Assemblage - Part Three - Big Bang 2010
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What the FUCK? Thinks Jared, as he stands in the bathroom stall at The Spot, looking confusedly at the place Jensen had been standing in just seconds before he ran like the fires of hell were going to consume him.
Jared follows him out of the bathroom, but all traces of Jensen even having been there that evening are gone. Jared goes over to where he left their friends, finding them dancing in a corner of the dance floor. Jensen is not with them.
“Jared, you sly dog!” Sophia starts to tease as soon as she spots him. “Disappearing with Jensen like that. Did you find a nice quiet corner to ‘talk’? If you’re here to tell me you guys are heading out, that’s fine. Sandy and I can find our own way back to the dorms. You go have fun.”
“Ah, wait, yes. No. It’s not really like that. Well, um, yes we did find a corner to” Jared pauses awkwardly “talk, but then he ran out on me. You guys didn’t see him leave did you? Mike, Tom? Did he stop by and say where he was going?”
Mike stops dancing. “What do you mean Jensen just left? Chris drove us all tonight, and I can see him sitting with Steve over there. Are you sure Jensen left and didn’t just go to the bathroom or the bar or something?”
Jared blushes, remembering the bathroom and the events that unfolded there. “Um, yeah I’m sure.”
“I think I need a little detail as to why Jensen would run away from you.” Mike’s face starts to scrunch up in anger, instantly leaping to defend his friend.
Tom moves and puts his hand on Mike’s shoulder to calm down his boyfriend, at least until they have the facts straight. “Easy tiger. Jared, I think you’re going to have to at least give us the abridged version so we can try and figure out why Jensen left. And so Mike can calm down.” The last two words were said very pointedly while Tom looked straight into Mike’s eyes.
Jared sighs. He was hoping it wouldn’t come to having to tell them, since he was fairly sure Jensen wouldn’t like his friends knowing that he just made out in a bathroom stall if doing the act itself was enough to make him run. But on the other hand, Mike was very open minded, and knows Jensen well, so if Jensen needs someone to go after him when he disappears like this, Mike was probably a good candidate. And he really didn’t want his TA to beat him up after only the first week of classes.
“Well,” Jared starts, unsure how to get it said without imploding from embarrassment, or giving away too much detail. “Jensen pulled me to the back, and um, we got a little, frisky and then, afterwards, he bolted. He said he had to go, and then he just, ran.”
Mike stares at him, face relaxed, but eyes a little pinched in confusion. “He just... ran?”
“Yeah. I thought everything was going really good, then he ducked away from underneath me, and just ran.”
“Huh.” Mike replies. “and he just... left. Did he say anything else?”
“Nope. Just that he had to go, and then he left, right out the door.”
“Huh.” Mike repeated.
“Well, that’s not good.” Said Tom. “He had been doing so good lately too. I thought he was over everything.”
“He was. I mean, he hasn’t mentioned anything for a while. And he’s been back to being the old Jensen, the way he was before Jeff, for well over a year now. He must have just freaked.” Was Mike’s reply to Tom’s offhand comment.
“Wait. What the hell are you guys talking about.”
Both Mike and Tom turn to look at Jared, as if just realizing he was there. “It’s not really our place to tell you, at least in any detail, but Jensen’s last relationship wasn’t healthy. I mean, it wasn’t abusive or anything, but it wasn’t good. I’m sure, with time, he’ll tell you.” Tom filled in for Jared. “but, um, it may be good to give him some space, at least until one of us talks to him. Do you have a cell phone? Mike and I will go after him. He likely went straight home to freak out in his own space. We’ll give you a call or a text to let you know what’s going on.”
“Yeah, thanks guys.” Jared hands his cell phone over to Tom, while Tom passes his to Jared. They enter their numbers into each other’s phone, then pass the phones back.
“We should get going then.” Mike says to Tom. “I’m worried about Jenny now. I wanna make sure he hasn’t emptied the 7-11 of all of their Ben and Jerry’s.”
“Yeah, let’s go grab Chris and Steve and then head.” Tom turns back to Jared, Sophia and Sandy. “It was great meeting you. Have a good night.”
“Ciao, Amigos.” Mike turns with a wave and heads towards Chris and Steve.
“Don’t worry Jared, I’m sure it will work out.” Tom turns and follows after Mike.
Jared watches the two men leave, thinking about the events of the night. Suddenly, two small bodies latch themselves to him, hugging him tightly. He looks down and sees Sandy and Sophia hugging him, reassuring smiles on their faces.
“Let’s go get you some ice cream, Sugar.” Sandy says with a grin. “And we can bitch about how boys suck.”
“I am ALL for that” replies Sophia, pulling back a bit and smiles up at Jared. “It will all work out, you’ll see.”
“I like how you didn’t say it will all work out for the better there Soph. Way to vague it up.” Jared smiles down at his two best friends (Chad’s spot as best friend temporarily stolen with the prospect of ice cream in the near future). “I’ll be fine. Though, ice cream sounds really good right now.”
“We’ll hit the store on the way back to the dorm, then hide out there.” Sandy plans. “Your dorm room is best. No cranky roommates.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jared replies, and they turn to leave The Spot behind them.
Jared’s phone beeps at him from its place on his nightstand, the light from the screen flashing green in the darkness of his dorm room. He reaches over and picks it up. Flipping it open, he makes note of the time before opening the waiting text message. 3:45 in the morning. Sandy and Sophia had left almost two hours ago, and he’s been attempting to sleep, while worrying about Jensen, since they left.
He opens the message and notices it’s from Tom.
Jen’s ok, but freaked. worried u think he’s a slut. told him u didn’t think that & are worried if he’s ok. he’s really sorry, but doesn’t know what to do. he still likes you tho. Gave him ur number, but he likely won’t call. he’s scared.
Jared pauses and rereads the message a couple of times in the dim light of his dorm room, then hits ‘reply’.
tell him not to freak. I like him too. If he’s a slut, then so am I. we were both there. tell him to get some sleep & call when he feels comfortable doing so.
Jared hits send, closes his flip phone, and lies back on his bed, waiting to see if there is a reply. Within a few minutes, his phone beeps and blinks at him. He flips his phone open and reads the message waiting there.
Mike reminds u about what he said about patience earlier today. read ur message to Jen. He’s gonna go lie down now and try to sleep and says he’ll call later. Mike and I agree he probably won’t get the nerve to do so anytime soon.
