Life For Rent

Chapter 18 : Rident

Author's Notes :
- rident : laughing, smiling, cheerful
- Spoilers for S1E12.
- Some dialogue taken from S1E12 and does not belong to me.
- There's a line in here that I think I stole from my other fic. Lol. Does that count as stealing?

Callen sighed as he walked back into headquarters. It had been a long day and right now all he really wanted was some good food and good company. Both easily acquired by heading over to Jared's house, which he was planning to do as soon as he left.

He stopped when he came upon his team, minus Dom, sitting in the waiting area.

Sam stood up, "We were waiting on you."

A confused look passed over Callen's face, "Why?"

"The team outing, remember?" Sam asked.

Callen closed his eyes briefly. Now he remembered. There went his plans of a quiet evening in with his… Jared.

"Dom made reservations," Eric added.

"Do I even want to know what he chose?" Callen asked. He doubted there was anything that was more appealing than Jared.

"I chose," Hetty interjected, coming up behind him. Callen turned to look at her. "I hope you all enjoy karaoke as much as I do, but if not... deal with it. C'mon." She gestured them out towards the door and started walking away.

"You don't have to," Sam said. Callen had a feeling Sam knew where he had been headed.

"And miss the opportunity to show up your pathetic Mick Jagger impersonation with my Springsteen? Not a chance," Callen answered easily. While he didn't really want to go, he had to set a good example for the rest of his team.

"You? Springsteen? This I gotta hear," Sam remarked.

Callen rolled his eyes and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to text Jared.

Going out with the team.

Coming over after?

Callen thought about it for a second. It might be late.

I'll save you some beef.

Cool.

"Hey," Sam said, loud enough for Hetty to hear. "Why don't you invite him out with us?"

Callen hesitated. "I thought this was a team outing."

Hetty opened the door and waited for them to approach, "I would have no problem with Mr. Dassagne joining us."

Sam grinned at him and Callen sighed, "Alright, I'll ask. No promises."

He stepped out into the parking lot.

Hetty and Sam want to know if you want to come out with us.

Do you want me to come?

Yeah.

Sure. Where?

Callen sent him the address of a karaoke bar on Vine. We're heading over now.

I'll leave in ten. Then it's up to the traffic gods.

Cool. See you then.

Callen slipped his phone back into his pocket and followed Sam to his car. "Should I drive?"

"No way I'm gettin' drunk at a karaoke bar, G," Sam answered.

Callen laughed, "You mean again."

Sam glared at him as he opened the driver side door. "Yes, again."

Opening the passenger door, Callen got in and took his seat, making sure to buckle. "I don't know. I think you did a pretty good Avril Lavigne impression last time."

"You promised you'd never bring that up again," Sam said, starting the car.

"What was that song you sang…? You want to be my girlfriend?"

Sam put the car in reverse and slowly started backing out. "I'm warning you, G. Imma throw you out of this car."

"Nate's behind us. I'm sure he'll stop for me."

"I wouldn't be so sure. If I were him I'd just leave you on the side of the road."

"You'd really just leave me dying?"

Sam turned and glared as he stopped behind Hetty to get out of the parking lot. "No."

"I knew you loved me," Callen grinned.

"Don't push your luck, G."

Callen just kept grinning, "Jared said he'd meet us there." He paused. "He has a little bit of a crush on you, I think."

Sam grimaced, "Your boy-toy has a crush on me? I can beat him up if you want."

"He thinks you're sexy," Callen teased.

"Sexy," Sam repeated in a dead-pan.

"Yeah--the muscles, the cute dimples you have."

"I don't have cute anything." Sam pulled out into the street and they made their way towards the karaoke bar.

"Uh-huh."

"He better not make any moves."

"He's a one man kind of guy," Callen answered.

"He better be."

"I love it when you're so protective."

"Don't push it, G," he warned.

Okay so Jared was nervous. A little more than nervous. He'd already changed his shirt four times. Before ending up with the one he'd had on first.

He'd met all of G's co-workers, true, but this was a different setting. This was informal, this was hanging-out, this was relaxed.

Jared took a deep breath as he turned his car off. He could do this. He got out of the car, locked it, and headed for the entrance of the bar. It was early enough that there wasn't a cover charge.

