fandomcorner | Fic: Go The Fuck To Sleep

Title: Go The Fuck To Sleep
Pairing: J2
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2300
Summary: AU. Someone has replaced Jensen's boyfriend with some sort of sleep-deprived monster.
Inspired by this art
Thanks to

hsapiens for the beta

Jensen is scared.

He’s used to Jared being happy and carefree, always with a smile on his face and willing to hug anyone who comes within ten feet of him. He makes time for anyone who asks, and sometimes when they don’t. If there were a definition of a perfect human being, Jared Padalecki’s face would be there.

Except some time during the last couple of weeks some sort of evil monster, probably Satan himself, has replaced his boyfriend with. . . well, Jensen doesn’t know what but it’s bad.

“No, I can’t take you to the grocery store,” Jared snaps into his phone, eyes wild and manic as he pores over three books at the same time. “My exam is tomorrow! I don’t even have time to sleep, never mind help you with your chores.”

Jensen winces as Jared hangs up and tosses the phone onto his desk. He wonders which of his friends Jared’s going to be grovelling to when this insanity is over.

He hovers in the doorway, the rational part of his brain telling him he should just leave Jared be while the irrational part tells him he needs to man up and take care of him even if he doesn’t necessarily want it.

“Jay. . .” Jensen leans against the doorframe, trying to look casual but at the same time keeping himself at a safe distance in case Jared tries to hurl something at his head. “You need anything?”

Jared doesn’t even look up from his books. “Coffee.”

“How about a tea instead?” Jensen suggests cautiously because, really, the last thing Jared needs right now is to be even more wired.

“Coffee.”

“I, uh, I think we ran out.”

It’s a lie. Jensen picked some up at the store that morning after Jared drank most of the last batch but he’s going to bring Jared down from this manic frenzy even if he has to force him.

Jared’s wallet hits him in the face.

“Coffee.”

As he bends down to pick up the offending item he wonders if Jared has his breaking point and ‘coffee’ is now the only word he knows. It would suck if after all this Jared went to take his test and put coffee down as the answer to every single question.

“How about you come with me?” Jensen suggests. “It’ll only take a few minutes. Come on, Jay, you need to take a break.”

This, at least, gets a reaction out of Jared. His head slowly raises and Christ he looks way worse than Jensen has imagined. His hair is limp and greasy, his eyes bloodshot and ringed with dark circles and his face is a pasty grey that makes him look on the brink of death. Right at that moment Jensen decides that Jared is taking a break even if he has to knock him out and drag him out to the car.

“A break?” Jared asks as though Jared had just suggested a casual trip to Mars. “Jensen, my exam is tomorrow . Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this? I’ve wanted to be a vet since I was six years old. If I mess this up then that’s my whole life.”

Jensen steps into the room, slowly and cautiously as though he’s approaching an animal that’s either going to bite him or run. He’d really prefer it if Jared did neither.

“Dude, come on, you’ve studied animals. You know what happens to them if they don’t get enough food or sleep, right? Well the same thing is happening to you. You know you’ll ace that exam if you go in there feeling rested and not starving.”

Jared’s wavering; Jensen can see it on his face. All he needs is one last push.

“Please?”

The puppy eyes is something Jared has always been the master of, but Jensen likes to think he’s learned enough to deploy them correctly.

Jared’s eyes flick to his books and then back to Jensen. “What if there’s something I miss? What if I would have found it if I hadn’t taken time to sleep? Jen, I can’t afford to mess this up.”

Jensen moves a little closer. “I know, man. How about this? Take a break and walk to the store with me and I’ll help you study when we get back. Deal?”

Sadie lets out a whine and rests her head on Jared’s leg, deploying her own puppy eyes. Jensen’s pretty sure it’s that which causes Jared to sigh and say ‘fine’.

* * *

Jensen pointedly ignores the way people stare at them as they shop for groceries and Jared’s too out of it to notice. He really does look terrible and that just makes Jensen even more determined to take care of him.

“No,” he says firmly when Jared picks up the largest can of coffee he can find.

“Please, Jen, I need it. I’ll sleep all day tomorrow after the exam I promise. I just need to get through tonight.”

And suddenly this has become some sort of intervention, because there’s no way in hell Jensen’s letting Jared go for another day like this.

“What did I just say about the negative effects of not sleeping?”

Jared huffs and brushes his greasy hair out of his face. “In small doses going without sleep can produce adrenaline which is what I need. And coffee. You know if you don’t let me buy it I’m just going to come back when you’re sleeping and get some.”

“Maybe I’ll stay up with you all night,” Jensen shoots back. “I promised to help you study didn’t I?”

“Then you’ll need coffee,” Jared replies with a victorious grin. “Because I know you’re not going to be able to stay up late without it.”

Shit.

* * *

By 3am Jensen is starting to wonder if Jared is even human. Jensen’s so tired he can barely read the book Jared has given him to ask questions from and although Jared is slumped in his seat he’s still alert and demanding more.

“You can go to bed if you want, you know,” Jared says when Jensen’s head nods for the fourth time. “Seriously, the fact that you’ve made it this far means a lot to me.”

Sadie has already given up and has curled up on Jared’s feet and gone to sleep. Traitor.

“No, it’s okay,” Jensen says around a yawn even though he really would like nothing more than to go to sleep. “I promised I’d help you and I’m going to. Just, you know, give me a discount when you open your first practice.”

Jared smiles. It’s not the full beam grin that warms Jensen’s insides when he sees it, but it’s the first time Jensen’s seen him smile for days and that’s good enough right now.

