Runaway – Ch 3

Pairing: Jared x Reader
Tags: we meet some new characters
WC: 2k

Masterlist

Y/N/N quickly finished washing the dishes and replaced them in their respective cabinets, all the while having trouble believing her luck. What Jared had said was true, the media always pinned him as the “do-gooder” type; he was super involved in charity and he would visit kids in the hospital and try to take as much time as he could talking to his fans. But Y/N/N never imagined that he would take in a struggling teenager with relatively little motivation to do so. Jared could’ve easily hired a housekeeper or a cook if he wanted one, her offer to help out can’t have been that appealing. Shaking off her confusion Y/N/N decided it would be best not to think too deeply about it now, her time would be better spent deciding what to make for dinner and tidying up the rest of Jared’s house. 

After a thorough search of the house Y/N/N managed to scrounge up some window cleaner, a roll of paper towels, and some bleach. She set about cleaning the kitchen, wiping down all the counters, cabinets, appliances, and the sink. Then after another reconnaissance mission she found a vacuum and a mop tucked in the back of the hall closet. Clearly they had gone unused for quite some time. She made her way through the first floor, including what she had now dubbed her room. She took extra care setting her teddy on top of the pillows after she’d made the bed, putting the one personal touch she could on the space. 

Having done almost all she could on the main level of the house, Y/N/N hesitantly lugged the vacuum up the stairs, the only area of the house she hadn’t seen yet. The upstairs was mainly one massive open space, like all the walls had been removed. There were two doors that she assumed led to his bathroom and his closet, the rest of the space was laid out almost like another apartment. On one side there was a huge bed and two nightstands laden with books and some loose bits of paper, old mail. The covers were piled haphazardly at the foot of the bed, like Jared had kicked them off of himself in the middle of the night and that’s where they had stayed. The other half of the room was another den area; a very comfortable looking couch and an overstuffed armchair that looked much the worse for wear facing a coffee table and another flat screen TV mounted to the wall. 

The winner for most surprising feature of the room  was the small black piano tucked away in the corner of the room. Y/N/N wondered if it was there just for decoration or if Jared actually played. The one or dozen times she’d scanned through Jared Padalecki’s wikipedia page hadn’t mentioned anything about piano playing but she figured everyone had their secrets. As Y/N/N looked around the room for the umpteenth time she realized that her feet hadn’t moved from the top step and her arms were aching from holding up the vacuum cleaner for so long. She had a weird feeling being in Jared’s room, like maybe this part of him should be off limits to her. 

It was easy to tell from his little rant at breakfast that Jared was a very private person and you could learn a lot about someone from what their bedroom looks like. Y/N/N felt that by rummaging through his things, even with the intention to clean them up, she was coming very close to stepping over a line or possibly betraying his trust. She didn’t really know what it was she was feeling but without realizing it her feet carried her back down the stairs, Jared’s room left in the same state of disorder she had found it in. 

After replacing all the cleaning supplies and refolding all the blankets lying over the couches in the living room, Y/N/N stood and admired her handiwork for a moment. Going to the fridge she carefully inspected the limited contents contained within the stainless steel and white plastic walls. There was milk, some eggs and butter, which she had used to make pancakes earlier, and a few take out boxes scattered on the shelves. A large pizza box took up an entire shelf and when she lifted the lid Y/N/N found there was only one piece left of it. Jared’s laziness really did reach a new level, she thought exasperatedly to herself. 

She began making a mental grocery list of things she would need for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. She knew that she would have to be carrying all the groceries home herself since Jared was out all day. A big shopping trip would have to be saved for when Jared could drive them to the store. Y/N/N slipped on her shoes, patted her pocket to make sure she had Jared’s credit card, and walked purposefully out the door and down the street to the small grocery store she remembered noticing on their drive the previous night. She returned about forty minutes later, arms laden with groceries only to have her heart sink as she reached for the door she realised that it was locked, and Jared hadn’t given her a key. 

Across town Jared waltzed into his agent’s office in a very sunny mood, as if anything he did that day was going to turn out just fine. Despite his very reasonable reservations about allowing Y/N/N to stay on with him he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was doing the right thing. He was proud that he was going to be able to make a real difference in this girl’s life. A difference that he would be able to witness and not just hope for; a difference that seemed more real than any amount of money he had thrown at charities in the past. Jared felt so good he almost caught himself whistling. And it was a mercy to the people surrounding him that he did catch himself because he was a horrible whistler. 

