Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

TABLE | Bully < 50ficlets

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:14:38 GMT

I've claimed Bully (Canis Canem Edit) at 50ficlets...

Fandom: Bully
Claim: General Fandom
Progress: 0/50

#01 - Black & White	#02 - Will never be	#03 - Hit or miss	#04 - Touch me	#05 - Me or them
#06 - Naughty or Nice	#07 - Coming out	#08 - Talk to me	#09 - You're mine	#10 - Baby
#11 - Sex	#12 - Asylum	#13 - Enemies	#14 - Whimper	#15 - Leather
#16 - Drive	#17 - Breathe	#18 - Summer	#19 - Tattoo	#20 - Abused
#21 - Light	#22 - Water	#23 - Need	#24 - Sugar	#25 - Blood
#26 - Rain	#27 - Cute	#28 - Love/Hate	#29 - Two faced	#30 - Envy
#31 - Bitch	#32 - Gold	#33 - Rough	#34 - Sent away	#35 - Save me
#36 - Fruit	#37 - Smile	#38 - Burn	#39 - Clothes	#40 - Poker
#41 - Share	#42 - Blind	#43 - Mail	#44 - Lust	#45 - Glass
#46 - Leave	#47 - Papercut	#48 - Gift	#49 - Lucky break	#50 - Where you belong

FIC | The Covenant < Heaven Tonight < NC17

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:46:20 GMT

Title: Heaven Tonight
Fandom: The Covenant
Pairing: Caleb Danvers / Tyler Simms
Rating: NC17
Warnings: Slash, mild language, sexual content.
Summary: In which Caleb is in a very playful mood and takes Tyler home with him.
Disclaimer: No harm, no foul.
Words: 3,583

Note: Written for the covenantslash fic exchange, for the lovely mickey_stone. The prompts I loosely used were bare skin and play.

HEAVEN TONIGHT

"You gotta stop pushing yourself so hard, baby boy."

Tyler can't get over the fact that Caleb talks to him like his parents should (would if they were around). He rolls his eyes slightly as the older boy helps him into one of the winged chairs in Caleb's living room. Immediately Tyler's leg feels better, the pressure leaving his burning calf, and he sighs under his breath. Caleb straightens to his full height, and his expression is thoughtful. He'd only clicked on one of the lamps in the room when they'd entered, and it'd just barely illuminated the room -- just enough so that Tyler can make out Caleb's features.

"Your mom here?" he asks, wincing as he accidentally moves his leg.

Caleb shakes his head, turning just slightly towards the grand fireplace. His eyes darken, black swirling and glowing in them for just a moment, and the wood in the hearth bursts into flames. Warm hues of orange and yellow light up the room, shadows growing and starting to dance across the floor and walls. Tyler knows it's mind over matter, but now that there's a fire, he thinks his teeth have stopped chattering.

"We should've stopped at the nurse," he says. "Grabbed an ice pack or something."

"You don't need it," Caleb retorts simply. He lowers himself to his knees in front of Tyler, and he lightly grabs Tyler's left leg. "Sorry," he says with a sympathetic little look, as Tyler cringes in discomfort.

"I don't need it?" Tyler echoes, then gives a bark of incredulous laughter. "What if I wanted it?"

Caleb lets out one of those throaty chuckles that Tyler's come to love, and he gingerly pulls off Tyler's shoe. Tyler grimaces, and Caleb's concerned gaze flickers towards him.

"That bad?" he asks, beginning to roll up the leg of the track pants that Tyler had hastily yanked on over his swim shorts.

"Is that a serious question or are you making fun of me?" Tyler is far too used to his best friends calling him a drama queen.

"A little bit of both, I guess," Caleb says playfully.

"Fuck you," Tyler says through his teeth, taking in a sharp breath as both of Caleb's hands shape his calf.

"You're lucky I love you."

Caleb squeezes Tyler's leg slightly, and the pulled muscle screams at him again, making his fingernails dig into the arms of the chair, and his teeth cut into his bottom lip. Damn swimming, damn the whole sport and anyone who likes it. He decides at this moment that he no longer wants to be on the team -- he'd rather take up basketball or something.

'Cause he'd really like to enjoy the feeling of Caleb's strong hands on his bare leg, but instead, all he can feel is a hot ache.

"Gonna need you to relax, Ty," Caleb says softly, his fingers starting to knead against Tyler's skin.

Closing his eyes, Tyler rests his head back, and breathes deeply through his nose. Soothing heat seems to web out from Caleb's touch, an unearthly kind of sensation that Tyler knows has something to do with the Power. He doesn't think too much on it, instead choosing to replay earlier's accident in his mind with distaste.

* * *

"Are you done yet, man?"

"Just a few more laps," Tyler called across the pool to the very annoyed-looking Reid.

The blond rolled his eyes very obviously, and beside him, Caleb laughed slightly, his arms folded over his bare chest. Pogue came out of the locker room, already fully dressed, and he glanced between the three of them, looking a little sheepish.

"I have to meet Kate," he said. "You guys mind?"

Tyler quickly shook his head before diving beneath the surface of the water again. The four of them had hung around after mostly everyone had left -- it was Friday, no one ever stayed cooped up on Fridays -- and they'd really just played around, swimming for fun. Tyler could admit he was the only one being serious about this -- he was practicing, trying to match Caleb's skills; or even Pogue's.

He was reaching the point where he was sick of being in the other Sons' shadows. He knew it came with the territory of being the youngest, but that didn't make it any easier to live with. He was sure that if he swam hard enough, long enough, good enough, he could get so much better.

"Let's go already," Reid complained loudly when Tyler finished another lap -- Pogue was gone. "I wanna party. I promised Aaron I'd make him my billiards bitch."

"So go without me," Tyler said. "Both of you -- I'll catch up."

"Let's go, baby boy." Caleb was using his responsible, 'I'm-older-than-you' tone, and Tyler knew he was beat. "You're gonna hurt yourself."

Tyler sighed, fighting the urge to argue. He started to swim back towards his friends, but a warning bell of sorts seemed to go off in his head. Before he could figure out what it was, a muscle in his left leg twisted, and hot pain seared through his body.

He cried out slightly, losing momentum, and he slipped under the water again, only this time involuntarily.

Something heavy landed in the pool in front of him almost immediately, and a few moments later, a powerful arm wrapped around Tyler's waist. Caleb pulled them both above the surface again.

"What I tell you?" he demanded, his mouth practically against Tyler's cheek from the awkward way he had to hold them both up. "Didn't I tell you you'd hurt yourself?"

"Just help me out of this damn pool," Tyler sputtered out, sucking in more water than he would've liked.

As Caleb started to pull Tyler to the lip of the pool, Reid was above them, pacing back and forth and looking like some sort of animal. He bent and grabbed Tyler when they were close enough, and with a grunt of effort, he pulled Tyler out of the water.

Reid and Caleb helped Tyler quickly but easily into the locker room, as he panted and choked. Once in there, they sat him down on one of the hard wooden benches, and Caleb glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Get your shower, Reid," he said. "Then head on over to Nicky's."

"By myself?"

"Pogue'll be there," Caleb said.

"With Kate," Reid said, rolling his eyes. "Pussy-whipped bitch."

Despite it all, Tyler chuckled quietly, and Caleb flashed a grin. Reid glanced to the youngest boy, and Tyler nodded at him shortly.

"We'll meet up with you later," he said.

"Alright," Reid said, though he sounded doubtful.

He turned and started towards the showers, and Caleb went to Tyler's locker. As he was reaching for the lock, his eyes flashed, and there was an audible click before the lock fell into his outstretched hand.

"I could've given you the combination," Tyler said, shivering slightly. He'd never realized how cold it was in the locker room, but then again, he'd never been completely dripping wet with nothing dry to wrap around himself. He looked for a towel.

Caleb was in front of him again, dropping some clothes on the bench beside him. He grabbed a towel from somewhere behind Tyler -- somewhere Tyler hadn't originally looked, of course -- and he wrapped it around Tyler's shoulders. He started to haphazardly dry Tyler's chest and back, but Tyler tried to pull out of the grasp and swat the older boy's hands away.

"I can do that," he said indignantly.

"Just get your shirt on," Caleb said, moving to Tyler's legs with the towel, and being extra careful with the left.

Tyler obliged, though he grumbled under his breath, and he grabbed the tee that Caleb had pulled out. After he'd managed to shove it on, Caleb helped him get the track pants on, even though they stuck to his still wet legs and shorts. Next came the shoes -- Tyler would've preferred to have socks, but Caleb was in a hurry.

"Where are we going?" Tyler asked when he was dressed.

Caleb went to his own locker, now drying himself off with the same towel. "My place," he answered.

Tyler's eyes followed the movements of the towel as Caleb swiped it up and down his well-toned arms, then over his broad chest. Without any shame whatsoever, Caleb them pulled off the tiny shorts he'd been wearing, and Tyler's lips started to curl upwards, his cheeks heating up.

"Put your eyes back in your head." Caleb grinned as he quickly got dressed, and he added with a playful glint in his eye, "For now at least."

