(Blast from the Past)

Thursday. The entire day seemed to fly by. Before they knew it, it was time for their guest to arrive.

Jensen had told JJ to stay in her room until it was time. He wanted to talk to Danneel before she did, to make sure that she would be honest and truthful to both of them. JJ, of course, agreed.

Suddenly, it was time. The doorbell rang and there was a knock on the door. This was it.

-''Hello. You must be Ms. Harris. Please come in. Jensen's in the kitchen. Please make yourself comfortable while I go get him.'' – Chloe said, trying her best to make her feel welcomed. Despite everything, she was determined to make sure that JJ and Danneel had some sort of relationship.

-''Jensen, she's here.'' – she said entering the kitchen. – ''If you need me, I'm right here, okay?''

Jensen nodded, squeezing her hand, making his way out of the kitchen and into the living room, not knowing what to expect. Will she tell him the truth? Or will she come up with some bullshit excuse that not even she believes in?

-''Jensen. You look good.'' – Danneel said, with a smile.

-''Thanks. You too.''

-''Thanks for agreeing to talk to me.''

-''No problem. So, what do you wanna talk?''

-''I want to apologize for what I did. You didn't deserve it. Neither one of you did. At the time, I wasn't thinking clearly and, for some reason, I was feeling trapped in a life that didn't feel like it was mine. I felt like I was living someone else's life and I couldn't take it anymore. I'm sorry. I thought I needed more. Like what I had wasn't enough and I didn't realize that I already had so much. I had something that hundreds of women can only dream of. I had an adoring husband, a beautiful daughter and a blessed life. And I threw all of that away. I'm so sorry.''

When Danneel finished talking she had tears in her eyes. Jensen didn't know what to think. On one hand, he wanted for her to be sincere, for her to truly be sorry for what she did, for them to be able to be at least friends; but on the other hand, he didn't know if that was truly the case. After all, she always was an amazing actress.

-''Danneel, what do you want from me? If you're looking for forgiveness, you have it. I forgive you. Sometimes we make choices in the heat of the moment that, later on, we realize, either by ourselves or with the help of someone, weren't the right ones. God knows I made my fair share of them in the past 10 years. So, I ask you again, what do you want from me?'' – Jensen asked, almost anticipating what her answer would be.

-''A second chance. That's all. A chance to make things right. A fresh start, clean slate. I know that I probably don't deserve it, but if you'll be willing to take that chance with me, I promise, you won't regret it.'' – Danneel pleaded.

-''I'm sorry, I can't. I've moved on. If you want, we can try and be friends, but that's it. Nothing more.''

-''I'll take it. I promise you won't regret it.'' – she said, teary eyed. – ''Now, do you think that it would be okay for me to see JJ? I really missed her.''

-''We talked to her and she's okay with talking to you, but she had one condition.'' – Jensen said, knowing that now was the true test. He could only hope that his little girl wouldn't end the night with tears in her eyes and a broken heart.

-''Okay, what is it?''

-''She will see you, as long as Chloe is present as well.''

-''Chloe? Who's Chloe?'' – that confused Danneel. Who the hell was this Chloe person?

-''Chloe is the woman who opened the door. She's the woman who has been helping me raise her into the amazing young woman that she is today.''

-''Okay, if that's what JJ needs to feel comfortable enough to talk to me, I'll take it.'' – Danneel didn't like this, not one bit, but for a chance to win her family back, she'll do whatever it takes.

-''Before I get her down here, a piece of advice, Danneel. She's 14yo, but she's a lot wiser. So, don't be condescending. She'll hate that and will let you know. She has a few questions, so be honest when you answer them. We have a rule in this house: always tell the truth, no matter what. Follow that and you'll be fine with her. Don't and she'll call you out. Got it?'' – Jensen warned her. He knew his daughter and JJ wouldn't have any problems in letting her know that she wasn't happy with what Danneel might be saying.

With that, he called Chloe over and asked her to get JJ, which she happily obliged.

-''JJ? Sweetie? It's time.'' – Chloe said, knocking on JJ's door.

-''Okay. You'll be there, right?'' – JJ was nervous.

-''Of course. And so will your dad. Relax. Everything will be fine. She sounded really sorry when she talked to your dad. All she wants is a chance to make things right. Just hear her out, okay?'' – Chloe said, trying to reassure her while making their way into the living room.

They entered the living room and JJ wouldn't let go of Chloe's hand, out of nerves. Danneel got up and smiled at her. JJ didn't know what to do. Should she say or do something? Jensen noticed and decided to take the lead.

-''JJ, this is Danneel.''

-''Hi.'' – JJ said, sitting down.

-''Hi JJ. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm your mom.'' – Danneel said, following JJ's lead and sitting down as well. – ''Your dad said that you have a few questions for me?''

Before she asked anything, she looked over to Chloe and her dad, making sure that, no matter what, they'll be there to help her. Chloe was sitting right next to Jensen on the couch, while JJ was on the armchair. They both nodded and gave her a small smile, encouraging her to go ahead. –''Yes. Why did you leave?''

-''It's complicated, sweetie. I wasn't in a good place mentally. Again, it's… complicated. But I am sorry for doing that. Both of you didn't deserve that. You deserved to have grown up with your mom with you. I'm so sorry, princess.'' – Danneel answered. Jensen caught her eye and shook his head. He noticed the condescending tone on her voice and knew that JJ did as well. Precisely what he had warned her not to do.

