossibly slim hips.

He gazed at Jensen with an achingly familiar confused intensity. Eyes darting around like they didn’t know where to settle. Like it hurt to stop any place too long. Jensen remembered that feeling.

“Jay. You can’t stay here. You shouldn’t be here.” Jensen kept his voice soft so that Jason wouldn’t hear him.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Jay pouted.

Jensen sighed deeply and pulled on his sweat pants suddenly very aware of his state of undress. He tugged a t-shirt on, too. Damn. From sleeping naked to fully dressed. He scooted onto his bed and quickly drew the cover over him. Even dressed he felt exposed. Jay perched on the edge looking hesitant. Jensen indicated it was okay for Jared to sit. The boy propped himself up and sat legs criss-crossed on top of the blanket, elbows on his thighs and chin balanced in his hands. Jensen stared at his long fingers a moment before refocusing.

“Where do you go when you vanish?” Jensen asked.

“Nowhere.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It’s nothing. There’s just nothing.”

Jensen nodded although he didn’t understand.

A yawn escaped. Man, it had been a long day. A really long week. He stretched out and ignored the boy staring down at him. In the distance he heard a persistent sound. High-pitched and rhythmic. He guessed it was the snow plows circling around outside.

Jay turned around and sat up next to him, leaning back on the headboard.

“Do you sleep?” Jensen asked.

“I don’t think so. Maybe.”

“It’s like a dream,” Jensen mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. “Only … I’m not sure I wanna wake up.”

A warm, large hand reached out and brushed against his hair. “It’s okay, Jenny. Sleep now.”

“You shouldn’t be in here.”

“Why?”

“You’ll catch it.”

“Nah. Can’t. My momma said I already had the Chicken Pox. Before we ever moved here. Can’t get it again.”

Jensen nodded. Tried to turn against his pillow to quench the itch. God, this was awful.

“You look horrible, dude.”

Jensen snorted. “Thanks.”

“I brought your homework and notes and stuff.” Jay squirmed, moving awkwardly from foot to foot. Looked like he was trying to say something.

“What?”

His friend pulled out a folded piece of paper. “This is from Suzie,” he said finally, into the prolonged silence.

Jensen took the note. Suzie’s over-large curly handwriting filled the page. Flowers and hearts and the words ‘Get well soon.’ He didn’t know if Suzie ever had the Chicken Pox before. He hoped she hadn’t. He really didn’t want her here.

“Guess she’ll be visiting soon,” Jay said.

“Hope not.”

Jay’s eyes jumped to his. “What do you mean?”

Jensen pulled back. Felt awkward suddenly. “I mean. I don’t want her to catch this.”

“Right. Of course.” Jay looked around. “Well … I guess I should go. Right?”

“No. I mean. Do you hafta? We could watch a video or something.”

Jay’s eyes lit up. “T2?”

“Sure,” Jensen nodded. Was never a time he wasn’t up for that. He shifted his pillows against the wall and they sat watching side by side.