Minutes later, after Caleb had managed to coax Tyler's keys out of him, the two of them made their way out of the building and across the parking lot. It was late fall, almost winter, and the bitter cold stung at Tyler as he gritted his teeth against the pain in his leg.

"What about your car?" he asked when they reached his SUV.

"I'll get it later," Caleb assured him. "Now get in before you get pneumonia."

Tyler decided not to point out that it'd been Caleb who hadn't let him dry off properly, and he did what he was told, inwardly cursing at the idea of getting the seats of his truck wet.

* * *

Tyler opens his eyes, then glances down at Caleb, who's still massaging his calf. There's no longer a warm and tingly sensation coming from Caleb's fingers, and Tyler's leg no longer hurts -- Caleb's used the Power to heal him, and all within the span of two minutes.

"Why couldn't we do this in the locker room?" Tyler asks.

Caleb grins up at him, his hands moving absentmindedly to Tyler's knee, fingers still doing that knead thing. "Because then Reid would've waited around for us and made us go with him," he answers, tone full of a certain kind of mischief that only Caleb can have.

Tyler raises his eyebrows, though Caleb's tone makes him feel a little hot. "What if I'd wanted to go with him?" he asks.

"Too late now." Caleb shrugs playfully. "And can I ask why you seem so ungrateful, baby boy? I took away the pain, and I can give it back."

Tyler flushes, then gives a sheepish smile. "Sorry," he says. "Thanks -- you know I mean it."

Caleb nods, then winks. "I know," he says, grinning. He stops rubbing Tyler's leg, then unrolls the pant leg. "I'll go get you some dry clothes, you should move in front of the fire."

Tyler nods as Caleb stands up, and as the older boy leaves the room, Tyler climbs to his feet. He leans all of his weight on his left leg experimentally, and there's the smallest bit of pain before it vanishes completely -- he's perfectly fine. He walks towards the fireplace, breathing in deeply as the crackling flames warm him quickly, and he puts his hands on his hips as he waits.

Caleb returns quickly, and he holds out a pair of too big sweatpants that look very comfortable. As Tyler takes them, he gives a little smirk.

"No shirt?" he asks.

"You're lucky I even brought pants," he says. "You have no idea how much I didn't want to."

Tyler grins, and he blames the growing heat in his cheeks on the fire. He glances at the pants, then raises his eyebrows at Caleb. "You gonna turn around?" he asks.

"It's my turn to watch," Caleb says, and while he's very smooth and cool, his voice has a wickedness to it.

More color crawling up his neck to his face, Tyler turns away from him. He pulls off his damp tee shirt, dropping it to the floor, and he feels Caleb's eyes boring into his back. As he quickly kicks off the one shoe that Caleb hadn't pulled off, he shoves his pants down his legs. Caleb's seen him naked before, but it doesn't make it any less embarrassing sometimes.

"The shorts too, yeah?" Caleb asks as Tyler's stepping out of the pants. His voice gives away that he's very clearly amused by the situation.

Tyler rolls his eyes, but he smiles. He glances over his shoulder at Caleb, one of his eyebrows arching, and he drops the sweatpants that'd been tucked under his arm. Caleb's gaze flickers to them for a moment, his expression one of anticipation, and Tyler hooks his thumbs in the waistband of his swim shorts. He pulls down one side of them just slightly, teasingly.

Caleb laughs, throwing his head back some. "Oh, I see how it is," he says. "You know I love to hate it when you play with me like this."

Tyler doesn't respond, instead pulling down the other side of his shorts a couple of centimeters, knowing that he's bared the top of his ass. Caleb sighs dramatically, but when he speaks, his tone is dangerously -- and playfully -- low.

"I'll take them off for you," he threatens.

"I'd like to see you try." It's the wrong thing to say to someone like Caleb, but Tyler's feeling a little adventurous.

Of course, he isn't expecting it when Caleb suddenly moves forward, and before he can react, Caleb's chest is against Tyler's back, his arms wrapping tightly around Tyler's waist. Letting out a surprised laugh, Tyler squirms slightly, and Caleb's lips are suddenly at his throat. As usual, the feeling of Caleb's warm mouth on his bare skin makes Tyler feel hot all over, his stomach twisting in just that special way.

Caleb's attempting to push his hands down the front of Tyler's shorts, but just for good sport, Tyler decides to fight back. He grabs Caleb's wrists and Caleb chuckles in his throat, his breath dancing across Tyler's collarbone.

"What's the matter, baby boy?" the older Son asks, turning things around. He grabs Tyler's hands, brings them up and pins them against Tyler's chest. "Weren't expecting this?"

Tyler laughs, struggling -- Caleb's always been the strongest one of them all, but this is one of the times when Tyler doesn't really mind. Caleb gives another laugh as well, and he brushes his lips over that spot of tender skin behind Tyler's ear, making Tyler shudder slightly.

Caleb suddenly grinds his hips against him, and Tyler can feel the older boy's half-hardened cock against his ass. It sends a thrill through Tyler's body, and warmth floods his stomach, spreading towards his groin. He realizes he's stopped fighting Caleb, and his hands are now limp against his chest, only this time it's one of Caleb's big hands holding them there.

His other hand is moving slowly down Tyler's stomach. His fingers dip beneath the material of Tyler's shorts, and Tyler's breath catches in his throat. Still feeling quite playful however, he decides to put up a fight for just a moment longer.

Catching Caleb off guard, Tyler's hands slip from his grip, and holding onto Caleb's arm, Tyler bends forward with a sharp snap. Letting out a surprised noise, Caleb flips forward over Tyler, getting practically thrown to the floor with a loud crash. Tyler straightens, feeling very smug, grinning triumphantly, and he looks down at Caleb. Caleb's on his back, slightly winded.

"Were you expecting that?" Tyler asks, putting his hands on his hips.

Caleb's eyes fall closed as he laughs, and he folds his hands on his stomach. After a little while of working to catch his breath, he opens his eyes again.

"Okay, okay," he says. "You got me there."

Tyler has a few more seconds of sweet satisfaction, but all of a sudden, Caleb reaches up and grabs one of his ankles. Tyler's arms go out and roll like windmills as he tries to keep his balance, but to no avail, and he falls to the floor as well.

Caleb's like some kind of preying tiger, and he pushes Tyler onto his back, rolling on top of him quickly. With a playful growl of sorts, he pins Tyler's arms once more, this time against the floor above his head. Their erections are now pressing together, and Tyler's hips jerk slightly, unintentionally.

"Where's the white flag?" Caleb asks.

Grinning, Tyler sighs lightly. "Okay," he says. "I give."

For a long moment, Caleb doesn't release him, but with a smile, he lets go of Tyler's arms. They stare at each other for what could've been hours but is probably only a few minutes, and Caleb starts to lower his head.

Their mouths meet slowly, but the kiss turns eager quick. Tyler tilts his head slightly, slanting his mouth against Caleb's, and Caleb shapes Tyler's lips with his own. Their tongues meet and twist, and Tyler wraps his arms around Caleb's shoulders. He runs the fingers of one hand through the hair at the nape of Caleb's neck, and Caleb rolls his hips against him again.

When Caleb breaks the kiss, he grins widely at Tyler, sitting up just slightly and moving his hands down Tyler's body.

"Still haven't managed to get these off of you," he says, grabbing Tyler's shorts.

Laughing slightly, Tyler raises his hips some and lets Caleb slide his shorts off of him. His cock is completely hard by now, standing and gleaming slightly with the faintest trace of pre-cum, and he unintentionally blushes as Caleb looks at it.

Saying nothing, Caleb passes Tyler another little smile, and he pulls off his own shirt. The flames in the hearth make Caleb's tanned skin glow slightly, and Tyler just gazes at him for a long moment -- Caleb returns the favor, staring down at Tyler with an unreadable expression on his face. When he snaps back to the situation, Caleb quickly starts to undo his own jeans.

Tyler's excitement is already building as the older boy works on shimmying out of his pants, and Caleb's dick bounces free from the denim, also completely hard. Putting his hands on either side of Tyler's head on the floor, Caleb slowly lowers himself again so their mouths can meet once more, and now their bare cocks rub against one another's.

Unable to stop himself from taking in a quick breath at the contact, Tyler places his hands on Caleb's waist. He squeezes Caleb's hips slightly, and as Caleb's teeth catch Tyler's bottom lip, Caleb rolls his whole body downwards. A moan wells in Tyler's throat, and as if this is what Caleb's been waiting for, he speeds things up.

Caleb's hips rock and thrust, his dick grinding against Tyler's and causing a friction that sends pleasure racing through both of their bodies. Tyler breaks the kiss this time, turning his head and letting out a small groan. Caleb doesn't seem to mind, his mouth moving to the base of Tyler's throat, and he starts to nip and suck at the skin there.

Tyler runs his hands up Caleb's smooth back, panting and pushing his own hips off of the floor so that he can meet Caleb's thrusts. He scratches his fingernails lightly down Caleb's spine, and an animalistic noise comes from Caleb's lips, a noise that only adds to Tyler's pleasure and brings him that much closer to the brink.

