We Carved Our Love In Oak: Part 5
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It takes two more hours of driving before they decide where to stop. They drive into Elk River State Park and look around at the deserted pitches, splashes of green tents between trees.
Jensen guesses this is where they're sleeping tonight.
“Jared?”
“Yes, Jensen.”
“We don’t have a tent.”
Jared turns to him with his signature grin and Jensen thinks it's stupid he expects them to adhere to the conventional norms of anything anymore. He shouldn't keep getting surprised by the boy beside him.
They wander through the trees, weaving their way around giant red oaks and past campervans and pitched tents. The sound of laughter filters through the woods beneath the sound of buzzing insects and they find themselves walking towards it, in an unspoken mutual decision.
The air feels fresher out here, free of the city, and Jensen feels like he can breathe easier in it, like the crunch of twigs and fresh Earth beneath his feet goes someway towards aligning his bones again. He’s a country boy - both of them are - and it feels right to be surrounding by nature.
They come across two pitched tents, an old, rusty car and the ashes of a campfire. There are two girls who are laughing, and both turn to grin when Jared and Jensen walk through the trees.
"Who have we here?" one of the girls says, walking towards them. Her lips are cherry pink, hair dyed red. "You two lost?"
"Looking for a place to camp for the night," Jared says. Jensen's standing close beside him, close enough to feel his body heat, and only moves when a fly buzzes towards him and he side-steps to avoid it.
"Yeah," Jensen says, gives her a smile. "Except we don't have tents."
The girls share a look and Jensen doesn't miss the way the red-haired girl smirks.
"Mi casa es su casa," the blonde says, spreading her arms out.
"You hear that, Jen?" Jared says, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him forward. "This is our casa."
Jared lets Jensen's hand fall as soon as Jensen's feet catch up and they head towards the girls by the ashes of the burnt-out campfire.
"Do we have new familia?" A boy sticks his head out from the tent, hair clinging to his forehead in the sticky heat.
"Misha," the blonde-haired girl says, "This is..."
"Jared," Jared offers, with a grin. "This is my buddy, Jensen."
"Hey," Jensen says, smiles, pulls a cigarette from behind his ear and slides it between his lips.
"I'm Katie," the blonde says.
"And I'm Danneel."
Jared tips his imaginary cowboy hat at them.
“It’s a pleasure,” Jensen says around the cigarette in his mouth, cups it as it flicks his zippo and lights it.
“It definitely is,” Katie says, and Jensen doesn’t miss the way Danneel looks over them both, eyes dark and appraising.
As the sun begins to set they collect more wood to get their fire started again, and it’s a sharp crackle by the time darkness falls. Misha cooks soup for them which tastes surprisingly nice (“Herbs. Imported. You cannot make a soup without herbs.”) and they sit around the fire, poking marshmallows on sticks and melting them in the flames.
"You boys up for some fun?" Danneel asks some time later, when they’ve already passed a bottle of whiskey around a few times.
At her words Misha pulls a baggie from his pocket and Katie grins, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she watches.
Jared’s gaze locks with Jensen and there’s a question in Jared’s eyes, and Jensen knows if he said no Jared would pass too, just because of his loyalty. The thought warms Jensen, and he shuffles a little closer along the ground towards Jared, gives a little nod, and a smile that Jared reciprocates.
“I’m up for it,” Jared says, and then Katie and Danneel’s eyes are on Jensen.
“Sure,” he says, and Misha smiles.
Misha’s fingers are quick and steady as he pulls out a king skin and places a filter between his lips. He gets out a wooden grinder from his pocket and rolls the joint, concentrating on balancing the weed and rolling paper on his knee, making sure none of it falls out. It’s a still night, no breeze in the air, and they’re all still in t-shirts and shorts, a strange, comfortable silence falling upon them as they watch Misha.
It doesn’t take long before he’s putting it between his lips and lighting it, closing his eyes as he takes a long exhale. He holds his breath for a few beats before slowly blowing it between his lips and passing it to Jared, who takes it and puts it between his lips.
