Archive of Our Own ^beta

Title: Lies to Love

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“- you are twenty-five years old, JT… don’t you think we’ve allowed you to do your own thing long enough, Baby?”

Yeah, right; as though reminding him of his single status and pushing every ‘eligible’ girl at him could be considered being allowed to ‘do your own thing’.

Jared scowled and glared at the phone- why was his mother so intent to see him married and settled?!

“Oh Sweetheart… I’ve gone and upset you again, haven’t I?” His mother’s voice crackled through the line, “I’m so sorry…”

“No, no; Mom… It’s –it’s okay. I’m not upset,” -As if-“And… and I guess you are right…”

Oh God; why did that woman have the power to make him say whatever she wanted???

“I- We’re not going to rush you  JT; take as much time as you need…”

“Th-thanks, Mom.”

A pause, then, “But I still think you could come over this weekend and meet Genevieve. I’m not saying you have to marry her or anything; just… I think she’s perfect for you, you know?”

“She’s not!” Jared burst out, at the end of his tether, “None of them are, Ma. And you know why? It’s because they have the wrong parts!”

Oh God…Oh God… Oh God…Why the hell did he have to say that? Dammit!

“Are you saying you… like like boys, JT?”

There really was no way out of this, was there?

Jared sighed, “I… I guess I am, Mom. I’m sorry…”

“No,” His mother interrupted, “You have nothing to be sorry about, Baby. It’s perfectly alright, okay? Mommy still loves you.”

“Thanks, Mom.” He whispered, love swamping him for this infuriating woman who could never find any fault in him. “Wh-what about…?”

“You father?” His mother guessed astutely.

“Uhm. Yeah.”

“He’s not going to hate you either, son. I promise. You don’t love someone for twenty-five years and suddenly stop; alright? He’s going to be okay with this as well. Don’t you worry.”

“That’s- ...thanks, Mom.”

He closed his eyes, just breathing and hearing the soft whispers of breath from across the line over the faint crackle of static. Sometimes, he couldn’t believe how lucky he really was to have been blessed by such supportive parents. He smiled, the sudden disappearance of fear about his biggest secret making him mellow.

“So… is there a boyfriend we don’t know about?” His mother’s voice teased.

His mellowness disappeared like it had never been there.  “What?!” He croaked.

“A boyfriend. You know, that special somebody with the correct parts?”

He groaned, seriously, was his mother even real? Who teased their sons’ about their boyfriends for heaven’s sake?!

“C’mon JT; spill. While I’ve been asking you about girls all this while were you snuggled up with the anatomically correct version all this while?”

“Mom!” He whimpered, scandalized; sure his face was lobster red by now.

“What? You’re telling me you don’t like someone?”

Instantly Jared’s mind supplied him a picture of the emerald eyed perfection of his boss.

“JT?” His mother’s cajoling tone brought him out of his reverie.

“Uhm…”

“It’s that Jensen fellow; isn’t it?”

He gulped. Damn, how DID his mom do that?!

Her chortle told him he didn’t need to answer, “I knew it. Your dad and I always felt you sounded way too biased when you spoke about that boss of yours…”

“Mom…” He whined, wondering if this little lie was going to bite him in the ass. But technically, Jared reasoned, he wasn’t really lying, was he? He was just… not correcting any assumptions.

“Its fine,  JT. I told you, right? I’m not mad. Your Dad as well, okay?”

“Thanks,” He repeated. That ought to keep them off his back for awhile. “Look, I’ve gotta go now, okay?”

“’Course. Just… keep in touch, okay? We miss you, Baby. So much.”

“Miss you too, Love you. Bye!” And he hit the red little power button before she could say more.

“Girlfriend?”

A rich baritone inquired softly and Jared felt his insides heat up at that voice alone. Biting his lip, he turned to face the very person he had been hoping to avoid for at least the rest of the day. He forced a smile to his lips and prayed his colour had gone down. “Mom,” He corrected.

“Oh,” Jensen appeared to be taken aback by his admission, “You guys are close?”

“Like barnacles,” Jared returned, locking his knees when his answer elicited that booming laugh he loved.

“Never quite heard that analogy before,” Jensen admitted, green eyes sparkling.

