So it took Jared a little over three days to dig up the dirt on Jensen. There had been a whole twenty four hours devoted to pondering the merits of hiring a PI to do the actual dirty work, but in the end, Google delivered.
28. Writer. Texas native (like that was fucking fair!) In a relationship. (no shit!) Ménière's sufferer. (Whatever the fuck that was). Lived in a big ass house in Chatsworth (To which, thanks to some rather hazy skills passed on by Chris, Jared now had the address)
It wasn't stalking if Jensen didn't know about it, right? Besides, this was for David's own good. Jensen probably had a basement full of mummified heads. David's. Own. Good. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Jensen had read him quicker than Michael Schumacher drove a qualifier, and freaked him the fuck out. This was purely one of his duties as Concerned Best Friend.
Jensen's house was right in the hills, a sprawling Mediterranean ranch on Hialeah Way. Dude had good, if expensive taste. There was on street parking outside. Thinking ahead, Jared drove one building down, and parked under the shade of a sprawling palm.
Right. So in his research- Yes, it was fucking research- he'd discovered that Jensen had a brother (older) and sister (younger), two cats, a goldfish named Marv, a budgie named Tweety, and a live in housekeeper named Sam.
Jared was less than impressed.
And the dude was a writer! A fucking writer! Everyone knew that writers were always a few wires short of a full fuse. Historical crime novels. Honest to God, if that didn't tell people he took it up the ass…and it wasn't as if Jared had actually gone out and bought all four of them.
And read them all in a week.
And he sure as hell hadn't enjoyed them.
So in short, David, non-gay-before-Ackles David, was screwing around with a nutcase writer, who had more money than sense, and a crap taste in pet names.
A sharp tap to his left made him jump guiltily, and he quickly wound down his window. A handsome woman with a wry smile stood crouched down by the door. She passed him a plate covered with blue terrycloth, and left without a word.
Curious, Jared peeled back the top, and inhaled the rich, warming aroma of freshly baked double chocolate cookies.
Don't starve out there
Said the note pinned to the top.
Fuckitall.
*****
Day 2 and David called his cell less than thirty seconds after he turned off the engine.
"You know, people have been arrested for less than what you're doing." Bastard was enjoying this.
"Bite me."
He killed the call to the sound of David's deep laughter.
*****
The woman with the playful eyes was back the next day.
"Boy, you're gonna give yourself an aneurism if you keep frowning like that." She shook her head and let herself into the passenger seat. "I'm Sam, and whilst Jen thinks you're the most adorable thing on two legs, I'm inclined to think you're a bit of an asshole."
Naturally, Jared was used to strange women climbing into the car with him… strange women who spoke straight and didn't want to pinch his cheeks at first sight...
His brain fumbled for either an excuse or an insult, and came up with "He thinks I'm adorable?"
Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Kid has a thing for strays. You parked your ass on his doorstep just like those damn cats of his."
Huh.
"You think I'm an asshole?" That was more of an issue, perhaps. Asshole wasn't the look he was aiming for here. Jerk, maybe. Asshole, not so much.
"I think you're confused."
"Not confused."
Jared didn't pout. He scowled.
"Don't argue with me, boy. I live with the most belligerent man on the planet. You won't win." Again, she looked at him the way one might look at a small animal. If said animal was covered in shit, and stalking his best friend's boy.
"I-"
Sam twisted in her seat. "Now you can come inside and talk to him, maybe behave like a civilized human being, or you can sit outside in the car, and be an asshole. I gotta warn you, you'll go grey and wrinkly long before you find any dirt on him. Kid's as clean as a democrat before election day."
"Democrats are never clean. Especially not before election day." Jared scoffed.
She smiled, years dropping away from her face. "True, but you can never find any dirt on 'em."
"So what, he has his own Secret Service detail?"
"Worse." Sam smiled winsomely. "He's got JD."