“Seriously, Jen, thank you. I know I’ve been kind of a dick lately.”

Jensen snorts. “Understatement. I think you’re going to need to send gift baskets to half the people you know.”

Jared grimaces. “Yeah, I know. I just wanted to say thank you.”

“It’s not a problem,” Jensen replied with a shrug. “I know you’d so the same thing for me. And I was only kidding about your friends. We all care about you, Jay, and we understand this has been a tough time for you.”

Jared reaches across the table and takes Jensen’s hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go. “You’re the best, Jensen. I dunno what I did to deserve you.”

Jensen grins. “Yeah, I don’t know either. I’m pretty awesome. Now, come on, let’s study.”

* * *

When Jensen jerks awake it’s light outside and he’s lying on the couch with a blanket over him that definitely hadn’t been before. He doesn’t actually remember falling asleep, and he hates himself when he realises he must have drifted off listening to Jared reciting something from one of his books. He really is a shitty boyfriend.

A quick exploration of the apartment reveals wet towels and Jared’s dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. Usually this is one of Jared’s more annoying habits but right now Jensen’s just glad he didn’t opt for showing up at his exam all sweaty and greasy.

He pulls out his phone and hits the speed dial for Jared’s number.

“How are you feeling?” he asks as soon as Jared picks up. “Sorry for falling asleep on you, dude.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jared replies with a soft laugh. “It means a lot that you stayed up with me at all.”

Jensen smiles. “Well, I’d say good luck but I know you’re going to do fine. I’ll see you when you get home and you’d better go straight to bed.”

“Yes, sir,” Jared replied and Jensen can picture him saluting with the words. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Jensen’s tired and his back aches from sleeping on the couch but he knows he’s not going to sleep until Jared gets back so he decides to get a few chores done and maybe cook something nice for lunch.

“You wanna help me get things ready for Jared?” he asks Sadie who had wandered over when she heard talking.

She wags her tail which Jensen takes to mean yes.

* * *

Jensen’s pretty sure that if Jared could see him right now he’d call him a girl. He’s spent the past couple of hours tidying all Jared’s books, putting fresh covers on his bed and taking Sadie for a walk. Now he’s heading to the grocery store so he can fix Jared’s favorite meal for lunch.

“I am so whipped,” Jensen mutters to himself which just earns him a weird look from the cashier as he pays.

When he gets home Jared’s bag and coat are discarded on the table (the table that Jensen had only just cleared and wiped but he’ll let that slide given the circumstances). Sadie usually runs to greet him when he gets home but there’s no sign of her so he figures she must be with him.

“Jay?”

The door to their bedroom is ajar and when Jensen pokes his head around the corner he can’t help but smile.

Jared, still fully clothed, is lying face down on the bed with Sadie sleeping next to him. He’s got one arm wrapped loosely around her and the other is resting on the corner of the bed where it threatens to fall if Jared moves even a little.

When Jensen steps quietly into the room Sadie raises her head to look at him for a moment before apparently deciding that having sleepy cuddles with Jared is more important than anything Jensen could have to offer.

Jensen doesn’t entirely blame her.

Jared is facing the door and doesn’t so much as stir when Jensen crouches down in front of the bed.

He looks peaceful now, the exhaustion melted from his face even with his slack features smushed into the mattress. Jensen can’t help himself and he reaches out to brush Jared’s hair away from his face.

Jared lets out a sleepy murmur and leans into Jensen’s touch, one eye half cracking open when Jensen doesn’t stop touching him.

“Hey,” Jensen says softly. “How did it go?”

“Good, I think,” Jared replies with a sleepy smile that makes Jensen melt.

“You want something to eat or do you just wanna sleep?”

Jared’s eye slips shut again. “Sleep.”

Jensen realizes that his hand is still carding through Jared’s hair and he pulls back, spotting a blanket discarded over the back of Jared’s chair and rising to his feet.

Jared lets out another soft murmur when Jensen drapes the blanket over him (and Sadie) and his hand shoots out to wrap around Jensen’s wrist.

“Stay?”

Jensen eyes the bed, which is currently half full of Padaleki and half full of sleeping dog.

“Sorry, dude, there’s not much space.”

Jared lets out a pathetic whining noise that sounds more like something Sadie would make than a grown man.

Sadie, however, chooses that exact moment to get up from underneath Jared’s arm and wander into the other room.

Jared smiles. “Good girl.”

He shuffles over into the space that Sadie had been lying in, which causes the blanket that Jensen had draped over him to fall onto the floor. He frowns and makes an unhappy noise in the back of his throat.

Jensen sighs and picks up the blanket before kicking off his shoes and lying on the bed next to Jared.

Jared instantly wraps himself around Jensen, pulling Jensen flush against him and pressing his face into Jensen’s chest. “You’re warm.”

A fond smile spreads over Jensen’s face as Jared lets out a contented sigh and falls still.

“Get some sleep, you idiot.”

“’m not an idiot. ‘m smart. ‘m gonna be a vet.”

Jensen strokes his fingers through the mop of Jared’s hair and then kisses the top of his head. “Yeah, you are, buddy. I knew you could do it.”

“’s thanks to you. You helped me. Love you, Jen.”

At this point Jensen’s heart feels like it’s about to burst out of his chest. “Love you too, Jay.”

A soft snore is the only response Jensen gets. He doesn’t mind though. He’s content to lie there with Jared in his arms, warm and comfortable, until he eventually falls asleep himself.

The End.