Neither of them last very long, but this doesn't embarrass them. Movements suddenly a bit jerky, Caleb stops what he's doing and sits up again, going to his knees. He reaches down and grabs both of their cocks. Keeping them side-by-side, Caleb starts to stroke them with both of his hands, his brow furrowed in concentration even as pleasured moans leave his mouth.

Arching against the floor, Tyler almost can't take this, and his arms search for something to hold onto -- the threadbare rug will have to do. He clutches at it like it's some sort of lifeline, and a mewl-like sound comes from him as he bucks towards Caleb.

He climaxes first, coming on Caleb's stomach and hands while color spots bloom in front of his eyes. Saying the older boy's name a few times, Tyler collapses to the floor, throwing his arms over his face as his hips still move, riding out his orgasm. He doesn't watch as Caleb reaches his own climax, but he feels the older boy's warm come land on his own stomach, and Caleb's hands stop moving after a moment.

Breathing heavily, Caleb lays slightly on Tyler, his head going between Tyler's neck and shoulder. Their both covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, and as their chests rise and fall quickly, hearts racing, the fire beside them continues to crackle and dance, an unseeing witness to what's just happened.

Caleb lifts his head after what feels like an eternity, and he gives Tyler a surprisingly chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Want to go meet up with Reid now?" Caleb asks, smirking with just the right amount of joking arrogance.

"Depends," Tyler says, voice still thick. "When's your mom coming back?"

Caleb pauses, and Tyler knows he's not just thinking -- in his mind, Caleb's searching out his mother and getting a feel for where she is and what she's doing. After a moment, he shakes his head.

"At least not for a few hours," he says.

"Then why ruin a good thing?" Tyler asks, "It's the perfect day for a quiet night in."

A roguish grin from the older boy. "Or not so quiet."

Before Tyler can lend a snappy retort, Caleb's lips are on his again.

FIC | RPS < J2 < Dark Light < 07/??

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:12:41 GMT

Title: Dark Light [07/??]
Fandom: RPS - Actors
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki
Rating: NC17 (overall)
Warnings: AU, language, slash, sexual content, bottom!Jared, violence, character death, crack.
Summary: Ever since he can remember, Jared's had strange dreams, most of them involving a man he's never even met before. But then one day, he finds himself being followed, stalked by the very same mysterious stranger. Much to his disbelief, however, this isn't the worst of his problems -- it's probably the best thing to happen to him ever. Until the trouble starts.
Disclaimer: No harm, no foul.
Words: This Part: 4,814 ; Full Story: 36,107

Note: Sorry for the wait; I'd had most of this chapter already typed up and waiting for me, but I had trouble finishing it. I promised you guys that you'd like this chapter, and I certainly hope I wasn't wrong. ;P

Previous Chapters:
{MASTERPOST}

DARK LIGHT
s e v e n

"Jared."

The voice that broke into his dreams was soft and familiar, the tone warm. As Jared started to come into consciousness, he took a deep breath and inhaled that wonderful smell he'd already grown quite used to. His name was said again, and as much as he wanted to ignore it, to go back to sleep, he knew better.

His eyes cracked open, and he blinked a few times. Jensen was standing over him, and when Jared looked up at him, the older man gave him a small smile. Swallowing, Jared reached up to rub at his eyes, wondering what time it was, scared that it might be too late.

"I should get you home," Jensen said lightly. "It's half past eight."

Jared spoke before he could stop himself. "I don't want to go home." His voice cracked slightly, as if he hadn't used it in a while, and he cleared his throat a little. "I want to stay here."

A few different expressions passed over Jensen's face, the one to remain being puzzlement. His eyebrows were pinched together, but there was a little smile lingering on his lips still. "Why?" he asked.

Jared's cheeks were heating up before he even answered. "I...like it here," he said. "It's cool being somewhere that actually feels safe." He had to fight to keep from adding that the main reason was because he liked being around Jensen.

"I can't keep you here forever," Jensen said, playfully throwing Jared's words back at him.

Jared gave a little laugh, and he shifted onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow. He bit at his bottom lip, then raised his eyebrows at Jensen. "Maybe just the night?"

Jensen studied him, then turned away. One of his hands went to the back of his neck, and his voice sounded kind of weird when he replied, strained.

"Would Sharon mind?" he asked.

"Not if I tell her I'm at Chad's," Jared answered. "I used to stay at his place all the time." He paused, then used the tone Megan usually used when she wanted something -- he knew it was wrong, but he was doing it before he could even think about it. "Unless you don't want me to stay..."

"No," Jensen said quickly, turning back to him, his green eyes slightly wider. "I mean, I don't -- I don't mind."

"It's not like I want to put you out or anything either," Jared added. "I'll sleep on the floor --"

"You certainly will not," Jensen said. He swallowed, then his gaze softened slightly. "Of course you can stay here. I'll grab Christian's phone for you."

When he left the room, Jensen seemed kind of flustered, and Jared had another moment of strange smugness. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, and he combed the fingers of his right hand through his hair, flattening it against his head.

Energy swelled inside of him; it felt like the Power (for he'd learned that's how it was to be referred to) was greeting him. It was nice, of course, almost as if he was reuniting with an old friend, even though they hadn't really been apart.

He glanced towards the door, then let his eyes fall closed. He knew what Jensen had said about meditating again, but what could a few seconds hurt? He definitely felt revived after his little nap, so it wasn't like he was too drained for it or anything.

He tapped into the Power, and warm comfort flooded his body. He didn't want to get too deep into it, of course, if Jensen was going to be returning any moment, but it was a good feeling to have the Power thrum in his veins for just a little bit.

When Jensen returned, he felt it rather than heard it, felt the arrival of more energy, another body of Power. But he felt something else too, something that kind of confused him. Some kind of emotion was rolling off of that second body of Power in waves, something that felt like...affection? Was that right? Why would Jensen feel that way, and how could Jared know that?

"What are you doing?"

Jared made himself open his eyes, and he looked up at Jensen, who was standing in the doorway. He studied Jared's expression, and Jared tried to keep it casual, though he was still kind of confused about what he'd felt.

"Nothing," he answered. "Still trying to wake up." For good measure, he added, "Meditation was a lot more draining than I thought it would be."

This answer seemed to please Jensen, and he entered the room fully, holding out a cordless phone. "You okay?" he asked, and as Jared took the phone, Jensen crossed his arms.

Jared nodded quickly, tossing the older man a reassuring smile. He looked down at the phone, but he paused.

"Can I ask you something? About our...bond?"

Jensen shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

"When you said we were connected," Jared started, "You mentioned that you could feel what I was feeling. Is it like...possible for me to feel what you feel too?"

Jensen shifted on his feet, lowering his gaze, and he seemed kind of flustered again. "Yes," he answered. "If you wanted to."

"How?" Jared asked. "How do you do it?"

"You would reach out with your mind," Jensen explained. "Focus on me and on how I feel. It's a lot easier than you'd think."

"How do I feel?" Jared asked. "Tell me; I just want to see how it works."

Jensen paused, then took a deep breath. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and his brow furrowed, his head cocking slightly. "Curious," he said, "And you feel comfortable, yet still a bit shy. You're hopeful of something -- what?"

It was kind of weird -- Jared hadn't felt a thing, yet Jensen had gotten all of his uppermost feelings nailed. It definitely wasn't like getting your mind read, and he was a little surprised. At Jensen's question though, he shrugged his shoulders. He had no clue what he was hopeful of, must've been a subconscious thing.

"I don't know," he answered. "I didn't even know I was feeling it."

Despite his earlier nervousness, Jensen smiled. He gestured to the phone. "Better call Sharon before it gets too late," he said. "I'll be back."

Jared watched as Jensen left the room again, and he glanced down at the phone as he started to dial. Sharon answered after two rings, and it wouldn't have surprised him if she'd been sitting at the phone all day waiting for him.

"Hey Mom," he said. "Sorry I didn't call earlier."

"That's okay, hon," she said. "Where are you?"

"Chad's," Jared answered. "I was starting to fall asleep, figured I'd give you a call and let you know I'm just gonna stay here for the night."

"Oh...okay," Sharon said. "Are you sure? I could come pick you up."

"I'm sure," he said. "We're just playing some games and stuff. I'll have him drop me off tomorrow morning or something."

"Well, okay. Just as long as you're back for your appointment with Dr. Morgan."

"Sure thing, Mom," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Call me if you need anything," she threw in quickly.

"Uh huh, love you." He hung up.

He glanced towards the door again, and he was glad Jensen hadn't come back yet. He closed his eyes, seeking Jensen out with his mind and attempting to focus on his emotions, like Jensen had said. Curiosity killed the cat, he knew, but sometimes the cat just couldn't help himself.

He felt a wide range of emotions, it was so strong it was almost like a hit to the face. First there was trepidation and nervousness, then struggle. Wonder followed by attraction, which then brought conflict. And then there was love. It was so powerful that Jared couldn't stand to feel it any longer, and his eyes snapped open on their own accord, the Power still buzzing in him, as if confused at how fast it'd ended.