Jared looked around for G--or any of G's co-workers, really--and couldn't spot them in the crowd. He startled a little when his phone began to buzz in his pocket. He retrieved it and laughed once at the name.

"Where are you?" He said by way of a greeting.

"Keep walking straight and then we're to the left and back a little."

"How did you know I was here?"

"I'm psychic."

Of that Jared had no doubt. His boyfriend was really high on the 'motherfucking awesome' charts. He was pretty sure that G knew a 1,001 different ways to kill Jared with his pinky.

"Keep walking… keep walking… you missed us."

Jared looked around and thought he might have spotted Sam's large figure at a large round booth. He turned left and kept walking.

"What color shirt is Sam wearing?"

There was a pause and then, "Brown."

"What color shirt are you wearing?"

"Blue."

That wasn't at all helpful. Every other person was wearing a blue shirt and the place was just dark enough that brown looked like black, which was the color every one else was wearing.

Jared stopped when he hit a crowd of people on a make-shift dance floor. He looked around again for G.

"I'll come get you, stay put."

The call ended and Jared shoved the phone back into his pocket and tried not too look lost as he waited for his boyfriend to find him.

"Hey."

Jared looked to his right and saw G approaching. A smile slowly stretched across his face at the sight, "Hey."

He walked over to where G had stopped and was waiting for him. When Jared reached the other man, G pulled him into a short but intense kiss that left Jared wanting more.

"We're this way."

G gestured with his hand and Jared followed. He had been right. G's co-workers were all shoved into a large round booth with plenty of room on both sides. G slid in next to Sam and Jared slid in next to him.

A hand settled on Jared's thigh and Jared casually glanced at G. His boyfriend was definitely a little upset about something. G had a smile on his face, but Jared could read past it by now.

"And what can I get for you?" The waitress asked. She smiled at Jared and tilted forward a little, so Jared had a better view of her shirt opening.

Jared tried not to look disgusted. "Coke, please."

"Sure thing." She winked at him and looked at the rest of the table. "Your food will be out shortly."

The table laughed as she walked away, a swish in her hips.

"She totally just winked at you, man," Sam said with a laugh.

"Don't remind me," Jared groaned.

G grinned at him, "Not your type?"

"Definitely not," Jared agreed. He snagged G's drink and took a sip. Then grimaced. "What is this?"

"Roy Rogers," G answered, twinkle in his eyes.

Jared felt his eye twitch. "I think the bartender needs to go back to school."

He took another sip anyways and then pushed the drink back towards G.

"How are you tonight, Mr. Dassagne?" Hetty asked. She sat in the middle of the booth. Nate to her left, next to Sam and Eric to her right, with Kensi across from Jared and G.

"Not bad, and please, it's Jared."

"Jared then," she allowed with a smile. "Are you going to sing tonight?"

Jared glanced nervously at the stage and back to the group, "I'm not sure anybody wants to hear that."

"Don't listen to him," G put in, slinging an arm around Jared's shoulders. "He's a great singer."

"G," Jared groaned.

"You are?" Hetty asked in surprise. "Then I must demand a song."

"I think I would have to be a lot drunker than I'm going to get tonight," Jared told them. "Is everyone singing?"

"I'm not," Eric put in quickly.

"Agreed." Everyone else said at once.

"You don't want to hear him sing," G said, leaning over towards Jared. "It took days to recover."

"Got it."

The waitress came back with Jared's drink, setting it down while leaning over again. Jared leaned towards the side a little as she flaunted herself. "Anything else I can get for you?"

"Uh, no thanks. This is good."

"Well, my name is Melanie," she winked again. "Just let me know."

"I'll do that," Jared told her. She walked away and Jared breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to look at G, "I thought it was pretty obvious that I'm gay."

G had a pensive face on his look and then turned to Sam. "What do you think? Is it obvious?"

Sam spared Jared a glance. "No pink shirts, no earrings, and your voice is kinda deep. It's probably not that obvious."

G turned towards Nate. "Nate? Wanna weigh in?"

Nate examined Jared and Jared flushed a little under the scrutiny. "I'd have to go with Sam on this one, although not because of the clothes. But yeah, not that obvious."

"Hetty?" G asked.

