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[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

“I don’t think you have the patience or the intelligence to steal a shark.. So no, I’m not worried about that.” She murmured, almost too quietly for him to hear and almost immediately, she caught herself. Teeth scouring the inside of her lip as she rethought the way she was acting. Hadn’t they mended whatever broken bridge had existed between them? Kind of - she suspected that her distaste for the fight that Parker didn’t back down from had caused something of an irritant to get lodged somewhere in her chest; but really, he wasn’t entirely at fault for that. “I only meant that I’ve just cleaned up after a bunch of kids and.. —-” And he wasn’t exactly a kid, was he? “Sorry, never mind.” Perhaps she could trust him for a short while, even in one of her most sacred places. “I uh..-” He definitely didn’t need to ask if she needed a hand with anything, and truly she didn’t, but.. “I have to move a couple of oxygen tanks around out the back. I’ve .. kind of not told my manager that I’m still not meant to be doing much heavy lifting after, well. - you know.” As if to further prove her point, she raised her arm - not entirely incapable after the drowning incident, but certainly not back to how it should have been. “Do you think,” she paused, pulling the register from it’s place at the counter to take out the back, “You could probably help me with that, if that’s okay..” Bitter - the taste of any subliminal admittance that just fell from her lips that might have claimed she couldn’t do it herself. It simply meant that she wouldn’t entirely suffer the consequence later.

It was always the jellyfish. Always. And truly, Tahnee couldn’t blame anyone for the sudden bewilderment that so often crossed peoples faces at the sight of them. The dim lighting in the room already enhancing the visual tenfold. It took bar a moment for her to bite back at the corner of her mouth before something too bright blossomed. “That tank does help a little with a few lights, but a lot of species of jellyfish glow on their own.” Stepping back around from the counter, she took a few steps towards the tank, ending up only a feet feet away from him as she too, became enchanted by the creatures within the tank. “Their bodies produce a certain chemical that reacts with oxygen and.. They glow.”

“Do I have a favorite?” She almost laughed, casting something of an incredulous look up at him, “Everyone has a favorite.” Nobody really worked here just because - there was always something that drew them in. Except, she hadn’t expected him to ask for her to show him exactly what it was. Teeth caught her lesser lip and she turned her frame back and forth, stuck to the spot beside him, as it contemplating whether she should or not. Did she really want to share something like that with someone? With him? “You really wanna’ see?”  By now, it seemed almost impossible to catch the ways in which all control over her mouth was lost, the corners brightening until she all but glowed at the idea, “Okay, alright..- I’ll show you but you can’t tell anyone about it. Technically speaking, I shouldn’t be letting you in here at all.”

She nodded slightly, more to herself. Acceptance that, yeah - she was about to show Parker something that she’d kept to herself for as long as she’d worked here. “Just let me put a few things into the safe and turn everything off.” It only took a few minutes; Tahnee suddenly a little more relieved about the next hour of her life not consisting of her dad asking her how she was doing - what she was doing; the break in monotony that Parker offered up to her sparking something warm within her chest and when she’d returned - safe all locked up, and the main lights of the whole aquarium dimmed out, she stopped - her foot twisting at the ground mindlessly as she waited for him to look, “You’re not like.. Afraid of the dark or anything, are you?”

“I could totally steal a shark. What would I need? A crane, a temporary tank for stowage, and a bucket of chum. Hello Amazon.” He stepped around her, walking over to where she’d told him the oxygen tanks would be and after motioning down to the bottles (wouldn’t want his dumb self to pick up the wrong ones), picked them up and slotted them underneath his arms, “where do you want these?” He’d already ruled out the gift shop. “You know, not all intelligence revolves around the ability to read algae underneath a microscope right?” He’d like to see her try and make sense of music theory. 

With the tanks now stowed away, Parker made his way back out to the main foyer. She was easy to spot again, so without another beat, the brunette made his way over to her.. stopping just a few inches in front. His height looming above. Tonight he refused to be small around her. “Ready?” He was. Of course that was all before he’d spotted the jelly fish. “Seriously?” Cool. He wondered if they were other animals in the ocean that glowed like Jellyfish and glowworms. “So, I’m guessing Jellyfish don’t have too much competition when it comes to taking out the prettiest sea creature of the year award, do they?” He continued to stare at the blobs of-- well he wasn’t sure what they were made out of, before Tay surprised him with agreeing to show him her favorite animal. He hedged his bets on something likely to kill him. Like a stonefish or something. 

"Uh, yeah sure.. take your time.” Turning back around to the Jellies, Parker allowed himself to be drawn in. There was something calming about them, which after his week.. he needed. He took a breath and allowed a swirl of blue to take over. Where did he end up? Surprisingly he ended up back with her. Only he instead of providing her an unwanted lift home he was providing her with a well-cut out octopus for her aquarium wall collage. “Who do you know who can cut out an eight-legged alien as well as I can?” With a smile Parker met her own, his lips meeting hers for a few short seconds before he was once again reminded there was a job to do. Yeah there was and it wasn’t cutting out sea creatures from old National Geographic magazines. Sliding his hand across her mouth as she let out a squeal in protest, Parker pulled her back down on the bed and kept her there till her dad was calling out that dinner was ready. “Yeah, yeah coming..” Only it wasn’t her dad he was responding to now, as he pulled himself back out into the present and followed Tay’s lead. Watching her from behind, Parker couldn’t help but wonder if Tay ever thought about the past like he did. And if she did, did she miss it? Did she miss him? 

“The dark?” Was this some sort of trick? Was he about to become shark food? “Depends.. are you saying I should trust you?” The words seemed heavy. At least more heavy than he’d intended them to be as his eyes held her gaze and he took a step closer to her. “Tay--” He was tempted to tell her about the last few weeks. About how she obviously still trusted him, whenever or not she wanted to admit that. Albeit subconsciously. But he held back. “I’ll be fine.” Taking a step back, the brunette waited for the blonde’s next move.. fingers crossed he wasn’t about to become shark dinner. 

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

It shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise when Aly called out for her closing shift at the aquarium. Ever since the night at Miki’s, both her and Bradley had been avoiding her at every opportune moment possible. Which, in the grand scheme of things, Tahnee didn’t hate, in fact, she absolutely preferred it this was - but neither did she really enjoy the idea of pulling a double on a Sunday when she knew TJ and Sailor had already asked her to hang out, (no doubt, to get high). At least, she hadn’t had to deal with another octopus escapee or a particularly moody sealion today, it was the little things she had to hold onto. What else was there? When your boyfriend - ex boyfriend had been cheating on you for.. God knows how long.. And yet everyone she knew (probably a bit of an exaggeration) was currently whispering behind her back about whatever might have been going on with Parker and her. Still, the thought of it alone made her want to grind her teeth into oblivion - and yet somehow, made her feel guilty all the same. Which, in and of itself, didn’t make any sense. What did she have to feel guilty over? The only thing that seemed to be fueled with anything even close to sentimental that night had been her admitting that she’d treated him badly over the years - an apology that might otherwise have never blossomed on her lips had Bradley not left them alone in the first place. Forcibly ignoring the tangled knot in her stomach each time the guilt rose a little higher seemed to be working for the time being. Luckily, the fact that she could spend the last hour or so of her shift on her own tended to take the edge off and she could wander to her hearts content; burying the mess in her head just to find a place beneath the surface that could quell her unease.

Following the last few stragglers out towards the entrance, she breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled her keys from the waist of her shorts to lock the door - only to find pause in what she saw beyond the glass doors. There was no way - no reason for it, none that she could think of anyway - but that was definitely Parker’s jeep; confirmed by his lanky ass self climbing out of the drivers seat and walking towards the entrance; the flash of lights indicating he’d pressed the lock button on his keys. Popping the lock, she pushed the door open just enough to pop her head through, casting a strangely irritated glance up at him, “What are you doing here?” She could count the amount of times she’d ever seen him here - absolutely zero. Not once, so this - this made no sense at all. “You know we’re closing, rig..—” Closing. Reaching into her back pocket, she drew out her phone, illuminating the screen to see the message her dad had sent. “Little too busy to pick you up tonight, sending Parker. X.” Hues ficker between the phone, and Parker - maybe a few too many times before she sighed, stood up and pushed the heavy glass door open a little further, “You can wait in here while I finish up, just… don’t touch anything, please.”

