"Come on, Jared! It's an all-ages show. It says so on the flyer and on the website. Technically, I could just get one of my friends to take me and you couldn't do anything about it." Megan pushed the flyer in his face in case he tried to deny it.
"The show isn't going to get out until two in the morning. Mom and Dad will never let you stay out that late." Megan's curfew was at midnight and Kane wasn't going on until midnight.
"But I could still go at the beginning and tell them all how mean you are…or bring those pictures of you on the toilet." Jared was going to take back every good thing he'd said about Megan over the summer. Chris would have a field day with that kind of material.
"I'll tell them it's not an appropriate place for you to be."
"Then they'll get all worried about you going. Come on. They'll let me stay out if I'm with you. It's not fair. Jeff's met Jensen lots of times." Megan stomped her foot and crossed her arms.
"You've met Jensen."
"For about thirty seconds right after you met him. Somehow I don't think Mom and Dad will count that either." Jared must have looked like he was going to throw up because Megan rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm not threatening to tell Mom and Dad, but I've helped you sneak around all summer, so you owe me."
Megan did kind of have a point. Especially in the last week since Jensen had been back in Austin. When his parents realized that Alexis was just a taxi and that she didn't actually go to San Francisco with him, they'd started to get suspicious. If he'd rather go to San Francisco than hang out with Alexis, then she couldn't be the reason he'd stayed single all summer. So Megan had turned into his alibi when he was driving to Austin to see Jensen.
"You have to promise not to tell embarrassing stories about me."
"I'm sure Jensen will just think they're cute."
"But Chris and Steve will never let me live it down."
"So I can tell Jensen stories when they aren't around?"
"Sure, whatever. Another day." There was no way he'd done anything as bad as peeing in the middle of a mall anyway.
"Okay!" Megan grinned and ran out of the room. "What am I going wear?"
He should probably warn Jensen that his little sister was crashing their date. He still had to ask their parents, but Megan was right. They'd let her go if she was with Jared. He might lie about where she was going so he could sneak off with Jensen, but he'd never let her stay out until after two without him.
"Aww. You couldn't wait three hours to talk to Jensen? Isn't that adorable?"
"Mike, give me the phone." Jensen was trying to sound annoyed but he was laughing in the background. "You are about ten times as pathetic with Carly anyway."
"We could let Chris vote on it," Mike teased but Jensen came on the line a second later.
"What's up?"
"Megan kind of blackmailed me into taking her to the concert. She's really just trying to meet you."
"Oh. That's cool, I guess." Jensen was a horrible liar.
"I can tell her no." He could live down Chris somehow getting pictures of him on the toilet if Jensen wouldn't sound like that.
"That would make a great first impression."
"You already made a first impression. She talked about you so much, Jeff remembered months later."
"I'm pretty sure this is different. She had to live with you when I fucked up." Now it made sense. And now Jared actually wanted Megan to go-not that he'd tell her that. It was better if she thought she owed him.
"Megan's not like that. She's over it. She cares that I'm happy now. That's it. She'll probably sneak you a picture of me on the toilet anyway."
"We have to keep her away from Mackenzie."
~*~
"You're the one that made us late," Megan pouted as they waited in line at the club. Jared's name was on the list, but the guys had already filled all the spots they were allowed and they had to wait in line to buy Megan a ticket.
"You're the one who couldn't decide what to wear."
"I decided what to wear on time."
"You knew I wasn't letting you wear that."
"It wasn't that bad."
"I think you stole it from Amanda."
Megan rolled her eyes, but then she was distracted by the bouncer checking her ID and eyeing them both.
"Your parents know you're here?"
"Yeah. I'm her brother. I should be on the list." Jared handed his ID to the bouncer who nodded and marked both of their hands. So far Megan hadn't found out about his fake ID, and the last thing he needed was for her to have more blackmail material.
"Okay. Fine. Maybe you're a little cool. I'm sure it's only because you have Jensen. You're still a dork."
"But I'm cooler than Jeff?" Megan was probably the only one that would agree with that. Jeff would have rejected five more outfits.
"Everyone is cooler than Jeff."
Jensen was already behind the merchandise table, but Chris and Steve still had more than one band to wait through, so they were standing around too. Jensen caught his eye and pulled Tom behind the table to take his place. That was the best part about Kane playing close to home. Jensen could take some time off and let Mike or Tom do some of the work he'd been doing all summer.
