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Entry tags:
Dissonance - Part 4
Title: Dissonance - 4
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
surevesta
Rating: PG-16
Fandom: CW RPS
Word Count: 6,767 (this part)
Pairing: J2
Main Characters: Jensen, Jared, Danneel, Sandy, Kripke, Chad, Mike, Chris, Sophia, Hayden, Adair, Rainbow, Allie
Other Characters: Samantha Ferris, Samantha Smith, Tom and Jaime, Aaron, Shawn, Kristin K., Kristin B., Alexis, JDM, and an assortment of other RPS regulars and CW actors/actresses.
Betas:anyothergirl415
Disclaimer: The story and plot is mine, the characters are based off of real people and belong to themselves. The places are also based off of real places. I know almost nothing of the foster care system.
Summary: The world of High School through the eyes of violist Jensen Ackles. Life is just notes on a page, waiting to be read and interpreted.
Master Post
*****
The drive to Jensen's had been silent and the most awkward part of the whole experience. Jared had this look on his face the whole time, like he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. He kept darting glances towards Jensen. For his part, Jensen mostly just stared out the window trying to ignore the other teen.
The drive only took ten minutes, Jared was following the speed limit the entire time. When the car came to a stop in front of Jensen's house there was a momentary pause before he pushed open the door and climbed out. Jared had one hand gripping the gearshift, the other settled on the peak of the steering wheel.
Before Jensen could shut the door, Jared's voice rang out into the silence, “I'll see you Monday?”
He nodded and closed it. It didn't slam, just clicked, and Jensen rested his fingers on the cool green covered metal before stepping off the curb and heading up the walk.
The house was quiet, everyone that was home was tucked in bed asleep. Jensen did his best to open the front door quietly, but it still shuddered and squeaked a bit as he shouldered it. He toed his shoes off and picked them up by the back, one finger curled in each till the pad touched the sole. Moving quietly up the wood stairs and across the hall floor was difficult but he had practice.
Entering his room, Jensen set his work shoes down next to the door and stripped down to his boxers. Normally he slept in a shirt but it didn't seem worth the effort of digging one out. He was tired and annoyed. As he padded to the bunk bed Jensen noticed a tan arm hanging over the edge of the top bunk. Reaching up he gently pushed it back between the rails and tucked it underneath the comforter. Rain made an odd snuffling sound and moved away from the edge of the bed, tucking his arm up close.
Jensen sighed and leaned his forehead against the black metal frame, fingers gripping the middle rail. He removed his glasses with his other hand and, holding them between his thumb and forefinger, ran his hand across his face and eyes. Before climbing in bed he made sure his glasses were in their case and set on top of the dresser.
The sheets were chilly but his pillow molded comfortably against the back of his neck and skull. Staring up he traced his eyes over the flower pattern on the bottom of the mattress above him. They should probably flip it over soon. He turned his head and burrowed his nose into the soft pillow case as his body turned on it's side. Jensen was comfortable and tired. It wasn't long before his eyes slid shut and breath evened out.
*****
The rest of the weekend was spent normally; he helped Denis out in the basement on Sunday. They were getting things ready to install new windows in the small room in the back and the bathroom. Denis had ordered them earlier in the week and the lumber store said they'd be in by the next Friday. Other than that he went to one of Rain's soccer games and worked on homework and his solo.
Jared didn't come by or try to get a hold of him. Not that Jensen had given the guy the number for the land line. He preferred to keep school related issues at school as much as possible. It wasn't like it'd be hard to track Jared down to work on the next part of their project, they had second period together everyday. And, if Jensen really wanted to, he could find him at lunch. He was pretty sure he knew what table the jock ate at even though Jensen never ate in the commons himself.
Monday came and Jared wasn't in English. Apparently there was some sort of student government meeting discussing sports during home room and he'd been chosen to attend. Jensen shrugged it off and went about his day as usual. After his last class he headed to the music building like he did most days. He was a little early as his History teacher was in a rush to get done. Mrs. Cohen was one of the youngest teachers at the school and she was a single mom. She got a call from her usual babysitter during the first half of the class telling her he or she wouldn't be able to pick her son up.
The last choir class was still in the room, the freshman group, going over a line from 'May It Be' by Enya. It was stuck in his head by the time he'd grabbed his viola and music and slipped through the door to the inner hall. It was a short, not quite 'L' shaped, corridor that held two offices, two music storage areas, and two bathrooms- one for girls and one for boys. Jensen opened the door to the larger of the two closets, the one that held most of the archived sheet music, and was glad to find it empty of students.
Leaving the door open, he shuffled into his usual seat, adjusting the position of chairs and stands as he went. Jensen had his back to the entry when he finished, it would be at least twenty minutes before Danneel and the rest of his group showed up. If they showed. Usually Danneel was the only one that came to the Monday meetings, Chris and Mike had other obligations usually.
It only took him a second to adjust the fine tuners and double check each strings sound. Most of the time the sound held pretty well over the course of the day. Only extreme temperature fluctuations caused it much trouble.
Jensen slid the bow out of the case and tightened it, snapping a few broken hairs off carefully. It wouldn't be good to cause the whole thing to unravel. A quick coat of rosin later he as able to start playing.
He started with a few scales, going over the easier ones then moving to ones that required a lot of shifting and finger adjustments. The last one he played was in the same key as his solo. Although Jensen had a book out that detailed each scale, he had his eyes shut feeling the music.
One of the reasons they were spending so much time practicing as a quartet was because they were attempting to memorize the music. Danneel, and Jensen, had discussed playing without the sheet music for the competition. It was something Jensen loved doing, memorizing music wasn't hard for him. Mike and Chris, on the other hand, hadn't been so enthusiastic about the idea.
Reaching over he flipped the book shut and slipped it back into the heavy duty concert folder. It took him only a second of searching to locate his solo and the quarter piece. He set out the quartet and put the solo on top, smoothing out the pages with his right hand as his left held his viola in rest position with the bow dangling from the crook of his thumb.
Absently he heard the dull sound of the bell, there was no intercom in the hall or closet. Jensen started playing and his focus was entirely on the music. Behind him there was the scuffle of shoes on linoleum and the chatter of voices, volume changing as swinging doors were opened and slid shut. He ignored it all in favor of feeling the music.
His bow swept across the string and his fingers danced lightly, adjusting position and strength. On the long sweeping notes Jensen's fingers automatically added in a swaying vibrato, more forceful than what he usually did but still seemingly natural. Reaching the end of the two page song, he relaxed and started again. Jensen didn't turn when the footsteps stopped behind him, a few paces into the hall, it wasn't the first time someone had stopped to watch him. Not even a low murmur of a conversation broke his concentration. He recognized Danneel's voice but not the words that were spoken.
It was another five minutes before he paused, just as Danneel entered the room and shut the door behind his back. It closed with a 'schnick' and he raised an eyebrow in question.
“So, wanna tell me why Jared Padalecki was watching you play?” She grinned at him, a smile quirking her lips.
He blinked and glanced at the shut door. There was an old poster for a musical the local theater put on two years ago taped to it. “What? Jared?”
“Yes, Jared Padalecki, the quarterback for the football team?” Danneel dropped her bag onto the floor and sat, pulling her small violin case into her lap. “It was actually cute.” She pulled her violin out and tested the tone of the strings. Her face contorted slightly as she plucked the 'D' string. “You know, I never realized just how tall he is. And hot, the guy is so adorable.”
“Did you just say hot and adorable?” His eyebrows knit together and he set his bow on the stand and reached a hand out towards her.
Danneel handed the violin over for him to tune and nodded, “He's tall and muscley, hence hot, and adorable like a puppy. So, do you know why he was out there watching you?”
“The assignment, probably,” Jensen frowned. “Did he say anything? Why didn't he say anything, he could have interrupted. We need to go over-”
“He did,” Danneel stopped him by wrapping a hand around the neck of her violin. It'd been tuned for the last six or so plucks. “He said he was sorry about not catching you earlier and wanted to know what time you finished practice usually. I told him you were done around the same time as football practice most days. You're getting a ride with him.”
