Pairing: Jared x Reader
Tags: light angst
WC: 2,142
“Coming!” Jensen shouted eagerly when Y/N/N’s call came up the stairs, knocking back the remaining sips of his soda then bolting up off the couch. He was really hungry. Jared laughed his way down the stairs, watching his friend’s antics.
Once they were all seated, Y/N/N proceeded to pour some red wine into the glasses in front of each of them, she had already filled her own with water. “You know, you could have some too if you like,” Jared nodded at the bottle in her hands.
“Yeah, we won’t tell. Scout’s honor,” Jensen added with a wink, and Jared rolled his eyes.
“Thank you,” Y/N/N smiled shyly, replacing the bottle and the end of the table and taking her seat next to Jensen. “But even if I was legal I shouldn’t drink while I’m working.”
“Where on Earth did you pick up this sense of propriety?” Jared wondered aloud before he could stop himself. It really was pretty shocking. If he had been offered wine at the age of seventeen with no fear of repercussions he definitely would have taken it. Especially since, at the age of seventeen, he had taken it even with the fear of getting caught. He still had that fake ID tucked away in some corner of his room. Y/N/N shrugged but didn’t elaborate. It didn’t escape Jared’s notice that this wasn’t the first time she had neglected to answer questions about her background.
“All right, eat! Before it gets cold,” Y/N/N scolded, and Jensen didn’t need telling twice.
The trio smiled and talked as they ate their way through their pasta, vegetables, and all of the bread. If dinner was like this every night Jared was confident he had made the right choice in hiring a cook. And it was a relief to realise that, when dinner was over, he wouldn’t have to do the cleaning up either. Everything was all taken care of. The lazy boy side of him absolutely praised his decision making skills of that morning.
Despite what Jared had said to Jensen earlier about his street smarts and being careful around Y/N/N for a while, he somehow felt he wouldn’t need to be. Maybe it wasn’t smart to just let a complete stranger into your life but Jared didn’t find himself caring. He could tell that Y/N/N was a good person, and that she would never think of taking advantage of him. He trusted her; because for some insane reason, last night she had chosen to trust him too.
“I thought you said you were stuffed!” Jared laughed as Y/N/N circled the table collecting dishes and cutlery, “thanks.”
“You know better than anyone, I have two stomachs. Dessert is a whole other thing my friend.”
“Why don’t you guys let your dinner settle for a bit and I’ll bring dessert into the living room for you when I’ve finished cleaning up?” Y/N/N suggested.
“Awesome, thanks!” Jensen pushed off of his chair and sort of swaggered towards the living room, hands still rubbing across his stomach in pleasure. Y/N/N was surprised he wasn’t purring like a cat to be honest. She smiled to herself, realising she had warmed to him just as quickly as he had to her.
“Are you sure you don’t need help with anything?” Jared asked as he stood too, blowing out the candles before they forgot they were burning.
“Thanks but no, you go relax Mr. Padalecki,” Y/N/N nodded her head towards where Jensen was splayed across the couch in the next room.
“Alright, just let me know if you need anything.”
“I will,” Y/N/N smiled but somehow Jared didn’t think she would. He watched as she retreated to the kitchen where she could clean the dishes and put away the leftovers in peace, then stirred himself into motion and joined Jensen in his sprawling, popping his feet up on the coffee table.
“I’m gonna say it again man, that girl is something.” Jensen hummed. Jared just smiled and nodded placidly. “And you know, she’s kind of cute too,” he added as an afterthought. Jared snorted.
“We are not going to even think about going there.” Jared pointed an accusing finger at his friend. “You are literally,” he paused for a moment to check his mental math, “double her age, dude,” he laughed. “Plus, she is a guest in my house and technically I’m her boss. I’m not letting you scare off my new cook because you’re a lech.”
“Wait, she’s seventeen?” Jensen sat up, alarmed. “Jared, what’re you thinking? You can’t take in a runaway minor. If anyone finds out they could book you for kidnapping or some shit,” he hissed.
Jared raised an eyebrow at Jensen, skeptically. “No one’s going to think I kidnapped her. She practically begged me to hire her, she doesn’t have anywhere else to go,” he argued but even as he spoke, Jared knew that Jensen had a point. He hadn’t thought about what it would look like if the police ever came looking for Y/N/N, he’d just assumed that if he wasn’t the one calling them on her, they’d never find out.
“Well whoever she ran away from will probably have a different view on that, man!” Jensen argued back in a hushed tone, not wanting Y/N/N to overhear them. “People don’t just usually let their kids run away without looking for them.”
“My mom did,” Jared whispered dejectedly, more to himself than Jensen, and Jensen stopped short, a lot of puzzle pieces clicking into place all at once.
“I–” he cleared his throat and tried again. “That’s why you and Meredith wound up in that foster home?” Jensen had met Jared and his baby sister when they were just getting out of the system, but Jared had never opened up about why they had been in it in the first place. Suddenly Jared taking in a young runaway off the street and giving her a job less than 24 hours later made a lot more sense, even if it still wasn’t the smartest move he’d ever made.
