Remembrances (14/14)

[dephigravity]

Title: Remembrances
Pairing: Jensen/ Jared
Characters: Tom Welling, Justin Hartley, and various other CW folks
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3121
Summary: Tom Welling is a college student that is asked to spend time with an elderly Jensen Ackles. Jensen is slow to come around but realizes the company is just what he needs






Loss

Jensen shuffled through the box of papers and photos as the nurse rustled around noisily in the kitchen. He flipped through old letters, bent photos and a red filled bag until he came across the photo. Jared was laying with his head resting against the massive dog's belly as the other full sized dog laid at his feet, both puppies were trying to climb over one another to get to his face.

Jensen teared up as he ran his thumb over the large dog's face.

~~~

Jensen woke up first to find himself half covered with his sleeping husband. He brushed away the mass of hair that tickled his nose and had found its way into his mouth. He smacked his dry lips and mouth a few times before trying to rouse the snoring giant.

“Jared! Wake up. It's like 10 in the morning...” Jensen said as he nudged.

“Five more minutes.” Jared mumbled over Jensen's nipple, never fully closing his mouth or opening his eyes.

“I think the dogs have other things in mind.” Jensen stroked the brown hair.

“Fine.” Jared moaned as he rolled to the side. Jensen flipped his legs over the side of the bed and slipped on his discarded pajama bottoms. He felt blindly under the bed for his slippers and then stood. Jared grumbled nonsense as he followed suit, shooing away the hyper little puppies that clawed at his legs and licked between his toes.

The two lazily headed down stairs to find Sebastian pacing nervously in front of the door. Jensen shoved aside the glass and was nearly toppled as the canines rushed passed to do their business. Jensen walked out in the cool morning air and Jared followed again, nearly choking him with his massive arms from behind. He kissed Jensen's tussled hair. Jensen closed his eyes enjoying the sun and his husband's embrace.

“Where's Theo?” Jared broke Jensen's euphoria.

Jensen's eyes snapped open and scanned the yard for the massive dog. Jared backed away and stepped back into the house.

“Theo? Here boy!” Jared said finishing with a whistle.

The tall man waited, expecting to see his beautiful beast to come tromping down the staircase or rounding the corner. Nothing happened.

Jensen came back in to see Jared's worried face.

Jensen tried his hand at trying to bring out the hiding dog. Still nothing, no dog.

The men separated and searched through all Theo's normal haunts. Sebastian rushed back into the house, leaving both Harley and Sadie to tear up the grass. The retriever shot upstairs and laid down outside the open guest bedroom. He laid down his head and refused to move when Jared nearly tripped over him.

“Damn it Bas!” Jared griped but then saw the black nose sticking out just passed the far side of the bed. “There you are boy!”

Jared stepped over the laying dog and stooped down to take a look at the old St. Bernard. Theo barely acknowledged his dad, only eying him and whimpering.

“What's the matter boy?” Jared scratched the large head.

Jensen came to a halt outside the room. “Good you found him.”

“I think something's the matter Jen.” Jared looked up from the old dog.

Jensen stepped over the still stationary Bas and kneeled on the hardwood.

“Theo?” Jensen stretched forward a hand and felt the dry black nose. Theo crawled forward, very slowly coming out to his dads. Jared dropped down to stroke the struggling mammoth.

Jared brought his head down to look into Theo's eyes. The dog weakly licked his nose and then took in a deep breath. Jared felt forward as the dog began to breath more rapidly.

“Theo?” Jared's eyes teared up. The big brown eyes stared forward blankly as his friend and 'son' heaved sporadically. His eyes dimmed completely with one last unexpected breath.

“Theo? Theo?” Jared reached forward and stroked the brown and white head, his hands clenching into the slightly matted hair.

Jensen hung his head down as Jared fell back in to him sobbing uncontrollably. Bas stood and sniffed at his friend before turning and collapsing his head over Jared's thigh.


~~~


Jensen sighed as he wiped the beginnings of a tear away.


___


Tom slowly opened the door and made sure no one saw him slip out of Justin's room at this time of morning. He quickly spilled into the hall and closed the door behind him. He started heading to his room when he heard Kyle pounding up the staircase. He quickly turned around and pretended to be going to the shower.

“Heya Tommy!”

Tom just nodded and pushed into the bathroom. Once the door was closed he decided to go ahead and get in the shower. He threw off his shorts and underwear and turned on the water. He was well into lathering when the hand slipped around his shoulder.

“What the hell!” he all but screeched.

Justin smirked sexily as he took the sponge from the holder and squeezed on some shower gel.

“What do you think you are doing?” Tom turned into him.

“Taking a shower. What do you I'm doing?” he brought the sponge up and began to scrub Tom's chest.

“Are you serious? Kyle will hear!”

“Let him. Or we could just be really quiet!”
Tom shook his head and leaned into his boyfriend.

___

Jensen was closing the lid on his box when Tom and Justin rang the door.

“Justin! Well this is a surprise.” Jensen said as he sat the box on the floor.

Justin smiled and shook the old man's hand. “Don't mind me I was just the transportation.”

“How are you feeling today Jensen?”

Jensen sighed. “Oh I'm fine Thomas. Just a bit tired.”

“You want us to leave so you can take a nap?” Tom asked.

“Not that kind of tired. Just feeling my age today, I guess. Caught up in reminiscing.”

“What about?” Justin questioned as he cleared a place for he and Tom to sit.

“Life, love, all that old man stuff.”

“Jared...” Tom said softly.

“Who else?” Jensen sighed.

“Jensen, how did he die?”

“Justin!” Tom growled.

“What?” Justin asked in surprise.

“It's okay Tom.” Jensen reached over and grabbed the picture of them that Tom had discovered just months ago.


~~~


Jared straightened the house and set the table. Jensen would be home in a few hours and he wanted this night to be perfect. Jensen wasn't that much of a romantic but he always appreciated the extra effort Jared would go to please and surprise him. Jared made the constant effort to keep the romance alive and new, anniversaries were an occasion to be unlike any other.

The food would be done by the time Jensen got home and the dining room and bedroom were set. Jared fussed one last time straightening silverware and napkins.

He thought through his mental checklist one last time.

“Shit! How could you forget!” he swore as he gathered up his keys and stormed out the door.

___

Jensen drove up to the house and entered to a faint burning smell. He smiled at the sight in the dining room as he headed for the smoking oven. He opened it to pull out the charred roast.

“Jared?” he called through the house to no response. He dropped the heated pan on the stove when the side of his thumb slipped from behind the potholder.

“Dammit!” he pulled the thumb to his mouth.

Suddenly the phone rang. Jared reached for the phone as he continued to suck the corner of his thumb. “Hello?”

“Mr. Ackles- Padalecki? Mr. Jensen Ackl...”

“Yeah, yeah that's me.” He cut the female voice off.”What can I help you with?”

“Sir, I am afraid there has been an accident. We have a Jared Ackl...”

“Where? What happened?” Jensen once again cut her off as his heart dropped.

Jensen quickly scribbled down the information down and charged out the door.

___

“Mr. Padalecki has suffered from a heart attack sir. Most likely do primarily from the stress brought on by the attack.”

“What attack?” Jensen asked through a chewed on thumb.


***


Jared walked down the aisles of the small convenience store searching for the missing item. He was still beating himself up over his forgetfulness as he approached the counter.

He could see the clerk's terrified eyes as the man in front of him whispered something he couldn't quite make out. The clerk wadded up a brown sack and set it near the register. Jared skimmed down the fairly younger man's length and made out what looked like a gun being pointed through his pocket.

Without thinking Jared clasped his hand over the man's shoulder. “You don't want to do this son.” the middle age man said.

The young man spun around drawing out the gun and pointed it at Jared's face. Jared grabbed his gun hand and shoved it aside as the bullet shot past him. Still in shock, Jared was caught off guard as the man punched him him with his free hand. Jared stumbled backwards into a display of twelve packs. The young man continued forward and began hitting the older man relentlessly over the head with the gun.

The clerk grabbed a baseball bat from beneath the counter and headed around to stop the assault. The man caught sight of him and aimed the gun and shot. The clerk collapsed to the ground. The man kicked Jared a few more times before grabbing the small bag of money near the register and bolted.

Jared lay motionless still clutching the small package of red straw shaped candy.

***

Jensen sat idly by, his wrinkled hand clutching desperately on to Jared's.

He took his other hand and stroked delicately through the once rich brown hair.

“Oh my god Jensen what happened?” Misha asked as he flew to his friend's side.

Jensen refused to let go of Jared's hand, refused to rip his eyes away from his husband. Matt stood in the door way in complete and utter shock at the damage. That is when he noticed. No beeps. No flickering screens.

“No.” he said in disbelief, eyes filling with tears. Misha looked back at his partner and then to Jared. He slowly reached forward and grasped Jensen's over the cold flesh beneath.

Jensen continued to stare forward in his own reality. A reality where his Jared, his life was still here. Jared still existed here, not killed over a useless and stupid bag of red licorice.

~~~

The two boys couldn't find any words to express at the revelation. Tom knew Jared's life had been cut drastically short but nothing like this ever crossed his mind.

They sat together for hours afterward. Talking between each other. Justin had to leave for work and Tom assured him he would find a way home.

“Thomas?”

“What is it Jensen?” Tom asked.

“Would you do me the honor of reading to me once again?”

The corner of Tom's mouth lifted into a half smile as he went to Jensen's book shelf. He grabbed the book, took a seat and began reading his favorite, Lonesome Dove.

When Tom said his goodbyes and Deidre made for bed, Jensen reached down to his box and pulled out the small plastic wrapper. He clutched tightly to the red licorice, the last thing Jared had gotten him and drifted off to sleep.

___

Tom was woken by the faint sound of a phone ringing somewhere. He stretched over a still sleeping Justin to grab the cell on the far night stand.

“Yeah..” he said tiredly as Justin squirmed below him.

Justin felt the drop of rapidly cooling moisture hit his back and felt Tom tense above him.

“Tommy?” he asked as the man pulled away and closed the phone.
“Tom, what is it? What happened?”

Tom stared at him, tears streaming down his face now.

“Jensen?” Justin asked already knowing the answer.

Tom just shook his head as his boyfriend hugged him tightly. Tom cried loudly, not being able to control himself.

A tired Kyle opened the door without knocking and caught the unexpected sight of his half naked roommates grasping each other. Justin's head shot towards the door.

“Not now Kyle, not now.”

___

Tom sat listening to whatever unfamiliar speaker the funeral home had supplied. When the kind elderly woman finished she walked down and put a hand over the tall boy's shoulder. Tom's throat clenched and he fought back a wave of tears. With an unknown sense of determination he stood and walked up the steps above Jensen's coffin.

He fought desperately to hold in the sorrow. He looked around the room of few people, upset that most of them were clearly not friends of Jensen's. The majority of people here were there for Tom, and he took a split second to secretly thank them for their presence. Shondra sat next to a few unfamiliar elderly people, surely from the home. Deidre sat in back of Justin. Tom's small group of friends sat together. Even Mike and his new wife , Tom's ex, showed to lend his friend support.

Tom took in a deep breath and began.

“Thank you all for your kind words. I know that most of you never knew Mr. Ackles, Jensen. Most of you only know him through stories from me. Jensen was a great man. I would like to say he was like a grandfather to me but he was more than that. He was one of my best friends. I know, you look at me and think how can a college student be best friends with an old man. Jensen was more than just his age.

I joined Dr. Collins group initially just to get another mark on my resume, you know helping the elderly. Jensen was not about ready to just be some kid's social cause. God was he a hard ass and stubborn those first few visits! I really do think he was expecting me to give up. Little did he know I was just as stubborn.”

The small group chuckled.

“It is a good thing I never backed down because I slowly got to know this amazing man. Through Jensen I learned so much about life and love. I learned not only new things about him but new things about myself as well. Without Jensen I wouldn't have been able to find myself or comfortable enough to look for love myself. Without Jensen I wouldn't have found Justin.”

The girls got confused looks on their faces and looked to Justin and Kyle. Justin made no reaction, while Kyle smiled knowingly.

“Jensen's love of Jared knew no bounds. They were true soul mates. I think that it is very fitting that Jensen left us still holding something that meant more than anything else in this world to him. I truly do hope he has found his love once again in Heaven.” he finished with tears burning his cheeks.

With that a man walked forward and folded in the ruffled fabric and closed the casket. Tom was joined by Justin and a few strangers supplied by the home. They each took hold of the casket and walked it out of the chamber and placed it in the awaiting car.


At the grave site Tom was taken aback. Situated under a large old oak tree there was already a headstone. On one side was etched Jensen's full name, on the other was Jared's.

After the small service the friends and strangers gathered into their cars and drove away, leaving only the two young lovers. Tom stared down at the marble stone as a woman and young man he hadn't noticed before approached.

“Excuse me, Tom is it?” the older woman asked. Tom turned slowly to see the graying brown haired woman and her oddly familiar looking acquaintance.

“Can I help you Miss?”

“Cassidy. Please call me Kate. This is my son Tristan.”

“Hello.” Tristan reached forward in a firm grasp. Tom looked at the young man and the unmistakable resemblance struck him hard.

“Kate? As in Katie? Jared's daughter?” Tom said in disbelief. “You did this?” he pointed to the headstone.

“I did. I figured it was the least I could do.”

Tristan motioned for Justin for them to leave the two alone.

“But Jensen said they never saw you again.” Tom said plainly.

“They did not, I'm afraid. My mother saw to that unfortunately.”

“So how?” Tom began.

“Shortly after my mother died I found a stack of letters. They were all from my father. He expressed his love for me and his regret for not being in my life. He also talked about Jensen and what he meant to him. I tracked down his remains and had them moved to a more appropriate venue. I had a hard time tracking down Jensen however. I had the headstone made for them not knowing of his whereabouts.”

Tom stood speechless. Kate weaved her arm in his and guided him to the folding chairs still surrounding the grave.

“Thomas. Do you mind if I call you that?”

He shrugged.

“Please Thomas, can you tell me about my fathers?”

Tom eyes lit as his smile grew slowly across his face.

___

After the last guest left Justin cleaned up the leftovers. He walked into the living room and saw Tom staring at the mantle. He slowly crept behind his boyfriend and hugged him tightly, chin resting on his shoulder. The photo below was the same one Tom had found. The two young lovers in the picture held on to each other without a care in the world.

“Justin? Promise me something.”

“What's that T?”

“That we will have a love like that.”

Justin squeezed tighter. “We sure as hell can try.”


Fin


Epilogue


Jensen woke up in a field of green. A gentle bubbling sound filled his head as he tried to get his bearings. He stood and walked to the small pool of crystal water. He was taken by surprise at his reflection. He looked not a day over twenty. He held his hands below and felt for the wrinkles that should have been there.

“Hey new kid,” A voice sounded across the field, “you want a licorice?”

Jensen's lips curled into a smile and he rose and spun around. Jared walked in long strides out of nothingness.

“No thank you,” he said “I don't like the black ones!”

“Well then it's a good thing I have lot's of red ones.” Jared smiled as he finally reached his lover's side. He reached forward and brought Jensen's head up into a kiss. A gentle breeze blew softly over the two and rustled the leaves in the all to familiar oak tree.