Jared grinned, “Well, you’d need a crowbar to pry us apart and likely to fail even then.”

“That’s... that’s good.” Jensen told him.

Jared wondered if he heard a faint thread of wistfulness in the words, “Your family?”

The two of them were close, had grown closer by virtue of being the only two males in the library they worked at; but they had kept to safer topics, neither quite wanting to rock the boat.

Jensen shook his head but did not elaborate.

“Oh, umm... I didn’t mean to use work-hours to deal with personal calls; it’s just that no one was here and I-”

“Jared,” Jensen interrupted his rambling, “You know we don’t stand on that kind of ceremony here. As long as none of the customers complain, it’s fine.”

He ducked his head, “Tha-thanks.”

Jared faltered as he returned from his lunch-break and found his mother in his seat. His father was seated in a chair across her and Jensen was perched on the edge of his table. All three were laughing about something. His mother was the first to notice him.

“JT! Where have you been, it’s been ages since we’ve been waiting for you! We were lucky your boyfriend came by to enquire what we were looking for-”

Jared didn’t hear the rest of it, a violent coughing fit hitting him at the word ‘boyfriend’ in Jensen’s presence. Part of him hoped he hacked up a lung and died on the spot because if he didn’t, the embarrassment was sure to kill him.

“Easy darlin’,” A low voice rumbled in his ear and he became aware of Jensen patting his back with one hand, the man’s other pressed against his chest to brace him from where he was trying to curl into himself. He lifted teary eyes to meet vibrant green.

“Better?” Jensen asked, amusement lurking in the depths of his eyes.

It took a moment for Jared to realise that the man was still holding him up. He nodded, crimson flooding his cheeks as he reluctantly moved from the comforting hold... except, Jensen’s finger’s entangled lightly in the back of his shirt and didn’t let go.

He shot his boss a panicked glance- obviously, Jensen wanted an explanation.

“Uh...” He turned to his parents, “Mom, Dad... I thought you were supposed to come in the evening? I would’ve come to receive you-”

“Nah,” his father waved the offer, “Your mom wanted to surprise you; so we took the earlier bus.”

“Oh... ummm; great,” He fumbled, “I’m so surprised...”

Jensen’s fingers fisted tighter in his shirt.

Jared swallowed, “It’s just... ummm... Jensen and I were supposed to look through some files-”

His boss’ eyes widened in surprise, “We were?”

Jared managed to discretely grind his heel on Jensen’s toe making the man yelp in surprise and shoot him a glance before he was nodding vigorously, “Oh, oh yeah. We were. Sorry.”

“So we’ll see you in a bit, alright? Do you wanna head back to the apartment and wait?”

“Nah... we’ll just browse the books till you get done.” His mom answered.

Jared groaned internally but managed to maintain a smile as he nodded, “Okay, then; see you soon.”

He groaned out loud the moment the door closed behind them in Jensen’s office; sliding down the door melodramatically before peering up through his lashes at his boss, “So... am I fired?”

Jensen- the bastard -was actually grinning, “Nope.”

He let out a relieved sigh and gathered himself off the floor, “Thanks, I really appreciate it... and I- I can explain, alright?”

Jensen nodded.

Jared faltered, he’d expected questions and accusations not this indulgent amusement as though he was providing the best entertainment Jensen had had in a while.

Apparently he had hesitated too long because Jensen’s amusement slowly disappeared to be replaced with sobriety. His boss hesitated briefly before asking, “Are you really... you know... gay?”

Jared’s eyes flew up to meet green ones in surprise- he had never really thought of it like that, and never imagined Jensen to be prejudiced but...but.

“Is my sexuality going to affect whether or not I remain employed?”

Jensen shook his head, “No... I’m just trying to figure out if you lied to your parents to get out of your mom’s matchmaking or-”

Jared went tomato red at having been so transparent and Jensen was cutting himself off abruptly to nod, “So it was a lie then.... You’re straight?”

Still blushing, Jared shook his head, “m gay; lied about already being in a relationship with you ‘coz she’d have started hunting for a suitable boy otherwise.”