“Don’t you have school right now?” His brother was right. He did have school or he would’ve if he hadn’t decided a month ago the whole thing wasn’t for him. “Early release.” A lie but one Brenden, would have to hack into the college’s attendance records to catch him out on. “Parker..” He watched as his brother rolled his eyes, disappearing under the water just as Michael stepped outside, “I was wondering if you could pick Tahnee up for me?” Oh.. was there a way he could say no without sounding like a complete jackass? “I have a school project I need to--” “It won’t take long. She’s just at the Aquarium. You’ll really be helping me out if--” “Yeah sure.” “Thank you! Parker-- yeah, I’m still here. Sorry. Yes, your order is processing. Materials are just hard to source right now--” Great. He ignored the look on his brother’s face, as he left him in the pool by himself and made his way around the side of the house. He still had his car keys on him from earlier when he’d hung out with Will, so it wasn’t so much a physical effort on his end to get to his car as it was a mental one. 

It had been two weeks since Miki’s party, which meant it had also been two weeks since he’d started sharing a bad with Tahnee. Not something he’d planned to happen, but it wasn’t like he’d had a choice either. It was scientific. When he chose to sleep in his own bed she had nightmares and when he chose to cross that gap between her bedroom and his own, she didn’t. What he was supposed to do? Be an asshole? 

He lifted his arm up, smelling his armpit and making sure he didn’t stink before he jumped into his Jeep and headed off in the direction of Tay’s aquarium for the first time. Not because he didn’t like fish, but because even when he’d been small, the aquarium had been her place to spend her weekends and he just felt like if she didn’t like him she probably wouldn’t like him intruding in one of spaces either. He’d already invaded her precious Cove as she’d once put it. Pulling up outside the aquarium, Parker double checked his watch-- was he early? He hadn’t thought to ask but he figured most places shut their doors at five so. Jumping out of his Jeep he was relieved to make out someone (had to be her) closing up shop, as he broke into a half-hearted jog and got to the door just in time for it to be shut in his face. Huh? “I’m here to pick you up.” Hadn’t her dad told her he was coming? He watched as she checked her phone to make sure. Why did she always have to make everything so fucking hard. “What do you think I’m going to do? Steal a Shark?” He walked inside the Aquarium, his shoes loud against the vinyl floor, “do you need a hand with anything?” Maybe he could help her. Not that he expected her to say yes or anything but he wouldn’t be Sarah Conrad’s son if he didn’t at least offer. 

“Oh shit!” He walked over to one of the tanks near the entrance. A group of jellyfish illuminated inside. “Do they really glow like that or is that part of the tank?” He might not have been a huge fan of jellies usually. Not many surfers were, but seeing them like this almost made him want to start liking them. They just seemed cool. Pretty. Something he could watch and compose a symphony to. His fingers tapping against the side of his chinos as he continued to watch them. “I’m guessing you’ve got a favorite amongst everything here..” Was he trying to get a tour? Maybe a little. “Will you show me?” 

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

Truce. It didn’t really feel like something she could manage, each and every word she’d spoke; while true, certainly didn’t seem to pass over the fact that part of Tahnee would always see Parker and remember that god awful text message. Regardless of however many times before that he’d made her heart leap in her chest, or made the warmth within her cheeks burn with all the brightness of the sun. Teeth worried over her lesser lip but without much more thought, her hand found his and she waved the metaphorical white flag that might end the war between them. It was a wonder that between that, the car that came far too close for comfort and the walk to Miki’s that Tay hadn’t found reason enough to change her mind, conversation and everything in between slipping into the past far too easily; a tantalizing reminder that there had been so little in her life that made her feel like she’d never lost her mom - or her best friend. “I remember that you almost got us busted before I even managed to climb out of my window. Are you still absolutely incapable of being quiet or did you grow out of that habit?”

In reaching the end of the road, the party inside one of her closest friends homes had spilled out through the front doors onto the well manicured front lawn and Parker let slip his hand from hers. It burnt - the cold air in the palm of her hand where his had just been and perhaps it was only within that moment that she even realized they’d remained entwined for so long. She blinked - once, twice… and brushed the palm of her hand against the dress she wore, as if he’d left some part of himself behind and she was trying to rid herself of it. A further complication in and of itself as they made their way beyond the steps to the front door, “I think you’d have better luck asking him to run you over for a second time,” Perhaps it was a little too soon, and the wince that she threw across her face said about as much of her apology for it all over again as she had time for before the door flung open and everything changed and Parker left her there, alone.

Inevitably, the roll of her eyes set Justin’s jaw on edge as he turned, following her through the foyer to the kitchen - a move she’d only been able to make due to his height, and her ability to maneuver her way through almost anything. Given; she’d only had a split second moment before Sam had found himself at her boyfriends side and blocked her in - it was quite a feat. “What do you mean, what was I doing with him? Are you fucking kidding me?” Although she was burning on the inside, fury warbling into spitfire as she plucked a wine cooler out of the sink full of ice and glared at him. “You literally dumped us out on the side of the road in the middle of the night after trying to commit a hit and run.” Clearly, something she’d said had been funny as both Brad and Sam chuckled and exchanged amused looks. “It was just a game, Tay. If he wasn’t going to play along then he shouldn’t have been playing from the start.” Popping the cap between her teeth, the blonde offered little more than a disgruntled sigh as she rounded the counter “You’re right, it is just a game - you scared the shit out of me! Nobody was meant to get hurt, idiot.”  and found herself back in the foyer; a hand wrapping around her arm to pull her back from making it too much further. “What is it with you? Why are you protecting him? He’s a nobody.” Again, another irritating chuckle that sent a shiver up her spine, “You know that we saw you. Both of you.” Confusion settled on her features and she tore her arm out of his grip, the people around them falling to a hushed silence as they - far more openly than before - listened in on the conversation. The corner of Brad’s lip turned up as he looked her over, and in the corner of his eye she could see exactly what it was that he was doing. The hurt wasn’t something that he’d ever been all too good at masking; instead he overcompensated with words and anger and from that second, Tay knew that her night was done. “You saw what, Brad? What did you see exactly?” She stood a little taller, which admittedly, didn’t change much as she leveled her gaze with his own, “You and Parker.” It struck something in her chest and almost immediately, she felt the heat in her cheeks rise because… what exactly had they seen? It wasn’t.. No.. - nothing that had happened that night was anything worth being angry over, was it? Bradley stepped forward and a much gentler touch found her waist, pulling her in as if trying to convince her that everything was okay - that it was probably just some big misunderstanding. The warmth of his hands curled against her cheeks and the split second of a smile that she’d fallen for over and over again appeared on his features. Nausea bubbled away in the pit of her stomach as he dropped his hands, Sam having nudged him from behind and encouraged him to cast hues up at the staircase - watching as Lana disappeared into the first floor hallway. “If you were so desperate to fuck him, Tahnee, you shouldn’t have done it out in the open like that. You’re a good liar, but I don’t see how you can work your way out of that one.” 