Jensen didn’t remember dozing off that long ago night. But he did remember waking up to Jay touching his hair, rubbing his hands absently through the short locks and scraping his scalp gently. He was able to return to school a full week later. And he broke up with Suzie Emerson before that following weekend.

~~~
Jason left early the next morning so he’d have time to head home to change before work. Jensen was pleased that the roads were pretty passable. Looked like the storm was over and all that was left was cleanup. He pulled into his parking space and quickly worked his way up to his office. There was so much to do.

So far, he hadn’t seen Jared that morning. The last thing he remembered was fourteen-year-old Jared touching his hair. Both in the past and in the present and the blurring of the two was starting to seriously scare him. Jason’s words rang in his head. Find Jared now. Could he? Past Jared didn’t want him to. And that shouldn’t make a difference but it did. Did he know something? That had to be it. Jared must know that today’s Jared had no interest in being contacted by Jensen.

Jeff’s deep voice interrupted Jensen’s thoughts. “Jen, Johnston called.”

Jensen was immediately alert. Why had he called Jeff and not Jensen directly? “Yeah?”

“He got those early projections you sent over.” Jeff paused, looked down. Jensen toyed with the pen in his hand waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. “He asked if we could knock five percent more off.”

“Dammit, Jeff … what the hell does he want?! You can’t produce the clothes for free. What kind of profit margin is he looking for anyway?”

“I know … I know … Look, just do what you can. I’ll talk to him again.”

Jensen fought off the frustration. He was not going to lose this account. He’d fought too long and too hard for it. He drew up his spreadsheets again and started reevaluating. Katie wouldn’t like what he was doing but this was his job. And it’s not like he was running the business. Just presenting the figures. They could go lower. And it was legal. Not like he made the rules or ran those nations.

Truth was there was very little under his control. Sometimes you just had to deal with the reality of a situation.

“How ‘bout Stephanie Kaplan?”

Jay twisted his lips in a way that showed displeasure. “She smells.”

Jensen thought about this. “No, she doesn’t. I mean … I never noticed … really?”

“Okay. Maybe not … I just … don’ feel like asking her.”

“You gotta ask somebody.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Because it’s … it’s normal.” He peered at his best friend. “I’m already back in the saddle. Your problem is you’re just scared.”

Jay’s petulant gaze locked on his. “Am not. That’s not it. I just … maybe I’m a late bloomer.”

Jensen nearly spit back out the soda he’d been drinking. The laugh burst out. “Where’d you get that from? Your grandma?”

“Shut up.”

Jensen sobered up some. He didn’t understand his friend’s aversion to asking a girl out. It’s not like he was shy about anything else. Hell, Jensen had broken up with Suzie months back and been out with like five different girls since. Made his dad and older brother smile each time he mentioned having another date. The only one that didn’t smile was Jay.

“You gotta just get out there. Girls like you, Jay. No reason to be shy about it.”

Jared lifted off the bed and went to slip another tape into the deck. “Why do you care so much about it?”

“Don’t want you to die a virgin is all.”

Jay’s eyes grew huge. “You … I thought you said you and Suzie didn’t-“

“We didn’t. Well, not all the way. But that’s not the point. Ain’t ever gonna happen if you don’t even get to first base.”

“I guess.”

“Exactly. ‘Sides you don’t want anyone to talk.”

Jared stopped fiddling through the cassettes. “Talk about what? Folks are talkin’ ‘bout me?”

Jensen opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Nobody had said anything. Well, Jensen’s father had made a comment to his mother. But he wasn’t about to share that. “No. ‘Course not. That’s not what I meant.”

Jay’s eyes skewered his. “What aren’t you telling me? Who’s talking about me?”

“Nobody. Really. I don’t know why I said that.”

It was dropped but Jensen couldn’t get Jared’s scared look out of his mind. Or his father’s words about how it was getting ‘unnatural’ how little interest Jared had in girls.



art by apieceofcake

When Jensen returned from an afternoon break to Starbucks (Quad Venti cinnamon dolce soy latte, no whip. Extra hot.) Jay was at his computer.

“Thirty-three cents an hour? My allowance was more than that.”

Jensen studied the boy who was trying unsuccessfully again to spin the office chair. Still about fifteen. Face thin and long, cheekbones impossibly high and striking. Eyes piercing him now with a familiar insistence.

“The cost of living is cheaper.”

“These are the places our parents were always telling us to eat for, remember? Because of the starving kids in Bangladesh.”

Jensen looked away, it was cloudy outside. Gray and sooty. The snow was melting and dissolving into smoke-colored puddles. He glanced at his shoes, frowned at the rings of white. “You don’t know anything.” He brought the coffee to his lips and gasped at the sudden pain. For the first time in freakin’ ever they actually made it extra hot. “Dammit,” he uttered, tongue brushing over his stinging lips.