“They’re in the right place then,” Jensen grinned, green eyes twitching with mirth, “We have stocks of Vikram Seth’s works; don’t we?”

Jared smacked his arm without thinking. “What am I going to do?”

“Depends on what you want,” Jensen returned, reflexively rubbing his arm where Jared had smacked him even though it didn’t actually hurt.
Jared raised an eyebrow, “I’d appreciate some plain speaking right about now.”

Jensen nodded, his back straightening almost imperceptibly as the ‘take-charge’ look as Jared had dubbed it came over him, and “Well... do you want to continue? The- the charade? Or would you rather come clean?”

“She’ll start match-making again if she realizes the truth,”

“The charade it is, then,” Jensen agreed. “What do I need to know?”

“Umm... nothing!”  And at Jensen’s questioning look he continued, “”Seriously, there were no real details... she assumed and I just... didn’t correct her?”

“So we’re taking it slow,” Jensen nodded.

Jared swallowed but nodded, “I guess?”

“Okay. Do we know each other’s places or do we just meet here?”

“Here?” Jared squeaked, hating that Jensen seemed to be more composed about the situation than him.

“Alright-y then. We’ll just play the rest of it by the ear.”

“Jensen,” Jared called when the older man went to turn the lock, “Thank you. Really.”

Jensen winked, “Don’t mention it.”

“When’s Jensen meeting us, JT?” His mother asked as she applied her mascara.

Jared coughed as the sip of beer went down the wrong way at the question. “Ugh... what?”

“Your boyfriend,” His mother returned (Jared wondered if she got some sort of perverse pleasure just from saying that word), “-when’s he meeting us?”

“He’s uh... he’s not,” He managed.

His mother rounded on him with a frown, “Why not? Don’t let us get in the way of young love, JT. Call him. Tell him to meet us at ... what was the name of the diner again?”

Jared swallowed, “Seriously mom, it’s not necessary. Why don’t we do this like old times, huh? Just- just the three of us?”

“Nonsense!” His mother overrode his objections, “That boy’s family too, JT. Or will be soon enough... of course we’d love to have him with us.”

Jared closed his eyes and counted to three, wondering why he’d ever thought of continuing this charade and grudging pulled out his mobile to call his boss. “Hey, Jen?”

“Yeah?”

“Mom and Dad want you to join us for dinner. Nothing fancy; so don’t bother dressing up. .. uh... meet us at Joey’s at eight?”

“The things I do for you, Padalecki,” Jensen grumbled but agreed, “Fine, I’ll be there. You’re paying.”

“Actually, Dad is. But yeah, okay.”

Jensen snorted.

Jared wanted the earth to open up and swallow him when his parents ushered Jensen in the seat next to him, and he probably owed the older man for not getting upset at being interrogated throughout dinner. He was relieved when the evening finally came to a close; eager to escape as he was. ... but then Jensen offered to drop them home and before he could protest his mom had agreed. He gritted his teeth and obediently climbed into the passenger side of the bench seat of Jensen’s impala. His dad, always fascinated by classic cars immediately began sharing his long-term dream of buying one. Fortunately, classic cars seemed to be a topic that his boss enjoyed and was knowledgeable about because soon both men were busy discussing engines and whatnot. He relaxed into his seat letting the soft voices wash over him and had mostly forgotten about the charade by the time they reached his apartment complex.

“Let’s give the boys some privacy, honey; you can question Jensen about the impala at the lake.” His mother’s voice snapped him out of his reverie.

Jared swallowed, hesitantly meeting Jensen’s eyes and squawking in surprise when the older man leaned forward to press a close-mouthed kiss on his lips, vanilla scented breath (from the sundae they’d shared) ghosting over him as he whispered, “Think that convinced her?”

He shrugged, uncertain.

Jensen smiled, “Alright-y then. See you tomorrow at work?”

Jared managed a shaky smile and a nod, wondering whether Jensen really couldn’t hear the way his heart was thundering in his chest or was avoiding drawing attention to it.

“Morning, sweetheart,” His boss greeted, a teasing smile tilting his lips up at their corners as he spied Jared in his usual spot.

Jared nodded morosely.

“What’s wrong, now? Your mom saw through our charade last night?”

