first things first, breathe.

FULL NAME: Valentina Vale (Pangilinan) AGE: 35 DATE OF BIRTH: October 8 GENDER IDENTITY: cis female NEIGHBORHOOD: Fairweather Hotel OCCUPATION: PR Strategist POSITIVE TRAITS: composed, perceptive, and devoted NEGATIVE TRAITS: controlling, prideful, and vindicative LENGTH OF TIME IN CARROLL: she was born here, but travels frequently and comes back to visit her parents. FACE CLAIM: shay mitchell

BIOGRAPHY

Valentina Pangilinan was raised in Carroll, California form the age of three, the only daughter of respected attorney Gabriel Pangilinan and former beauty queen Elena Vale-Pangilinan. Growing up, she was surrounded by polished appearances, high expectations, and the quiet understanding that grace mattered just as much as ambition. With a mother who knew how to command a room and a father whose name carried weight in town, Valentina learned early how to carry herself with poise, charm, and careful control. She spent much of her youth in the pageant world, earning crowns, titles, and a reputation for being the kind of girl who always seemed composed, even when she wasn’t.

As she got older, Carroll started to feel too small for everything she wanted. Valentina left home determined to build something bigger for herself, eventually carving out a successful career in celebrity public relations under the professional name Valentina Vale. Now working with high-profile clients, she spends much of her life on planes, in luxury hotels, and behind the scenes managing image, reputation, and crisis with the same polished ease she was taught as a girl. She still returns to the pageant circuit as a judge whenever she can, a role that keeps one foot in the world that shaped her and reminds everyone back home exactly who she became after leaving.

valentina had been confused the second holden texted asking where she was. he should have known she was on her way to rehearsals, unless he’d forgotten. then he said he needed to talk to her, which did nothing to help. a minute later penny texted her he’s yours, as though that meant anything at all, and then blocked her before valentina could even ask what the hell she was talking about. then jesse texted asking where holden was. what the actual fuck was happening? by the time teddy texted to ask if she’d gotten into a fight with penny, val’s stomach had fully dropped. something had happened. something bad. everyone except teddy was either leaving her on read or blocking her, so there was nothing to do but wait and panic. she told teddy she was half-convinced holden was on his way to eden’s to throw her out of the ranch, then waited outside wishing, for maybe the first time in ages, that she had a cigarette.

when holden finally texted that he was there, valentina made it to his truck in seconds. she yanked the passenger door open, nervous energy chewing at her from the inside out, and climbed in beside him, still worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. then she looked at him and he looked like he’d been crying. valentina stopped chewing her lip immediately, her whole expression shifting into concern as she turned toward him. “hilly, what happened?” she moved closer without thinking, reaching out to cup his face in one hand. “what’s wrong?”

The tenderness she showed made his chest clench. "I fucked up Val," he said quietly. "I -- " He swallowed thickly and shook his head, unable to look at her, dropping his head against his arms and the steering wheel. His jaw clenched as he fought to keep from breaking all over again from having to explain the nightmare he'd just endured. Never mind the one that was inevitably coming their way. "Penny n'I…we were…" he started, his voice gently muffled from being burrowed in his arms, the tremble soft in his voice as fought to push through. The anxious bounce in his leg had returned with a vengeance. Holden couldn't think straight. He felt like he was going to vomit. His entire world had just come crashing down around him, and there weren't any pieces to pick up this time. He was lost.

"Fuck," he groaned frustratedly, leaning back up in his seat. He finally forced his eyes to find hers and his heart just sank. He had ruined so much with the slip. And worse still, he couldn't explain really why it happened. "I called her by your name while we were goin' at it," he finally spit out, his brow furrowed deeply in sorrow. "I just.." He took a hitched breath and shook his head, swallowing back the lump starting to form in his throat. He didn't even know what to say to justify it.

seeing him like this made valentina’s heart ache. “no,” she said softly, shaking her head. “whatever happened, i’m sure it can be fixed. she probably just needs time to cool off…” but even as she said it, a frown pulled at the corners of her mouth. she wanted to believe this was something holden and penny could come back from. if they really loved each other the way he’d always said they did, then surely one terrible moment couldn’t destroy all of it. his father was already starting to come around. maybe grace would, too, one day. maybe this didn’t have to be the thing that broke them.

then he told her what he’d done. her eyes widened, and for a second she just stared at him. “holden,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say. she looked away, blinking hard, her pulse kicking up so fast it made her feel unsteady. he had said her name while he was with penny. okay. maybe this was worse than she’d let herself believe.

when she looked back at him, her expression had softened into something pained and tender all at once. she took a slow breath. “but you didn’t mean it like that,” she said, tilting her head as if she could somehow ease this for him just by looking at him gently enough. all she wanted in that moment was to take the pain off his face and carry it for him instead. he looked so miserable sitting there, and she loved him so much it made her chest hurt.

“you love penny,” she went on quietly. “and she has to know that. it was a mistake, hilly. people make mistakes like this all the time.” she reached for his hand and held onto it, giving him the smallest, saddest smile because she already hated what she was about to offer. but if penny was what made him happy, then valentina would carve herself out of the picture if she had to. “we can show her it didn’t mean anything,” she said. “i can move out. we can keep things strictly about ellie. that’s all.” her eyes dropped to their joined hands, her brows drawing together. "i'll do anything you want, hilly. i know how much you love her."

His lip began to quiver and he couldn't stop the tears from springing back to his eyes. "I don' know if I didn' mean it," he admitted quietly, confusion lacing itself through the sorrow in his voice. A quick, choked sob tried to break free after the words had been uttered. He wasn't sure. He had been sitting with uncertainty about things since London and their kiss. He managed a barely there nod as she continued, letting his now blurred gaze drop to their hands, because he loved Penny, that much he knew. Wholeheartedly, he knew he loved Penny. Love, love, LOVED her. That had never changed for him.

But his love for Valentina had.

He squeezed her hands and brought his eyes back to hers, his brow furrowed even deeper as he shook his head prominently this time, outright denying her solution of leaving. "She won' talk to me. Won't hear me ou' that it was a slip. I don' know f'I can come back from this…" he said, the quiver from his cries trying desperately to come back to his lips. "'Cause it also wasn' nothin' Val," he finally admitted through another cry trying to burst forth. "I…I don' know wha' happened but, I jus'…please don' leave me Vally. Please stay. You can move ta Poppy Court f'ya want, or back to tha hotel, or in with yer folks, or anywhere else in Carroll, but jus' don' leave. Please," he begged, rambling through gentle cries he could no longer cease. "I can't lose you both in one nigh' 'cause I can' figure out who I love more," he finally admitted, despair clear in his eyes.

her gaze lifted back to his when he admitted he wasn’t sure it had been meaningless. valentina refused to let herself believe that meant what some desperate, hopeful part of her wanted it to mean. he was confused. he was hurting. people said things when they were hurting, things they didn’t fully understand or couldn’t take back. she had done it herself. when he squeezed her hands, she squeezed back without thinking. she always would. whenever holden reached for her, valentina would answer.

then he started pleading with her not to leave, and she shook her head quickly. before she even realized what she was doing, she climbed across the space between them and settled into his lap, forcing him to look at her instead of disappearing into whatever terrible place his mind had taken him. “hey,” she said firmly, cupping his face. “i’m not going anywhere.” her eyes held his, serious and steady, until the rest of his words finally caught up with her. ‘cause i can’ figure out who i love more.

valentina went completely still. her heart slammed hard against her ribs, and tears sprang to her eyes before she could stop them. he couldn’t possibly mean—

“what do you mean?” she whispered.

As soon as she crawled in his lap, his arms instinctively went around her, and he hugged her close. The look he gave her was momentary before he burrowed into her and let the tears come, unable to fight them off anymore. His arms wrapped around her tighter. Valentina always gave him sanctuary in his deepest moments of misery. Had been by his side through his worst, and his best. She'd held him up when he felt like crumbling. And he had always just been too blind to see it was more than just a deep friendship.

That was until Ellie.

"I love you so much Vally," he choked out between cries against her chest, his hold gently tightening more as if she would disappear if he let go. "Ellie's changed things n'I don' know what ta do with it," he finally admitted softly through a gentle shake of his head, quiet shame coming through in his voice.

her arms went around him the second he folded into her, holding him close as he cried against her chest. this was not where she had imagined the conversation going. she hadn’t expected to have holden breaking apart in her arms, hadn’t expected to feel his grief so sharply that it seemed to settle beneath her own ribs. it hurt to see him like this. hurt enough that some practical, self-protective part of her still refused to take his words at face value. she couldn’t let herself believe he meant love the way she wanted him to mean it. friendship was safer. confusion was safer. anything was safer than hope.

valentina had never learned how to believe the things she wanted could actually belong to her. first, her life had been arranged around her mother’s pageants and expectations. then autumn had seemed to dictate the shape of their social world, always the girl people chose first, always the one val measured herself against. valentina had spent so much of her life making sure everyone else got what they wanted, reshaping herself into whatever was useful, beautiful, easy, or necessary. she knew how to help other people reach for happiness. she had never been very good at claiming any for herself.

but with holden in her arms, crying like he trusted her to hold every broken piece of him, something inside her finally gave way. she rested her cheek against the top of his head and ran her fingers gently through his hair, soothing him even as her own eyes burned. “i loved you before ellie,” she whispered into his hair. the words frightened her the second they were free, but she didn’t take them back. instead, she held him tighter. “i’ve been in love with you for a long time, holden reynolds.”

His chest grew hot with her admission, clenching tightly with shame because he couldn't say the same. Holden had loved Valentina in a very different way until recently, but to hear she had fallen for him before their daughter and he had missed it, crushed him. "M'sorry," he apologized for making such a mess of things. He swallowed back the sting of self-hate, knowing he would continue to do so no matter what.

