Chapter 6: Past the Garden Shed and Straight Ahead (J2, NC-17)

[lucifersprize]

Fic title: Past the Garden Shed and Straight Ahead
Artist name: amberdreams
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: past domestic abuse, sexual language, non explicit sex, cussing, Chad

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***

Jared spent the rest of the evening flinging clothes from his closet in despair. He had one suit with an unidentifiable stain near the elbow of the jacket, the collar of his shirts curled up however many times he ironed them, and his dress shoes had seen better days.

His cell phone pinged and, as if Christian had somehow read his mind, a short message from him appeared.

*I know you’re worrying about what to wear! Booked a table at the Hawthorn Tree. Have you any idea how difficult that is? Live band, craft beer and a banging atmosphere! You are going to love the menu. Smart casual - nothing you can’t get lobster butter on. Nothing with fiddly buttons for the after-party*

He took a breath. Was he that easy to read? He bundled up his suit with a vow to get it cleaned, and tossed his shirts in the trash.  For now he could get away with his best Armani jeans and Ralph Lauren polo but if he was going to take on prestige contracts, then he was going to have to look the part. It would mean a shopping trip. He hated shopping.

He texted Christian back, *Haha, sounds good. Stripper pants with velcro!*

The reply was a string of laughing and kisses emojis with *Oh, god, yes. But also, no. See you there, no treats today, need you hungry*

The Hawthorn Tree. He didn’t know the place, so he googled it. Oh boy! Christian hadn’t lied, he must have pulled strings to get a table. ‘One of the top party spots in Burlington, where the rich and beautiful hang out’ was how one reviewer described it. He’d agreed to a night of fun but he was already feeling inadequate.

His phone pinged again and he grabbed it, sure it would be Chris.

It was a facetime call, from a happy, intoxicated, Jensen Ackles. He was obviously in a tux, with his bow-tie askew. His cheeks were rosy and his hair was plastered around his face with perspiration. His eyes were a mellow green. He saluted Jared with a glass of liquor while the black-tie crowd behind him were oblivious, all turned away, to look at something else.

“This is inappropriate. Is this inappropriate?” Jensen slurred as he twisted his head sideways to get a better view of Jared who held his phone at an angle, in confusion.

“Not yet.” In truth, he felt an unexpected jolt of happiness, knowing Jensen was thinking of him, had even wanted to talk to him. And even on a small screen, disheveled as he was, Jensen looked good. Jared wanted to see more of him. He bet that Jensen’s pants sat just perfect on his ass.

“Do you want me to be inappropriate?”

Hell yes, he thought, but answered, “You might scare away your potential donors, Jensen.”

Jensen pointed an unsteady forefinger at his screen, “You’re right. You’re very wise, Jared. Did you know that?”

“I’m freakin’ Yoda, dude.”

They both dissolved into fits of laughter. When they were done Jared asked him, “Man, do you even remember why you called me?”

“I was happy. I had such a night. I thought, who else should be happy for me and there’s my mom - but y’know she is here and she is already happy. Elderflower gin does that,” he nodded in mock wisdom, “Yup. My brother is never entirely happy about anything. Christian, love that dude, is a dick, don’t you think?”

Awkward. Luckily he didn’t have the chance to answer before Jensen continued,

“I thought, Jared is a happy person. He would be happy. We should be happy together. I have had such a good time. I should tell him … tell you. Jared will smile. You have a nice smile, good teeth and soft wide lips...you know what your mouth would…,”

And woah … , “I’m not a horse Jensen.”

Jared wanted to slap his own forehead, he knew what he had set himself up for …

It took a second for the lascivious smile to widen on Jensen’s face, “No but I bet you’re …”

Jared shut him down, “Inappropriate!”

He thought that Jensen’s giggle was adorable. He could get addicted.

Just as Jensen was pulling his composure back, the crowd behind him applauded. Jared could only just hear him over the noise, “Oh, you’re good! You’re too quick for me! We should be dating. Why aren’t we dating?” Jensen slurred.

To hell with lies - Jensen wasn’t going to remember this conversation, “My mother betrothed me to a faerie. I mean, it’s not like the faerie has come to claim me but it would probably be frowned upon if they did. And speaking of frowned upon, you are also my client.”

The expected burst of giggles didn’t materialize. “But you’d like to, right?”

The crowd was starting to disperse around Jensen.

Jared laughed, “You are irresistible, Jensen. Dude, you are going to regret this call in the morning, if you even remember it.”

Jensen pulled a face at the screen, “And inappropriate. Uh-oh, I  have to get back to the grind but Corey Taylor dude! The real Corey Taylor! I’ll send you the link.”

The screen blurred as Jensen’s phone was snatched away. Jared heard the lilting voice of a woman say, “Is that Jared? Let me see.”

The screen went black and he heard, “No, mom!”

He saw another blur of Jensen on the screen as he yelled, “Later!”

Jared sat on his bed with a goofy grin on his face and his cell phone in his hand. Jensen had told his mom about him! His heartbeat was a dance and he felt warm with a happy tingle all over his body. It couldn’t be love, he hardly knew the man, but it sure felt like chemistry.

His phone pinged twice in succession. He checked the messages, one from Christian and a link from Jensen. He pressed the thumbs up emoji to quickly reply to Chris and then clicked the link with anticipation.

It was a YouTube video, uploaded by Impala67, earlier that evening, titled ‘The Mick and Amber band/Dead or Alive’. It opened with announcements made on a stage dwarfed beneath a ‘Dream Faeries’ logo, then the curtain rose and somebody announced a father, Mick and his teenage daughter, Amber who walked onto the stage sporting wide, excited smiles, bowed to the crowd and then embraced. The daughter placed a bass guitar in her father’s hands and then sat, almost dwarfed by a drum kit worthy of the loudest of rock bands. Some professional-looking musicians jumped on stage to join them and then the daughter hit the drums with a roll. Jensen leaped onto the stage and up to the microphone, “I have great pleasure to introduce the one, the only, Corey Taylor of Metallica."

Corey took the mic, “Tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Mick and Amber will be rocking us with their performance and I have the honor to jam with them. Hit it!”

The opening chords of Dead or Alive started to play and Jensen couldn’t hide his excitement. He fist pumped the air as he began to sing, And, oh, how he could sing! Jared watched the entire performance in awe. Not a beat was missed, not a single wrong note. Jensen looked and performed like a rock star. He matched Corey Taylor and they both played off the solos which showcased Mick and Amber. The performance was practised and flawless. It was clear what Jensen had been working on in Vegas. If this was the sort of memory that Dream Faeries created, then Jensen had significantly underrepresented himself to Jared. He watched it on repeat. It was still playing when he fell asleep.

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