title: i’ll case you underneath the sheets (good morning, love)
pairing: jensen ackles/jared padalecki
rating: teen
word count: 2,782
summary: it's jared's birthday. jensen wants to celebrate it right with what few hours they have.
There was a strand of hair hanging over Jared's forehead, covering one of his closed eyes. His mouth was open, puffing out mostly-quiet exhales, and one of his fingers was twitching where it rested over his blanket-covered thigh. Though Jensen's face still felt stiff, unused, after sleep, he could feel the corners of his lips turn up just so, just as they always did when he was around Jared, when he even heard Jared’s name. It was a soft look, one reserved for quiet and safe moments, moments when he wasn't thinking, moments when Jared made him forget. With a touch as soft as the pink still tinged on the edge of the horizon, Jensen brought his hand out from under the covers.
tagged by the beautiful and way-too-talented @zmediaoutlet for this Friday Selfie thing :) my droopy eyelid is too damn prominent, but it’ll have to do right now (I think it’s been drooping more because of school, or maybe I’m making things up)
tagging @postitsandpens @rainsoakedsam @sensitivehandsomeactionman (but only if you want to join in on the fun <3)
I’m gonna free fall out into nothin’ by marrieddorks (AO3)
A breeze from the open balcony doors brought a whiff of the peonies and sweet alyssums that were growing in their unexplored backyard and Jared stopped his fruitless ministrations to smile.
There was nothing that could bring him down today.
Nope, not even the soapbox rampage going on behind him, the one getting worse with each passing second they continued to lack niceties such as hot water and electricity and food and a place to sleep.
“And now you’re not listening.”
He turned that same smile to Jensen and the wattage of it only increased at the sight of his boyfriend – no, fiancé – and his seemingly permanent frown.
“You said that there’s no place open on Sunday,” he told him, fingers fidgeting with the stack of washers in his hand. Jensen narrowed his eyes dangerously but didn’t push.
“Nope.” Now he was pacing the expanse of what would be their living room, but paused, watching as Jared continued to play with the mess of Ikea pieces scattered on the floor. “Not a single one,” Jensen emphasized, making certain Jared could feel his frustration. “What kind of place is like that?”
“This place?” Jared ventured.
“This place! And do you want to know the real cherry on top of it all?” Jensen asked as if Jared didn’t already know. “There’s not even a supermarket here. In fact, the closest one is over forty-five minutes away. That means that if I want some bread, I’ve got to stand in line at the bakery and then if I want meat, I’ve got to head to an entirely different building, probably one on the other side of town, to take a number at a butcher’s. Hell, if I want a single damn tomato I’ll probably have to wait at the farmer’s market on a Saturday before the sun is even up. But guess what?”
“.... None of those places are open on Sunday?”
“None of those places are open on Sunday! Don’t these people ever need anything on a Sunday?” he asked rhetorically. “The place is like a damn Ren Faire only I can’t leave and go back to indoor plumbing.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, Jensen,” Jared told him as if he hadn’t helped find and choose here at the start of their search.
“Yeah, I know,” Jensen deadpanned.
“Hey, no need for that tone,” Jared said with a smirk after blowing a loose strand of hair out of his face. This hair tie was on its last leg. “Besides, I seem to recall you choosing here as something to consider in the first place.”
“And I seem to recall you choosing to come on a Sunday,” Jensen shot back.
“It just worked out that way,” Jared shrugged. He scooted a table leg further out of the way with his foot. “It wasn’t necessarily intentional.”
“We could have been here Friday if you would’ve taken your parents up on their offer,” Jensen muttered, turning around to face the pale yellow walls of their kitchen.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Jared half-laughed, pushing himself up off the floor. “You were the one who insisted we do it this way. Said you wanted our life together to start off normal, with just us, me and you.”
“Yeah, well, normal people at least hire movers and buy furniture that’s already assembled. And, after we kicked out the movers, it would be just us left.” He started to pick up discarded pieces of Styrofoam and plastic, shoving it all haphazardly in leftover boxes, the Styrofoam squeaking and grating along the cardboard sides. “Besides, who turns down their parents when they offer to pay for a moving company?”
Jared was still in a good mood and he couldn’t help the fake undignified gasp that left his mouth. “I knew it. You’re marrying me for my money.”
“Jared, please,” Jensen begged, fingers pinching at the bridge of his nose.
