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It’s official: they are no longer High School students. There are parties scheduled for later but right now they are all stumbling around the auditorium like newborn calves trying to take it in. There are parents congratulating and photographing; teachers waxing nostalgic and looking weirdly like actual human beings.
Mike’s attention though is on Ackles because, for all he pulls his meek, little choirboy act, Jenny’s actually fucking crazy. And Mike can feel the devil’s mischief sparking in his friend. He has a feeling things are gonna get messy. Jenny’s been repressing himself for going on two years now, the explosion is bound to be spectacular.
Mike can’t wait.
Tom’s watching Jensen too, because he worries about his sort of friend. Mikey loves the kid, which Tom doesn’t get at all because Jensen is shy and quiet and basically the complete the opposite of Mike. But Tom’s been making sure his best friend doesn’t get the shit kicked out of him for being a cheerleader for years now, it just makes sense to stick up for Jensen, the only other boy in the cheer squad, at the same time.
So yeah, he worries about Jensen. Because School’s out, everybody’s going be drunk off their asses tonight and it would be the hideously perfect time to indulge in what some of his fellow jocks believe to be a long overdue gay-bashing.
Like Padalecki.
Jared’s a good guy, he really is. A great football player, a great person, kind, warm, charming, everything a good Texan boy should be. Except for how he hates Jensen Ackles’ guts. Though maybe hating the fag makes him even more of a good Texan boy.
Jared has mostly kept the jocks under control though. He’s got his eye on the prize and criminal records are not compatible with football scholarships. But today, Jared looks set to jitter right out of his skin and there’s something wild in his eyes that makes Tom nervous.
He pushes his way through the crowd to Mike. Jensen needs to get out of here and Tom plans to stash him away someplace safe. Mikey too. Sure Tom wants to go to Kristin’s graduation party but he wants Mike and Jensen in one piece a whole lot more. The three of them can have their own private party and maybe Tom will finally get to meet the boyfriend Jensen’s been pretending he doesn’t have.
Josh is watching his brother complete ignore him. He came to Jensen’s graduation because Mac asked him to, and because Jensen – didn’t. In fact his baby brother hasn’t asked him for a thing since the whole mess blew up.
It’s belatedly occurring to Josh that his plan of keeping his head down at college and hoping the whole thing blew over wasn’t so much genius as cowardice. And, that in trying desperately not to choose between his parents and Jensen, he chose all the same and it wasn’t Jensen he picked.
Jesus, sometimes Josh really wishes Jeff had just kept his damn mouth shut.
Jeff is actually thinking pretty much the same thing. He congratulated his little brother earlier but Jared just grunted at him. Since Jeff left for college his relationship with his little brother has deteriorated fast to fake smiles over Thanksgiving turkey and he has no idea why or how to fix it.
Josh’s relationship with Jensen has gone pretty much the same way and Jeff is painfully aware of the why, painfully aware it is pretty much his fault. But he was so damn shocked by that glimpse of Jensen on his knees, mouth stuffed full of cock.
Jeff had stepped into the back alley behind the burger bar for a cigarette, a habit he’d picked up at college. He had just lit up when a stifled moan caught his ears. He followed the sound and caught Jensen.
Jeff wasn’t a virgin but he knows now that back then he was still damn naive. The fumbling explorations with his couple of serious girlfriends and their painfully tentative blow jobs, where he was afraid to move for fear of hurting them and swallowing was out of the question, had in no way prepared him to see Jensen drooling and whimpering, his head captured by two huge hands as hips jerked and a cock pistoned in and out his mouth.
His first thought had been ‘get your fucking hands off him’ and he had dropped the cigarette, moving forward intent on serious damage because, fuck it all, Jensen was as good as his second little brother and nobody hurt him like that.
The different angle revealed Jensen’s hand tucked into the fly of his jeans and Jeff realized with a sort of startled horror that Jensen was jacking himself off, that he was getting off on having his face fucked.
Jeff really has no explanation for what happened next except that he freaked out. His bad-ass college self vanished like a puff of smoke and it was a terrified freshman who ran home to Mama and spilled the whole story. The next day his Mom, not surprisingly, called Mama Ackles and spilled the whole story to her. Josh’s Mom spilled the whole story to Josh’s Dad, Jensen’s room was searched, lube, condoms and gay porn were found, and the Ackles family imploded.
