The Problem With Jared (JP/JA, Supernatural RPS) R/NC-17
Title: The Problem With Jared
Author: keepaofthecheez
Characters: JA/JP, J², Padackles, Those Two Hot Fuckers From Supernatural.
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 3, 597
Disclaimer: I could own them…if I wanted to… *mutters*
Summary: Jared reads bad things about himself online. Jensen blows him.
Notes: This happened after a really miserable day where I read at least FIVE different people on my flist maligning poor Jared for absolutely no reason. Laaaaaame. Seriously, it made my heart ache, and then Jensen whispered in my ear that he wanted to make it all better.
Also, I totally lifted a line in here from a comment by the illustrious and awesome moonythestrals on my In Defense of Jared Post .





The problem with Jared Padalecki was that everything that happened to him affected Jensen. Professionally, personally…anything and everything in between.

It had been that way since the very beginning.

Jensen had walked on-set cool, aloof…and staggered home with visions of dark, grinning eyes and dimples. There was just something about Jared that incited bone-deep loyalty in everyone he met, and Jensen was by no means immune.

Chris would say Jensen just needed to fuck Jared and get it out of his system, because that was Chris’s answer to everything. Little would he know there was a ring of truth inherent in the joke.

But that was an entirely different problem.

Right now the problem with Jared was that he was so damned open about his emotions that it made everyone around him susceptible to feeling exactly the same, and the miserable expression currently coloring his co-star’s face had Jensen’s stomach taking a nose-dive to the bottom of his feet.

He hesitated just inside Jared’s trailer, shoving his hands inside the pockets of his jacket and staring at Jared’s listless form sprawled out on an ancient couch that was about three sizes too small for Jared’s overgrown body.

Oh, this was not good.

Clearing his throat, he tried for an upbeat expression just in case he was wrong and Jared was just really…tired or something. “Hey, you ready? Makeup’s looking for us.”

Silence echoed his statement for several long seconds, until Jared finally lifted his gaze to Jensen. Hurt glimmered in those brown eyes, and he slumped even further into the couch, shaggy bangs falling forward to shadow his expression.

Jensen’s concern thickened, the smile sliding from his lips as horrible scenarios began to play out in his mind. What the hell could have happened to make Jared look like that?, and more importantly…whose ass was he going to have to kick?

“Jared?” he tried again, taking a step closer as worry softened his tone. “Hey…what’s up?”

A rough sound came from Jared’s throat, and then he looked away. “It’s the fucking Internet, man.”

Of all the things in the world Jensen had been worrying about…Jared’s family, his dogs, fucking Chad for Chrissake…the Internet?

He blinked. “Come again?”

Abruptly, Jared came to life, springing off of the couch and lumbering across the trailer to grab his laptop. Flopping back onto the couch, he made an impatient gesture for Jensen to join him. Jensen complied, absolutely baffled.

Sinking into the spot beside Jared, he glanced over to find his friend surfing a random television message board. Jared tilted the screen toward him, jaw locked tight as he thrust a finger vaguely at the bottom of the page. Jensen leaned forward, brow quirking at some of the titles of the threads, the topics ranging from the passive to the flamboyant.

He clicked through about ten different posts debating upon whether or not he and Chris Kane smoked up together, whether or not Chad Michael Murray’s newest fiancee would outlast the honeymoon, and then…he saw it.

Jared got up and began pacing the room, and Jensen could read the frustration in every line of his co-star’s body. Flicking his eyes back to the laptop, he scanned the discussion in question with a mixture of surprise and irritation.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered, clicking the mouse to move to the next post. “Jared isn’t good enough for Jensen? What the hell does that even mean?”

“I know, man,” Jared said, sound depressed and forlorn. “They hate me, Jen, and I don’t even know why. I mean, I’m a nice guy, right?”

