Chapter 4: Snapshots of Love
"There are a thousand things I would say to you,
A thousand ways I could show how you give me bliss.
But there is nothing more true,
Than saying how much I love you with a kiss."
Now it wasn't just because of Jared that Jensen was scared shitless about going back to the Moonstar diner. No, he also hadn't gone to work for four days and he was pretty sure that he had lost his job. Jeffrey, the manager had probably hired someone new and would tell him that he wasn't welcome there anymore, but Jensen knew that Jared be waiting there at night for him, so as Jensen stood outside of the diner, he steeled himself for what was awaiting him.
As he pushed the door to the diner open, there was a boom of 'JENSEN!''s and he was almost knocked over by Chas, Jeffrey and a few other people. He was stunned for a moment, his heart began to pound and he broke out into a cold sweat. Too many memories of the rape of group orgies raced through his mind. As his friends stepped back, Jeffrey clapped Jensen on the back and put an arm around his shoulders.
"Jensen, m'boy, I was worried about you," he boomed, kind eyes searching Jensen's face.
Jensen smiled a little, trying to find his voice, but Jeffrey chuckled gruffly at him and old him to come into his office. As Jeffrey lead Jensen into the back of the diner, Jensen managed to glance over at the table where Jared and him had sat at and stopped. Jeffrey came to a halt and looked at Jensen then followed his line of sight to where Jensen was staring at. He laughed and tugged Jensen along, "All in good time," he murmured.
There was a 'Reserved from 10 P.M. onwards' sign plastered to the wall next to the table.
In Jeffrey's office. AC whirring happily and a table neatly stacked with papers and files. Jensen sat down in front of Jeffrey and instead of Jeffrey going to his seat behind the table, he took the seat next to Jensen and smirked at Jensen.
"So," he began, "you weren't at work for four days and now you show up here as bold as brass. I'm guessing you've come here to grovel and plea for your job back, Jensen?"
Jensen's breath hitched a little and he clenched his hands to his knees a little. Tell me what you want. Give in to me. Moan for me. Take it all you little slut.
Jeffrey saw Jensen's expression change to one of pure fear and he quickly tried to amend himself. "Boy, I'm just joking," he said and Jensen's shoulder drooped a little, "I wouldn't ask you to do something like that."
Jensen managed a smile and sniffed a little. "I'm sorry, Jeffrey," he said and looked down, "I understand if you want t-to cut my pay for a while or something."
"Cut your-… Jensen, I'm just glad I didn't read in the paper that they found your dead body in a river!" Jeffrey said in a kind voice, causing Jensen to look up at the man. Jeffrey was a good man, always joking and laughing but he was a hard manager when he had to be. All in all, he was the closest that Jensen ever had to a father figure. "Boy, you listen to me and you listen hard. There'll always be a place for you here, any time you need it," Jeffrey said squeezing Jensen's arm a little.
Jensen's tear ducts were working overtime already, but as Jensen leapt into a hug, tears came streaming down his face. Jeffrey was surprised by the reaction, but he hugged Jensen back. He knew that the young man had been through a lot, but he just didn't know what. He saw it in the way Jensen shied away from people sometimes, or how he would look down and suddenly become submissive. He saw it in the way Jensen's hands would tremble a little when he served food to someone that looked like they were having a bad day. He saw it when Jensen would let people speak over him or how he would quietly observe others with a slightly longing and confused look on his face.
He let go of Jensen and looked away, giving Jensen some privacy to clean up his face. Jensen wiped the tear away with his sleeve and cleared his throat, "sorry," he said and Jeffrey looked back at him and shook his head. "don't worry about it," he said.
"Now Jensen, I'm gonna give you your old job back, but I'll make some changes in your schedule, alright?" Jeffrey said and Jensen cocked his head to the side with confusion.
"Why is that, Mr Jeffrey?" Jensen asked.
Jeffrey stood up and opened his door to the office. "Jensen, you're seeing someone now and that someone is Jared-bloody-Padalecki, if I don't give you more time with someone like him, people might start thinking I'm a slave driver."
Jensen's eyes widened, "Sir," he said, "I'm not seeing him like that. We're just friends. And I can accept the time off and the same pay, it would be unfair and unethical to the others. Chastity works and studies and she could use the free time to work on her assignments, Brenda has three kids and she should be given more time to see them; she works three jobs just to support them!" Jensen got up from the chair and smiled at Jeffrey. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Jeffrey, but I don't need it. Give it to Brenda and Chas, please, sir."
Jeffrey huffed out a chuckle and shook his head. "Jensen, Jensen, Jensen, if there were more people like you in the world, I think we would stop worrying about world hunger," he laughed and patted Jensen on the shoulder, "I'll give it to them, okay?"
Jensen smiled brilliantly and Jeffrey couldn't help but shake his head at the child-like innocence in that smile. He lead Jensen out to the main diner and Jensen stopped again, head turned to the table again. "Why…?" he began but Jeffrey grinned at him.
