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There are still three weeks of classes left in the term, and the weather is ridiculously beautiful, the first truly, unbearably hot day they've had this Spring. Jared's still trying to figure out what possessed him to come north for school, and now that the weather finally doesn't make him want to hide indoors, he doesn't see how he can possibly sit through another day of classes. The situation feels pretty dire, and Jared's confident that if anyone will understand the need to escape campus immediately, it'll be Chad.
He isn't wrong. "Yeah, dude," Chad says musingly. "Beach, totally. Gotta take Danneel or she'll freak. And Gen, she's scary as hell when she's mad."
Jared just nods and grins, because it's actually happening, they're actually going to get away and maybe swim, be free of classes and cafeteria food for at least a short while, and he can't believe how happy he is about it.
He half listens to Chad's shouted phone conversation with Danneel, feeling the slow trickle of sweat down the length of his spine. He gets lost in it for a moment, the sticky heat and the warm press of the sun on the top of his head, but then Chad is saying, "She's in, let's go pack up the car. Gen's coming too, and she's bringing a guy."
"Gen has a guy?" Jared asks a little absentmindedly, following Chad toward the Campus Center parking lot. "Must be a brave dude."
"Naw," Chad says, and cranks down the driver's side window before getting into the car. "Not that kinda guy. Just a friend. Jesus, it's stuffy in here, can't wait to get to the shore."
So that's how Jared finds himself stuffed into Chad's minivan, sandwiched in next to an enormous pile of luggage as he listens to Danneel and Chad bicker over the radio station. Gen's ensconced on a pile of towels in the middle row of seats, surveying everything like she owns the place, and beside Jared, shifting against his side with every irritable lurch of the car, is the guy who's just Genevieve's friend, an art major named Jensen.
Jared already kind of knows Jensen. They have a class together, Modernism in Art History, and Jensen always shows up still grimy from the workshop, smudges of charcoal or splashes of ink on his hands. He's quiet, but usually cheerful, and he's always, always drawing. Jared sometimes wonders how the guy can spend so much time making art for class and then turn around and do it for fun, but hey, maybe Jensen's one of those people who actually studies what he loves to do. It's a nice thought.
They talk a little, and it isn't too awkward, even though Jared doesn't really have anything in common with Jensen besides their class, and that topic's exhausted within a few sentences. He asks Jensen about his art, and is rewarded with a surprisingly warm smile as Jensen happily describes his workshop and the installation he's working on for the Junior Seminar show.
"Sounds cool," Jared says, and he means it. "Maybe I could come see it some time."
"Yeah," Jensen says softly. "Cool."
Despite the easy flow of conversation, it doesn't take long before Jared's starting to get drowsy. They've got another few hours in the car, and he can't talk to Chad or Danneel without shouting over Gen, who doesn't look like she thinks that's a great idea. The car is very warm, packed close with everyone and their belongings, and all in all, it's a recipe for naptime. Jared feels guilty until he sees Jensen blinking to keep his eyes open, too, and then he doesn't fight it anymore, just leans back against the head-rest of his seat and relaxes.
When Jared wakes up from his surprisingly deep sleep, Jensen's wedged against his side, his head tucked under Jared's chin. His hair is soft against Jared's throat and smells faintly of something fresh and clean, citrusy maybe. He's at an angle that looks beyond uncomfortable, and it's clear that he fell asleep not long after Jared did.
Somehow, despite the heat, Jared really doesn't want to move. Jensen looks so soft and young, his face slack and his fingers loosely outstretched where his arm is flung across Jared's middle. It makes Jared feel strangely protective, which is completely weird because he barely knows this guy, but even the few interactions that they've had have shown Jared that this is a person who doesn't completely let his guard down around just anyone. He's always just a little reserved, even when he's grinning and drawing little caricatures of their professor on the margin of Jared's copy of the in-class reading assignment. There's always something hidden away, something he doesn't ever show. But not now. Now he is completely open, completely relaxed.
