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Rome, April 2025
Jensen knows Jared’s every expression and he certainly knows his own instinct to make sure his friend doesn’t overexert himself. Already in the dark taxi from the convention hotel to their own hotel in central Rome, does Jensen expect his younger co-star to admit to himself that he’s done for the day, but it doesn’t happen until they’re in the brightly lit lobby.
“Hey, dude…” Jared rubs the back of his neck, peering at Jensen with impossibly big, shiny puppy dog eyes. “About the group dinner tonight—“
“Yeah, I know,” Jensen claps a warm hand over Jared’s tense shoulder and grins at him. “Way ahead of you, man. Texted the gang already when we left that we’re ducking out.”
“You did?” Jared looks both bashful and relieved and Jensen gently steers the tall man towards the elevators. “You should go though, I heard the restaurant is supposed to be awesome.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Did Gen message you?” Jared asks then, narrowing his eyes with suspicion as he studies Jensen’s face while they wait for the elevator to arrive.
“About how shitty you’ve been sleeping lately? Of course, Jay. That was after I decided I would skip out on dinner in town tonight though and decided I would get some room service and catch some crap movie with you. Unless you’d prefer to be on your own?” Jensen hurries to add, looking a bit unsure and Jared shakes his head.
“No, no. Definitely want to hang out, with you. Just don’t feel up for the whole going out thing, you know? But you, I’m always happier with you than without you, you know that.”
“Good. I pick the movie though,” Jensen insists with a smile. “You’re going to fall asleep halfway through like the big baby you are, and if I’m going to be stuck finishing the thing on my own, it better be a good one.”
“I pick good ones!” Jared protests with a displeased frown and Jensen rolls his eyes playfully.
“If I have to watch one more documentary about ant hills…”
“Okay the lives of ants are actually very fascinating!”
“Yeah whatever. Your room - I pick the movie.”
“Fine, you sound like Dean,” Jared huffs and Jensen smiles at him again, bright, safe and familiar, making the headache Jared’s had growing behind his eyes recede to a dull throb.
Jared lets Jensen into his hotel room, the crisp A/C air like a soothing balm against his skin. Jensen flicks the lights on, takes a couple steps inside and freezes in place, making Jared crash into him.
“Hey!” Jared protests in shock, scrambling to grab Jensen’s arm, steadying himself. “What the—”
They both stand there, tangled up awkwardly for a moment taking in the odd additions to Jared’s room, that Jared is very certain was not there when he left this morning. Granted, he was half asleep still at the time, and mainly focused on wrestling his beanie onto his head and putting one foot in front of the other but he thinks he would have noticed a scattering of red rose petals on his now perfectly made bed, and—
“Is that an edible fruit and flower arrangement and chocolate covered strawberries?” Jensen asks, looking from the colourful gift basket on Jared’s desk, to the confused looking tall man hanging off his shoulder.
“What the fuck…?” Jared mutters and Jensen leans forward with the caution of a bomb diffusion specialist, to peer at the large bottle of Champagne that’s been left to chill in a mountain of ice in a large ice bucket.
“The ice cubes are heart shaped,” Jensen states like that’s the end of that assessment and Jared’s frown deepens. “It’s all very romantic.”
“I can see that,” Jared mumbles, glancing towards the rose petals on the bed again.
Just then Jensen’s phone vibrates in his pocket and Jared watches him fish it out.
“Motherfuckers,” Jensen groans, amusement dancing in his eyes though so Jared instinctively relax. If Jensen’s okay, he’s okay. If Jensen says something can be fixed, it can be fixed. “Well, we haven’t accidentally walked into the wrong room.”
Jared knew that. He can see his smelly gym socks drying in the shower out of the corner of his eye.
Doesn’t matter though, because apparently Jensen’s figured out the strawberries and rose petals situation and if Jensen’s figured it out, that’s all good with Jared.
“‘Enjoy your date night, Mr & Mrs Padalecki’ from Richard Speight himself…” Jensen reads the text message out loud, shaking his head in disbelief, grabbing a strawberry and popping it into his mouth. “Fuck them all,” he chuckles and Jared starts to laugh too.
“When the hell did they even have time to arrange this, you said you only let them know we were skipping out on dinner when we got into the car?” Jared laughs and Jensen pulls out a perfectly carved piece of mango, turned into a flower and bites off one of the petals.