Jared pulled Jensen into his arms as soon as he could reach him, holding him as long as he could pretend was normal for friends to hug. Damn, he missed San Francisco. Even in Austin he might be able to sneak a quick kiss on Jensen's neck, but here someone from high school might see him.
"Sorry we can't really hook up tonight," he whispered against Jensen's ear.
"S'okay. Only two more weeks." Jensen was smiling when he pulled back, but it was more of a nervous smile than the open, blinding smile Jared could usually get.
Megan giggled when Jensen introduced himself and offered her a hand to shake. Maybe he should have put a little more emphasis on the "Jensen is totally gay" part of the story. But at least Jensen relaxed. He was blushing, but maybe a teenage girl going all giggly on him was at least familiar territory.
"Sorry we're late. It's Jared's fault. He was being totally lame."
"She was trying to dress like Amanda," Jared explained. Jensen would agree with him anyway. He'd already freaked out over Mack's MySpace page.
~*~
"Hey, can you come back and help us load up everything? Steve disappeared with some girl and left Jensen and me to do all the work." Two months ago Chris would've been fuming at Steve but now he just looked relieved. Somehow everything had come out on the drive back from California, and Jared had to give Chris credit for trying, but he figured he'd be a little freaked out too if he found out Allie was in love with him.
"Yeah, sure." Jared glanced over at Megan. "Don't go anywhere."
"Oh, seriously. Where would I even go?"
Jared really didn't need to know the answer to that. Instead, he glanced over her head to get a nod from Tessa before following Chris to the back of the club. Megan would probably kill him if she found out he'd asked Tessa to watch out for her, but it was better than coming back to find her flirting with a twenty-five year old.
Kane was the last band to play, so the back of the club was deserted except for Jensen, who was loading cables into the van. He turned toward Jared and grabbed his arm before he could find anything to pick up, pulling their hips together and finding his lips for a kiss. Jensen's lips were chapped but they always softened against his tongue. What he really wanted was to push Jensen in the back of the van and get them both off right there.
"Okay. That's enough. I'm not loading this shit myself while everyone else hooks up." Chris pulled Jensen away and pushed him toward an amp.
"Like you didn't make me do that when Sandy was around," Jensen said as he loaded the amp and pointed Jared toward the rest of the equipment.
"Well, there wasn't a chance my sister would get bored and come looking for me. I'm sure that isn't the impression either of you wants to make. You don't wanna scar the girl for life."
"I'm sure she'd only be scarred for half her life." Jared smiled as he closed the doors to the van and wrapped his arms around Jensen's waist again. "Besides, she likes Jensen. Just like I said she would."
"And if you ditch her to hook up with me, she might change her mind."
"She'd probably use it as an excuse to escape and find her way to a party she's not old enough for." Jared leaned down to kiss Jensen one last time before heading back inside to find Megan.
~*~
Megan was dozing off as Jared led her in the front door. He was surprised to see the lights still on in the living room. He parents didn't usually wait up for him and he was sure he'd told them how late he'd be getting home.
"Just wanted to make sure y'all got home okay." His mom kissed them each on the cheek and disappeared down the hall.
"Shit. They're suspicious," Megan hissed as soon as she was out of earshot.
"What? She didn't say anything," Jared whispered. "And we didn't even really do anything. We were exactly where we said we'd be."
"Yeah, but she was looking at our hands to make sure they had the same marks. She thought she was going to catch us doing…something. Trust me. I'm better at this stuff than you."
~*~
Jared really should have listened to Megan, but his parents didn't say anything suspicious the next morning and it wasn't like they lied about where they were going.
But Jared should've listened to Megan, because Megan had way more experience sneaking around and lying to their parents and if he'd listened to her, he would've just stayed at work and never come home. Or at least he could've called Megan in advance and they could have figured out some way to get him out of this.
Instead he had no excuse to give when his mom said they needed to talk and pulled him into the kitchen. His parents sat across from him at the table and now all he wanted to do was get up and run, but he couldn't move.
"Jared. Your father and I need to talk to you. We know something is going on with you and we're just worried."
They all jumped in their seats when the front door opened and slammed shut again.
"We're on our way. I just forgot my jacket and had to come back." Megan stopped short as she walked past the kitchen and saw the scene at the table. "Cindy? I'm gonna have to call you back."
