Some Girl

The Panel

-JENSEN'S POV-

I stood backstage waiting to go on for my panel with Scarlett. Ever since Season 11 started airing, there had been a lot of chatter about Dean and Faith's relationship. I had even seen an article circulating the other day that called the couple 'Wilchester'. As with most decisions about the show, the couple was getting mixed reviews from the fans. Scarlett finally entered the backstage area from the makeshift Green Room that had been set up for us to use, though she barely gave me a second glance.

Rich and Rob got the okay, and they walked out on stage to introduce Scarlett and I to the fans. When we heard the cue, I held the curtain aside so Scarlett could head on ahead of me, following close at her heels. As usual, the crowd was going crazy, screaming and whistling and doing all the other things that was expected at these things.

"Hey, guys," Rich smiled at us as we took our seats.

"Hey, Rich," I replied into my microphone.

"How we doing today?"

"All good here. Scarlett?"

"A little overwhelmed, if I'm being honest," came Scarlett's timid reply in her mic.

"Aw, guys, Scarlett's nervous for her first convention," I teased, looking out at the audience.

There was a collective shout of "we love you, Scarlett" from the crowd in response, and she hid her face behind the hand holding her microphone, a giant grin on her face as her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red.

"Okay, we're going to get out of here, so you guys can do your thing," Rich announced.

"Have fun!" Rob added, waving at the crowd as the pair left the stage.

"Alrighty, so, you understand the basic idea for how this is supposed to go, right, Scarlett? I mean, I assume you've seen clips on YouTube while you were totally fangirling over the show before you got cast."

The audience laughed as Scarlett shook her head at me.

"Yeah, I know how this works, Douchebag."

I grinned at her old nickname for me that she hadn't used in what felt like years. Her words got a mixed reaction from the crowd and I realized we would have to explain why she was calling me a douchebag.

"Okay, before we take questions, I feel like I need to clarify real fast. When Scarlett came in to audition we had to read together since, as most of you already know if you have seen the first few episodes of Season 11, she and Dean have a very... interesting relationship. Anyway, I happened to be wearing sunglasses when she walked in-"

"And of course being the crazy obsessed fangirl that I was, I immediately thought of Dean's quote from Season 9 Episode 5," Scarlett jumped in, cutting me off. "But of course, I wasn't about to quote Dean Winchester to Dean Winchester, because that's just a bit much."

"I noticed her fighting back a smile as she sat down, and so I asked her about it," I continued the story. "When she tried to dismiss me, I pressed and so she ended up saying the quote anyway."

"Which I was totally embarrassed by, because again, the last thing I wanted to do was quote Dean to Dean, but anyway, I got the quote out and then he says-"

"I guess that makes me douchebag, then," I finished.

"It totally took me off guard, and we read the section of the script like it didn't happen."

"I thought that was the end of it, but then she stands up, looks straight at me, and goes-"

"See you around, Douchebag," Scarlett finished the quote.

"And so it's been a running joke ever since she was cast for her to refer to me as Douchebag," I brought the story to a close. "So, that's the reasoning behind her comment just now. I think it might be time to take some questions, don't you think, Scarlett?"

"Sure, Jay. Pick a side."

"Okay, how about... over there," I pointed to stage left.

The fan standing at the front of the line stepped up to the microphone.

"Hi, I'm Casey," she said.

"Hi, Casey," Scarlett and I spoke in unison.

"What's your question?" I continued.

"This question is for Scarlett. I was wondering if you could tell us any details about why you left The Originals?"

I glanced over at Scarlett, who had gone as white as a sheet.

"That, uh..." she stammered. "W-well, as you probably know, I didn't have a very big part in The Originals. But, um, I didn't get along well with one of the main actors, so I ended up leaving."

I studied her for a moment. It was obvious she wasn't divulging all of the information, and I knew that something major had happened on the last show she had been on that had caused her to get fired and subsequently not take another job in nearly a year. However, I didn't know the exact circumstances surrounding the story and her reaction to the fan's question made me curious. It was obvious she didn't really want to talk about it, though, especially in front of a large crowd of people, so we moved on to the other side of the room after thanking Casey for her question.

"Hey, guys, my name is Jazzlyn. I was wondering what we can expect from your characters moving forward with the season."

Glancing over at Scarlett who still looked slightly shaken up from the last question, I launched into an explanation about how Dean and Faith would be testing the waters as it was, given that they were both hunters and neither had really been in a serious relationship.

"You know, I can't really speak for her, but I know for Dean, he's pretty much been taught his whole life that as a hunter, you can't settle, and you can't get too serious with anyone. You have to keep going," I said, subtly moving my chair a little closer to Scarlett. "But now, he's stuck with this girl that's tagging along with him and Sam on hunts, and she's this little spitfire that is forcing him to question everything that was drilled into his head as a kid."

By the end of my monologue, I had casually draped an arm behind Scarlett and was playing with a strand of her hair. The motion had the intended effect, because she appeared to slowly be coming back from whatever headspace the first question had put her in. As we continued to take questions, she began to participate more and more, but I didn't stop playing with her hair the entire time.