Jared hits reply, and sends a brief message back.
Thanks Mike and Tom. Have a good night.
Within seconds he gets another reply. Sleep well Jared.
Monday morning arrives and Jared still hasn’t heard from Jensen. He makes his way towards his archaeology class with a determined step, and a cup of coffee in each hand.
He stands in front of Jensen’s desk and puts one of the coffees down in front of him. He notices that Jensen’s book bag is once again occupying the seat next to him. Jensen looks exhausted. His hair is rumpled, his clothes don’t match, and his eyes have heavy shadows under them.
“Hey.” Jared greets Jensen in a soft voice.
“Hey.” Jensen replies. “I’m sorry. For running.” He moves the book bag off of the seat so Jared has a place to sit. Jared takes that as a promising sign that Jensen is comfortable with Jared being close by and means his apology sincerely.
“It’s ok. Well, it’s not ok, but it’s in the past, and I forgive you. Just, um, don’t make a habit of it or something, ok?” Jared offers him a hesitant smile as he sits in the seat next to Jensen.
Jensen hesitantly smiles back. “I’ll try not to. If I run, I’ll try to give you warning or a head start or something.”
Jared chuckles softly. “But you’re feeling better, right? Are we ok? I want us to be ok.”
Jensen turns his head to look Jared in the eye. “I’m ok. We’re ok. Or, at least, we will be ok. I was just overwhelmed. You wanna do coffee later today, after classes? We can talk about where to go from here?”
“Yeah, that would be awesome.” Jared replies with enthusiasm. “You wanna meet at 2:30 at the Java Hutt?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Dr. Collins comes striding into the room with a self satisfied smirk on his face. “Good morning class. I trust you had acceptable weekends. I am quite proud of myself this morning. This is the first day I’ve walked into the right classroom and I realized it was the right classroom before I started teaching. There is a very confused sociology class down the hall that has had the unfortunate luck of listening to the first five minutes of my lectures for the last week. I’ll tell you” he continues with a rueful shake of his head and a chuckle “their professor does NOT have a sense of humour. I kinda feel sorry for them...” Dr. Collins pulls some papers and notes out of his book bag and sets the bag on the floor. “Makes you want to liberate them or something.” He goes back to shuffling through his notes.
“So” Dr. Collins continues “today we are going to talk about stratigraphy. Which, after context, is your new favourite word. Stratigraphy is a method we use to date archaeological sites, and it relies on how sediments are layered in the ground. The thing to remember about stratigraphy is that, just like all the shit sitting on your desks at home, all the old stuff sits at the bottom, while the newer additions are on the top. The older it is, the deeper it gets buried. Sometimes things get jumbled around in the ground, and the layers shift their order, and trust me that will fuck your site interpretations right out the window, but the thing to remember is that stratigraphy is important and it helps us put things into context...”
Jensen sits impatiently at the Java Hutt waiting for Jared to arrive. He went straight to the coffee shop after his class ended shortly before two, so he was early, very early, and all the extra time was doing was playing with his nerves. He did not want to screw up what could very easily and quickly turn into a very good thing. He likes Jared, even though he’s only known him a week. He likes his easy smile and his infectious laugh. He likes how easy going, friendly and intelligent he is. He likes that he is so distinctly different than Jeff. He especially likes that he could feel emotions for someone again after everything that had happened. And he likes to think that the feelings between the two of them are mutual. Jared deserved someone who could give him the moon. Jensen was definitely willing to try if he requested it. He’s pretty sure NASA’s not actually using it, anyways.
The bell over the door chimes, and Jared pauses in the door to the coffee shop. Jensen waves at him, and Jared spots the table he had grabbed in the corner by the window. Jared walks over and drops his bag down.
“Hey Jen, what do you want to drink? I’ll grab coffees while I’m still standing.”
“No, sit. You bought this morning, I’ll get these ones.”
Jared smiles and nods. He pulls out his chair and sits across from Jensen. Before Jensen gets a chance to stand up, he reaches out to Jensen’s hand where it rests on the table top and rubs his thumb over the back of it. “How was the rest of your day?”
“It was good. Classes went as fast as usual. Still not too busy since it’s so early in the semester. How about you?”
“Just English. It was ok. The prof is a bit of a blow hard though. He went on and on about the biblical illusions in this one short story we read and I just did not get what he was trying to get at. I did not see anything biblical in the story at all. I think I’m going to choose something else when it comes time to write the paper.”
“Good plan. Stick with what makes sense and you’ll do fine in your courses. I’m going to go grab our coffees. Do you want anything else?”
“Do you think they have any of those chocolate muffins left? If they do, then I’d love one of those.”
Jensen smiles at Jared. “Sure. Be right back.”
Jensen goes up to the counter and orders two coffees and two muffins, both chocolate. As he’s waiting for the guy behind the counter to fill his order, he turns to watch Jared who is watching people walk by outside the window. Jared really is gorgeous in a playful, goofy way. His floppy brown hair shining in the sunlight streaming in through the window; the sun making his skin look even more golden. When he smiles in Jensen’s direction upon noticing Jensen looking at him, his whole face lit up with delight. Jensen could get used to putting that smile on his face. Noticing that their order was ready, he picks up the plates and mugs and makes his way back to Jared.
“One chocolate muffin and one coffee. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Jensen said as he sat down.
“You didn’t keep me waiting, and thank you.” Jared reaches to the cream and sugar holders beside him and starts to doctor up his coffee.
Jensen watches as Jared stirs his coffee, the spoon clanking against the ceramic edge of the mug. The silence between the two of them is palatable. He should have expected the awkward silences to start at some point.
“So.” Starts Jensen, but he doesn’t really know what to say next so he just trails off.
“So.” Echoes Jared.
Jensen fiddles with his muffin and begins again. “I’m sorry I ran.” His voice explodes out of him with speed. Maybe if he says it quickly, it will all be over faster, like a band aid being pulled off. “I didn’t mean to freak. It just happened. All of a sudden I realized what we had just done, and it was just... too soon. I mean, I like you, I don’t regret what we did, I just maybe regret the speed at which we did it. Usually I would have liked to take you out on at least a couple of dates first. Gotten to know you better. I’m just worried that I screwed it all up, and drunkenly at that.”