"What's going on?" Megan turned and faced them.
"Nothing, Sweetie. We're just talking to your brother."
"You said I could go to the mall and Kali could drive me. You know how many tickets she has and you never let her drive me anywhere. You were getting me out of the house so you could corner Jared!" Megan opened her phone again. "Sorry. Go without me. I've got a family thing. I can't go."
"Megan." Their Dad's warning tone made Megan waver a little, but she didn't leave. Instead she turned to Jared.
"This is it, isn't it?"
Jared nodded. Sure, Megan could probably come up with some lie to get him out of this. But then what? How long was he going to lie to them? If he was really serious about being in this for the long run, he was going to have to come clean eventually.
"I'm staying." Megan sat down next to him. "It'll be okay."
"Megan, this is really unnecessary." His mom sighed.
"I'm not letting him do this alone."
"Jared? You want her to stay?" His mom looked even more scared by the idea. Maybe because if it was something stupid like the time he tried to skip school, he wouldn't want his little sister around to make fun of him later. But now Jared nodded. Megan might be a little crazy and kind of a brat, but she promised she'd have his back on this and if his parents freaked, he didn't want to be sitting there facing them by himself.
"Okay then." Sharon glanced at her husband before starting. "Jared, we've been worried about you all summer. You came home from college early and you wouldn't tell us why or what was wrong. You've spent half the summer at Jeff's apartment avoiding us. You refuse to hang out with any of your old friends and you turn down every girl that asks you out. First we thought you just didn't want to get attached to life in San Antonio again, but then I ran into Carrie's mother. She said Carrie asked you out and you told her you were already seeing someone."
His dad continued, setting papers on the table as he talked.
"First we thought you were just trying to spare her feelings, but that's not like you. So we pulled the phone bills from the past few months. You've called the same person or received a call from this person every day all summer. We have most of your friends' numbers, but not this one."
"We didn't call it. We'd never do that without talking to you first. Jared, we just want to know what's going on. What have we ever done that made you think you had to hide something from us? We've always been welcoming to the girls you've brought home." His mother's voice shook a little and his parents joined hands.
Jared glanced over at Megan and she took his hand. "Just say something. It'll be okay. They'll be okay."
"It's not a girl."
"You're not seeing anyone?"
"I am. It's not a girl."
Jared couldn't remember the last time there was silence in the Padalecki house, but they all jumped a little when the door opened and slammed shut again. Still, none of them spoke when Jeff walked into the room.
"I guess I don't have to ask if you told them yet."
"How did you know?" There was no way even Jeff was that psychic.
"Megan sent me a text."
Everyone turned to look at Megan then.
"What? That's what we do when we're freaked out! We get Jeff," Megan burst out and everyone had to laugh a little. It was true. They'd both called Jeff for a plethora of reasons ranging from a bad date (Jared) to almost getting caught and arrested for trespassing (Megan.)
Then it was back to uncomfortable silence again. Finally his mom spoke.
"Jared. What exactly are you telling us?"
"I…" It was like trying to tell Jeff all over again except ten times harder because it wasn't over the phone and both of his parents were just staring at him. Jeff's hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed. Right. If this all went to hell, Jeff would have his back. If they kicked him out, he could crash on Jeff's couch for the two weeks until he could move into the dorm.
"I'm seeing someone but it's not a girl. I have a boyfriend."
"You're…you're gay?" His mom's voice shook a little but at least she wasn't yelling at him.
"Bi, I guess. I'm still attracted to girls, but guys too."
"Okay. Okay, so why do you have to be with a man? You couldn't find a girl you liked?"
"Dad," Jeff started to step forward. Maybe he felt guilty for thinking the same thing once. But even so, Jared put a hand out to stop him. Jeff would fight all his battles if Jared let him, but he needed to do this himself.
"Because I love him. I love him and I'm not going to leave him and try to find a girl just because it might be easier."
Jared tried not to wince as he watched his father tense and lean forward in his chair.
"Jerry, don't." Jared's mother interrupted before his father could speak again. His father sat back again and didn't say anything.
"Honey, you're young. We understand a lot of new things are going on in college and we know the culture there is different."
Jared was shaking his head before she finished speaking. Yes, he knew what people said about Austin. How many times after he committed to TU had he heard people in high school say, "Oh my gosh, what if you get a gay roommate?" He wondered if people ever asked Chad that.
