FLASHES; ✔️

Chapter Eighteen;

Chapter Eighteen

Christmas was creeping up quickly; which meant two things.

One, you really needed to get your act together with finding a gift for Jensen. Despite the fact that this was a contract relationship, you felt the need to get the man who made your stomach twist when he looked at your sideways, something. Two, you needed to call your mom to just double check that she was okay with you swinging through Ohio for a couple of days with your boyfriend.

Somehow, you let Gen convince you to do some damage with retail therapy in an actual mall instead of the quick and painless way over the internet.

"I don't have any idea of what to get him," you whined, looking into the store window of a leather jacket outlet. "Everything I start to think of is either wicked expensive or not something I could see Jensen enjoying."

"What if you just got him some of his favorite scotch?"

"I checked, he has two full bottles sitting in the cabinet right now."

Gen turned towards you, her eyebrows upwards. "Really? That's not like him."

You thought about how things had been over the last month; you had noticed that Jensen really only seemed enjoy a glass when you were there to enjoy one with him. "Did – did Jensen drink a lot before?"

"You mean before you came along?"

Giving her a shrug, you turned towards yet another store, but this one seemed to specialize in everyday objects that could be engraved. "I guess. Just in general, I'm asking if he drank a lot."

You heard your friend sigh as she decided look towards what seemed to be a map of the mall. Without warning, she headed in that direction, pausing in front of the colorful maze of various points and symbols. Part of you was hoping that she would give this shopping trip a break and agree to a glass of Pinot with you instead.

Her finger trailed along the side of the map before she double tapped whatever store she was looking for. When she turned to head in that direction, she was met with your stern gaze. "Gen?"

"I don't really feel like it's my place to tell you," she confessed with a huff, trying to look behind you.

"Please?"

"Are you that kind of person who nags someone until they get their way?" She asked, letting out a nervous laugh when you shook your head at her. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you. But as we walk, I hate that people are staring at us right now."

She was right. Random bystanders seemed to be looking your way a little more often than when you first got there. One of the reason you hadn't wanted to go out to begin with was because you didn't want to be the subject of random questioning, let only the random pictures that you knew would surface the internet in as soon as a couple of hours.

"You seem to know where you want to go," you encouraged her, scooting to the left a bit as a gesture that you would follow her lead. "Tell me while we walk."

For someone who was so tiny, Gen certainly moved with a sense of extreme urgency. It was hard to tell if she was walking so fast to get away from the little group of onlookers or if she was trying to run away from your question.

Once you both were a good distance away from the growing crowd, you made sure you were within earshot of Gen. "So, can you tell me now?"

Another sigh and she slowed down a bit. "Y/N, I don't really know what to tell you. When Jay found out that Danneel had cheated on him, he kind of went into a downward spiral. The bottle became his best friend in-between filming, there were some nights that Jared would have to go and pick him up from the bar at three in the morning because he was too drunk to call himself a cab."