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Danneel stood in the doorway to her daughter’s room watching Jensen struggle to get their daughter dressed for bed. Jensen had a lot of energy and was always doing something. Still he struggled to keep up with their energetic almost two year old.He was amazing with her though and Danneel loved watching them together and as she did she thought back to when she had first met Jensen.She had just gotten the gig of her life back then. A spread along with three other girls doing a spread for Sports Illustrated. They didn’t just want the models to pose working out. They wanted them to actually be doing it. Exercising while looking pretty is not an easy task, which the agency knew. That’s where Jensen Ackles came into the picture. Danneel had worked with fitness instructors before but she had never worked with anyone like him. It wasn’t about getting the girls to look a certain way or even about the work outs itself to him. It was about being healthy and having fun doing so. It was the best 4 weeks of her life and after the shoot was over Danneel got an extended contract with the magazine, but that wasn’t the best part.“I got a 1 year contract,” Danneel was all but bouncing as she saw Jensen back on the set after having went to the side to talk with her agent.
“Congratulations. You did a great job,” Jensen answered her, but something seemed off. He didn’t seem happy for her. He was usually cocky and dorky. Normally he was all smiles around her and Danneel had thought that maybe he liked her, but the way he was behaving now made her rethink that.
“Are you working on other shots for the magazine?” she tried. Hopefully either way he would get the hint she would like to see him again, without having to ask.
“Sometimes. I don’t know when though,” Jensen didn’t meet her eyes and Danneel struggled to not burst into tears. She had really liked this guy, but apparently she had been nothing more than a job to him.
“Well it was nice knowing you then,” Danneel decided to cut her losses and she spun around on her heel. She couldn’t get away from the set fast enough. She didn’t want anyone to see her crying over some guy, especially not people she would have to work with for at least a year.
“Hey wait,” Danneel didn’t get more than a few steps before Jensen’s hand gently closed around her arm. He released her the second, she turned around and the same hand that had been on her arm seconds ago was now rubbing the back of his neck. He shifted slightly on his feet, still not meeting her eyes causing Danneel to frown, wondering what the hell was going on with him.
“I was… I thought that maybe…” Jensen stuttered, “would you like to go out sometime? On a date I mean. With me?”
Danneel stifled a giggle, but she couldn’t stop the huge grin from spreading across her face. “I would love too.”
“Yeah?” Jensen’s eyes met hers for the first time and the smile he sent her completely took her breath away. Somehow she knew this was the start of something lasting and beautiful.
Danneel smiled to herself as she remembered the first date and the ones after that. She remembered training for Tough Mudder with him, but competing with her friends against him and his. She remembered how smug she had been dancing around him when she had beat him at his own game and how he had just grabbed her and kissed her, causing her to forget everyone and everything around them.She remembered him randomly proposing to her as they were stretching after a run and how tears had flown from her eyes as she kisses him, saying yes over and over again. She remembered throwing up everyday when they made it home from their honeymoon, thinking it was something she had or a bug she had caught on their vacation. It wasn’t until Jensen sheepishly had handed her a pregnancy test, the thought she might be expecting had occurred to her.Of course he was right and Danneel immediately quit her job. She knew as soon as she started showing they would fire her anyway, but she didn’t care. She was happier than she had ever been, growing, glowing and completely and utterly in love.It had always been Danneel’s plan to go back to work and Jensen had helped her get in shape. Just like always it hadn’t been a task or something she felt she needed to do. He made it fun and somehow he managed to involve their giggling, dancing and jumping daughter JJ in most of their activities.Danneel had been excited to return to work, but something her way of thinking had shifted when she became a mom.Now all she saw were the horrible sides of the business. She witnessed how some of the other models counted carbs and worse than that talked about best ways to make themselves throw up after a meal. She head the rumors and whispers being spread amongst the staff of the photoshoot about the other models and Danneel couldn’t help but wonder what was being said about her when she wasn’t listening.Worst of all was the photographer, Mark Hall and how he grabbed her and all the other models. He moved them and touched them anywhere to mold them into his image of the perfect picture. He talked to them as if they were nothing but eye candy and were beneath him somehow.When Danneel was the only one there asked him to keep his hands to himself, he turned on her. He kept telling her how she looked fat from different angles. He told her to suck in her stomach or raise her chin, cause no one wanted to see her extra chins.Usually Danneel had a thick skin against stuff like that but it all got too much and she had never been happier when Jensen unexpectedly walked onto set during one of the breaks.