Jensen was feeling all that?

Jared was a little worried about all the inner turmoil Jensen seemed to be dealing with, but the two emotions that had stood out the most were the attraction and love. Jared's cheeks heated up, a warmth traveling through him at the way those feelings had radiated from his guardian.

He didn't want to get his hopes up or anything, but he had a small hunch that Jensen felt those things about him. He realized that that was what he'd been hopeful of -- he'd been hoping that that first burst of affection he'd felt from Jensen had been intended for him.

But love? Did Jensen love Jared? Was it merely platonic? A paternal love? Was it more than that? It was hard to imagine, but not entirely impossible, Jared supposed.

Or was he overreacting? Reading too far into this?

Footsteps in the hallway announced Jensen's return, and Jared stood up just as the older man entered the room. Jensen glanced at him, but Jared had already put on his poker face.

"What'd she say?" Jensen asked.

"What I thought she'd say," Jared answered with a shrug. "She doesn't mind."

He held the phone out, and as Jensen reached forward to take it, their fingers brushed. Heat raced up Jared's whole arm, and at the way Jensen's body stiffened, he knew the older man had felt it too. Jared couldn't enjoy this knowledge though, because at that moment Jensen stepped away like he'd been burned. That actually kind of stung a bit.

"Are you hungry?" Jensen asked quietly, looking down at his hands as he turned the phone over in them.

"Something about me you should always know," Jared said slowly, trying not to let his disappointment show, "I'm always hungry."

Jensen smiled one of his rare smiles, and Jared felt a little better about what'd happened.

"Do you want to order something?" Jensen asked. "Go somewhere?"

Jared paused thoughtfully. He didn't really feel like leaving, but as safe as this place was, it was also quite small. "Let's go somewhere," he said. "You can choose."

As they were leaving the shop, Jared couldn't help but feel a little giddy inside. It was dumb of him, he knew, but this could've been considered a first date. He side-glanced Jensen as they walked, maybe hoping for once he'd be able to read the older man's face. He couldn't of course, and he sighed noticeably.

* * *

"What? No twenty questions tonight?"

Jensen and Jared had ended up at a fast food joint, though it'd been Jared to make the final decision. They were sitting across from each other in the small restaurant, and Jensen was smirking at him, one of his eyebrows raised.

Jared lowered his gaze, shrugging one of his shoulders. The only questions he really had on his mind were a bit personal, and he didn't think Jensen would appreciate them.

"I don't know," he said. "It's not really a questions kind of moment."

"But you still have them," Jensen said.

"Of course," Jared gave a little smile of his own.

"You should ask them," Jensen said. "Unless you'd rather us sit in silence and stare awkwardly at each other all night."

"This is awkward for you?" Jared asked, kind of surprised. He was feeling quite comfortable -- he always felt that way with Jensen.

"You always make me feel awkward." The look on Jensen's face said that he clearly hadn't meant to say that, but he didn't try to take it back or anything.

Jared didn't know what to make of the comment, much less what to say. "If it makes you feel any better," he tried, "I don't do it intentionally."

Jensen smiled at him, but dropped his gaze.

There was a long pause. "Okay, here's a question," Jared said, sitting up in his chair a little more so that he could lean over the table slightly. He lowered his voice just a bit. "How is the shop safe like it is? What kind of...magic is Christian doing if he isn't exactly, you know... Is he strong enough for that?"

Jensen seemed glad to be on a different topic, and he relaxed. "Believe it or not," he said, "What Chris did has nothing to do with the Power."

"Really?"

A couple passed their table, and Jensen waited. Then he leaned in a little closer as well, so close that Jared was half-tempted to try and count his freckles.

"It's the small-time stuff," the older man answered. "Rituals, spells -- stuff anyone who shops there could probably do. It's just...enhanced because of the Power that ran through his family, the small bit that runs through him."

"Well how does it work?" Jared asked.

Jensen's gaze locked on Jared's, but he didn't respond right away, almost as if he was deciding the right way to answer. He looked down at the table before he spoke.

"It cleanses the area, protects it from evil." He sighed lightly. "The fact that you haven't had your mind read today just proves that whoever's doing it means you harm." He made a noise in the back of his throat, maybe it was a scoff of sorts. "If it was, as you said, some random person with the ability just looking into random minds out of boredom, then Christian's 'trick' would do nothing against it."

Well that certainly sent a chill down Jared's spine. He blinked a few times, relaxing back in his chair, and Jensen studied him, his eyes searching his face intently.

"Or maybe they just haven't had a chance to try today," Jared said slowly, though he honestly didn't believe that.

Jensen sighed again, reaching up to rub at his face. "Jared," he said, "Why are you making excuses for this person? You need to take this seriously, you need to not be so damn naïve."

"I'm not making excuses," Jared argued, "And I'm not being naïve. It's just that --" he caught himself, then shook his head. "Nevermind."

"No, what?" Jensen asked. "What were you going to say?"

Jared paused, and as he looked down at the table, he could feel heat creep up his neck. "It's just that I know you'll never let anything happen to me," he said. He made himself meet Jensen's gaze. "I trust you with everything in me." He meant it whole-heartedly.

Jensen's eyes softened, his features going into one of his famous unreadable expressions. He looked almost surprised, and his mouth started to open, but closed again. Jared wanted to say something else, maybe something to lighten the mood, but he didn't know what would work. He chewed on his bottom lip, picking at the chipped table top -- now things felt kind of awkward.

"I told Chris I'd bring him something," Jensen said shortly, standing up.

Jared watched him walk to the front counter, and he gave a little sigh, looking around. After a quick moment of contemplation, he closed his eyes and focused only on Jensen. The Power felt like it was raring to go, ready for anything -- so Jared tried to read Jensen's emotions again.

First he felt bewilderment, then a sense of doubt. He was starting to feel something that could've been chagrin, but there was a sudden sharp pain to his right temple.

He took in a quick breath, one of his hands going quickly to his forehead, and he let go of the Power immediately -- it seemed to fold in on itself, almost guiltily. The pain lessened to a dull throb pretty much instantly, and he massaged his temple lightly, cursing under his breath. Was this what Jensen had meant when he'd said Jared could hurt himself?

"What's wrong?"

Jared glanced up -- Jensen was standing next to the table, brow furrowed and a bag of food in one of his hands. Jared quickly dropped his arm, and he tried to ignore the slow pain.

"Just a small headache," he answered. "Does Christian have any aspirin?"

Jensen nodded, but he didn't say anything -- he stared hard at Jared for a long moment, as if he were trying to figure him out. Jared was almost feeling a bit nervous, it was a childish kind of fear, the fear of getting caught doing something you know you're not supposed to.

Finally, Jensen asked, "You ready?"

Instead of answering, Jared stood and started gathering his trash. His head didn't feel like it was going to stop hurting anytime soon, and the Power was still humming inside of him, like it was begging him to use it.

Jensen had told him that some found the Power like a drug, strongly addicting. Jared made a quick vow to himself as they were leaving the restaurant -- he was never going to lose control.

Especially if it would cause him such nasty headaches.

* * *

"So where are you going to sleep?"

They were climbing the stairs of the Turning Wheel, after having entered through the back door and relocking up for the night. Christian wasn't around, so Jared assumed he was in his own room.

"There's a couch in Chris' room," Jensen answered casually.

Jared glanced over his shoulder at the older man, feeling bad. "I can sleep there," he said quickly.

"I don't mind, Jared." Jensen passed him a little smirk as they stopped in the hallway, turning to each other.

"Well I do," Jared said. "I asked to stay here even though I know how small this place is. Talk about incredibly rude."

"It's fine," Jensen tried to assure him. "And besides, Christian's a talker -- he'll keep you up all night."

"I just don't want to make you give up your bed." Jared couldn't let it go.

Jensen started to say something, though his voice was too low for Jared to hear, but he changed his mind and turned to walk away. Jared hesitated.

"Tell me," he said.

Jensen turned back to him. "I was going to say that my bed is the very least of the things I would give up for you."

Without waiting for a response, he went to Christian's closed door, knocking on it lightly. Jared felt himself blush, not at Jensen's words, but the way he'd said them, and he slipped into Jensen's room. He made his way slowly to the bookshelf, running his fingers through his hair as he gazed over the large collection his guardian had working. Most of the books didn't have titles, but in all reality, he didn't care. He was too busy trying to figure out how he felt for Jensen.

He knew whatever it was he felt for him was growing fast, and he knew it was strong -- whether or not it was the bond, Jared didn't know. He hadn't had much luck in this department of life, but he was almost sure that this is what was called sexual tension. Whenever he was around Jensen the air just seemed to crack with it.

He just wished he could know if Jensen felt it too. Maybe there was just something wrong with Jared, it was an unnatural side-effect of the awakening of his powers or something.