The landscape that's flashing by doesn't look like it's anything close to coastal yet, so Jared closes his eyes and tries not to think about how awkward it's going to be when someone else sees their little cuddle fest. Jensen feels good against his side, a soft pleasant weight that makes him feel drowsily comfortable, and since he doesn't want to think about that either, Jared gives up and lets himself drift back to sleep.
When he wakes up again, Jensen is stirring at his side and the air is thick with the smell of saltwater. His shoulder feels unpleasantly cool where Jensen has pulled away.
"Sorry," Jensen says, and smiles ruefully at Jared. "Must've drifted off. You should have pushed me off you."
"Didn't notice," Jared says airily, and can't quite look at Jensen. "I was passed out the whole time."
Gen looks a little skeptical, but doesn't say anything.
They've made their way south and east, following a circuitous route that Chad swears was the only way to go, although Danneel heartily disagrees. They're south of Rehoboth in a coastal town called Bethany, and everything is bleached gray-blue and covered over with sand. Chad pulls over at a supermarket, a dingy place with a half unlit neon sign.
"Back in a sec," he calls, and hops out, cheerfully slamming the door behind him. Danneel makes it thirty seconds before she's changing out the cassette, muttering all the while about why Chad can't find it within himself to by a CD adapter or something, and classic hits of the 1980's swells out into the parking lot. It's better than 98.3 pop hits from A to Z, a station which they've sadly been able to catch for at least the past hour, so nobody complains.
"Almost there now," Jared says, and Jensen grins.
Chad returns a few minutes later, bearing an armload of frozen burger patties, buns, and a bag of charcoal, along with assorted snacks. He stows the cold items in the cooler stuffed into the trunk, along with the vast quantity of beer they'd brought from home, then tosses back in the few escaped items and shoulders the trunk closed. "To the beach!" he says, and hops back into the car.
The town is bustling, full of what looks like other day trippers, inflatable rafts and wakeboards tied to the tops of their station wagons, families strolling around buying seashell art and eating drippy ice cream cones. There's something about this place that feels at once welcoming and unsettling, so full of people who don't belong to the town, who will leave at nightfall, or for the winter, and turn it into an empty husk. For now though, it's full, and the sun is shining hard enough to make Jared desperate for the water.
There are beach signs all over the place, but Chad seems to be searching for a particular place. It takes what feels like forever, but he finally makes a turn off into a sandy parking lot, and he's barely got the car off before they're dragging the doors open and pouring out onto the asphalt. It's gloriously hot, and Gen shifts in her sandals, muttering about the unreasonably heat absorptive nature of black pavement.
It's mid afternoon, and there are already a lot of people on the beach, kids running around in the surf and adults sprawled out under brightly colored umbrellas. The sand is riddled with buckets and plastic shovels, coolers and virulently shaded towels.
Chad finds a spot between an older couple and a group of sulky preteens, tossing down his armload of supplies dangerously close to their blanket. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" he asks in his most obnoxious voice, and thank god he gave up the short-lived idea of becoming a teacher, because Chad just doesn't interact well with kids.
"Aren't you?" one of the kids throws back snidely, and Chad grumbles a little, apparently struggling to find a comeback.
"We've got beer," he says finally, sounding victorious, and mutters, "Enjoy your soda pop, you little shits," before turning around to lay out his towel.
After the obligatory run into the ocean, they toss a Frisbee around lazily in the surf for a while, which mostly involves mocking Chad's pathetic attempts at game and complaining about Danneel's actual skill. Before long, Danneel spots a volleyball game starting up, and lopes off to join it. Chad's not far behind.
"I'm gonna go cockblock Chad," Gen says cheerfully, and saunters off, leaving Jared standing with Jensen, calf deep in the frothy water.
"Wanna go?" Jared asks lamely, staring down at the water as the current draws him out toward the waves.
