You belong to me

Chapter 27 - Charlotte

I'm a mess. An utter mess. I'm avoiding calls from JT, I can't stop thinking about Parker, I'm moving across the world tomorrow and I have no idea what I am doing. Someone knocks on my bedroom door as I quickly wipe away my tears. "Come in!" I shout, trying to sound as cheery as possible. In walks my mum with a very sympathetic smile, "You can talk to me baby, what's going on?" She gently asks as she sits down on my bed next to me and begins to stroke my hair and I can't control the tears falling as I uncontrollably cry into my mum's lap. "Charlotte, this isn't you, you have to do what makes you happy, we will never be mad if you decide you can't do this with JT and i'm sure he will understand that too," She says as I pull myself together and wipe away the mixture of tears and snot from my face. "I know you love him Char, you always have and you always will," mum says kissing my forehead. She's right, I do love him, I have never loved anyone the way I love Parker. I need to ring JT.

"Go get him Char, or you will forever regret not doing so," JT says on the other end of the phone. "How'd you know?" I ask him and he laughs, "Oh baby, I knew from the second you saw him at your graduation party and you looked at him the way you've never looked at me before and that man was drinking whisky from the bottle, that's a man that's hurting! I love you Char, but not the way you love Parker." JT says. He took that surprisingly well, he was nothing but sweet and assured me he will always be there for me. Fuck. My flight, I'm supposed to be leaving in the morning and I need to find Parker and tell him. I bolt down the stairs and run towards the front door. "Hey?! Where you going?" My dad shouts, "Parker, I need to find Parker I shout. "Baby, he's gone. He'll be in New York by now." My dad says as my heart shatters, I've left it too late. My mum comes bounding in the hallway at the commotion, "Charlotte dear, I thought about this and I had a feeling it would come down to this. You are still flying to L.A in the morning and I just bought a connecting flight to JFK," she says with a beaming smile. "Oh, Mum! I love you!" I shout as I wrap my arms around her.

I've played so many different scenarios out in my head about what I will say to Parker or how I will surprise him but now that I've landed in New York I don't actually have a clue what I'm doing. "Are you Miss Gray, Ma'am?" a woman asks me in a thick New York accent. "Yes, yes that's me," I say following this woman through a crowded arrivals section of JFK airport to her cab. "What brings ya to New York? Heading to a fancy apartment complex too," the woman tries to make small talk with me but my mind is racing and my heart is pounding. What if he tells me it's not going to work, or I've hurt him too bad and I've come all the way to New York for nothing. The woman coughs, "Ma'am we're here, do you need help with your bags?" she asks me. "No thank you, I got it, here you go," I say, handing her a tip and smiling as I exit the cab and stand outside Parker's apartment building.

I could be physically sick with nerves right now and my hands are profusely sweating as I walk through the big glass doors and stand in the same lobby that amazed last year. "Miss Gray is that you?" Henry the security guard asks me as he walks towards me. "I'm here to surprise Parker, is he in?" Henry gives me a huge smile, "Only for you will I make this happen," he says and let's me through to the lift. I press the button for the penthouse and my hands are shaking and my stomach is churning. Ding. The doors open to Parker's hallway to his front door, I'm contemplating going back down but I can't, I need to do this. I step out the lift and take a deep breath in and knock on the front door.

Parker answers the door wearing his Chelsea football top, a pair of shorts and a bowl of cereal in his other hand. His hair is a mess and he opens his mouth in utter shock, "Charlotte, what are you, what you, what..." He fumbles his words and I can't stop myself, I lean towards him and kiss him, hard. "I love you, Parker. Always have and always will," I smile, as our foreheads are pressed together. I can see Parker smile, "I love you too, Charles. I told you, you belong to me."