Shelf Ice Meander
By Simarillion

Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: R
Beta: Asm Z
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Jared Padalecki/Genevieve Cortese (mentioned) others
Warnings: slash, M/M
Word Count: 2,986 (18,226 total)
Summary: Tell it like it is. (Of settling and living)
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.

Author’s Note: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn’t really work otherwise.

This is part 5 of the Glaciology! ‘verse. Jensen is a scientist in the field of glaciology and he spends most of his time surrounded by ice, whereas Jared is a Hollywood movie star. Prequel to this story are Invisible Glaciers, Iceberg Anatomy,Avalanches Approaching, and Crevasse Rescue.

[Masterpost]



Part Six

The talk about Sophia’s wedding is ignored from that day on, and so Jensen finds himself on a plane to Canada with Tom and Mike, without his own plus one. Jared left two days ago and has long since crossed the Atlantic and reached France.

Jensen’s been ignoring the uneasiness that wells up inside of him every time he thinks about the situation between him and Jared. Worrying about it doesn’t change anything though, and so he tries to keep from over-thinking.

There are times where he’s more successful and there are times when he can’t keep from pondering what to do, and where to go from they are right now.

Their flight arrives on time in Calgary and they switch to the plane to Lethbridge. Finally arriving at their final destination they are relieved to find that none of their luggage got lost while being transported from one plane to the other.

Once they’ve collected their bags from the baggage claim, the three of them hail a cab and load their luggage and themselves into the car. The cab driver asks for their destination and they are off to the bed and breakfast they are staying at for the duration of the wedding.

Looking outside Jensen watches the city rush by, and his thoughts once more return to Jared. He ignores the conversation in the back, and wonders what Jared is doing right now.

The bed and breakfast they have reservations with is close to the wedding location, and the old building has been lovingly renovated. There’s a nice young woman at the reception that smiles friendly at them as Tom, Mike and Jensen arrive, dropping their luggage on the floor to sign in for their rooms.

Their rooms are on the same floor, in the same corridor, and Jensen thanks the receptionist for the key when she hands it to him. The woman blushes lightly, and Jensen is somewhat flustered by the reaction. Mike just laughs at him, joking about his smoothness.

Jensen decides to ignore his friend and follows Tom upstairs, lugging his bags to the third floor. The house is not as large as a hotel, but it’s rather big for a bed and breakfast. There are four floors, and there’ve got to be at least twelve guest rooms. On the third floor their rooms are on the corridor to the left side of the stairs. Jensen unlocks the door, carrying his bags inside

He likes the room. It’s homey and bright with a large window down to the street below. Jensen sits down on the bed and lies back. He stretches and enjoys the soft comforter he’s sinking into. When his eyes start to droop, he forces himself to get up and unpack his bags.

One by one the few items of clothes he brought with him for the three days here in Lethbridge disappear into the closet, and then he stacks the bags to the bottom. His shoes go next to the closet, and once he’s finished with getting settled, Jensen heads out to check on Mike and Tom.

Arriving at their door, he can hear them talking inside. Mike laughing and Tom joining in soon after. Jensen hesitates for a second before he knocks on the door. It doesn’t take more than a second before the door opens and Mike grins at him.

“All set?” Jensen just nods at that and steps past Mike into their room. Tom is emptying the last bag, and smiles at Jensen when he looks up.

“The place is nice.” Mike snorts at Tom and rolls his eyes. Mike would never admit to liking the bed and breakfast, not now that Tom already said he does. Mike likes teasing Tom too much to let a chance like this slip by.

Jensen just chuckles and plops down on their bed.

“So, how about some food?” This has Mike nod enthusiastically, and Tom just puts the empty bag away and gets his wallet.

“Let’s head out.”

Together the three friends troop downstairs again, ask at the reception about where to get food, and make their way to the diner the young woman had recommended. There are few people on the street, but they are friendly greeting them. Jensen can’t help but compare his own statesmen to the Canadians. It’s not that Americans are rude or anything, but with the Canadian’s there’s a certain European charm to them. Like they haven’t been their own country for decades.

They easily find the diner, and after being directed to a table they sit down. Jensen glances around and notices families and couples sitting together, talking, and laughing, having a great time.

The serving staff brings them the menus and asks for their drinks. Jensen orders a Coke, and starts perusing the menu. There are a couple of dishes he remembers from his student days. He chooses a steak and fries though, asking for a small salad as well.

Mike gets a burger and Tom orders steak as well. Their orders placed, they talk about tomorrow’s wedding. Tom is, unsurprisingly, excited, and Mike teases him mercilessly about it. Jensen just smirks and hides his grin behind his glass of Coke.

Their food arrives quickly, and it’s delicious. The moment when Jensen takes the first bite of the juicy steak he swears he’s in heaven. They dig into the steaks and the burger like a pack of starved wolves. Desert is ordered, and when the apple pie with vanilla ice arrives together with their cups of coffee, they are already stuffed to the gills.

