That's When We Uncover [Jensen Ackles + Misha Collins | Cockles | mxm]

Chapter Nine

"A ring," Dani deadpans. "You want to give Misha a ring."

"Yeah, a token of our friendship," I offer with practiced neutrality. "Guys give each other bro rings all the time, right?" And by friendship I mean love, and by bro ring I mean mock engagement ring, even though nobody but us will ever know these technicalities.

A frustrated gust of air flows out of Dani's nostrils in response.

"You really think a...bro ring will fix things between you two?"

"It's worth a try," I shrug, rubbing the back of my warm neck.

I send a fervent prayer of gratitude to my years of training as an actor for the impressive poker face I'm regarding Dani with.

She draws both hands down her face and clasps them under her chin, studying the marble kitchen counter for an eerily long moment.

"I just don't understand why you didn't run this by me first," she murmurs belatedly. "You're not usually so impulsive. I mean...what the fuck, Jensen?"

"Whatever," I grumble, prepared to shuffle past her. "Just forget-"

"Don't use that Dean voice with me," Dani sighs irritably. "You may play an inbred hick on TV, but I expect you to act like a decent man to me and to your friends, not fight like a savage over dinner at an expensive restaurant."

A stray smile tugs at my lips. Dani may be smaller than me, but she can and will take a strip off my hide to keep me in line.

"Hey," I murmur, reaching out to grip her shoulders lightly and looking her in the eye. "I'm sorry...but you said to fix things with him and I just-"

"I meant to fix things by talking to him, Jensen, not blowing thousands of dollars on matching bro rings."

"I know," I sigh, hands wringing together. "I'm sorry for not consulting you first. But this'll work, I promise. He can't hate me after this."

Dani bites her lip.

"You better hope so. And you also need to man up and apologize to Jared."

Why, I barely refrain from whining. It's pointless approaching him when he's pissed off at me; all it'll do is decrease my life expectancy.

"Okay," I relent.

But fuck will he have some words for me...

"That's better," Dani contends. "And don't even think about buying him a ring too."

***

The rain beats the hood of my car like war drums, pounding its rhythm to an incredible swirling rage as I merge lanes.

Misha is thumbing through his phone in the passenger seat and JJ is asleep in the back as we head to a special kind of hell known as the mall.

We already have the baby furniture installed in the nursery, including changing tables, rockers and cribs, but there are still a few supplies that need to be picked up.

On top of the fact that I'm headed to a place I usually avoid like the plague - and the added bonus of congested holiday traffic - the weather is shit.