FD Academy, Chicago, 2005
Tonight was the first night that everyone in his class had any substantial time off. They didn't have to study for any tests, or run any drills until they were blue in the face- it was almost as though it was labour day weekend. Despite them barely entering May.
It took Parker a good week to find a cheap bar that wasn't too far from his apartment but also the academy. It was similar dingy dive bars in the middle of the emptiest of streets in the busiest city.
The bar had good, non-stale snacks and pretty good beers. Their music, though not recent, was good enough to create an atmosphere that no one could resist a sway or head bop. Most of the patrons were double Parker's age but that didn't seem to stop the frequent drop ins on his way back. Whether he wanted to chat or to have a sneaky beer, no one ignored him— most of them probably saw him as their grandson, or own child.
"Look, Murph! There's this really cool bar that I was thinking we could go to? Tonight, say eight?" Parker asked Eden Murphy as the duo were making their way up to the ladder rig training ground.
Narrowing her eyes at him, she stopped him dead in his tracks. Once her hands were firmly on her waist, she tilted her head, a look of humorous irritation graced her features.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to go on a date with you, Par—"
"Oh- you think— me and you? God, no! No offence—"
Parker's stumbling and stuttering made Murphy crack a smile onto her face, laughter pushing her cheeks upwards.
"That was cruel— sure, we can grab some drinks. Best be cheap though, my rent is draining my savings as is."
Bingo, Parker thought to himself, at least now he'd be able to have a conversation with his own age, about things that weren't about music or the weather- the awkward ice breaker questions. Maybe, Murphy would help him find himself a date, be his ultimate wingwoman, of sorts.
"Cruel? You were a bigger dick than Kimberleigh-Anne was- or whatever her name was." Parker chided back with a laugh.
Those two were as bad as each other when it came to the bad sarcastic comments and then the hard to suppress laughs. It was like a friendship made in heaven, Parker even thought that Andie would get on with her quite nicely.
"You know they both dropped out because one of them burnt an eyebrow off during an exam? Their own fault, I mean who sprays a flammable material right next to a naked flame and expects everything to be fine? Out of everything, hairspray? This isn't a beauty contest." Murphy scoffed, but Parker knew where she was coming from.
More and more, as the days progressed, people dropped out. Those two for concerns about their aesthetic appearance, another for fears of having to get a mani-pedi every few weeks— then the more realistic concerns of death, or that it was all too much too soon.
It wasn't like the news they were getting was fresh, they had all seen how things pan out in the news- that—
"Get out of your head, Parker. We've got Chief Kelly in five and you walk like a sack of potatoes."
Now, that was something Parker knew he'd have to work on. Every time he thought of something for a little longer than he naturally should have, his brain almost takes full control and goes on an adventure of mindless ramblings of nonverbal conversations never to hear the light of day.
They weren't as bad as they used to be, that was to be expected but when they did happen? Sometimes Parker would just stare off into the void and wait for something to pull him out again.
"I was just thinking how people drop out so quickly once they realise the true nature of things like this. My old man drilled it into my head from the minute I displayed interest, so I knew."
Murphy raised her hand to silence Parker as the two continued their walk to their lecture spot, before replying to what he had just said.
Logically, of course, she was no amateur.
"Park, your dads a Sheriff. You had more hands on experience than anyone else when it comes to the life of a first responder."
"Semantics."
It was clear to Murphy that it quite possibly was just the semantics, and that having a father in a similar line of work didn't always best prepare someone for the job in and of itself.
In fact, from what she had gathered, it did quite the opposite.
Parker was always early, painfully so, but that was out of the fear of being late- not to make sure he was able to get the best seat. Parker knew the right questions to ask, not out of wanting to gain the knowledge as a selfish gain, but so he could pass it on to his brother. Selfishness was a given for nepotism children; those born to parents in the same industry, but that just wasn't Parker.
At least, not from what she could make out from three weeks of constantly borrowing his barely eligible notes.
"Let's just get this show on the road, so we can have drinks later."