“This is seriously good food.” Mike is taking a breather before he continues with desert. He’s leaning back into the chair, giving his stomach more room.

“Yeah, this is an awesome place.” Jensen eyes the pie with some trepidation. He maybe shouldn’t have eaten all of the steak, but there’s no way he won’t a least try the pie in a great diner like this. It would be unforgivable to not eat at least a bite or two.

Tom is too full to participate in the conversation; he just groans and rubs his belly. Mike appreciatively watches the movement, and has Jensen rolls his eyes.

“You’re such a dog.” His comment has Tom look at Jensen confused. “Not you Tom, I’m talking to Mike.”

But Mike just grins unrepentant, and take the first bite of the pie. His eyebrows shoot up and he stares at the pie in disbelief.

“Oh my god.” And that’s the last thing he says before silence descends over the table and they eat the most delicious apple pie they’ve ever had.

After dinner, they head back to the bed and breakfast and meet some of the other wedding guests staying there. Mike and Tom opt to stay with them to talk some more, but Jensen suddenly feels tiredness creeping up on him. He heads upstairs eager to get sleep.

He just strips he clothes and crawls into bed without brushing his teeth and falls asleep before he can think about giving Jared a call, and ask about how he’s doing in France. They haven’t heard from each other since Jared left for France two days ago.

Once around midnight Jensen gets woken up by a drunken Mike singing in the corridor, but besides that, he sleeps uninterrupted. It is the wake up call he ordered that wakes him in the morning. Jensen stays buried in the sheets, contemplating going to breakfast, but after all the food he had yesterday, plus the reception today after the wedding, he decides that he’ll sacrifice the breakfast for a couple more hours of sleep.

About an hour later, Jensen gets up and plods over to the bathroom, making for the shower. There’re complimentary tiny bottles of soap and shampoo, and Jensen gets into the stall, turning on the water and washing the grime of yesterday off.

He brushes his teeth in the shower as well, and once he’s finished he grabs the towel on the rack next to the basin. He rubs over his head and starts on toweling his skin dry.

Jensen glances at the clock on the bedside table as he gets out of the bathroom after his shower. It says half past ten. He remembers that there’s a broadcast of the Cannes festival on TV right now, and Jensen switches the set on, in the hope that he’ll get to see Jared walking down the red carpet.

There’s a blonde woman reporter on screen. She’s talking about the history of the festival and introduces the more famous guests walking down the red carpet.

While keeping an eye on the screen, Jensen continues scrubbing himself dry and getting out his clothes for the wedding. He rubs over his chin and decides that a shave wouldn’t hurt. He quickly lathers his chin and cheeks in shaving foam, and scrapes the stubble from his face. He can’t help peeking into the bedroom, at the TV screen, every couple of seconds.

Washing the last remnants of foam off his face, Jensen darts back to the bedroom and continues watching the broadcast.

And then Jared comes onscreen. He’s smiling brightly, and a beautiful woman is hanging on his arm. When Jensen sees her he can feel all of the air rushing out of his lungs. He knows her face. Jensen had seen it two months ago, laughing with Jared while playing with his dogs. And just like on the photos Jared is laughing again. It’s his real laugh, from his core, enjoying himself, and definitely enjoying his company.

“And on the red carpet, walking into the Palais des Festivals et des Congrés, we have Jared Padalecki and Genevieve Cortese, the two leading actors of Sophia Coppola’s next movie.” The words are just hanging in the air; Jensen isn’t able to fully process them. “Word is that sparks are flying between Hollywood’s leading man and the up and coming brunette beauty.”

“Yes, there have been rumors about a new Brangelina developing on the set of Between Here and There.” Another reporter has joined the blonde woman who’s been commenting the going-ons on the read carpet so far.

Jensen doesn’t know what a Brangelina is, but he does know that Jared and Genevieve Cortese have been obvious enough for the press to catch on. Watching the two of them walking down the carpet, stopping for fans and press, getting their pictures take by photographers, and all the while having a great time doing it, Jensen has to realize that this something he will never be able to do, will never be able to share with Jared.

Not only is he not broken in where public appearances are concerned, but the problem of being in the closet about their relationship is, they could never walk down the carpet of such an event as a couple.

There’s a bitter taste in his mouth as he continues to watch on screen the death of his relationship with Jared. The reporters continue to talk about how the two actors had been sighted only this afternoon, eating at a small café, enjoying each other’s company. The details about their ‘date’ drive a stake into Jensen’s chest, making it almost impossible to breathe.

“And now I have Genevieve with me.” The blonde reporter is strategically standing in the other’s way, making her stop and talk to the press. “Genevieve, tell us, how are you enjoying your first time here in Cannes?”

The woman holds her microphone out to the actress, who is smiling excitedly at her interviewer.