"Now, that little sign happened because of you," he said and Jensen gave him yet another confused look. "Jared had been coming in for two nights and quite the little posse had gathered outside already. He took that seat every night, but these groups of girls kept trying to… well hit on him. So I put that sign up there on the third night and I told him that no one'll disturb him anymore. But still, you get your odd girl or ten coming in and pretending to be a customer." He looks at Jensen's apologetic face and points a finger at him, "don't you go off apologizing now, business has doubled and I even hired a new waitress. I just wanna see my staff happy, and I know for a fact that he makes you happy, Jensen, so there." Jensen blushed a little and Jeffrey shrugged, "besides, he tips real good."
Jensen nudged Jeffrey a little and smiled at the man. "Thank you, Mr. Jeffrey," he said and Jeffrey told him not to worry about it. "You can work the night shift tonight, alright?" he said and Jensen nodded, "That way, once you get off, loverboy'll be waiting for his prince already." Jensen blushed furiously, earning a booming laugh from Jeffrey.
Jensen enjoyed the night shift for three reasons: 1. He liked the quieter time, he felt that the people that came had interesting stories to tell. 2. He loved the night. It was the most romantic thing to see the moon and the stars. 3. It was peaceful.
However, tonight, he was beginning to get a little flustered, ironically, for three reasons. 1. It was NOT quiet. At all. People came bustling in and out, hordes of teenage girls, laughing and flipping their hair. 2. The night was being taken over by the media. The scattered flash from a camera or a question from what was a customer turned tabloid writer. 3. The peace was broken with waitresses filling in orders, the cooks shouting out the readied plates of food and the white noise of conversation.
Jensen moved quickly, not making eye contact with people, serving order fast and ducking questions. Chas, who was working the night shift with him asked him if he was okay in regular intervals and he always said that he was okay, but in truth, he was far from even the thought of okay. He couldn't handle the crowd, the noise, the constant buzz. All he wanted to do was to huddle up in a corner or to run back to his apartment and lock the door behind him. But he didn't.
A little after 10 P.M, Jensen was working the dish-cleaning when there was a sudden roar of noise which startled him, making him jump where he was standing. People were screaming Jared's name, calling out that they loved him and Jensen went cold inside. He knew that Jared was coming, but he didn't realize that he would have practically the whole media world on him. He stood beside the giant sink, wishing he could just drown himself in it when Chas came to the back and smiled widely at him.
"Jared's here!" she squeal and shook him a little, "d'you wanna go see him now, Jensen?"
He shook his head, turning back to the sink. "N-not now," he said hoarsely, "too… m-many people…"
Chas came close to Jensen and stroked his back, "It's okay, Jen, we'll get you to him somehow." Before Jensen could reply, Jeffrey came in and smiled at Jensen. "Jen, your boyfriend is here, and he doesn't know you're here."
Jensen swallowed and looked down. "I… can't do this," he said.
Chas and Jeffrey exchanged a worried look. "Why not?" Chas said, looking concerned.
Jensen looked up at them and licked his lips before taking a plate and scrubbing it a little. "I don't know what to say to him. I hurt him and he's not gonna forgive me." Jeffrey narrowed his eyes and walked up to Jensen and smacked the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?" Jensen exclaimed, wincing and rubbing his head a little.
"Boy, sometimes you're dumber than a sack of potatoes, y'know," Jeffrey said but his face softened, "Jared doesn't want your sorries, Jen, he wants you. He doesn't need you to fumble around with words like normal, he just wants you to be yourself. If you haven't realized already, Jen, you've got him wrapped around you."
"Jensen, it's true," Chas added, "He's been asking me about you; where you've been, how you are, whether you're even interested in him anymore. I couldn't even answer him except to tell him that you'll always be interested in him."
Jensen choked out a laughed and smiled at them, putting all his love for them into his eyes. "Thanks guys," he said and wiped his hands on his apron. "I'll go and see him when I get off okay?" Jeffrey smacked him again, "You'll march your pretty face out there now and see him," he said.
Jensen shook his head and tried to back up, but he ended up with his back against the frozen foods fridge. "N-no, Jeffrey, I'm not presentable." Jeffrey looked at Chas and she stepped forward. "Here," she said and swiped his brow and nose with a tissue and carefully moved his hair a little to get the small wisps of hair out of his face. she stepped back and smiled at Jensen. "Go, Jen, he's been waiting for you for so long already."
Jensen looked at the both of them, trying to find some excuse to wiggle himself out of it, but finally, he sighed and stepped forward. "Okay…" he said uncertainly. Jeffrey stood on the right side of him, Chas on the left and he felt a little better having them next to him.
They walked through the kitchen together and when Jensen was almost to the front, he turned, giving in to his nerves, but Jeffrey caught him and whipped him around, "You can do this, Jensen," he said quietly and Jensen whimpered a little when he saw a few flashes of light go off.
Slowly, he stepped through the kitchen and walked to the front. There were so many people around that Jensen was sure that Jared wouldn't see him, but Jared glanced up from his mug of coffee and his eyes caught Jensen's. Jared's expression changed, his eyes growing wide and mouth parting a little, he jumped up from his seat, causing people to turn and look in interest and Jensen saw out of the corner of his eye that several camera's shot up, trailing Jared.
Jared walked over to Jensen and took his face into his hands. "You took your time, huh?" Jared said and smiled.
Then he leaned down and kissed Jensen.