The older man came back to the room, entering it slowly, but his footsteps stopped. Jared barely glanced over his shoulder to find Jensen standing just inside the doorway, his hands in his pockets, and his gaze on Jared.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

Jared shook his head, turning back to the books. "Nothing important," he said. He obviously couldn't tell Jensen that he was thinking about how bad he wanted to kiss him, just to see what it was like -- just knowing that he was thinking about it was making his cheeks burn.

"I'm sorry," Jensen said. He cleared his throat, letting out a nervous-sounding chuckle. "I -- ah, I was a little moody earlier, wasn't I?"

Jared smirked, then shook his head, keeping his back to Jensen. "I'm used to it," he said playfully.

He heard Jensen move again, and felt him approach. His stomach twisted up slightly as Jensen stopped beside him, and Jared wished he was just a little more brave, wished he could be cool about this.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jensen asked, no falseness to his concern.

Jared nodded quickly. Truth was, he was feeling kind of breathless, kind of nauseous. He supposed it showed; he was practically sweating bullets.

"Did you want that aspirin?" Jensen asked next.

Jared shook his head, and a silence settled over them like a blanket. His head hadn't actually stopped hurting, but it wasn't so important to him anymore, especially since he figured aspirin wouldn't help a Power-related headache.

Their gazes met and locked, and this was one of those rare times that Jared felt uncomfortable with Jensen. He swallowed against his dry throat, wanting to say something, but finding he was at a loss, yet again.

"Jared --"

It was as if something else had suddenly taken over his body, he didn't know what had come over him, but with a sudden stroke of courage, Jared leaned forward and cut Jensen's words off by pressing his lips to the older man's. Just the contact made sparks fly through Jared's body -- inside of him, the Power's buzz intensified.

He didn't know if this was a mistake or not, but at the moment, he didn't particularly care.

* * *

Fire engulfed Jensen's entire body, his heart starting to beat faster, and he felt like the room had started spinning. Jared's lips were soft and sweet, brushing over his own and resting there -- as if he were too nervous to go on, obviously it was his first time. Any and all stress left Jensen for the moment, and everything was right in the world.

The kiss could've lasted ten seconds or ten minutes, but the wrongness of it all hit Jensen. Hard.

Despite the calling inside of him, the way the Power in him was reacting to Jared, Jensen broke the spell. He stepped away quickly, taking in a deep breath and turning his back to Jared. His heart was thundering in his ears, heat rising to his face, and he wanted to kick himself.

Behind him, Jared was breathing somewhat heavily, and Jensen felt horrible. This was low of him, he didn't want to do this to Jared. It didn't matter how he felt about the kid, or how strongly that feeling was -- this was just wrong. He was Jared's Protector, he wasn't supposed to take advantage of Jared like this.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Jensen --"

"I can't." He closed his eyes, hating the way his body reacted to the the way it sounded when Jared said his name. "This isn't right."

When Jared spoke again, he sounded almost angry, defensive. "Because we're both guys?"

"No!" Jensen turned to him quickly. "No, Jared -- there's no problem with that."

"Well why then?" Jared's face was red, and his expression was mixed. Jensen had always been rather good at reading people, but sometimes Jared was such a damn enigma.

"You're so much younger than I," Jensen said slowly.

"Only because you're ageless!" Jared exclaimed.

"I've known you your whole life," Jensen said. "Since you were a child."

"I'm not a kid anymore." Jared all but pushed his chin out.

"That doesn't make it any easier on me," Jensen said, realizing how pleading his tone sounded. "I just don't think your real mother --"

"I don't care," Jared said, shaking his head. "This might not be what she'd had in mind, but she obviously liked you, trusted you -- she'd want the both of us to be happy."

Jensen wished he could make Jared see things through his eyes. It was hard to explain, especially with the way Jared was looking at him. The kid was hurt and offended, without question stung at Jensen's reaction. It was like a physical pain to Jensen to see that.

"Jared --" he started.

"You don't like me?" Jared's voice cracked.

Jensen's chest tightened in a way he wasn't used to, and not thinking, he took a step towards Jared again. "No -- that's not it," he said softly, "Not at all."

Jared lowered his gaze, blinking a few times as he bit his lower lip. Jensen fought the urge to reach up and touch Jared's face, shoving his hands into his pockets instead.

"It's just that I really like you." Jared was shy again, all of his former irritation replaced with his normal timidity.

Jensen wanted to pull Jared into his arms, but he turned away again. He slowly crossed the room so that he could close the door, even though he was sure Christian had heard enough already. He then sat down on his bed, keeping his back to Jared.

He looked down at his hands in his lap, and after a long moment of thought, he sighed. "I like you too, Jared," he said, feeling that the word 'like' was way too meaningless in this situation. "Believe me."

A few minutes felt like a few hours, and Jared came to sit next to Jensen. "I'm sorry," he said, still chewing on his lip. "I know I shouldn't have done that. I don't want to do anything to mess up our friendship."

Jensen paused, then turned his whole body slightly to face the kid, who looked up in confusion.

"Read my mind, Jared."

"What?" He was incredulous.

Jensen grabbed Jared's right hand, pulling it up to his own forehead -- Jared's hand was warm and comforting. Soon he wouldn't need physical contact for this, but Jensen knew it was easier this way.

"I want you to read my mind," Jensen said. He gave a dry little smile. "I'm no good with words, but you need to know."

"I can't -- I don't know how --"

"Yes you do," Jensen said. "I know you can."

Jared's brow furrowed, but when Jensen nodded, Jared closed his eyes. It took a little while, but Jensen was patient, and soon that unforgettable feeling slowly slipped into his mind. He didn't try to hide what he was thinking, didn't try to mask it or cover it up with something inane -- he let it all hang out. He let Jared see the things that were always running through his mind.

He knew when Jared had gotten a clear view of it all -- his mouth fell open slightly, he was surprised.

"It's always like this," Jensen said.

Jared pulled his hand away while his other went to his temple, massaging it lightly. Jensen tried not to jump to conclusions, telling himself it was just a little headache and that there was nothing wrong with Jared. He opened his mouth to ask if Jared wanted that aspirin now, but Jared shook his head before he could get it out.

"I'm fine," Jared said, dropping his hand. He quirked a brow at Jensen. "You think about me a lot?" he asked, sounding a little like he was in disbelief.

"All the time," Jensen admitted, embarrassed. He gave an uncomfortable smirk. "No matter how hard I try, I can't get you to leave me alone, you know."

As Jared looked away, his cheeks turned an endearing shade of magenta again. "Really?"

"You sound...satisfied," Jensen said, raising his eyebrows.

Jared laughed, his breath leaving him in a bark of sorts, his shoulders sagging in relief it seemed, and Jensen smiled, his own worry disappearing. Jared side-glanced him, aimlessly licking his lips as he thought, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's nice to know I'm not the only one with that problem," he said. Jokingly, he pretended to roll his eyes. "You think you could leave me in peace when I'm supposed to be doing my schoolwork?"

And just like that, things were suddenly fine.

The Power shifted inside of Jensen slightly, pulling towards Jared, and Jensen threw away all of the doubt, all of the conflicting feeling he'd been dealing with. He'd been alone for a long time -- what if Jared was what he needed? What if it was his purpose in life to not only protect Jared, but to love him and to get the same in return?

He didn't care anymore, he didn't care about how wrong this was. The honesty in Jared's eyes gave him all the reassurance he needed -- this couldn't be all bad.

He reached up and brushed his fingertips over one of Jared's cheeks, tracing the bone lightly. Jared's eyes widened a little, his breath catching in his throat, and after a moment, he leaned into Jensen's touch. Hesitating, Jensen moved in, and as Jared's eyes fluttered closed in anticipation, he kissed Jared, allowing the fire to sweep through his body once more.

FIC | RPS < J2 < Dark Light <06/??

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:20:47 GMT

Title: Dark Light [06/??]
Fandom: RPS - Actors
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki
Rating: NC17 (overall)
Warnings: AU, language, slash, sexual content, bottom!Jared, violence, character death, crack.
Summary: Ever since he can remember, Jared's had strange dreams, most of them involving a man he's never even met before. But then one day, he finds himself being followed, stalked by the very same mysterious stranger. Much to his disbelief, however, this isn't the worst of his problems -- it's probably the best thing to happen to him ever. Until the trouble starts.
Disclaimer: No harm, no foul.
Words: This Part: 5,664 ; Full Story: 31,293

Note: As usual, with the chapters that take me forever to write, I'm so not happy with this one. But there's a little surprise at the end, and I can promise you guys that you will like the next chapter.

Previous Chapters:
{MASTERPOST}

DARK LIGHT
s i x

"Mr. Padalecki, I know my class may be boring, but maybe you could at least pretend to pay attention."

Blinking a few times, Jared tore his gaze away from the window of his History class room, finding that his teacher was standing in front of him. He studied her for a moment, and she gestured with her eyes to the rest of the room, making him notice that it was empty. Flushing, he almost fell out of the chair, standing up quickly as she gave him a disapproving look.

"I hope you'll pay better attention next week," she told him. "Especially considering summer school is coming to an end."