“What, no I'm- I don't need a ride,” Jensen's eyes were wide behind his glasses, the whites clearly visible behind black frames.
“You kind of do, Jensen,” She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “I still can't drive anyone and let's face it, Mike and Chris aren't showing up tonight. 'Sides you do need to work on your English assignment, right?”
He nodded reluctantly, yeah they really did need to sort out the rest of it. They couldn't base the entire assignment on one night.
“Plus,” Danneel grinned wickedly at him as they started the count. “He's smokin' hot.”
The blush that spread across Jensen's cheeks really was never going to go away. Not till graduation at least.
*****
Jensen had hoped that Danneel would walk with him across campus, calm his nerves a little, but she'd managed to get a parking spot in the lot between the music building, and the Agriculture building. He was left to walk alone, awkwardly shoving one hand into his hoodie's pocket while the other tensed and relaxed around the handle for his instrument case.
The weather was pretty nice out, a few dark clouds were on the horizon but for now it was sunny. It didn't take long for him to find Jared's car, parked in about the same place it had been on Friday. He ducked under the chain and awkwardly stared at the Mazda. Jared wasn't there yet and he wasn't sure if the quarterback was testy about the paint job. It was his mother's car, after all. Instead of sitting on the bumper or hood, Jensen ducked back under the chain and sat on the grass. He used his viola case and backpack as a head rest and laid back.
In addition to the dark clouds on the horizon there were a few puffs of white scattered across the cerulean blue plane above. After a few minutes he let his eyes slide shut and focused on the sounds of the world around him. Traffic was slow, a few cars pulling out or driving by. Some birds were chirping in the branches of the trees across the street and there was a light breeze tickling the grass and his face.
“Having a good nap?” Jensen blinked his eyes open and leaned his face up towards the voice. Jared was standing above him, one hand stuffed in the pocket of his jacket and the other wrapped around the strap of his bag.
“Not nappin',” Jensen pushed himself upright and shifted to his knees. He shrugged on his backpack and snagged his viola as he stood. “Danneel said you came by. You could have interrupted, didn't have to talk to her about it.”
Jared shrugged as they walked the short distance to the car, hopping the chain, “I didn't want to interrupt. Looked like you were really into the song.”
“It's not that big of a deal, we needed to talk about the assignment,” Jensen shrugged and looked up at him as the door clicked. He pulled at the handle to find it locked. Jared automatically flipped the lock on then off again. This time the door opened easily. “You could have talked to me.”
“I didn't want to put you into a bad mood again,” Jared glanced over as they settled into their seat. “You can put your violin in the back, if you want.”
“It's a viola,” The correction fell from his lips without thinking about it. Jensen maneuvered it to set behind them lengthwise on the back seat.
“Sorry, I don't know much about music, 'specially instruments,” Jared turned the key and shifted into reverse. The car was silent till they pulled out of the parking lot. “I'm really sorry, I really am, about Friday Jensen.”
Jensen nodded but didn't answer. Jared had already apologized, half a dozen times, on Friday.
“Honestly,” Jared glanced over as Jensen turned to look at him. “I've never really had someone relying on me for a ride before, I was stupid and didn't think. I'm sorry.”
“You can stop apologizing Jared,” He shrugged and rubbed a palm against his knee. The fabric of his jeans was a little sticky from flakes of rosin. “What happened happened, can't change it now.”
“Doesn't mean I wouldn't if I could.”
Jensen studied the lines of Jared's face and shoulders as he drove. Even if the whole issue had been annoying and a bit irresponsible there was really no point in holding a grudge for it. Besides, if he did that would throw a wrench in the whole 'getting the assignment from hell' done. Jensen really wanted to get that done and he wanted a decent grade too.
“Are you busy tonight?” Jensen dropped his eyes to his lap, watching his fingers scratch at his jeans.
“Not really,” Jared's voice was full of a question. “Why?”
Jensen took a moment before he spoke to worry at his lip. Looking up he met Jared's eyes as the car rolled to a stop at a light only a few blocks from his home, “I don't work tonight and we're having dinner. A family dinner, kind of. It'd be good for you to come eat. Eat dinner and see my home. For the assignment?”
That huge dimpled grin spread across Jared's face, “That sounds awesome.”
*****
Jared talked the rest of the ride, which wasn't that long, about his family. Apparently they rarely ate together anymore due to clashing schedules. He reminisced on how they used to watch Star Trek at the dinner table every night and how much he missed it. Jensen wasn't sure whether to find Jared's ramble endearing or annoying. He just hoped Jared wouldn't ramble on during dinner. It was bad enough the quarterback would be the first person Jensen had ever invited over for dinner.
They parked on the street, though the house had a garage and a short driveway with cracked cement that grass poked through. He was oddly nervous walking up to the house. Margaret, Hayden, and the others didn't know he was bringing Jared over for dinner. His foster mother had mentioned making spaghetti tonight, though, and she always made enough that there was leftovers for at least two days.
Jared had an amused look on his face as he watched Jensen shoulder the front door open. Jensen just sighed and held it open for the other teen to walk through.
“I need to put my stuff upstairs,” He hesitated for a moment. “Follow me. Denis is asleep, though, so try to be quiet.”
“Denis?” Jared asked as they reached the second floor landing. His voice was quiet and low, a whisper in Jensen's ear.
Jensen shot a look over his shoulder, almost challenging, green eyes steadily met hazel, “My foster father.”
Hazel eyes blinked and the quarterback mouthed 'foster' and glanced around as if taking in his surroundings for the first time. Jensen sighed and turned his attention back to the front. The bathroom at the end of the hall was open showing a couple of damp towels curled where the floor met cabinet and several toothbrushes set haphazardly on the counter. The light was still on but the room was empty. Jensen reached in and flicked the switch off before opening the door to his room.
Rain was sitting at his desk, chewing on his pencil, brow furrowed as he stared at a sheet of paper. There were math problems scattered across the sheet of various kinds, including a few word problems at the end.
“Hey, buddy, how's your homework coming?” Jensen decided the best thing to do would be to ignore Jared's presence for now. He slid his viola under the bed and dropped his bag on his mattress. Rain looked up, eyes pausing on Jared for a moment before locking onto Jensen.
“S'alright,” He grinned as Jensen came up behind him and looked down at the worksheet, inspecting it. “Hayden helped me with the really hard stuff earlier.”
Jensen nodded and roughed up the kids short hair before Rain batted his hand away, “Awesome, let me know if you need any help with anything, alright?”
Rain nodded, chin bobbing up and down in an almost exaggerated movement before turning back to his paper. Shrugging off his hoodie, Jensen tossed it onto his bed and glanced at Jared, “Let's head downstairs?” It was a bit odd to have Jared following him around. Usually when they walked places together Jensen was the one a step behind. Not that they'd done much together, but still. It was odd. For once it seemed as if Jared might be the one out of his element.
All three of the girls were in the kitchen when they got there, Rain had probably only been upstairs to get away from the room full of estrogen. Adair and Hayden were working on their homework at the kitchen table, plates and silverware stacked nearby so they could make the table as soon as dinner finished. Margaret was standing at the oven stirring a large pot of sauce while much larger pot cooked the noodles on the back burner. The stove was a good ten years old and ran on gas. It was the one thing in the kitchen none of the kids, including Jensen, were allowed to use without supervision. That was alright, there was always enough supplies to make sandwiches and canned food could be heated up in the microwave.
“Jensen, who's your friend?” Margaret asked, a large but tired smile crossed her face. Her chin length red hair was tied back in a low ponytail. His two foster siblings looked up, Adair with a curious look and Hayden with a broad smile. Right, Hayden thought Jared was the hottest guy ever. Much better than Milo Ventimiglia, the eighth grader she had a crush on.
“Jared, Jared Padalecki,” He glanced at the taller teen for a moment then walked hesitantly into the kitchen. “We're working on an assignment for my English class. Is it alright if he stays for dinner?”