Jensen refused to name the guy he’d been sucking off and Jeff had never seen his face in the shadows of the alley, though he figures he could pick out the guy’s cock if it came down to it, so the guy remained resolutely unidentified. Jeff and Josh have agreed that they owe the guy a broken jaw if they ever track him down. Jeff’s grown up enough that the sex itself no longer troubles him, but the fact that Jensen was barely sixteen, yeah that was not cool.
But Jeff spilling the whole story was not cool either. If he had the ability, he’d go back in time and shake some sense into his stupid younger self. His younger self could have found Josh and together they could have figured out the situation, spoken quietly to Jensen and, if necessary, broken the guy’s jaw for messing with their little brother.
Or Jeff could have just kept his stupid mouth shut. Sure Jensen shouldn’t have been having sex with some, what the hell is the term, some bear, but Jeff doesn’t see how that could have messed the poor kid up anymore than the last two years.
Jesus, sometimes Jeff really wishes he had just kept his damn mouth shut.
Mac and Meg have their arms around each other’s waists as they watch their brothers graduate. Mac’s leaning into Meg and clinging so tightly it’s uncomfortable, but Meg lets her because she knows how scared Mac is. Meg’s scared too.
Jensen’s their favourite brother. Josh and Jeff are too old and stupid, lording it over them as if going to college is something special. Jared’s just plain stupid. He’s their least favourite brother. He’s mean and is always saying something nasty to Jensen.
Jensen’s their favourite brother and Jensen is leaving.
The parents think everything is totally cool. Meg’s Mom and Dad are busy being thrilled over Jared graduating and the fact he isn’t a worry to them like Jensen. Mac’s Mom and Dad are hoping Jensen will meet a nice girl in college now that Jensen’s over his ‘phase’.
Jensen isn’t over anything.
Mac and Meg are not going to tell, because they’re not traitors like Jeff, but Jensen is still seeing his boyfriend. He told them once, after Jared had been particularly mean. Jensen had been curled up on the bottom step in Mac’s hall. Jared had been looming over him, jabbing at him with one long finger.
“So if your boyfriend is all that, why isn’t he here, taking some of the heat off you. Huh? A real boyfriend wouldn’t vanish into the woodwork, he’d be standing by you.”
“Jay,” Jensen sounded like he was about to beg, but he saw Mac and Meg then, and cut himself off.
Jared glared at all three of them and slammed out the house.
Jensen had look so tired and miserable that Mac and Meg had run to him and wrapped themselves around him.
“Jared’s stupid,” said Meg fiercely. “Ignore him. We love you.”
“I’m sorry Jen,” said Mac miserably. “I wish you and your boyfriend hadn’t split up.”
Jensen had twisted and tugged and they’d all ended up on the floor, Mac and Meg sitting on Jensen’s legs.
“Can you girls keep a secret?”
“Yes,” said Meg. “We’re not like Jeff. We won’t tell.”
Mac traced one finger in a cross above her heart.
“I haven’t split up with my boyfriend.”
“You haven’t?”
“Nope. Don’t plan to neither.”
“But he –” Mac waved one hand helplessly because Jared was right in that at least. Jensen’s boyfriend was definitely playing least in sight.
“He can’t be with me where people can see, Mac. Things would be bad.” Jensen shivered.
Mac and Meg exchanged glances because they’d heard Mac’s Dad threatening to call the police and have the asshole charged with statutory rape. The whole street had probably heard Mac’s Dad.
Jensen hugged them both. “He loves me and, after High School, nothing’s gonna stop us.”
High School is over now, Jensen’s legal, and there’s nothing to stop them. Mac and Meg know it’s wrong to wish something would, but they can’t help it.
Jensen’s their favourite brother and when they went to drag him out of bed this morning, his room was empty, not just of Jensen but of everything that made it Jensen’s.
They haven’t even worked out who the Boyfriend is. Meg thinks it’s Mr Morgan who runs the garage all four of their brothers worked at to earn money for college. Mac thinks it’s Jensen’s wild friend Christian who moved out to LA and Jensen’s not supposed to see anymore but still does. They haven’t told anybody that either.
Jensen’s their favourite brother and Jensen’s already packed and gone.
Meg holds onto Mac a little bit tighter.