That was a bit of an understatement. In fact, Jensen often took heat from the press for not being as open and friendly with the public as Jared was. Jared always had a kind word and a moment for everyone he met, whereas Jensen much preferred to keep his privacy and let Jared be the front-runner at the show’s publicity events.

Feeling his anger begin to rise, Jensen slowly sat back and closed the laptop, turning his attention back to where Jared stood staring out the trailer window. “Jare, man, you know all that shit’s just that, right? Bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit, Jensen,” Jared snapped. “It’s what people think.”

“Not anyone who matters,” Jensen mumbled beneath his breath, fingers curling into fists as he studied the wounded expression coloring Jared’s features.

The problem with Jared Padalecki that separated him from ninety-nine percent of the acting population, was that Jared genuinely cared about people and what they thought. If someone didn’t like him, he took it personally and fretted over it until he could figure out a way to solve the problem.

For God’s sake…saying anything bad about Jared was like kicking a small puppy. Fucking sick bastards.

Jensen tried to play it off, letting out a light laugh and shrugging his shoulders as Jared’s teeth ground together to the point that Jensen feared he saw tiny flecks of enamel flying in the air around Jared’s head. He was to quick to add, “It comes with the territory, man. You know that. Don’t let it get to you.”

“Yeah? I didn’t see your name mentioned, except to say how hot your ass is.”

“Well, at least they got something right,” Jensen joked lamely. Jared twisted his head and glared, and Jensen heaved a sigh. “Look. You think I don’t get my fair share of this crap? I was on a fucking soap for four years.”

Jared snorted softly. “Yeah, and everyone probably looooved you.”

“Right,” Jensen answered in the same ironic tone. “Do you have any idea who watches soap operas, Padalecki?”

“My mom?” Jared deadpanned, propping his hip on the window ledge. The movement rucked up the hem of his shirt past his navel, and Jensen’s eyes immediately snapped there. And held.

“Teenage girls,” he corrected, voice taking on a distracted edge as he struggled to tear his gaze away from the muscled strip of tanned waist. “Lots of teenage girls. Girls who like to gossip.”

“If this is about you cheating on Jessica Simpson or whatever back then—”

“Jesus,” Jensen choked, snapped right out of his almost-daze. He dragged his palm down his face, swallowing a laugh. When he looked up again, there was a hint of exasperation in his eyes that he couldn’t hide. “Moving on from that, I’ve been in the same place you are. Not everyone’s gonna like the work you do. And they’ll attack you over it, and rip you to shreds if you let them. So, don’t. Easy as pie.”

Jared still looked uncertain, all but wringing his hands together as he gazed back at Jensen. The situation would have actually been quite hilarious, had it involved anyone other than Jared. As it was…Jensen suffered from an irrational urge to choke anyone who so much as breathed the wrong way around his friend.

He’d always prided himself on a certain sense of detachment from his co-stars and colleagues, even the ones he hung out with on a regular basis. He enjoyed the company of guys like Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum, but he wouldn’t plow through a tidal wave of squealing fangirls to defend their honor. And yet here he was all but ready to dive in headfirst. For Jared.

Jared was still talking, completely oblivious to the schmoopy thoughts warring inside Jensen’s mind. “I just…if it was just character stuff, I’d be fine with it.” Barely taking a breath, he rushed on, “I know Dean’s funnier than Sam…whatever. But this wasn’t about Sam, Jensen. It was about me.”

Jensen nodded supportively like he was supposed to, listening to Jared rant and moan about the things faceless strangers were possibly saying about him, and all the while his thoughts were taking a completely different direction.

Because, the problem with Jared was that he used his entire fucking being to express himself. Flapping hands, waving arms, wiggling eyebrows…it should all look absolutely ridiculous, and yet it didn’t. At least, not to Jensen.

Instead, Jensen just noticed that every time Jared flailed about to punctuate a statement, the wash-worn shirt he wore tightened in interesting places. That every time Jared turned to pace in a different direction, denim snugged tight across his ass and—

“Jensen?”