“Uh no...” He admitted, “The reverse, actually. My parents fell for it a little too well.”

“That’s good, then.” The green-eyed man grinned.

“They-want-you –to-join-us-for- our –Lake Retreat,” Jared blurted out, the words tumbling over one-another in their haste.

“What?!” Jensen yelped.

Jared looked away. Of course Jensen wouldn’t agree to accompany him. Them. Whatever.

“So I guess I’ve gotta come clean now.” He admitted. “Just don’t know how to tell them.”

“Jay,”

A warm palm curved over his cheek, tilting his head up so that he could meet emerald eyes.

“You can tell them the truth. They won’t blame you or disown you or any of the other situations you’re visualizing. They love you far too much for that. Yes, they might be hurt; but they will forgive you for it eventually.”

He nodded, trying to pull away from the gentle hold that made him want to forget himself and lean into the touch.

“But-”

His eyes snapped to Jensen’s; heart hammering at the flicker of hope.

“But if you want, I could join you... if you want me there.”

“I do,” He whispered. “I really do, Jensen.”

He would just have to remember that this weekend was all a lie and that Jensen was really NOT his boyfriend.

Naturally, things couldn’t go his way.

They had a lovely cabin and everything, but there were only two rooms and his parents, in an effort to prove themselves as ‘progressive’; magnanimously announced that he and Jensen should share one.

After all, they were boyfriends.

The day had been spent swimming and basically having fun and Jared hated how well Jensen seemed to fit in with his family. Even if they faked a ‘break-up’; his parents were going to end up comparing every boyfriend he brought home to Jensen.

As if you won’t-a voice in his mind whispered. He silenced it ruthlessly.

That night, as he stepped into the room he was sharing with Jensen, he found himself relaxing. The bed was big enough that they wouldn’t touch if they didn’t want to and he was sure he and Jensen wouldn’t face any problems on that front.

He paused when he found the older man sitting on the edge of the bed, head lowered as he rested his fore-arms on his knees, fingers twisting idly between them.

“Jensen?”

His boss jumped as though he’d been too lost in his thoughts to notice. “Oh, Jared... Hi.”

 “Is everything alright?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Jensen glanced away before meeting his eyes. Rising and walking to him slowly, “Jay,”

He allowed the older man to bring his hands up and watched as they were cradled in between both of Jensen’s.

“Jensen, what? You’re scaring me, man...”

“I’m sorry,” Jensen whispered.

“About what?”

“I can’t do this.”

Jared swallowed; he had expected that.

“I-... shit man, I’m beginning to forget that this is a charade. That you’re not really mine. ... And- and I’ve got to stop before I do something that ruins our friendship, alright? I’m sorry. I know I’m letting you down. But I can’t do this, Jared.” Jensen continued; uncharacteristically verbose for once as his fears and doubts tumbled out in the silence of the room.

 Jared couldn’t help but look up at that, “You... you mean you want this? Actually-for real- want this?”

Jensen looked pained but he nodded, “I’m sorry. I- I promise I’m not going to put the moves on you. Just...” He shrugged.

“What if I want you to?”

“Why would you?” And he looked genuinely confused. “Dammit, Jared; you’re amazing. Why would you put up with someone like me trying to flirt with you?”

“Because I’ve been a little in love with you since the moment I first met you?” Jared offered, unable to believe that the object of his schoolgirl-ish crush was actually returning his affections.

“So...” Jensen licked his lips and Jared found his eyes straying to those plush lips of their own accord, “Would you consider giving this relationship a go? Actually-for real, this time?”

And Jared let out a spastic giggle at the way Jensen was twisting his own words back at him but he nodded, “I would. I’d love to.”

“Good,” Jensen murmured, leaning up to press a not-quite chaste kiss on his lips before pulling back to gauge his reaction. When Jared simply blinked he cracked a tiny smile, “I really wanted to try that.”

“Me too,” Jared murmured, dipping his head and feeling elated when Jensen obliged.

They would still take it slow, but now he could stop feeling guilty about introducing Jensen as his ‘boyfriend’ to his parents. He had a feeling he would be substituting the word for ‘husband’ soon enough, anyway.