The room went still, and although Tahnee couldn’t quite take her eyes off of Brad, she heard the whispers and slight comments that first bubbled over. “Parker? And her?” “Ohhh, busted.” “Told you she was easy.” “Are you out of your god damn mind?” She snapped, the sound of her voice illuminated in the crowded room as she stepped towards him, shoving him away from her slightly, “You act like a fucking asshole, almost hit him with a car that’s not even yours leave us on the side of the road to find out own way here and you want to look at me as if me sleeping with him would be some kind of problem with us? Are you actually stupid, Brad? Are you seriously so self absorbed?” She fell silent, unsure if she expected some kind of answer out of him - or even out of Sam, who just as surely had fallen silent beside Brad; perhaps a little surprised by the fire in Tahnee’s eyes now. “You’re not denying it though, are you?” Even before the he finished speaking, the blonde laughed, a sound void of all humor and turned her back to him - something about trying to piece together her own sanity but before she could even think of how to do that; Parkers voice rang out above everyone else. No.. no not now, not fucking now - and yet, there he was.. Opening his fat fucking mouth and making everything worse, all over again. One bitten twice burned. Reaching out, Tahnee grabbed at Bradley’s hand, tugging at him to follow her to they could continue this elsewhere, but Sam was quick to push between them, severing the connection as all hell broke loose. Parker hit the floor and something else smashed - the eruption from those close by signifying a fight before Parker could even get back on his feet. Quickly, she became swallowed up by those surging forward, inevitably egging the altercation on, “Parker! – Get off of him.. Just…” It fell to deaf ears and the solid sound of fist thwacking against something solid made her stomach turn. It was all she could do not to push her way back through and throw herself between them - but in truth; she no longer had the energy. Disappointment sinking in beyond her usually thick skin as she caught sight of Lana leant against the bannister - glaring a burning hole right through her skull. It didn’t take long, those watching the fight seemingly more than those who’d rather ignore it - and when she stumbled outside to the pool and spotted Jordan; her first words a mere plea for him to take her home sounding thick in her throat as the overwhelming chaos began to consume her, quickly agreed upon as he led her out the back and through the garage to his jeep. ——————— It plagues her, even now. Curled up tightly in a bed that feels nothing but cold as the sheen of sweat across her brow bleeds make up into her pillowcase. It’s nothing but waves - eons and eons of waves that crash and drag her under, her reach to the surface not nearly enough and it send white panic through her. It’s not drowning that forces the heart within her chest to beat feverishly against her ribcage - it’s the lifeless hand above that no longer reaches back. The swirling darkness below growing deeper and deeper as she slips out of reach of the surface - just out of reach as the life that once filled her mother with joy, bleeds ink like into the water and it’s not until another crawls from the depths and curls around her throat like some unbegotten creature that she jerks awake and finally feels some kind of solace. It wasn’t real - none of it was real. None of it has ever been real. Nothing, beyond the heat that sears burning comfort across her stomach and the fingers that she now tangles her own with, somehow tighter than before - the feel of scars that she knows belong to him upon the creases of his knuckles the only thing she needs to know before sleep overtakes her again. 

"Are you sure you’re okay?” Physically he was. As for the rest of him.. well.. “Yeah, thanks for the.. spinach..” He lifted the frozen bag from his face; just ready to make light of the whole thing, but whatever laugh was meant to come next got caught up in the middle of his throat at the sight of Foster’s reaction. That bad? Well, whatever, he’d had worse before and at least he didn’t have to think up an excuse for this one. “See you next week..” nope. Interrupted. “Parker..” So, this was it then, everyone had finally decided they’d had enough of the ‘Tay and Parker’ show and had made their choice. And it was no secret to Parker either, who they were going to choose. Last in.. first out, right? “Yeah?” He watched with bated breath, as Foster’s hand reached out and gave his shoulder a squeeze. So, this wasn’t just going to hurt emotionally then but physically too. His father’s secret threatening to join them in the car with every second his friend’s hand lingered there. “We’re friends, okay? I just want you to remember that.” Oh, he wasn’t being dumped.. he was being analysed. “Yeah, I will.. thanks Foster..” What did his friend want him to say? That he was starting to have feelings for Tay again? How was that going to help him? How was that going to help any of them? It just.. wasn’t. “Night.” 

After throwing the bag of thawed spinach into the bin, Parker headed upstairs with one plan in mind; sleep. With his plan now in sight, Parker pulled his shirt up over his head and pulled on another, before slipping beneath his sheets and turning over.. of course. He sighed, closing his eyes and doing everything in his power to ignore the fact that he’d forgotten to close his door and she’d also seemingly forgotten to do the same, which meant if he really wanted to he could see her. Eyes shut tight, Parker chose the opposite. That is until the sound of a whimper broke through. At first he thought it might’ve been Sammy, his eyes searching the dark for a lump of golden fur, but no.. there he was at the edge of his own bed fast asleep. So who then? The brunette’s eyes shifted around to the tunnel that started at his room and ended at her’s and he probably should’ve hesitated a little more, but he didn’t as he jumped up and made his way into her room. 

He hadn’t been purposely trying to keep his movements quiet, but after arriving not even an inch from her bed he realised he probably should’ve been. The last thing he needed was for her to wake up and think he was being some sort of a creep or something. She definitely wasn’t the type of girl to be easily convinced that she was having a nightmare. And yet.. as he watched her tremble below, there was no doubt in his mind that even the great Tahnee Conrad could have a bad dream. “Tahnee..” Nothing. “Tahnee!” Still nothing. What was he going to do? 

His eyes had adjusted to the dark by now as he watched her restless figured continue to wrestle with itself. Maybe if he just. Helped her? Could he? His hand reached out (at least he could try), fingers wrapping around her arm as he did his best to bring whatever demon she was running away from into submission. Her body stilled. From shock? Probably. He still wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this one to her.. but no.. that wasn’t it. She was okay. At least until he tried to take his hand back and then she wasn’t again. So without even hesitating he climbed into bed with her. “It’s okay..” his hand wrapping around her arm and holding it tight just as he had before, “you’re fine..” And it wasn’t even that he thought she could hear him right now. It was just he figured it couldn’t hurt to let her know, just in case she could or whatever. ‘Cause he’d have liked to have someone tell him it was going to okay whenever he got stuck in one of his own nightmares. “I’ll stay awake..”

A promise he’d made in good faith at the time, but exhaustion didn’t care about people’s promises to one another. Taking him away for the rest of the night and not letting his eyes slip back open till next morning when the sun had broken through Tahnee’s window and Sammy had decided he wanted Parker up. Up now. With a grimace Parker shoved the dog off him.. the taste of Sammy’s tongue still on his face as he desperately tried to wipe it off, only stopping when he realised where he still was and more importantly who he was still lying next to. Fuck. Fuck. Grabbing Sammy just as the dog started to make its way over to the blonde, Parker pulled him and himself back out of her room. This is why you don’t go climbing into bed with Tahnee Conrad. Not that he hadn’t already known that, but that close call had definitely help remind him, just how stupid he’d been last night. Walking over to his own bed, Parked crashed down on top of it. Not even caring that his face hurt like hell and that he still had to show it to his mom later. No all he cared about was finding solace in a bed that didn’t smell like Tahnee Conrad. Though arguably he did and maybe that was even worse. 

END.

[prkrnichols]

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

It’d been a long time since Tahnee had felt anything so prominent live within the thick of her throat. The unwavering inability to stop words from coming until there was nothing left. Word vomit that spilled forth as if subconsciously she’d hoped that once it was out of her system, caught in the wind and heard by at least someone then she wouldn’t feel the weight of them anymore. A weight which might have been almost completely possible to ignore until Sarah and her father had announced their engagement and everything she might have hoped to cut from the flesh of her memory sought to weigh heavier still. Had she become more callous since then? Scathing words more prominent perhaps, than pretending that Parker barely existed. It didn’t matter now, because apparently having him so unbearably close, no matter what she did, was just one more reason for everything to break the surface. “I just,” still, her lips sought to find a way to untangle her messy thoughts, blonde locks falling across her shoulder as she shook her head as if it that might shake them loose, “all I had was.. pain, I couldn’t not be angry about everything and you didn’t deserve any of that. I know, I know you didn’t.. and I can’t take that back but..” I want to… And maybe she just couldn’t stop because he apparently had nothing to say, the lingering premise of his silence suddenly far more deafening than anything else she’d ever heard - I regret it - I regret it - I regret it…. Was that all that would hang between them now? Was that what he’d leave her with? A fitting punishment for whatever torment she’d forced upon him. Somehow, she thought she might have deserved at least that until his voice shattered that thought too - obliterated it with an overt softness that hadn’t been there when last he’d spoken. It ripped through her, shock and relief mottled into one as it shifted across the back of her shoulders and threw a whole new premise into the forefront of her mind. A knew truth that wedged itself beneath each and every rib separately until the notion of Tahnee Conrad missing Parker felt less like prying teeth and far more like a secret that could have been whispered beneath the glow of a full moon. And when he stepped forward - a split second choice that sent the breath she’d held in so tightly, loose, and the corner of her mouth, upwards it might have almost been completely involuntary had she mirrored his movement and stepped forward too. Only, the harsh light of headlights and the careening sound of an oncoming car as Parker’s hand curled around her elbow, jerking her towards the side of the road was startling enough to leave even that looking like little more than her own attempt to move out of the way. It took a moment, his hand around her arm and Tay once again clinging to him as hues peered beyond the metal barrier that kept them from falling. A moment before a laugh blossomed in place of everything else, a sound that Tay couldn’t quite hold onto as it fell through and she stood a little taller. Looking up up at him, still yet to let go, she nodded, “Yeah no, that’s..– that’s probably a really good idea.” Teeth pulled back on her lesser lip stifling the smile her laughter had cast across her features, her fingers spread out across his chest tapping gently. One.. twice.. She stepped back from the barrier and from him, “My BMX? I haven’t touched mine in..” Too long. Her dad had bought her a new one a little over a year ago and by memory she’d pulled it out of the garage maybe, twice? “Even if I had, I wouldn’t leave it this far out for a game of fugitive. Do you have your phone? We could just call someone? I think I left mine in the car.” Her nose turned up, crinkling at the thought of trying to get that back - Hopefully Brad would just, hand over the keys to Miki and she wouldn’t have to think twice about looking for it later, but somehow, she didn’t think it would be that easy. And.. — Okay, she thought as she looked back towards Miki’s house, still a ways off, “Do you even have service out here?” The road notorious for it’s long stretch out of civilization until you reached the top where their friends’ house and a few select others sat, miles apart from one another. “If we’re walking, we need provisions.”