Chris keeps his head down and ducks behind Steve when anybody looks like catching his eye. He absolutely does not want to be spotted before the shit Jenny’s planning kicks off. He didn’t even want to come, would have been quite happy waiting in the truck with the engine running for a quick getaway.
“I don’t know why I put up with the little brat,” he mutters.
Steve laughs, the bastard, “Quit your bitching. As if you’d let your boy court a fight without being there to back him up. It’s not like we don’t know Jenny’s got you wrapped around his little finger, Christian.”
Chris grumps under his breath. Jenny is so going to owe him for this, he’s going to be working it off for months. Possibly years.
Jeffrey Dean has made polite with the Ackles and Padalecki families because he couldn’t avoid it, now he’s content to stand back and watch.
He’s not very comfortable being here, doesn’t really fit in with the whole high school thing, but Jensen asked him to be here with huge, pleading green eyes and Jeffrey Dean had been completely unable to say no.
Jensen’s special, though his stupid family can’t recognise it. Jeffrey Dean is seriously disappointed with Josh and Jeff, he hadn’t thought they’d react like that. And as for Jensen’s parents, the least said about them the better. Every time he left the garage, Jensen always made sure to rub his hands in the dirty grease on the floor and smear some on his face.
“So I look properly manly,” he’d say and Jeffrey Dean always wanted to break something. He hadn’t been sure how Jensen had managed to square cheer-leading with being manly. When he asked, Jensen had laughed bitterly.
“I took Sandy round to the house and had us practice some moves in the garden. Dad was so thrilled to see me interacting with a girl, I swear he was one step away from whipping out his wallet and paying her to fuck me.”
“Sandy is Jared’s girlfriend, right?”
Jensen shrugged his shoulders. “They say they are, but frankly the logistics make my mind boggle.”
Jeffrey Dean nearly choked trying to stifle his laughter because he’s seen Sandy once or twice and her head is maybe level with Jared’s nipples. He foresees a lot of chiropractor visits in Jared’s future.
A lot of dentist visits too, because Jared has a way of grinding his teeth that makes Jeffrey Dean’s jaw ache just to hear it. He worries a lot about Jared. Jensen, for all he’s had a miserable two years, is going to be fine. He’s going to break away from this stupid, hidebound town like a shooting star blazing light as he goes.
But Jared has had a miserable couple of years too. Jensen getting caught like that had panicked both sets of parents badly. Suddenly the boys had to account for every second of their days and had more rules than they could remember. Jensen had kicked and fought and ignored like a good teenager should. Jared had buckled under with a meekness that Jeffrey Dean just knew was storing up trouble for the future.
Jeffrey Dean has a nasty feeling he’s going to get to see Jared implode into a black hole that sucks away any of hope of light. He doesn’t know how to help Jared but he’s not going to let him take Jensen down with him.
Chad pats at Jared’s arm. His best friend is sheet pale and shaking like he’s had three too many espressos.
“Hey man,” he says quietly. “Calm down, we’re almost done with this shit.”
Jared grinds the heels of his hands against his eyes.
“Calm down,” Chad insists.
“I just can’t believe it’s all over. God. I have been waiting for this day for who knows how long.”
“Yeah,” Chad raises one eyebrow and leers.
Jared half-laughs. “Screw all that. I just can’t wait to get away.”
“Your parents are fucking freaks, man.” Chad pats Jared’s arm again. Jared’s parents are like uber-freaks. That mess with Jensen completely spazzed them out and they chaperone Jared like he’s a thirteen year old Catholic schoolgirl. Jared has football practice, working in the garage, study and that’s it. He’s allowed to attend one party a month with Sandy but has an eleven-thirty curfew.
Chad’s Mom says she wishes he was more like Jared all the time. She also says Jared’s parents are riding for a fall and willingly covers for Jared when he wants to go out. So Chad doesn’t take his Mom all that seriously, as long as he gets into a good college she’ll be happy.
Jared’s parents aren’t going to be happy with anything short of canonisation.
“You know I was Captain, made MVP regularly, got the offer of three football scholarships, and my Dad said ‘pity you’re not a more rounded player, son’.”
“Freaks,” says Chad because it bears repetition.
“And of course my Mom says I need to be a more rounded human being, ‘don’t spend all your time on the football field, son.”
