raeschae | 18 and Life (prompt 05, table 04)

Title: 18 and Life
Author:

raeschae
Character(s)/Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Theme: Theme 04: Lover's Rock
Prompt(s): #05 - Betrayal
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Jensen is determined to fill Jared in on everything Jared doesn’t want to know about his past.

Warnings/Author Notes: For the first time, I was unable to edit this chapter down to less than 1000 words while still doing everything I wanted to do with the story. It comes in at a little over 1200, which probably bothers me more than it will anybody else. Hopefully, it’ll read fast enough that you won’t even notice!!!

“Ouch!”

Jared rolls his eyes and grabs the back of Jensen’s head in his open palm, steadying him so Jared can get a better look at his mouth in the dim, overhead kitchen light. “Sit still,” he orders, frustration creeping into his words. “Or, I don’t know, maybe next time don’t get punched in the mouth. That’d probably make it hurt less.”

When the guy, Ian said his name was Chris, showed up at their table, Jared was confused. From there, he moved on to concerned, but seeing Jensen in the alley with blood in his mouth and a smile on his face helped push him right over into angry. To be fair, he’s mostly just pissed that Jensen scared him for no reason.

“I don’t think he broke any of your teeth,” he assesses once he’s thoroughly checked the inside of Jensen’s mouth. He can’t resist the urge to press a kiss to the corner that isn’t twice its normal size before he claps a hand over Jensen’s shoulder. “You’re probably gonna make it.”

Jensen rolls his eyes and rests his hip against the counter, arms crossed over his chest while Jared pulls a cardboard box out of the pantry and fills a glass with warm salt water. “What’re you doin’?”

“Here,” he answers by thrusting the glass toward Jensen. “Don’t drink it. Just roll it around under your lip for a second. The salt will accelerate the healing process.” Jensen’s nose turns up at the thought, causing Jared to roll his eyes. “God, you’re such a fucking baby.”

Jensen gargles the water while Jared grabs a couple of ice cubes. He’s been in a few fights, has friends who’ve been in an even more, so he knows the drill. The fact that Jensen’s letting him take care of it is just hot enough to distract him from the fact that his boyfriend seems really happy to have gotten knocked out tonight.

“Chris was my Genevieve.” Jared stops wrapping the ice and looks over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Jensen smiles, then groans and has to stop talking until his face is done throbbing. “My best friend since fifth grade. I was closer to him than I was to my own brother, I think. First person I came out to in high school.”

Jared takes Jensen’s water glass and hands him the mini ice pack. “Was he cool with it?”

With a nod, Jensen dabs the ice at the outside of his swollen lip. “Not a lot of gay kids where I come from, ya know? We didn't go to any Pride parades or anything, but he didn't treat me any different. Even when my other friends would make ignorant comments, just 'cause they didn't know any better, Chris was the one who jumped in to correct 'em.”

“Open your mouth,” Jared instructs, rubbing waxy, Carmex lip balm over Jensen's cracked lip. He got off lucky – he could have needed stitches, or worse – but Jared's starting to think that maybe Chris wasn't really trying to hurt Jensen. “Ice,” he nods toward Jensen's hand and Jensen huffs, but does what he's told. “So this is what? Some fucked up handshake y'all have or somethin'?”

Jensen doesn't say anything, ice stuck inside his lip for a second while Jared goes over the mental checklist to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything. Jensen's mouth is going to hurt for a few days, but Jared can ease the pain a little bit, so he figures it's the least he can do.

He's searching through the freezer when Jensen speaks again. “Two weeks before I left for college, we were at this party, right? Like I said, not a lotta gay kids where we come from, so I was flirtin' with a couple of the guys' girlfriends.”

“You?” Jared interrupts, throwing a smile over his shoulder to let Jensen know he's teasing. “That's hard to believe.”

“Yeah, well, not everybody was convinced it was such harmless fun. One of the guys started getting pissed, so Chris told him not to worry about it. Said it was as safe as her flirtin' with any of the girls there.” Jared turns, bag of corn kernels in his hand, expression skeptical. “He didn't mean anything by it. I know that now, but back then it fuckin' stung. My ego's always been about two sizes too big, ya know?”

Afraid of where the story is headed, Jared steps into Jensen's personal space and lays the cold bag against the bruise forming on his jaw. “What'd you do?”

“Got it in my head that I was gonna prove him wrong. Told him I could take any girl in that room, same as any straight guy, and fuck her better. He told me I was being dumb, but I wouldn't listen, ya know? Picked Danneel Harris – hottest chick in our class, man – and I did exactly what I said I was gonna do.”

“You fucked her?” Jensen nods, his expression pained. “And?” He's probably making excuses again, but Jared knows a lot of guys who fucked girls just because they could in high school. Jensen's leaving something out of this story.

“And I fucking knew Chris had been off-his-ass in love with her since ninth grade. Everybody knew it. They got close to goin' out a few times, but he never really did anything about it. My genius way of provin' I could be just as much a man as anybody else was to fuck the girl my best friend never had the balls to fuck.”

Suddenly, Jared understands why Chris punched Jensen in the mouth. “This is the first time you've seen him since?”

With a nod, Jensen leans forward a little, his fingers hooked in Jared's belt loops. “We avoided each other until I left town, and then I couldn't bring myself to go back and find him. I humiliated him, and it's fuckin' eaten away at me every day since.”

Jared pulls the bag of corn away from Jensen's face and sets it down, trapping him between the counter and his body. “You feel better now?”

Eyes fixed on Jared's throat, Jensen answers with a little hesitation. “Depends.” When he finally looks up, he asks, “We okay?”

“Why wouldn't we be?” Jared dips his head to pull Jensen's earlobe between his teeth and then presses a kiss behind his ear. “That doesn't have anything to do with me.” Sure, Jensen did a stupid and immature thing. Jared did a few when he was eighteen, too.

When Jensen tries to kiss him, he ends up wincing and pulling back with a curse. He pushes Jared far enough away to grab the ice and run it back over the top of his lip. “I hate this.”

He considers reminding Jensen that apologizing with words is sometimes just as effective as letting someone bust his jaw, but he's not entirely convinced this whole thing could have been put to rest any other way. Instead, he takes Jensen's hand. “Grab that corn,” he orders before dragging him into the living room. “Now, sit down, ice your face, and let's see if we can't take your mind off the pain for awhile.”

There will be Tylenol later – it's far more effective, long term – but for now, Jared kicks Jensen's feet apart and sinks to the floor between his knees.

Good Morning

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

aythia.livejournal.com

I think Jared found a kickass way to deal with pain!

And yeah, that was a shit thing of Jensen to do...but even more so? It was a shitty thing to avoid Chris afterwards.

Jared seems to able to actually do the right thing and not only say the right thing...I hope he rubs off on Jensen :D

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18 and Life (prompt 05, table 04)

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