“I missed you too honey,” Jensen laughed, wrapping his free arm around her before handing her the frappuccino he brought her and her face split in a big smile.
“I thought you might need that. First day back and all,” Jensen winked, sitting down next to her outside her trailer, enjoying the warmth of the sun. He was sitting a little lower than her and out of view from anyone who walked up from behind the trailers.
“Are you sure you wanna drink that? Not like you need the extra fat, darling,” Mark’s voice sounded as he appeared behind the trailers.
“But if you need help working it off, I’ll be in the shower,” he sent a smirk that made her skin crawl, but before she could say anything Jensen was on his feet, creating a wall between them with his body.
“What the fuck did you just say to my wife?” Jensen’s voice was low and ominous and Danneel hurried to his side, putting her hand on his arm, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Sorry man. Didn’t realize she was taken,” Mark replied giving Jensen a grin, before his eyes traveled back to Danneel, looking her up and down.
“What the fuck does that matter?” Jensen growled, clearly surprising Mark. “Also she is not taken. She is not a thing and you got no fucking right to treat her or any other woman like that.”
“Jensen,” Danneel tugged his arm slightly, but Mark was not smart enough to back down.
“Oh come on man. It’s just us and her here. No one marries a model for their brains. I bet she is good lay huh?”
Danneel had never felt anger like she felt in that moment. It wasn’t about how he spoke of her. She had been called worse in her time in the industry. Frankly she had dealt with worse than Mark too and always managed to push it down somehow. What angered her so much was his blatant disrespect of her relationship with Jensen. How he presumed to know anything about the two of them and how he acted as if Jensen was like him.
Danneel weren’t even sure what happened but before she knew it, Mark was on the ground, pressing his hand against his bloodied nose and Danneel was holding her sore fist with her other hand.
“You bitch! You’re fired,” Mark roared at her, looking rather pathetic scrabbling on the ground to get back up.
“I quit!” Danneel hissed back at him, before grabbing her gobsmacked husband’s hand dragging him back towards the parking space
“Holy shit,” Jensen tugged her hand, making her stop when they had gotten well out of ear and eyeshot. “Baby are you okay?” Jensen checked her hand, while Danneel was still fuming, but the impressed look in his eyes when they met her, made her calm down and even laugh along with him.
“Remind me to never piss you off,” Jensen chuckled, pulling her against his chest and Danneel closed her eyes rested her head against his heart. This was where she was happy now. Not in front of a camera, pretending to be something she wasn’t anymore.
Danneel was pulled from her thoughts when her little girl started calling for her and she smiled, walking across the room. She crawled into bed with her husband and daughter, gently stroking the little girl’s hair while Jensen read out loud to them both of them.“I’m gonna call my agent tomorrow and see of I can get out of my contract,” Danneel spoke just above a whisper when JJ had fallen asleep. The little girl was lying completely on top of her dad, while Danneel was resting her head against his chest, her legs tangled with his.“You sure? You shouldn’t let one dickbag ruin something you love for you,” Jensen answered her, kissing the top of her head, making her smile.“I’m not. I don’t love it anymore. He is not the first person to treat me like that and he won’t be the last if I go back. That’s not the example I wanna set for her,” Danneel gently ran her finger’s through JJ’s hair.“She should grow up, knowing she deserves to be treated by every man like her dad treats everyone around him,” Danneel looked up at Jensen, “how will she learn that if I accept men and women walking all over me everyday for a paycheck we don’t need right now?”“Dee…” Jensen started but Danneel just hushed him, pressing her lips against his.“I’ll find something I love again. For now I am happy,” Jensen’s eyes sparkled with her words and he leaned down to kiss her again.“If you’re sure?” Jensen pushed making her shake her head at him with a smile, before she rested her head back down against his heart, resting her hand on her little girl’s back.“I’m sure,” Danneel sighed, relaxing completely when she felt his hold on her tighten a little. Danneel had never been more certain of anything in her entire life. Jensen made her happy. She was healthy and strong, with him she knew she was staying that way. She wasn’t sure what the future had in store for her, but she knew as long as she was with the love of her life and their beautiful little girl, it would be something amazing.