“Of course, Jensen!” She grinned at him and rested a hand on his shoulder before moving around him. “You can always bring a friend or two over, you know that! Hello dear, Jared? I'm Margaret,” she held out a hand and he took it, shaking it firmly. “My you have a good grip! It is very nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Ma'am,” Jared ducked his head as a smile brightened his features.
Jensen cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, “Do you need help with anything, Margaret?”
She grinned back at him, moving over to the stove again, “Should be about done. Why don't you grab the milk and lemonade from the fridge- you do like one of those, don't you Jared?” At his nod she continued, “Hayden would you set the table? I'll grab an extra plate for Denis from the cupboard to wrap up his dinner for later. Adair, why don't you let Rain know it's time to eat?”
Adair bounded out of the room, her long dirty blond hair practically bouncing behind her. Jensen pulled the milk and lemonade out and after a moment handed them to Jared. The guy smiled and carefully made his way to the table. Jensen watched after him for a moment before moving to a cupboard and carefully snagging four glasses and two plastic cups. Rain and Adair still got the 'kiddie' cups as Hayden called them. Margaret and Denis didn't want to risk them dropping them and cutting themselves on glass shards.
A couple minutes later Rain and Adair entered the room, moving quickly but quietly across the floor. Adair was giggling under her breath while there was a scowl on Rain's face. Jensen thought she must have played some sort of trick on him before letting him know dinner was ready. It wasn't the first time she'd done something of the sort.
Hayden had moved her and Adair's notebooks to the kitchen counter and then set the table. There were six places made up. Before they sat down Margaret dished up a helping of spaghetti and some green beans, which she'd heated in the microwave, onto a seventh plate. She covered it with saran wrap and stuck it in the fridge to keep.
As usual, when the all ate together, Margaret made them hold hands so she could say a short prayer. Jensen was sitting next to her with Jared on his other side. Hayden had purposely taken the seat across from Jared. They were both at the end of the table so they ended up holding hands. Closing his eyes, Jensen's fingers slipped into Jared's.
It was different, Jared's hands were larger than his and warm. The other teen squeezed his hand gently before dropping it when Margaret finished the prayer with 'amen.' Focusing on the food in front of him, Jensen dug in and ignored the fact that his cheeks were probably tinted pink between his freckles. He kept his face tilted down for the majority of the meal and let the heat from the spaghetti fog his glasses.
Dinner was filled with small talk, mostly Hayden and Rain talking about their school day. Jared spoke surprisingly little for the fact that he was pretty good at filling silences with his rambling voice. Jensen spoke up a couple times to ask how Adair and Rain were doing. Apparently there was going to be a tournament for Rain's soccer team in a few weeks, he was pretty excited about it. Jensen just smiled around a bite of green beans.
After dinner they helped clean up, Jensen washed the dishes while Jared insisted on drying them. Margaret just smiled and thanked Jared as she packed up the left overs, not quite as much as usual- Jared was a growing boy with a bottomless pit for a stomach apparently- and headed into the living room to catch the evening news. Hayden had some sort of church event and hurried out, almost reluctantly, when her ride drove up not long after they were done.
Jensen leaned back against the counter when they were finished with the dishes and carefully slipped off the rubber gloves. He hated wearing them, they always made his skin feel odd, damp and wet without actually being that way.
“So,” He glanced over at Jared who was putting one last plate in the drying rack. “I kind of need to do laundry, I usually do it in the evenings when I don't work.” Jensen slipped his thumbs into his pockets and patted the outside of his jeans. “I usually do my homework while the machines run, we could do that. The interview I mean. We could get the interview part of the assignment done. It'd also give you a peak into what I normally do when I'm not working at night.”
Jared pretended to consider it for a moment, twisting his lips to the side, “Alright. I'll just go grab my stuff from the car?”
“Sure,” Jensen nodded and pushed away from the counter. “I'll get my notebook and laundry and meet you at the front door. The machines are down in the basement.”
It didn't take long for Jensen to get back downstairs, though he did change his jeans and over shirt real quick. He didn't think there'd be much time for him to practice the viola tonight and figured he might as well wash the rosin dust from his clothes. The change garnered him a raised eyebrow from Jared when they met up in the living room. Jensen just shrugged.
The stairs leading to the basement were in good condition and Denis and Jensen had just replaced the railing during the previous summer. The washer and dryer were in a small room to the right of the stairs, barely big enough for them and a single person to sort laundry. Jensen got things in order pretty quick. As usual he was washing both his and Rain's clothing. Since he did laundry at least once a week there wasn't a whole lot to wash. He figured three loads would do it as he didn't want to wash Rain's soccer uniform and practice clothes at the same time as the rest of the clothes.
There was an old couch in the main room of the basement, it was clean but definitely a few decades old. When they worked down here Denis covered it with a plastic tarp to keep dust away. Jensen had gone through here with a vacuum Sunday night so the air and floor was pretty clean as well. Adair had allergies so it wasn't a good idea for them to just let the dust from their home improvements lay around.
Jared had settled onto the couch, almost in the center but not quite, and had his notebook out. He was tapping a mechanical pencil against the paper, eraser making a small tinny noise whenever it brushed the metal spiral binding. The fingers of his free hand were pushing back his bangs as Jensen stopped near the couch. Hazel eyes danced in the artificial light as Jared grinned at him.
“So,” Jensen started as he dropped onto the end of the couch. There was a foot of space between them on the cushion. He glanced at Jared and adjusted his glasses. “Where should we start?”
Jared glanced down at his notebook for a second, teeth catching on his bottom lip. There was a hesitant look on his face, “One of the topics Kripke wanted us to talk about was family... we could get that out of the way?”
“Yeah,” Jensen sighed. His grip tightened on his notebook for a moment as he glanced around the room. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, Denis mentioned painting it a light airy color. He planned to ask Margaret for advice on the issue as the older man was horrible when it a came to decorating. Jensen wasn't much better. “Yeah, that'd be a good idea.”
Nodding the other boy produced the packet from where he'd folded it between the lined pages. He was silent for a moment, then, “I have two siblings, an older brother named Jeff and a little sister Megan. Jeff's in his second year of college, he's twenty. Megan just started the eighth grade.”
“Worrying about boys?” Jensen grinned slightly as he wrote down the basics.
“Hell yeah, been practicing my glare,” Jared smiled and Jensen glanced up in time to get the full affect of Padalecki dimples. He ducked his head quickly. “Thinking about investing in a shotgun, just for fun. What about you?”
“I, uh,” He hesitated before clearing his throat. Idly he bent the corner of the paper back before rubbing at the crease to remove it. “Well, I have an older brother, Josh. He's twenty one? I think. And Mackenzie, my little sister. She's ten. My, uh, parents died in car accident when I was seven, we got separated in the foster care system.”
“Sucks,” Jared's voice was quiet, just a murmur, and Jensen was thankful for that.
He shrugged, “It happens. Margaret, my foster Mom, and Denis are pretty nice. Then I have Hayden, Rain, and Adair, too. My foster siblings. Everything works out alright, we're pretty much a normal family. Just not quite as close and not biological, but we take care of each other.”
“That's what counts,” Jared nodded. Glancing up Jensen sent him a small smile, barely a twist of the lips but visible all the same.
“Yeah, that's what counts.”
It wasn't quite as awkward as Jensen thought it would be, talking about his past with Jared. The other teen actually seemed pretty understanding. He didn't make any jokes or ask stupid questions. Not counting the one about never seeing Die Hard. Really, Jensen just didn't watch that many movies. He had other, more important priorities to think about.
By the end of the night most of the interview was out of the way and Jared had already made plans for Jensen to come over and watch Die Hard at his house in a couple weeks, when his parents would actually be home on the weekend. Meeting his family for the assignment was planned. Jared added in the Die Hard thing because he thought that Jensen just had to come watch Die Hard. For the plot, really.
A little over an hour later Jensen had just sat down after switching the loads again. The last load for the washer was in and he'd hung up Rain's uniform on the drying rack. Margaret warned them when they bought it that it could possibly shrink. With the rate that Rain was growing that was the last thing they needed to happen.
