Pedro Pascal Character Imagines

Always the Bridesmaid (Javier Pena)

Summary: Rose drags her friend Milly to Danny's wedding where she meets a certain DEA agent.

Milly looked around the room at all the couples dancing. "Why am I here again?" she asked her friend Rose.

"Because I didn't want to come alone."

"So I'm your date or something?"

"You needed to get out of the house. You can't keep moping."

Milly's boyfriend of three years had broken up with her before taking a job in Dallas.

"Oh my god," Rose said, her mouth dropping open.

"What?" Milly asked, looking around the room.

"Javi's back."

"Who?"

"Javier Peña!" Rose grabbed Milly and started pulling her towards a man wearing a red plaid shirt. It looked good against his golden skin.

"Javi!"

"Oh, hey Rose."

"We all heard what you did in Colombia, catching Escobar. You're like Laredo's hometown hero!"

Javier rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Who's your friend?" Javier asked, looking at Milly.

"Oh, this is Milly. She moved here right after you left."

Javier held his hand out. "Javier Peña."

Milly took his calloused hand in her own. "Milly Ashton."

"Milly works at the florist," Chucho mentioned.

"The flowers are...nice," Javier said.

Milly laughed at the awkward compliment. "Thank you. I try to put myself in the bride's shoes when doing the arrangements."

"The bride married Javi's cousin," Rose mentioned.

"Oh! Well luckily the bride had a pretty good idea of what she wanted. Better than some I've worked with."

"I always say she lives vicariously through the brides."

"So you're not married?" Javier asked, even though there was no trace of a wedding ring.

"Um, no. Never been married. At this point I doubt it'll ever happen."

She heard the whispers around town. How she was in her thirties and never been married. She'd likely become an old maid if her life kept going the way it was.

"We should leave Chucho and Javier alone. Let them catch up," Milly said, leading Rose away, "It was nice to meet your Javier." Once they were far enough way, Milly turned to Rose. "Did you have to tell Javier all about my love life?"

"You need to get over..."

"Don't say his name."

"Javier is single. You're single..."

"So you think I'm just going to fall in love with him?"

"See the blonde over there?" Rose pointed to her. "Her name's Lorraine. Javi left her on their wedding day and then ran off to Colombia. When it comes to relationships, you two have about the same track record."

Milly felt bad for Lorraine, but if he'd hadn't left her, he wouldn't have helped take down the world's biggest Narco.

Javier watched Milly the rest of the night.

"Ask her to dance," Chucho told him.

Javier sighed. "You know I can't do that, Pops." Javier was leaving for Colombia again in a few days. He didn't want to have another Lorraine on his hands.

"I'm not asking you to propose to her. just have some fun."

"She deserves better than me."

"Hijo, the girl's boyfriend just left her."

"What?"

"Took some fancy job in Dallas and up and left her after three years."

Soon it came time for the bride to toss her bouquet.

Rose pushed Milly onto the dancefloor.

"Rose, stop!"

"Come on, it's fun."

The bride turned around and tossed the bouquet back. It went flying through the air and to Milly's horror, landed in her hands. The bouquet she'd made herself. The women around her congratulated her, while some grumbled about wanting it more than her. Milly's eyes met Javier's across the room.

"You know what that means, don't you? You're next," Rose teased her.

Javier approached her.

Rose started humming a wedding march.

"Shut-up!" Milly hissed as Rose walked away.

"Congratulations," Javier said, a small smile on his face.

"I wasn't even trying to catch it. I swear."

Javier chuckled and reached out, gently touching the petals. "Maybe you were meant to."

Milly blushed and smiled at Javier.

"You wanna get out of here?" he asked her.

Milly nodded and took Javier's hand in hers.

Rose walked over to Chucho. "You're welcome."

Chucho had a feeling that the next time Javier came back from Colombia, there would be another wedding.