Jensen feels something stir inside his stomach, didn’t realize how hot it would be to watch Jared as he takes a toke. His entire body is involved - his chest heaving, his lips sucking around the joint - and the pink, wet shine of his lips as he blows the air out again. The smell of cannabis is sticky in the air around them now, as if they’re in a cloud of it, and Jared offers Jensen the joint, watching him with soft eyes.
Jensen takes it and rolls the joint between his forefinger and thumb before placing it between his lips and taking a slow toke. He shuts his eyes as he does, allows himself to let go and relax into it. He blows a succession of three smoke rings into the air and watches as they disperse into the darkness.
“Show off,” he hears Jared mumble, and looks over to see Jared’s smiling at him, eyelids already heavy and lidded.
A drunk Jared is tactile, but a stoned Jared is downright handsy, and he’s already leaning up against Jensen’s side as if he can’t hold himself upright.
Danneel reaches for the joint and Jensen hands it over, Danneel smiling at him as she takes it.
“I can already feel it,” Jared says from beside him, and he’s close - almost too close - his breath hot against Jensen’s air.
Through the haze of the campfire smoke he can see Katie in Danneel’s lap, their lips locked together as if they’re kissing, and Jensen wonders when that happened. They pull apart slowly and laugh, Danneel holding the joint out to Misha who takes it with a lazy grin.
“Come on, Katie,” Misha says.
She shuffles towards him and Jensen watches through the darkness as the orange flames flicker and paint long shadows across their bodies. He can feel the warmth of Jared beside him, the press of their knees through denim, and he allows himself to lean against Jared a little bit more.
Misha takes a long drag and leans forward, Katie meeting him halfway. It takes a moment for the sight to process through the cotton-wool feeling of Jensen’s head. The smoke flows between their open mouths, which are close but not quite touching, and Jared grins and nudges him with his elbow.
“You wanna shotgun?” he asks with his wide, easy smile.
Heat curls low in his belly and he finds himself nodding before he has the chance to rationally think this over.
“Yeah,” he says, sounding breathless. His teeth gnaw into the flesh of his bottom lip as Jared take the joint between his forefinger and thumb. He brings it up to his lips with his gaze locked on Jensen. Jensen swallows hard as he watches, feels the too-fast thump of his heart, like he’s getting palpitations from just watching.
Jared closes his eyes. Inhales. Jensen moves closer, his hand resting on Jared’s knee. He wouldn’t normally let himself get this close but he feels loose-limbed and relaxed, intoxicated by Jared’s warmth and the weed that’s thrumming through him, reaching every part of him, through his fingertips down to his toes.
Jared turns towards him and brings a hand up to cup the back of Jensen’s head, urging him closer. Their mouths come together in a hot press of lips, messy with teeth clinking together. Jensen’s not sure it should be this much like kissing - they’re being clumsy with it, a few centimeters too close - but he can’t pull himself away, not now.
The smoke curls around their tongues and Jensen laps it up, Jared's mouth hot and wet against his own. His heart feels like it’s beating faster and harder in his chest and his mind is swimming, floating, and he’s melting into Jared’s body heat, feeling himself uncurl.
It feels like they’re moving in slow motion, everything around them frozen while they share the hit, and then all too soon it’s over. They pull apart and Jensen can’t move his eyes from the curve of Jared’s pink, wet lips as he blows the smoke out of his own mouth, heat rushing through him.
Jensen looks over at the other three, expects their eyes to be on them, but Katie and Danneel are wrapped up in each other, talking close, and Misha’s already rolling another joint, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth as he concentrates.
Misha finishes rolling it and the new one comes around the circle again, and Jensen takes it when Jared passes it over.
“Do that thing,” Jared says, waving his hand as if he’s trying to draw the words he wants to say in the air. “With the smoke.”
“You mean--” Jensen takes a toke and then blows the smoke out his mouth, and then begins to inhale the smoke through his nose to make a continuous flow. Jared’s watching him with wide eyes, his mouth parted, and it makes a hot flush run through Jensen.
He finally blows out the smoke and hands it towards Danneel who’s also watching him.