“Are you going to Homecoming?”
The question surprised Jensen, it wasn't something he was expecting. Kripke hadn't had it on his list and school dances weren't exactly a common topic to discuss. Jensen blinked at Jared, the quarterback was watching him again. He did that a lot.
“The game or the dance?”
“Both,” Jared shrugged.
“No, I'm not,” Jensen sighed and scratched at the left margin with his pencil. He wasn't exactly doodling just creating some sort of zigzagging fan type thing. “I don't really go to school events. Outside the music stuff. I go to the concerts and plays. Well, sometimes the plays. I was in the orchestra for last year's musical.”
“The one with the guy that died?”
Jensen furrowed his eyebrow. He supposed that was a memorable scene of the play, “Oklahoma.”
“Yeah,” Jared nodded, leaning back and stretching his arms out in front of him, pencil woven between intertwine fingers. “I saw that one. Went with Sandy and some of the gang for extra credit. Why not?”
“Why not?”
“Why not go to the dance? I'm sure someone would go with you.”
Jensen raised an eyebrow and turned slightly to face Jared, chin resting on his right hand, “Who?”
“Danneel or one of those other girls in your music class? Why not, I mean it's not like you're ugly,” Jared rolled his eyes and laughed a little. Jensen ducked his head slightly feeling that annoying heat rising to his cheeks again. “I'm sure if you asked it'd be easy to find a date.”
“Maybe,” He mumbled and turned his attention back to the paper in front of him. “Just not my thing.... but, um, you're going, right?”
Jared snorted, a mix between a scoff and a laugh, “Dude, it's kind of expected. I'm playing in the game and if I don't go to the dance after it'd be... weird.” He shrugged. “Sandy's going with me, shouldn't be too bad.”
There was a moment of awkward silence. Jensen wasn't really sure how to fill it. They'd already covered most of the questions Kripke had suggested. His eyes darted around his line of sight as he searched his mind for something to say, “Gonna get laid?” Of course it had to be something Mike would say in this situation.
“Dude!” Jared burst into a full on laugh and Jensen couldn't help but to look over and take in the sight. “I wish!”
*****
After the last load of laundry finished Jared took off. It was getting late and they did have school the next day. Plus his parents were apparently home and he actually said that Jensen was right about needing to set an example for younger siblings. Seeing as Megan was going to be in high school next year Jared figured setting a good example was something he should do. Jensen wasn't sure how much of that he believed, but accepted it without comment. He didn't have any real reason to question the other teen anyway.
It was almost ten o'clock by the time Jensen trudged up stairs and showed Jared to the door. The laundry was done and folded neatly in the hamper. He carried it upstairs to put away before starting in on his Calculus and Math homework. Neither took especially long, in fact his music theory took longer. That was mostly because he spent way too long trying to make sure every question and note was perfectly answered or drawn. Music was his passion, after all.
The next couple of days went by pretty quick, Jensen had practice on Tuesday followed by catching the last half of Rain's soccer game. Then on Wednesday he worked from six to eleven again. Thursday and Friday were just as busy for him. He did get some good practice with the full quarter Thursday, so that was something at least.
He didn't get anything more done on his paper. Jared was busy with football and other school stuff and Jensen had too much on his own plate. They didn't really see each other outside of English class or when they passed a few times in the hall and walking across campus. It was kind of odd, though. Every time he saw the taller teen the guys ever present smile seemed to grow and he actually greeted Jensen. There wasn't any real reason for it other than just to say hi. It confused Jensen a bit, but it also made something inside him feel different, not so much like an outsider maybe.
Other than Jared nothing else changed. Sandy did send him an odd look when he ended up a few places down the line from her at lunch Thursday. It was almost like she was appraising him. It kind of made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. He also saw Chad once, in the science building's courtyard. The guy just shot him a nasty look, worse then usual. Jensen figured it was probably due to him 'crashing' his party. Really it wasn't even Jensen's fault, Jared had kinda forced him to go to it.
On Friday things changed, a little anyway. Jensen was sitting in his usual place outside, back against one of the 'v' of windows that covered the front of the commons. He had just sat down a few minutes ago and hadn't bothered to get any homework out yet. His lunch was resting on his lap, some sort of taco today. Filled with ground beef, shredded lettuce and tomato, and maybe a bit of onion. The sides were tater tots and an apple, plus his milk.
“Hey Jensen,” Jared dropped down next to him, sitting on the sidewalk with his back to the wall. He beamed up at him, tilting his head back. “So, I talked to Kripke.”
It took a minute for Jensen to answer, his mouth was kind of full. He could really count on one hand the number of times people had sat with him at lunch during the last month, “About?”
“Following you,” That statement almost made Jared seem like a stalker. From the way his smile grew, perhaps he knew it too. “For the assignment. I get to follow you around on Tuesday. It's really the best day, and you can follow me on the following Tuesday. Those are what Kripke got our teacher's to agree to. Apparently they all thought the same Tuesday would be best, but that'd be kind of physically impossible.”
“So, you're going to follow me around all day on Tuesday?”
Jared nodded and reached up towards Jensen's lap. He froze just watching the quarterback's hand. The guy stole one of his tater tots. Jerk.
Jensen sighed, “And you need to know my schedule?”
“Yep,” Jared grinned as he chewed.
He moved the disposable lunch tray as Jared tried to snag another tater tot. The smile morphed into a pout. Danneel was right, Jared was a dog. A gigantic puppy. The pout must have been practiced a lot too, daily even. Jensen dropped the tray back to his lap and let Jared snag another couple bites.
“I have Orchestra first period, why don't you meet me in the lobby between the music rooms and the back of the auditorium?”
“Sounds like a plan,” A thoughtful look crossed Jared's face as he popped a finger in his mouth to remove the extra salt. Jensen averted his gaze back to his lap. Using his left hand he picked up his taco to take a bite. “You know, these are pretty good. I might just have to buy hot lunch sometimes. Almost better than McDonald's.”
*****
The next Tuesday wasn't too bad. Jared shadowed him all day, even sticking with him at lunch. He even bought his own hot lunch, although he ended up eating half of Jensen's French fries. Not like Jensen was going to eat them anyway. They were way too soggy. Jared just dowsed them with an extra packet of salt he snagged from the condiments table and stuffed them into his mouth. Jensen was just glad Jared didn't slather them in a ton of ketchup. That might have made it difficult for him to eat.
Jared even skipped football practice, with permission from the coach. Apparently the second quarterback needed more practice, just in case, so it didn't matter if Jared missed one day. He did state that he promised go for a run that evening as a work out. Jensen really didn't see how it would matter much if Jared missed one practice, but then he wasn't into sports and working out in the first place.
Afterwards Jared offered Jensen a ride home. He was surprised at how quickly the answer escaped his mouth, “That'd be great.” His lips were even spread into a wide smile. It was odd. Just over a week ago Jensen would have been coming up with every excuse not to accept the ride and now? Now he actually wanted to get in the car with Jensen at the end of the day. He was kind of enjoying their awkward conversations. It actually scared him a little. Or a lot. Yeah, it scared him a lot.
*****
Next
A.Note: Sorry for the delay, things were a bit hectic. Since it's Friday, Part Five will be up by Tuesday rather than Monday. I want to get Part Seven finished being fleshed out and ready for the Beta before I post it. Thanks for reading! :)
Author:
surevestaRating: PG-16
Fandom: CW RPS
Word Count: 6,767 (this part)
Pairing: J2
Main Characters: Jensen, Jared, Danneel, Sandy, Kripke, Chad, Mike, Chris, Sophia, Hayden, Adair, Rainbow, Allie
Other Characters: Samantha Ferris, Samantha Smith, Tom and Jaime, Aaron, Shawn, Kristin K., Kristin B., Alexis, JDM, and an assortment of other RPS regulars and CW actors/actresses.
Betas:
anyothergirl415Disclaimer: The story and plot is mine, the characters are based off of real people and belong to themselves. The places are also based off of real places. I know almost nothing of the foster care system.