"Mom, it's not like that. I'm not just experimenting. I didn't just jump into this. I thought about it a lot. I'm sorry I didn't tell y'all sooner, but I'm serious about this. I'm serious about him. I love him and this isn't some phase I'll give up after college."
"How long? If you're in love with him, this can't a new thing."
"About eight months. Since December."
"December? You've been lying to your mother and me for eight months!"
"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I just didn't know how to tell you and I wasn't sure it was even going to work out."
"So if it didn't work out your plan was to just never tell us?"
Jared didn't really have an answer for that. Well, he did, because that was pretty much the plan, but that idea seemed to just make his dad furious.
"I just needed to figure it out myself before I tried explaining it to anyone else."
"But you could tell your brother and sister?" His mom looked more tired and disappointed than angry. Maybe he preferred the anger.
"I didn't tell them, really. Jeff, well you know I can't keep things from Jeff. He always finds out. And Megan kind of went through my stuff."
"Megan! You know what we think about you snooping." Sharon frowned at Megan, who elbowed him in the side.
"Don't be mad at Megan. I didn't really hide it well. I think I wanted her to find out. It was just easier." Now that he thought about it, it was pretty obvious. If he really didn't want Megan to find his pictures, he could've come up with a much better hiding place. He lived with her for sixteen years. He knew better ways to hide things from her. "I wanted y'all to know too. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you all summer. I just didn't know how."
"But you've been sneaking off to see this boy all summer? When? Have you really been working all those times we thought you were? Were you really visiting Alexis in Houston? Or Mike in Austin?" His mom was quiet for a moment, but spoke again before he'd managed an answer. "It's not Mike is it? I know you said he had a girlfriend now but…"
"No, Mom. It's not Mike." That was just wrong. "And yes, I was visiting Alexis and Mike. He's been out of town most of the summer. He just came back to Austin a couple weeks ago. That's why we were on the phone so much."
"But you've been sneaking off since he came back and lying about it." His dad had that look that said he already knew the answer and was just testing to see if Jared would lie about it this time.
"Yes. I'm sorry. I know it was wrong." This was kind of like when Jeff freaked out about Jensen's age. He'd been all freaked out about telling his parents he had a boyfriend and they were pissed off that he'd been lying to them on top of everything.
"Have we met his boy? Most of your friends from college that we've met have been girls." His mother exchanged a look with his father and he noticed his parents were holding hands under the table. Suddenly it became really obvious that even with the anger, his father hadn't looked him in the eye since he'd said he had a boyfriend.
"You met him once. At the beginning of the year, before we were…together."
"He didn't come to the hospital when you broke your hand?"
"I asked him not to. I just, I didn't want to come out like that and I didn't want to lie about who he was."
"But we've met him?"
"Yeah. When I met him, when I was moving into the dorm. He was my RA. Jensen."
"Your RA? Is that even allowed? They're supposed to be there to guide you and help you adjust to college, not come on to you." His dad's voice was tight as if he was just barely keeping control. This was really going downhill.
"It's not against the rules. And he didn't come on to me. I went after him." Not that Jensen protested when Jared confessed his feelings, but technically Jared was the one who took the first steps. He just couldn't let his parents act like Jensen was some sleazy old man out to molest innocent, young freshmen.
"But he's older than you and he was supposed to be a role model. He could've been more responsible. How old is he?"
"You don't know that he wasn't responsible." Jared was pretty sure he'd never come this close to yelling at his dad before.
"Answer the question. How old is he?"
Jared turned to Jeff then. If Jeff got over the age difference, his parents could too, right? Jeff was always way more psycho about Megan's boyfriends than their parents. Jeff nodded and squeezed his shoulder again.
"He's twenty-three."
"Twenty-three! And you were eighteen!"
"I'm nineteen now. And he was twenty-two when we started dating." Jared tried to comfort himself with the promise that this really had to be the last time he'd be forced to have this argument.
"Twenty-two is still too old for eighteen. You were just coming out of high school. It would be different if you were twenty and he was twenty-four. But you're still figuring yourself out at eighteen. It's easy for someone take advantage of you then-especially an older man." Sharon spoke before her husband could react. She was always the voice of reason when his dad was ready to yell at Megan for sneaking out or when he butted heads with Jeff. She'd rarely had to do it with Jared though and just because she wasn't yelling didn't make Jared like what she was saying any more.
