Living With Jared Padalecki

5/ fake it

Due to my insomnia, I wake up sometime around two thirty in the morning. I thought I would sleep longer than usual because of how much I drank last night, but I guess not. I get out of bed with a painful headache. I nearly groan from the pain as I stand up. Going downstairs, I nearly trip because the lights are all off. If I turn them on, I might wake Gen up, so I'm just going to leave them off.

I go into the kitchen and get a glass of water, swallowing down two aspirins. I'm still dead tired, but if I go back to sleep, I won't wake up until way after six, which is when we have to leave for the airport.

The first thing I do is take a shower, doing my best to wash the alcohol smell off of me. Then I get dressed, just putting on casual clothes. For me, casual clothes would be a superhero t-shirt with a flannel over it and baggy jeans, with my marvel hat on backwards. In this case, I choose a shirt with the Joker on it.

After showering and getting dressed, I make sure that I have everything packed that I need. It's hard for me to believe that these are the last few hours of me being here. Then, I'll be in a different house, probably much bigger and fancier, with new people.

Without even realizing it, I accidentally go into my mom's room. I look around and turn the light on. It feels wrong, like I'm invading her privacy.

She's dead, she wouldn't care.

I mentally curse myself for thinking this. I turn to leave her room, but something in her closet catches my eye. It's a box with one word written on it with a black marker.

Charlie

My father's name was Charlie as well, so that box probably has stuff about my dad in it. Realizing this, I walk over to the closet and take the box out. It's heavier than it looks. I set it down on my mom's bed and hesitantly open it, afraid of what I'll find in it.

The first thing I spotted was something that looked like a dark green necklace. I pulled it out and familiarity washed over me. I know what these are; they are dog tags.

My dad was in a war?

I look at the name written on it, and sure enough it said Charlie on one side and Hannigan on the other. I don't hesitate to put it on. Continuing my look through the box, I see about five VCR tapes and a small photo album that looks full. I groan in frustration when I remember that we don't have a VCR. Maybe I can buy one later after we land.

I take the box upstairs and somehow fit the tapes and photo album into my already packed bags. By the time I'm done with this, I realize it's already almost four.

For the next hour and a half, I put all of my luggage in the back of my truck and then start cooking breakfast for Gen and I.

At quarter after five, she comes out into the kitchen, saying good morning to me and then walking into the bathroom. I put on my best fake smile and say good morning back.  Then I put the cooked food on the plates.

"Did you sleep okay?" I ask as Gen comes out of the bathroom. She yawns, looking extremely tired still.

"Good enough," she replies, sitting down at the counter. I slide a plate of food towards her. "Thank you." She looks at me for a moment, and sees the dog tags. I look down at them too, knowing she might be curious about them.

"Oh, I found a box of my dad's stuff in the closet. This was in there." She nods a little.

"Can I look at it?" She asks, holding her hand out. I take it off and hold it out to her. I've only been wearing the thing for two hours and I already feel naked without it. That's weird. "Were you named after your dad?" She questions. I just nod. "That's cool," she says and hands it back to me. "How long have you been up?" I purse my lips together.

"I don't know, like an hour," I lie. She continues to eat her food and I just shake my head a little.

-

"Call me like, everyday," Mason says, nearly in tears as we stand in the middle of the airport. To be honest, I'm getting really emotional, too, except I'm not showing it. "Okay?"

"You bet," I nod and she pulls me into a hug. I hug her back, realizing that we may not see each other again for a while. I'm actually really going to miss her. "I'll miss you," I confess, speaking quietly. She smiles.

"I'll miss you too." She pulls me in for another hug, surprising me. I laugh this time. "Don't get drunk again, Charlie," she says, and then she walks out of the airport without another word. That's odd.

"Hey, you ready?" I turn and see Gen standing a few feet away from me, her ticket in hand. I take a quick glance at mine, then nod, following her toward the gate for our plane.

I don't really pay attention to anything we are doing until we get seated on the plane. Gen let me sit by the window, probably because I told her I've never been on a plane before.

After we take off, I plug my headphones into my iPod and listen to music as I fall asleep, for the entire flight.

-

"Jared should be picking us up," Gen says as we get off the plane. At this point, my hands are trembling and moist from sweat. This is it. I'm going to meet one of my idols, and I have to calm myself, because he can't know I watch the show.

"There's the car," she says, pointing to a black car. I don't know what kind of car it is, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter. As we start walking towards it, I see the driver's side door open. I swear, I had a mini heart attack when it opened. But the person who stepped out of the car was not the 6'4" moose I thought it was going to be.

Instead, it was a woman wearing brown sunglasses, who I can easily identify as Jensen's wife, Danneel. I thought she was beautiful when I saw pictures of her and Jensen together, but she is even more stunning in real life.

"Where's Jared?" Gen asks, sounding a little irritated. Danneel throws up her arms a little.

"The guys had to go to some sort of business lunch," she says, walking towards us and resting her sunglasses on top of her head. "They weren't very vague about it but they said they should be home in an hour or so. Vicki's watching the kids." She stops in front of us.

Standing next to what could very possibly be two of the most beautiful women on the planet, I felt really out of place and insecure. Gen notices me staring.

"Oh," she says, as if she forgot something. "Danneel, this is Charlie Hannigan. Charlie, this is Danneel." They both smile brightly at me.

"Hi," I mumble, shyly, then look at the ground. The silence that follows is extremely uncomfortable. Then Danneel clears her throat.

"So, shall we go? The kids are really excited to meet you." She looks at me. To say I'm shocked is an understatement. How much do they know about me? What did they tell their kids about me that made them excited to meet me?

I try my best to shove these thoughts aside as we put our bags in the car and head off.