He’d obviously gone ahead tonight and found himself some sort of a time machine, ‘cause this girl standing in front of him wasn’t the Tahnee Conrad, he knew from today. No, this one was showing some serious glimpses of her past self.. y’know the one that actually liked him. Which was nice for a change. Not that Parker’s whole existence got better when Tahnee liked him or anything.. and even if it did, it wasn’t like the brunette was going to admit that to her, but yeah.. it was nice. A relief, really, just to breathe normally around his ex again. “I’m sorry..” It was his turn now. “I reacted before i even knew what was going on.. let’s go ahead and blame it on being a very fresh freshman.” Not really a good enough excuse, when the thing you were trying to apologise for was, accusing a girl who had just loss her mother ( even if he didn’t exactly know that ) that she’d been leading him on, but it was a start at least. “Truce?” Throwing out his hand in wait, Parker offered up a smile and a promise that things were going to be different between them both from now.. better. At least from his end, ‘cause Parker had long stopped predicting how Tay might react to these kind of things.. he’d never been very good at it and it usually only set up his hopes for a big, painful crushing, anyway. 

So, by the time the blonde was back in his arms, laughing against his chest, and holding on like, she might actually fall off the cliff behind them ( as if he’d let her ), he’d been a little struck by the whole thing. It was just.. he’d kind of forgotten how good her laugh sounded. A real, enjoying everything ( despite nearly dying ) kind of laugh, that had Parker letting out one of his own in response to it. Parker ‘s fingers spread out across her back, as he kept his arms around her, “here..” he offered out his hand to help on over the barrier, and it wasn’t like he didn’t think she could navigate the thing alone or anything, it was just there was a lot of rocks and sticks and-- okay, so maybe he didn’t exactly want a reason to stop touching her just yet either. Which yeah.. bad.. really bad. They’d just got themselves into a somewhat good spot again and here he was already thinking about wanting to do other things. Ridiculous things. Like kissing her or something. Tay wouldn’t be into that.. and even if there was a rare off-chance that maybe she would be.. he had a girlfriend. And that mattered.. right? “Do you remember that night we snuck out of your house on your BMX? Totally ‘sixteen candles’ kind of nineties gold..” Was he still holding her hand? What was wrong with him tonight. Get it together, Parker. 

Stretching his fingers out, Parker gave her hand back to her, as he reached his arms up above his head and let out a sigh, “you know, I’m starting to think the party actually does start before we walk in..” Clearly they weren’t exactly being missed.. as the two took a turn and could just make out Miki’s house up on the cliffside above, going ‘off.’ “At least Miki never has to worry about getting any sort of noise complaint out here..” the waves crashing below them the only other sign of life around them. “You think you can convince your boyfriend to buy me a new BMX?” The idea of Dolphin Boy, stepping foot into a BMX shop and talking cranks, forks and bar ends.. was pretty amusing and had Parker letting out another laugh as the two finally wound up outside Miki’s front door. With his laugh dying out, Parker took a second to lock eyes with the blonde, “you going to be okay?” Only whatever she’d been about to say or not say.. had been interrupted the moment Miki’s front door was pulled open to reveal.. ah, speak of the devil. “I’m going upstairs to get cleaned up.” Bumping into Brad as he passed him, Parker jogged upstairs heading towards one of Miki’s generous bathrooms. Just barely making out Brad saying, “what were you doing with him?” as he closed the door behind him. Was he curious? Of course he was, but the last thing he wanted was Tay, looking up towards the gallery and seeing him standing up there looking at both her and her boyfriend getting into another fight. No, he needed to play it cool and uh, disinfect his wounds, so he didn’t end up anymore broken than he already was. Seriously? Was there an ounce of skin on him that wasn’t covered in some kind of bruise or cut? Apparently not. 

Pulling apart Miki’s medicine cabinet, Parker found some rubbing alcohol and couple of adhesive bandages.. something he was more than familiar with, “this is going to be fun.” With a sigh, Parker got to work fixing himself up, just as there was a small knock on the bathroom door.. “Occupido!” Whoever was waiting outside clearly hadn’t heard him over the music or just hadn’t cared, because after another second or two the door had been pushed opened. Oh. Lana. “So, are you going to tell me why Brad and Tay are fighting about you downstairs?” Fighting? About him? Was Tay actively fighting for him? Or was Lana just making it into a bigger thing than it actually was and the whole thing really was just Brad running his mouth off about nothing again? “What do you mean?” Shoot him.. he was curious. “Apparently you two are secretly fucking each other--” He let out a laugh. “You think this is funny?” He let out another laugh, “well, yeah..” the idea that himself and Tay were in some sort of secret relationship at the moment was pretty fucking hilarious. “you know, she hates my guts, right?” That apparently was also the wrong thing to say.. “and what? you don’t hate her guts anymore?” He paused. Shrugging.. as he genuinely thought about her question and answered back truthfully, “no.. I’m over it.” Wiping his hands on one of Miki’s towels, Parker turned away from his girlfriend just as her face started to get a little flushed.. “so, what? you’d fuck Tahnee Conrad if she’d take you back?” he paused.. and apparently that was as good as saying yes, for the brunette standing in front of him, “you know what.. I’m done with you Parker. I’ve put up with your shit for far too long. The last year you’ve been an absolute horrible boyfriend and I’ve told myself it’s fine.. you’re sort it out.. you love me, but no.. you’re an asshole Parker.. an asshole and Max was right.. you don’t deserve me.” With a swift turn of her head, she was back at the door, using all her strength to slam the large oak door behind her once she’d made it back out into the hall. The sound vibrating throughout the bathroom as Parker let out a breath and turned back to the large mirror in front of him. He knew he probably should’ve felt bad that his girlfriend of four years had finally called it quits with him, but honestly with everything he had felt already tonight there just wasn’t a whole lot of room left to feel anything else. He was sure that would change in the days to come. Probably enough to have him even call Lana back up and try and work things out with her, but for now.. he’d be okay with just going back downstairs and seeing if Tay, was okay after her whole altercation with Brad. They were seemingly in this together tonight. 

Walking back outside the bathroom, Parker managed to notice Tay first amongst everyone else, probably because of her blonde hair. It just stood out, really. As he jogged back down the stairs.. feeling lighter than before. Airier.. “so, what’s this rumour going around that we’ve been fucking or something?” He let out a laugh just as Brad turned back around. Great, so he was still there, was he? “Look, man--” but before Parker could even get out some sort of excuse for something he’d never done in the first place, Brad’s fist had come up and sucker punched him right in the face. What. The. Hell. Falling back onto the ground, Parker was quick to his feet, jumping forward, wrapping his arms around Brad’s stomach as he tackled him back into Miki’s buffet table. His body screaming out in protest as the punch bowl that had been resting on top exploded around them both. But none of that mattered, because the only thing that did matter right now, was finally getting to punch the shit out of dolphin boy. 