He forced his tears to stop, at least long enough to finally lean back and look at her. He tucked some hair behind her ear, and wiped at her eyes before letting his touch slip to her take hold of her hand. "London made me realize we could have been more. That I….love you, love you. But I still really love Penny, Val," he told her through a hitched breath, shaking his head. "I just…all think about is you anymore n'I don' know wha' tha' means for any'a us now," he admitted, dropping his gaze to their hands in their laps.

valentina shook her head when he apologized. her feelings had never been his responsibility to untangle. she hadn’t told him because it was complicated, because for years they had lived separate lives and only caught pieces of each other between visits, phone calls, and messages sent from different cities. she had kept it to herself because it was hers, one secret she hadn’t been ready to hand over until now. she watched him wipe the tears from her cheeks before taking her hand, and some of the fear inside her finally loosened. she had said it. the words were out between them, and the world hadn’t ended. maybe she should have told him sooner. maybe they could have avoided all of this. or maybe nothing would have changed except that penny would be the one sitting here with him instead of her.

“of course you still love her,” valentina said, tilting her head as she studied him. “feelings don’t disappear just because new ones show up.” when his gaze dropped, she reached up with her free hand and gently guided his face back toward hers. “we don’t have to figure everything out right now, hilly. this just happened. we’re allowed to sit with it for a little while.” her thumb brushed softly over his cheek. “we can take our time and figure out what it means. together. okay?” she drew in an unsteady breath, but she didn’t look away. “i loved you yesterday. i love you today. and i’m going to love you tomorrow.” her voice softened, the certainty of it somehow more frightening than the confession itself. “whatever happens next, that isn’t going to change. i know it makes everything more complicated, and i’m sorry for that. but i’m not sorry that i love you.”

He felt like such an asshole when he heard Valentina justify his love for Penny, and a grimace easily showed itself. As if it was something that would fade away one day. He hadn't loved her any less since his love for Valentina had started to grow. And he doubted it would lessen as the days went on. Even now, his heart ached for her. But as Valentina continued to just talk with him, the ache split, her touch sending a chill up his spine.

"I love you too, Val" he said quietly as he pulled her in for another hug, this one much less frantic. He selfishly savored the calm being in her arms always brought. A feeling even Penny couldn't seem to fully reproduce - a fact that tugged at his heart as he embraced Valentina. He just wanted to stay there until he woke up from this nightmare. Until the sun came back and everything went back to normal. To when he and Val were best friends raising Ellie, Penny was his someday, and he wasn't so god damn confused.

valentina wrapped her arms around him the moment he pulled her in again, holding him just as tightly. she knew none of this was easy for him. it was messy and complicated, and there were too many people who could get hurt before any of them figured out what came next, but this was still holden. her best friend. ellie’s father. her family.

whatever happened between them, even if it wasn’t the ending valentina secretly wanted, there was no version of her life where she stopped being there for him. they would find their way through this somehow. they always had.

she held him for another quiet moment before pulling back enough to look at him. “what do you want to do right now?” she asked softly. “anything at all. it doesn’t even have to be about this.”

her hands stayed against him, reluctant to let go completely. “we could go home, get ellie, and have a movie night. just turn our brains off for a little while?”

He felt like crying still, but had no tears left. He felt like he was dying inside, barely hanging on in her arms, but Valentina's hold kept him from fading completely. He sighed deeply against her skin, her scent sending another wave of calm through him. He didn't know what was going to happen, how he was going to fix things, who he even truly wanted, Penny, but he did know he didn't want to be there anymore.

"Teddy is gonna hate me for takin' ya away from him," he tried to joke with a sad chuckle, reaching to cup the sides of her face. His brow furrowed once more in anguish. He felt wholly selfish keeping her from her life with his problems. Problems that should have never involved her. He hadn't wanted to do that, yet he couldn't fight the need to have her by his side. Valentina was the only person he had left and he didn't want to be alone."But home with Ellie'd be nice," he managed to answer, his voice hoarse and barely there, apology clear in his eyes.

“teddy will understand,” she said, though the certainty in her voice was more hopeful than real. teddy had been the one urging her to leave this alone, to focus on oscar, to bury whatever she felt for holden until something easier and safer could grow in its place. but if valentina was honest with herself, she didn’t want anyone else. then again, honesty had never come naturally to her.

“then let’s go home.” a small smile touched her mouth as she lifted her hands to cover his where they still rested against her face. she could see the apology in his eyes, the guilt and confusion sitting there between them, but she hoped he could see what was in hers too. love. plain and terrifying. she knew it would probably break her heart eventually. maybe it already had, but right now, valentina didn’t care. holden needed her, and she wanted to be there.

she carefully shifted off his lap and settled into the seat beside him, close enough that their shoulders still touched. “come on,” she said softly. “let’s go get our girl.”