-''Complicated? Seriously? Complicated… Okay. Try growing up thinking that you might had done something that made your mother abandon you and your dad, no matter how many times your dad tells you that that wasn't the case. Try going to school and have the kids make fun of you because your mother abandoned you. That's complicated. And don't call me sweetie or princess. You don't get to call me that, nor do you get to say you're my mom. You're not my mom. All you are is my birth mother, that's it. Chloe is my mom. Not you.'' – by now she was almost shouting, with tears in her eyes. –''Chloe was the one that stayed up all night when I was sick; she was the one who tuck me in at night and would read me bedtime stories; she was the one who would sing me to sleep when I would have a nightmare; she was the one that fought with a doctor because I wanted a blue cast instead of pink, when I broke my arm, and he wanted to give me a pink one. She's my mom, not you. So, don't ever say that you're my mom, 'cause you're not.''

-''JJ. Stop.'' – Chloe said, sternly.

-''Why? Isn't a rule in this house to always tell the truth, no matter what? That's all I'm doing.'' – tears were now streaming down her face.

Chloe got up and hugged her. JJ just broke. She felt like a weight was lifted from her chest. All those years and now finally she got the chance to say everything that she always wanted.

Danneel was going to say something but Jensen stopped her.

-''I warned you. You should go, Danneel.''

-''You don't see it, do you Jensen?'' – she asked him, pissed that he couldn't see what was right in front of him.

-''See what, Danneel? That I warned you on how was the best way to talk to her and you ignored it?''

-''She's the one doing this.'' – Danneel said pointing at Chloe, making a very shocked Chloe turn to look at her. –''She's been turning our daughter against me for years now and you don't see it. Or choose not to see it. Either way, that's my daughter and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave my daughter under her control any longer.'' – with that, Danneel tried to reach JJ's arm forcefully, but Chloe put herself between them which in return earned her a slap from Danneel.

The sound of Danneel's hand hitting Chloe's face left everyone in shock. Jensen flipped.

-''How dare you? Get out Danneel. Don't ever come anywhere near any of us again, do you hear me? You're lucky you're a woman. Get out.'' – Jensen shouted, Chloe holding him back.

-''Jensen, stop. Please.'' – Chloe pleaded. She was on the verge of tears, but she knew she needed to be strong, for both JJ and Jensen.

Danneel left, hitting the door on her way out. ''What the hell happened?'', Chloe thought. All she wanted was for both of them to have some sort of closure, for JJ to have some sort of relationship with Danneel, not to drive them apart. She wished she could just go to her room, but right now she had to be there for JJ. She might have a bruised face but JJ had a broken heart. Now was time to try and pick up the pieces.

-''You okay?'' – Jensen asked her, his face stricken with worry.

-''I'm fine.'' – she said, more concerned with JJ, than herself. –''JJ, princess, you okay?''

-''I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm so sorry, Chloe.'' – she said through sobs.

-''Princess, it's not your fault. Your mom…''

-''She's not my mom.''

-''Okay, sorry. What I meant was, Danneel was upset and she took it out on me. It's okay. Sometimes we blow up and we take it out on the first person that's in front of us. That's what happened here. I'm okay, sweetheart. No harm, no fowl. Promise. It wasn't your fault.'' – she said hugging her tight.

Jensen watched as the two women of his life were hugging, trying to make sense of what just happened. If Danneel was a man, she would had paid right there and then for what she did to Chloe. Danneel should be kissing the floor that Chloe steps on, not accusing her of turning JJ against her. All those years, every time that JJ would talk about Danneel, Chloe always made sure that she never spoke ill about her. Even with him, she did the same. In the beginning when Jensen was still trying to make sense of what happened, she would always try and be the voice of reason, never agreeing with him when he would say something less nice about her, but instead trying to make him see things from her perspective. How could anyone think that she was trying to turned them against Danneel?

Eventually, JJ calmed down and Chloe took her to her room so she could get a good night's sleep. After JJ was in bed, she came back downstairs only to find him with two glasses of scotch, waiting for her.

-''Here. I believe we both need it.''

-''You think?'' – she said with a sad smile.

-''You okay, Chloe? Does it hurt? Let me get you some ice.''

-''Jensen, stop. I'm fine. Trust me, I've been hit a lot harder than that. It takes more than just a slap to the face to seriously hurt me.'' – she said, sadness in her eyes.

-''I'm sorry, Chloe.''

-''For what?''

-''You didn't deserve that. She should be kissing the floor you step on. After all you did, you deserve so much more. I'm sorry.'' – he said, a tear escaping his eyes.

-''Hey, it's okay. Look, she was upset because of what JJ told her. She probably wasn't counting on having JJ tell her all those things. I was just collateral damage. It's fine, it happens. I'm sure that she is already feeling bad for what happened.'' – not even she believed that, but she needed him to believe it. If they had a chance to have a normal relationship for JJ's sake, she would lie through her teeth.

-''You know as well as I do that's not happening.''

-''Well, we'll see. I'm going to bed. You should do the same. It was a long night. See you in the morning.'' – she said, kissing his cheek and making her way up the stairs towards her bedroom.

Shortly after, he did the same. Not that he was sleepy but simply because being in the living room kept reminding him of what just happened. He was wide awake, the night replaying in his mind, non-stop.

It was going to be a very long night. For both of them.