[prkrnichols]

[prkrnichols]

[prkrnichols]

tchnee·:

Whatever she’d been expecting, Parker recoiling as if she’d burnt him wasn’t so unpredictable. Not in the same way that he’d jerked away from her touch weeks beforehand after the body wash incident, because she knew that’d burned him - physically at least. No this - she didn’t imagine the places her fingertips had brushed against his arm had hurt enough that he’d find any need to cast himself several paces back from her. This was purely because it was her and maybe she knew that well before his voice broke through the night with the intent to leave a mark. Tethered to the wrong end of her subsiding panic, it took everything within her to swallow back against the constriction in her throat. Whatever she’d thought he might have had to say about Brad - about her -, it hadn’t surmised itself in her mind so fervently as he spoke now. Her lips parted, falling open to argue until his hands closed together and she felt humiliation swell - as if the whole world watched her be crushed between his hands. Instead, her jaw dropped slightly and hues cast themselves to the cliffs in search of a gust of wind that might carry itself across the jagged rock and seek to put out the fire burning across the skin of her throat. “That’s not fair,” it wasn’t fair of him, to lecture her on her own relationship, but he wasn’t wrong either and somehow voicing that now seemed about as impossible as breathing did. It swelled frustration in her chest, in her fingertips and in the ache of her feet as he turned his back on her and .. - Okay, if he wanted to leave, screw him too. Kicking off her heels, the cold asphalt beneath a godsend, even as the cold bite in the air did little more than cast a chill across her skin, Tay still felt like she’d been thrown into an open flame as she scooped up her shoes and realised then, that her phone likely lay on the backseat of the Audi and she couldn’t call Jordan to come get her. And, okay, it could be wor… — What did he do that I didn’t. For a moment, she’s more certain than ever, that she’s heard him wrong - that maybe he hasn’t spoken at all, and it’s her own subconscious projecting him asking her that. And it’s not like she’s imagined it before, but somehow, now that it’s playing out right in front of her - she thinks that she should have. “He…— Nothing, Parker. He didn’t..–” How loud his voice is, feels heavier than Sam’s music had been, as she’d fought for a pocket of silence to gather her thoughts and it’s now overwhelmingly obvious that despite finding solid ground and air, she was no better off here than within the confines of that car. Fingers wove through the fabric of her dress and when he finally stopped – and she’d waited with baited breath, for several passing seconds before she could decide that, yeah - he was done, Tahnee could see nothing but him. Had she hurt him that much? Maybe then, she’d known it, seen it in his face whenever she’d unleashed the grief she’d carried on him. It was easier to forget exactly what she’d done when Parker had begun to cast it back at her - but what he was asking of her now was far more complicated than he’d maybe ever understand. Where her voice should have caught him with the same sharpened edge, Tahnee, already drained and wanting this night to end, offered little more than a nod of agreement. He was done - done with.. Whatever had existed between them for the last five years, and all she had to do was agree to it and… Bare feet made little noise against the asphalt as she looked towards Miki’s house somewhat off in the distance and made a wide berth to pass by him. The silence deafening as they walked, loud enough that she might have believed that somewhere along the road she’d lost her ability to hear altogether, only, her thoughts screamed far too loudly and when she finally found it in her to piece something together, they passed beneath the glow of a dull and flickering street light. “You didn’t make a mistake.” Her voice quiet, uncertain as she stopped and reached out to catch his arm - not willing to grab him for whatever might have overcome her if he chose to recoil as he had, her hand fell away again. “What you did..– what you said, wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know.” And how could he have? How could he have known anything at all that day? “I was so broken and… angry and I didn’t know what to do with that, with any of it.” Grief had swallowed her whole, and the only thing that kept her heart beating in her chest had been that anger. She couldn’t love Parker back then because… all she had to give was the fury nestled within her ribcage. “I’m not..–” Hues fell to a place between them, her distaste evident in porcelain features, “happy about anything I ever did to you.” She huffed, a breath of a self depreciating laugh pride disintegrated, “I’m… - I’m really not okay with how I treated you.” Internally, she grimaced, nimble fingers still trying to find a way to tie themselves up so tightly within her dress that they’d just.. stop. “When I saw that message you sent I just.. Fixated on it because it was so much easier than trying to be okay with anything else that was going on in my life then but…” Two foot tall and fragile… A feeling that really did, only attach itself to her when Parker was around. “I know you were hurting too and nothing I did helped anyone, least of all you and I’m really not sure how I’m meant to make up for any of it but I regret it,” It wasn’t a feeling that had overwhelmed her until more recently, but now that it did.. Now that she could taste it on her tongue, she knew it’d always been there. “all of it.”

With every step he took towards Miki’s house the scratches on his knees screamed out in protest. And it was such a silly thing to hurt after everything he’d been through, but they did and he felt like he was five years old all over again, and wanting his mother to do that very thing he’d seen Will’s mother do after they’d both taken their bikes for a ride down Beachheads’ hill and spun out of control. Only he must’ve forgot she’d only ever slapped a bandaid across his knees, because what he wanted now wasn’t that, but rather a hot breath and a whisper that followed saying ‘everything was going to be okay’... even though he knew it wasn’t. No... just like tonight and back then, life for Parker had spun itself out of control and the nineteen year-old that everyone once thought knew where he was heading (in every direction) was in a tailspin... and maybe, just maybe it had something to do with the sound of bare feet slapping against the asphalt behind him. Was she trying to catch up? Was she trying to stop him? Questions... more questions that had weaved their way into his head since... and that was just it... since when? Would it be poignant to say the bathroom? Where the blonde only a few feet behind had been almost on top of him and pressing her fingers into his skin like she actually cared again that it could be marred? Though... what if it had happened earlier? Even before he’d realised it had... ‘Cause that’s how these things happened, right? Without warning. Like that wave that had sent her to the deepest depths of The Cove, where he’d only just been able to reach her. Yeah... that made sense... And maybe if the wind hadn’t lifted in that exact moment to tear across fresh open skin and remind him once again of a similar kind of burn he’d once felt because of her... he might’ve actually been okay with that as his only answer... but it had and instead his mind was a few steps behind... knocking shoulders with the blonde and laughing like nothing had ever changed between them and he knew, he just knew that what had happened between himself and Tahnee five years ago, had always been a question on his mind and always would be...

He stopped... and perhaps that part of him that he’d once divvied up for her... stopped too, “huh?” He couldn’t have heard her right, could he? Did she actually just say he hadn’t made a mistake all those years ago? His brow creased, as he pulled in his bottom lip and sunk his two front teeth inside... waiting for whatever she’d decided to start here tonight to continue... because she had his attention now. And... right... there it was... and he... well whatever he’d expected to hear... it hadn’t been that. Sure the start had been startling... but was she... yeah she was actually saying she regretted it. Which was strange, because although he’d dreamt up similar scenarios in the past to actually hear those exact words ‘I regret it’ fall out of the blonde’s mouth and right there in front of him was... something. And sure maybe he’d responded far less amicably in a few of those past dreams of his... where he’d told her it was too late and that she could live with her regret just as much as he had... but the funny thing about reality was it never really turned out the way you imagined because feelings.... and five years of feelings... always had a funny way of jumping up and reminding Parker, that the girl he once pulled into dark corners just to slip his fingers through her hair and share a laugh with, just said she regretted all of it... and whatever he thought he might’ve felt before was gone now and in its place was something else... “Me too...” Something that came with those two words and a small step forward. Though, before he could say anything else the sound of an approaching car had his hand reaching out to grab the back of her elbow and pull her back up off the road and against the metal barrier separately them from the cliff face below, as it narrowly avoided hitting them both... and maybe he’d been kind of hoping the car was one of Miki’s and inside was a familiar friendly face... finger guns posed but laughter teetering through as they offered them both a ride, but of course he knew better than to think tonight was going to be that easy... “we should probably get off the main road... even if it is the quicker route... there’s not much between us and the road is there?” He sighed, thinking about his banged up BMX miles and miles behind them both, “you didn’t like hide your BMX somewhere nearby at the off chance you’d get chosen as a fugitive like I did, did you?” Sure it had been awhile since they’d shared a ride on her BMX together, but anything would be better than walking all the way to Miki’s right now... though... at least it seemed that whatever tension that had once been in the air between them earlier had... at least for now thinned itself out a little and therefore a walk with Tay, even a long one... might actually be kind of nice. 