Head going back up he caught Jared staring. Hazel eyes glued to Jensen’s mouth where his tongue was still partially out working over the burn. Jay’s own tongue shot out and licked his own lips, teeth biting down over his lower lip. “Don’t do that,” Jensen sputtered. Only his voice held no more conviction now than it did fifteen years ago.

They hardly fought. Not really. Not with intent. Sure there were the Donatello wars back when they were both nine and the true owner of the Ninja Turtle was up for debate. A consequence of sharing too many toys and living in each other’s back pockets as their mothers described it. But this was different.

“You’re always fucking going out. I thought you said we could hang tonight?”

“We can. Come with us. It’s a party, Jay. It’s what kids do.”

Jay slung his backpack higher on his shoulder. “I go to parties.”

“Yeah. When I drag you. What’s going on with you? You don’t want to go anywhere lately. You’ve been acting … “

“What?! I’ve been acting what?”

Jensen hesitated. “Weird.”

Jay pounced at that. “I don’t know what else I can do. You wanted me to ask someone out and I did. We went out. Not my fault Laurie decided to call it quits. Maybe I suck at dating, okay. Maybe my breath is bad and I can’t kiss and I smell too horrible. Maybe I’m boring or stupid. Maybe I’m just not into-“ Jared cut himself off, he dropped his bag and approached the see-saw. They were cutting through the park, past the playground on the way home. The weather was nice enough now to walk and when they didn’t have practice they’d walk home together. Happened less as the number of after school activities grew.

Jensen had known Jay since he was six years old. And it had been years since he’d seen him cry. But now, sitting on that see-saw Jensen saw his friend’s eyes well up like a dam had busted behind them. It left Jensen feeling breathless and shaky and scared. More scared than he remembered feeling in a long time.

He walked closer and put a hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Not into what?”

Jensen didn’t think Jared would answer. Really, he didn’t want his friend to answer. Didn’t want to know. Not aloud. Not for real.

Jay stood suddenly and Jensen was surprised anew at being shorter than his friend. He had to tilt his eyes up to meet Jay’s. It did something to him knowing this. Something odd and unexpected and frightening. Everything seemed scary suddenly. Jensen looked around, unsure why they were alone. The sky had clouded up so maybe that’s why there were no kids around. As if in answer he felt a fat drop hit his cheek.

“It’s raining,” Jensen said softly. Jared’s eyes glistened blue-green and blended with the moisture now trickling down his chin.

“Jen … I …don’t think I like girls.”

The rain fell heavier and the heavens roared as if in punctuation to Jared’s pronouncement. Jensen didn’t ask what Jared meant. Fear had him in a tight vice and it felt like he might scatter like the raindrops striking his face. “How … how do you know?”

Jared smiled slightly, looking both young and old at the same time. Like he existed now and in the future and all the moments in between. Like he could stop time.

“Because of this,” he whispered before leaning in and pressing his lips to Jensen’s.

Jensen thought he should be thinking no. Should pull back. Should shout and scream and shove Jared away. None of that happened. It clicked like a lock in a door. A riddle solving. Like the raindrops forming the sea. He parted his lips and tasted mint and chocolate and Jared. Wrong ceased to exist. And the world twisted until up was down and standing was flying.

Heat blazed low in his gut, filtering out the cold rivulets of water trailing from his wet hair. He pulled Jared closer and let himself be held tighter than he thought imaginable. Jay let out a small moan that became Jensen’s entire world. He explored Jared’s mouth and lips and neck and cheeks. Nipping and lapping and inhaling because kissing Suzie and Karen and Josephine and Brenda and Catherine and Jennifer had been okay. Nice. This was astonishing. They panted into each other trying to slow down, to breathe. Because it was too much. Too hot. Too fast.

Jared pulled back first. Eyes popping. “I thought … I thought you’d hit me.”

Jensen smiled. A smile so deep he felt it like sunshine blossoming out of his chest. “Want me to?”

Jared laughed. Full and deep and wonderful. He pulled at Jensen’s tee-shirt. “We’re getting soaked.”

Jensen shook his hair dog-like, watched water spray out from him in an arc. The motion calmed him. But the heat still simmered. “C’mere,” he said in a voice hardly recognizable as he tugged Jared back to him, pulled his mouth back to his.

Later. Alone in his room with his thoughts and the slow return of sanity, Jensen would realize that they’d been making out in the middle of the playground. In the afternoon. Later, the panic would set in and he’d vomit his dinner in the bathroom in a cold sweat, unable to look either of his parents in the eye. Now, though, there was only the delicious heat of discovery and the magic of sharing the same breath with someone he cared more about than anything he could imagine.

