The Charade; Part Seven
Summary: Two journalists strike a bargain with Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles to get the article they need, and end up getting more than they bargained for. Pairings: Misha x OFC, Jensen x OFC Word Count: 1791 Warnings: None? A/N: Ash’s and my new collab! @d-s-winchester
Masterlist
The morning after the 200th episode party, Adeline laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, her mind running a mile a minute. She couldn't stop thinking about her kiss with Misha and what it meant. What scared her the most was how badly she wanted it to happen again. This was not part of the plan. She was just supposed to get on set and write her article not develop feelings for Misha.
She tried her best to push the thoughts from her mind and climbed out of bed to make herself some coffee. What she really wanted to do was talk to Boden about it but she knew her friend needed to sleep off the copious amount of alcohol she'd consumed the night before. So instead of waking Boden up Adeline poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch. She grabbed her laptop and opened up the document containing her notes for the Supernatural article and did her best to jot some things down about the party.
She hoped that would help take her mind off of Misha and force her to focus on work but it was doing the exact opposite. Instead of thinking about what needed to go into the article she found herself wondering if Misha was up yet and what his plans for the day were.
“Get it together, Adeline,” she mumbled to herself and shut the laptop.
When Boden finally emerged from her bedroom a few hours later she saw Adeline lying on the couch staring at her phone. She watched for a minute and saw her type something out then delete it and lock her phone before unlocking it and opening her message app again.
“You ok?” Boden asked.
“Oh! You’re up!” Adeline said sitting up on the couch to look at her friend, “Yeah, I’m ok. I think. Get some coffee and then we can talk about it.”
Boden nodded and poured herself a cup before walking back into the living room. She took a seat on the couch next to her friend and looked over at her, waiting for an explanation. With a sigh Adeline ran her fingers through her hair and tried to figure out the best way to explain what she was feeling.
“I should not have kissed him last night,” she said, finally, “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You were thinking we’re treading on thin ice with this arrangement and you needed to sell it,” Boden pointed out, “unless that’s not what you mean.”
“It’s not,” Adeline sighed and leaned her head back on the couch, “I don’t think the decision was the wrong one, for the sake of our arrangement, I think it was wrong for the sake of my feelings.”
Boden’s eyes went wide when she suddenly realized what her friend was saying.
“Oh no,” Boden said and Adeline nodded, “Addy! You can’t be falling for him.”
“You don’t think I know that! It’s just...I don’t know. I’m freaking out. I don’t think I’ve felt this way about someone, ever.”
Boden thought for a minute while Adeline went to get herself another cup of coffee. By the time she’d come back in the living room Boden thought she had some answers for her.
“I think the best thing to do is try and distance yourself from him,” she offered, “just go to the set. Hide out in his trailer while he’s filming. Don’t hang out at their apartment unless Jensen is there too. Keep it as professional as possible until the article is finished and then go from there.”
Adeline nodded, agreeing that was probably the best way to handle the situation, even though she wasn’t happy about it. Her head was telling her one thing but it seemed like her heart was telling her another. Lucky for her, after Finn, she started listening to her head over her heart.
“Besides,” Boden added, “it’s not like you got drunk and made out with him.”
She gave Addy a sideways glance, waiting to see if her friend would catch on to her tone. Addy was a very smart woman, and Boden’s meaning behind the subtle statement didn't escape her understanding.
“You didn’t!”
Boden was redder than she had ever been. “I wish I had been just a little more drunk so I didn’t remember it. Jensen is probably going to think I’m some sort of slut, throwing myself at him like I did. But it’s your fault anyway.”
Addy frowned. “My fault? How do you figure that?”
“Well, we were talking about how you and Misha were hamming it up for our media peers, dear friend, and decided we would take a shot for every time you two did something just for the press. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know it was real.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Right. That’s why we are having to discuss you distancing from Misha.”
Addy threw a pillow at Boden who just laughed and took her coffee cup to the kitchen.
Jensen ran a hand through his hair and switched from crap television over to sports highlights. He couldn’t help but think about that first kiss with Boden the night before, before it turned into the kind of makeout session he hadn’t been part of since high school.
Misha, who had been pacing the apartment for the better part of an hour, finally stopped in the hall, leaned his forehead against the doorframe leading into the living room, and let out the most pitiful sigh.
