PARKER AHART
"God sees your life as a fixer upper." - Mark Simpson
Parker waited in the Senior Parking Lot for what felt like hours. Since he had no sixth period, he sat in his car, waiting for school to end so he could find Arabella before she left. All he wanted was to tell her that everything was going to be okay, that she was going to make it through this. But he just didn't know how to tell her that yet.
He could have done something. He could have tried to stop her. But instead, he let her get into that fight with Andi. He could have protected her from the embarrassment of dating his moron of a twin brother. But instead, he kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything and let her heart get broken by him, and never once told her how he felt about her. And how much he wished she felt the same about him.
Suddenly, he saw her. She was looking down at the ground, obviously distracted as she raced across the parking lot. Parker never got out of a car so fast.
He chased after her, trying to get closer to her. He saw some kid talking to the druggie, Ryder Andrews across the parking lot, watching as he dragged the poor kid behind the 900s buildings. Usually, Parker would want to help the kid, but he was more concerned about Arabella. "Bella!"
Arabella didn't stop walking. She continued going to her car, unlocking it and stepping inside. He tried to call her name again, but she wasn't paying attention. She closed her driver side door, starting up the car, and was about to pull out when Parker slammed his hands into his window a more aggressively than he was planning.
She jumped, making his heart hurt when she stared at him a good few seconds before rolling down her window. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Sorry, sorry," he said. Arabella just stared at him, not saying anything. "I wanted to talk to you," Arabella took a deep breath, screwing her eyes shut and holding onto the wheel. She looked so broken; all Parker wanted to do was comfort her.
"Okay," was all that she said.
"Do you wanna meet up at the ice cream shop we went to Saturday?" He asked. It took a second for her to respond, but she soon nodded. "I'll pay, alright? I'll meet you there," Arabella nodded again, rolling up her window and started pulling out of the parking lot and driving off. He really hoped she was actually going to the ice cream shop, and not home.
The two had spent the entire weekend together; besides the times that he was working. They met at the ice cream shop and sat there for hours, just talking. Parker wanted to be there for her, so they spent all their time driving around the city, sitting at the lake until sunset, and all things in between. He tried to help her take her mind off what had happened with his brother.
He was just hoping he was actually doing the right thing.
Parker drove as fast as possible, making it to the ice cream shop at record speed, pulling in right as Arabella was parking. She looked like she was crying, wiping her eyes quickly when he parked next to her. If there was one thing he knew out of all of this, he hated seeing her cry. She had been crying way to much over the past few days, and he was really hoping he could change that, whatever way possible.
He stepped out of his car almost within the same second she did, standing there as she slowly closed her door and hugged herself, allowing him to lead the way into the shop. It was an old-fashioned frozen yogurt store, with barber shop poles out front and a 50s looking diner step up in the back. The place was called Mom and Pop's Frozen Yogurt, which was just super original, but the two of them- and his brother when he was being stupid- would go there all the time.
"Milady," he joked as he opened the door for her. She gave him a small smile, which to him was better than nothing, and the two walked in. There was so much he wanted to say to her, so many things that he wants to comfort her with, but nothing came out. So, the two of them went and got their ice creams in silence, which was definitely not want he was wanting to do.
Parker paid for their ice cream, and Arabella walked to a small table in the corner of the shop, poking at her frozen yogurt depressingly.
"So," Parker started, hoping to have a conversation with her. "How are you doing?" Arabella stared directly into his eyes, as if she was trying to decode something. She looked away; a single tear slipped down her cheek. "Hey, hey. Its- it's okay." He reached over the table to grab her hand.
She smirked, not moving her hand but giving signs that she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it. "Is it though? I mean, I just tried to beat up a fifteen-year-old before she kissed my boyfriend. Do you see how pathetic that is?"
Unforuately, she made a point.