“It’s just such a crazy experience. A year ago I was starting out as an actress nobody knew, but now I get to play in movies with big names like Johnny Depp or Jared Padalecki.” She’s playing the press like a pro, and Jensen thinks that she has to have been in the business for longer than one year.

“Talking about Jared Padalecki, how close are the two of you?” Jensen tenses at the question. He equally antidipates and fears the answer.

“Very close.” Genevieve laughs, and Jensen dies. Just like that he’s dead.

“Would you care to tell us more?” The reporter smells a good story, and tries to get more information out of her interviewee.

“No, that Jared and I share a bond.” With this she waves at the camera and moves on.

The continuous chatter of the TV fades to the back, and Jensen sits on the bed, staring ahead, unseeing. All the things Tom had said, the arguments he had used himself, and the way Jared had treated him lately had not prepared him for something like this. But even in his worst fears, he had at least imagined that Jared would tell him (or in the worst case, have someone tell him) that he was no longer interested.

There’s a knock on his door, and he can hear Mike tell him that they’ll have to head out to the ceremony soon. Jensen blinks, glances at his watch and realizes that Sophia’s wedding starts in an hour. Ever since the broadcast of the French film festival started, Jensen had barely continued getting ready for the ceremony.

Still in a daze, Jensen dresses himself in the suit and the nice dress shoes he brought with him, and tries to get his hair into something resembling order. He’s just checking the mirror for the last time to see if he’s looking presentable, when the door to his room opens and Tom peers in.

His friend is grinning excitedly, and Jensen forces himself to grin back. It feels like a grimace, but apparently it looks real enough, because Tom comes inside, all bushy tailed, and goes into a long winding story about today’s wedding location, that bizarrely enough involves an elk and a family of ducks.

Jensen does his best to laugh at the appropriate places (when Tom does), and nods every once in a while. His brain is still in shock about what he saw and heard on TV. It’s impossible to actually get invested into the tale Tom’s telling.

When Jensen follows his friend out of the room, he finds Mike already waiting in the corridor. Mike sends Jensen a long suffering look that he ignores. He just heads down the corridor to the stairs and downstairs, and out of the bed & breakfast. A group of wedding guests has already gathered on the sidewalk in front of the building, talking excitedly about the couple’s great day.

Jensen feels bad about not being happy for his friend. Sophia is a person that is dear to him, and she’s an awesome friend. She doesn’t deserve Jensen’s indifference. If he was a true friend, he would be happy, for her to have found the right person to share her life with.

Taking a deep breath, Jensen does his best to lock all the hurt away, inside him, and smiles at the other wedding guests. He’s determined to celebrate alongside them. Jared and his back stabbing be damned.

Behind him he can hear Mike telling Tom to calm down, and stop to be so annoyingly excited. His friends come to a stop next to him, just as Tom accuses Mike of being the wedding Grinch. Jensen tunes out their bickering. It’s the same at every wedding they attend.

The father of the groom arrives in his car, and informs the motley crew that they should start to head out. Slowly but surely the gathered crowd starts down the street to the park where the whole wedding party meets. Sophia had insisted on an outdoor ceremony and reception, and so a small park was rented for this purpose.

The path through the park leads to a small meadow, and the edges of the clearing are decorated with ribbons and lanterns. In the area where they enter the event location a long buffet has been prepared, and there are waiters handing out glasses with champagne.

Jensen takes a flute he’s being offered and downs its content in one big swallow. The alcohol bubbles warmly in his stomach, and when the next waiting staff passes by he exchanges his empty glass for a full one.

Looking around he takes in the nicely decorated clearing. Its even more beautiful than Sophia had described. With another deep breath he gets in the right frame of mind for the wedding. He sips the champagne as he wanders around. In the end he joins Mike and Tom who are standing together with Chad and Gabe. Their two friends had only arrived today.

“Dude, Jensen look at us. This is the second time we’ve to dress up in monkey suits for the girls.” Chad’s greeting has the group laugh.

“Hey Chad.” He claps his friends on the shoulder and for the first time since the horrible news he saw on TV he actually is in the mood for the wedding. Chad’s humor and his sometimes inappropriate comments are just the thing he needs right now.

Mike and Chad both bitch a little more about why women have to get married and make men dress up in tight suits and uncomfortable dress shoes. They stop their moaning though when the father of the groom calls the guests to order and asks them to get to their seats. The wedding is about to begin.

The crowd moves to the rows of chairs that are facing the altar at the other end of the clearing. Tom is looking around, searching for their seats. He tells Mike to stop being so annoying and asks one of the other guests which side the one of the bride is.

Gabe points out their place in the row of chairs, and together they head for them. Jensen downs the rest of the alcohol and follows them. He’s going to have fun today with his friends, and he’ll be happy for Sophia and her husband.



continue: Part Seven