FLASHES; ✔️

Chapter Five;

Chapter Five

Jensen's POV

Jared was staring at me with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment on his face. He had strolled in unannounced to the apartment, bright and early mind you, with a tabloid from the week before – the very one that had Y/N and I's picture plastered all over the front of it.

I still had refused to see what they were saying about us. I could only imagine that it was as trashy and judgmental as the last several articles that Henry had so kindly forwarded to me via email. Every single time, I just rolled my eyes and went along with whatever the hell I wanted to do. Or whomever.

"Why didn't you tell me you were dating someone?" He asked letting the uptight tone seep through his words while crossing his arms.

I shrugged, reaching around him for the pot of coffee that Y/N must have put on before she left. She had mentioned something about heading out for groceries because apparently my quick and easy options weren't suitable for her taste. It was going to hurt me to lie to one of my best friends, but Henry stressed repeatedly that my career was on the line otherwise. "We just weren't really sure where it was going, I guess."

"You guess?"

I thought my words through carefully while stirring the little bit of sugar into my mug. "Yeah, uh, we had been keeping things quiet and got a little sloppy one of the nights that I was in New York. Paps got wind and we just decided it go with it."

"Huh," Jared said slowly. His hazel eyes were watching my movements closely. "How long have you guys been dating again?"

I paused, which probably didn't look favorable to him. "Just a couple of months."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Just a couple of months and you already have her staying with you?"

"Yeah, well we decided that it would be easier for her to adjust to being harassed by the public on a daily basis with me, instead of having to take it all on her own."

Just as Jared was about to say something else, probably along the lines of more disapproving questions, I heard the front door open and saw Y/N squeeze in, holding the beanie on her head closely. Her body language proved, for once, that the weather man had been right about the wind gusts today.

"Oh, hey," she said, eyeing me momentarily before turning her attention to Jared and giving him a wide grin. If I didn't know any better I would say they had met before just by judging her sudden reaction. "You must be Jared."

My friend matched her smile. "I am," he stuck a hand out towards her short frame. Everyone, minus myself and Misha, looked like freaking dwarfs compared to his giant body. "And you must be Y/N. I was hoping I'd get to meet you today."

"My best friend will flip when she finds out that I met you," she laughed, balancing a brown paper bag in one hand and thrusting the other one towards him. "I think she's been in love with you for years."

Jared's laugh rumbled through my kitchen, only making Y/N smile even wider. Hers eyes lit up differently when she was speaking to my taller "brother." "Well, I don't think my wife would want to know that."

Her smile remained as she turned towards me and plopped the bag on the counter across from me. "I hope you don't mind Jensen, but I stocked up on some fresh fruits and veggies and was thinking about making a banana bread for the morning."

"Sure," I nodded. "That actually sounds delicious."

It had been quite a while since I had someone who stuck around long enough to actually make something homemade, let alone something I could enjoy for breakfast. I could only think of one other person who I actually let cook for me, but I wouldn't let my mind wonder too far into that memory.

I watched as she carefully unloaded the bag, trying to decide what could stay out and what needed to go in the refrigerator before carefully opening a cabinet here and there. Several moments must have passed by as I watched her try and get comfortable with the kitchen. It wasn't as large as the one at home in Austin, but considering she lived alone in New York, I could only imagine that this place had more than some extra leg room for her.

"How was the coffee?" She asked suddenly, keeping her attention on organizing my random pots and pan cabinet. Something I had been meaning to do for the last year, but never really so the necessity when I could just go out and get something already made; so basically my kitchenware was purely for decoration.

"Oh," Jared shifted a bit, now standing next to me. I knew that he was smirking without even having to look at him. I knew I was going to hear all about him dissecting our relationship next week when filming started. "Not bad. I haven't had fresh coffee here in a while."

Y/N cast a side eye in my direction before folding her brown bag into a small rectangle and tucking it behind our new trash can. "No offense Jensen, but it doesn't look like you have a lot of fresh anything before I got here."

A stifled laughed came from Jared, who immediately tossed his hands up in a defensive manner when I shot him a look. "Well to be fair, I haven't had anyone, but myself to worry about for quite some time now."

Looking like she wanted to counter my words, but deciding against it, Y/N just rolled her eyes before muttering something under her breath. It wasn't something that I could make out and I knew just from the fact that she wasn't vocalizing it loudly, it was probably something that Jared shouldn't hear either.

The awkward quiet fell over us again and Y/N shuffled a bit before turning towards me. "Well, I'm going to hop in the shower."

I nodded before tilting my head in the direction of Jared, "I might not be here when you get out. Jared and I have to hit up the gym for a training session."

She nodded and drifted off into the direction of her room. Once her door was shut and my coffee was chugged the rest of the way down, Jared and I headed out the door. As soon as the lock clicked shut and we were headed down the steps to his car, he asked a question that I didn't even think about. "So if you guys are super serious now, why does she have her own room?"

This was going to be a long, hard year.