Jared has a 4.0 GPA. Chad honestly doesn’t know what more they can expect from him. Jared’s Mom is okay, mostly, though she will keep going on about how glad she is that Jared isn’t trouble like Jensen. His Dad, however, is frightening. Chad’s always been a bit wary of Dads, not having one of his own. He used to envy Jared his. He doesn’t any more. He’d like to order Jared’s Dad a ‘Perfect Son’ robot so he’ll leave Jared the fuck alone.
“Which is, you know, tricky, since my Dad doesn’t want me spending my time anyplace else.” Jared hugs himself like he’s holding all the pieces together.
“It’ll be okay,” Chad promises.
Jared shakes his head. “No it won’t. But you know what? I don’t care. I’m through. I’m done.” He cuts his hand sharply through the air and the hair on the back of Chad’s neck rises at the finality in his eyes.
“Jay-man.”
“Don’t worry about me Chadwick. I’m cool.” And this little half-smile creeps across his face.
Chad follows his line of sight and sees Jensen Ackles one hand on Sandy McCoy’s shoulder talking intently, faces so close together they must be breathing the same air. Jared’s smile widens into something more than a little crazy.
Sandy grins at her best friend. Jensen’s been counting the minutes to graduation, counting the minutes until this moment.
“Are you sure you want to help me?” he checks, because he’s a gentleman like that.
Sandy laughs, “Fuck yeah. I’m damn proud to.” She is too. This is Jensen’s fuck you to the entire school and it’s been way too long in coming.
“They’ll crucify you,” he worries.
“They’ll try. High school’s over Jen. It’s not just you who wants to get out of here. I can’t wait to prove there’s more to me than Head Cheerleader.”
“You made Prom Queen too,” he reminds her, because Jen’s a bastard like that.
“Shut up.” She socks him in the arm with one fist. He doesn’t even have the grace to pretend it hurt. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
“It must have been pretty bad,” he agrees.
“You’re not even sorry for it.”
“You’re the bad person here, not me.”
She hits him again, to just as much effect. “All right then Princess. It’s time for your big moment.”
“Oh God, it is, isn’t.” He runs his hand through his hair and looks vaguely sick.
“You don’t have to do this Jen.”
“Yes I do. I promised him a surprise, and he deserves this. I’m a cheerleader for Christ’s sake. What’s a little dancing in public?”
Sandy shakes her head because this is way more than that. “You’re not doing this just for him are you? He’d be the first one to tell you you don’t have to.”
Jensen smiles, soft and gentle and fucking head over heels, “No it’s not just for him Sands. It’s for me too. For both of us. We deserve this.”
“Okay then, let’s do this thing.”
Mike thumps his best friend on the back.
“Come on Tommy, stop freaking out.”
“Mike.”
“No look, I get that you’re worried man. But they’re not going to jump us in the middle of graduation. So let’s go find Jenny and sneak out of here. I’m bored anyway.”
“Okay, so where’d Jensen go?” Tom looks around. He really is getting worked up. Mike wonders exactly what was said at the end of the last football game of the season. It hasn’t escaped his attention that since then Tom has stopped talking to a good quarter of the team.
“Last I saw he was sneaking off with Sandy. I wonder what they’re cooking up.”
“Focus Mike.”
“Wait, there’s Sandy now.”
Mike grabs Tom’s arm shakes it, forcing his attention onto the stage. Sandy steps up to the lecture, taps the microphone once to make sure it’s working and starts speaking,
“Good afternoon ladies and gentleman.”
Conversations finish abruptly as the whole auditorium turns to blink up at her blankly.
She smiles sweetly. Mike grins madly, because damn, this is going to be good.
“A dear friend of mine said he couldn’t see any point waiting for the reunion for the fun to begin. I agreed with him. So may I present to you: Jensen Ackles.”
The auditorium is completely silent, and for a second Mike doesn’t know what to do. Then two dudes in cowboy hats begin to whistle and cheer and a bearded guy on the other side starts to clap. Mike can’t help himself and yells out,
“Go Jenny!”
Tom looks excruciatingly embarrassed but he joins in the clapping.
Mackenzie Ackles and her best friend Megan break away from their parents to bounce up and down and shriek,
“Go Jensen. Go Jensen.”
The elder Ackles and Padaleckis look a mixture of even more embarrassed than Tom and utterly furious. Everybody else is just staring, too stunned to object.