He blinked, flicking his gaze away from questionable areas on Jared’s person. “Huh? No, what were you saying?”

Jared’s face fell, and he leaned back against the wall in a huff. “Great. You think I’ve lost my mind, too, don’t you?”

Too? Jensen blinked again, still half-preoccupied with the images of Jared his sick and twisted mind had concocted. Clearing his throat, he opted for sarcasm in the hopes that it might disguise the thickness in his voice. “You had a mind? Huh. I thought you were all arms and legs.”

“Funny,” Jared drawled, and Jensen just grinned.

“Come on,” he wheedled, slapping the empty spot beside him. “If you’re really that upset about it, let’s just register under some secret names and post crap about Chad. Change the subject.”

Jared sent him an exasperated look, although a glimmer of humor lurked in his eyes. “Dude. I like Chad.”

“Oh, right.” Jensen pretended to be disappointed, because it was expected. He flashed a grin. “Mike, then.”

“As tempting as that sounds…” Jared trailed off in a dry tone, although he did cross the trailer and come to sit beside Jensen. Palms resting on his thighs, he stared at some unreadable point, and then dropped his head with a sound of disgust. “God. I wish I could stop fucking thinking about it, you know?”

Jensen knew. He’d been in the game longer than Jared, but he hadn’t forgotten his own experiences. The insecurity that came with every new gig he got. Coming into an already established environment, always having to play catch-up.

He’d been lucky enough to land decent co-stars for the most part, so jealousy and elitism hadn’t been so much of a problem, but it still sucked to be The New Guy every damn time. And he’d had his fair share of teasing about it, harmless as it was. His skin had been well-thickened by the time he’d found himself in Vancouver.

Jared, on the other hand, had had the luxury of insulation. Jensen couldn’t keep track of how many times he’d heard Jared gush about his time on Gilmore Girls and how close they all were, how well they all got along, and how he couldn’t have asked for a better setting just getting started.

Apparently, they’d also sheltered him from most of the horrors that came along with the job.

Jensen could remember his initial amusement at Jared’s almost rabid fascination with the online fandom when they’d started Supernatural, how he’d spent hours surfing the ‘Net for any and all mentions of the two of them. Voting for himself in goddamn “Whose Hotter?” polls.

Jensen had fleetingly worried about Jared’s involvement, mild as it was, in that aspect of the fan community, but had brushed it off thinking that Jared was just having fun and not taking any of it seriously.

And now that was coming back to bite him in the ass.

He glanced back over at Jared’s profile, debating with himself over which approach to take. He could laugh it all off, try to joke and tease Jared out of his emo-kick. There was a pretty good chance that would work, considering that Jared’s default mood was mind-numbingly happy.

His eyes drifted lower, and that same familiar ache started a slow burn inside of him. His fingers twitched, and he started to wonder if he’d gone absofuckinglutely insane. Because that was the only valid reasoning behind the idea bubbling up inside of him.

“Maybe I’m just stressed out or something,” Jared was saying, and Jensen jumped in surprise at the deep voice in his ear. “Because of Sandy, or whatever. But I mean, it’s been months and I haven’t even…I don’t feel like that’s the problem. I’m pretty sure I’m over it.”

Jensen gave the hell up. Maybe he was channeling Christian fucking Kane, or maybe he had lost his mind. But whatever the reason, he was being presented with the freaking best setup in the world, and damned if he wouldn’t take it on a test-drive.

“There is one thing that can make it better,” he heard himself say, felt his lips shaping the vowels, and was amazed his voice didn’t tremble. Whether out of excitement or anxiety, he couldn’t have said. “You need to get laid.”

Jared blinked at him, then let out a short laugh. “Yeah, okay, Chris.”

Jensen shook his head, half-turning to regard Jared through serious eyes. “Hey, if you’re stressed, you need an outlet, right?”

