—

"You okay?"

Willow looked up, brushing a small crease from her dress.

"Nervous," she admitted, looking over Pedro's face.

He rested his hands on her biceps. "Don't be," he moved closer to her, pressing a soft kiss to her head. "It's one interview. You've got this."

"I shouldn't have picked Ellen," Willow shook her head, regretting the entire thing.

"She's the only one who would meet with you," Pedro pointed out. "Jimmy would've, but he's on his off-season. Hey," he reached a hand up to her chin, gently holding it in his hand. "You look beautiful."

A light blush danced across her cheeks and her nose wrinkled.

"You think? This isn't what I would've picked but Denise said to get more out of my comfort zone and Hannah said that it would a good color on me."

"It is," Pedro nodded, a fond smile on his face. "Plus it's my favorite color."

"I know," her lower lip jutted out in a small pout. "Purple. I remember everything you've told me."

"Oh, do you now?"

Willow nodded, heart fluttering against her chest.

"Princesa," he fiddled with a strand of her hair. "Stop worrying. You're gonna do perfect. Just pretend you're talking to me."

"I don't like Ellen as much as I like you."

He laughed, hand on her arm sliding down to catch her hand. "I don't like anyone as much as I like you."

Melting into his touch and his words, she smiled sweetly. He tugged her head towards his gently, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips.

"I'm never gonna get tired of kissing you," he muttered against her. "You really mine?" He pulled back a fraction.

She nodded seriously. "Yes."

"Good," he kissed her again, slowly, passionately. "Hey," he pulled back with a grin. "Wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Here I thought we we'd already decided I was."

"Yeah, well," he shrugged mischievously. "I can't believe you actually are."

—

"So, Willow, let's talk about it."

Willow nodded, a polite smile on her face, unsure of what was to come. Ellen never screened her questions. She liked everything to be "surprising." It was "part of her charm."

"Okay, what're we talking about?"

"I think we'll start at the party."

Willow's smile dropped, her mouth falling open in surprise as her heart rate picked up.

"I'm—I'm sorry?"

"The party. With James Callaghan. I know you're with Pedro, and we'll get into that in a minute, but are you—have you been high since?"

Sweat clung to her hands and she tried to keep herself from showing how nervous Ellen's question made her. The audience watched her intently in the silence, which seemed to drag on forever.

"Um," she stumbled over her words, trying to picture Pedro's face, his hands on her. But she couldn't get the hands of another from her mind.

Michael, his name was. She remembered it. She remembered his dimly lit face and hard erection under her hands, edging her and begging her despite her pleas.

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 🥳