"He doesn't take advantage of me! He'd never do that!" Jared pushed away from the table. It wasn't fair. They never even met Jensen and they wanted to make all these judgments. Even if Jared suddenly lost all his backbone, Jensen would never take advantage of him. Jensen never pressured him or pushed him. Jensen waited as long as he needed for Jared to be ready to have sex-not that he could really use that defense with his parents.
"Jared." Jeff stepped in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder when he stood up. "Calm down. We can talk about this."
"This isn't up for discussion." His dad stood now. "He's too old for you. If you really thought this relationship was good for you, you wouldn't have lied about it for so long."
"You're right. It's not up for discussion. I'm not a kid. I can date whoever I want. I wanted this to be okay with you, but if it's not, then that doesn't change anything. I love him and if that's not okay with you, then…" Then what? Then he wouldn't talk to his parents anymore? He didn't want that. "I don't know."
"Jared." His mom called after him, but he was already having a hard enough time fighting the hot tears in eyes. He didn't need to prove he was as immature as they seemed to think he was by crying in front of his whole family-though slamming the door and hiding in his room probably wasn't much better.
It wasn't until he reached in his pocket that he realized he'd left his phone on the kitchen table. Great. Now he couldn't even call Jensen. Maybe he shouldn't call Jensen on his phone anyway. His parents probably had it bugged or something.
"Jared?" Megan poked her head in the door. Right. This door didn't lock. He was ready to move back to Austin now.
"I don't want to talk, Meg."
"Jeff's talking to Mom and Dad. He'll turn them around." Megan still thought Jeff could change the rotation of the earth if he wanted.
"Megan. Please. I just want to be alone."
"Okay, okay. I just noticed you left your phone and you probably don't want to call Jensen on the house phone." Megan held out a cell phone he didn't recognize.
"Whose is this?"
"Mine. It's pre-paid. Mom and Dad don't know I have it. And it'd be really nice if you didn't rat me out-to Mom and Dad. I've accepted that you'll tell Jeff."
"Thanks."
"Yeah. I'm the best sister ever, I know." Megan reached forward and hugged him. "It'll be okay. They're just freaked out. They'll love Jensen once they get used to the idea and meet him."
She didn't give him time to argue before releasing him and ducking out of the room.
He stared at the phone for a minute before dialing. He wasn't sure how he could even talk to Jensen about this without Jensen freaking out and blaming himself, but in the end he just really wanted to hear Jensen's voice.
"Hey. I wasn't expecting you to call until tonight." Jensen sounded relaxed but Jared could hear the other guys in the background.
"Sorry. You're busy."
"No. It's okay. What's wrong? I can tell something's wrong." The background noise faded away and he had all of Jensen's attention now.
"How can you tell?"
"You never talk this slowly unless something's wrong and you're kind of quiet. You're never quiet."
"My parents know."
"Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?" Jensen asked and Jared felt his chest unclench a little. Because he had no doubts that Jensen would just get in his truck and drive right over if he asked. If they knew him, there was no way his parents could think Jensen would ever purposely hurt him or take advantage of him.
"I don't know. They started out okay, but then they figured out how long I'd been lying about things and how old you were and freaked out."
"Damn."
"But it's stupid, because I don't think they would've freaked out if I was dating an older woman. And they knew I had to be dating someone behind their backs. Otherwise they wouldn't have cornered me to interrogate me."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Don't you dare start trying to take the blame for this." Maybe it was selfish, but he didn't want to deal with Jensen's complex right now.
"Okay, okay. I'm not. I'm just sorry it didn't go as well as Jeff and Megan."
"Jeff walked in on us in bed and he didn't freak out this much. They were really mad that I lied for so long. My mom tried to talk like I'd just get over it. Like all the gay people in Austin made me want to try it out or something. My dad…he tried to say we couldn't be together."
"Fuck."
"I told him off. I said I loved you and he couldn't tell me who to be with."
"Jared. You didn't have to say that."
"Yes, I did. I can't have them sitting around pretending to be okay with this because they think it's just a phase or something. I want them to be okay with us, but if they aren't? It doesn't change anything. At least I don't have to lie to them anymore."
"Where are you now?"
"In my room. At my parents' house. Hiding."
"You want me to come over?"
"You really want to show up and meet my parents right now?"
"Not really. But I will if you want me to, if you want me there."