"No comment, Mr. Callen," she said with a smile.

"Eric?"

"Hmm," Eric observed. "I'd actually go with gay."

"Kensi?"

"Definitely straight." She studied him closer. "Although… there's a little bit of something extra."

G turned to Jared with a grin, "The tribe has spoken. Sorry, you definitely pass as straight."

Jared wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, Lindsey would be so displeased."

G laughed, "I'm sure she would. She's worked hard to make you the gay man you are today."

Jared laughed with him and reached for his Coke. When he looked up he found the rest of the table staring at them again.

"G," he whispered loudly.

"Hmm?"

"Why is everyone staring at us?"

"They have no lives of their own," G whispered back, just as loudly so that the rest of the table could hear them. "They're curious."

"Okay."

Under the table, Jared found G's hand and laced their fingers together.

"Where's Dom?" Jared asked.

G shrugged. "We thought he would meet us here, he hasn't shown though."

"Probably has some hot date," Eric put in.

Sam snorted, "Hot date… sure."

Just then a two servers arrived with platefuls of food. They all looked like appetizers to Jared. His suspicions were confirmed when the food went in the middle of the table and a stack of small plates joined them.

"Can I get you all anything else?" Melanie asked, coming up behind the servers.

"Some tobasco sauce," Nate put in.

"Napkins," Kensi added.

"Can I get a refill?" Eric asked, pushing his empty drink forward.

"And some more ranch dressing," Hetty said.

"Sure thing." She walked away.

Jared accepted the plate that Kensi handed him and grabbed G's as the other man was busy perusing the choices. The plates got passed around and Jared took one of everything before passing the plate on. Melanie came back a few minutes later with a tray full of stuff. She set the sauces down, along with Eric's refill and a refill for Sam as well. She set a stack of napkins in front of Kensi before pushing one over to Jared.

"Anything else?"

"I think we're good for now," G said with a smile.

"Just let me know if you need anything else." She faded away into the crowd of people.

G reached around Jared to grab the napkin she had pushed towards him. He read it, snorted, and held it up for Jared to see. There was a phone number and a 'call me, Melanie' after it. Jared rolled his eyes and snatched the number out of G's hands. His boyfriend laughed.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," Jared snapped lightly.

G grinned, "It's pretty funny."

"I don't see the amusement," Jared huffed.

G gave Jared a wide, real smile, true amusement shining in his eyes. He leaned forward and gave Jared a light kiss. "Later you can prove just how gay you are, okay?"

"Hmm," Jared said, not exactly placated.

G kissed him again. "Eat."

"You're lucky I like you, G."

G gave him one last sloppy kiss and then went back to his food. Jared went back to his own and froze when he looked up to find everyone looking at them again. Now he knew why he'd been so nervous about hanging out with G's friends. They were all trained investigators, they all liked to observe and they all seemed to really like observing him and G.

"So when does the karaoke start?" G asked.

"In twenty minutes, Mr. Callen," Hetty answered. "You best have a song picked out by then."

"Oh I already do, Hetty," G grinned. "You'll love it."

"I'm sure," she answered, suspicious.

They continued eating, G finished off Jared's plate and Sam finished off the rest. Kensi shook her head at them mumbling something about men being a bottomless pit for food.

Hetty signaled the waitress and she was there momentarily.

"What can I get for you?"

"Mojito, please."

Melanie wrote that down. "Anybody else?"

"Cosmo," Kensi ordered.

"I'll take a Bud Light," Eric requested.

"Another Coke," Sam said.

"Coors," Nate stated.

She turned to Jared and G. "And for you two? Another Roy Rogers?"

"Let's mix it up. Can I get a Shirley Temple?"

Jared heard Sam snicker as G ordered.

"Sure thing, hun. And for you?" She looked over Jared.

"Water, please."

She collected some of their dirty dishes. "I'll go put those in now."

"We should bring you out more often, man," Sam said to Jared. "We get better service when you're here."

Jared shook his head, "You guys should come out to my restaurant sometime, then you'll see good service."

"Your restaurant?" Kensi asked.

"Jared works at Le Bon Choix," G offered.

"I love their food," Kensi remarked.

"He's head chef," G explained.

"Those apple turnovers you made were amazing," Nate said.