He never imagined in a million years that she would get into a fight like this. But yet again, he didn't think that his brother would do something so stupid. "It might not have been your finest moment," he said, which made her laugh. He got Arabella to smile, that was a victory if there ever was one. "But we all do pathetic things sometimes. I may or may not have put hair loss medication in his shampoo yesterday,"
Arabella laughed, for the first time in three days. That was a win for sure. "And why may I ask did you do that?" she questioned, taking a bite of her ice cream. Parker just shrugged, really not wanting to tell her that it was because he was madly in love with her.
The two talked for what felt like forever. Parker was finally able to get Arabella out of her shell. Get her to break free from whatever cloud she was under. They talked about school, about how stupid she felt about the fight. He told her how happy he was to see her smile again. And surprisingly, he got her to blush.
Something told him it was his moment. That this exact moment was what he was waiting for over the past four years of high school. Parker watched as Arabella dated three guys throughout the span of high school: Drake Cummington, Lucas Smith, and then his very own brother. He watched painfully as he was the 'best friend' that always helped her went she went through hard times, when her boyfriend's fell through.
This was his moment.
"Bella?" he said quietly, feeling like his heart was about to burst.
Arabella just smiled at him, her kaleiscope eyes seemingly sparkling in the light of the sunset outside of their little ice cream shop. "Yes?"
"There's- there's something I wanna tell you." He began, feeling his mouth getting extremely dry. "I just hope you don't try to punch me or something,"
"Too soon, Ahart. Too soon," She winced, jokingly pointing her spoon at him and giving him a stern look. He reached over to grab her hand, really hoping she wasn't going to freak out when he told her about how he really felt. About how happy he was when he saw her. About how much he wanted to be hers for so long. About how he wanted nothing more than to treat her right, to be there for her through thick and thin.
Arabella looked down at their hands, then back up at him with a curious look in her eyes. "I- I think I'm in love with you."
Yeah, maybe not the best thing to lead with.
She pulled her hand away, looking him up and down, trying to keep herself from freaking out or running from the table as fast as she could. But something led her to stay. Something had pushed her away just yet. "What do you mean, 'in love with me?'"
Parker swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I've watched as you've dated multiple guys. I've watched your heart be broken so many times, and it's hurt because there was never much, I could do about it," he said. It must not have bothered her yet because she still didn't move from her spot. "I've been your best friend for as long as I can remember. But- but I don't want to just be your best friend anymore. I wanna be something more."
"But what about Miles?" Arabella shot back, sitting back in her chair. "I dated your twin brother. Isn't that a little weird for you?"
"Well, yeah. It was. But you're not dating anymore. And- and I figured I should say at least something before I lost my chance again." Parker explained. Then Arabella did something he did not expect. She got up from her chair and stood in front of him, offering her hand. Getting up, she dragged him out of the shop and out towards the parking lot, as if she was running from something.
Once they made it to their cars, Arabella did something that Parker was expecting least of all. She kissed him. At first, Parker didn't register what was happening. He was just really hoping he didn't look like an idiot when she pulled away.
Holding their hand in front of them, she smiled. "I think I'm in love with you too." Parker felt like he could die happy right then and there. He smiled so stupidly as she went to kiss him again. It probably looked weird to the cars driving by, but he didn't really care. When they pulled away again, she looked him dead in the eye and said, "If we're going to do this, we need to go slow. I don't want people to know about it just yet."
Parker nodded excitedly. "Of course! Whatever makes you happy, I'm happy with it." He replied. She smiled up at him again. "We can even watch Fixer Upper at your house if you want."
"I thought you hated that show." She shot back, crossing her arms.
"What did I just say, Bella," he said, copying her movements jokingly. She laughed and grabbed his hand again and smiled brightly at him. Even if he had to watch that Fixer Upper show with her until four in the morning, he would do it. He was just happy that she was happy. And that was all that mattered.
And he made sure to thank the Lord hundreds of thousands of times that night. Because no matter what, he wasn't ever planning on leaving her side. And he was seriously praying that she never would either.