INVISIBLE STRING ― pedro pascal

-NEWS, REAL LIFE

Gentle. He was always so gentle and calm and quiet. So kind to her. She didn't deserve it.

"I'm here for as long as you want me to be. I promise."

She nodded, biting her lip to keep tears from spilling.

"No crying," he reached his free hand up, wiping a tear that slipped down from her cheek. "We're not crying today. We're not breaking up. Okay? We're not...dating but, we both know we're something. And it's not over. Whatever this is — I promise. There's no reason to cry."

"Okay," she agreed, taking in a shaky breath. His left hand remained on her cheek, softly, stroking it, and his right intertwined in her own. "Keep talking."

He laughed quietly, pulling their hands up and pressing a gentle kiss to her fingertips.

"I think you need structure. You need to...do things other than work. Before, you filled your time with," he hesitated, her eyes dropping before he cleared his throat. "Alcohol and drugs." He moved his hand from her cheek, tilting her chin to look at him again.

"And before you were on your own, you were pushed into every kind of acting environment you could get your hands on. It's why you're in so many shows and literally never take a break. We just finished Mandalorian, princesa, and you were supposed to start Supernatural filming a week ago. Now you're behind, you have to push extra to make up for lost time, and then as soon as you finish filming, the very next day, you have to shoot Walking Dead?'

"Querida, you never give yourself a break. I think you have a lot of...time that you don't like facing. You're restless. Constantly. You need to find things that excite you that aren't work. I know you love acting and you are," he sucked in a breath between his teeth. "Fucking incredible on screen, corazón. You're phenomenal. But you can't just work through your pain.

"You have to grieve. Give yourself time. To grieve. To focus on yourself."

"What does that even mean?" Willow asked, harsher than she meant it. Pedro's expression didn't change. In fact, it softened further, but she could still detect no pity. He looked at her with such calm, gentle adoration that it crushed any ounce of doubt and fear in her mind.

"It means: once you finish Walking Dead, take a break. Take a long break. Okay? Don't do anything until the next season of Supernatural."

"But what about—"

"—no. Give yourself a year. Focus on you. Read, mi amor. Read as many books as many times as you want. Watch reruns of shows. Take up knitting. I don't care what it is. Just do something good for yourself. Because you need to have outlets that aren't drinking. And I'm sure your therapist will give you—"

"—I think I want a new therapist," Willow blurted, eyes doing wide. She hadn't said it aloud, but she felt it. CC had picked that therapist. Her dad found her one before, but CC found a new one for Willow and she didn't trust her, especially after CC dropped her.

"Okay," Pedro said immediately. "We'll get you a new one. We'll get a couple, find someone you really mesh with. I think you've had other people find some for you, but you've never found one. You need to find someone that you trust. You ready for the next step?"

Willow nodded. He smiled gently, pressing another kiss to her fingertips.

"You're doing so great, princesa. Next step, I don't think you need rehab, but that's definitely up to your therapist. So the next step, we're gonna go shopping. We're gonna clean out this apartment, because..."he let out a light chuckle. "Cariño, it's a mess. And a clean environment means a clean mind. We're gonna start fresh. And I know you don't want to, but you have too many dead plants. We need to start fresh. You get that?"