My Forever (OLD)

Five: Intrigued

Madalynne

“Come on, I’m not leaving until you eat something.” Parker was perched on the edge of my bed, holding a serving tray with the most unappealing looking tomato soup on it.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten voluntarily, more than a couple of bites here and there. My brother had been taken from the world less than two weeks ago and it had shattered my world.

I wasn’t the only one affected; my parents were facing a rough patch after the devastating news; neither one wanting to spend much time with the other sadly because they were constantly reminded of Mason. In a time you would expect a family to pull together for strength, mine fell apart at the seams.

Parker had also been quite close with my older brother, but he was staying strong for me; saving his breakdowns for the solace of his own room as to not upset me any more than needed.

I pulled the comforter over my head and nestled myself into my pillows. “Go away,” I growled. I was in full on bitch mode. But Parker continued returning; every day for two months until he finally coaxed me out of the comfort of my room; Out of the comfort of my home.

I glanced around at the blue skies surrounding us, breathing in the air.

“Go on, admit it, you missed this,” Parker pointed to the trees as if to signal nature.

He always seemed to know what I was thinking without much effort. I shook my head lightly, smiling back at him.

“Admit it!” He chased me all over the yard with his fingers outstretched threatening to tickle me to death.

We fell to the green grass, laughing, out of breath.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you smile, since…” Parker trailed off knowing he was treading unstable ground.

“Don’t say his name,” I whispered; the pain still too much to bare.

“It’s good to see you smile,” he changed the subject swiftly. “I had forgotten how beautiful it was.”

I looked up into his chocolate colored eyes then. “How do you put up with me?”

“It’s love, babe. You have to take the good with the bad, hasn’t anyone ever told you that?” He replied, kissing the top of my head.

“You’re definitely an original,” I responded by kissing him eagerly for the first time in weeks.

“Mmm,” he murmured just as our lips parted. He looked around at the sky above us. “Shit, where did that come from?”

I glanced up to see what he was referring to, noticing a huge black rain cloud hovering directly above us. “Fantastic,” I replied sarcastically as the first rain drops began to pelt the ground.

“Ready to go back inside?” Parker grabbed my hand without hesitating for an answer from me. I stopped abruptly, still holding his hand, causing him alarm. “Are you okay?” He asked, as he hopped back to me.

“I wanna stay out here awhile,” I responded, winking at him through the downpour.

“Well you’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” He asked, before wiping my drenched hair out of my eyes and lowering his lips to mine.

It had been two days since Parker and I had last talked, and I knew I couldn’t let him leave me, leave us, with all this unfinished business. He was leaving to Basic Training in a couple of hours, so I had asked him to stop by before he left.