Jared almost cursed out loud -- he hadn't realized how fast the time had flown by. Still embarrassed, he grabbed his things quickly, and started to move towards the door, glancing shortly at her.

"I'll do better," he said, before darting out into the hallway.

He'd been out of it all morning, ever since he'd woken early at seven. The night before he'd slept very restlessly, and for once in his life, he hadn't dreamed about Jensen. Instead, he'd dreamed of dark figures and empty hallways, his brain feeling so crowded that it got to the point of being painful. He had a feeling that he'd dreamed of his real mother as well, though he couldn't really remember.

He stopped in the bathroom to look over himself in the long mirror above the sinks. He looked like he'd pulled an all-nighter, and his skin was kind of pale, almost as if he were getting sick. He splashed some water on his face, and with a heavy sigh, he turned to leave.

As he was exiting the building, squinting against the brilliant sunlight, he felt a small happiness creep into him at what he found waiting for him. Jensen was leaning against the wall, but when he caught sight of Jared, he straightened and neared him. For some reason, butterflies came to Jared's stomach -- the way Jensen had waited for him like this -- to an outsider, it might look like they were a couple or something.

Jensen was wearing blue jeans and a long-sleeved white tee -- it was nice, compared to the usual dark clothes he wore. But besides looking good (which was a given), he also looked like Hell, almost as if he'd had a restless night too.

"Hey," Jared said.

Jensen's expression was questioning, his eyebrows raising slightly. "Did it...happen again?" he asked.

Jared shook his head quickly, and the older man was visibly relieved. He glanced around them, but didn't seem to really take in anything. One of the office secretaries was walking by, giving him very obvious ga-ga eyes, but he didn't look twice. This made Jared feel strangely smug. He turned back to Jensen.

"Rough night?" he asked lightly.

"I have problems sleeping," Jensen said this as if it were something to be embarrassed about.

It was then that Jared realized he didn't really know anything about his guardian -- who would've thought Jensen had trouble sleeping? The only thing he really knew about him was that he was over a hundred-years-old, and that certainly wouldn't do. It was just that whenever they got to talking, Jensen would always want to know about Jared, or he'd give him history lessons about the power.

"Bad dreams?" Jared asked curiously.

"I don't really dream," Jensen said, gesturing forward and starting to walk.

Jared quickly followed, falling into step beside him. Brow furrowing slightly, he asked, "You don't dream?"

"Not really," Jensen answered. "At least not the way you do. I just see colors sometimes."

"That's weird," Jared said. "See any colors last night?"

At first, Jensen looked like he wasn't going to answer. After a short pause, he sighed. "A few," he answered. "Mostly shades of gray."

"What's your favorite color?" Jared asked next.

"I don't know," Jensen said, as if he saw no problem with the random question.

"You don't know?"

"I've been alive for so long," Jensen said, "I'm sure I've liked all colors at one point in time. Nowadays I just don't care."

"That's kind of...bleak," Jared said quietly. Then a little louder, "How do you become ageless?"

"I already told you," Jensen said, "It's a lot to explain."

"I know, I know, a long story," Jared said. "Can't you just break it down for me? It's not like I'm going to run right out and try it myself or anything."

Jensen physically winced, as if just the idea of this was too much for him. He side-glanced Jared as they walked, looking like he was weighing his options.

"It involves self-sacrifice," he said shortly. "Allowing yourself to die in the place of another one of Power."

Jared hadn't known what he'd been expecting, but honestly this wasn't it. "You sacrificed yourself for someone?" he asked. "Who was it?"

"Jared," Jensen said in a tone that clearly said he wanted the conversation to end, but after meeting his gaze, he changed his mind. "She was an Immortal, only I hadn't known that at the time. When I came back, she was there, waiting for me. She taught me almost everything I know today."

"How long did it take?" Jared asked. "For you to come back?"

"Couple of years," Jensen answered, looking down at his feet as they walked.

"Were you powerless when you sacrificed yourself?" Jared asked.

"Yes."

"And coming back as an immortal gave you the power?"

"Yes."

"What --?"

"Later," Jensen said, suddenly stopping. He glanced over. "Please Jared."

Stopping as well, only with a small sigh, Jared realized he hadn't been paying any attention to where Jensen had been leading him. They were in the middle of town, and at Jared's confused expression, Jensen looked sheepish.

"Did you have to be anywhere?" he asked.

"No," Jared said, "Why?"

"I want you to meet my friend," Jensen answered, but it sounded like a question.

"Oh." Jared was slightly surprised, but it turned into a small feeling of excitement -- it was one thing knowing one warlock, but two? He shrugged his shoulders, giving a little smile. "Okay."

Jensen seemed puzzled at Jared's reaction, but he didn't say anything. "You should probably call Sharon," he said thoughtfully. "Do you have a cell phone?"

"No," Jared answered, Sharon had once offered to get him one, but what was the point? He didn't have a shrink for talking too much.

Jensen looked around carefully, and Jared followed suit, though he didn't know what he was looking for. Jensen seemed to be waiting for something, and Jared couldn't stop his brow from furrowing in confusion. When the older man snapped his fingers, a payphone was suddenly there, appearing out of nowhere, but looking as if it'd been there the whole time.

Instinctively, Jared looked around again, this time with wide eyes, but Jensen was good, and there was no one around. Jensen grabbed the phone receiver, lifting it to his ear and listening. Then he held it out to Jared.

"Tell her you're with a friend," he said.

"I don't have any quarters," Jared said, as he took the phone.

Jensen gave a small smile. "Believe me, it's taken care of," he said.

Jared brought the phone up to his ear to hear the dial tone, and side-glancing Jensen, he started to dial his home number. Megan answered after only a couple of rings.

"Hey Meg," he said, turning away from Jensen slightly. "Put Mom on the phone."

The only person Jared could lie about being with was Chad -- one of the many disadvantages to being anti-social and having only one real friend. It didn't help that Sharon was far too worrisome for her own good -- which, Jared supposed, was his own fault in some respects; he hadn't exactly been a normal child. Sometimes she still treated him like he was ten or something.

"Hey," he said when she answered. "I'm not gonna be home for a little while, hanging with some friends."

"Oh, okay," Sharon said, and as he knew she'd ask, "What friends?"

He paused -- he seriously needed to meet new people. "Chad," he answered. "And one of his other friends." With Sharon, greater numbers was always better.

"Will you be home for dinner?" she asked curiously.

He opened his mouth to answer, but paused. Turning away from Jensen a little more, he asked, "What are you making?"

"I was thinking lasagna," she answered.

Jared thought for a moment, then figured he could do without. "Probably not," he said. "We're thinking of trying that new Mexican place in the mall."

"Do you have money?"

"Yep," Jared answered. "So I'll see you later, Mom. Love you."

He hung up quickly, afraid of running out of answers if she'd decided to ask any more questions, and he side-glanced Jensen who smirked at him.

"You're getting better at this," the older man said. "Lying, I mean."

With a little laugh, Jared shifted slightly. "I don't know if that's a good thing or not," he said.

Smiling, but not responding, Jensen started walking again, and Jared followed instantly. As Jensen snapped his fingers, Jared glanced over his shoulder, only to see that the phone was completely gone, and Jensen sighed lightly, as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"So tell me about your friend," Jared said. "How'd you meet him?"

"Well, I met him about four years ago, kind of...coincidentally," Jensen said. "I'd known his brother a while ago...he was in the same coven as I."

"Oh yeah?" Jared asked. He lowered his gaze slightly. "Was he...one of the ones...?"

"Yeah," Jensen answered with a small nod. "He died." He gave a small smirk. "You can talk about it Jared; in fact, it's good to acknowledge it sometimes."

"I don't know," Jared said, "I feel like I should tread lightly around you." He gave his own little smirk. "Don't know if you know this, but you're kinda moody sometimes."

Jensen's laugh was a little unexpected, but definitely nice to hear. "I suppose I might have that problem," he said.

"Let me guess," Jared said, "Another side effect of being over a hundred and fifty?"

"Are you teasing me?"

"Why?" Jared asked. "Are you gonna have a moodswing over it?"

Chuckling, Jensen shook his head slowly. He stopped though, and Jared glanced up to find that they were right outside the Wiccan shop that he'd yet had the courage to enter, The Turning Wheel. Jared side-glanced Jensen.

"Don't tell me your friend's in here," he said.

"Owns it," Jensen answered with a shrug. "Why?"

Looking down sheepishly, Jared smirked slightly. "This is going to sound to silly," he said, "But I've been like...drawn to this place ever since I can remember."

"It's not silly," Jensen said. "It actually helped in finding you. My friend -- Chris is his name -- he saw you occasionally, said you never came in but would linger by one of the windows."

"How'd he know it was me?" Jared asked.

"Mostly a hunch," Jensen answered. "He doesn't have the Power like us -- it's not as strong with him, sometimes it's barely there. If he had had it like us though, he would've known right away."

"So he's not like...a full warlock?" Jared asked. "But his brother was?"

"Sometimes it's how things work," Jensen said. "You seem disappointed."

"No, no," Jared said quickly.

