Runaway – Ch 14

Pairing: Jared x Reader
Warnings: Underage Drinking 
Tags: surprises, people acting sus, juvenile behaviour, flirt flirt flirtyness
WC: 3.3k

Masterlist

“Hey, kiddo,” Jensen smiled at Y/N/N as she ducked suspiciously around the door. 

“What are you doing here?!” she replied, stunned, coming quickly into the room so Jared could close the door behind her. 

“Nice to see you too,” Jensen scoffed derisively, arms crossed over his chest in a huff, but they both knew he was joking around. Y/N/N rolled her eyes, but came forward for a hug nonetheless. 

“It’s good to see you,” she laughed, wrapping her arms around his middle, like a little girl hugging a teddy bear. “But seriously, what are you doing here?” Y/N/N raised a brow as she pulled away from the embrace. 

“You didn’t think we’d forget your birthday, did you?” Jared answered from behind the pair, smirking proudly at his achievement of keeping Jensen’s visit, and the dinner and drinks Y/N still didn’t know about, a complete secret. She was looking between the men now, dumbfounded. 

“I never told you my birthday…” Y/N/N replied cautiously, suddenly nervous. Had they gone through her stuff and found her license? Had they found out who she was and looked her up? What if they knew everything about her? What if they knew why she ran away?

“It was on your employment papers, I saw it when I had to sign them,” Jared explained casually, and Y/N let out a sigh of relief. 

They didn’t know who she was. 

“Oh, okay, um…” she forced a laugh, still coming down from the rush of nerves. “Mr. Padalecki, you really do need to go meet Quinn before she gets us both fired,” Y/N/N pleaded, remembering the whole purpose of her trip to Jared’s room at the feeling of her phone vibrating in her pocket. 

“You still on that whole Mr. this, Mr. that bullshit?” Jensen laughed heartily, dropping to the couch while Jared rushed around to the side of his bed to find the right clothes for riding. Y/N/N rounded on Jensen sternly. 

“You keep making fun of me and you’ll be Mr. Ackles for the rest of the day, understand?” 

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded gravely, taking his chastisement on the chin, but smirking at Jared as soon as Y/N/N had turned her back on him again. 

“You two hang out here, I’ll meet up with you for lunch,” Jared offered, shoving his feet into his boots clumsily. 

“Oh no, I am walking you there and putting your hand in Quinn’s or CeCe’ll feed me to the horses later,” Y/N/N objected brusquely, frog marching Jared to his door and starting off down the hall. “I’ll come back for you when I’ve dropped him off!” she shouted behind her to Jensen, who was laughing so hard he nearly fell off the couch, watching as the absurd duo disappeared around the corner.

Y/N/N deposited Jared with Quinn, and he gave Y/N/N a guilty smile when he saw just how put out Quinn was to have been forgotten. They both apologised for his tardiness, and Y/N/N retreated with Jared shouting after her that he promised to find her at lunch. 

“What’s happening at lunch?” Quinn asked curiously, her annoyance still palpable. 

“It’s Y/N/N’s birthday,” Jared explained. “I asked Rob in the kitchen to make some cupcakes, so hopefully the crew can sufficiently embarrass her,” Jared laughed at his own joke, and Quinn laughed along with him. 

“That’s very thoughtful of you Jared. Who doesn’t love a bit of trauma for their birthday?” Quinn giggled, leading her horse out of the stable behind Jared and his own mount. 

“She’ll be fine,” Jared scoffed, unconcerned. “Everyone has to be embarrassed a little on their birthday. Plus, that means we can have a nice dinner without her second guessing if the waiters will burst into song at any second.” 

“You’re taking her to dinner?” Quinn asked, looking up from the adjustments she was making to her saddle. 

“Yeah, at this steakhouse in Napa. It’s right on the river, should have a great view.” Jared hoisted himself up on the stirrup and swung into his saddle, then looked over to watch Quinn do the same, making sure she could get up on her own. 

“Just the two of you? That sounds pretty intimate,” she was a little breathless from the effort of pushing herself into her saddle, but she’d made it. Jared wasn’t sure if the put-out attitude in her tone was down to the effort of her activity, or if she was disapproving of his taking Y/N/N out for her birthday. 

