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Babysitting for the Padaleckis had become a vital part of Jensen saving up for his first car. His mom said if he could come up with half of the price, then she’d chip in the rest.
Jensen stowed away his past birthday and Christmas money. He volunteered to do the laundry to have the chance to check for loose change. In the summer, he did lawn work around the neighborhood and charmed his way into babysitting during the day for his next door neighbors, the Padaleckis.
Mr. Padalecki spent a lot of time at his private practice and apparently Mrs. Padalecki wanted to focus more on her art. They had an only child named Jared who was a scrawny boy and liked to play shy around people he didn’t know. In reality, the boy could, and quite frequently did, talk for hours. Jared apparently really liked cars which led to Jensen telling Jared all he knew about cars. It also led to watching Disney’s animated Cars movie once every few days.
In the middle of the movie, Jared asked, “Jensen?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
The teenager raised his eyebrows but after a moment responded, “Not at the moment.”
“Oh.”
The sassy red car was mouthing off again and Jensen didn’t understand how Jared could still love this movie after seeing it a million times.
“Why not?”
“Why not what?”
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
Jensen sighed and looked over at Jared. Jared wasn’t looking at him, eyes intently watching the animated cars. The boy’s hands were twisting the bottom of his shirt though, a sign he was nervous.
“None of the girls at my school are interesting.”
“None of them?”
Jesus. Was he suppose to tell Jared about his sexuality? What would his parents think?
So Jensen carefully replied, “I don’t like girls Jared.”
“Me either. Girls are gross.”
Jensen grinned at that. “Someday you will. You’ll have a cute girlfriend who also likes cars.”
“Girls don’t like cars.”
“Sure they do.”
“Then why don’t you like a girl who likes cars?”
Brat.
Jensen took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. “Jared, I want a boyfriend because I only like boys.”
God. First time coming out and it was to the kid he’s been babysitting the whole summer.
“Then why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
Jensen nearly choked on the air around them. This was not how he expected the conversation to go.
“None of the boys at my school are interested in me.”
“Why not? Cause you like cars and- and you’re fun. We have fun,” Jared says, stuttering a bit. He ducks his head down to hide behind his too long bangs.
Jensen grins and ruffles the kid’s hair. “Thanks. We do have fun.”
“Those boys are dumb.” Jensen nods.
“I’ll be your boyfriend,” Jared loudly blurts out, the change in volume causing Jensen to jump.
“You’ll be my boyfriend?”
“Well, we both like cars. I’ll just be your boyfriend until you find a boyfriend at school.”
“Thanks, Jared.” And dammit if Jensen isn’t a little teary eyed.
“It’s okay. But boyfriends have to hold hands when they watch a car movie,” Jared says in all seriousness. He doesn't wait for Jensen to say anything, just grabs the teenager’s hand.
Jared finally goes back to watching the rest of Cars and Jensen can’t seem to wipe the smile off his face.