Then the music starts and Jensen struts on stage. He’s changed into tight jeans, leather jacket and a white vest. Mike’s as sure as a straight guy can be that Jensen looks smoking hot and he lets rip with a wolf-whistle. The music is catchy-pop, not really Jensen’s thing, but Mike can see he’s deep in cheerleader mode, moving with an easy fuck-you confidence that isn’t really Jensen’s thing either.
After a second Mike recognises the music and he figures most of the other seniors do too. Murray sang a really bad karaoke version at a party a month ago in an attempt to win Sophia Bush back. It didn’t work, but it was fairly memorable.
Mike doesn’t quite get the relevance to the current situation and then the singing starts. It’s Jensen’s voice that comes out over the speakers and, unlike Murray, Jensen can actually sing. Then Mike realises what taped Jensen’s singing and his heart just about stops.
“He’s six foot four, pink shirt and puppy eyes.”
Jensen, lip-synching and swinging his hips, points directly at Jared Padalecki in case anybody thought he was singing about some other six foot four, pink-shirt wearing, puppy-eyed boy.
Mike’s never heard of anybody committing suicide by jock before but he has to admire Jensen’s style.
Tom can’t believe his ears or his eyes. When Jensen starts singing, the tiny part of his brain not gibbering in disbelief realizes why Mike thinks so much of Jensen. This is exactly Mikey’s brand of crazy.
“Everybody who’s staring wouldn’t believe that this boy is mine.”
Jensen curls his arms around himself and spins on the spot. He’s right Tom doesn’t believe him because he cannot actually be saying that –
“They should have know they were wrong. Cause I was made to love you. And I’m letting it out tonight.”
The music kicks up a notch and Jensen gyrates in place.
“Sandy definitely choreographed this,” mutters Mike.
Tom stares at him, “Yeah,” he says, forgetting sarcasm doesn’t work on Mike. “Because that’s the weird part.”
“Am I supposed to leave you now,” keens taped Jensen. “When you’re looking like that.”
He definitely singing to Padalecki. Nervous shuffling is creating a growing circle of space around the football captain. His best friend Murray is still there, looking stunned. Padalecki is smiling faintly but Tom can’t even begin to guess what he’s thinking.
“I can’t believe you stole my heart away. Now I can’t get it back. I don’t wanna be lost. I don’t wanna live my life without you. Am I supposed to leave you now. When you’re looking like that.”
On the empathic that, Jensen stamps his foot and spins into a high kick. He slips his jacket off and tosses it towards his sister with a smile. Mackenzie jumps forward to catch it. Megan pretends to swoon.
Jensen vaults nimbly down from the stage. Now he’s directly in front of Padalecki and even Murray starts to retreat.
“Can’t see,” grumbles Mike and begins to push his way through the crowd. Tom can see, but he follows his best friend anyway. This is the sort of situation where somebody is going to end up punched in the face and surprisingly often that somebody is Mike, regardless of his relative innocence.
“You’re all dressed up for glamour and rock ‘n roll. Wanna squeeze you real tight, get out of this place. You make me wanna lose control.”
Tom swallows hard because Jensen projecting ‘lose control’ is disturbingly sexy.
“Cause I was made to love you And I’m letting it out tonight. Am I supposed to leave you now. When you’re looking like that.”
Jensen’s looking straight at Padalecki. They’re both smiling fit to split their faces.
“I can’t believe you stole my heart away. Now I can’t get it back. I don’t wanna be lost. I don’t wanna live my life without you.”
The two of them are communicating something and Tom can see Jared shift his weight and brace himself.
“Am I supposed to leave you now.” Jensen bounces into the air and launches himself at Jared.
“When you’re looking like that.” Jensen’s legs lock around Jared’s waist as he flings his arms in the air and lets his head drop back on the final beat, trusting Jared to catch him.
Tom’s sure it’s unrehearsed but they are so easy together that he’s equally sure they’ve done that before.
One of Jared’s arms curves protectively around Jensen, the other pulls his head up for a kiss. It’s slick, sloppy and comfortable.
Tom’s fucking positive they’ve done that before.
‘Oh,’ is mostly what Josh is thinking with a bit of ‘Oh God,’ thrown in for variety. He stops squinting at the scene from behind half-closed eye lids when Jensen pulls back from a tongue-wet kiss and says,
“Well Padalecki, am I supposed to leave you now?”
