Blind Date ↳ Jared Padalecki

10 | little talks

JARED SITS IN his trailer alone, thinking hard. His elbows are on the table as he worries about what it could be that's bothering his girlfriend. All he knows is that it has something to do with her parents.

Someone knocks at the door. "Dude," Jensen's voice says as the older man opens the door. Jared frowns even deeper. There was a little part of him that hoped it would be Emma, but of course it wouldn't be. She's at work.

"Hey, we got a scene to shoot," Jensen says, stepping up inside Jared's trailer and eyeing the man curiously. He bends his head slightly and raises his eyebrows. "Jared?"

Jared finally looks at his friend. "Does Emma have a problem with her parents?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows. He knows that asking Jensen for information on Emma probably isn't the best idea, but he needs to know what's bothering her so he can help her feel better

Jensen looks surprised by this question. "What? What gave you that idea?" He asks.

Jared sighs. "Lately, it seems like she's been... not as happy as usual. I asked her about it and she said it's because her parents are coming to see her on Christmas."

Jensen's eyebrows raise, his eyes widening slightly as he slides into the seat across from Jared. "What? Her parents are... coming here?" He touches the table with his index finger, but Jared knows what he means.

"Yeah, that's what she said," Jared confirms. Jensen gets to his feet, a series of different emotions crossing over his face at once. He can't believe what he just heard. "Why, what's wrong with her parents?" Jared questions.

Jensen scoffs. "What's not wrong with her parents? I mean—" he pauses a moment, considering telling Jared all the details of what happened when Emma was younger, with her parents. But she wouldn't want him to. Emma should get to decide when Jared should know about her private life.

"Look, I don't think I should be telling you about them," Jensen admits. "Just— wait until she's ready to talk about it. That's a really sensitive subject for her." Jared frowns but doesn't press the issue further. He would just have to ask Emma later and hope that she tells him.

•••

Emma sits in her apartment, relieved to have the day off of work. She does not know if she would be able to read manuscripts with all the thoughts of her parents coming, jumbling up her mind.

She wraps her fingers around the neck of the beer bottle, sipping it slowly as some movie plays on television that she's seen twenty times. She is curled up on the couch with the light off, glad to be alone. She spoke to Jensen and Jared on the phone earlier, but she didn't say much, and they didn't press her for information much. That's good.

As if god senses how much she's enjoying herself, someone suddenly knocks at her front door. She considers sitting still and waiting for the person to get bored and go away, but it might be Jared. Though she dreads the talk that's bound to happen, she thinks that seeing his sweet puppy face might make her feel better.