Runaway – Ch 5

Pairing: Jared x Reader
Tags: domestic fluff, J2 bromance
WC: 2,019

Masterlist

Jensen did stay for dinner, which Jared never doubted he would. Jensen wasn’t one to pass up a home cooked meal when it came his way – they were such a rarity these days. What surprised Jared entirely was walking into his kitchen to see Jensen happily dicing tomatoes and onions alongside Y/N/N, who seemed to be massacring a pile of leaves with a rather large knife. When he made a comment to Y/N/N, he was sternly informed that they were, in fact, herbs. 

“I honestly don’t know what to think of this.” Jared just stood in the doorway trying to figure out how Jensen had gone from voting to leave Y/N/N on the street to cooking with her in the span of twenty-four hours. In the seven or eight years he had known Jensen, he couldn’t remember him cooking anything more complicated than a box of mac’n’cheese. Jensen paused in his dicing to speak, not wanting to cut his finger open when he wasn’t looking. 

“I’ve decided that I like her,” Jensen said proudly, like he was announcing a proud accomplishment; as if he had had any other option, Jared thought to himself ruefully. Y/N/N was inexplicably easy to like, as he knew all too well. 

Now able to pull his eyes away from the strange sight of the cooking companions, Jared looked around the rest of his house. It was noticeably tidier than when he had left it this morning. It smelled clean as well, like Mrs. Polwalski’s house had always smelt. Did vacuum cleaners leave behind a scent? It was like the absence of dust and a slight odour of electrical heat. 

“Well, Miss Y/N, you have managed to accomplish two miracles in a very short space of time. Be careful or you’ll make yourself indispensable.” Jared smiled and collapsed against the island with exaggerated exhaustion. 

Jared propped on the counter created one of the most stunning tableaus Y/N/N had ever seen. A rumpled Jared Padalecki leaning casually against a counter top in grey sweatpants slung low on his hips, and a loose tank with his arms crossed certainly painted a pretty picture, and Y/N/N sort of forgot that she was expected to respond. She finally came up with, “that would be the idea, Mr. Padalecki,” when Jared kept looking at her quizzically. 

“So, what’s for dinner tonight?” 

“Spaghetti,” Jensen answered before Y/N/N got the chance, still sounding a little too proud and a little too eager. 

“I thought something simple for the first night until you tell me what you like to eat.” 

“Well, lucky for you I like spaghetti,” Jared’s charm was literally dialed up past 100 at this point, and he knew exactly what he was doing to Y/N/N’s nerves. Despite her talent for making herself at home in unfamiliar environments, she was not immune to the famous charms of Jared Padalecki, a fact Jared was eternally glad for. His charisma and good looks were what he owed his career to. Cassandra swears it’s his talent but he knows how this business works, a kid like him would never have gotten a break if he didn’t look the way he did. 

“Um, I was planning on dinner in about an hour, is that okay?” Y/N/N checked, the first sign that she wasn’t entirely settled into her new position comfortably, breaking through. 

“Yeah. Sounds great,” Jared nodded and then quickly ducked out of the way as Y/N/N wove around him towards the stove, two cutting boards in her hands. She put the onions into a saucepan with some olive oil, set aside the garlic and herbs, and then reached for the tomatoes to wash and dice. “Um, do you need help with anything?” Jared wanted to offer, because it was polite after all, but he knew he would be useless if she actually said yes. 

“Nope, this is my job now. You go relax Mr. Padalecki.” Y/N/N was too absorbed in her cooking now to be worrying about two boys running around the kitchen and getting in her way. “You too Mr. Jensen, thank you for helping out,” she flashed Jensen a quick smile. 

“No problem, kiddo,” Jensen had adopted a nickname for her now too. They had become fast friends in the few hours they had spent together, evidently, Jared noted with a tinge of… what? Wariness? Jealousy? He decided he didn’t want to examine that too closely. 

“Wait, you got her to use your first name?” Jared laughed as he and Jensen walked up to his room, Jared was unfazed and actually a little relieved to see that Y/N/N hadn’t cleaned up here. He kind of liked his system of organized chaos. It was cozy. 

“Well she still insisted on the mister part but I talked her down from Mr. Ackles. It made me feel way too old.” 

“How do you think I feel?” Jared sighed as he plopped himself down on the couch. “But I didn’t have the energy to fight for it this morning, I’ll try again later.” 

“Good luck man, she, like, idolizes you. She won’t even call you Jared just to talk about you.” 

“I really hope I didn’t take a deranged fan girl under my roof.”

“You know, after talking to her for a while, I actually don’t think she is. She respects you too much. She told me that’s why she didn’t clean your room up here,” Jensen gestured to the surrounding space. “She felt like that would be ‘invading your privacy.’” Jensen put air quotes around invading your privacy to make it clear he thought the idea was a little silly but actually, he thought it was very considerate on Y/N/N’s part. He was impressed. If the girl was strapped for cash – not really an if, clearly she was – she could have made thousands by taking a few things and selling them to deranged fans downtown. Getting herself hired as a live-in housekeeper wasn’t the easy way out. 