“No,” says Jared, clutching Josh’s baby brother even tighter if that’s possible. “No Jen, you are never, ever supposed to leave me.”
“Good.” Jensen’s eyes widen then, as he seems to take in their audience for the first time. “Oh God.” He starts to blush and hides his face in the crook of Jared’s neck.
Against all odds Josh starts to laugh. Only his baby brother could make such a public declaration of love and sex and then get fucking embarrassed about it.
Jeff is struggling to get his vocal cords into working order because he really, really, needs to swear right now. Josh is laughing hysterically beside him and Jeff wonders vaguely if he should slap some sense back into him.
“What is the meaning of this?” demands the angry voice of his father. Jeff closes his eyes because this is going to be bad.
“Was what I said unclear somehow?” Jeff’s eyes fly open at Jensen’s mock-curious question. This is going to be awful.
“No Jen,” says Jared, shifting slightly so they can both face Jeff’s Dad. “I think pretty much everyone else got it.”
“As long as you did.”
“Oh I definitely did.” They kiss again. Just a soft press of lips that’s somehow more intimate for its restraint.
“Jared Tristan Padalecki, put that boy down right now.”
“Gosh, he really is slow isn’t he.”
“Seems that way,” agrees Jared and Jeff flinches at the hardness in his little brother’s face. Jared pulls his lips into a grin that’s pure aggression, “Fuck off Dad. I don’t answer to you anymore.”
“As long as you are under my roof, you will abide by my rules,” shouts their Dad as if they haven’t heard that maxim a thousand time before.
“Aint under your roof no more, aint never gonna be again.”
“Jared,” flutters their Mom. “What do you mean?”
“We moved out, Mom. Jen’s friend Chris is lending us some floor til college starts.”
“You think Texas is going to take you with him wrapped around you,” sneers their father.
Jeff wants to tell his Dad to shut up, but he has a nasty suspicion things are well past the stage where talking it over rationally is going to fix anything.
“Aint going to Texas. Jen and I are going to UCLA. On academic scholarships.”
Dad looks like Jared just slapped him and Jeff feels for him because, ouch, Dad had been so proud Jared was good enough to be offered a choice of football scholarships. He’d kept Jeff up until stupid hours discussing exactly which offer Jared should accept. It occurs to Jeff now that Jared not being there for those discussions was a symptom he should have picked up on, then maybe they could have avoided this whole mess.
“Jensen,” pleads Josh’s Mom, “Jensen, I know you’re, you’re different. But how could you do this to Jared?”
Josh abruptly stops laughing, “For God’s sake Mom, haven’t you figured out yet that Jared was the one with Jensen in that goddamn alley.”
Both sets of parents stare at the two boys in blank disbelief.
“Jared, son, is this true?” falters his Dad.
“Of course it’s true. And because of you I had to spend two years pretending I hated his guts.”
Jeff has a moment to think about how truly shitty the last two years have been for his brothers, when it dawns on him that Jared was in that alley with Jensen. Which means Jared was the guy in the alley who was fucking Jensen. Now that he’s thinking Jared, Jeff’s brain is putting it together, matching the image of sixteen year old Jared with the shadow in the alley. Jared who was tall for his age with big hands and feet and... oh god he did so not need to know this about his little brother. His little brother who fucked Josh’s baby brother’s mouth like he’d been doing it for years. Oh God.
“Fuck,” says Josh. “You’ve broken Jeff’s brain again.”
Mac and Meg giggle at the gob-smacked expression on Jeff’s face. They press in close behind Jensen and Jared.
Jared grins at them, “Hey Mac, hey Meggie.”
“Hey,” they smile shyly back. Meg sniffs because Jared’s truly, properly smiling for the first time in years and it’s as if she’s just got her brother back.
Over by their families Jeff is gargling something unintelligible and Josh finally steps in to translate.
“He wants to know when?”
“Fourteen,” says Jensen promptly.
“Twelve,” says Jared a second later.
Now all the parents are gargling unintelligibly.
“I asked you out when we were twelve Jen,” Jared sounds hurt
“Yeah,” Jensen rubs his cheek against Jared’s. “Best day of my life. But Josh wanted to know when we started having sex because he’s got a dirty mind like that.”