"Of course I want you here. You know how much I want you here. But right now it just might be too much for them. And I'm not alone, really. Jeff and Megan are here. Jeff's talking to them now. I should see if that does any good first."
"I'm counting on Jeff to convince your parents I'm good enough for you?"
"Jeff likes you. It's just against his rules to admit it."
Jeff always did seem to know when someone was talking about him. Jensen's soft chuckle was still in his ear when Jeff knocked on the door and opened it before Jared even answered.
"Jensen?" Jeff asked as he pointed to the phone and sat in Jared's desk chair.
Jared nodded, but didn't hang up. If Jensen overheard then he wouldn't have to repeat it.
"Mom and Dad want to talk to you but they wanted me to make sure you want to talk to them. They know they over-reacted a little."
"A little?"
"You lied to them. That's a lot harder for them with you. They're used to Megan and even me lying to them and trying to pass things over them. Why do you think I freaked out when you were lying to me? Because you'd never done it before. Oh and they're pissed off at me for lying to them about San Francisco, but I took all the blame for that one. I told them Jensen didn't know about it either."
"Thanks."
"And I think I've convinced them that if Jensen was a dirty old man who was taking advantage of you, I'd have kicked his ass a long time ago."
"How about convincing them I'm smart enough to not be in that situation?"
"Jared, they know you aren't stupid. But they're always going to worry about you just like I am. You were the baby of the family for a long time."
"Megan's been the baby a lot longer."
"When she was seven, Megan kicked her first boyfriend in the balls when he looked at another girl. When your first girlfriend broke up with you, you refused to leave your room for three days."
"I was ten!"
"I know. And I know that you wouldn't let someone treat you like crap either. But I also know that you would take it worse if it happened. You invest in other people so quickly. That's why we all try to watch who these people are."
"They wouldn't have freaked out so much if it was an older woman."
"Maybe not. But it was a lot to take in at once. Now that they've calmed down some, they want to talk to you."
"Is dad going to try to tell me what to do again?"
"No. And I'm not going to let them attack you, which you know I wasn't going to do anyway."
"I know. You can get them. Just give me a minute?" Jared motioned to the phone and Jeff nodded before leaving him alone again.
"You really hid in your room for three days?" Jensen chuckled in his ear.
"I was ten."
"It's cute."
"Jerk."
"Sorry. Call me and tell me how it goes, okay?"
"I will."
"You know I love you, right?"
"I know. I'll call you."
Jared made sure to hide the phone before Jeff came back in with his parents. He really didn't need Megan to be pissed at him on top of everything else.
His mom sat next to him on the bed and smoothed down the comforter without looking at him at first. Then she sighed, like she was annoyed with herself, and pulled him into her arms.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. We did this all wrong. We love you." She pulled back and kissed his cheek, running her hands over his hair. "You know that right? We love you no matter what. We should've said that right away."
"I know, Mama. I know." Jared couldn't help smiling as he pulled away. Maybe they could've said it sooner, but what mattered was that they said it at all, right? Or his mom did. He turned toward his dad even though part of him didn't want to know.
"She speaks for both of us. I'm still not sure how I feel about this man, and all of this is going to take some getting used to, but you're my son and I love you. That's not in question here." His dad looked him right in the eye this time. That said more than any words could say.
Jared nodded. This wasn't so bad. He couldn't really expect them to be thrilled.
"He's really great. You'd like him if you gave him a chance."
"But you haven't given us a chance to get there. Now, we understand why you did it, but until now, you've kept us in the dark. You've lied to us and you've been with this man for eight months behind our backs."
"I didn't mean for that to happen. I just didn't know how to tell you. And okay, I thought that maybe if it didn't work out, I'd never have to tell you. But then the longer I waited, the harder it was to tell you. But I wanted to. I've been trying to do it all summer. I really have."
"You have to understand why we're shocked. You never gave us any clues about this. You had all these friends that were girls. Were you leading us on about Alexis in the fall?" He turned back toward his mom, but she wasn't angry, just disappointed. That was probably worse.
"I really did have a thing with her right after I moved into the dorm. But it didn't work out. I wanted something serious and well, she didn't."
"And Jensen did?"
"I don't think he was looking for something. We were just friends and he thought I was straight. I thought I was straight. But I guess I wasn't and I decided to go for it and we just worked."