Summary: The world of High School through the eyes of violist Jensen Ackles. Life is just notes on a page, waiting to be read and interpreted.
Master Post
*****
The drive to Jensen's had been silent and the most awkward part of the whole experience. Jared had this look on his face the whole time, like he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. He kept darting glances towards Jensen. For his part, Jensen mostly just stared out the window trying to ignore the other teen.
The drive only took ten minutes, Jared was following the speed limit the entire time. When the car came to a stop in front of Jensen's house there was a momentary pause before he pushed open the door and climbed out. Jared had one hand gripping the gearshift, the other settled on the peak of the steering wheel.
Before Jensen could shut the door, Jared's voice rang out into the silence, “I'll see you Monday?”
He nodded and closed it. It didn't slam, just clicked, and Jensen rested his fingers on the cool green covered metal before stepping off the curb and heading up the walk.
The house was quiet, everyone that was home was tucked in bed asleep. Jensen did his best to open the front door quietly, but it still shuddered and squeaked a bit as he shouldered it. He toed his shoes off and picked them up by the back, one finger curled in each till the pad touched the sole. Moving quietly up the wood stairs and across the hall floor was difficult but he had practice.
Entering his room, Jensen set his work shoes down next to the door and stripped down to his boxers. Normally he slept in a shirt but it didn't seem worth the effort of digging one out. He was tired and annoyed. As he padded to the bunk bed Jensen noticed a tan arm hanging over the edge of the top bunk. Reaching up he gently pushed it back between the rails and tucked it underneath the comforter. Rain made an odd snuffling sound and moved away from the edge of the bed, tucking his arm up close.
Jensen sighed and leaned his forehead against the black metal frame, fingers gripping the middle rail. He removed his glasses with his other hand and, holding them between his thumb and forefinger, ran his hand across his face and eyes. Before climbing in bed he made sure his glasses were in their case and set on top of the dresser.
The sheets were chilly but his pillow molded comfortably against the back of his neck and skull. Staring up he traced his eyes over the flower pattern on the bottom of the mattress above him. They should probably flip it over soon. He turned his head and burrowed his nose into the soft pillow case as his body turned on it's side. Jensen was comfortable and tired. It wasn't long before his eyes slid shut and breath evened out.
The rest of the weekend was spent normally; he helped Denis out in the basement on Sunday. They were getting things ready to install new windows in the small room in the back and the bathroom. Denis had ordered them earlier in the week and the lumber store said they'd be in by the next Friday. Other than that he went to one of Rain's soccer games and worked on homework and his solo.
Jared didn't come by or try to get a hold of him. Not that Jensen had given the guy the number for the land line. He preferred to keep school related issues at school as much as possible. It wasn't like it'd be hard to track Jared down to work on the next part of their project, they had second period together everyday. And, if Jensen really wanted to, he could find him at lunch. He was pretty sure he knew what table the jock ate at even though Jensen never ate in the commons himself.
Monday came and Jared wasn't in English. Apparently there was some sort of student government meeting discussing sports during home room and he'd been chosen to attend. Jensen shrugged it off and went about his day as usual. After his last class he headed to the music building like he did most days. He was a little early as his History teacher was in a rush to get done. Mrs. Cohen was one of the youngest teachers at the school and she was a single mom. She got a call from her usual babysitter during the first half of the class telling her he or she wouldn't be able to pick her son up.
The last choir class was still in the room, the freshman group, going over a line from 'May It Be' by Enya. It was stuck in his head by the time he'd grabbed his viola and music and slipped through the door to the inner hall. It was a short, not quite 'L' shaped, corridor that held two offices, two music storage areas, and two bathrooms- one for girls and one for boys. Jensen opened the door to the larger of the two closets, the one that held most of the archived sheet music, and was glad to find it empty of students.
Leaving the door open, he shuffled into his usual seat, adjusting the position of chairs and stands as he went. Jensen had his back to the entry when he finished, it would be at least twenty minutes before Danneel and the rest of his group showed up. If they showed. Usually Danneel was the only one that came to the Monday meetings, Chris and Mike had other obligations usually.
It only took him a second to adjust the fine tuners and double check each strings sound. Most of the time the sound held pretty well over the course of the day. Only extreme temperature fluctuations caused it much trouble.
Jensen slid the bow out of the case and tightened it, snapping a few broken hairs off carefully. It wouldn't be good to cause the whole thing to unravel. A quick coat of rosin later he as able to start playing.
He started with a few scales, going over the easier ones then moving to ones that required a lot of shifting and finger adjustments. The last one he played was in the same key as his solo. Although Jensen had a book out that detailed each scale, he had his eyes shut feeling the music.
One of the reasons they were spending so much time practicing as a quartet was because they were attempting to memorize the music. Danneel, and Jensen, had discussed playing without the sheet music for the competition. It was something Jensen loved doing, memorizing music wasn't hard for him. Mike and Chris, on the other hand, hadn't been so enthusiastic about the idea.
Reaching over he flipped the book shut and slipped it back into the heavy duty concert folder. It took him only a second of searching to locate his solo and the quarter piece. He set out the quartet and put the solo on top, smoothing out the pages with his right hand as his left held his viola in rest position with the bow dangling from the crook of his thumb.
Absently he heard the dull sound of the bell, there was no intercom in the hall or closet. Jensen started playing and his focus was entirely on the music. Behind him there was the scuffle of shoes on linoleum and the chatter of voices, volume changing as swinging doors were opened and slid shut. He ignored it all in favor of feeling the music.
His bow swept across the string and his fingers danced lightly, adjusting position and strength. On the long sweeping notes Jensen's fingers automatically added in a swaying vibrato, more forceful than what he usually did but still seemingly natural. Reaching the end of the two page song, he relaxed and started again. Jensen didn't turn when the footsteps stopped behind him, a few paces into the hall, it wasn't the first time someone had stopped to watch him. Not even a low murmur of a conversation broke his concentration. He recognized Danneel's voice but not the words that were spoken.
It was another five minutes before he paused, just as Danneel entered the room and shut the door behind his back. It closed with a 'schnick' and he raised an eyebrow in question.
“So, wanna tell me why Jared Padalecki was watching you play?” She grinned at him, a smile quirking her lips.
He blinked and glanced at the shut door. There was an old poster for a musical the local theater put on two years ago taped to it. “What? Jared?”
“Yes, Jared Padalecki, the quarterback for the football team?” Danneel dropped her bag onto the floor and sat, pulling her small violin case into her lap. “It was actually cute.” She pulled her violin out and tested the tone of the strings. Her face contorted slightly as she plucked the 'D' string. “You know, I never realized just how tall he is. And hot, the guy is so adorable.”
“Did you just say hot and adorable?” His eyebrows knit together and he set his bow on the stand and reached a hand out towards her.
Danneel handed the violin over for him to tune and nodded, “He's tall and muscley, hence hot, and adorable like a puppy. So, do you know why he was out there watching you?”
“The assignment, probably,” Jensen frowned. “Did he say anything? Why didn't he say anything, he could have interrupted. We need to go over-”
“He did,” Danneel stopped him by wrapping a hand around the neck of her violin. It'd been tuned for the last six or so plucks. “He said he was sorry about not catching you earlier and wanted to know what time you finished practice usually. I told him you were done around the same time as football practice most days. You're getting a ride with him.”
“What, no I'm- I don't need a ride,” Jensen's eyes were wide behind his glasses, the whites clearly visible behind black frames.
“You kind of do, Jensen,” She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “I still can't drive anyone and let's face it, Mike and Chris aren't showing up tonight. 'Sides you do need to work on your English assignment, right?”
He nodded reluctantly, yeah they really did need to sort out the rest of it. They couldn't base the entire assignment on one night.
“Plus,” Danneel grinned wickedly at him as they started the count. “He's smokin' hot.”
The blush that spread across Jensen's cheeks really was never going to go away. Not till graduation at least.
