INVISIBLE STRING ― pedro pascal

-INTERVIEW, REAL LIFE

Willow smiled again, pushing it back. She could cry later. Pedro would hold her and she could cry later.

"I was, yes." Her smile stiffened. "I haven't been either since. I did relapse, it was a very hard time for me and—"

"—With the breakup? If you were to break up again, do you think you would relapse?"

Willow shuffled in her seat, suddenly finding it incredibly uncomfortable.

"I—I'm not very comfortable talking about this right now. No one plans to relapse, and I'm in a better place than I have been since my mom died. Could we move onto another question?"

"Of course, in a minute, first I'd really like to discuss James. Have you seen him since?"

"No," Willow said sternly. "I don't — we don't have a connection anymore."

"Is that Pedro's doing?"

"Uh, no, it's my own. Pedro doesn't pick and choose who's in my life."

"So he has no say?"

"That's not what I'm saying. Of course he does, more than other people, but they're suggestions not orders. He's my boyfriend not my dad."

"Does your dad have a say in your personal life?"

"Of course. But I'm not a child. He doesn't make my decisions either."

"Maybe he should," Ellen joked, but Willow heard the faint mockery in her voice. Her chest tightened as she laughed with Ellen.

"Yeah, maybe. Either way, I'm in a good place right now, Ellen."

"That's great to hear. Now onto Pedro, how long have you both been together since the party?"

"Oh," Willow stumbled again. "I mean we've been — it's definitely been — Pedro and I are happy now," she settled on. "We've been together for awhile without really putting a label on it. But now we're just — we're very happy."

"That's so good," Ellen smiled. "Are you planning on doing the press tour with him this year as well?"

"I am," Willow nodded. "Yes. We're very excited."

"Great! Now, there's a lot of fans that are upset with you after the breakup and the drug accusations. You've lost about three-hundred thousand followers. How do you feel about that?"

"Yeah," Willow sighed. "Not good. My fans are really important to me, I don't even really like the word fans because they're people as much as I am. It's their choice to unfollow me and I'm not going to be upset about it. It could be reasons related to addiction or past trauma, things that have been following me that they may need space from.

"It could also be related to feeling betrayed by me. I know people feel close to me because I've always been really open about my life and that's something I kept quiet. I just want everyone to know that it was hard not to disappoint or even tell the people I know in my personal life, let alone my public life."

"And will you continue to have a public life? Are we to expect you in any new roles?"

"I wouldn't," Willow shook her head. "I think I spend a lot of time compensating for the pain I feel in silence by working and after I finish filming Supernatural and The Walking Dead, I'm not planning on anything else. Not for at least a year, anyway."

"Are you and Pedro going to settle down then? Plan for kids?"

"Oh, boy," Willow breathed out. "We haven't even discussed that, honestly. I just want to take time for myself and focus on me and my relationship with myself and my relationship with Pedro. Whatever follows...follows."

"Okay," Ellen smiled. "And how do you feel about your dad's upcoming movie?"

"Great," Willow grinned. "I'm so excited. It's the first one my mom isn't alive to see, which is weird and feels wrong, but we're both really excited for it to come out and we know she'd love it."

"That sounds great," Ellen smiled. "Okay, we're going to cut to break, but we'll be right back after this."

—

Willow fell into Pedro's arms with a loud sigh, breathing in bergamot and cedar wood.

"Hey," he rubbed her back softly, his left hand in her hair, holding her head against his chest. "Mi amor, you did phenomenal. I'm so proud of you."

"Really?" She asked, her voice muffled in his sweater. He laughed, pressing a kiss to her head.

"Yes," he pulled back, looking over her hopeful expression. "You did. I'm so proud of you."

"You are?"

He nodded, running his knuckles along her cheekbone.

"I am. And, you're finished, so now we can go home and cuddle."

His chest tightened at the way her eyes lit up. "Someone likes that idea," he grinned down at her. "C'mon, let's get you home."

"Wait," Willow stopped him, hand on his chest. "The paparazzi are out there, aren't they?"

"Yeah," he frowned, squeezing he gently to him. "We'll go together, Princesa."

—

next chapter is the court session and verdict and then the epilogue 🥳