“That was hot,” she says, before putting the joint between her lips.
“Irish Waterfall,” Misha says from his spot on the grass. “Someone’s done this before.”
“Once or twice,” Jensen says.
They continue to pass around the joint until its burnt out, and they relax, boneless and sated around the fire. Misha stands up slowly, on unsure legs, to tell them he's heading to bed.
As if that's a signal for everyone else to be tired, Jared yawns and Katie stands up too, stretching as she does.
Jared and Jensen also stand up to stretch and decide on their own sleeping arrangements for the night.
Jensen's standing by the campfire when someone comes up close beside him, and Jensen tries to think straight through the haze in his head, keep his eyes open when all he wants is to fall asleep.
“Jensen,” Danneel says, pressing the length of her body against his and smiling, teeth flashing in the darkness. “Do you want to spend the night in our tent? Get to know each other a little better?”
She whispers it against his skin and then pulls back with a teasing smile. He looks over and notices Katie smiling at them. Jensen lets out a slow breath and looks back to Danneel.
“I, uh. I don’t think so,” he says, and laughs, nervously. The weed is still thrumming through him, making him feel slow like his thoughts are syrup.
Danneel leans closer and runs a hand down his arm. Out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of Jared, who’s watching with an amused expression on his face.
“You sure?” she whispers, her fingers curling around his wrist.
“Yeah,” he breathes out, pulling back slightly. She gives him another smile and takes a step back, and Jensen feels he can breathe easier.
He feels a heavy weight against him and looks up to see Jared with his arm around his shoulders and pulling him against his body.
“What Jensen is trying to say is he’s flattered, really, but he's more of a no-boobs and dick kind of guy.”
Jensen looks at him, unamused, and Jared grins back at him. Danneel laughs a little, tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.
“That’s too bad,” she says.
"Sorry," Jensen says, around a yawn. "I'm gonna just go to sleep."
She nods at him, gives a little smile and heads over to her tent where Katie is still standing.
"Jay, you shouldn't have done that," Jensen says, shrugging out from beneath Jared's arm.
"What?" Jared asks. "What did I do?"
"I just-- don't like everyone knowing," Jensen says, feeling uncomfortable.
Jared stares at him for a long moment and Jensen watches as his Adam's apple bobs as he swallows.
"Sorry, Jen."
"Don't worry about it," Jensen says, ready to drop onto the grass and make up bed there. "Let's just go to sleep."
Jared gives him one more soft smile before heading over near the fire and settling down on the grass.
Jensen follows and figures it's a good a place as any other to sleep, and the night is still warm, the grass a comfortable softness beneath his body.
He can feel the heavy, coiling sensation of the weed as it curls around his bones, settles there and makes him feel sated. Jared’s humming something beside him, and Jensen starts to hum along, seems to know it even if he can’t place it.
Jensen reaches forward and tucks a piece of Jared’s hair behind his ear. It’s gotten long, sticking to his forehead in the humidity of the night and Jared stops humming, turns his head towards him.
Jensen drops his hand and Jared smiles at him in the darkness.
“Your hair,” Jensen says, swallowing. “It was just sticking to your forehead, I--”
“I liked it,” Jared says in a low, soft voice. It’s quiet enough that Jensen has to strain to hear it over the crackle of the fire.
It takes a few moments for the words to get past the heaviness in his mind before he realizes what Jared said.“You liked it?”
“I like you touching my hair,” Jared says, letting his eyes drift close. “Feels nice.”
Jensen reaches forwards and rakes his fingers through Jared’s hair, gentle and slow. Jared sighs and begins to hum again.
He shuffles closer along the ground until he’s leaning over Jared, staring down at his face. Jared opens his eyes and smiles lazily up at Jensen.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” Jensen replies. He drops his head on Jared’s chest and Jared’s hand comes up to palm the back of his head, holding him there. It feels nice, Jared’s chest warm and moving in a steady rhythm beneath him as he breathes.
He lets out a happy, content sigh and relaxes against him, slipping into sleep, lulled by Jared’s breathing.
***
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