Jensen had hoped that Danneel would walk with him across campus, calm his nerves a little, but she'd managed to get a parking spot in the lot between the music building, and the Agriculture building. He was left to walk alone, awkwardly shoving one hand into his hoodie's pocket while the other tensed and relaxed around the handle for his instrument case.
The weather was pretty nice out, a few dark clouds were on the horizon but for now it was sunny. It didn't take long for him to find Jared's car, parked in about the same place it had been on Friday. He ducked under the chain and awkwardly stared at the Mazda. Jared wasn't there yet and he wasn't sure if the quarterback was testy about the paint job. It was his mother's car, after all. Instead of sitting on the bumper or hood, Jensen ducked back under the chain and sat on the grass. He used his viola case and backpack as a head rest and laid back.
In addition to the dark clouds on the horizon there were a few puffs of white scattered across the cerulean blue plane above. After a few minutes he let his eyes slide shut and focused on the sounds of the world around him. Traffic was slow, a few cars pulling out or driving by. Some birds were chirping in the branches of the trees across the street and there was a light breeze tickling the grass and his face.
“Having a good nap?” Jensen blinked his eyes open and leaned his face up towards the voice. Jared was standing above him, one hand stuffed in the pocket of his jacket and the other wrapped around the strap of his bag.
“Not nappin',” Jensen pushed himself upright and shifted to his knees. He shrugged on his backpack and snagged his viola as he stood. “Danneel said you came by. You could have interrupted, didn't have to talk to her about it.”
Jared shrugged as they walked the short distance to the car, hopping the chain, “I didn't want to interrupt. Looked like you were really into the song.”
“It's not that big of a deal, we needed to talk about the assignment,” Jensen shrugged and looked up at him as the door clicked. He pulled at the handle to find it locked. Jared automatically flipped the lock on then off again. This time the door opened easily. “You could have talked to me.”
“I didn't want to put you into a bad mood again,” Jared glanced over as they settled into their seat. “You can put your violin in the back, if you want.”
“It's a viola,” The correction fell from his lips without thinking about it. Jensen maneuvered it to set behind them lengthwise on the back seat.
“Sorry, I don't know much about music, 'specially instruments,” Jared turned the key and shifted into reverse. The car was silent till they pulled out of the parking lot. “I'm really sorry, I really am, about Friday Jensen.”
Jensen nodded but didn't answer. Jared had already apologized, half a dozen times, on Friday.
“Honestly,” Jared glanced over as Jensen turned to look at him. “I've never really had someone relying on me for a ride before, I was stupid and didn't think. I'm sorry.”
“You can stop apologizing Jared,” He shrugged and rubbed a palm against his knee. The fabric of his jeans was a little sticky from flakes of rosin. “What happened happened, can't change it now.”
“Doesn't mean I wouldn't if I could.”
Jensen studied the lines of Jared's face and shoulders as he drove. Even if the whole issue had been annoying and a bit irresponsible there was really no point in holding a grudge for it. Besides, if he did that would throw a wrench in the whole 'getting the assignment from hell' done. Jensen really wanted to get that done and he wanted a decent grade too.
“Are you busy tonight?” Jensen dropped his eyes to his lap, watching his fingers scratch at his jeans.
“Not really,” Jared's voice was full of a question. “Why?”
Jensen took a moment before he spoke to worry at his lip. Looking up he met Jared's eyes as the car rolled to a stop at a light only a few blocks from his home, “I don't work tonight and we're having dinner. A family dinner, kind of. It'd be good for you to come eat. Eat dinner and see my home. For the assignment?”
That huge dimpled grin spread across Jared's face, “That sounds awesome.”
Jared talked the rest of the ride, which wasn't that long, about his family. Apparently they rarely ate together anymore due to clashing schedules. He reminisced on how they used to watch Star Trek at the dinner table every night and how much he missed it. Jensen wasn't sure whether to find Jared's ramble endearing or annoying. He just hoped Jared wouldn't ramble on during dinner. It was bad enough the quarterback would be the first person Jensen had ever invited over for dinner.
They parked on the street, though the house had a garage and a short driveway with cracked cement that grass poked through. He was oddly nervous walking up to the house. Margaret, Hayden, and the others didn't know he was bringing Jared over for dinner. His foster mother had mentioned making spaghetti tonight, though, and she always made enough that there was leftovers for at least two days.
Jared had an amused look on his face as he watched Jensen shoulder the front door open. Jensen just sighed and held it open for the other teen to walk through.
“I need to put my stuff upstairs,” He hesitated for a moment. “Follow me. Denis is asleep, though, so try to be quiet.”
“Denis?” Jared asked as they reached the second floor landing. His voice was quiet and low, a whisper in Jensen's ear.
Jensen shot a look over his shoulder, almost challenging, green eyes steadily met hazel, “My foster father.”
Hazel eyes blinked and the quarterback mouthed 'foster' and glanced around as if taking in his surroundings for the first time. Jensen sighed and turned his attention back to the front. The bathroom at the end of the hall was open showing a couple of damp towels curled where the floor met cabinet and several toothbrushes set haphazardly on the counter. The light was still on but the room was empty. Jensen reached in and flicked the switch off before opening the door to his room.
Rain was sitting at his desk, chewing on his pencil, brow furrowed as he stared at a sheet of paper. There were math problems scattered across the sheet of various kinds, including a few word problems at the end.
“Hey, buddy, how's your homework coming?” Jensen decided the best thing to do would be to ignore Jared's presence for now. He slid his viola under the bed and dropped his bag on his mattress. Rain looked up, eyes pausing on Jared for a moment before locking onto Jensen.
“S'alright,” He grinned as Jensen came up behind him and looked down at the worksheet, inspecting it. “Hayden helped me with the really hard stuff earlier.”
Jensen nodded and roughed up the kids short hair before Rain batted his hand away, “Awesome, let me know if you need any help with anything, alright?”
Rain nodded, chin bobbing up and down in an almost exaggerated movement before turning back to his paper. Shrugging off his hoodie, Jensen tossed it onto his bed and glanced at Jared, “Let's head downstairs?” It was a bit odd to have Jared following him around. Usually when they walked places together Jensen was the one a step behind. Not that they'd done much together, but still. It was odd. For once it seemed as if Jared might be the one out of his element.
All three of the girls were in the kitchen when they got there, Rain had probably only been upstairs to get away from the room full of estrogen. Adair and Hayden were working on their homework at the kitchen table, plates and silverware stacked nearby so they could make the table as soon as dinner finished. Margaret was standing at the oven stirring a large pot of sauce while much larger pot cooked the noodles on the back burner. The stove was a good ten years old and ran on gas. It was the one thing in the kitchen none of the kids, including Jensen, were allowed to use without supervision. That was alright, there was always enough supplies to make sandwiches and canned food could be heated up in the microwave.
“Jensen, who's your friend?” Margaret asked, a large but tired smile crossed her face. Her chin length red hair was tied back in a low ponytail. His two foster siblings looked up, Adair with a curious look and Hayden with a broad smile. Right, Hayden thought Jared was the hottest guy ever. Much better than Milo Ventimiglia, the eighth grader she had a crush on.
“Jared, Jared Padalecki,” He glanced at the taller teen for a moment then walked hesitantly into the kitchen. “We're working on an assignment for my English class. Is it alright if he stays for dinner?”
“Of course, Jensen!” She grinned at him and rested a hand on his shoulder before moving around him. “You can always bring a friend or two over, you know that! Hello dear, Jared? I'm Margaret,” she held out a hand and he took it, shaking it firmly. “My you have a good grip! It is very nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Ma'am,” Jared ducked his head as a smile brightened his features.
Jensen cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, “Do you need help with anything, Margaret?”
She grinned back at him, moving over to the stove again, “Should be about done. Why don't you grab the milk and lemonade from the fridge- you do like one of those, don't you Jared?” At his nod she continued, “Hayden would you set the table? I'll grab an extra plate for Denis from the cupboard to wrap up his dinner for later. Adair, why don't you let Rain know it's time to eat?”