Jared just nodded, clearly not ready to offer any more details beyond that, and Jensen left it. Jared was private about very few things around him these days and if he wanted to keep this to himself still, Jensen wasn’t going to pry. Dude had a right to his own thoughts.
“I uh– I’m sorry, man,” he offered, glancing over at his friend. Jared gave him a light smile and brushed it off.
“It’s all in the past man, nothing to be sorry for.”
Jensen nodded to himself and looked down at his hands, searching for something to salvage the mood that he’d just brought crashing down. He knew riling Jared up would be a decent way to go about that.
“You know, even for a seventeen year old, she’s still cute,” Jensen whispered conspiratorially, and Jared smacked him on the arm.
“Stop being gross, Jen!”
“I’m not some creepy perv, Jared. And come on, you called that chick at the beach hot the other day and no way she was older than twenty. I just said Y/N/N was cute,” he shrugged innocently.
“Yeah, well, don’t say it,” Jared grumbled, reaching for his wine and taking a drink.
“Someone’s getting a little possessive there aren’t we?” Jensen teased, taking a drink of his own now that he remembered it was there.
“No,” Jared answered firmly. “I just don’t want her running away again. Wherever she ends up next time might be a whole lot less friendly. She’s lucky we found her.”
“Thank you again for that, sir,” Y/N/N spoke softly as she carried in a small tray of fruit salad and cookies. “I really, really appreciate what you’re doing for me.”
“I’m happy to do it Y/N/N, honestly,” Jared smiled warmly at her.
“Very happy” Jensen grinned, jumping up to snag a cookie from the tray before Y/N/N could even set it down.
“Stop being fucking creepy, Jensen!” but Jared was laughing, so Jensen could tell it wasn’t meant too seriously.
“Sorry Mr. Padalecki, my sincerest apologies, sir,” Jensen bowed low, waving his hands about like a bit of an idiot.
Y/N/N crept from the room, quietly going unnoticed; she had a talent for that. Retreating to the kitchen, she’d left the cookies and fruit with the boys in the den, Y/N/N set about rinsing the dishes and popping them into the dishwasher she’d found camouflaged behind one of the cupboard doors. It had actually been dusty inside, which really spoke to Jared’s takeout habits.
When she was finished cleaning up she took a deep breath, looking around the kitchen and letting it sink in that she was going to see this again tomorrow, and all the days in the foreseeable future after that. It was the first time she’d given herself the space to stop and think since she’d met Jared – since she’d run away if she was honest with herself – and it turned out it was a lot to take in, the kindness of this stranger. Y/N/N felt a tear dampen an eye and brushed at it madly, crying wasn’t on the to-do list tonight.
“Knock knock,” Jared tapped against the doorframe, pulling her from her thoughts. He looked happy, peaceful even, carrying the tray with leftover bits of fruit and a couple cookies. “Did you get any cookies?” He held out the tray and wiggled his eyebrows in an effort to tempt her to the treats.
“What on earth are you doing with your face?” Y/N/N laughed to herself.
“Trying to cheer you up, you looked a bit sad kiddo,” Jared smiled a sad little smile of his own.
“Thanks, but I’m alright,” Y/N/N shrugged off his offer of cookies but took the proffered tray to tidy away the leftovers, choosing to ignore Jared’s attempt at feeling her out.
“Okay, I won’t pry,” Jared acknowledged her dodge. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” his voice turned up like a question.
“Um, what time will you be up tomorrow?”
“Probably around six to go for a run, but you don’t need to be up then,” Jared hurriedly added. “Feel free to sleep in a bit. I’m normally out for an hour and then I’ll still have to get cleaned up when I’m back.”
“It’s okay, I’m a bit of an early bird too,” Y/N/N giggled. “Eggs for breakfast okay?”
“Sounds great,” Jared, hit his hand against the doorframe in farewell, and with a charming smile he spun on his heel and went up to bed. Y/N/N realized she must have missed Jensen leaving because the house felt very quiet. Sighing to herself she cleaned up the dessert tray and went to the guest room– her room.
It still felt foreign, the room was very neutrally decorated, in a way that spoke to ‘interior decorator’ tastes rather than anything discernibly personal. It was obviously a room to impress the guests, she remembered Jared had mentioned his sister. Y/N/N was surprised that in her casual celebrity stalking of Jared she couldn’t remember anything about Jared having a sister. Normally she was very attentive to those kinds of details, though she tried really hard to never let herself get to an invasive level of interest like some girls at her old school had. She knew they would absolutely die if they saw her now and that made her smile to herself. That was like a big slap in the face to all the mean girls back in D.C. Running away had wound up turning out so much better than she ever could have imagined.
Y/N/N decided that now was a good time to get cleaned up, as she didn’t think Jared was coming back downstairs again that night. Despite how he’d found her, she didn’t like the idea of him seeing her any less composed than she normally would be, and in her own opinion she looked like a wreck coming out of the shower. Her hair would get all straggly and tangled looking, and her skin always wrinkled so easily under the hot water – not an appealing picture. She snuck down the hall for a quick shower, before finally turning in, exhausted but happy, and sleeping in the same bed as the previous night for the first time in a week.
Write The Life You Want 
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