Jared smiles hesitantly. “You didn’t screw anything up. I like you. You freaking out isn’t going to change that. And maybe it was too soon. I mean, it was pretty quick after we met, but it didn’t feel quick. So, is this a date? Are you trying to set us back on track or something?”
Jensen smiles. “I dunno, maybe. If you’re ok with that?”
“I’m definitely ok with that.” Jared replies.
“I don’t deserve you. You are way too forgiving.” Jensen says with a small smile and a shake of his head.
“Stop that. Things got intense, you panicked. It’s a normal human response. I get that. And we’ve already agreed that you aren’t allowed to just run when you panic. Next time, stick around and tell me.”
“Ok.” Jensen agrees, looking Jared in the eyes and seeing the sincerity there. He takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Ok. Good.” Jared replies with a decisive nod of his head. “Then let’s get on with the getting to know you portion of the evening. Where are you from, Jensen? I mean, I can tell you’re also a Texan, but there are a lot of us here. Are you local?”
“No, I grew up in Richardson. It’s just outside of Dallas. Grew up in a typical suburban house, with my dad golfing on the weekends and my mom baking in the kitchen. I have an older brother, Josh, and a younger sister, Mackenzie. How about you?”
“I grew up in San Antonio. Went to high school with Chad, Sandy and Sophia, then we all came here. I have an older brother, Jeff, and a younger sister, Megan, same as you. And two dogs that I couldn’t bring with me. They’re staying with my parents and Megan, who’s still in high school and lives at home.”
As they settle into conversation about their childhoods and antics they had with their siblings and friends growing up, Jensen realized that talking to Jared, being with Jared, was easy. He felt the panic recede. His earlier nervousness slid off him, and he relaxed into the moment.
Class on Wednesday expectedly starts with the bang of the classroom door opening, and Dr. Collin’s striding in. “Awesome.” Misha says with a smile, his voice gravelly. “I made it to the right class again. Let’s hope my new found sense of direction sticks.” He walks over to the podium at the front of the room, pulls out his notes, and then puts his bag on the floor. He looks around the room, seemingly trying to memorize faces, or bend time with his mind. “Ok, let’s begin. Today we are talking about mythology. You may be curious as to what that has to do with archaeology, but you have to remember that the artifacts you unearth were created in a society different from our own. Which is stating the obvious. But the objects they created in the past, whether they are everyday objects or ceremonial objects, reflect the culture and the values of the people who created them. And often the stories behind the artifacts are the most important part of all...”
As Dr. Collins jumps from topic to topic, Jared takes notes on what he is saying, with the occasional glance towards Jensen. Jared really enjoyed their coffee date on Monday. Once Jensen relaxed, and their intentions were worked out between the two of them, they had a really good time. They seem to have a lot in common, and Jared really hopes that they have a chance at making whatever this was between the two of them work.
As class winds to a close, Jared begins to pack up his stuff, watching Jensen doing the same out of the corner of his eye. As they walk out of the room together, Jared starts up the conversation.
“Hey, so I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie Friday night? We did the bar scene last weekend, so I thought you could show me what else this town has to offer. There’s gotta be a movie theatre around here somewhere.”
Jensen smiles. “There is, a couple of blocks away there’s a theatre that plays classics, and a few blocks past that is a theatre that shows new releases. I could go for a movie Friday night. There’s a couple of new horror flicks out that I haven’t had a chance to see yet.”
“Ah, man! I love horror movies! This is awesome! I can never get anyone to go with me! Sandy and Sophia always go for the romantic soppy movies, and Chad only goes for explosions. You have just made my day. Hell, you may have just made my week!”
Jensen laughs at Jared’s enthusiasm. “Yeah, I am pretty much addicted to horror. There’s nothing like a movie that gets your heart racing and makes you afraid of every dark corner or sketchy alley. How about I pick you up outside the dorms, say six? We can go check out times, grab tickets and maybe get some dinner before the show starts?”
“Awesome. It’s a date. I can’t wait.”
“Same here. I gotta run to class though. I’ll see you Friday in class?”
“For sure.” Jared reaches his one arm out to cup Jensen’s shoulder. He reels Jensen in quickly, gives him a quick, soft kiss on the lips, then pulls back with a smile. “See you Friday, Jensen.” He turns and leaves a flummoxed Jensen standing in the corridor. When Jared turns back to look at him, Jensen is still standing there with a soft smile on his lips and a deep red blush across his cheeks.
Friday’s classes come and go with a flurry of activity. Before Jared knows it, he’s standing in front of his dorm waiting for Jensen to pick him up. He notices Jensen walking across the field in front of his dorm before Jensen notices him. He can feel a wide smile stretching across his face. Jensen had dressed up, like himself, for their night out. Jensen’s dark jeans were clean and looked new, his charcoal button up shirt made his green eyes pop. Jared was dressed similarly, but his jeans were more worn, and his shirt was bright white. They definitely weren’t dressed formally, but better than their usual sloppy attire of whatever jeans and t-shirts were reasonably clean and thrown on before they rushed to class. Jensen spots Jared as he approaches and Jared can see his answering wide smile as he walks closer to him.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Jared replies. He reaches out as soon as Jensen gets close and pulls him in for a light kiss. Jensen seemed to have anticipated the kiss this time, and opens his mouth to deepen the kiss.
They pull apart gently, and Jared looks at Jensen with a soft smile. “So, movie? Let’s go see what’s playing.”
“Sounds good.” Jensen replies and starts to lead them in the direction of the movie theatre. It’s only a couple of blocks from Jared’s dorm and the night is clear and warm. Perfect weather for walking.
They get to the theatre which plays classic films and notice that Hitchcock’s Psycho is playing at nine. They’ve both seen it, but find out quickly that they both consider it one of their favourite films. Jared buys tickets for later and they head towards a nearby diner for dinner.
“Man, I am starved.” Jared exclaims as he sits down in the booth.
“I think the one thing I learned about you pretty quickly was that you are always hungry. Is the secret to your heart always keeping you fed? Should I carry around granola bars and Ziploc bags full of cheerio’s like I had a toddler?”
Jared smiles. Jensen’s teasing isn’t quite that far off the mark. “Pretty much. My momma always did say that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, and it’s pretty applicable to me.”
Jensen smiles and picks up a menu. “Good to know. What are you thinking of getting?”
Jared picks up his menu and takes a couple of minutes to read over the choices.
“You wanna split some wings as an appetizer? I think I’m gonna get the bacon cheeseburger, but it probably won’t be enough.”
Jensen just chuckles. “Yeah, I could go for some wings. The burgers here are amazing, but I think I’m gonna go for a cheese steak sandwich.”
The waitress comes up to take their drink orders- root beer for Jensen, coke for Jared- and tells them that she’ll be back to take the rest of their order.
“What kind of wings are you thinking?” Jensen asks.
“Do you like them spicy?”
“Not TOO spicy. Mike and I entered this contest the one time. You had to eat ten of the spiciest wings the restaurant made, and it sounds easy, but I couldn’t even make it past five of them. My mouth was on fire. I can’t really handle the spicy ones anymore, too many painful memories. Mike ate all ten, but then regretted it later in the evening when he experienced them in reverse.”
“Ah man, that sounds fierce. But I bet I could handle them. I love spicy food. I have an iron stomach.”
“You say that now. Trust me, they use three different types of hot sauce mixed together, coat them in black pepper, and serve them with a ranch dip laced with more hot sauce. There is no relief from these wings. They burn.”
The waitress makes her way back to them and sets their drinks in front of them. She pulls out her notepad and asks them what they would like.
“Um,” begins Jared “We’re gonna start with an order of the sweet chili wings” he looks to Jensen for confirmation on his flavour choice. Jensen nods in agreement. “and then I’m gonna have the bacon cheeseburger with fries.”
“And I’ll have the cheese steak, also with fries. Thanks.” Jensen finishes, and smiles at the waitress. The waitress finishes writing their order down and tells them she’ll be back when their food is ready.
They talk about their courses while they wait for the wings to arrive. Both their weeks have been pretty typical for the first couple weeks of classes. No assignments are due yet, and the stresses which come later in the semester have yet to rear their ugly heads.
When the wings arrive, they split them equally. Jared is transfixed with Jensen’s fingers and lips as he eats the wings. Finger foods were something that Jared was going to make sure Jensen ate a lot of. With every bite of chicken, he ran his tongue across his lips, chasing stray sauce. And after each wing was done, he sucked on his fingers in a manner which Jared thought was unintentionally dirty, but he could be wrong.
Once the wings were completed, they sat back in their seats and discussed random topics that came up. It seems that they both loved football, cheering for the Cowboys, and both loved basketball, though they argued good naturedly over whose team was better, the Mavs or the Spurs. Their main course arrived, and the conversation naturally died off as they dug into their food.
With their main course done, Jared leans back in the booth and rubs his hand over his stomach. “Man, that was awesome. You were right. The burgers here are good.”
“Yeah, it was a really good sandwich, too. You too full for pie? They have awesome pie.”
“I could go for pie.” Jared replies, nodding in agreement.
The waitress comes by and clears their dirty dishes away, and takes their dessert order; two pieces of apple pie, with ice cream.
“Man, you are gonna have to roll me to the movie.” Jared exclaims when a large piece of apple pie is set in front of him moments later.
Jensen chuckles. “You can’t tell me that I am witnessing you full. I think I should take a picture or something.”
“It’s not that rare of an occurrence. It happens at least three times a year. Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Jensen just chuckles and takes a few bites of his pie. “I think I owe you an explanation as to why I freaked.”
Jared looks up from his pie. “You don’t have to. I mean, an explanation would be nice, so I know what not to do or whatever, but if you don’t feel comfortable telling me yet, that’s ok too.”
“No, I want to tell you. It’s well in the past, and I thought it was all behind me, but apparently it isn’t. Maybe telling you will let it be dead and buried where it belongs.”
“Ok.” Jared gives Jensen his full attention, pie completely forgotten.
“Jeff and I dated for just over a year. We met when I was a first year student, and he was in his second year of his Masters. He was a lot older than me, but I never really thought that mattered while we were dating. We met at another bar near campus, and hooked up one night. And we sort of fell into a relationship, of sorts. Because I was young and naive, and never really sat down and discussed what was going on between us with Jeff, we ended up on different pages of what the relationship meant.”
Jared smiles wryly, and starts to fit the puzzle pieces together in his mind.
“Anyways, while I was thinking that we were in a committed, monogamous relationship, without ever really asking Jeff if that was the case, he was thinking that, while I was his boyfriend, we were both getting action on the side. I found out after about seven months into our relationship, when I asked Jeff if he wanted to go out for dinner with me and he responded that he already had a date, but that he would love to meet me the next night. I questioned him, and that’s when we both realized that we were seeing things differently. I’m still surprised it took that long to realize what was going on. We tried to make it work for another six months, but it slowly became apparent that it just wouldn’t work. Jeff tried to be monogamous for me, and hated me for it. I tried to be ok with him dating more than just me, and it killed me inside. So, we broke up. And two years later, here we are.”
“God, Jen. That’s horrible.” Jared reaches across the table and takes Jensen’s hand within his own. He gives it a reassuring squeeze.
“So, that’s why I have a bit of baggage. But I’m working through it. You are in no way like Jeff, but he’s the only long term relationship I’ve ever been in. So I guess it warps my perception sometimes.”
“I’ve never been in a long term relationship, so I’m sure I bring baggage to the table, too. I guess if it helps, I’m going into what I’m hoping is a relationship with you with thoughts of long term, committed and monogamous. Unless that just freaks you out more, then forget I said anything and we can discuss it again in a few weeks or something.”
Jensen’s shoulders sag with relief. “No need to talk about it in a few weeks. It sounds pretty much perfect right now.”
“Good.” Jared replies with a smile. He picks up his fork and continues to eat his pie, relieved when he sees Jensen doing the same.
At the movie theatre, they pick out seats in the center of the back row. The theatre doesn’t contain many people at all, most people choosing to go see a movie which has been released recently rather than an old classic. Jared and Jensen talk quietly and make jokes throughout the previews but settle down to enjoy the movie once it starts.
About half an hour into the movie, Jensen feels Jared’s arm snake around his back and Jared’s heavy hand settles comfortably upon his far shoulder. He snuggles into Jared’s embrace, letting his warm heat settle over him in the slight chill of the movie theatre. Jensen reaches out with the hand closest to Jared and settles it on Jared’s knee, relishing in the ability to hold and be held like this. He sighs softly and goes back to watching the movie, glad that Jared seems to be enjoying it as much as he is, and relieved that Jared didn’t go along with this movie choice simply for the opportunity to make out.
Onto Part Four
Back to Master Post
Back to Master Post
What the FUCK? Thinks Jared, as he stands in the bathroom stall at The Spot, looking confusedly at the place Jensen had been standing in just seconds before he ran like the fires of hell were going to consume him.
Jared follows him out of the bathroom, but all traces of Jensen even having been there that evening are gone. Jared goes over to where he left their friends, finding them dancing in a corner of the dance floor. Jensen is not with them.
“Jared, you sly dog!” Sophia starts to tease as soon as she spots him. “Disappearing with Jensen like that. Did you find a nice quiet corner to ‘talk’? If you’re here to tell me you guys are heading out, that’s fine. Sandy and I can find our own way back to the dorms. You go have fun.”
“Ah, wait, yes. No. It’s not really like that. Well, um, yes we did find a corner to” Jared pauses awkwardly “talk, but then he ran out on me. You guys didn’t see him leave did you? Mike, Tom? Did he stop by and say where he was going?”
Mike stops dancing. “What do you mean Jensen just left? Chris drove us all tonight, and I can see him sitting with Steve over there. Are you sure Jensen left and didn’t just go to the bathroom or the bar or something?”
Jared blushes, remembering the bathroom and the events that unfolded there. “Um, yeah I’m sure.”
“I think I need a little detail as to why Jensen would run away from you.” Mike’s face starts to scrunch up in anger, instantly leaping to defend his friend.
Tom moves and puts his hand on Mike’s shoulder to calm down his boyfriend, at least until they have the facts straight. “Easy tiger. Jared, I think you’re going to have to at least give us the abridged version so we can try and figure out why Jensen left. And so Mike can calm down.” The last two words were said very pointedly while Tom looked straight into Mike’s eyes.
Jared sighs. He was hoping it wouldn’t come to having to tell them, since he was fairly sure Jensen wouldn’t like his friends knowing that he just made out in a bathroom stall if doing the act itself was enough to make him run. But on the other hand, Mike was very open minded, and knows Jensen well, so if Jensen needs someone to go after him when he disappears like this, Mike was probably a good candidate. And he really didn’t want his TA to beat him up after only the first week of classes.
“Well,” Jared starts, unsure how to get it said without imploding from embarrassment, or giving away too much detail. “Jensen pulled me to the back, and um, we got a little, frisky and then, afterwards, he bolted. He said he had to go, and then he just, ran.”
Mike stares at him, face relaxed, but eyes a little pinched in confusion. “He just... ran?”
“Yeah. I thought everything was going really good, then he ducked away from underneath me, and just ran.”
“Huh.” Mike replies. “and he just... left. Did he say anything else?”
“Nope. Just that he had to go, and then he left, right out the door.”
“Huh.” Mike repeated.
“Well, that’s not good.” Said Tom. “He had been doing so good lately too. I thought he was over everything.”
“He was. I mean, he hasn’t mentioned anything for a while. And he’s been back to being the old Jensen, the way he was before Jeff, for well over a year now. He must have just freaked.” Was Mike’s reply to Tom’s offhand comment.
“Wait. What the hell are you guys talking about.”
Both Mike and Tom turn to look at Jared, as if just realizing he was there. “It’s not really our place to tell you, at least in any detail, but Jensen’s last relationship wasn’t healthy. I mean, it wasn’t abusive or anything, but it wasn’t good. I’m sure, with time, he’ll tell you.” Tom filled in for Jared. “but, um, it may be good to give him some space, at least until one of us talks to him. Do you have a cell phone? Mike and I will go after him. He likely went straight home to freak out in his own space. We’ll give you a call or a text to let you know what’s going on.”
“Yeah, thanks guys.” Jared hands his cell phone over to Tom, while Tom passes his to Jared. They enter their numbers into each other’s phone, then pass the phones back.
“We should get going then.” Mike says to Tom. “I’m worried about Jenny now. I wanna make sure he hasn’t emptied the 7-11 of all of their Ben and Jerry’s.”
“Yeah, let’s go grab Chris and Steve and then head.” Tom turns back to Jared, Sophia and Sandy. “It was great meeting you. Have a good night.”
“Ciao, Amigos.” Mike turns with a wave and heads towards Chris and Steve.
“Don’t worry Jared, I’m sure it will work out.” Tom turns and follows after Mike.
Jared watches the two men leave, thinking about the events of the night. Suddenly, two small bodies latch themselves to him, hugging him tightly. He looks down and sees Sandy and Sophia hugging him, reassuring smiles on their faces.
“Let’s go get you some ice cream, Sugar.” Sandy says with a grin. “And we can bitch about how boys suck.”
“I am ALL for that” replies Sophia, pulling back a bit and smiles up at Jared. “It will all work out, you’ll see.”
“I like how you didn’t say it will all work out for the better there Soph. Way to vague it up.” Jared smiles down at his two best friends (Chad’s spot as best friend temporarily stolen with the prospect of ice cream in the near future). “I’ll be fine. Though, ice cream sounds really good right now.”
“We’ll hit the store on the way back to the dorm, then hide out there.” Sandy plans. “Your dorm room is best. No cranky roommates.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jared replies, and they turn to leave The Spot behind them.
Jared’s phone beeps at him from its place on his nightstand, the light from the screen flashing green in the darkness of his dorm room. He reaches over and picks it up. Flipping it open, he makes note of the time before opening the waiting text message. 3:45 in the morning. Sandy and Sophia had left almost two hours ago, and he’s been attempting to sleep, while worrying about Jensen, since they left.
He opens the message and notices it’s from Tom.
Jen’s ok, but freaked. worried u think he’s a slut. told him u didn’t think that & are worried if he’s ok. he’s really sorry, but doesn’t know what to do. he still likes you tho. Gave him ur number, but he likely won’t call. he’s scared.
Jared pauses and rereads the message a couple of times in the dim light of his dorm room, then hits ‘reply’.
tell him not to freak. I like him too. If he’s a slut, then so am I. we were both there. tell him to get some sleep & call when he feels comfortable doing so.
Jared hits send, closes his flip phone, and lies back on his bed, waiting to see if there is a reply. Within a few minutes, his phone beeps and blinks at him. He flips his phone open and reads the message waiting there.
Mike reminds u about what he said about patience earlier today. read ur message to Jen. He’s gonna go lie down now and try to sleep and says he’ll call later. Mike and I agree he probably won’t get the nerve to do so anytime soon.