“Fuckers clearly knew we’d bail on them,” Jensen muses. “Are we that predictable?”
“I think we are that co-dependent, man.”
“Ah fair enough,” Jensen shrugs. “You got the room service menu?”
They order steaks and fries and beers and decide to open that bottle of Champagne while they wait. Shame to let it go to waste, Jensen reasons and Jared tries to do his best to not pop the cork straight into the large mirror above the desk when he catches the reflection of his friend. Jensen’s undoing his belt buckle and has his jeans pushed half way down his narrow hips when Jared spins around, with a feigned look of confused shock.
“Dude! The honeymoon decor getting to you? I haven’t even poured the Champagne yet and already you’re getting naked?”
“Ha ha…” Jensen mocks, “I’m getting comfy, alright. These jeans are tight. Let a man enjoy his steak in…” Jensen roots around in Jared’s open suitcase, looking triumphant as he holds up a pair of swear pants, “his buddy’s sleep wear, in peace.”
“You know full well I don’t sleep in those. I get too hot.”
“Why did you pack them then?” Jensen asks stepping into the too long pants, folding them up a bit at the ankles to not trip on them.
“Because I know you get cold, princess.”
“Fuck you,” Jensen teases back, making grabby hands at the Champagne flute Jared’s holding out to him. “Well, here’s to us,” Jensen adds sweetly, batting his Disney worthy eyelashes and Jared has to hold back another princess joke. Instead he raises his own glass and let his gaze travel down Jensen’s form, giggling a bit at the fact that his older co-star is now dressed entirely in his slightly too big clothes including a t-shirt of his that he didn't notice when Jensen put on.
“To us,” Jared agrees, and he can feel his cheeks heating up with emotion. Gratitude.
When their food arrives, Jared cheekily calls out loudly over his shoulder, making the young Italian waiter in the doorway blush madly.
“Honey, the food is here!”
“Better get me out of these handcuffs then, baby” Jensen calls back from the bed that's not quite visible from the doorway and the waiter stumbles back even further into the hotel corridor, eyes wide and scurrying off again before Jared can tip him.
“You should have seen the poor kid’s face,” Jared laughs, arranging the trays of food on the bed next to where Jensen is lounging looking through the streaming services on the tv, to try to pick what they’re going to watch.
“He’ll live,” Jensen smiles, patting the bed next to him, making the rose petals bounce. “Sit!”
Jared sinks onto the bed with a content sigh and Jensen smiles at him.
“You’re still happy with your decision to stay in tonight?” Jensen asks and Jared reaches out to theatrically stroke Jensen’s cheek.
“I could never regret choosing you, sweetheart,” he whispers sweetly and Jensen rolls his eyes and shoves a plate of fries at Jared.
“Eat, we have like T minus two hours until you’ll be snoring on my shoulder.”
“You say that,” Jared says, frowning a bit, making Jensen glance over at him, “but I’m telling you, I’ve really struggled to sleep lately. Just can’t seem to do it, so don’t be surprised if I can’t.”
“Not leaving until you’re snoozing, man.”
“That could take all night, Jensen.”
“I’m not worried.”
Jared can’t help but smile as he cuts into his perfectly cooked steak. If Jensen’s not worried, he’s not worried.
The food is great, and the company is even better if you ask Jared. He keeps glancing over to study the way Jensen’s eyes crinkle adorably when he laughs at the movie and Jared beams at Jensen’s excitement, can’t help but feel his soul glow with contentment. When a particularly funny scene is about to happen, Jensen slaps Jared’s chest with childish glee, tongue darting out to lick salt from the fries from his lip. Jared feels every muscle in his body slowly relax, his heart soothed by the sound of Jensen chuckling beside him.
They pause the movie to do a joint Padalecki and Ackles Family clan FaceTime call to say hello to wives, kids and dogs (Odette makes them both say hi to the invisible Fairy Queen she has visiting from the garden, and Jensen ooh’s and awe’s at the invisible fairy’s pretty invisible dress) and then stand shoulder to shoulder in the hotel room en suite bathroom, taking turns brushing their teeth with Jared’s electric toothbrush — swapping brush heads in between, they’re not that co-dependent (today). Jensen bats the delicate rose petals off the bed, muttering under his breath about how he's going to kill Speight if he finds "fucking flowers in his ass crack in the morning" and Jared leans against the desk, watching his friend fondly.