"He might not be as strong as us," Jensen said, giving another little smirk, "But he's beyond intelligent when it comes to this stuff. Sometimes I think he knows more than I do."

"Really?"

"No need to sound so surprised," Jensen said. "You seem to think really highly of me sometimes."

"You don't think high enough of yourself," Jared said. "One of us has to make up for it."

An unreadable expression came to Jensen's face -- he was good at those -- and after a second of studying Jared, he turned away. He almost looked like he was battling with himself, but he didn't say anything. The door to the shop opened, and two elderly ladies came out, chattering amongst themselves. As they strolled away, Jensen watched them before he started for the door -- as if he'd been waiting for them to leave.

"Come on," he said softly, and Jared propelled himself forward.

A little bell jingled as they entered the small store. It smelled heavily of incense, and the only light seemed to come from the two large windows that each had interesting displays of figurines, jewelry and books. There was a glass counter at the front packed full of more pendants, glittering stones, and even a few fancy-looking daggers. On top of the counter was a radio playing some atmospheric music, but Jared had the impression that this was mostly for show.

The whole place seemed way too small for all it had -- shelves upon shelves, and tables upon tables of anything you could ever think to find in a place like this. Towards the back, there was a thin staircase leading up, with an open doorway beside it, both of them crammed between bookcases.

While Jared gazed around in wide-eyed awe, Jensen's expression was a little less excited, more along the lines of bored. He crossed his arms over his chest, glancing around casually.

"Chris?"

"Two seconds," a voice came from the back of the store.

Jared hadn't known what he'd been expecting, but the man that came out of the back room wasn't it. A few inches shy of six feet tall, he had longish light brown hair and a slightly rounded face. He definitely didn't look like the kind of guy to be running an occult supplies store, more so the random guitar guy that would show up to your party uninvited.

When he smiled at Jensen, coming towards them, it showed off a bit of his boyish charm -- he seemed like a good guy.

"Jensen," he said brightly in greeting. When his piercing blue eyes moved to Jared, his smile was infectious -- Jared couldn't help but return it shyly.

"Chris, this is Jared," Jensen said, then he glanced sideways. "Jared, meet my friend Christian Kane."

The other man extended a hand, and Jared took it awkwardly -- Christian's hand was warm and calloused. "Nice to meet you," he said, before passing Jensen a sly look. "Heard quite a bit about you."

Jared didn't know what to say to that, and he didn't know what Jensen's expression meant. Christian however, seemed to think something was funny, and as he moved around them to slip behind the counter, he chuckled quietly. Jensen turned to him, placing his hands on the edge of the counter and Jared threw another quick look around the store. He wanted to wander around and look at everything, but he contained himself.

He stepped forward, coming to stand next to Jensen, and as their shoulders brushed, he felt a jolt of sorts go through him. Jensen didn't react, maybe he hadn't even noticed. Jared dropped his backpack on the floor next to him, nudging it out of the way with his foot.

"So," Christian said, perching on the empty stool behind the cash register, "Heard you've been getting some unwanted company."

Jared only nodded.

Christian studied him shortly, and there was heavy reassurance in his gaze. "Well, don't you worry," he said. "I want you to know that as long as you're in this store, no one will be able to get inside your head. Think of this place as a bit of a safe home."

"Really?" Jared asked, his tone more excited than he'd have liked -- it was just interesting is all.

Both Christian and Jensen smiled slightly, and Christian nodded.

"Just a little trick I know," he said. "Of course, once Jensen here teaches you how to shield yourself, you won't need to worry about intruders, huh?"

"That might be a while," Jensen said, and he gave Jared a slightly playful look. "Someone here hasn't been practicing."

Christian gave a feigned gasp, shaking his head slowly, and while Jensen's smirk turned into a grin, Jared blushed. He didn't know how Jensen could tell he hadn't been practicing his meditation, but it wasn't really a surprise. He supposed he deserved some kind of scolding for it, considering he hadn't even thought about it.

"I'm going at my own pace," Jared mumbled, looking down at the things beneath the glass.

In the slight reflection of the glass, he watched as Christian glanced between he and Jensen. Crossing his arms over his chest, he sighed slightly.

"So uh, no idea who might be doing this?" he asked.

"We haven't exactly discussed it yet," Jensen said shortly. "I don't want to just start pointing fingers at anyone, turns out I'm quite the moody guy."

Jared smirked, despite himself, and he glanced up. "Well, if you were going to point fingers," he said, "Who would it be?"

"Someone you know," Jensen answered. "Someone you've known since that first time, about a year ago."

Jared paused thoughtfully; he'd had a few friends back then. That was when he'd experimented with coming out of his shell -- Chad had been with some girl named Sophia, she was nice enough, and she'd seemed to want to be friends with him. She'd even introduced him to Sandy, though Sandy had seemed really shy. And of course, his family, but that was out of the question. Dr. Morgan, but just because he was a shrink didn't mean he was a bad guy.

He didn't think any of them had it in them. Chad was too lovably dense, Sophia had moved away, and Sandy...well, she was kind of shady, he guessed. If he absolutely had to choose.

"It can't be anyone I know," Jared said, shaking his head.

"How can you be sure?" Christian asked.

"How can I be sure it's not you?" Jared countered.

Christian seemed to ponder this for a second or two, then grinned widely. "You're right," he said. "But what if I swore?" He held up his right hand as if to make a point.

Jensen rolled his eyes. "It wasn't Christian," he answered. "Remember what I told you outside? It couldn't have been him, because whoever is doing this is powerful."

"And we're talking me here, dude," Christian said. "More like powerless."

Jared flushed again. "Sorry," he said honestly.

Christian shook his head. "No harm done," he said.

"I just don't think anyone I know could have it in them," Jared said slowly. "And believe it or not, I only have like...two friends. I don't know that many people."

"What about other people in your classes?" Jensen asked.

Well, there was that football player that was always looking at him real weird-like, but Jared had always felt like the guy was just undressing him with his eyes, maybe thinking if he had Jared's body he'd be a better player. There was also that goth girl with the permanent glare, but he was always running into her accidentally, so that explained her looks. Everyone else seemed to just ignore him.

"I don't know," Jared answered.

Jensen lowered his gaze, and Christian gave Jared the smallest of smiles. "We'll find him," he said. "Don't worry."

Jared shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, it's scary and all having my mind read by someone I don't know," he said. "But maybe they're just curious, maybe they aren't...you know, all bad."

"You have to take precautions, Jared," Jensen said. "That's why I brought you here. They'll probably never guess where you are, and if they do, they won't be able to do anything about it."

"You can't keep me here forever," Jared said, smirking.

Now Jensen didn't blush, but he looked like he was quite close to it. He shifted, folding his arms stiffly over his chest, and shook his head. "I didn't mean that I was going to try that," he said.

Christian was laughing quietly again, and Jensen gave him a stern look. The shop fell silent as the two seemed to converse through expressions, and Jared almost sighed in boredom -- he'd never been good at reading faces, couldn't they just speak out loud?

He started towards the nearest shelf -- there were tarot kits and glass figurines of different gods and goddesses. Like a child, he wanted to touch some of it, but he was scared he might break something. As he started moving along the wall, Jensen and Christian actually started to talk, both in hushed tones. Jensen seemed irritated, but Christian was completely amused, and Jared wished he had better hearing.

He was reaching the back of the store when the door opened and a woman came in. Jensen looked over his shoulder at her, then moved away from the counter, walking leisurely in Jared's direction. When he reached Jared, he glanced briefly at the line of books Jared had been looking at.

"This is small time stuff," Jensen said, gesturing. "If you're serious about reading, I've got a few books that are better suited for people like us."

"Small time stuff?" Jared echoed. "Some of this stuff seems pretty deep."

Jensen smirked. "This is for the people who don't have the Power," he said.

He looked towards the front of the store again, and Jared followed his gaze. Christian and the customer were talking quietly, and as they talked, Christian locked the front door, flipping the open sign to closed. Jensen grabbed Jared by the crook of his elbow, then nodded his head towards the staircase.

"Let's go upstairs," he said.

"Are we allowed?" Jared asked.

Another smirk. "My room's up there," he said.

Jared's eyes widened, and he quickly started to follow Jensen up the creaky wooden stairs. "You live here?" he asked.

"What were you expecting?" Jensen asked, "Some kind of castle?"

"Well, no," Jared answered. His face was hot again. "I hadn't really expected anything, it's just...a coincidence."

At the top of the stairs was a door, and Jensen opened it, before stepping aside and ushering Jared past him. Now they were in a small hallway with three different doors -- it was small and crampy, and Jared couldn't imagine this being the place you called home.

"Bathroom," Jensen pointed out the first door, then took Jared to the second, pushing the door open, and gesturing -- it was his room, the other was obviously Christian's.

Jensen's room was barely big enough for the bed he had -- it was really just a mattress on top of a box spring, no bed frames, and it was a double. There was a metal folding chair at the end of the bed, and a bookshelf against the wall next to the bed. There was a skinny door across from them, and Jared assumed it was the closet.