Jared hits reply, and sends a brief message back.
Thanks Mike and Tom. Have a good night.
Within seconds he gets another reply. Sleep well Jared.
Monday morning arrives and Jared still hasn’t heard from Jensen. He makes his way towards his archaeology class with a determined step, and a cup of coffee in each hand.
He stands in front of Jensen’s desk and puts one of the coffees down in front of him. He notices that Jensen’s book bag is once again occupying the seat next to him. Jensen looks exhausted. His hair is rumpled, his clothes don’t match, and his eyes have heavy shadows under them.
“Hey.” Jared greets Jensen in a soft voice.
“Hey.” Jensen replies. “I’m sorry. For running.” He moves the book bag off of the seat so Jared has a place to sit. Jared takes that as a promising sign that Jensen is comfortable with Jared being close by and means his apology sincerely.
“It’s ok. Well, it’s not ok, but it’s in the past, and I forgive you. Just, um, don’t make a habit of it or something, ok?” Jared offers him a hesitant smile as he sits in the seat next to Jensen.
Jensen hesitantly smiles back. “I’ll try not to. If I run, I’ll try to give you warning or a head start or something.”
Jared chuckles softly. “But you’re feeling better, right? Are we ok? I want us to be ok.”
Jensen turns his head to look Jared in the eye. “I’m ok. We’re ok. Or, at least, we will be ok. I was just overwhelmed. You wanna do coffee later today, after classes? We can talk about where to go from here?”
“Yeah, that would be awesome.” Jared replies with enthusiasm. “You wanna meet at 2:30 at the Java Hutt?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Dr. Collins comes striding into the room with a self satisfied smirk on his face. “Good morning class. I trust you had acceptable weekends. I am quite proud of myself this morning. This is the first day I’ve walked into the right classroom and I realized it was the right classroom before I started teaching. There is a very confused sociology class down the hall that has had the unfortunate luck of listening to the first five minutes of my lectures for the last week. I’ll tell you” he continues with a rueful shake of his head and a chuckle “their professor does NOT have a sense of humour. I kinda feel sorry for them...” Dr. Collins pulls some papers and notes out of his book bag and sets the bag on the floor. “Makes you want to liberate them or something.” He goes back to shuffling through his notes.
“So” Dr. Collins continues “today we are going to talk about stratigraphy. Which, after context, is your new favourite word. Stratigraphy is a method we use to date archaeological sites, and it relies on how sediments are layered in the ground. The thing to remember about stratigraphy is that, just like all the shit sitting on your desks at home, all the old stuff sits at the bottom, while the newer additions are on the top. The older it is, the deeper it gets buried. Sometimes things get jumbled around in the ground, and the layers shift their order, and trust me that will fuck your site interpretations right out the window, but the thing to remember is that stratigraphy is important and it helps us put things into context...”
Jensen sits impatiently at the Java Hutt waiting for Jared to arrive. He went straight to the coffee shop after his class ended shortly before two, so he was early, very early, and all the extra time was doing was playing with his nerves. He did not want to screw up what could very easily and quickly turn into a very good thing. He likes Jared, even though he’s only known him a week. He likes his easy smile and his infectious laugh. He likes how easy going, friendly and intelligent he is. He likes that he is so distinctly different than Jeff. He especially likes that he could feel emotions for someone again after everything that had happened. And he likes to think that the feelings between the two of them are mutual. Jared deserved someone who could give him the moon. Jensen was definitely willing to try if he requested it. He’s pretty sure NASA’s not actually using it, anyways.
The bell over the door chimes, and Jared pauses in the door to the coffee shop. Jensen waves at him, and Jared spots the table he had grabbed in the corner by the window. Jared walks over and drops his bag down.
“Hey Jen, what do you want to drink? I’ll grab coffees while I’m still standing.”
“No, sit. You bought this morning, I’ll get these ones.”
Jared smiles and nods. He pulls out his chair and sits across from Jensen. Before Jensen gets a chance to stand up, he reaches out to Jensen’s hand where it rests on the table top and rubs his thumb over the back of it. “How was the rest of your day?”
“It was good. Classes went as fast as usual. Still not too busy since it’s so early in the semester. How about you?”
“Just English. It was ok. The prof is a bit of a blow hard though. He went on and on about the biblical illusions in this one short story we read and I just did not get what he was trying to get at. I did not see anything biblical in the story at all. I think I’m going to choose something else when it comes time to write the paper.”
“Good plan. Stick with what makes sense and you’ll do fine in your courses. I’m going to go grab our coffees. Do you want anything else?”
“Do you think they have any of those chocolate muffins left? If they do, then I’d love one of those.”
Jensen smiles at Jared. “Sure. Be right back.”
Jensen goes up to the counter and orders two coffees and two muffins, both chocolate. As he’s waiting for the guy behind the counter to fill his order, he turns to watch Jared who is watching people walk by outside the window. Jared really is gorgeous in a playful, goofy way. His floppy brown hair shining in the sunlight streaming in through the window; the sun making his skin look even more golden. When he smiles in Jensen’s direction upon noticing Jensen looking at him, his whole face lit up with delight. Jensen could get used to putting that smile on his face. Noticing that their order was ready, he picks up the plates and mugs and makes his way back to Jared.
“One chocolate muffin and one coffee. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Jensen said as he sat down.
“You didn’t keep me waiting, and thank you.” Jared reaches to the cream and sugar holders beside him and starts to doctor up his coffee.
Jensen watches as Jared stirs his coffee, the spoon clanking against the ceramic edge of the mug. The silence between the two of them is palatable. He should have expected the awkward silences to start at some point.
“So.” Starts Jensen, but he doesn’t really know what to say next so he just trails off.
“So.” Echoes Jared.
Jensen fiddles with his muffin and begins again. “I’m sorry I ran.” His voice explodes out of him with speed. Maybe if he says it quickly, it will all be over faster, like a band aid being pulled off. “I didn’t mean to freak. It just happened. All of a sudden I realized what we had just done, and it was just... too soon. I mean, I like you, I don’t regret what we did, I just maybe regret the speed at which we did it. Usually I would have liked to take you out on at least a couple of dates first. Gotten to know you better. I’m just worried that I screwed it all up, and drunkenly at that.”