"You sleeping here then?" Jared asks and Jensen shakes his head.
"No I'll sneak away once you're asleep. You snore."
"I don't snore," Jared protests, glaring at the smaller man. "Your- your mom snores!"
"Amazing comeback," Jensen shoots back sarcastically, brushing away another rumpled looking rose petal. "Where are they all coming from?!"
Once they’re settled back in bed, this time under the fluffy duvet, Jensen dims the light and smiles to himself as he feels Jared gradually scoot further and further down as the rest of the movie plays, until he’s fully lying down, head resting on Jensen’s shoulder. Jared is warm against Jensen’s side, but he doesn’t mind, and he finds himself tipping his own head over, to rest his head on his taller friends’. The sheets smell faintly of Gen's rose garden back in Austin, Jared notes, his heart swelling in his chest, mixed with Jensen's cologne and he closes his eyes, letting himself rest enveloped in the comforting scent.
The movie is nearly muted and Jensen feels Jared’s breaths warming his collarbone, where his co-star rests, and soon they’re deepening and evening out enough for the older man to know his friend is very nearly asleep. Jensen means to untangle himself from Jared in a little bit, and return to his own hotel room, but he treats himself to just a few more moments of the calming weight of Jared curled into him.
The movie comes to an end and Jensen yawns big and long. Jared has turned in his sleep, slung one long and heavy arm across Jensen’s stomach and Jensen’s just going to rest his eyes for a short moment, then he’ll go. In just a moment...
The room is quiet and dark when Jensen starts to register the warm, heavy weight over him. He’s gently but securely pressed down into the mattress by something solid and familiar — a human weighted blanket, and his sleep muddled brain slowly takes in the little snuffle Jared let’s out as he stretches lazily over Jensen’s form and noses his way up the column of Jensen’s neck. There is a warm puff of air against Jensen’s jaw as Jared burrows his face into his.
“Jay…” Jensen mumbles, one eye cracked open as he tries to reach for his phone on the bedside table to check the time.
“H-hafta get up?” Jared mumbles sleepily, nuzzling his face into Jensen’s warm shoulder and Jensen peers bleary eyed at the time on his bright phone screen. “Already?” He whines groggily.
“No,” Jensen whispers. “’s only four, we got a few more hours.”
Jared sighs in relief and snuggles back down, one thigh between Jensen’s where he lies sprawled on his front, chest pressed over the shorter man's.
“You stayed,” Jared notes after a moment of comfortable silence and Jensen hums.
“Didn’t mean to, must have nodded off… Want me to go?”
“No,” Jared whines at the suggestion. “Not letting you up,” he adds, making himself even more boneless and heavy on top of Jensen who groans theatrically.
“Dude…”
Jared shifts his hips, lazily pressing down and Jensen playfully swats his shoulder.
“Careful with that morning wood, man. Could poke an eye out with that thing.”
“You plannin’ on putting your face in my crotch?” Jared replies, making no effort to move and Jensen huffs at him. The A/C is keeping the room nice and cool and they both drift where they lie, content and comfortable. Jensen’s just about to fall back asleep again when Jared mutters against his shoulder, voice warm and deep with sleep.
“Least I’m Mr.”
“What?” Jensen mumbles, Jared’s words making no sense to him and he doubts it’s the early hour that’s the issue.
“Rich’s note. Mr & Mrs Padalecki. I’m on top.”
“So?” Jensen mutters. “I can top from the bottom.”
“Really? Right now?”
“Well not right now, I’m too tired and you have me pinned to the— why the fuck are we even talking about this?! Go back to sleep!” Jensen groans, stubbornly closing his eyes.
“‘Kay…” Jared mumbles through a yawn as he hides his face in the warm crook of Jensen’s neck again. “But ‘m top.”
“Yeah, yeah I can feel that, big guy,” Jensen whispers, patting Jared’s back lovingly. “Go back to sleep, man.”
Jared falls back asleep as he absentmindedly strokes his thumb in little circles over the warm skin behind Jensen's ear and the world and all his worries fade away.
In the morning he’s having chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast.