Remembrances (1/14)

[dephigravity]

Title: Remembrances
Pairing: Jensen/ Jared
Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Tom Welling, Justin Hartley, and various other CW folks
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2275
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







First Meetings


The bus came to a loud halt in front of the bench displaying yet another advertisement. The tall dark haired young man looked out the window to verify his location. He gathered what little belongings he had and stood up. He shuffled through the the crowded seats to make it to the front of the vehicle. He patted the back of the driver's seat and politely thanked the man before walking down the steps.

The door hissed closed behind him as he adjusted the backpack over his left shoulder. He reached deeply into his pocket and removed the address. Glancing at the digits, he committed it to memory and crumpled the small paper back into his khakis. He took a deep breath and headed quickly to his destination.

The doors slid open to allow the young man entrance. He walked through the sterile hallways and approached the front desk. A slender young black woman gazed upwards from a crossword puzzle to see the massive attractive college student.

"You must be the volunteer for Dr. Collins." she wheeled her chair closer.

"That'd be me." he smiled back at her.

She handed him a clipboard and pen. "Go ahead and sign in here and I will show you the way."

He scribbled his name and handed the clipboard back to her. She squinted trying to read the writing. Giving up, she set it down on the ledge and walked around the desk.

"Okay then, go ahead and follow me." She took hold of his upper arm and guided him down the hall. "It's okay, don't be shy. He won't bite you. You are going to be spending time with Mr. Ackles. He usually keeps to himself but I'm sure once the two of you get to know each other you will get along fine."

"How long has he lived here?"

"Not really sure, longer than I've been here though. He has no family so I'm sure he will enjoy the company."

"I sure hope so..." He looked down at her with sheepish uncertainty.

They came to stop at a partially opened door. She reached out and lightly rapped lightly on the wood. "Jensen? It's me Shondra. I brought you a visitor."

She pushed the door open and gently pulled the large twenty-two year old inside. "I will come by and get you in about an hour, okay?"

"Sounds great." he lowered his green eyes and smiled nervously.

"You'll do fine." She closed the door behind her.

He turned back around and took a few steps towards the elderly man. The gray haired Mr. Ackles sat in a wheel chair and gazed peacefully out the window. Tom stood for a moment waiting for any kind of acknowledgment from the man, when none came he took the last few remaining steps. With a large extended hand he introduced himself.

"Uh Hi, Mr. Ackles? Jensen was it? I hope it's alright if I call you that. My name is Tom." Jensen made no move to take the hand, he continued his stare instead. Tom withdrew the hand and wiped the salty dampness onto his jeans. "You mind if I take a seat?"

Jensen sighed and casually flicked his wrinkled hand in the direction of the corner chair. "Go ahead kid, but I ain't promisin' to be friendly." Tom detected a slight hint of Texas drawl in the old man's words.

"Thanks." Tom pulled the chair closer and took a seat. "I'm just here to keep you company. Dr. Collins thought it might do you some good. If you want to talk that's cool, if you don't that's fine too. Ball's in your court dude."

Jensen scoffed at the word but made no further sign of agreement. After ten minutes of silence Tom reached into his bag and pulled out a worn paperback. He threw up a leg over the other and leaned backward. He settled in and began to read to himself.

Jensen noticed the movement out of corner of his eye but continued his absent stare as the leaves fell silently from the tree outside.

Time ticked by slowly until Shondra finally pushed back open the door. "You two getting along?" She saw Tom yawn as he tucked the book back into his pack.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Ackles. If you don't mind I will be back again tomorrow, same time. Okay?"

"It's your time son." he said quietly.

Tom replaced the chair and shouldered his bag. He smiled at the nurse and shut the door behind him. When they were about half way back to the desk he asked, "He doesn't talk a whole lot does he?"

"Not so much. I can't say I know much about him. Keep trying though, I'm sure he's bound to warm up to ya."

"Hope so, he just seems so sad." he reached over and grabbed the clipboard and signed it.

"See you tomorrow then..." she hesitated with his name.

"Tom." he chuckled as he informed her.

"Is that what that said?" she snatched the clipboard and tried to decipher the chicken scratch. "Well I will see you tomorrow then, Tom."


___


Tom came in everyday for the rest of the week, everyday was the same routine. He would walk over and greet Jensen, Jensen would sometimes say something in return, sometimes not. They would sit in silence for the first fifteen or twenty minutes before Tom gave in, sigh, and pick up his novel. Day in and day out... no change.

Tom was beginning to think his presence was hopeless. The following Sunday shaped up to be the same, silence. Tom was two pages into his new book when he was interrupted by the tender yet aged Texan voice.

"What ya readin' there, Tommy?"

Tom set the book in his lap, surprised by the man's sudden interest. "Uhhh.. it's actually an older book, think from like the 70's..."

A snort escaped from the gray haired man.

"... a friend recommended it, Watership Down. Have you read it before?"

"Never was much of a reader. What's it about?"

"Not really sure yet. It has rabbits though."

Jensen returned to his stare out the window. When he didn't add more to the conversation, Tom picked up the book and made it through another page before the man spoke again.

"Well, go ahead."

"Sorry? Go ahead and what exactly?" he asked, not sure what the man wanted.

"Read me the story, son."

"Really? OK..." Tom flashed a wide smile and flipped back to the beginning of the novel.

"Watership Down by Richard Adams... Part 1: The Journey, The Noticeboard...

'The primroses were over. Toward the edge of the wood, where the ground became open and sloped down to an old fence and a brambly ditch beyond, only a few fading patches of pale yellow still showed among the dog's mercury and oak tree roots...' "

Tom had barely finished the second short chapter when the knock came. Shondra seemed pleasantly surprised at the scene. "I told you he'd warm up..." she told him as she escorted him out. His eyes seemed a bit greener with the happiness of his minor breakthrough.


Over the coming weeks and months Tom finished novel after novel. Sometimes he would bring in ones Jensen didn't much care for but let him read it anyway. Jensen was not an Anne Rice or Stephen King fan. Other times Jensen became entranced in the young man's voice, such as with Lonesome Dove. Tom made a mental note to check more into westerns for his new Texan friend.



Three months to the day of their first meeting Jensen decided to fore go their daily reading and talked to the boy. Tom looked deep into the paler green eyes as the man told a little bit about himself. Jensen had been widowed for about twenty-five years now but didn't want to get into it just yet. Jensen turned tables and ended up interviewing the kid instead.

Tom was a Junior at UCLA, majoring in sociology with a minor in history. He was in a relationship but was fairly shy to discuss it, which, Jensen understood very well himself. The boy told stories of his older brother and sisters, pets, and parents. They talked about the books Tom had brought in and sometimes movies. Jensen was a western man while Tom tended to lean towards horror.

Jensen had been talking about the nursing home staff as Tom took in the pictures on the wall. It was then that he spied a picture of two boys, arms draped over each other's shoulders and gap-toothed grins of joy shined through the sepia ink.

"Jensen who're they? Your kids?"

Jensen looked back behind him to see what Tom was talking about. When he caught sight of the picture he stood up and slowly hobbled to the wall and pulled it down. "No, no children for me I'm afraid. Would you believe that was me?"

"Really?" Tom's interest was peaked. "You were so young!"

"I think I was seven back then." he handed the frame to Tom.

"Who's the other boy?"

Jensen took back his seat with a soft groan as muscles and creaking bones resettled. "That, that is Jared. Jared Padalecki. He and I were the best of friends."

"Tell me about him..." Tom wiped a smudge off the glass above Jared's moppy hair.

"Let me see. My parents moved to San Antonio when I was about 6. I was terrified to go to a new school, always the shy one.....'

~~~

"You want a licorice?" the shaggy haired boy looked across the table, shoving out a piece of black licorice.

"Huh?" The new kid looked up from his barely touched pb and j. "Oh, no thank you, I don't like the black ones."

"I have red too." the kid reached back into the bag. His tongue stuck out the side of his mouth as his searched blindly in the sack of almost all candy. "Gotcha! Here go!"

Jensen reached across the table and timidly grabbed the treat. "Thanks."

"I'm Jared!" said the spastic boy. "I like candy, like, a lot so I always have any kind if you want some. My parents say it'll rot my teeth out but I think they are just lying to me cus they are afraid they'll have to pay me all the tooth fairy money... ya know?"


"There's no tooth fairy?" Jensen stopped in mid chew.

"Nah... at least that's what Chad told me anyway. Chad is the smartest kid I know so he has to be telling the truth. He's pretty swell too, kind of a brat sometimes though. He's always chasing after Sophie... I keep tellin' him that she's got cooties but he says they aren't real either. You ask me I think all girls got cooties. Yucky girls. Won't see me getting married when I grow up, nope, no sirree bob! You want another?"

Jensen shook his head no.

"So new kid what's your name? I heard from Mrs. Ferris that there was a new kid in Ms. Tal's class. Ms. Tal's pretty, for a girl I mean, but I like Mrs. Ferris. She doesn't make us do too much homework. There was this one time I missed the bus and she walked me home. Hey you wanna go out and swing new kid? What's your name? Did I ask that before? I can't remember. Sometimes I forget stuff really easy. I will be thinking it and then poof! It's all gone. My dad says it's all the sugar I eat but I think he's lying cus of all the tooth fairy money..."

"Jensen!" the short haired boy interrupted. "My name, I mean. You said the thing about the tooth fairy all ready."

"Oh, sorry. So wanna go swing? If we leave now we can beat Chris and Steve. They always try to get the best swings. Steve is fun, Chris is kind of a jack ass, whoops don't tell anybody I said that. My mom bought a new bar of soap and I don't want to do that again. You ever have to eat soap, it's so gross. There was this one time that I...."

"Sure. I guess." Jensen interrupted again. He wrapped up his uneaten sandwich and threw it in the trash can on the way out to the playground.

___

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Jensen ran into the house as the yellow school bus drove off.

"Jenny is that you? How was school dear?"

"Mommy, don't call me Jenny, it's so girly...." he came to a skidding stop. "Guess what? Guess what? Guest what?"

Donna Ackles bent down to her pint sized little boy and ran a gentle hand over his slicked back hair. "What's that dear?"

"I made a friend! He is the bestest ever!" the boy jumped into her arms.

"I told you, you would honey. Tell me about this boy?"

"His name is Jared Padalecki and he likes candy and he likes to talk A LOT!"

~~~

Tom was so involved in the story that he didn't notice as the nurse put her hand on his shoulder.

"Okay you two... break it up... Tom your bus is gonna be here any minute."

"Shit!" he hurried to gather his stuff and move back the chair. "I gotta go Jensen. I will see you tomorrow okay?"

"Look forward to it Tommy." the old man smiled as Tom handed him back the frame.

He thumbed the metal frame and stared happily down at the brown shaggy haired boy with the empty space in his smile, and the wrapper of a chocolate bar tucked into his shirt pocket.

(Next)

Comments

[bigj52.livejournal.com]

Just sent you a PM reply.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Just messaged you back! lol Tag you're it!

[bigj52.livejournal.com]

That's much better. I did like the purple background but I can live with this. Blue for boys!!!

Just one question from a non-American. Is a pb and j a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? It just came to me in a flash as I was typing the question what it was.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

yeah Peanut Butter and Jelly/ Jam. I actually like the layout much better!