You belong to me

Chapter 6 - Charlotte

That took physically everything in me to just walk past Parker like that after giving him nothing but a mouthful of sass. I can still feel my heartbeat in my ears from the rush of adrenalin mixed with anger. Who does he even think he is to just appear out of nowhere in the middle of the bloody night and come out with, 'It's Christmas, Charles', aw fuck off Parker. I thought I would feel all nervous and giddy being around him but I feel the exact opposite now I have seen him in the flesh standing in front of me. Yes, he is attractive in person and looks like he has had his face carved by the Greek Gods or something but he's still a knob.

I'm still so twitched that Parker is downstairs, I really hope he feels like shit and at least found me attractive even in my football shorts from when I was fifteen in which, I only played football in the first place to impress Parker but only he was more interested in Chelsea Conway because she had double d's and acted like she couldn't add one plus one. I contemplate waking Jake up to just rant about the fact Parker is downstairs but I remember it's the middle of the night and I shouldn't even be awake myself. I must have fell asleep without even realizing I had as I am woken up by Jake shaking my arm. I attempt to talk to him but only grunts come out, "Go away Jake," I finally manage to say. "Charlotte Gray if you don't get up right now and do something about the way you look you're going to regret this...Parker is downstairs," Jake gives me that look and I can tell he's waiting for me to jump out of the bed and immediately turn into some form of super model and profess my love for Parker Kingston. Part of me wants to do that exactly, and the other part of me couldn't give two flying shits. I decide to at least try a bit, as the image of my mother's horrified face pops into my mind if I walk down the stairs looking like this. Jake must have read my facial expressions as he rummages through my wardrobe, "I might also suggest something dark, for y'know paintball." Jakes throws a long sleeve black top my way and my black Nike leggings. "I'm not wearing that top, it's too tight," I said throwing it back at Jake. "Yes you are, stop hiding behind baggy clothes Char, there is nothing wrong with your body. Plus think of the resistance a baggy top is going to create when you're running around like a ninja shooting the opposite team," Jake very excitedly says. "I'll shoot the shit out of Parker," I mumble under my breath. "What was that?" Jake asks, raising his eyebrow at me. "I said I'll get dressed then," I reply.

I look at myself in the mirror and look at my body. There's nothing wrong with it, I know that but being a taller girl comes with some insecurities. I shove my hair in a messy bun, leaving out a few loose curls to frame my face and apply some makeup, not too heavy but enough to make me look alive. I can feel the whole families eyes watching me walk down the stairs, staring right through me. Julie finally breaks the silence, "Ah you're awake and dressed Char! Parker's here," she says with a beaming smiling and gesturing for Parker to stand up and greet me. I glance over to Jake and he is doing the same as Julie but only he's signaling me with his eyes to greet Parker. I decide not to make a scene in front of the whole family when really I would just like to pretend he isn't even here. So I do the mature thing and go over to hug Parker. His arms feel big as they wrap around my back and my head fits perfectly on his chest. "Ah that's lovely, Char and Par back together," Nanny gives a happy sigh and clasps her hands together. "Right paintball," Jake blurts out, forcing me and Parker to break our contact but I can feel his eyes still on me. "I think we should go in two cars, or maybe three, might be a bit of a squeeze since we're a family of giants" Jake continues and my dad laughs, "You and Parker are the only giants here," before Jake can even respond to my dad Parker butts in, "I can take Charlotte, my car only has two seats anyways." My eyes widen and just as I am about to open my mouth to give an answer Julie beats me to it, "That's a great idea, Parker! So that's settled then. Mum, Dad, Nate you're with me and I'll see the rest of you there." Brilliant, I'm stuck in a car one on one with Parker for the next forty five minutes.

I take a look at Parker's car and I laugh to myself, it's the exact car that cut my dad off on the motorway and he called him a 'fucking knob head'. "What are you smiling at Charles?" Parker says pulling a face and correcting himself, "I mean Charlotte, I know it's an upgrade from the Fiat Punto I used to whack around in back in the day but it's only a rental," Parker says smiling to himself. The poor boy thinks his new flashy rental car is the reason I'm smiling but I'm actually smiling because my dad called him a knob head. I sit awkwardly in the car with my legs facing the window and trying to look out the window as much as possible and avoiding any chance of looking at Parker. The ride is silent for a long time until Parker connects to the aux and I can see him scrolling through his lists of songs, he must be looking for something specific. Anything at this point would be better than nothing. Parker smiles to himself and pauses on a song which then begins to play. I can feel a smile slowly creeping onto my face as I know what it is. Run- DMC 'It's tricky', that song is mine and Parker's. We had a very specific dance routine made to this song that we spent hours making, I swear I was in love with him, even back then. Parker pulls me out of my memories as he turns the song up and much to my surprise starts to sing. I can't help but laugh at him, his blue grey eyes glistening with happiness as I slowly sing some of the words back.