"But you've barely talked about him. You did in the beginning but then you didn't. Then it was just the girls and all summer we've just seen Alexis and Mike. You've barely said his name."
"I talked about him when we were friends. But then, later it felt like lying if I talked about him as my friend…so I guess I just stopped. I hated lying. I just didn't know what to do."
"You're happy with him?" Jared studied his dad for anger or disappointment, but all he saw was concern.
"Yeah."
"Then your mother and I expect to meet him. Again. As your boyfriend, with enough time to get to know him better."
"I need to talk to him about it." He'd just thrown Megan at Jensen last week.
"If he cares about you, I'm sure he can find time to have dinner with your family." His dad had used that same logic on a few of Megan's boyfriends. Usually she just broke up with them. "If you want us to try to treat this like any other relationship, you know what we expect."
"I just need some time, okay? And I'm pretty booked with work this week. I wasn't going to have time to see him until I moved back to Austin anyway." Jared sighed and looked down at his hands. Right now he just wanted to sleep for a week. Preferably with Jensen, but that was really not going to happen.
"Okay. Why don't we take a break and talk about it later. He's not planning to see Jensen soon anyway and y'all were planning to go with him to move him into the dorm again. So maybe we can figure something out then?" Jeff looked around the room and Jared nodded. At least Jeff had bought them a couple weeks. It wasn't like he didn't know his parents would want to meet Jensen eventually. He just hadn't had the time to fully think all this out.
"I suppose that's reasonable," his Dad agreed. "But no more lying and sneaking around. What if something happened and we didn't know where you were?"
"I know. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
"All right, we'll let you get some rest now." His mom stood and kissed the top of his head before pulling his dad out of the room after her.
"See. Not that bad." Jeff sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.
"They're still freaked out. They're just trying not to be."
"They'll get used to it. It's just hard to find out they didn't know you as well as they thought. They'll figure out it doesn't really change who you are once you start talking to them and being the good kid again."
"They want to have dinner with him."
"You had to see that coming. You didn't think they'd just never want to meet him?"
"No. But I was kind of hoping it could be really casual and kind of a gradual thing."
"I'm sure he'll survive."
"You're looking forward to this aren't you?"
"If he wants in the loop, he can stand to sweat a little."
"Like you didn't give him enough hell already."
"Yeah, but Mom and Dad are way more intimidating."
~*~
"You okay?" Jensen's voice soothed out most of the nerves he had left.
"Yeah. They admitted they over-reacted and they were just worried. I guess I've never really lied to them before and they were really upset about that. But they said they love me no matter what."
"Good. Good. So they're okay now? I don't have to watch out for your dad with a shotgun?"
"No. Jeff's convinced them you're not just out to destroy my virtue. I told you he liked you."
"Yeah. Not sure I believe that one, but I'll take what I can get."
"They're still kind of freaked out. My dad said they'd try to treat it like any other relationship. But he didn't say he actually thought it was like any other relationship."
"You think he'll change his mind?"
"I don't know. Jeff thinks so."
"Can I do anything?"
"There is one thing." The knot in Jared's stomach grew again.
"What?"
"My parents want you to go to dinner with us. In a couple weeks, when I'm moving back to Austin. But I get it if you don't want to. It's not like they can say we have to do it."
"But that's really not going to make them like me."
"They're just kind of traditional like that. Everyone any of us dates for more than a few weeks, they want to have dinner with and we've kind of been dating a lot longer than a few weeks." Jared sighed. "It's just that this is them trying to act like they would with anyone that I was dating."
"It's okay. I can do it. It's important to you, so I can do it."
Jared wished he could record that. How could his parents not love Jensen when he said things like that? How could they think he wanted anything but the best for Jared?
"Really?"
"Yeah. But you're going to owe me some really good sex afterward."
And that would be something he shouldn't record for his parents.
"That I can do."
"Jared?" Jensen sighed and Jared didn't have to let him finish.
"Don't ask me if I'm sure it's worth it. We've been there. I love you. They'll deal."
"Sorry. I just wish I could do something."
"Yeah, well, I'm about to pass out. Help me sleep?" Jared slipped off his jeans and climbed into bed with the phone as Jensen started to sing. He'd pay Megan back for minutes later.
~*~
Read Part 1 of 45 of Second Verse (Not Quite Same As The First) by Aleia. The next story in the College AU Verse!