Jared’s eyes scanned his features, another laugh sort of wheezing out between his lips. “Jen…you’re not gonna try to set me up with someone, are you? Because lemme tell ya, no offense, but I’m not really interested in…”

Jen lifted a brow, knowing exactly where this was going. And yet he couldn’t help but feel slightly amused. God, Jared had no fucking clue.

“…you know,” Jared finished, flushing slightly as he made a vague hand gesture. “We just go for different types, is all, man.”

Jensen really, really hoped that wasn’t true.

“And besides,” Jared continued, “Eric said we’ll probably be filming ‘til morning, so I’ll still be wound up until then anyway.”

Jensen opened and closed his mouth. Now that the moment of truth was here, he was feeling slightly hysterical. He had absolutely no idea what Jared’s reaction was gonna be, and there was every chance he was about to blow every good thing he had going for him just because he was a horny bastard with a crush on a co-star that he couldn’t seem to get the fuck over.

“Not necessarily,” he began, holding Jared’s perplexed gaze as his pulse started to pound. “I was thinking more of the here and…now variety.”

Jared blinked, puppy-dog eyes huge and confused. And then, he laughed. “Oh, yeah…right. You’re hilarious, Jensen.” He punctuated this comment with a dramatic eye roll and slapped Jensen on the back.

Jensen thought about screaming. “Yeah…hilarious. Except for the part where I’m totally serious.”

Jared’s laughter died a quick death, and Jensen felt his friend’s body go stiff beside him. “…What?”

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

Well, as Mike liked to quote, the shit hath hitteth the fan…ith.

He shrugged, unable to drag his gaze away from Jared’s face, where various expressions were all fighting for dominance across his features. “Look, it was…it was just an idea. Forget it, all right? You ain’t interested, fine.”

Christ. Now his Texas was coming out. And Jared would definitely notice, and know what it meant.

“Jensen.”

“Forget it,” Jensen repeated, voice harsher than he intended. He shook his head, laughing at the fact that he’d just made a complete ass out of himself. “See you later, man.”

He moved to stand up, ready to beat it the hell out of there and spend an hour in some makeup artist’s chair as she tried to tame the flush staining his cheeks. He took one step, and then a heavy hand fell on his arm.

He jerked, looking over to find Jared staring up at him, nostrils flaring.

“Are you seriously serious?” Jared’s tone was strained, and he didn’t seem to care about the redundancy of his question.

“Nah, man. I was just fucking with you. Trying to get your mind off this shit, you know?” Jensen cracked a smile, nearly jumping out of his skin with the desire to get the hell out of that trailer before he did something stupid. Well, something else stupid.

Jared waited a beat, and then nodded almost imperceptibly. “Okay.”

Jensen let out a breath he hadn’t even been aware he was holding, unsure whether or not he was relieved or disappointed. Probably both. Nodding as well, he backed away and said, “Okay. Great.”

He turned away again, and Jared’s hand tightened. Jensen stared down at his wrist, absently noting how much darker Jared’s skin was against his own – good God, the guy fucking tanned - and wondered if this was what Hell was like.

“No. I meant…” Jared hesitated, and then pulled a face. His voice softened, so much that Jensen had to strain to hear his next comment. “Okay.”

And something inside of Jensen burst into a million hopeful, disbelieving pieces. Acting purely on the adrenaline coursing through his body, he got right up in Jared’s personal space and waited for some kind of flinch or sign that Jared most definitely wasn’t fine with the situation.

Instead, Jared just cocked his head and kind of…breathed, eyes traveling up and down Jensen’s body like he was taking fucking inventory. And because it was Jared, Jensen could practically hear every thought going on in his friend’s brain like they were being broadcasted over a loudspeaker.

Since Jared was still sitting on the couch, the most Jensen could do was kick those long legs apart and fall to his knees. Jared made some kind of noise Jensen couldn’t interpret, but it didn’t sound like “Get the fuck away from me, queer”, so he reached out and tugged Jared’s hips closer to the edge of the couch. “No taking it back now.”