“No, my buddy Jensen came down from L.A. last night as a surprise, so it’ll be the three of us,” he explained, nudging his horse forward toward the trailhead. 

“Ooh, okay,” Quinn sounded relieved, and Jared turned to her curiously. 

“Why?” 

“Nothing, it’s just, an actor taking his PA out to dinner at a fancy restaurant,” she shook her head as if to say – I know, I’m being so silly. “People like to talk,” she shrugged, “and I know you hate the paparazzi.” Jared gave her a quizzical look, unsure if he was supposed to be offended by what she was saying, or if he was supposed to be grateful she was looking out for him. 

Y/N/N had wanted to kill Jared three times so far today: once this morning with the Quinn fiasco, then again at lunch when he’d led the whole courtyard in an incredibly off key rendition of Happy Birthday and then proceeded to shove a cupcake in her face. Time number three was right now, when Jared said he’d put a present in her room, and that she needed to get changed for dinner. 

She was standing by her bed, holding a beautiful black dress. The price on the tag had tactfully been removed, but Y/N/N recognised the designer, and this dress was not cheap. She was gonna kill him. 

A quiet knock pulled her from her thoughts. 

“Yes?” She called out, setting down the dress and going to the door. 

“You almost ready?” Jensen’s voice called through, and Y/N/N opened the door to let him in. “You’re not dressed yet!” he said in surprise. 

“Nice greeting,” Y/N/N scoffed playfully, stepping back to let him inside. “Did you have something to do with this?” she pointed accusingly at the designer dress, and Jensen grinned. 

“I might’ve helped a little,” he shrugged, a small smile gracing his lips. 

“Mr. Jensen,” she was exasperated, “this is too much.” 

“Hey, you can get mad at Jared about that, I only bought the booze for tonight,” he held up his hands in mock defense, grinning. 

“Booze? I’m only turning eighteen, not twenty one,”Y/N/N looked over at Jensen disapprovingly. 

“And no one who’s run away from home actually waits until they’re twenty one to get drunk for the first time. It’s time to live a little kiddo,” Jensen smirked, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

“But–” Y/N/N tried to protest, but it was no use. 

“Hey, if you want to actually get Jared on time somewhere for once, you better get changed,” Jensen interrupted her, tapping his watch. She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily but gave up the fight. It wasn’t like she didn’t like the dress, it was beautiful, she just felt guilty accepting such an extravagant gift from someone who had already given her so much. 

Y/N/N picked up the dress hesitantly, looking back at Jensen, who nodded his head encouragingly toward her en suite door. 

“Go,” he smiled. 

The dress really was beautiful. It was simple and classic, nothing gaudy or overly sexy, but Y/N/N still felt sexy in it. She’d never worn anything that made her feel like that before; like she was a grown up. Cracking the bathroom door open just a little, Y/N/N peaked around it. Jensen looked up from his phone when he heard the movement. 

“Alright, come on, lemme see,” he beckoned her toward him, and she swung the door open for her big reveal. Jensen’s face lit up, and Y/N/N felt herself beam at the reaction. “You look awesome, Y/N/N.” 

She let herself smile at the compliment, pushing down the desire to argue out of habit. She did look nice, and she deserved to feel good on her birthday. 

“Can you get the tag off the back?” 

“Sure, c’mere.” 

Y/N/N spun around and let Jensen twist the tag through its fancy ribbon loop securing it to the dress. A knock at the door was followed a second later by Jared poking his head through expectantly. When his eyes landed on the pair of them, Y/N/N saw them go wide. Jared cleared his throat and Y/N/N was suddenly very aware of Jensen’s hands still on her back. She inched away subtly, breaking their contact as Jared came into her room. 

“You look really nice,” Jared smiled at her, but Y/N/N felt like it was a little forced, somehow. 

“Thank you for the dress, Mr. Padalecki ” Y/N/N looked down in embarrassment, still feeling like it was too much, but growing to love it far too quickly to stay angry. “It’s really beautiful.” 

“It’s just a dress, you’re what makes it beautiful.” 