Jared smiles hesitantly. “You didn’t screw anything up. I like you. You freaking out isn’t going to change that. And maybe it was too soon. I mean, it was pretty quick after we met, but it didn’t feel quick. So, is this a date? Are you trying to set us back on track or something?”
Jensen smiles. “I dunno, maybe. If you’re ok with that?”
“I’m definitely ok with that.” Jared replies.
“I don’t deserve you. You are way too forgiving.” Jensen says with a small smile and a shake of his head.
“Stop that. Things got intense, you panicked. It’s a normal human response. I get that. And we’ve already agreed that you aren’t allowed to just run when you panic. Next time, stick around and tell me.”
“Ok.” Jensen agrees, looking Jared in the eyes and seeing the sincerity there. He takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Ok. Good.” Jared replies with a decisive nod of his head. “Then let’s get on with the getting to know you portion of the evening. Where are you from, Jensen? I mean, I can tell you’re also a Texan, but there are a lot of us here. Are you local?”
“No, I grew up in Richardson. It’s just outside of Dallas. Grew up in a typical suburban house, with my dad golfing on the weekends and my mom baking in the kitchen. I have an older brother, Josh, and a younger sister, Mackenzie. How about you?”
“I grew up in San Antonio. Went to high school with Chad, Sandy and Sophia, then we all came here. I have an older brother, Jeff, and a younger sister, Megan, same as you. And two dogs that I couldn’t bring with me. They’re staying with my parents and Megan, who’s still in high school and lives at home.”
As they settle into conversation about their childhoods and antics they had with their siblings and friends growing up, Jensen realized that talking to Jared, being with Jared, was easy. He felt the panic recede. His earlier nervousness slid off him, and he relaxed into the moment.
Class on Wednesday expectedly starts with the bang of the classroom door opening, and Dr. Collin’s striding in. “Awesome.” Misha says with a smile, his voice gravelly. “I made it to the right class again. Let’s hope my new found sense of direction sticks.” He walks over to the podium at the front of the room, pulls out his notes, and then puts his bag on the floor. He looks around the room, seemingly trying to memorize faces, or bend time with his mind. “Ok, let’s begin. Today we are talking about mythology. You may be curious as to what that has to do with archaeology, but you have to remember that the artifacts you unearth were created in a society different from our own. Which is stating the obvious. But the objects they created in the past, whether they are everyday objects or ceremonial objects, reflect the culture and the values of the people who created them. And often the stories behind the artifacts are the most important part of all...”
As Dr. Collins jumps from topic to topic, Jared takes notes on what he is saying, with the occasional glance towards Jensen. Jared really enjoyed their coffee date on Monday. Once Jensen relaxed, and their intentions were worked out between the two of them, they had a really good time. They seem to have a lot in common, and Jared really hopes that they have a chance at making whatever this was between the two of them work.
As class winds to a close, Jared begins to pack up his stuff, watching Jensen doing the same out of the corner of his eye. As they walk out of the room together, Jared starts up the conversation.
“Hey, so I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie Friday night? We did the bar scene last weekend, so I thought you could show me what else this town has to offer. There’s gotta be a movie theatre around here somewhere.”
Jensen smiles. “There is, a couple of blocks away there’s a theatre that plays classics, and a few blocks past that is a theatre that shows new releases. I could go for a movie Friday night. There’s a couple of new horror flicks out that I haven’t had a chance to see yet.”
“Ah, man! I love horror movies! This is awesome! I can never get anyone to go with me! Sandy and Sophia always go for the romantic soppy movies, and Chad only goes for explosions. You have just made my day. Hell, you may have just made my week!”
Jensen laughs at Jared’s enthusiasm. “Yeah, I am pretty much addicted to horror. There’s nothing like a movie that gets your heart racing and makes you afraid of every dark corner or sketchy alley. How about I pick you up outside the dorms, say six? We can go check out times, grab tickets and maybe get some dinner before the show starts?”
“Awesome. It’s a date. I can’t wait.”
“Same here. I gotta run to class though. I’ll see you Friday in class?”
“For sure.” Jared reaches his one arm out to cup Jensen’s shoulder. He reels Jensen in quickly, gives him a quick, soft kiss on the lips, then pulls back with a smile. “See you Friday, Jensen.” He turns and leaves a flummoxed Jensen standing in the corridor. When Jared turns back to look at him, Jensen is still standing there with a soft smile on his lips and a deep red blush across his cheeks.
Friday’s classes come and go with a flurry of activity. Before Jared knows it, he’s standing in front of his dorm waiting for Jensen to pick him up. He notices Jensen walking across the field in front of his dorm before Jensen notices him. He can feel a wide smile stretching across his face. Jensen had dressed up, like himself, for their night out. Jensen’s dark jeans were clean and looked new, his charcoal button up shirt made his green eyes pop. Jared was dressed similarly, but his jeans were more worn, and his shirt was bright white. They definitely weren’t dressed formally, but better than their usual sloppy attire of whatever jeans and t-shirts were reasonably clean and thrown on before they rushed to class. Jensen spots Jared as he approaches and Jared can see his answering wide smile as he walks closer to him.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Jared replies. He reaches out as soon as Jensen gets close and pulls him in for a light kiss. Jensen seemed to have anticipated the kiss this time, and opens his mouth to deepen the kiss.
They pull apart gently, and Jared looks at Jensen with a soft smile. “So, movie? Let’s go see what’s playing.”
“Sounds good.” Jensen replies and starts to lead them in the direction of the movie theatre. It’s only a couple of blocks from Jared’s dorm and the night is clear and warm. Perfect weather for walking.
They get to the theatre which plays classic films and notice that Hitchcock’s Psycho is playing at nine. They’ve both seen it, but find out quickly that they both consider it one of their favourite films. Jared buys tickets for later and they head towards a nearby diner for dinner.
“Man, I am starved.” Jared exclaims as he sits down in the booth.
“I think the one thing I learned about you pretty quickly was that you are always hungry. Is the secret to your heart always keeping you fed? Should I carry around granola bars and Ziploc bags full of cheerio’s like I had a toddler?”
Jared smiles. Jensen’s teasing isn’t quite that far off the mark. “Pretty much. My momma always did say that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, and it’s pretty applicable to me.”
Jensen smiles and picks up a menu. “Good to know. What are you thinking of getting?”
Jared picks up his menu and takes a couple of minutes to read over the choices.
“You wanna split some wings as an appetizer? I think I’m gonna get the bacon cheeseburger, but it probably won’t be enough.”