"Thanks," Jared answered.

"You made those?" Hetty asked. Jared nodded. "I must agree, they were quite delicious."

"Nate tried to eat them all," G murmured to Jared.

Nate flushed, "I left some."

"I didn't get one," Sam put in.

"You were late. Early bird gets the worm," Nate defended.

"I didn't get one either," Eric added. "And I wasn't late."

Jared laughed. "I'll make more next time."

The waitress came back with their drinks and Jared barely had time to blink before two hands landed on either side of his face and pulled him down. Jared's lips met G's and Jared moaned lightly as G deepened the kiss, tongue slipping into Jared's mouth.

The world was lost and G was the only thing left. The music faded out, the people talking disappeared… there was just him and G. Jared relaxed into the kiss.

He was panting by the time G pulled back. A smile graced both of their faces and Jared let his forehead rest on G's for a moment as he caught his breath.

Jared had never been one for public displays of affection, beyond the small gestures that he and G already did, and he was pretty sure the same went for G.

"Wow." Jared flushed and pulled back. Kensi was staring at them. "That was kinda hot," she said.

"Not at the table, G," Sam said with a groan.

Everyone else politely chose not to comment.

G grinned, "I think she got the message that you're taken." He reached under the table and found Jared's hand again.

"Yeah," Jared said, still smiling. "I think she got the message."

"I can't believe you kissed me like that in front of your team," Jared said. He turned his head on the pillow to face Callen.

Callen let out a short laugh. "Nothing they haven't seen before. This is LA."

"Still," Jared insisted.

"It made you feel better didn't it?" Callen asked quietly. He reached a hand out and ran it through Jared's hair.

"Yeah," Jared admitted softly. "I didn't expect you to do that though."

"Can't go around letting girls hit on you in front of me."

Jared smiled softly. Callen loved the way Jared smiled. It changed his whole face. His eyes softened and his lips curled up beautifully.

"Thanks," Jared offered.

"No problem." Callen paused. "You can't tell me that hasn't happened before."

"It has," Jared confirmed. "But I didn't want to… be rude in front of your team."

Callen blinked. "I can't even picture you being rude."

"It doesn't happen often."

"Well, feel free to use me in the future," Callen offered.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Callen ran his hand through Jared's hair again and as it reached the end of the blonde strands, Jared reached up and grabbed it. He pressed a kiss to Callen's palm, his breath warm on Callen's skin. Callen felt himself stiffen a little as Jared peppered his hand with kisses.

Jared scooted over closer to Callen before rolling on top of him. He pressed a soft kiss to Callen's lips but pulled back as Callen started to deepen it. Before Callen could protest, Jared was moving down his body.

Jared's mouth engulfed him and Callen moaned a little and moved to let his hands rest in Jared's hair.

He lost himself in feelings. Jared brought him to the edge before taking him down a bit.

When Callen finally opened his eyes it was to see Jared kneeling above him before slowly sinking down onto Callen's erection. Jared leaned forward and moved their bodies together. He was so incredibly gentle with Callen.

Callen loved being with Jared because no one else had ever made him feel so… cherished and accepted. No one else had cared about Callen's level of comfort as much as Jared. No one else had ever made him feel as much.

"G," Jared gasped.

Callen's fingertips dug into Jared's back as he pulled them closer together.

"Jared."

"G… I've… I've got you," Jared whispered. "Let me have you."

"Yes," Callen murmured.

Jared made everything feel so good.

They came together, something that had never happened to Callen before he met Jared. Jared gasped his name and cradled Callen as he came. It was such an intimate feeling; Jared was wrapped around him and holding on tight.

They stayed as they were for a second and Callen slowly caught his breath. Jared slowly pulled off of him but stayed on top of Callen.

"You're so perfect, G." Jared whispered. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

It was something Jared had said before, but no matter how many times the younger man had said it, Callen still thought Jared was a little crazy. It was clearly he who did not deserve Jared.

"Thank you, for letting me have you," Jared said quietly as he rested his head on Callen's chest.

Soon they would shower, but for now, Callen was content to lay there.

"Thank you for keeping me," Callen whispered. He didn't say that no one else ever had. He thought Jared probably heard it anyways.

"Always, G."