“Jared seriously asked you out when you were twelve,” Josh doesn’t sound like he believes them.
Mac glares at him, “Mitch and April have been going out since they were eleven.”
“And Jared and I have been going out since we were twelve. Jared got down on one knee, gave me flowers and everything,” Jensen brags.
Mac and Meg giggle again.
“And you bought me three different colours of candy floss.” Jared’s voice is quiet and his face is all smiley-soft.
“Which you threw up after going on the tilt-a-whirl four times in a row.”
“You were the one who dared me to.”
“I held your hand, and bought you a coke afterwards.”
“Yeah you did.”
Chris groans loudly.
“Okay you two. You know I can only put up with a limited amount of this sugary shit. Get your asses in gear, we’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
“Aw Chris, don’t you love us anymore.” Jenny attempts to pout but he’s so goddamn happy it doesn’t come off at all.
Chris tries to glare back, but he doesn’t think that’s coming off either. The little brat’s been so miserable, Steve had to stop Chris from forcibly removing him to California. It’s not like Jensen’s parents would have cared, but Jenny always flat out refused to leave Jared.
It doesn’t matter now though. They’re both eighteen with shiny new scholarships and the air mattress Chris bought two years ago is finally going to be put to good use.
Steve, the fucker, gets a hand over his mouth before Chris can let out the yee-hah that’s bubbling over his lips.
Jeffrey Dean smiles as Chris’ friend cuts off whatever inappropriate thing was about to burst out of his mouth. Christian Kane was another of his student workers and if he hasn’t learned how to control his mouth yet, at least he’s found somebody who’ll help him.
He moves forward until Jared picks him out of the crowd.
“Hey there Mr Morgan.”
“Jared, Jensen.” He smiles at the boys. “Thanks for making me come Jensen, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“Oh, uh, thanks.” Jensen’s blushing again.
“Jared, I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I am a little disappointed though.”
Jared’s eyes widen. “Um? Sorry?”
“You see I always thought it was my influence that had you treating Jensen right when you were at the garage.”
“Well sir, it kinda of was. You made it so obvious you wouldn’t tolerate me being rude to Jen, that I didn’t have to be. It was kinda great actually.”
That makes him feel good. He shoots a quick glance at the parents, and yes, the mothers at least are looking guilty. So are some of the teachers.
“Glad I could help. Now, seeing as you seem to skipping town, I’d better give you your pay checks now.”
“Oh but we haven’t given you any notice.” Jensen is looking genuinely apologetic.
“Don’t be ridiculous Jensen. This is definitely extenuating circumstances. Now since Jared’s hands seems a bit occupied perhaps you’ll take his too.”
Jensen’s blush is in danger of becoming permanent but he accepts the folded up checks and slides them into the back pocket of Jared’s jeans.
Jeffrey Dean steps back, then glances at the youngest members of the Ackles and Padalecki families. He has no idea what kind of shit-storm Jensen and Jared leaving is going to stir up, but he can at least offer them part-time sanctuary.
“Hey, are you girls looking for a job? Seems I’ve lost two mechanics so I’m short-handed.”
Jensen, of course, immediately sees what he’s doing.
“Damn. Jared and I are really are sorry Mac, Meg. But we honestly couldn’t have stuck it any longer. I really am sorry.”
“That’s okay Jensen,” says one of them. Jeffrey Dean guesses it’s the Padalecki girl because she’s taller. If they start working for him he’s going to have to start telling them apart.
“We’re just glad you and Jared are okay,” says the other, “And hey, they’re pretty much guaranteed to let us date.”
Jensen laughs but it’s not a nice sound. “Just make sure whoever you date understands that even though Jared’s a fag, he’s still six foot four and they do not want to make him mad.”
“It’s all right Jensen,” says Jeffrey Dean, “I’ll look after your sisters. Anyone hurts them and they’ll answer to me.”
“Thank you Mr Morgan,” says the taller girl smiling at him sweetly. “Mac and I would be delighted to work at your garage.”
He smiles back, guess now he knows which one is which.
Chad loves all this heart-warming shit, he totally does, but he just has to know,
“Dude, Jared, are you like ever going to put Jensen down?”
“No, never.”