Morgan, yeah, that sounded about right. Bastard would adopt anything with a sad story and a pair of pretty eyes. Jensen might have wrestled alligators in his spare time, but he was deaf, and he was pretty, and that was guaranteed to pull the JDM heartstrings.
"So," Sam bumped him out of his musings with an elbow to the ribs. "You coming inside?"
Jared bit his lip.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Jen baked more cookies."
"Five minutes." Jared qualified.
*****
Jensen was pale when he dropped down into the overstuffed armchair, but his smile hadn't dimmed since the last time Jared had seen him.
"Just so you know," Jared said hastily, careful to look at Jensen head on, "this isn't anything personal. I'm sure you're a nice enough dude, it's just…" Jared wasn't entirely sure what the just was, just that it was just.
Jensen couldn't have looked more amused if he had tried, which given the lack of funnies, kinda threw Jared off kilter.
Right. Jared coughed, remembering the book he had brought with him. "I'm armed, yeah. So if you wanna fire at me, just um…do it slowly, okay?"
Jensen's gaze slid from Jared's lips to the Handbook of American Sign Language, then threw his head back and laughed. The sound was so completely unexpected it made Jared stare. Was Jensen supposed to be able to laugh? Jensen saw his look of bemusement and laughed harder. He made a small motion with his hands, and then repeated it.
Jared had been hanging around Chad long enough to know when he was being insulted. Sure enough, when skipping to the Insult section of the book, he was able to translate Jensen's gesture into moron.
Another sharp gesture that Sam, who had silently moved to stand behind Jared's chair, explained for him.
"He says that you're a raving nut job."
"I like to think of it as protecting David from himself." Jared justified.
He didn't need Sam, or the dictionary to understand Jensen's response.
From me?
"Yes."
"Jensen-" Sam took a step forwards, but Jensen shook his head and spoke to Sam with gestures too long and too fast for Jared to understand. She sighed, but left the room, glaring at Jared as she retreated.
Jensen tipped his head, a clear follow me sign if Jared had ever seen one.
Jared followed Jensen through the house. It was huge, beautiful even, full of wide, open spaces but surprisingly lacking in personal touches. The woodwork was pale, and the wall the color of Spanish sand. Black fixtures hung lighting to the walls, and deep red throws softened the sharp edges of the rooms.
Towards the south of the house, Jensen pushed open a pair of heavy wooden doors, and lead Jared into the most beautiful greenhouse he had ever seen. Lush ferns, palms, and bright colors winked under the overhead sun.
"It's…well, wow." Jared couldn't find the right words to express himself. He caught Jensen's face in the corner of his eyes, saw the understanding there, and realized that for once, he didn't need to say anything at all.
Again, Jensen beckoned him forwards, stopping in front of a beautiful mass of entwining roses.
Taking a pair of clippers in hand, Jensen took the base of one stem between his thumb and forefinger, and snipped it at the base. The bud was yellow, the color of pale egg yolks. Without so much as looking at him, Jensen passed Jared the flower. He turned and walked away, the message clear.
*****
On Friday, Jared picked up the phone.
"Hey man," David greeted. "How you doing?"
"I'm good. Listen, you remember our Sunday night salsa parties?"
David laughed. "Dude, I ain't ever going to be able to look at guacamole in the same light."
"Well…now you're back in LA, I figured we should restart the tradition."
"Want me to call the gruesome twosome?"
Jared wondered if Chris and Steve would stick around long enough to make more than one weekend.
"Sure and…" he paused, swallowed, then continued, "invite Jensen."
For the second time in a week, he hung up to the sound of David's laughter.
Twenty minutes later, and a message came through on his cell
Ur still a jerk :D
Jared grinned, and sent a text back,
Shut it, bitch.
bring cookies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, do you know the meaning behind Jensen's little gift? Look it up! Flowers and what they are used to signify are going to be important as we go!
Read Part Three It ain't irony, it's life. in the Louder Than Words 'Verse by SplashPink