~~~
Katie returned the spreadsheet. “I agree, Indonesia is our best bet.”

Jensen nodded. It was true. Cheapest labor costs. He refused to look into the accusing teenage eyes daring him silently from across the room. Eyes back on the PowerPoint he pressed Save As and added the word ‘final’. Katie looked like she was going to say something but bit her lower lip instead. After a few more awkward moments she asked, “They coming in tomorrow?”

“Yep. Nine sharp. We’re more than ready. Thanks.”

She shrugged. It was late, well past nine. Jensen watched Katie fight back a yawn. They’d been at it nonstop for days. Skipping meals. Living on coffee and fumes. Jared had come and gone. Mostly in the office. Jensen hadn’t seen him at home since the night Jason had visited. He hadn’t aged again. Seemed stuck on fifteen. Jensen felt relief at that. Not that one year should make that much of a difference. But it had. It had changed everything.

Katie looked like she was about to say goodnight. Jensen couldn’t say what made him ask his next words. Not like he really was going to do anything about it. “Katie … have you ever tracked down someone? Somebody you used to be friends with but lost track of?”

Blue eyes met his slightly puzzled, eyebrows arcing. “I haven’t, but a couple of my high school classmates found me on Facebook.”

Jensen sucked in a deep breath. Facebook. It couldn’t really be that easy, could it? The computer seemed to glow at him as if trying to get his attention. Jay stalked out of the corner he was occupying. “No, Jen. Don’t. Don’t try to find me.”

“Why not?”

Katie had been partly out the door when she turned back. “Why not what?”

Oh god. He’d nearly forgotten. Lately, he’d been much better at not looking like a crazy man. He fumbled to recover. “Nothing. Just thanks for all your help.”

She swept away with a quick see you in the morning and her usual, “Go home, Jensen.”

Jay rounded on him the minute she was gone. “You can’t do that.”

“Why is it such a big deal if I find you?”

“I don’t mean that. I mean this … presentation or whatever you called it. You’re going to tell that man to make money by hardly paying people anything. It’s … practically slavery. It’s wrong, Jen. And you know it.”

Jensen had forgotten how liberal Jared was for a Texan boy. Well, liberal to a point. Not liberal enough to expose Jensen and himself to what would happen should their secret get out. Or had that been Jensen who’d convinced Jay to be quiet? Sometimes it all blurred.

“Jay … stop … they’ll see.”

“Who cares?”

“Who cares?! We do. Don’t we? C’mon. Stop.”

Jared pulled away but not before pinching Jensen’s butt. “OW.”

“Such a baby.”

“That hurt.”

Jared laughed. Jensen pouted a few moments longer just to get Jared to laugh again. Best sound in the world. Always had been. Glancing at his watch Jensen disengaged himself from Jared’s octopus arms. “I have to get to practice.” He was on the track team. Jared played basketball. They both were taking honor classes and finding time for anything that wasn’t school was getting hard.

He managed to squeeze time to see Jared mostly on the weekends. It was easier now that Jensen wasn’t dating anyone. Thank goodness his brother Josh was away at school but his father had noticed. Jensen said he was sorta seeing a girl in school but that her parents were very strict about her going out. His father looked at him a long moment but then shrugged. His mom volunteered to call the girl’s parents but at Jensen’s crimson glow his father stopped her.

“Donna. Stop. They’ll figure it out. We did,” he added with a low chuckle.

That stopped further questioning. He knew his father thought he was having a slightly illicit relationship with a girl with rigid parents. It was the first time he’d openly lied to his parents. It was easier for Jared. The late bloomer tag stuck and his parents pushed, but only gently. That short-term gig with Laurie helped and since Laurie had been the one to end it, everyone was treating the whole thing as sensitive. Even Jensen’s father seemed to cut Jared slack about his lack of dating interest, citing how good he was at basketball and how it took practice to get that excellent at anything.

Jensen knew that Jared practiced. He also knew that he was naturally athletic and tall and was growing into his body with a newfound gracefulness that filled Jensen with a pleasurable pride. There was nothing he liked better than to watch Jared.

And, of course, nobody really questioned the time they spent together because that’s the way it just always was.

For the longest time it stayed at kissing. Discovering Jared’s mouth and lips was such a revelation that Jensen really didn’t even want more. Until the day they found themselves studying in Jensen’s room and his mother called out she was taking his little sister Mackenzie to her ballet class. The makeout session started shortly after. Only this time it proceeded from the floor up to the bed and the first time Jensen felt all of Jared pressed up against him, Jared’s erection obvious even through two pairs of jeans, Jensen thought his skin would sizzle and burn right off him.