“Okay, okay,” Jared placated. His smile softened around the edges. “But you know my family, Jen. If I would’ve taken them up on the help, Mom would still be here and she wouldn’t leave for another week. She’d be too busy picking out our curtains for us and micromanaging where we set the furniture. And Dad would already have planned thirty-four renovations, and we wouldn’t get any time for just us before we had to go back to work, back to reality.”
“You do know we have to let them visit at some point, right? Your mom, your dad, your brother, Chris, Tom, Danneel, and Gen. Fucking Chad. And, hell, Megan already said she has dibs on first stay in our guest room. Don’t even get me started on my own family.”
“Exactly. They’re going to swarm us at some point and that point will, no doubt, be soon.” With three long strides, he closed the gap between them, arms reaching and pulling and tightening around Jensen’s waist. “Forgive me for being a little selfish with you.”
“Okay, but,” Jensen started, letting Jared nuzzle in nose-close, “movers.”
“And miss out on all this?” Jared said, stepping back so they could both look at the assorted mess of boxes, suitcases, and strewn tools that were, somehow, supposed to come together to make their home. “But this is where all the fun is at! The real test of a relationship isn’t seeing if they kill one another playing Super Smash Bros. but to see if they kill one another while trying to build a dresser. We’ve survived one of those, it’s time to put us to the real test.”
“If this is your idea of fun, we need to have a talk. We’re not even going to have electricity until tomorrow, and that’s a maybe. It might not even get turned on until Tuesday,” Jensen said.
“I found some tea light candles in a drawer by the stove,” Jared mumbled against Jensen’s temple, lips brushing at his hairline. “We can try to make due with those for the night.”
“What about sleeping?” Jensen continued. “The bed frame is still in its box and the mattress –”
“We’ll pull out all of the blankets and pillows and make a little nest wherever we want tonight,” Jared interrupted, pointing a finger at a series of boxes written on in Jensen’s perfect handwriting. With a mischievous grin, he let his fingers wander to dance up under the hem of Jensen’s tee, pressing in tight at the line of slim hips. Maybe his fingerprints would get stuck there. “That’s if we do any sleeping at all.”
He felt before he saw the give, felt it in the way Jensen didn’t push away, just allowed his spine to conform to the shape of Jared. “We don’t have any hot water….” he trailed, hand atop Jared’s, pushing it closer.
“I’ve had my fair share of cold showers,” Jared laughed. “Remember when I was fifteen? You came home from college for the summer and I was just figuring out all the things my dick was good for. Trust me, I took a cold shower at least once every day you were home, sometimes twice.”
He pressed his face against the bared expanse of Jensen’s neck, nosing behind his ear before kissing and biting and licking just where that perfectly cut jaw began, but Jensen was rigid against him, hand loose before pushing Jared’s wandering ones away.
“Hey,” Jared started, turning Jensen around to face him, fingers, still warmed from Jensen’s skin under his shirt, lifting his chin. “Why are you so put out about all of this?”
Teeth pulled at a full bottom lip, worrying it to a point that Jared was concerned for its well-being as well as concerned for the look of frustration and sadness in Jensen’s eyes. “You can tell me anything,” he reassured Jensen quietly.
“We’ve been planning this for almost a year, every detail from saving up for the down payment to the house hunting itself to the entirety of the move and nothing has gone right. This isn’t how I wanted this, wanted our lives together, to start.”
Jared looked at him then, so tenderly, watching as reserved walls, even the minuscule ones he put up around Jared sometimes, fell down, watching as his Jensen cracked open his ribs to hand Jared his heart.
“What are you talking about?” Jared asked, but he gave in after Jensen shot him a look. “So things haven’t gone totally as planned, I get it. But the most important things did! All of our stuff is here, the house is everything we wanted it to be, and,” he trailed, “I’ve got you, you’ve got me. That’s the most important thing of all.”
“You’re fucking corny,” Jensen said, but he was smiling now, the one that made his eyes crinkle up at the corners.
“Speaking of corn, I’m hungry,” Jared announced and his stomach growled as if happy to be finally acknowledged.
“Well, if you would’ve been listening,” Jensen started, pressing a quick kiss to the dip of Jared’s throat, “you would know that there’s nothing open on Sundays.”
“We could drive into town,” Jared suggested.