"Nah," Jensen says, "I'm cool here. Maybe hang out and people watch a little, and chill on the beach?"
"Yeah," Jared says, and isn't sure why he's so pleased. "That sounds cool."
They end up sprawled out on the towels, quietly sunbathing. Jared is laying facedown, enjoying the warmth baking into his skin, and feeling sweat pool at the small of his back. It feels good, and the moments drift together, the laughter and shouting all around the fading into the background as Jared's muscles slowly relax.
He can hear the scratch of a pen on paper, and he knows that Jensen's drawing something. He wonders if it's the landscape, soft and indistinct, or the people who are currently inhabiting it.
"You're gonna burn," Jensen says mildly, and drops the sun block into Jared's outstretched hand. Jared fumbles with it, making a valiant effort to swipe at his back. It's not terribly successful, and after a moment he hears Jensen sigh and chuckle and say, "May I?" He's already kneeling down next to Jared on his towel.
"Yeah," Jared says thickly, "Thanks."
Jensen's hands are strong and firm on Jared's back, and it feels strange, both unsettling and shivery-good exciting to not know who's watching this or what they might think of it. Jensen works slowly, and it's almost a massage, his fingers finding the curve of muscle and working the sun block over the planes of Jared's back. His hands draw upward, all the way up his neck until his fingertips are at the base of Jared's scalp, then they skid downward again, fanning out over his spine.
Jensen's hands feel exactly how they look like they would feel, but also better. Jared thinks of the charcoal that's always rubbed into his hands, the graphite on the side of his palm. It's nice, that when Jensen touches something his hands must leave behind some trace of the thing that makes him happy, so everybody can see it. He thinks of charcoal, of a line of pastel smeared across his back, and it's so surprisingly good that he shivers under Jensen's touch and is suddenly very glad that he's lying facedown. He's coming dangerously close to liking this in a way that's not exactly safe for children's eyes.
"Okay," Jensen says, startling him out of his dozy, pleasant reverie. "Done."
"C'mere and I'll get your back," Jared says lazily, because that was awesome and he wants Jensen to feel awesome too. It probably isn't that simple, but he's decided that it's going to be, and Jensen doesn't argue.
Jared rolls onto his side and watching Jensen stretch out beside him, watching the pleasant line of his back as he shifts, stretching out onto his right hip. Jared reaches for the sun block and works a little dab of it in his hands, warming it up. Then, before he can even start to consider how completely weird it is, he puts out his hands and touches Jensen's back, right over the points of his shoulder blades. Jensen's skin is surprisingly smooth, and touching him like this makes him seem small, easily encircled by Jared's big hands and long arms. Jared swallows, tells himself to relax, and lets his hands begin to move.
Again it's surprisingly intimate. Touching Jensen knots up Jared's stomach and makes his breath come fast. He hardly knows Jensen, and before today all of their interactions have taken place under harsh fluorescent lights, cordoned off by rows of desks. Jensen's always been nice, has always made Jared feel at ease, but now something's different. Now Jared has woken up with Jensen's head on his shoulder and liked it, and now he's running his hands all over Jensen and he likes that too.
Maybe that revelation should be confusing, or even unsettling, but it isn't. It just feels good, and pleasantly exciting, and Jared's sorry when he has to admit Jensen's back is thoroughly and completely sunblocked.
"Thanks," Jensen says, and maybe Jared's imagining things but his voice sounds a little husky.
"No problem," he answers easily. "God, this is awesome. So nice to get away from everything, you know?"
"Yeah," Jensen says, rolling onto his stomach. "Thanks for letting me hang out with you. Gen said we'd get along but I was a little nervous."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jared asks. His indignance is mostly affected but Jensen seems to take it seriously.
"Not that you're not cool or anything," Jensen says hurriedly. "The opposite. Everyone likes you. You could be friends with anyone you wanted. But me, I'm not like that." He chuckles, a faintly derisive tone "I'm a little weird. Little stuck in my own head."