The weird thing is it doesn’t come off completely cornball, it sounds like Jared means it through and through. Chad wonders about that, because he gets that Jared and Jensen’s love is like epic, but it’s also made their lives hell. The trade-off has never seemed worth it to Chad, especially after he’s tried it a couple of times. Being miserable in return for sex is just stupid when you’ve got a functioning right hand.
Now though, they’re so happy they’re fucking glowing and Chad wonders if maybe there is something to this love thing after all.
“Can you at least not put him down in the truck,” says Jensen’s friend Chris. “I’m not kidding about needing to leave.”
“Yeah okay.” Jared smiles and steals a kiss.
“You are so not having sex in the truck while I’m there. Don’t even think about.”
“Hmm,” Jared and Jensen both sigh dreamily.
“You’re thinking about it. Steve, make them stop thinking about it.”
“Come on you lot,” says the other guy in a cowboy hat, “Let’s get this circus on the road. Where’d Jensen’s jacket end up.”
Mac pushes forward with the leather jacket, but Jared pulls away.
“Oh no, we got something better than that. Chad where’s the bag?”
Chad produces the bag and pulls out the contents with a cringe because he can’t believe Jared’s actually doing something this sappy.
Jared somehow manages to free up one hand and accepts his letterman jacket from Chad. He offers it up to Jensen,
“You should have been wearing this all damn year, baby, but –”
“Oh Jay.”
Looking at Jensen’s face is like looking into the sun and Chad actually has to turn away before he goes blind. He blinks a couple of times, then spots Sandy McCoy sliding down from the stage and goes to offer her a hand.
“Hey,” he says. “Guess you were in on this whole epic romance thing.”
“You too huh?”
Sandy looks at Jared’s friend Chad with interest. She’d known somebody was helping Jared sneak around but they’d never told her who, because Jensen’s parents had frightened them into the sort of paranoia usually experienced by CIA double agents.
“Yeah,” says Chad, looking awkward. “Never really understood why Jared went to all that bother until now.”
Sandy nods her head. Previously Jared and Jensen being in love had always been something to be worked around, an inconvenience that was almost a disability. But when they working on Jensen’s dance routine he had been so sure Jared would catch him. Sandy had argued against it. If Jared didn’t get the idea, didn’t react, or fumbled it, the whole point would have been lost. But Jensen had insisted and Jensen had been right. It had been absolutely perfect.
“At least I now know why Jared never let me wear his letterman jacket.” She had argued it would help convince people they were going out but Jared had always refused.
“Are you kidding, you wear Jared’s jacket? You might as well try wearing a tent.”
She giggles, and as she looks at Jensen, completely swamped, she can only agree. And sigh over just how cute Jensen looks swamped in his boyfriend’s jacket.
Somebody coughs loudly. “Okay,” says Jensen’s friend Chris. “Are we done with sickeningly sweet portion of proceedings?”
“Shut up Kane,” said Jared and Jensen in unison.
“Pipe down loverboys. Thanks darling,” he collects Jensen’s jacket from Mackenzie. “Let’s roll.”
“Bye Jensen, bye Jared,” Sandy calls, and if she clutches Chad’s arm too tightly it’s because she balancing on tiptoes, not because she’s about to cry.
“See you around,” Chad looks a bit like he might cry too.
“See you Sandy, see you Chad,” Jared turns so he can smile at them, “Thanks for everything. Say goodbye to your Mom for me Chad. Bye Mac, bye Meggie. Bye Mikey, you kicked ass as a cheerleader.”
“Not as much as Jensen though, right?” Mike grins manically. Sandy just knows the idiot has been loving the whole scene.
“That goes without saying. Bye Tom. You know I think we could get on now you’re not worried I’m about to snap and kick your best friend’s head in.”
“Yeah.” Tom scratches his head, dark hair flopping in his eyes. He still looks half-stunned. Glancing around Sandy can see that most of the student body still looks half-stunned.
Jensen lifts his head from Jared’s shoulder, “You all come visit us, you hear, California’s not that far away.”
Sandy joins in a general chorus of promises. Jensen’s head flops back down and he lets Jared carry him out the auditorium.
She races after them in time to see Jared somehow get them both into the truck without putting Jensen down. Somebody does squawk loudly though.
When the truck pulls away there are two long tails of cans and shoes following it.
“Huh?” Sandy looks consideringly at Chad, who looking back at her the same way.
“Guess great minds think alike.”
“Guess so,” and she links her arm with his.