“Jared! Darling,” a thin young man in an effeminate button-down waved at Jared from behind his desk. Charlie was his talent agent’s personal assistant, and Jared internally braced himself for this interaction. He was nice enough on the surface but Jared didn’t really like him all the same. Charlie operated on a strange plane, like he believed Hollywood was still the golden-age 1950’s romantic dream that black and white movies made it out to be. On the opposite side, Jared was personally very glad that it was nothing like that. 

“Hey, Charlie,” Jared gave a perfunctory wave, shoving his hand back in his jeans pocket and rocking on his heels. 

“I swear you just get bigger every time I see you,” Charlie gushed as if he was Jared’s grandma. A particularly perverted grandma, because he reached across the desk and gave Jared’s bicep a squeeze with a smirk on his face. Jared jumped back awkwardly and ran his hand through his hair to hide the sudden movement. 

“Is uh, is she ready to see me?” Jared nodded towards the glass door to Cassie’s office, where he could see her sitting on her couch with a folder and a cup of tea. 

“Oh yes, go right on in handsome,” Charlie waved him by with a smile and Jared gave him a small salute in thanks, shaking himself free of the bad vibes when he dropped the gesture. 

Jared’s agent picked up on his noticeably cheery mood change immediately. She was a very sharp woman in almost every way imaginable. She was intelligent, witty, well dressed, and the epitome of professionalism to a tee. But she was also genuinely interested in the success of the people she represented. Not because it ultimately made more money for her, but because it meant she was helping people achieve their dreams and there wasn’t anything she could think of doing that would be more fulfilling. Many things could be said about Cassandra Herrera but most importantly she loved what she did and she was good at it. So obviously, she was thrilled to find Jared in such a good mood for their meeting. 

“Jared,” she smiled and reached out her hand. Jared took it in his and gave her a kiss on the cheek. 

“It’s good to see you Cassie,” he smiled and took a seat in one of the two arm chairs that furnished her office. 

“You too, you look well.” Cassie’s ever perfect grammar produced a chuckle from Jared. 

“Thank you, I feel well too if you can believe it. First time in a while I actually feel rested up.”

“Well, I’m glad. I have a few things we need to discuss about the next few weeks but this shouldn’t take too long. I know you’ve got training this afternoon.”

“Oh, no rush. For you I have all the time in the world,” Jared couldn’t help the charming, flirty responses, it was a habit by now. In L.A. you had to kiss a lot of ass to get anywhere, and charm was a skill that he’d taken to heart, though his sister had always insisted it was natural for him anyhow. But with Cassie he did actually feel the warmth that he projected, it wasn’t a front. She had been a good friend to him these past few years, particularly when he’d needed it most. 

“Well, down to business then! You have two auditions booked for this week coming up, one on Tuesday,” Cassie squinted at the papers she had in her hands over her glasses, “and one on Friday. They’re both right here in LA so no traveling very far.”

“Where on Earth did you come up with two auditions for this week?” Jared asked incredulously. “The past few weeks it sounded like there was nothing out there for me right now.” Jared couldn’t hide his relief, he’d been out of work ever since Starchaser hadn’t been picked up for a second season. 

“Let’s just call me a genius and leave it at that,” Cassie smirked. “These,” she pulled a packet of papers out of her folder, “are the sides for Tuesday’s audition. It’s a pretty small production but they’re willing to pay good money to put a star’s face on it. Sounds like the typical rom-com plot which you’re good at.”

Jared grabbed the sides and flipped through the two scenes they’d given out. The production didn’t have a title yet and the characters were simply labeled [guy] and [girl]. Somehow, that wasn’t instilling a whole lot of confidence in Jared about the success of the production but he certainly wouldn’t let that put him off the audition. He was eager to start working again after several months on the bench, he had been getting a little bored at home all by himself. 

Then again, he was reminded at that moment, his house wasn’t empty anymore. Y/N/N was certainly about to shake some things up for him. He realized that he had been caught up in his thoughts and hadn’t been listening to a thing his agent was saying to him, like he should have been. 

“I’m sorry Cassie, I blanked out there for a sec,” Jared shook his hair out of his eyes reflexively.  

“Yeah, I could tell,” Cassie sounded annoyed but laughed anyway, used to Jared spacing out sometimes. “I was saying that Friday’s audition is cold, they’re not sending anything over but I know they’re looking at you for the leading man. Just bring your charm and remember to turn the flirt on, yada yada. I know I don’t really need to remind you, it just makes me feel better to do it.”

“Don’t worry Cassie, I’ve got it,” Jared smiled, rolling his eyes in a good natured manner. “I’ll bring the charm, you just worry about finding the auditions.”