He wasn't at school.
I had prepared what I was going to say and practiced it a thousand times but of course, to my luck, Parsons wasn't at school the next day. Or the day after.
"Have any of you heard from Parsons?" I ask the group at lunch. He wasn't at school yesterday and hasn't been so far today. I was starting to get worried.
"I texted a few times but he hasn't responded." Cam said. "I was going to go over there after school to see if he was home."
"He's done this before." Liv begins and I turn towards her. "He's just disappeared for a few days and then comes back as if he never left."
"Do you know why he's disappeared before?" I ask.
"Nope. He never talks about it." Cam pitched in, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm sure he's find, E. He'll be back in no time." Ollie reassures me with an attached smile. I reciprocate the gesture but the worry is not lifted from me just yet. I need to know he's okay.
The rest of the school seems sluggish and takes forever to finish but when it does, I take no time in exiting the school and making my way to my car. It doesn't take me long to get to his house but I immediately take notice of the cars in the driveway, or lack of one in particular. I park and make my way to the door.
When I knock, I am met with a pair of green eyes as the door opens. "Erin. So lovely to see you again. Come inside, dear." I smile at Mrs. Shannon and enter the home. My eyes scan the area but there still is no sight of Parsons. "What can I do for you, love?"
"I was just stopping by to check on your son. He hasn't been at school the past two days and I wanted to make sure he was okay."
"He didn't go to school? That's news to me." She says, a hint of shock in her voice.
A few seconds later, the rest of the group enters the house.
"How'd you get here so quick?" Ollie asks.
"Determination." I give him a smile and he chuckles.
"Any word on where our good friend is?" Cam says.
"No. His mom thought he was at school." I say. I then turn back to Mrs. Shannon. "Did something happen?"
"Not that I'm aware of." She pauses to think back to the past couple of days. "Now that I think about it, he did get a phone call a couple days back and was very upset and stormed out of the house after. I don't know who it could have been."
"Who would make him that mad?" Ollie asks.
"His dad maybe?" Liv questions.
I notice Mrs. Shannon sigh and lean against the back of the couch. "That would make a lot of sense. His father has randomly called Neil before and it never ends well." She places her head in her hands. "Where would he have gone?"
"He never tells us. He just says he needs to blow off some steam and leaves." Cam says.
"I may know where he went." I say. Everyone looks at me. "He took me to this secluded place a little bit ago and he told me it was his place of refuge. I could try looking there."
Liv smirks. "Is that where you guys..." I nod and I notice the confusion on the others' faces.
"I'll explain later. But I'll look there and let you guys know if I find him." They nod and quickly make my way to my car.
In the twenty minute drive, the worry builds up in me. If he's not at the abandoned place, then I have no idea where he is.
I pull up and release my breath when I notice his car in the open space. I park behind him and get out of my car and make my way to the building.
"Parsons?" I call out as I enter the open doorway. A small gasp escapes my lips as I look around at the walls. The once colorful space was covered with black marks; none of the old paintings could be recognized.
"Beanie?" He turns towards me. He sits on the floor with his knees to his chest. His arms sit atop his knees, his head resting on his arms. I continue my walk towards him and as I get closer, I notice his eyes. The once gorgeous green had been diluted and full of emotions; I almost didn't recognize him.
I lower myself beside him, not saying anything. My gaze stays on him but he doesn't look at me.
"Parsons..." His head slowly turns in my direction and I notice the void of sadness in his eyes. Within seconds, I'm cradling him in my arms as he cries. My heart aches at the sound of him crying but I hold it together and comfort him. For minutes, I just hold him. He stops crying but doesn't move. My hands move to his hair and I start playing with it. I feel his grip tighten on my sides and I realize how close we really are.
He pulls away and I find myself forming a pout on my lips but quickly discard the reaction. He looks upwards and wipes his face. He leans his head towards the roof and my eyes stay locked on him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask. My eyes scan his face, waiting for a reaction.
