INVISIBLE STRING ― pedro pascal

-NEWS, REAL LIFE

Willow nodded, glancing around sheepishly. He wasn't wrong. It was a mess. Blankets were thrown around, old pizza boxes and takeout containers laying in corners and dishes were piling up. She didn't even want to think about the plants which were dying in practically every corner of every room in her penthouse.

"Okay. I'm—"

"—No," he cut her off sternly. "Don't apologize. You are sad. And you're allowed to be sad. You're allowed to hate the world and feel betrayed and angry and scared — that's okay. But you deserve to be strong. You deserve to beat it. To overcome that sadness and be better than it. I'm going to help you get over it. And when it inevitably comes back, because it will, when you least expect it, I will be here again to help you through it. Okay? There are no apologies necessary."

"Okay," Willow nodded, taking a deep breath. "I can—I can do that. But you — are you — what's gonna happen with us?" Her voice softened at the end and he sighed, scooting his chair closer.

"Willow Sandler. I told you I will wait for you. And I will. If you...if you fall in love with someone else—"

"—I won't, I—"

"—Don't," he shook his head, smiling softly. "If you were to fall for someone else, I would always be your friend. And I think right now, you don't need a relationship. You need a friend. Robert's not always here, he's in London. I'm closer, I'll take care of you when he can't. Until you learn to take care of yourself. Okay?"

Willow nodded. "So no kissing?"

A surprised laugh fell from his lips. "Kissing? We haven't—no, no," he chuckled again, glancing over her face. "No kissing corazón. Hugs are fine. I'll hug you forever."

"What about cuddles?" Willow asked quickly, wanting nothing more than to repeat the night before. She hadn't slept that well in months, maybe even ever.

"Cuddles are fine. I cuddle friends all the time."

"Do you have romantic feelings for said friends you cuddle all the time?"

"Fair point," a grin tugged at his lips. "Cuddles are fine."

"I trust you," Willow said simply.

"Us," Pedro corrected. "I trust us. We're both in this. You're the one who needs to get better and I am the one along for the ride. I trust us. Neither of us will go too far because we both respect the other, right?"

Willow nodded.

"Good girl."

A blush sprouted on her cheeks and Willow's mouth opened and closed a few times before she managed words. "You — you cannot say things like that. That's for sure. That — that makes me want to—don't say that."

Pedro laughed, squeezing her hand. "Fair enough. I'll refrain. Are the nicknames okay?"

"Yes," Willow answered immediately. "You've called me that our entire friendship, those are fine."

"Okay. If we think of anything else, we'll just bring it up to the other. Sound good?"

"Yes."

"Hey," he smiled at her gently, pressing a soft kiss to her fingertips again. "I won't do that again, but I—I want you to know...I'm really proud of you, Willow. This is a big step but I know for a fact you can do it."

"Thank you," Willow breathed out, overcome with a gratitude she'd never felt before.

She was so grateful they'd met each other. Grateful they'd experienced the PR relationship, even though it ended terribly for her reputation. She was so grateful they were friends, and hopefully one day more.

"Oh," Pedro snapped his finger, as if remembering something. "And call your dad. He's losing it, Will. And he's the only one who loved your mom as much as you."

—

ahhhhhh okay so much fluff. Hopefully you guys liked this chapter I was a little unsure. I hope it doesn't across as like controlling but this is what helped me through my SA and depression. When my bf was just there listening and helping me through it, letting me know it was okay to think about it and cry about it. And it's nice to have someone else give "instructions" on how to get better when you're in so deep because you don't really know which steps to take first. So having someone help plan it idk it really helped me. Hopefully that came across!
thank you guys SO MUCH for 20K views and 800 votes literally wtfffff how??? It's been up for such a short amount of time I can't believe it. Its my third most popular story and I genuinely cannot believe that THANK YOU.