Adair bounded out of the room, her long dirty blond hair practically bouncing behind her. Jensen pulled the milk and lemonade out and after a moment handed them to Jared. The guy smiled and carefully made his way to the table. Jensen watched after him for a moment before moving to a cupboard and carefully snagging four glasses and two plastic cups. Rain and Adair still got the 'kiddie' cups as Hayden called them. Margaret and Denis didn't want to risk them dropping them and cutting themselves on glass shards.
A couple minutes later Rain and Adair entered the room, moving quickly but quietly across the floor. Adair was giggling under her breath while there was a scowl on Rain's face. Jensen thought she must have played some sort of trick on him before letting him know dinner was ready. It wasn't the first time she'd done something of the sort.
Hayden had moved her and Adair's notebooks to the kitchen counter and then set the table. There were six places made up. Before they sat down Margaret dished up a helping of spaghetti and some green beans, which she'd heated in the microwave, onto a seventh plate. She covered it with saran wrap and stuck it in the fridge to keep.
As usual, when the all ate together, Margaret made them hold hands so she could say a short prayer. Jensen was sitting next to her with Jared on his other side. Hayden had purposely taken the seat across from Jared. They were both at the end of the table so they ended up holding hands. Closing his eyes, Jensen's fingers slipped into Jared's.
It was different, Jared's hands were larger than his and warm. The other teen squeezed his hand gently before dropping it when Margaret finished the prayer with 'amen.' Focusing on the food in front of him, Jensen dug in and ignored the fact that his cheeks were probably tinted pink between his freckles. He kept his face tilted down for the majority of the meal and let the heat from the spaghetti fog his glasses.
Dinner was filled with small talk, mostly Hayden and Rain talking about their school day. Jared spoke surprisingly little for the fact that he was pretty good at filling silences with his rambling voice. Jensen spoke up a couple times to ask how Adair and Rain were doing. Apparently there was going to be a tournament for Rain's soccer team in a few weeks, he was pretty excited about it. Jensen just smiled around a bite of green beans.
After dinner they helped clean up, Jensen washed the dishes while Jared insisted on drying them. Margaret just smiled and thanked Jared as she packed up the left overs, not quite as much as usual- Jared was a growing boy with a bottomless pit for a stomach apparently- and headed into the living room to catch the evening news. Hayden had some sort of church event and hurried out, almost reluctantly, when her ride drove up not long after they were done.
Jensen leaned back against the counter when they were finished with the dishes and carefully slipped off the rubber gloves. He hated wearing them, they always made his skin feel odd, damp and wet without actually being that way.
“So,” He glanced over at Jared who was putting one last plate in the drying rack. “I kind of need to do laundry, I usually do it in the evenings when I don't work.” Jensen slipped his thumbs into his pockets and patted the outside of his jeans. “I usually do my homework while the machines run, we could do that. The interview I mean. We could get the interview part of the assignment done. It'd also give you a peak into what I normally do when I'm not working at night.”
Jared pretended to consider it for a moment, twisting his lips to the side, “Alright. I'll just go grab my stuff from the car?”
“Sure,” Jensen nodded and pushed away from the counter. “I'll get my notebook and laundry and meet you at the front door. The machines are down in the basement.”
It didn't take long for Jensen to get back downstairs, though he did change his jeans and over shirt real quick. He didn't think there'd be much time for him to practice the viola tonight and figured he might as well wash the rosin dust from his clothes. The change garnered him a raised eyebrow from Jared when they met up in the living room. Jensen just shrugged.
The stairs leading to the basement were in good condition and Denis and Jensen had just replaced the railing during the previous summer. The washer and dryer were in a small room to the right of the stairs, barely big enough for them and a single person to sort laundry. Jensen got things in order pretty quick. As usual he was washing both his and Rain's clothing. Since he did laundry at least once a week there wasn't a whole lot to wash. He figured three loads would do it as he didn't want to wash Rain's soccer uniform and practice clothes at the same time as the rest of the clothes.
There was an old couch in the main room of the basement, it was clean but definitely a few decades old. When they worked down here Denis covered it with a plastic tarp to keep dust away. Jensen had gone through here with a vacuum Sunday night so the air and floor was pretty clean as well. Adair had allergies so it wasn't a good idea for them to just let the dust from their home improvements lay around.
Jared had settled onto the couch, almost in the center but not quite, and had his notebook out. He was tapping a mechanical pencil against the paper, eraser making a small tinny noise whenever it brushed the metal spiral binding. The fingers of his free hand were pushing back his bangs as Jensen stopped near the couch. Hazel eyes danced in the artificial light as Jared grinned at him.
“So,” Jensen started as he dropped onto the end of the couch. There was a foot of space between them on the cushion. He glanced at Jared and adjusted his glasses. “Where should we start?”
Jared glanced down at his notebook for a second, teeth catching on his bottom lip. There was a hesitant look on his face, “One of the topics Kripke wanted us to talk about was family... we could get that out of the way?”
“Yeah,” Jensen sighed. His grip tightened on his notebook for a moment as he glanced around the room. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, Denis mentioned painting it a light airy color. He planned to ask Margaret for advice on the issue as the older man was horrible when it a came to decorating. Jensen wasn't much better. “Yeah, that'd be a good idea.”
Nodding the other boy produced the packet from where he'd folded it between the lined pages. He was silent for a moment, then, “I have two siblings, an older brother named Jeff and a little sister Megan. Jeff's in his second year of college, he's twenty. Megan just started the eighth grade.”
“Worrying about boys?” Jensen grinned slightly as he wrote down the basics.
“Hell yeah, been practicing my glare,” Jared smiled and Jensen glanced up in time to get the full affect of Padalecki dimples. He ducked his head quickly. “Thinking about investing in a shotgun, just for fun. What about you?”
“I, uh,” He hesitated before clearing his throat. Idly he bent the corner of the paper back before rubbing at the crease to remove it. “Well, I have an older brother, Josh. He's twenty one? I think. And Mackenzie, my little sister. She's ten. My, uh, parents died in car accident when I was seven, we got separated in the foster care system.”
“Sucks,” Jared's voice was quiet, just a murmur, and Jensen was thankful for that.
He shrugged, “It happens. Margaret, my foster Mom, and Denis are pretty nice. Then I have Hayden, Rain, and Adair, too. My foster siblings. Everything works out alright, we're pretty much a normal family. Just not quite as close and not biological, but we take care of each other.”
“That's what counts,” Jared nodded. Glancing up Jensen sent him a small smile, barely a twist of the lips but visible all the same.
“Yeah, that's what counts.”
It wasn't quite as awkward as Jensen thought it would be, talking about his past with Jared. The other teen actually seemed pretty understanding. He didn't make any jokes or ask stupid questions. Not counting the one about never seeing Die Hard. Really, Jensen just didn't watch that many movies. He had other, more important priorities to think about.
By the end of the night most of the interview was out of the way and Jared had already made plans for Jensen to come over and watch Die Hard at his house in a couple weeks, when his parents would actually be home on the weekend. Meeting his family for the assignment was planned. Jared added in the Die Hard thing because he thought that Jensen just had to come watch Die Hard. For the plot, really.
A little over an hour later Jensen had just sat down after switching the loads again. The last load for the washer was in and he'd hung up Rain's uniform on the drying rack. Margaret warned them when they bought it that it could possibly shrink. With the rate that Rain was growing that was the last thing they needed to happen.
“Are you going to Homecoming?”
The question surprised Jensen, it wasn't something he was expecting. Kripke hadn't had it on his list and school dances weren't exactly a common topic to discuss. Jensen blinked at Jared, the quarterback was watching him again. He did that a lot.
“The game or the dance?”
“Both,” Jared shrugged.
“No, I'm not,” Jensen sighed and scratched at the left margin with his pencil. He wasn't exactly doodling just creating some sort of zigzagging fan type thing. “I don't really go to school events. Outside the music stuff. I go to the concerts and plays. Well, sometimes the plays. I was in the orchestra for last year's musical.”
“The one with the guy that died?”
Jensen furrowed his eyebrow. He supposed that was a memorable scene of the play, “Oklahoma.”