Jensen just chuckles. “Yeah, I could go for some wings. The burgers here are amazing, but I think I’m gonna go for a cheese steak sandwich.”
The waitress comes up to take their drink orders- root beer for Jensen, coke for Jared- and tells them that she’ll be back to take the rest of their order.
“What kind of wings are you thinking?” Jensen asks.
“Do you like them spicy?”
“Not TOO spicy. Mike and I entered this contest the one time. You had to eat ten of the spiciest wings the restaurant made, and it sounds easy, but I couldn’t even make it past five of them. My mouth was on fire. I can’t really handle the spicy ones anymore, too many painful memories. Mike ate all ten, but then regretted it later in the evening when he experienced them in reverse.”
“Ah man, that sounds fierce. But I bet I could handle them. I love spicy food. I have an iron stomach.”
“You say that now. Trust me, they use three different types of hot sauce mixed together, coat them in black pepper, and serve them with a ranch dip laced with more hot sauce. There is no relief from these wings. They burn.”
The waitress makes her way back to them and sets their drinks in front of them. She pulls out her notepad and asks them what they would like.
“Um,” begins Jared “We’re gonna start with an order of the sweet chili wings” he looks to Jensen for confirmation on his flavour choice. Jensen nods in agreement. “and then I’m gonna have the bacon cheeseburger with fries.”
“And I’ll have the cheese steak, also with fries. Thanks.” Jensen finishes, and smiles at the waitress. The waitress finishes writing their order down and tells them she’ll be back when their food is ready.
They talk about their courses while they wait for the wings to arrive. Both their weeks have been pretty typical for the first couple weeks of classes. No assignments are due yet, and the stresses which come later in the semester have yet to rear their ugly heads.
When the wings arrive, they split them equally. Jared is transfixed with Jensen’s fingers and lips as he eats the wings. Finger foods were something that Jared was going to make sure Jensen ate a lot of. With every bite of chicken, he ran his tongue across his lips, chasing stray sauce. And after each wing was done, he sucked on his fingers in a manner which Jared thought was unintentionally dirty, but he could be wrong.
Once the wings were completed, they sat back in their seats and discussed random topics that came up. It seems that they both loved football, cheering for the Cowboys, and both loved basketball, though they argued good naturedly over whose team was better, the Mavs or the Spurs. Their main course arrived, and the conversation naturally died off as they dug into their food.
With their main course done, Jared leans back in the booth and rubs his hand over his stomach. “Man, that was awesome. You were right. The burgers here are good.”
“Yeah, it was a really good sandwich, too. You too full for pie? They have awesome pie.”
“I could go for pie.” Jared replies, nodding in agreement.
The waitress comes by and clears their dirty dishes away, and takes their dessert order; two pieces of apple pie, with ice cream.
“Man, you are gonna have to roll me to the movie.” Jared exclaims when a large piece of apple pie is set in front of him moments later.
Jensen chuckles. “You can’t tell me that I am witnessing you full. I think I should take a picture or something.”
“It’s not that rare of an occurrence. It happens at least three times a year. Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Jensen just chuckles and takes a few bites of his pie. “I think I owe you an explanation as to why I freaked.”
Jared looks up from his pie. “You don’t have to. I mean, an explanation would be nice, so I know what not to do or whatever, but if you don’t feel comfortable telling me yet, that’s ok too.”
“No, I want to tell you. It’s well in the past, and I thought it was all behind me, but apparently it isn’t. Maybe telling you will let it be dead and buried where it belongs.”
“Ok.” Jared gives Jensen his full attention, pie completely forgotten.
“Jeff and I dated for just over a year. We met when I was a first year student, and he was in his second year of his Masters. He was a lot older than me, but I never really thought that mattered while we were dating. We met at another bar near campus, and hooked up one night. And we sort of fell into a relationship, of sorts. Because I was young and naive, and never really sat down and discussed what was going on between us with Jeff, we ended up on different pages of what the relationship meant.”
Jared smiles wryly, and starts to fit the puzzle pieces together in his mind.
“Anyways, while I was thinking that we were in a committed, monogamous relationship, without ever really asking Jeff if that was the case, he was thinking that, while I was his boyfriend, we were both getting action on the side. I found out after about seven months into our relationship, when I asked Jeff if he wanted to go out for dinner with me and he responded that he already had a date, but that he would love to meet me the next night. I questioned him, and that’s when we both realized that we were seeing things differently. I’m still surprised it took that long to realize what was going on. We tried to make it work for another six months, but it slowly became apparent that it just wouldn’t work. Jeff tried to be monogamous for me, and hated me for it. I tried to be ok with him dating more than just me, and it killed me inside. So, we broke up. And two years later, here we are.”
“God, Jen. That’s horrible.” Jared reaches across the table and takes Jensen’s hand within his own. He gives it a reassuring squeeze.
“So, that’s why I have a bit of baggage. But I’m working through it. You are in no way like Jeff, but he’s the only long term relationship I’ve ever been in. So I guess it warps my perception sometimes.”
“I’ve never been in a long term relationship, so I’m sure I bring baggage to the table, too. I guess if it helps, I’m going into what I’m hoping is a relationship with you with thoughts of long term, committed and monogamous. Unless that just freaks you out more, then forget I said anything and we can discuss it again in a few weeks or something.”
Jensen’s shoulders sag with relief. “No need to talk about it in a few weeks. It sounds pretty much perfect right now.”
“Good.” Jared replies with a smile. He picks up his fork and continues to eat his pie, relieved when he sees Jensen doing the same.
At the movie theatre, they pick out seats in the center of the back row. The theatre doesn’t contain many people at all, most people choosing to go see a movie which has been released recently rather than an old classic. Jared and Jensen talk quietly and make jokes throughout the previews but settle down to enjoy the movie once it starts.
About half an hour into the movie, Jensen feels Jared’s arm snake around his back and Jared’s heavy hand settles comfortably upon his far shoulder. He snuggles into Jared’s embrace, letting his warm heat settle over him in the slight chill of the movie theatre. Jensen reaches out with the hand closest to Jared and settles it on Jared’s knee, relishing in the ability to hold and be held like this. He sighs softly and goes back to watching the movie, glad that Jared seems to be enjoying it as much as he is, and relieved that Jared didn’t go along with this movie choice simply for the opportunity to make out.
Onto Part Four
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