The sun had barely started to set when you arrived at the Supernatural set, your script clutched in one hand and a half-empty coffee cup in the other. City was damp that evening, the pavement still slick from an earlier rain, and the scent of pine and wet earth mixed with the faint aroma of diesel from the trucks parked along the lot.

You had been playing your role for a few episodes now – a young hunter with a mysterious past, partnered with Sam and Dean Winchester. The character had grown into something more than you’d imagined when you’d first auditioned, and the writers had hinted that tonight’s shoot in the Men of Letters bunker was going to be a turning point.

Jared Padalecki was already there when you stepped onto the set, standing near the Impala with a bottle of water in hand, talking to one of the camera operators. He wore Sam’s trademark jacket layered over a hoodie, his hair a little tousled, his smile easy. When he saw you approach, he raised his eyebrows, that familiar half-smirk lighting up his face.

“Hey, trouble,” he teased, his voice low and smooth. “You ready to save the world again tonight?”