“I’m glad she didn’t, it would have felt really weird to know she was poking around up here. Nice how we’re on the same page like that.” Jared lounged out on his couch, closing his eyes against the weight of the day. “Actually, it’s kinda weird how she’s managed to read me so far. Like she knew exactly what to say to make me see her side of the story this morning, she guessed that she should leave my room alone but the rest of the place looks spotless, she’s making spaghetti! And you know how much I love spaghetti.” 

“I know Jared, it was literally the only thing you would order when we went out to Italian for about two years straight.”

“Because I love spaghetti!”

Jensen sat on the arm of the couch by Jared’s head and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“Hey, I know I’ve been a debbie-downer on Y/N/N so far but I do like her, I mean it. Just watch out around her for a little bit. There’s still a lot of risk letting a stranger into your house for good,” Jensen tried to keep his voice caring rather than accusatory. 

“Yeah, I know. I’m not an idiot, I have a certain amount of street smarts,” Jared protested, but he patted his hand over Jensen’s in a sign of acknowledgement all the same. He appreciated how much Jensen looked out for him. 

“Never as much as me bro!” Jensen laughed, then went to root through the mini-fridge for a soda. 

“And you will never let me forget it,” Jared rolled his eyes. 

“Damn straight.” The pair laughed easily and Jensen grabbed the remote to switch the flatscreen onto ESPN. They watched mostly in silence as the sportscaster went through pre-season stats for college football teams; commenting on the hopelessness of one team, the star-power of a newly drafted quarterback on another. Eventually, the sportscaster ran out of things to say that actually mattered and the camera switched over to the obligatory female commentator wearing too much makeup and a low cut blouse who basically just repeated everything the sportscaster said but in slightly different intonations. Jared switched over to a music channel, which was showing a U2 concert from Glastonbury that was a few years old. 

“I’m going to check on Y/N/N, make sure she has it all under control,” Jared rose as he spoke and checked his watch. It had almost been an hour since they’d gone upstairs so he didn’t think it unreasonable to go and double check that Y/N/N was all good. 

“’Kay man, I’m gonna take a piss.” 

“Always so eloquent, Jensen.”

“I try,” Jensen smiled wryly and ducked into the bathroom as Jared shook his head and proceeded downstairs. What he found there stopped him short. His genuinely never-before-used dining room table had been beautifully laid out with a formal dinner set, complete with candlesticks and a small decorative centerpiece of yellow daisies. Jared had never seen the likes of this in his house for sure. Something struck him as a little odd though, and he figured it out as he saw Y/N/N bustle into the room, a plate laden with pasta in her hands and a box of matches between her lips. There had only been two places set at the table. 

“Y/N/N?” Jared asked from what seemed to be his preferred position of leaning against things, this time it was the stair railing. She startled, not having noticed him come down, and nearly dropped the pasta. 

“I really should put a bell around your neck,” Y/N/N laughed as she began to scoop noodles onto the dinner plates. 

“Why did you only set two places?” Jared pushed himself off the railing and wandered forward, arms crossed inquisitively.

“Because the help doesn’t eat with the family,” Y/N/N explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. But there was something beneath her expression that betrayed that there was more to that statement than simple fact. 

“Well last I checked you were staying in my guest bedroom, not my secret slave quarters,” Jared joked, and boldly stretched out a hand to rest it on her shoulder. Y/N/N looked up, shocked, then tore her eyes away to stare at the strong hand still holding onto her. “And you’re not just some kitchen maid,” Jared’s voice was sweet and nearly a whisper. Y/N/N tried everything in her power to stifle the blush rising to her cheeks and the gasp fighting to break through her lips. She was disappointingly unsuccessful. “Eat with us. And that’s not a request, as your employer I demand it.” With that being said, Jared turned on his heels with a smile and headed back up the stairs to fetch his best friend. 

Y/N/N stood by the table, momentarily stunned before she came to her senses and finished dishing out the pasta. On her return to the kitchen she pulled another set of silverware and plates from the cupboard. She set herself a seat next to Jensen and across from Jared, because she would have felt very awkward at the head of the table between the two of them. She finished serving the food, quickly lighting the candles she’d put out and stashing the matches in her pocket, taking a moment to admire her handiwork before stepping back and calling up the stairs.  

“Mr. Padalecki, Mr. Jensen, dinner is on the table!” 

The boys came thundering down the stairs, arguing about something good-naturedly. Y/N/N moved toward the seat she’d set up for herself but Jared bounded forward on his unfairly long-legs and beat her there, pulling out her chair for her. She looked up at him, a little astonished, but sat down in the proffered spot and let him push her into the table, before he took the seat next to hers.