“I think I want to take Adeline on a date.”
“So take her on a date,” Jensen replied, his eyes not leaving ESPN. “I'm sure it'll just lock things in even more with the press.”
“No, no,” Misha said, shaking his head and falling into a nearby chair. “I mean I want to take her out. On a date. For real.”
That finally got Jensen’s attention. Maybe there was a way to also take Boden out and see if what had happened the night before meant anything, without letting on to anyone that he was curious enough after kissing her to find out if he had inadvertently taken advantage of her, or if it could be something real between them.
“Well, why don't we just say it’s part of the arrangement? There's no reason why the girls or anyone else has to know you're falling for this girl,” Jensen suggested.
“We?”
Jensen shrugged. “Yeah, we can make it a double date. Then it’ll really seem like it’s part of our deal, but you can pull out all the stops.”
“What's in it for you?” Misha asked, his voice laced with skepticism.
“Nothing. Just trying to help you out, man.”
Misha thought it over and decided it was as a good of an idea as any. “Next time we see them, I'm going to bring it up.”
Jensen gave a non-committal nod and turned back to ESPN. This was certainly becoming a win-win situation.
The next time they saw the girls, however, both Boden and Adeline seemed to be in a bad mood. Neither of them were very talkative, and as soon as they were on set, they holed up in Misha’s trailer, claiming they had a lot of work to do on the article.
The girls stayed away the entire day of filming. This time it was Misha who had a later day than Jensen. He offered to drive Boden home, but she assured him she would be fine.
“I'll just wait with Addy.”
Finally frustrated enough with her sudden distance from him, Jensen took her by the hand and dragged her out of Misha’s trailer.
“Can I talk to you,” Jensen said, not meaning it at all as a question. Once they were outside, Boden tore her arm from his grip.
“What the hell, Jensen?”
“I could ask you the same damn thing! You've avoided me all day, when the last time we saw each other, you were shoving your very drunk tongue down my throat!”
Boden’s gumption fell, along with her shoulders. “I know, and I'm sorry. I just -- I'm embarrassed, all right? I was drunk and I pretty much threw myself at you! I acted like an idiot when I'm supposed to be a professional.”
Jensen rolled his eyes. “That's all you're worried about?”
“It's not a little thing, Jay.”
“No, you're right. It's not.” Feeling his own gumption rise, he took a step closer to her and caressed her cheek before putting both hands in his pockets. “But you don't need to be embarrassed, Bo. I thought you were actually entirely adorable when you were drunk.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he nodded. “Now come on. I'll take you for another barbecue bacon burger if you let me take you home. You know you don't want to wait out here.”
“I really don't,” Boden sighed. She chewed on her lip while she thought it over - something else Jensen found positively adorable. “All right. Let me get my stuff and tell Addy. But no funny business, Ackles!”
Jensen chuckled and promised he would behave -- after reminding her their makeout session had been her idea.
Meanwhile, Addy was awkwardly trying to ignore Misha, who was waiting for his next set call. She pretended to be engrossed in her computer screen, but knew Misha saw right through her facade.
“Chances are he’s going to convince her to go with him,” Misha said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah. Jensen is pretty charming that way.”
Misha licked his lips. “Guess I'm trying to figure out if you're gonna stick around if that happens, or leave with Boden.”
Addy didn't want to leave, but she wasn't sure her heart would be safe if she stayed. So, she gave him a vague answer and hoped Misha would assume one way or the other and choose for her.
“I have a lot of work to do.”
Misha nodded. “I mean, you don't have to come to the set -- I am filming this pretty cool stunt though. Doing it myself. You know, could be good for the article.”
Boden came in then, quickly gathered her things, and told Addy she was leaving.
“I'm gonna stay,” Adeline answered, before she had a chance to change her mind. “If Misha doesn't mind.”
“I don't mind,” he assured.
“Great,” Boden said, giving her a look that clearly meant be careful. “I'll see you at home.”
When Boden was gone, Addy went back to her laptop. She glanced at Misha only once, and that's when he saw it in her eyes: fear. Not the same fear as when Finn showed up at her apartment, but a different kind. The kind that let Misha know, maybe Adeline was feeling the same way that he felt.
