Fic: Staying Young
Title: Staying Young
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1, 805
Beta: trollmela - thank you!
Summary: Jared tries to cheer up Jensen, who is being kind of grumpy after a bad day at work.
A/N: So, I finally got another of the prompt fics finished. I promise there are more on the way soon! Written for akintay who asked for a J2 fic with a pillow fight. I hope you like this!
Usually, Jared was cursed. It wasn’t a sinister kind of curse, just one that annoyed him. When he had told Jensen, Jensen had shaken his head and told him that it was just a coincidence that it rained every time he had a day off. Jared had narrowed his eyes and wondered whether Jensen would think the same if it was happening to him.
It had reached the point where he no longer planned to go out anywhere on his days off because his plans always got ruined anyway. Which was why, today, he had been so surprised to wake up to a cloudless sky.
Jared had never been the type to miss an opportunity.
Now, lounging on a deck chair in his garden, he wondered whether the curse had finally been broken and a small, evil part of him wondered whether it had passed on to Jensen. Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head and looked over at his dogs. They looked just about as worn out as he felt and he couldn’t blame them. After all, they had been chasing a ball around for well over an hour just a little while earlier. Jared figured he had owed them a good run, especially when he and Jensen were going out for the night without them.
This had definitely been his best day off in a while. The only thing that would have made it better was Jensen. But Jensen had had to work. So, instead, Jared had gloated about how he was going to do nothing all day and made sure to sneak some candy into Jensen’s jacket for him to find later.
He wondered how the day’s filming had gone for Jensen. The schedule had looked pretty demanding and he knew that Jensen had been needed in almost every scene they were shooting. The slam of the front door gave Jared his answer.
Jensen’s day hadn’t gone well.
Whistling for the dogs, Jared stood up and made his way into the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, he waited. Sure enough, he heard the sound of two more doors slamming and then Jensen walked into the room.
“Tough day?”
Jensen shrugged, dark circles under his eyes standing out against pale skin, and reached into the fridge for a beer. Choosing alcohol over coffee really wasn’t a good sign.
“Jensen?”
“I’m fine - just tired is all.”
Crossing his arms, Jared eyed the beer bottle pointedly.
Jensen sighed. “What? I can’t have a beer now?”
“You can have a beer whenever you want. But the only time you have a beer before you have coffee when you get home from work is when something’s happened.”
“Nothing happened. It’s just been a long day.”
“Right. Sure. Do you still want to eat out tonight?”
Jensen shook his head. “I’d rather stay in. You should go out though, if you want to.”
He should have figured that the point of going out would go right over Jensen’s head. “It’s not exactly the same when you’re on your own.”
“Let’s just go tomorrow, instead. When we’re both tired and then you won’t notice I’m lousy company.”
Laughing at that, Jared stepped in front of Jensen and pulled him in for a hug. “So what? We’ll both be too tired to talk?”
Jensen nodded against his shoulder. “Something like that. Did you have a good day?”
“It was okay. It would have been better with you here.”
Smirking, Jensen pulled back to look at him. “Just okay? Liar - you had an awesome day, I can tell.”
“Okay, so I had an awesome day. But it still would have been better with you.”
“Yeah, well, blame Dean Winchester.”
“I happen to like Dean.” Jared ran a hand through his hair. “How about you go take a shower and I’ll call the restaurant, cancel our reservation?”
“You saying I smell.”
“Yes, you denying it?”
“No.” Jensen flipped him the finger as he placed his beer down on the counter.
“You love me really.”
“That’s what you think.” Already pulling his t-shirt off over his head, Jensen walked out of the room.
Jared stared after him for a moment, hoping that Jensen really was just being grumpy after a long day. If something else had happened, a quiet night in might not be enough to make it better.
---
Jensen’s hair was still damp from his shower when he padded back into the kitchen and Jared couldn’t resist running his hand through it. Gripping Jensen’s shoulders, he kissed him on the forehead and then took a step back.
“I’m making cookies.”
Jensen looked at the mixing bowl on the counter and arched an eyebrow. “Cookies? Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah, you’re grumpy and cookies make anyone happier.”
“I’m not grumpy.”
“You are too. Cookies, Jensen. Smile.”
Jensen grimaced.
Jared sighed. “I can’t believe you don’t appreciate the cookies. You’re not normal.”
“I appreciate the effort but cookies are - I’m too old for cookies.”
“Nobody’s too old for cookies.”
“Apparently, I am.”
Jared turned back to the mixing bowl. “Well that’s just stupid. I eat cookies all the time and I’m not that much younger than you and they always make me feel better and-” he trailed off as he looked over his shoulder and realised he was talking to an empty kitchen.
Huh. Jensen was obviously grumpy in the something-happened type of grumpy.