That was exactly what they did. They listened, learned and absorbed everything that they were told do, preformed one single demonstration to show that they had actually been paying attention throughout and were all able to leave for the weekend.
For Parker, the walk back to his apartment was uneventful, after making sure Eden had gotten to her car safely, and denying a ride, the hour or so leisurely stroll was just what he needed to unwind and listen to the white noise app he had installed on his phone.
Despite being a werewolf for over ten months now, everything was a learning curve but white noise helped to drown out the unwanted sounds, until he learned to do that without assistance. It took away his ability to hear, but that also helped to calm his mind.
The lesser of two evils, so to say.
It was on his leisurely stroll back to his apartment when he saw the most beautiful girl in the world. Her hair went to just below her shoulder blades, an unnatural blonde but it suited her well- her smile seemed to make her teeth sparkle. She was—
"Excuse me, do you know where I can find—" another voice called out, forcing his gaze to advert to the woman in front of him.
An equally blonde girl stood in front of him, maybe a year older than he was.
"Sorry— you caught me off guard." Parker replied, unplugging his headphones as he turned off the white noise.
The girl winced for a second, as though she could hear the noise just as loudly as he could, but he brushed it off like a mere coincidence. There was no way—
"We're looking for Canaryville, apartment... Hanna, what apartment is it?" The girl called out to the other— the one Parker happened to be gawking at moments ago.
As she approached, his whole demeanour changed. Instead of his usual poor posture, he forced himself to stand up properly and the scowl that was usually glued to his face was replaced with a warm smile. The same type of smile he usually reserved for Andie or Stiles.
"You know what? I actually live in Canaryville, I'll show you the way... but I do only know it on foot."
The two girls were more than willing to accept the guidance from the man they had never met, they seemed to trust him too quickly but maybe they were psychics.
After all, Parker was a werewolf.
"Oh— I'm Isabel, and that's my sister Hanna. We just moved from New York." Isabel commented after a few moments of walking in semi-awkward silence.
Hanna waved one handedly as the other clutched the bag on her shoulder. She was— out of this world, and way out of Parker's league, too.
"I just moved myself, I'm Parker— from California."
Real smooth, Park, he thought to himself, feeling his cheeks tinge a pale shade of pink. If anyone pointed it out, he'd blame it on the wind chill, but he was almost certain they wouldn't.
"So, Parker from California, any good places to drink?" Hanna asked once again breaking the awkward silence that Parker had accidentally created.
Neither of them seemed overly bothered by the accidental silence and they were both actively trying to make Parker seem as comfortable as possible as they walked past each block.
They were kinder than he was expecting.
"Actually! A colleague and I were heading out it for drinks tonight, you're more than welcome to come along!"
Dial down the enthusiasm, Park!, Parker internally chided himself but kept the smile on his face.
"Colleague? What do you do, sorry we're being so nosey— it's in case one of us shows up dead in the morning." Isabel joked, shoving Parker gently on his shoulders.
Contemplating the truth or lie, he pondered the thought of them actually being werewolves— they'd crack onto a lie within seconds and lying would only make things awkward if anything progressed from this ultimate stroke of fate.
"Oh- I'm in the Fire Academy, hopefully I graduate at the end of the year."
"Whaaa- no way! I'm in the police academy!" Hanna exclaimed, earning Parker yet another gentle shove.
Damn these girls were strong, he thought- for a moment trying to rely on his sense of smell but he didn't exactly know what another werewolf smelt like, so he wouldn't have known what to look out for.
"And you, Is? What about you?"
"Oh, I'm Is, now?" She joked, before continuing on with her unfinished statement, "I'm a first year resident up at Johns Hopkins... but I was thinking about dropping and becoming a paramedic instead."
Maybe Parker truly was dreaming to have something as perfect as this happen at such an uncontrollable time of his life. The odds of them meeting were slim to none, if he had taken the ride Murphy had offered, they wouldn't have ever met.
Fate, having that on your side did you a world of good and Parker knew with his first hand experience that, that was exactly what it would do.
For all three of them.