Jensen lay in the bed he shared with his boyfriend, feeling his hand running through his hair. His body was calm and sated from the thorough fucking he'd already gotten. Unfortunately, his mind wasn't quite so relaxed as it turned over the unfairness of their current situation. Jensen thought that he was a pretty fair guy under normal circumstances, but he didn't consider this a normal circumstance. Thus, he didn't feel like he needed to be fair or nice about the whole deal. "So remind me again why we agreed to letting this little fucker live here?"

Mike snorted, grinning. "Because we're broke fucks and he's some spoiled rich brat who has an IQ of two thousand or some shit. And, our oh so kind and loving landlord didn't give us a choice. As I recall the conversation went something like you can let him stay or you can leave."

"Oh yeah," Jensen nodded. His yawn turned into another frown. The last thing he wanted was to have to spend the year with some arrogant rich snob. "When's he supposed to be here?"

Mike was saved from answering as the doorbell sounded. "About now," he joked before shoving Jensen off him, grabbing a pair of sweats and hurrying through the house trying to run and dress at the same time. Normally he would get a kick out of answering the door naked, shocking whomever was on the other side, but he didn't feel like sharing his privates with the dickhead who'd shoved his way into their lives.

Outside, Jared looked at the door, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He had a key. His new landlord had sent him one. Jared, though, was well aware of how things worked and didn't want to come off as more of an intruder than he already was. He'd learned his lessons well at his last school and was determined this time to do things his way, as opposed to his father's way.

Jared had taken great care in trying to keep his father from finding out where he was attending his school this year. He couldn't keep living on the same path he'd been his whole life. He couldn't continue to passively let his father run his life and damned the fact that it went against Jared's own sense of right and wrong. He'd known that eventually his father would find out, no matter how hard he tried. His father knew how to use his money, after all, but he'd hoped he would have a little more time than he'd ended up having. As it was, there had been way too much time for his father to interfere.

Jared had made all the arrangements on his own. Registration, a part time job for the school year, even housing had all been set up by Jared with deliberate intent. He'd wanted to be as close to any other kid as he could get. Of course his father had interfered and Jared had been forced to rethink his plans.

All Jared's plans had been checked, double checked and triple checked for any way his father could alter. Given that he was legally an adult now, however, it wasn't as easy as it had been when he was underaged. Unfortunately with only two weeks left, Jared learned that his father wanted the landlord, a longtime friend of his unknown to Jared, to kick out the other two boys staying in the home, letting his son have it alone. Jared felt bad knowing the rent had probably been raised way beyond a normal college student's means in order to force them out, once the greedy man found out that his rich frat brother's son needed a place to stay. There was no doubt in Jared's mind the rent had been raised even further when Jared put his foot down.

Thus after paying him the entire year's worth of rent money in one check, he'd told the man they could stay free of charge. Since it was now his home he could let anyone he wanted stay there, knowing the bastard wouldn't dare push him. Jared might be only 19, but he knew how to use his money and his father's name to get what he wanted. No matter how much he despised his father's methods, he knew them well, along with how and when to practice them, even if he didn't always like it.

In the back of his head, he could hear his Gramma telling him that he couldn't buy friends, something Jared was also well aware of. It seemed friends just weren't something that Jared was meant to have. Between his money and his annoying IQ, the people he wished would be his friends hated him and the people he couldn't stand, he couldn't get rid of. His life was riddled with freeloaders who thought he had no common sense because of his genius IQ. Because of this, Jared preferred mostly to spend his life alone, although it wasn't something he enjoyed. Solitude and loneliness were preferable to being used all the time, but he always longed for real friendship that he knew most normal kids had.

When Mike opened the door, snarky facial expression in place, the kid standing on the doorstep wasn't at all what he'd expected. Instead of the walking GQ ad he'd envisioned stood someone that looked like he'd just rolled out of the latest Family Values tour, complete with Korn t-shirt and genuine ragged jeans. Peeking out at the driveway it seemed the highly expensive sports car was missing as well. In its place sat a very nice looking '87 Monte Carlo SS.

The cocky arrogant 'I own the world, and your sole purpose is to serve me' attitude he'd expected was hiding beneath a very convincing lost little boy expression. The kid looked like he expected to be kicked instead of the one doing the kicking. Mike watched the kid shift anxiously from one foot to the other as he studied what must be a very interesting spot somewhere over Mike's shoulder, since he didn't seem to be able to look him in the eye for any length of time. The one hand he could see was clenched tightly and wiped against the jeans every so often. The other was hidden deep with pocket of his zippered sweatshirt which was undone and had that genuine well worn look to matched the jeans.

Blinking, Mike decided this kid had to be lost because there was no way he was their poor little rich boy. 'Cause if he was Mike already had a lot to feel bad about and they'd only just met. "Sorry man, I was expecting our new housemate. What can I do for ya?"

Jared frowned and glanced at the house number, wondering if he'd gotten his information wrong. Seeing the bold numbers 1895 on side of the house, Jared opened his mouth to speak, when someone else appeared, slipping his arm around the man's waist resting his chin on his shoulder. Hard eyes stared at him as if challenging him to say something and Jared couldn't help but wonder how he'd lost his chance already.

Now Jared was a lot of things, but dense wasn't one of them. Friendless and clueless maybe, but dense no, so it took one look from the first man's neck sporting a lovely hickey to the second man's kiss-swollen lips to figure out what the deal was. After all. Jared wasn't exactly the poster boy for heterosexuality. He'd found out very early on in his sexual life that his money could be used well to experiment with one night stands and keep them quiet afterwards. Somehow though. looking from one man to the other, Jared suddenly felt like even more of an outsider. Blinking furiously he dropped his gaze to study the concrete of the walkway and damned his father to hell.