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

The knot in her tongue twisted tighter with every careless, volatile shift Brad’s hands made across the steering wheel, unable to piece together anything more than discomfort and a silence almost harrowing when one considered Tay’s usual approach. Yet no tangled mess within her seemed to pull tighter than the one that sent both she and Parker careening across the back seat. Her hand once tangled in the fabric of her own dress pressed upwards into his chest as he caught himself, suspended above her, and the breath that caught in her throat neither one of relief or irritation but something else entirely as the luminescent glow of street lights cast silhouettes through the windows to dance across his features. The attempt to swallow back the knot it caused, about as fruitful as any of those before, lips pursing tightly as he pulled himself up and she sought to follow suit and right herself - his apology and Brad’s harsh response among the plethora of sounds that fell upon deaf ears. Deaf, to all but the pounding in her chest and the unsteady tremble within her fingertips as everything shifted before her both too quickly - and much too slow for her to pick apart. The ominous inevitability of suffering a panic attack should have been enough to keep her from getting in the car with Brad. Her usual trust in him blinding and leaving her thinking nothing of it, but truly - she should have known better when she’d realized Sam would be there too. The younger Lincoln brothers presence was one that always contorted Bradley in ways almost unnatural when compared to who Tahnee had known him to be - but, she wasn’t making excuses for him. Not when any excuse she came up with as her mind ran miles ahead of logical reason was shattered by another reflexive shift against a sharpened turn. The hand on her shoulder, a heavy weight that pinned her down, left her searching for a focal point that seemed to disappear between each and every street light that passed overhead. Tay, only allowing the crack of her voice to fill the space when she could linger a little longer on  russet hues. “I can’t..– I..” Her own hand, once curled around her own wrist shot up to curl around Parker’s arm while the other offered little relief, a gesture that did little more than motion towards her struggle than create a shifting cold air that might have dulled the heat against her skin. “I can’t breathe.. I can’t..–” The constriction of her voice broke and panic set in as each breath shortened and tangled itself with the next, Tahnee left to wander a darkened tunnel with only a single tether to keep her from floating beyond it. The mess of voices colliding as one and reaching her as little more than the screech of tearing metal and brakes until she was being pulled from the dark, heated confines and set upon solid ground. In truth, she might have been able to both recollect exactly how it’d happened, and still be left entirely unaware. Neither memory nor certainty could offer her an explanation as to how she now stood beside Parker. Her view of the car almost entirely skewed, by his solid form as he pulled her in closer and her grip within the fabric of his shirt tightened. It seemed entirely possible that being so near and feeling heat emanate from his body should have done her little to no good, but as she stood on her own, her face buried in his side as she wretched heavily through each and every breath that gave her nothing but another taste of panic - it was far easier, to latch onto the feeling beneath her fingertips. One barely there and perhaps, barely notable as his chest rose and fell. Every breath and beat of his heart giving her something beyond her own racing pulse to focus on. Something neither fleeting, nor fragile. And by the time he stepped away from her - Tay only now realizing that the car was gone – That Bradley and Sam had stranded her - them - here, did panic find itself tainted by an anger that prickled heat in the corners of her eyes. Are you okay? — A question skipped over as she pressed the back of her hand into her mouth for a fleeting second before it fell away, rushed breath following as she spoke and shook her hands in front of her.. “I didn’t know they were..–” And she hadn’t, she’d truly had no idea what either of them had intended, but she should have known nothing good would come out of it the second Sam had laid some kind of claim on Parker this night. “I had no idea they were going to do that. If I’d..–” If, what? What exactly might she have been able to do from the back seat that she didn’t already try? The possibility that Brad might have…- That Sam might have intended to do far worse, if she hadn’t pulled the emergency brake? “I swear I didn’t know…” Still, she couldn’t stop her hands from moving, pulling at the sleeves of her dress, pulling through her hair and undoubtedly shaking as she rode out the seemingly everlasting jitters of her panic so far out that she couldn’t see the reason as to why they’d found her. “That’s..– god he’s..” Teeth pulled at her lesser lip and caught her at a standstill, her frame no less steady than it was in the back of the Audi. “I know.– I know what you’re going to say.” A tangent she fell into rather quickly as she still felt the stringent sting of panic coursing through her frame, easier to fall into the discomfort of this rather than what she was running from as she spoke, “I didn’t break up with him.” A reality that slammed into her hard enough to knock her from her current search for a pocket or air she could surface within. “I – I was going to but…” But nothing. Hues zeroed in on Parker as she stopped, the fact that she’d been steadily pacing, tracking heel marks into the dirt almost completely unbeknownst to her, “Parker..–” And the sight of it turned her stomach in a way that convinced her that she might have still been in the car. “You’re bleeding,” A breath that finally seemed to work it’s way into where it needed to go caught her forcibly as her shoulders fell from the grips of tension, all while she reached out to push the already rolled sleeve of his shirt back a little further.

Where concern had once existed anger rose up and quickly replaced it, as Parker looked over the blonde in front of him and took a few steps back... “Seriously?” Was he bleeding? Yes... He wasn’t questioning her on that he was questioning her on everything else. “This... This is the guy you went back to? The same guy who had his tongue down some other girls throat just yesterday...” not really just yesterday but it felt like it “... This is the guy you keep giving chance after chance to?” Raising his hands up, Parker brought them together for a few short claps, “well done Tahnee... you’ve got yourself an absolute winner here. Why don’t you go and chase after him? Give him another one... another chance to hurt you. Cause seemingly he gets an endless amount of those, doesn’t he?” He turned, starting to walk back up the road and the cliff towards Miki’s house, but he didn’t get very far before he was turning back around and questioning her on just one more thing. One thing that had been on his mind a lot lately. One thing he’d once thought was a just a Tahnee Conrad thing, but apparently was just more of a Parker Nichol’s thing... “just tell me one thing though... what did he do that I didn’t?” It was a mistake to ask her. The last thing he wanted her to think was that this was something he thought about on a regular basis. Sure, maybe three or four years ago he had, but not anymore— at least not until a few nights ago. And he hated it... hated that he was that guy again... that guy that spent his days and nights wondering why Tahnee hadn’t forgiven him for a mistake and yet, would brush what his brother had said about her boyfriend so easily under the rug and for what? A guy like Brad? Was a degree in Whale Music what he needed for her to forgive him? Or was it four extra inches about his head... “Cause I don’t know.” He was practically shouting now, which wasn’t needed because it was just them on the side of the road... and yet... he wasn’t about to lower his voice anytime soon either... “I made a mistake. A mistake I did without any idea of the circumstances at the time, but what he did was deliberate and one you know he did knowing exactly what his circumstances surrounding you were at the time... So, I don’t get it. And maybe that’s made me petty and mad for the last five years... and maybe you deserve that... and maybe... no yeah... I did deserve it too, but not for this long... and not when you allow some asshole like Brad... because yeah he’s an asshole... to do the things he does and apparently without consequence.... No I’m done being treated like what I did to you was worse than that! Cause you know it wasn’t and I don’t know if this is just a ‘it’s being going on for too long and I don’t know how to stop it’ thing or you really do hate me that much, but whatever it is... you can keep it up... but I’m done with it. I’m over it... and have fun fighting with yourself from now on.” 

[prkrnichols]

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

Whatever it was that shot through her as Parker’s voice made her all the more conscious of Brad’s hand lowering across the small of her back, stilled her almost completely. Small and fragile — and a liar. The mottled existence of apprehension - anticipation and a menial fear that he might be about to say something that Tahnee hadn’t yet found a way to voice on her own just yet left her paralyzed to the spot. She knew how it looked, detested how it looked in fact and it wasn’t until now that Tay found any sense of regret in not doing what she’d left the house to do several nights beforehand. How any of it had anything to do with Parker Nichols and his sudden appearance in a place that wouldn’t usually beckon him forward was something she didn’t want to consider just yet. She could only render her assumptions correct, in that he’d seen more than she’d wanted him to. Which, in and of itself was beyond her own comprehension - that she could both want and not want Parker to see anything at all was a mess of thoughts she wasn’t prepared to dig through right here and now. “Yeah..– everything’s fine.” A strange sentiment, one that slipped from her pursed lips as she stepped out of Bradley’s hold to snatch up a drink from a passing waiter. A surefire effort to easily keep him from the questioning look he gave her - strange, only by the lacking bite that usually tainted anything she’d ever said to Parker. “Why wouldn’t it be?” Though, even that was pushed aside - to address later - when Bradley’s younger brother sought out, and marked the perfect opportunity to announce his return to California to the only person standing here, not already aware. Inwardly, she cringed - Tahnee had long since come to terms with the fact that Sam and Bradley were… her brand of people. Or at least, those that might have suited their place in her life, were she really as callous and cold as most people believed her to be - but she knew that not everyone, and especially not Parker, had ever been okay with the sort of torment and chaos that followed Samuel Lincoln. 