That wasn’t the first time he’d experienced an orgasm with someone else. He and Suzie had gotten that far. But that was the first time he realized that coming while rubbing against the hardest, hottest thing he could even imagine was the very definition of mind blowing.

He panted hard against Jared’s collarbone as the other boy lay like a dead weight on top of him. He shifted and Jay moved off, one leg still covering his. As his thigh brushed past he felt his dick stir again and reached sideways to find Jay’s mouth because it hurt not to touch. The kissing consumed him. Jay’s mouth was wet and sweet and the sheer bliss of his tongue playing with his made his cock granite hard as if he hadn’t just come. He started thrusting against Jared again, looking for friction when Jared suddenly reached down and shoved his hand into Jensen’s pants. The feel of Jay’s warm fingers around him was all it took. The explosion started in Jensen’s toes and rocketed its way up. A groan like a turbine engine escaped his lips as he shot another hot sticky load in Jared’s slightly twisting grasp.

Lips locked together, Jensen inhaled Jared’s breath into him and reached down blindly, working Jay’s button and zipper down in a harsh tug. Jensen’s hand surrounded hot, shuddering flesh, like silk on steel. He peeked down to see Jared’s dick red and oozing and coming alive in his palm. He smeared the pearls of liquid around, moved his hand like he did when he held his own dick only harder, instinctively reacting to Jared’s small moans. He locked onto Jay’s hazy stare and lost himself in the other boy’s pleasure. It was only minutes until Jay blinked, face flushed, breath erratic and released into Jensen’s hand.

Jared lifted Jensen’s messy hand up and touched their palms together, mixing their fluids. He kept his eyes on Jensen, pupils huge with only a small ring of blue-green showing before slowly bringing his tongue out to just barely touch the quickly cooling liquid. Eyes daring, Jared put his hand to Jensen’s lips and sucked in air as Jensen licked Jared’s palm. He expected it to be gross. It wasn’t. It was them.

Laughing, Jay shifted and looked around, finally just wiping his hand on his tee-shirt. Jensen copied the move, causing Jay to scoff. “Hey! Use your own shirt!”

“I’ll wash it.”

“You better.” Jay leaned in for another kiss. “That felt good.”

It was an understatement times one thousand but Jensen simply answered, “Yeah.”

Jared looked thoughtful a moment but then his lips quirked. “Guess that was the gayest thing we’ve ever done.”

Jensen jerked up. Sure, he knew what they were doing was … that. But he hadn’t said the word aloud yet. Jay put a finger to Jensen’s chin. “Jen. It’s okay.”

Jensen let his fear show. This was Jay. No point in hiding. “Will it be?”

“I promise.”

Jensen turned back now to the teenage boy he used to know. “You don’t know anything,” he repeated.

~~~

This time the presentation went off perfectly and Johnston greenlighted the expansion. Jensen knew he’d be incredibly busy the next several months getting things off the ground. He’d be travelling, too, eventually. He wondered what would happen if Jared just popped up on an international flight. Would he materialize right on top of someone? He fought an inner giggle. Would Jensen see Jared on the wing like in that classic Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner?

The Twilight Zone wasn’t a bad way to describe what was happening to him. He hadn’t decided if he was going insane yet or not. He knew the answer lay in Jared. Real Jared. But every time he approached his computer thinking to look him up, the kid would appear and distract him. Sometimes he’d nag him about the project. Make him feel guilty. Other times, he’d beg to play. Get out. Do something.

“God, Jen, you used to be fun. Remember fun? All you do is go back and forth between your office and that boring apartment. Geez, our dads had more fun than you do. They’d get together for game night and bowling night and who remembers what else.”

Jensen ran his hand over his hair and felt a shiver run up his spine because Jared’s voice sounded different. A little deeper. More like he last remembered seeing him.

He turned slowly in his office chair. The young man whining at him was older than he’d last appeared to Jensen. A year older at least. Sixteen. Looking exactly like he did the very last time Jensen saw him, down to the faded Green Day tee-shirt and jeans that still couldn’t help but slide down his hips. Jensen’s heart slammed in his chest as their eyes clashed and Jensen felt heat start to shine.

“C’mon, Jenny, I’m bored. I can’t eat. Can’t touch anything. Except you. Can’t talk to anyone. Don’t work anymore today. Please.”

Jensen stared at his paper-strewn desk.

Jared continued, “You can figure out how to exploit more kids tomorrow.”

Jensen looked up sharply at this, retort ready when he saw the twinkle in Jared’s beautiful eyes. He clicked his computer into sleep mode. “Okay. What would you like to do?”

Jared circled around to Jensen’s side of the desk and leaned his long body over him, arms trapping him on both sides. His words were incongruously innocent versus the jolt of his body looming over Jensen. “What’s this Harry Potter thing I heard some folks talking about?”

Jensen blinked. Tried to remember. The book came out when Jensen was first in college. The first movie shortly before he graduated. A friend had tried to get him to read the book but he resisted. He was dragged to the movies, however. And between the movies and rentals and cable showings he guessed he’d seen all of them in one form or another. Not completely in order. Jensen remembered being amused by the back-and-forth aging of the child actors. Oddly enough that recollection reminded Jensen of the fluidity of Jared’s aging. Well, his Jared hallucination’s aging.

“Will you get older?” Jensen suddenly asked.

Jared peered at him from beneath his wavy bangs. “I don’t know. I don’t control it. At least I don’t think I do. And I don’t know that I want to. I mean, I’m happy now. Although I wish you-“

Jared stopped abruptly and dropped Jensen’s gaze. His face reddened a little. Jensen pushed “Wish I what?”

Those twinkling eyes met his again. “Weren’t so damn old, dude.”

Jensen stood up and nearly knocked the punk down. He wasn’t old. Hell, he hadn’t even technically reached his thirtieth birthday yet. It was next month. He considered himself thirty already though. He knew others held onto twenty-nine but he’d defiantly dismissed it early. Wasn’t sure what it said about him. He’d thought it meant he was mature.

Grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair Jensen shrugged into it quickly. Jay looked at him. “Where we going?”

“Home. I’m going to introduce you to the boy who lived.”

~~~

Jensen knew Jared would enjoy the films. Wizards and flying brooms and schools that taught magic. He was certain that somewhere out there the real Jared had devoured every one of those books. Probably read it before it even hit U.S. shelves.

He turned toward the teenager. “Do you remember London?”

Jay looked at him oddly. “I’ve never been to London.” Jay turned his body fully, eyes questioning him with such heartbreaking innocence. “Is that somewhere we went together?”

Jensen swallowed down a quick spike of bile. No. They didn’t go there together. They spoke about going there. Along with so many other places.

“France.”

“Huh?”

“They won’t care there.”

“About what?”

“About us, Jen. City of love, right? We’ll just be another pair of lovers.”

Jensen couldn’t help but smile. Lovers. Well, not quite yet. But almost. They’d become closer than he realized two people could be. He’d tasted every inch of Jared and still craved more. His lips gravitated toward him like they had a mind of their own. Like he was the last drink in a world turned arid. Jay quenched, sated, filled Jensen. Until he thought his heart would burst out of his chest.

“Wanna?” Jensen asked suddenly before he could give it more thought. Before he could scare himself out of it.

“Go to Paris? Sure.”

“Yeah. That, too. But I meant … be lovers. Make love?“

Jared’s eyes turned midnight blue. “Yeah. I want that.” His friend turned serious and lowered his voice slightly. “You know it, um, hurts, right?”

Jensen punched his arm. “Yeah. I figured that. But not-“

Jared was laughing suddenly. “Oh god, Jen. Your face … “ The giggling continued.

Jensen tackled him and rolled until they both tumbled on a heap off his bed. Jared was still giggling despite the hard landing, although he was swallowing air. Jensen spoke right into his ear. “I’m gonna fuck you till you forget your name.”

That quieted Jared down. He lifted his head and met Jensen’s lips with his and nobody laughed after that. They didn’t make love that day. Or the next, or the following week. It hovered between them like a whisper. A promise. A gift yet to come.

“So what do you remember?” Jensen asked this living tattoo of a memory.

Jay’s eyebrows came together as if this question could only have one possible answer.

“Loving you.”

Go to Chapter 5
Go to Master Post