"I'm sorry," Jared finally said speaking softly. His drawl thickening as his nerves increased from the sudden belief that this place wasn't going to be any different than the last. Everyone paired off already leaving Jared on the outside looking in, wondering why he didn't belong anywhere. "I umm…"

Jared paused, looking up from one face to the other then back down at his shoes, wondering about the possibility of living in a hotel for the year. Mike found himself with a growing lump in his stomach, letting his head fall back to rest against Jensen. He wondered what the possibility was of convincing the kid that someone else had broken into his room and left the boobytraps.

"I didn't mean to intrude," Jared finally said, still speaking softly and Mike found himself straining to hear him. "He didn't tell me you were a couple. Not that I mind, I just… I wouldn't have bothered you so early. I just… I'll go. I'll go and just… come back. Later." Turning, Jared headed towards the car.

Behind Mike, Jensen sighed, feeling bad himself. He'd been pretty damned pissed when the prick they rented this shit hole from had told them he was raising their rent. Then when he'd told them he'd rented it to some fuckin' rich kid who was so generously -and Jensen could still hear the sneer in the asshole's voice when he'd said THAT- paid the rent for the year and they could work something out with him, Jensen had seen red. That would explain why he'd let Mike talk him into leaving the kid some surprises.

However it hadn't taken more than the first two softly spoke words of "I'm sorry" for Jensen to realize they'd really fucked up this time. He was the one that was supposed to be calm and rational. Instead he'd allowed himself to jump to conclusions in his anger at the bastard they rented the house from. Now as he watched the kid who Jensen was afraid they'd seriously misjudged before he'd ever had a chance leave, he remembered why his Mamma told him to judge with his heart and his ears not his eyes and his brain.

"I'll stop him Mikey, you clean up our little gifts. And don't forget the paint bucket over his door. You don't need a red head." Leaving a peck on his boyfriend's cheek, Jensen ran after the kid, tapping on the passenger's side window.

Jared had just started the car and was about to pull out Korn's Twisted Transister blaring from his radio when he just barely heard the tapping on the window. Turning his head and turning down the music he saw the second man standing there, smiling at him. Jared knew he was frowning, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't really sure what to think. Not a minute ago the man had been giving him a look cold enough to freeze his nuts off - now he had some smile plastered to his face that Jared supposed he meant to look real, but instead just made him look nuts.

Putting the car back into park, Jared leaned over and unlocked the door, finding himself even more surprised when the man opened it and sat down. "Hi, I think there's been a serious lack of communication somewhere. So I was thinkin' maybe we should start over. I'm Jensen, but my friends call me Jen, Jenny only at the risk of their lives. The bald fucker is Mike or Mikey, my boyfriend. I'm guessing you're the new guy?"

Jared knew he looked confused, but he couldn't help it. This just wasn't how things worked. Obviously this guy hadn't gotten the script. Otherwise he would know he was supposed to let Jared leave unless…

"You fucked with my room didn't you? What, were you not finished yet? Did your boyfriend have to finish some last prank? Look man, it's not necessary, ok? There really isn't anything you could try that hasn't been done to me before. I spent 3 months last semester with neon blue hair from the damned paint that fell on my head. I'll let you and your friend or boyfriend, whatever he is stay here, free of charge. I just really don't have the energy for another year of hell. So if you'll just get out, I'll find a new place to live this year and we'll never have to see each other again."

If Jensen hadn't felt bad before, he would have after hearing that. As it was his guilt only increased. "It sounds like you're, uhh, used to that sort of thing," Jensen muttered, shifting uncomfortably then winced at the hollow laughter from the man next to him.

"I have a net worth right now of about 15 million dollars and that's just what I have access to now and not the other 35 mil that's in trust somewhere. I have an IQ of 182. I tend to be a fairly passive person so I don't really like violence, which means I don't fight back. When I was a kid, my father made me go around with a damn bodyguard, so I never had friends because the other kids couldn't get anywhere close to me. So I tend to be shy and don't know how to easily make friends. So yeah, I've been the butt of a lot of jokes in my life."

"Look, Jensen, like I said I don't want any trouble. All I was looking for was a fresh start. Somewhere I could, maybe for once, make friends and be me without my father interfering too much. I'm sorry about the thing with that landlord guy. I didn't know he knew my father until it was too late. I did the best I could to make it right. Just… go back to your boyfriend. You don't have to pretend you wanna be… buddies or something."

Jensen studied the kid, wondering if he was going to have a stomach left when it got done eating itself. He didn't know what had happened to this kid, but it didn't seem pretty. He didn't want to believe this kid was real. It would be much more convenient for him to believe it was an act, but Jensen considered himself a pretty good judge of character. He just didn't believe anyone could act well enough for it all to be a lie. Jensen found it humbling to find out that money really didn't cure all that was bad in the world. Somehow he'd managed to grow up with considerably less means than this kid and lived a much happier life.

"Look. I don't expect you to believe me, but I'm not pretending. I will admit Mikey and I had some pretty shitty things planned for you. I'm sorry for that. I really am, man. We had no right to judge you before we even met you. Just… let's just start over, huh? For real - just give us a chance. We won't judge you if you won't judge us."

Jared wondered if he was insane or just desperate. The guy had admitted they had planned to be just like all the others and yet, "yeah ok I mean it's all I wanted right?" He decided that he didn't know what he was thinking, but if this year turned out better than the others then it didn't really matter.