“You really want to drive for another hour and a half tonight? After our sixteen-hour trip here over the last two days?” Jensen asked, unbelievingly. “Be my guest. But I’m going to eat this sleeve of Saltines I found under the seat in the car and this half-eaten bag of jerky from the console.”
“So dinner’s going to be quick,” Jared said after a moment, lips pursed. His hands wandered again, this time inching down and down to grip tight at Jensen’s ass, grinding them together just enough to make Jensen groan. “Guess we’ll have to find other ways to occupy our time tonight.”
“Is that all you can think about?” Jensen’s actions betrayed his words though, his teeth scraping at the neckline of Jared’s shirt, his heart thumping faster in his chest, his dick hardening against Jared’s own.
“Are you kidding me? We’re in a house that isn’t right next door to Chris, a house that Chad doesn’t have an illegal key made to, a house that’s not an apartment and we don’t have to worry about the neighbors calling the cops because they’re homophobic assholes. You’re lucky I’ve waited this long,” he laughed.
“Like we ever let any of that stop us,” Jensen grinned against his skin.
Jared opened his mouth to respond with something dirty and secretive in Jensen’s ear when a knock on their door made them jump. They shared a look of panic, one that lasted too long before Jensen quietly asked, “Already?”
“They wouldn’t,” Jared started. “No, they wouldn’t. Not now.”
“If it’s them, I swear…” Jensen trailed, pushing away from Jared’s chest and walking towards the door.
“If it’s them, they better have brought food,” Jared chimed in, smiling despite himself.
When the door opened, however, they were both taken aback at the older woman standing in their threshold, an aluminum foil-covered casserole dish in her oven-mitted hands. She was smiling and small in comparison to them, and her voice, when she spoke, was so perpetually grandmotherly.
“Hello,” she began, “I’m sorry to intrude. It’s getting late, but I hoped to catch you before you settled down for the night. Welcome!”
“Thank you so much,” Jared said after a moment, voice sincere and smile full of charm. “Please, come in! We would offer you a seat, but….” he trailed sheepishly, eyes briefly darting over the mess that was their house.
“No, I only came to bring food, I’ll take up more of your time on a more convenient day.” She held her arms out and Jared gingerly took it from her hands, smiling all dimples when she said, “Be careful, it’s hot, dear!”
“I’m sorry,” Jensen apologized suddenly. “I’m Jensen and this is --”
“His fiancé, Jared,” Jared said, saving the hesitancy for another time. He placed the casserole dish on the box by the front door.
“Oh yes, I know,” she replied, smile never wavering. “My husband is who you bought this house from. We were so excited to know a young couple was moving in. You’ll bring some much needed life to these quiet parts.”
“It’s a beautiful area, Mrs. Wallach,” Jensen agreed. “We owe your husband immensely for introducing us to this place.”
“The pleasure is all ours, dear.” There was a pause in which she seemed to take both of them in, eyes twinkling behind bifocal frames. “Can I say what a handsome couple you two make? You’re engaged, yes?”
“Thank you,” Jared grinned, arm tightening around Jensen’s shoulders. “And we are. Just a few months away from the big day.”
“A new home and a wedding, how exciting! The future suits you both well.”
“We hope so,” Jensen said as he leaned into Jared. His thumb was twirling the silver band on his left hand and Jared noticed, his smile softening.
“Well, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help as you settle in,” Mrs. Wallach started. “As I know the place takes some adjustment, especially as you’re moving from the city, we’d be honored if you’d join us for breakfast in the morning. I’m making the works, biscuits and gravy and sausage, and there will be plenty of coffee to go around.”
“You’ve got him sold,” Jared laughed as Jensen perked up at the mention of coffee. “That’s so kind of you, Mrs. Wallach. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, we’d love to stop by.”
“No trouble at all. And I’ll make an extra pot of coffee just for you, dear,” she smiled.
“Thank you, again,” Jensen started, only to be cut off once more.
“No trouble whatsoever,” she repeated. “I’ll see you for breakfast then.”
“Goodnight, Mrs. Wallach,” they both chimed as she turned to retreat with that same twinkle in her eye.
“Hey, Jared?” Jensen said quietly, stepping back so they could close the door.
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m going to like it here.”
Jared grinned, hand still on the doorknob when he leaned in, pressing Jensen up against the chipped paint, pressing himself closer so he could capture Jensen’s lips. “Me too.”