Y/N/N felt herself go hot under Jared’s scrutiny. She had no idea how to respond, but Jared didn’t seem to need an answer. He simply smiled and held his arm out toward the door. “Your carriage awaits, Miss Y/N.” He gave a small flourish and bowed his head, and Y/N/N couldn’t help but laugh, feeling the tension dissipate. She grabbed her bag on her way out the door, and was too far away to hear Jensen whisper to Jared under his breath. 

“You smooth motherfucker.” 

Y/N/N was having one of the best nights she could ever remember having. There weren’t many moments in recent years she looked back on too fondly, but she still remembered her childhood with her father with great affection. Tonight was maybe the first time she’d felt truly carefree, happy she even dared to say, since he’d died. Being with Jared and Jensen was just easy. She fit in with the two of them better than she ever had amongst the girls at school, or the people who worked with her mom and stepdad. 

The restaurant was beautiful – far too extravagant, but when Y/N/N began to comment on how it wasn’t necessary to go through all this fuss just for her, Jensen clapped a hand over her mouth and gave her a faux-stern glare. So, she’d dropped it with a roll of her eyes, but not before she got back at Jensen by smearing her lip gloss over his palm. Jared, luckily, hadn’t noticed any of the exchange, as he was talking to the hostess about getting them a table outside on the deck, overlooking the river. 

The food was incredible so far. Jared and Jensen had been visibly salivating just opening the menu, but Y/N/N was really looking forward to dessert. She was still torn between the chocolate and coconut cream fondue platter, the banana spring rolls with caramel ice cream, or the roasted grape pie and mascarpone sea salt gelato. Jensen landed on the solution easily, and Y/N/N had to admit, it was genius. 

“We’ll each get one of ‘em and share,” he shrugged when she explained her dilemma. 

“I like the way you think, Ackles,” Jared smiled, winking at his friend, raising his wine glass and clinking it with Jensen’s. Y/N/N had stuck to Coke so far. 

“You’re sure you don’t want to try some of the wine, YN/N?” Jared checked as he topped off his and Jensen’s glasses. “We are in Napa, after all, doesn’t get much better than this so far as wine goes.” 

“I uh,” Y/N/N gulped nervously, setting down her soda and eyeing the green glass bottle with apprehension. “I don’t know if I’ll like it,” she finally admitted with an embarrassed grimace. She had tried champagne before at her stepfather’s work functions, and she hadn’t liked it at all. But champagne was supposed to be the nicest wine there was, so that didn’t bode well for the Pinot Noir Jared was currently brandishing her way. 

“Well that’s the point of trying it,” Jared laughed. He set down the bottle and picked up his glass, passing it over to Y/N/N, who took it carefully from his grasp. Their fingers brushed awkwardly as she took the wine glass, and she hoped Jared hadn’t felt her recoil just a little as they touched. 

Carefully, Y/N/N brought the glass to her lips, and Jared watched her closely as she poked her tongue out to taste the wine that splashed to the edge of the glass when she tipped it back. Almost instantly, her tongue shot back into her mouth along with the small gulp of wine she’d lapped up and her face twisted up in distaste. Jared and Jensen burst out laughing as Y/N/N shook her head in disgust and handed the glass back to Jared. 

She reached for her Coke to wash down the sour taste of the wine. Her tongue felt dry and fuzzy after swallowing the alcohol, and she didn’t enjoy the feeling. Y/N/N set her empty soda glass down with an emphatic thud, her arm resting on the table as she still held the glass. 

“So, that’s a ‘no’ to the wine then?” Jensen laughed, taking a gulp of his own. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I like wine,” Y/N/N shook her head apologetically. 

“That’s okay, it takes getting used to,” Jared assured her with a gentle smile, bringing his hand over to hers and covering it with his own. His hand was so big, it covered hers easily. “I’m proud of you for tryin’ though, darlin’,” he smiled, giving her a small squeeze before retracting his hand, and finishing off the last bites of his food. 

Y/N/N looked down at her plate, wishing it wasn’t empty so she could pretend to be doing something right now. She hoped desperately that Jared hadn’t seen any indication of what his touch had done to her, or his words for that matter. Hearing him say ‘I’m proud of you’, even for such a small thing as trying a sip of wine for the first time, awoke feelings in her that she wasn’t ready to examine. 

While she was having her internal crisis, which did go unnoticed by both men, Jensen had flagged down the waiter and put in an order for their three desserts. He quietly managed to inform them that it was Y/N/N’s birthday while he was at it, and upon the accomplishment of his task he gave Jared a short nod, which Jared returned. 

“What was that about?” Y/N/N asked, noticing the exchange. 

“Nothing,” Jensen shrugged nonchalantly, clumsily covering his grin by taking a drink. 

“If you have them sing Happy Birthday to me…” Y/N/N trailed off threateningly. She didn’t have anything good to threaten them with though, and they all knew it. A moment later, her fears manifest in the form of a swarm of waiters, headed by three people carrying candle topped desserts. Jared clapped along with the song while Jensen filmed her disgruntled embarrassment on his phone with a delighted grin. 

“Do you want me to take a picture of you all?” their waiter offered, and Jensen leapt at the idea. 

The sun was just beginning to set, and the golden light from the sky was bouncing off the river up to the restaurant deck they were sitting on. Jared and Jensen left their seats and came to stand behind her chair. They looped their arms around each other’s shoulders easily and bent down to fit in the frame better. Jensen rested his hand on the back of Y/N/N’s chair so Jared didn’t topple him into the still alight desserts. Jared’s hand dropped naturally onto Y/N/N’s shoulder, squeezing gently where he held her, the skin of his fingers too warm against her bare collarbone. 

“Smile!” the waiter instructed, and proceeded to take several photos of the group, before telling Y/N/N to blow out her candles and capturing that on film too. 

“Thanks,” Jared said, handing the waiter a small tip once they’d passed Jensen’s phone back to him. 

“Actually, I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to ask, I didn’t want to bother you,” she blushed, clearly embarrassed. A knowing smile crossed Jared’s eyes. “But, would you mind taking a selfie with me?” she asked Jared, pulling her own phone out and holding it up. 

“Of course, c’mere,” he beckoned her over to his side of the table and posed with his arm around her shoulder for the photo. She thanked him profusely, wishing Y/N/N happy birthday again as she left them all to divvy up their desserts. 

Bellies full beyond reason, all three seemed to push back from the table in unison, Jensen reaching down and patting his stomach contentedly. 

“Who’s birthday is next?” he asked with a breathless laugh. “Because we gotta do this again.” Y/N/N and Jared laughed too. 

“It really has been such an amazing night,” Y/N/N smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Padalecki.” She saw Jensen roll his eyes but she ignored him. 

“You are most welcome, Miss Y/N,” Jared grinned, picking her hand up from the table and leaning forward to brush his lips gently across her skin. They both pretended not to notice how she shivered as he did. “But, the night isn’t over yet. C’mon,” he pulled her up from the chair and swung her around the table towards the door. 

“You two probably shouldn’t be driving anywhere,” Y/N/N giggled as they made their way back to the parking lot, thanking the wait staff again as they passed them on their way out. 

“We’re not driving, we’re walking two buildings over,” Jared pointed the direction he meant, and between the restaurant and the end of the street she recognised the hotel they had been at with the cast and crew last night. The one she’d seen Jared at after he’d told her he was having a quiet night in. 

“Why are we going to that hotel?” she asked curiously, uneasy at the memory of Jared’s deception, which she’d entirely forgotten about until this reminder of it.  

“Because that’s where my room is,” Jensen explained, pulling a key out of his pocket and waving it before her face. 

It all made sense now. Jared had been at the hotel with Jensen, and he hadn’t told her where he was because Jensen coming down for her birthday was a surprise. He’d had no way of knowing she’d see him there, he hadn’t known where they were going out. The heaviness in her heart that had started to dampen her evening lifted immediately. 

“And what’s in your room that’s so special?” she asked curiously. Surely they weren’t staying the night there, there wouldn’t be enough space for all three of them to sleep – and she and Jared hadn’t brought a change of clothes. 

“Alcohol,” Jared answered with a wry smile. 

“Told you, I bought the booze for tonight,” Jensen grinned. “Y/N/N, we’re gettin’ you drunk.”