“No,” Jared answered faintly, then flushed. “I mean, okay. I mean…Jesus Christ, Jen…”

Jensen stared straight into Jared’s dazed eyes, fingers nimbly working at Jared’s buckle. “I’m gonna suck you off. You know that, right?”

“Uh….”

Jensen had to grin. He wasn’t generally one for talking while fucking around, but he’d waited so long to get his hands on Jared, and now he couldn’t shut the hell up, it seemed. “Relax. I’ve done this before.”

Jared groaned and let his head fall back against the couch. “I don’t think I wanna know.”

Jensen thought about telling him that he’d never wanted to do this for someone as much as he did for Jared, but that was crossing the line into a level Jensen wasn’t sure either of them were ready for at that particular moment. Get off first, and then they could talk about…whatever.

When he finally had Jared hot and heavy in his hand, Jensen looked up to find his friend gazing down at him, muscles straining and teeth bared. It was obvious Jared was trying not to look to anxious about the situation, but being Jared, was failing miserably.

His hips bucked as Jensen ran his thumb across the head of his cock, and the corners of Jen’s mouth lifted. Oh, yeah. This was worth every minute of monumental torture Jared had unknowingly put him through over the past months.

He took a moment to enjoy the picture Jared presented at that moment; eyes heavy-lidded and heated, fingers clenched into fists at his sides. Legs spread wide apart for Jensen’s shoulders. And of course, Jared’s dick…hard and waiting for Jensen’s mouth.

“Jensen,” Jared whined between his teeth, and really, who could deny that plea?

The second his tongue touched, Jared almost leaped off of the couch. His hand fell to Jensen’s head, fingers curling to keep him in place. Like Jensen was planning to go anywhere.

“Jen, fuck…” Jared sighed, and there was a gritty, dirty quality to his voice that affected Jensen like a punch in the gut. Jared’s hips began a slow roll, riding Jensen’s mouth as that voice continued saying things…fucking insane things that made it hard for Jensen to keep from reaching down and relieving some of his own tension.

Of course, in the end that’s exactly what happened. And as Jensen kneeled there, his dick in his hand and Jared’s snug in his mouth, he didn’t bother to stop and think about what Chris would think. Or what Tommy might say. The only things running through his mind were “fuck” and “Jared” and “nownownow”.

Jared was moving faster now, a longsuffering groan on his lips as his fingers pulled at the hair on Jensen’s scalp. When he froze, muscles locking, Jensen thought about pulling away, but there was really no time before Jared was coming in hot bursts down Jensen’s throat.

The fact that Jared yelled his name like a two-dollar whore was reason enough for Jensen to forgive him, and his hand jerked harder at his cock, eyes glazing over as he came all over his fingers.

“Oh, man, I’m sorry, I…” Jared trailed off, looking embarrassed and gratified at the same time.

Jensen couldn’t help but tease him, taking a moment to pause and smack his lips together. “Tastes like chicken.”

Jared blinked, and then guffawed loudly, lifting his hips to tuck himself back in his pants. “You’re a friggin’ jerk.”

“Yeah, well.”

Jared smiled, a different sort of smile than Jensen had ever seen him offer. “That was…”

“It was nothing, man,” Jensen played it off, already compensating for the awkwardness that was sure to follow now that things had been “taken care of”, so to speak.

But Jared just tilted his head, that odd gleam still in his eye. “No, I wanna return the favor.”

Jensen’s head snapped up, and upon glimpsing the seriousness in Jared’s expression, his heart began to thunder in his ears. He felt the grin stretching across his lips, saw the answering one on Jared, and really there was only one thing to say. “Well, all right.”

Because the problem with Jared Padalecki was that once he had you, he didn’t like to let go.

But at least this was a problem Jensen could wholeheartedly get behind.