“Yeah,” Jared nodded, leaning back and stretching his arms out in front of him, pencil woven between intertwine fingers. “I saw that one. Went with Sandy and some of the gang for extra credit. Why not?”
“Why not?”
“Why not go to the dance? I'm sure someone would go with you.”
Jensen raised an eyebrow and turned slightly to face Jared, chin resting on his right hand, “Who?”
“Danneel or one of those other girls in your music class? Why not, I mean it's not like you're ugly,” Jared rolled his eyes and laughed a little. Jensen ducked his head slightly feeling that annoying heat rising to his cheeks again. “I'm sure if you asked it'd be easy to find a date.”
“Maybe,” He mumbled and turned his attention back to the paper in front of him. “Just not my thing.... but, um, you're going, right?”
Jared snorted, a mix between a scoff and a laugh, “Dude, it's kind of expected. I'm playing in the game and if I don't go to the dance after it'd be... weird.” He shrugged. “Sandy's going with me, shouldn't be too bad.”
There was a moment of awkward silence. Jensen wasn't really sure how to fill it. They'd already covered most of the questions Kripke had suggested. His eyes darted around his line of sight as he searched his mind for something to say, “Gonna get laid?” Of course it had to be something Mike would say in this situation.
“Dude!” Jared burst into a full on laugh and Jensen couldn't help but to look over and take in the sight. “I wish!”
After the last load of laundry finished Jared took off. It was getting late and they did have school the next day. Plus his parents were apparently home and he actually said that Jensen was right about needing to set an example for younger siblings. Seeing as Megan was going to be in high school next year Jared figured setting a good example was something he should do. Jensen wasn't sure how much of that he believed, but accepted it without comment. He didn't have any real reason to question the other teen anyway.
It was almost ten o'clock by the time Jensen trudged up stairs and showed Jared to the door. The laundry was done and folded neatly in the hamper. He carried it upstairs to put away before starting in on his Calculus and Math homework. Neither took especially long, in fact his music theory took longer. That was mostly because he spent way too long trying to make sure every question and note was perfectly answered or drawn. Music was his passion, after all.
The next couple of days went by pretty quick, Jensen had practice on Tuesday followed by catching the last half of Rain's soccer game. Then on Wednesday he worked from six to eleven again. Thursday and Friday were just as busy for him. He did get some good practice with the full quarter Thursday, so that was something at least.
He didn't get anything more done on his paper. Jared was busy with football and other school stuff and Jensen had too much on his own plate. They didn't really see each other outside of English class or when they passed a few times in the hall and walking across campus. It was kind of odd, though. Every time he saw the taller teen the guys ever present smile seemed to grow and he actually greeted Jensen. There wasn't any real reason for it other than just to say hi. It confused Jensen a bit, but it also made something inside him feel different, not so much like an outsider maybe.
Other than Jared nothing else changed. Sandy did send him an odd look when he ended up a few places down the line from her at lunch Thursday. It was almost like she was appraising him. It kind of made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. He also saw Chad once, in the science building's courtyard. The guy just shot him a nasty look, worse then usual. Jensen figured it was probably due to him 'crashing' his party. Really it wasn't even Jensen's fault, Jared had kinda forced him to go to it.
On Friday things changed, a little anyway. Jensen was sitting in his usual place outside, back against one of the 'v' of windows that covered the front of the commons. He had just sat down a few minutes ago and hadn't bothered to get any homework out yet. His lunch was resting on his lap, some sort of taco today. Filled with ground beef, shredded lettuce and tomato, and maybe a bit of onion. The sides were tater tots and an apple, plus his milk.
“Hey Jensen,” Jared dropped down next to him, sitting on the sidewalk with his back to the wall. He beamed up at him, tilting his head back. “So, I talked to Kripke.”
It took a minute for Jensen to answer, his mouth was kind of full. He could really count on one hand the number of times people had sat with him at lunch during the last month, “About?”
“Following you,” That statement almost made Jared seem like a stalker. From the way his smile grew, perhaps he knew it too. “For the assignment. I get to follow you around on Tuesday. It's really the best day, and you can follow me on the following Tuesday. Those are what Kripke got our teacher's to agree to. Apparently they all thought the same Tuesday would be best, but that'd be kind of physically impossible.”
“So, you're going to follow me around all day on Tuesday?”
Jared nodded and reached up towards Jensen's lap. He froze just watching the quarterback's hand. The guy stole one of his tater tots. Jerk.
Jensen sighed, “And you need to know my schedule?”
“Yep,” Jared grinned as he chewed.
He moved the disposable lunch tray as Jared tried to snag another tater tot. The smile morphed into a pout. Danneel was right, Jared was a dog. A gigantic puppy. The pout must have been practiced a lot too, daily even. Jensen dropped the tray back to his lap and let Jared snag another couple bites.
“I have Orchestra first period, why don't you meet me in the lobby between the music rooms and the back of the auditorium?”
“Sounds like a plan,” A thoughtful look crossed Jared's face as he popped a finger in his mouth to remove the extra salt. Jensen averted his gaze back to his lap. Using his left hand he picked up his taco to take a bite. “You know, these are pretty good. I might just have to buy hot lunch sometimes. Almost better than McDonald's.”
The next Tuesday wasn't too bad. Jared shadowed him all day, even sticking with him at lunch. He even bought his own hot lunch, although he ended up eating half of Jensen's French fries. Not like Jensen was going to eat them anyway. They were way too soggy. Jared just dowsed them with an extra packet of salt he snagged from the condiments table and stuffed them into his mouth. Jensen was just glad Jared didn't slather them in a ton of ketchup. That might have made it difficult for him to eat.
Jared even skipped football practice, with permission from the coach. Apparently the second quarterback needed more practice, just in case, so it didn't matter if Jared missed one day. He did state that he promised go for a run that evening as a work out. Jensen really didn't see how it would matter much if Jared missed one practice, but then he wasn't into sports and working out in the first place.
Afterwards Jared offered Jensen a ride home. He was surprised at how quickly the answer escaped his mouth, “That'd be great.” His lips were even spread into a wide smile. It was odd. Just over a week ago Jensen would have been coming up with every excuse not to accept the ride and now? Now he actually wanted to get in the car with Jensen at the end of the day. He was kind of enjoying their awkward conversations. It actually scared him a little. Or a lot. Yeah, it scared him a lot.
*****
Next
A.Note: Sorry for the delay, things were a bit hectic. Since it's Friday, Part Five will be up by Tuesday rather than Monday. I want to get Part Seven finished being fleshed out and ready for the Beta before I post it. Thanks for reading! :)
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Thanks for reading!
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Jared's friends seem to know something, don't they? Hmm. We'll just have to wait till Jensen finds out! ^.^
*hugs*
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Yes Yes, I'm working on it. I should have most all of it to you by Sunday... I didn't have as much time to work on it this week as I thought. There's still a few more scenes I need to flesh out...
*hides*
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The next chapter is my personal favorite, it'll be worth the wait! <3
Thanks so much for reading!
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Yeah, I feel really sad for him about his biological family... this fic isn't really about *that* but I have plans for one shots in this verse... or at least some bunnies that I just couldn't fit in...
Jared isn't just a Jock, is he? ^_~
Thank you for reading! <3
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Long time lurker here but I love this story so much I just had to comment. I really love the pace and slow unfolding of the story and can't wait for your next update.
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I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story! :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you'll enjoy the next part when it's up! <3
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Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you liked it! <3
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I sooo wanna see Jen getting a look at Jay's life close up.
Great chap! *hugs* Birdie
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Jay is kinda endearing, isn't he *grin*. I'm really glad you liked this part! Thanks for reading! *hug*
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So Jared fancies Jensen huh? He's sorta sweet, in a goofy way, but still sweet. This is so good. looking forward to more xx
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Thank you so much for reading! <3
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(Anonymous) 2009-05-16 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
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Can't wait for more.
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I'm glad you're liking it! More will be up Tuesday! :)
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Looking forward to the next chapter. :)
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Thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed this part, <3
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