"What was that all about?" Jared asked as Jensen went to the metal chair. "The way he was locking the door?"

"That woman down there," Jensen said, stretching his legs out as he sat down, "She's one of us. She came for a real book, like the ones I was telling you about. Christian's kind of paranoid, he doesn't want a regular old customer coming in and seeing where he keeps these books."

"Huh..." Jared said thoughtfully.

"Sit down," Jensen said.

Hesitating, Jared slowly lowered himself onto the bed. He made a face. "Oh, you're gonna make me meditate aren't you?" he asked.

Jensen smirked. "If you're not going to do it on your own," he said, "Then yes, I'm going to have to sit down with you everyday and make you."

Jared wouldn't mind the bit about seeing Jensen everyday, but he still didn't want to do this meditation thing. Jensen read his expression, then smiled.

"Close your eyes, Jared," he said.

With a little sigh, Jared obliged, letting his eyes fall shut.

"Now you know what to do," Jensen said. "Communicate, touch, familiarize."

Jared felt so dumb, and for a moment, he contemplated not doing it. But then something seemed to shift inside of him, almost as if the power were coming to attention. Against his better judgement, he tried.

Guess it feels good to be awake, he thought, almost sarcastically.

A warmth spread through him, it was like the power was answering him.

I'm supposed to "communicate" with you, Jared thought, Get in touch with you or something.

The buzzing feeling he'd grown used to over the past few days seemed to intensify, and a sense of eagerness flowed through Jared -- as if the power wanted him to get in touch with it.

Jared paused; this was weird, really weird. But he suddenly didn't want to stop. His eyelids felt kind of heavy, and it was easy to forget he was in Jensen's room with the older man watching him. It was almost as if he'd locked himself away with the power.

I really don't know what I'm doing, he thought guiltily.

More warmth flooded him, and he felt comforted. He realized that Jensen hadn't meant communication literally, he learned that it was just enough to listen to the drone inside of him, to let it surge inside of him and to concentrate on the way it felt.

And strangely, it was nice. He couldn't believe he'd waited so long to try this.

When he opened his eyes after a little while, Jensen was still watching him. His body felt even more tired than it already had before, and his vision was slightly blurred at first. Jensen's lips slowly curved up into a smile, but as per usual, his expression was difficult to understand.

"I'm impressed," Jensen said. "You didn't complain even once."

Jared laughed. "I don't know why I complained before," he admitted.

"It lasted longer than I expected, too," Jensen said.

"It was only a couple of minutes," Jared said, shrugging one of his shoulders.

"Try almost an hour and a half," Jensen said.

"What?" Jared asked incredulously, looking left and right for a clock. Jensen saw this, leaned forward, and held out his left arm so that Jared could see his watch -- and it was true, it was close to five thirty. "You sat there the whole time?"

"Did some practice of my own," Jensen replied casually.

Jared looked around again, surprise not even close to what he was feeling. It had seriously felt like only minutes had passed, even with the exhaustion he felt.

"I have to talk to Christian," Jensen said, standing up. "You should rest, try and relax." He paused in the doorway, studying Jared. "Don't try to meditate anymore today, either. Too much can hurt you."

Jared nodded. "I'll be down in a couple of minutes," he said.

Jensen gave him a weird look again, though it did include a small smile, and he left. Jared sighed, reaching up to rub at his eyes, and mindlessly, he laid back until he was resting against the pillows. Jensen's scent engulfed him, and he turned his head slightly to take a long deep breath, wondering vaguely what kind of shampoo Jensen used.

He threw an arm over his eyes with a heavy sigh. Maybe it was because he was in Jensen's room, or maybe it was the "trick" Christian had claimed to know, but Jared felt completely and utterly safe.

This is probably why he fell asleep.

* * *

"I don't see what the big deal is."

Jensen was leaning forward against the glass counter, while Christian sat in front of him, flipping through a magazine. Glancing over his shoulder at the stairs, Jensen reached forward and turned off the radio, moving closer to the other man. Christian looked up with a furrowed brow, and Jensen leaned in.

"Chris, try to understand this," Jensen said. "That kid up there just spent almost two full hours with the Power, his first time meditating. Normal people can't even spend ten minutes with it when it's awakened."

"Technically, you guys aren't really all that normal," Christian said.

Jensen sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Look," Christian continued quickly, "Most of you guys have the Power woken up when you're five. He had to wait thirteen years, man. Not to mention, it was already known that he was going to be strong, you know, all them prophecies and shit."

"It just...worries me, is all," Jensen said, rubbing at his jaw. "He's so...excited about all of this, I'm scared that he might be too powerful for his own good. What if he's so powerful that I can't even teach him what I know?"

"You shouldn't worry so much," Christian said.

Jensen looked over his shoulder again, not wanting to talk too much about Jared if the boy was going to be coming down any minute. He ran his fingers through his hair, straightening and looking back at Christian, who raised his eyebrows at him. They lowered after Jensen didn't say anything, and Christian shook his head a little bit.

"Just let it happen, Jensen," he said. "There isn't anything you can do. And don't say anything to him about it -- no reason to scare him."

"I don't want to scare him, but it's hard to watch out for him all the time," Jensen said. "If I don't tell him some things, how is he going to take care of himself when I'm not around?"

"The same way he took care of himself all these years," Christian said calmly. "I'm sure he knows that you're doubting him, I'm sure he knows you hide a lot of things -- but he's okay with that, if you haven't noticed."

"I just wish things had been different," Jensen said slowly. "It's hard...when he's asking me all these rapid-fire questions, it's hard to know which ones I should answer, and which ones I shouldn't. I should've been more prepared for him."

"Things were hard," Christian said softly, shrugging his shoulders. "You blame yourself for too much."

"I should've been there when he was growing up," Jensen said, and he knew how bitter he sounded, but he couldn't help it.

"You did the best you could."

"If I had, we wouldn't have been separated in the first place."

Christian stared hard at him for a moment or two, and his gaze flickered to Jensen's torso. Jensen looked down, then closed his eyes, knowing instantly what was going through Christian's head.

"And you don't think you're too hard on yourself," the shorter man said.

"That was a long time ago," Jensen said quietly. "I've already told you I'm over that point in my life."

"I know," Christian said. "I'm still scared for you, man. Ever since I've known you, you just...take the world onto your shoulders and try to be, I don't know, Mother Theresa or something. Jared's safe with you. He always will be. His mother made the right choice with you, Jensen."

Absentmindely, Jensen reached up and rubbed at the middle of his chest. Christian watched his hand, frowned so hard that lines formed on his forehead, and he turned to mess around with the register. Jensen glanced towards the stairs again, then reached for Jared with his mind -- he only felt calmness and peace, Jared had probably fallen asleep. Who could blame him? Almost two hours.

Jensen shook his head to himself, then turned back to Christian.

"Thanks Chris," he said. "For putting up with me."

"Kinda have to," Christian said, shrugging casually. "You're my only friend."

Jensen smirked, then reached across the counter to lightly shove one of Christian's shoulders. Christian gave a laugh, grinning in the bright way that could light up a room, and Jensen sighed again.

"Jared's asleep," he said. "Which is good, he didn't get much last night with the dreams he was having."

"How do you know?"

"They kept me awake," Jensen answered. "I don't know what he was dreaming about, but they scared him something fierce, I could feel it."

"Has that ever happened before?" Christian asked.

Jensen shook his head. "It's the Power," he said. "Makes me more aware of his feelings, and him mine. Well, when he knows just what to look for at least."

The bell above the door tinkled, and Jensen glanced over his shoulder as two teenagers came in, a girl and a boy. Jensen moved away from the counter, as Christian started talking to them, and he started towards the staircase once more. He climbed slowly, rubbing at the back of his neck mindlessly.

As he'd assumed, Jared was passed out in his bed, lying flat on his back, his head cocked just slightly, and his hands folded on his stomach. His lips were parted a little, but his expression was one of ease. Jensen stood over him for a minute or too, just watching him -- Jared had really grown up, that was for sure. Looking at him, Jensen couldn't see even the faintest traces of the little boy he'd sworn to protect.

Or maybe it'd just been too long.

He'd never have imagined how defined Jared's physical appearance would be. High cheek bones, prominent jaw line, broadening neck and shoulders. It was almost hypnotizing, and Jensen knew that he could've just stared at Jared for days, memorizing the soft curves and contours of his face. He'd known from the day Jared was born that he was in love with him, that Jared was the most beautiful creature to have been given life -- he'd always assumed it was the bond that made him feel that way.

But looking at how Jared had turned out, Jensen wasn't so sure that the bond had anything to do with it anymore.

Before his thoughts got out of control, he went to the bookshelf. He grabbed a book he already knew cover-to-cover, and he sat down once more in the metal chair, flipping to the first page. After a last look at Jared's sleeping form, he started reading.

NEXT.

[x] A lot of people had been wanting a bit of Jensen's POV, so I figured it couldn't hurt. It was actually fun to write Jensen's POV, so you might see a lot more of it. I really hope this chapter wasn't as bad as I thought it was. ;P