"With a face like yours," Jared says easily, letting his Texan draw show through, "You can be as weird as you want."
"Oh," Jensen says, and sounds pleased. "Thanks."
The it's easy for Jared to sling a friendly arm over Jensen's back and murmur, "Relax."
Jensen does relax, just like that, and the sun beats down on them until Jared's eyes drift slowly closed.
He wakes up gradually, becoming ware f the armful of warm body tangled up against him. It feels great, comfortable and cozy in the still beating down heat, and Jared does the first thing that comes to mind, which is to manhandle the body closer and wrap around it, resting his chin on the top of Jensen's head. Oh, right. Jensen.
That wakes Jared up completely, and he tries guiltily to shift away, but Jensen mutters something indistinct and snuggles in closer, burying his face in Jared's neck. Well, it would be just rude to disturb him, now.
So that's how Chad finds them, maybe an hour later. The heat of the day has finally started to fade, and Jensen is caught up in Jared's arms, his face smashed up against Jared's chest. His brow is furrowed a little, making him look as though he's deep in thought, and Jared is vaguely aware of wanting to smooth away those worry lines with his fingertips. He ignores it, though, in favor of freaking out over Chad catching him doing whatever the hell he's doing right now. Jared doesn't even know what to call it.
Miraculously, Chad doesn't even bat an eye. "Time for food," he says cheerfully, and turns away, trotting off toward the dunes. Jared remembers seeing grills and picnic tables by the parking lot, so he assumes that's where Chad's headed.
Jensen is still asleep, and Jared hesitates for a moment, just watching him. This feels so natural that it's hard to remind himself that getting up close and personal with Jensen Ackles isn't something that Jared normally gets to do. He doesn't know what combination of events got him to this place, but he does know that he's glad to be here, and that he wants more, too. Yeah, he wants to keep touching Jensen and to learn every inch of his body, to hear why Jensen thinks he's weird, and to draw him out of his shell. He wants to show Jensen how exceptional he is, and how Jared can't possibly be the only person to notice it after ten seconds in his presence outside of the boundaries of the classroom.
It isn't realistic. In fact, it's maybe even a little creepy, so Jared just sighs, swipes a hand over Jensen's forehead, and nudges his shoulder, whispering, "Hey, time for food."
Jensen stirs slowly, and it's ridiculously endearing how confused he looks, tousled and drowsy and still pliant in Jared's arms. "Cool," Jensen says sleepily, twisting a hand around to hide a yawn. He looks down at Jared's chest, briefly, and then back up at his face. "Is this weird? I feel like this could be weird."
His tone is joking, but there's sincere worry hidden in it, and now Jared knows exactly what to do.
"No," he says cheerfully, and draws his hand up to the base of Jared's neck, his fingers pressing gently where Jensen has gone tense. "It could be weird, but it's not. It's kind of awesome."
"Oh," Jensen says, and now he's got a little smile. "Good." He stretches, rolling his shoulders back against the line of Jared's arm. "I'm starving."
Back by the car, the grill is hot, and there are burgers and beer and lots of assorted snacks, a testament to Chad's short attention span and interest in flashy colors while shopping. Jared glances carefully around, but nobody's acting strange, so maybe Chad hasn't gotten around to telling anyone yet. Chad's cracking dumb jokes and tossing sour cream and onion chips at Danneel, who's holding her own with the peanut M&M's, and Gen is leaning up against the minivan taking big sips of her beer and telling Jensen some long, animated, and probably highly explicit story. Jensen, god, Jensen's got a popsicle, cherry red and gleaming. Every so often he stops licking it and bites down, and his teeth are very white against the bright, candy red.
Okay, so maybe Jared's the one who's acting strange, because he can't concentrate on anything except the way Jared's mouth looks all slick and shiny.