---
Balancing a tray with the plate of cookies and some milk on one arm, Jared used his free hand to push open the door to the living room. Ignoring the roll of Jensen’s eyes, he crossed over the room and sat down on the couch next to him. He set the tray down and picked up one of the cookies, bit into it and moaned. Even if he said so himself, his baking skills were pretty awesome.
“You going to have one?”
Jensen shrugged. “Maybe later.”
“You going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Right. So you’re just acting like an asshole for no reason?” He took another bite of his cookie.
“You wouldn’t get it.”
“Get what?”
Frowning, Jensen swung his legs up onto the couch and tucked his feet underneath Jared’s knees. Drumming his fingers together, he opened his mouth to speak and then shook his head.
Jared rested his hand on Jensen’s leg. “Come on, man. You know you can tell me anything.”
“Yeah, I could tell you. But that doesn’t mean you’d understand.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re too young.”
He barked out a laugh before he could stop himself. “You sounded just like my Mum there.”
Jensen flushed. “Shut up.”
“Sorry. But come on, Jensen. I’m four years younger than you, it’s-”
“Exactly.”
“What?”
“You’re four years younger than me - you don’t have to worry about this sort of thing.”
Closing his eyes, Jared clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He had a feeling he knew where Jensen was heading.
“I’m getting old.”
And there it was. “Oh yeah, you’re practically decrepit.”
“I know.”
He looked at Jensen. “Don’t be an idiot. You’re not old, Jensen.”
“I am.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Shannon had to put more make-up on than normal today to hide my lines. She was complaining about it.”
Sighing, Jared pulled Jensen’s bare feet out from underneath him and rested them on top of his legs instead. “Your lines? What lines?”
Jensen gestured vaguely at his face. “Around my eyes.”
“Your crows feet?” Jared bit his lip. “But they’re one of my favourite things about you.”
“What? You like the reminder that you’re so much younger than me?”
“No. I like the reminder that you smile a lot. It doesn’t mean you’re old.”
Jensen shook his head. “But I am. Old.”
“That’s why you wouldn’t eat the cookies?”
“Cookies are for kids.”
“That’s just stupid, you’re-”
Jensen jumped up off the couch in a move that proved to Jared that his boyfriend was still young. “Of course I’m stupid. Because I couldn’t seriously be thinking about the fact I’m getting older and becoming less and less likely to improve my career every time my birthday comes around.”
As Jensen stalked out of the room Jared figured that maybe this was a bigger problem than it had first seemed to be.
---
He found Jensen in their shared bedroom, curled up under the covers. Closing the door behind him, Jared took a few more steps into the room and tilted his head. Jensen didn’t look old by any means, looked even younger when he was upset like this.
“What?” Jensen pulled the covers further up.
“I was just thinking about how wrong you were down there.”
“Jared-”
“Let me finish, please?”
Jensen sighed. “Fine.”
“Thanks. Firstly, you don’t look a day older than when we first met and, even if you did, you’d still be the hottest guy I know. And secondly, that stuff about your career was crap. Look at how long it took Jeff to break through.”
“You - don’t - that’s too logical.”
Smiling, Jared moved to stand at the foot of the bed. “Jensen, I mean it. Just because you’re in your thirties doesn’t mean you’re old and it doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to eat cookies and do other fun things.”
Jensen sat up. “Other fun things like what?”
He smirked and jumped onto the bed, snatched up a pillow. “Like annihilate you in a pillow fight.” With a fake roar, he brought the pillow down against Jensen’s stomach, holding on tight when Jensen made a grab for it. “Nope, get your own.”
“Fine.” Jensen reached behind himself and grabbed his own pillow. “I will.” He swung it round, catching Jared in the face and laughed.
“You’re going down, old man.”
Jensen shrugged. “Show me your best, kid.”
---
Looking around the bedroom, Jared couldn’t help but think about the fact that they were going to have to tidy up the mess they had made. Groaning, he lay back down on the floor and flung his arm over Jensen’s waist.
“I think we should just sleep in the other room from now on.”
Jensen laughed. “And what? Call this our designated pillow fight room?”
He grinned against Jensen’s shoulder. “I think that sounds like an awesome plan.”
“Yeah, until you start complaining that the other bed is too small.”
“Fair point.”
“I thought so.”
Jared watched as Jensen turned to look at him, smiling. Even from the strange angle, Jensen looked happy. “You know, we should make the pillow fights a regular thing - keep reminding you you’re still young."
Tangling his fingers together with Jared’s, Jensen nodded and then smirked.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Jensen, what?”
Without any warning other than the quirk of his eyebrows, Jensen grabbed the nearest pillow from the floor and swung it at Jared.
Jared grinned. Round two was so on.