"My dad called me." He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath. "He was drunk and I didn't understand half of what he was saying. He was rambling about his job and life but it all was a mess. I asked him what he wanted and his attitude changed immediately. He started coming at me, telling me how bad of a son was and how ungrateful I was. I didn't care what he was saying because I knew it was all a lie but then he started talking bad about Mum and I went off. I called him out on all the shit he put us through and he just hung up in the middle of it." He sighs. His hands reach up to his face and comb through his hair before resting behind his neck. "I then kind of zoned out and ended up here. Before I knew it, I had destroyed all my work. Well, almost all." His eyes trail to the spot where I spray painted the last time I was here.
"Why didn't you cover that spot up too?" I ask curiously.
"I couldn't bring myself to do it. I hadn't created it and I felt like if I did, I would be hurting you and you don't deserve to be hurt just because I am."
My heart flutters at the thought of him not wanting to hurt me but I shove the giddy feelings down. Right now he needs me and I need to push my emotions aside and focus on him.
My eyes roam the room and an idea pops into my head. "Stand up." I say as I raise myself off the floor. My hand reaches out to him, a smile playing on my lips.
"What for?" He asks, placing his hand in mine without hesitation.
"We're going to fix this." He holds confusion on his face. I lead us to the bag of spray paint cans and pick up a can with a light blue color on it and place it in his hand.
"Beanie, these murals are ruined. There's no way in saving them." He shakes his head, rejecting the can.
"There are still remnants of the old paintings but just because you can't revive the old doesn't mean you can't create something new." I give him a reassuring smile and place the can in his hand before picking up one of my own. I move to a space in the wall and just begin imagining what I can paint before shaking up the bottle and placing my idea on the wall. It takes a few seconds but I hear the shaking of the can and watch as Parsons chooses a spot further down the wall from me and begins spray painting.
I smile as he tongue sits between his lip, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, as he remains concentrated.
For what seemed like only a short time--actually two hours--we had been fixing what had been destroyed. I stuck to drawing stick figures and really bad drawings of flowers but Parsons created beautiful drawings. I stood in awe as I looked around the room. What was once broken and destroyed had been renewed; the room looked better and more lively than before.
As I admire the new artwork, I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist form behind. I tense at the unexpected touch but relax as I recognize the familiar touch. I sigh and melt into his touch, leaning my head into his chest.
"You scared me these past couple days." I close my eyes and just let myself feel safe in his embrace. "No one had heard from you. I was worried." My voice grew soft as I continued to speak.
"I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to worry you." My breath hitches as his words flow into my ear, his mouth only centimeters from my ear. I can feel the smirk radiating off his lips as he catches my change in breathing.
No one has ever had this affect on me.
He has so much control over me right now.
He releases his hold temporarily to turn me towards him. I look down at the ground, attempting to hide my blush.
"Beanie..." His fingers gently grab my chin and he lifts my head upwards. My nerves get the best of me and I don't dare to look into his eyes, knowing I will melt the second I do. "Look at me." He speaks with a gentle tone and I find myself looking into his eyes. His fingers move from under my chin to the side of my face. I lean into his touch and a smile rises onto his perfect lips. His body head moves closer to mine and I find myself doing the same.
Our lips collide and the fireworks go off. The familiar feeling of electricity moves through me like second nature and I welcome the surge of energy. My mind goes blank and the only thing I can focus on is his lips. I relish in the warmth he provides and indulge in the taste. His minty breathe seeps into my mouth and I welcome the taste.
The kiss continues for what seemed like forever and I hated the feeling of his lips parting from mine. His hands trail down my arms until they find my hands. His fingers slowly weave between mine until our fingers are connected. With both stare into each other's eyes, smiles on both of our lips.
"Thank you." He says, his voice soft and quiet.
"For what?"
"For being here."
"Always." I smile up at him, honesty seeping through my words.
Now that Parsons and I had gotten close, I never want things to change between us. I had never felt like this for anyone. He was different and I hoped once he knew, he would stay. I want him to stay.