Standing there, it became all too apparent that Parker and Tahnee had set themselves on very different paths since she’d untangled them years before, her relationship with Sam perhaps… far less complicated than the one she held with Bradley, one that perhaps might have even made more sense with who she was now. “— He turned that down, Sam.” She pointed out and regretted it immediately as the look on the youngest Lincoln brothers face morphed from amusement to something else entirely as he sidled up beside her, shifting close enough to lean back and tangle callous words about Parker into her blonde locks for Bradley to intercept on the other side. As they looked Parker over, their laughter staining her skin with the knowledge that a few weeks beforehand, she might have laughed with them; every question to what might have changed coming back with a far more complicated answer each and every time she seemed to ask it of herself. And, maybe, it’d been difficult to look anywhere else but him, since they’d locked gazes across the room, but now, she couldn’t look away quickly enough, more than aware of how this might have looked. The last thing she wanted right now, however, was for this to implode the same way she knew it had before - only this time, the added component of Bradley and everything Parker knew - everything she knew - left Tahnee with a greater uncertainty than she wanted to have right now. Passing off the half empty glass to Sam, Tay turned her frame, heels clicking against the marble floor as she pressed into her boyfriend and pushed him towards the doors just as Nick, TJ and Jordan seemed to fall into line with whatever tension had emanated from Parker, “C’mon,” she urged him forwards, “it’s time… and if I’m driving, I want the Merc.” And okay, so… she knew exactly how contradictory it was that her boyfriend spent half of his time trying to save and protect the ocean - and the other half contributing to polluting the air with his obsession with all things powered and with wheels, but it’d been difficult not to fall into the things he’d liked when she’d been so set on knowing everything about him. Was it her fault that she’d immediately spotted the AMG e63 and wanted to drive it? Possibly.. But, even as she spoke, a semblance of anticipatory laughter blossoming on her lips, Bradley’s immediate rebuttal that — like hell she was driving, left her with a bitter taste on her tongue.

The gold keychain marked with the letter “P” glared up at her from the palm of her hand, and Miki, already dropping the set of keys to the Mercedes she’d heard Tay had been eyeing off right next to it, might have been almost enough to save her from what might have been an entirely miserable night.. If, by her own doing, she had to spend the rest of the night thinking about golden hues that questioned more than she was ever willing to answer - and dealing with the uncomfortable heat of Bradley’s hands finding their way to places she didn’t want them the least she could to to alleviate the oncoming tightness within her chest by being the one behind the wheel.  The bonus that Miki understood Tay’s.. distrust of being in a car with mostly anyone else driving might have swelled something in her chest. Only - whatever smile, laughter, vibrance that had found it’s way to her features was dashed almost completely as Bradley stepped to walk her backwards, his quick fingers snatching the keys from her hand and tossing them to one of his friends. “You’re not gonna’ need those, you’re with me, babe,” the smirk that tilted his features - one in the same that might have otherwise turned something over in her stomach that felt desirable more than sickening, the only thing he offered before his hands gripped her hips and he lifted her. Placing her down on the car bonnet, and stepping into the space between her legs, Brad’s lips found the place just below her ear that left her swallowing back hard on… everything it did, just as he pressed the auto start and the engine beneath her rev’d to life. Headlights illuminated the street and before she could push herself off and to her feet, Sam cranked the audio inside the car and flooded the line of fugitives as Miki marked the five minute head start. A hand slapped down on the outside of the passenger door as Sam lent out, “Anyone sees Nichols…” somehow, the moment he took to pause..— and grin in such a way that had once been the beginning of everyone questioning his sanity, left even her weary as she climbed into the back of the Audi, “— He’s ours.” Her eyes shot up as Bradley shut his door with a deafening thud, catching sight of Erin and Hailey as they climbed into the Porsche Taycan and silently hoped that they’d find him first. 

━━

Three. Two . One… The smell of burning rubber still lingered somewhere within the confines of the car, even as Brad kicked in the clutch and swung them out and into a sharp left and pointed them towards Miki’s place. Tahnee already knew what he was doing, tearing through the quiet streets to head off anyone that might make it past everyone else to double back but the longer it took and with every corner he cut it became a little more difficult to think straight. Which might not have seemed like such a strange concept when one thought about how fast paced and electric a game of fugitive usually was - this wasn’t like that though. It was whiplash and unseen scars rising to the surface, just as she knew they would. The chime of Sam’s phone cut out the music as the call cast across the blue tooth, “Linc,” the voice not nearly familiar enough to place, but she assumed it was one of the other riders maybe, didn’t see why else he would have answered a call right now if that weren’t the case, “Someone said they saw your boy on a bike.. Out by Cedar, he’s..—” the line cut out as Sam hung up. “They said Cedar, right? Think he’ll get far?” Brad questioned, perhaps far more mocking than she might have deemed necessary. Tahnee lent forward a little bit, more than disappointed that she’d been relegated to nothing more than a pointless piece in a game she’d always loved. Disappointed and trying so desperately not to let her fingers sink all the way into the edge of her seat, “Who are they even talking about?” A question that received absolutely no answer beyond the shared glance between brothers as Brad gunned the engine. 

It was only when their headlights illuminated the figure on the road that Tahnee thought to pay a little more attention - far too much of it already rested on holding tight to the seatbelt and watching the lines on the road slip by so quickly they became little more than a line unbroken. Just as surely as they’d found it, the silhouette is gone - the sharp left he’d slipped down coming up too quickly - or perhaps not even an option in Brad’s mind as he sped up again. “You can cut him off - next left, cut the pavement.” “Who are you even talking about?” And more to the point, what exactly had them so fixated on..— but, that answered her own question, didn’t it? Even as Brad killed the lights and dropped into neutral for merely a second before the figure, no.. - Parker, emerged onto the street before them. “What are you doing?” She’d lent forward again, hand curling tightly around the driver’s seat to keep her hands steady, as she almost predicted her boyfriends next move. As if she’d already watched it played out, over and over and over again, “Brad, what the fuck?” Headlights turned back on and Tay had already unclipped her seatbelt despite the turning of her stomach, as Brad popped the clutch and dropped into third gear, sending the audi into the back of Parker’s bike, “Are you fucking insane? You can’t do that — You’re gonna’ hurt him…” Something in her voice desperate - breaking against the constriction of her throat - of her chest and lungs and everything that shouldn’t have felt this tight. Leaning through the space between the two front seats, fingers slammed down against the emergency break button, and perhaps the shove she’d given Brad as they stopped, might have been worth it if it hadn’t just pushed him right out of the drivers door and running towards Parker. “What the fuck, Sam — What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Somehow, it only made all the more sense that he knew exactly what Brad had intended. Fuck this… She thought, pulling herself forwards with every intention to either slip through into the driver’s seat or pop the seat forward enough to get out or drive off, only to have Sam’s arm shoot out and block her way just as the door opened and she looked up to see Parker climbing in. 