He's distracted enough that he doesn't notice Chad sidling up until he's right beside Jared, pulling him away to sit on the curb at the edge of the parking lot. It's sandy, like everything else here, and Jared brushes ineffectually at it before resignedly sitting down.
"So, dude," Chad says, and he's wearing a huge grin. "Just wanted to say, you know, good work, man. I'd totally dig him if I was, like, into dudes."
"Uh," Jared says tiredly, "What?"
"Don't play, dude," Chad says easily. "One accidental cuddling session I'll buy. But you're at like, three or something. That shit ain't platonic. Just tell me you made out with him before all the lovey-dovey stuff."
"Um," Jared says, "No?" This conversation is really showcasing his eloquence.
"Dude," Chad says. "You gotta get on that. I'm pretty sure guys who look like that don't stay single for long, and he's totally into you."
"You think so?" Jared asks faintly. "We hardly know each other."
"That shit's called chemistry," Chad says, and stands up, offering him a hand. "Plus he was drawing you, I saw a bunch of sketches when I came to wake you up. Go have a sexy swim in the ocean or whatever, I'll buy the ladies an ice cream."
"That's weirdly nice of you," Jared says, and brushes off his trunks.
"Yeah," Chad says, and for a moment his voice sounds completely genuine. "You're my friend, dude." His grin widens. "And I'll have two sexy ladies on my arm. Everyone wins."
"Except the ladies," Jared says dryly, and ducks away as Chad half-heartedly tries to elbow him.
"Go," Chad says firmly, and Jared nods.
"Yeah. Thanks."
Jensen's done with the popsicle, but his mouth still looks slick and red, and Jared has to work hard not to stare as he walks over to the van in what he hopes is a casual way and leans up next to Jensen. Gen's still talking, but Jensen seems to be only half paying attention, not in a rude way but in a sated, comfortable way, just letting the words wash over him. Jared's heart is pounding, and he has to work hard to keep a big, crazy grin off his face as he leans in close and murmurs, "Wanna go for a swim?"
It feels completely cheesy, but then Jensen shifts a little closer and his cheeks are flushed as he nods, a little smile curving his lips.
"God," Gen says loudly. "Boys. Get outta here, already."
Jensen shrugs sheepishly at her, looking half apologetic, but Jared can't bring himself to do even that; the anticipation is weighing too heavily upon him. "Come on," he says, almost a whisper, and they walk out over the dunes and toward the water.
The sun is nearly down by now, and the water's chilly, but Jared feels a little too warm right now so it's okay. Jensen shivers, laughs deep in his throat, and shifts closer, his shoulder brushing Jared's. "Cold," he says softly, and Jared laughs too, a little deeper and darker than he'd intended it to come out.
"I wanna kiss you," Jared says, finally. "I don't know you that well, but I still really wanna kiss you."
"Yeah," Jensen says, and there it is again, the unmistakable stain of a blush on his cheeks. It's fucking adorable. "I really want you to."
The current drags at Jared's ankles, pulling him off balance, and the sand shifts under his bare feet, gritty and soft at the same time. Jensen's already close to him, so in the end it's easy to turn toward him and wrap a hand around the point of his jaw, another around his hip, and then they're kissing and Jensen tastes of cherry popsicle, sweet and tangy and just plain good.
Jared pulls Jensen closer, snugging their bodies together, and it feels so right, feeling Jensen's lips part against his own while his ankles go sticky with salt and his hand strokes over the length of Jensen's back.
"I think I like you a lot," Jared admits. "Maybe for longer than I realized."
Jensen looks like he's torn between kissing and talking, but talking finally wins, and he leans in close to Jared's chest as he says, "Yeah, me too. Glad I came on this trip."
"Yeah," Jared echoes, as he tilts Jensen's head up for another kiss. "Me too."
During the drive home, when Jared wraps his arms around Jensen and pulls him close while they're both still wide awake, nobody bats an eye.