Hesitation lingered because she didn’t imagine anything tonight looked all that great for her. “Hey,” she soon spoke, a little quieter yet neither steady, shifting within the small amount of space she was awarded to offer him more attention than she’d given any of them since the game had started. “Are you okay?” “Oh, he’s fine, Tay - he’s had worse… right, Nichols?.” Sam’s chuckle, one that forced her to grit her teeth as the car swung around. The movement a stark parallel to what she remembered - toppling the edge and falling… Falling beyond the edge of the road, and over and over again as if there was never an end to such a desolate black hole. Despite knowing they still remained on the road, Tahnee couldn’t help but feel gravity slip away from beneath her as her hands curled into fists, balling up fistfuls of her dress in her lap even while Parker’s hand gripped gently at her knee to steady himself. Her gaze lifted, from his hand to his face and somehow, nothing she saw made sense. A blank screen, blurred and pulled over her eyes casting non-thoughts into the front of her mind was all she could really manage beyond… – Could she breathe? Did she..– could she even tell? The already tight confines of the car seemingly grew smaller as Bradley dropped into the next gear and apparently even more so as Parker’s hand slipped away and the place once beneath his hand, fell cold. The right turn Brad suddenly sent them into without warning, certainly not made for speed like this, “Temple… Temple..– where the fuck is Temple?” “Other way.. It’s the other fucking way, head towards Miki’s place..” Oh, god no..– Her eyes closed as the flash of oncoming headlights illuminated the inside of the car and the echo of the cars horn sounded more like the crunch of metal as Bradley threw them into a turn that came far too close for comfort. Diverting them in the other direction and clipping the edge of a spoon drain. Piercing and unforgiving, as it tore it’s way through her conscious mind so vibrantly that she almost reached to cover her ears. It’s not real..– it’s not real.. She reached out, her hand falling to Brad’s shoulder and though he cast hues back at her through the rear vision mirror, Tay couldn’t be sure what he saw. “Slow down, you’re gonna..–” “I’m gonna’ what?” “Just, please slow down.” And as if she’d asked something beyond the most basic of things, both brothers did little more than exchange looks and laugh. “No way, just sit back and be quiet, Tay.” The sharp chastise one that even she couldn’t rightfully swallow back - unwilling to be thought of as some child in the backseat throwing a tantrum. Although, forcing out any sense of rebuttal for that might have been a little easier had she been able to slow down long enough to hold breath in her lungs. Instead, she was given nothing more than a spike of heat within the back of her neck and her teeth sinking into her lip so deeply she swore she could almost taste her own blood. Of all the places she wanted to be - this didn’t fall anywhere within the top thousand. Something about falling in among old nightmares and all of those that still plagued her, Tahnee couldn’t bring herself to see exactly what was happening as she sat back, pulled taught her seatbelt against her  - the pressure from her own hand nothing compared to the constriction she felt within. Nothing to the rapid pace at which organ slammed against the inside of her chest. It felt unnatural - and sparked further panic for the breath she couldn’t take as her hand slipped beyond her seatbelt and pushed down to curl around her thigh - her other, reaching to wrap fingers around her own wrist -  tightly until she could feel the space between her shoulders tense up and maybe.. – maybe, by the time she looked up again, she’d have focused so much on how tightly she could hold on, that she’d miss everything in between. If her heart didn’t give in before then.

He had, but not at Sam’s hands or Brad’s… even if brunette’s ego wanted to believe it had and that he and he alone was responsible for all the misery in Parker Nichols’ life. Neither nodding or shaking his head at his ex teammate’s tease, Parker’s eyes focused on the blonde beside him instead. Was she really expecting an answer from him? Or was it just the polite thing to say after your boyfriend hits someone with their car… Confusion matted beneath the mess of hair that had shifted out of place and fallen across his eyes and forehead, “yeah… sure.” His elbows singed, his knees bled but it wasn’t any of that, that had him answering a little short… it was the fact that after everything… she was what? In on it…? Had what he’d done to her almost five years prior really been that unforgivable… that inexcusable… to warrant everything she’d done to him since? He used to think maybe… even if that maybe had leaned more towards a ‘no’ after her surfboard had collided with his own and he’d been forced to reschedule his audition for Juilliard. But now… in the same car as the guy that had only a few days ago been the reason why she’d escaped to that bit of slab outside her bedroom door, questioned herself and what she felt she deserved and where she’d had the nerve to ask him to stay… maybe...— though, before he could finish his thought, his mind had been forced elsewhere as he looked to find one of the handholds in the back of the car, as Brad continued to drive like the Laws and Rules of the Road in California, no longer existed for him tonight.

He’d still been looking for one, when Brad shifted the wheel to the right, and his unrestrained body had ended up almost on top of Tahnee’s… “Sorry…” he mumbled as he pulled himself back off her and waited for her usual response— something like ‘watch it!’ But it was clear that something else was on her mind and something big enough to bother her enough that he no longer did… “Are you oka—” The lights of an oncoming car had his hand shooting up to cover his eyes and his other immediately reaching out to keep Tahnee’s body from… what? The car? Yeah, probably a little unrealistic, but it had been a reflex, so that was his excuse for it. He watched next as she reached out and asked Brad to slow down. That if he didn’t he was going to— and oh… as if Brad’s driving wasn’t enough to warrant that, but this was coming from a girl that had nearly loss her and had loss her mother’s life in a car accident and was he really just going to tell her to sit down and shut up? Asshole. Attention back on the blonde’s, Parker did his best to make sure she was alright, but the thing was he was pretty sure they were passed that already and she wasn’t. Yeah, no… she definitely wasn’t. She actually looked like she was about to have a panic attack—How he knew that? Well, outside the few he’d seen on the TV, his little brother Connor had been plagued with them since they’d left Russia. Hand finding her shoulder, Parker told her to breathe… but he knew there was no point… when every twist and turn made by Brad’s hands on the wheel, was only going to bring them straight back to square one… “Slow the fuck down!” He yelled, glaring when Brad’s eyes locked onto his own in the rearview mirror, “Get your hands off my girlfriend Nichols’” Seriously? “You’re scaring her… slow down…” Or better yet… “Pull over…” Sam’s laugh echoed throughout the car next— just loud enough to hear over the blaring music as he twisted his head around to Parker, Tay and then back to face Brad’s… “dump them.” Was he serious? After jerking the car to a sudden stop, Brad twisted his head around to face them, “well go on… get the fuck out then…” He was sure he meant just him… but after what he’d seen tonight there was no way that he’d leave Tay alone with either of them…, so after Sam had stepped out and pushed his seat forward for Parker to climb out, the brunette wrapped his arm around the blonde and moved them both back out of the car together. Watching as Sam hesitated… Parker wrapped his arms around her further… knowing that he might’ve not had the height on Brad, but he definitely had it on Sam.. and the muscle mass too… and… “Get in… they’re backtracking back over to Gold…” He could tell Sam didn’t want to leave, but at his brother’s voice he was back inside and the car that had once been in front of them had quickly disappeared, leaving nothing but a cloud of turned up dust in its wake. Stepping back outside the make-shift hug he’d used to seperate Tay from Sam and the car… Parker looked her over… not quite sure what he expected to see… maybe some sort of improvement from what he’d seen earlier in the car… “are… are you okay?”

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

It might have been easier to question why and, more to the point how Miki’s dad thought that entrusting her and her friends with several of his new showroom release cars, would ever have been an idea that landed somewhere even slightly in the realms of okay, but Tahnee and the majority of the others had long since stopped asking questions. How could they argue with it? The last few years had been littered with more top of the line, luxury and sports model cars than any single one of them could truly comprehend. It simply seemed the man had more money, trust - and insurance to cover it.. Which, was ironic, considering the yearly release, more often than not, always included a bi-hourly shotgun of whatever TJ and Jordan had filled their flasks which added to the already tepid buzz of champagne that was passed around without thought. Something about being rich kids - meant, the legal drinking age just, didn’t exist. And as Jordan sidled up beside her, nudging her relentlessly about what was left in the small metallic flask in his jacket pocket and that it was all hers if she wanted it, Tay was forced to push him back all while grabbing hold of him to make sure he didn’t stumble too suddenly, “I’m good, you know I don’t like getting wasted at these things.” And she really didn’t. Though she might have had little to no problem drinking anywhere else, something about big parties and too many people - and expensive cars, set her on edge enough that adding too much alcohol to the mix just… wouldn’t work in her favor. “Okay, okay… but the second we’re out of here.” He lent back a little, shooting finger guns in her direction as TJ swooped up and draped an arm around Jordan. “– Saylor and Erin are making wagers on who passes out first tonight,” He grinned, the same toothy, crooked smile that always made Tahnee laugh, “Oh, come on, we all know this one.” Tay bounced a little on the balls of her toes, the heels she wore giving her at least a few extra inches to work with as she peered through the gathering of Miki’s friends to eye off their raven haired friend. “—- Foster’s leading for first. Easily” He could, undoubtedly, drink the majority of them under the table..— but he always went too hard, too fast. “I’ve got sixty on him,” Her tongue slipped across her teeth and the look in her eyes shifted to something that truly, only ever appeared while she remained under the influence of the terror twins, “and I want one of his eyebrows shaved off if he does.” Almost immediately, both TJ and Jordan’s eyes lit up, both of them reaching out to her as if they might have been looking to convert her to their super secret shift cult, worship her… or maybe even sacrifice her just to absorb the powers of her mind, “No..– no no, don’t even think about it. Touch me and mess up my hair and you’re both dead to me.” She stepped back as her hands raised a little in gentle warning, bumping into Nick, who grabbed hold of her to keep her steady. The cacophony of their laughter was a beacon that lit up, and drew the attention of those around them as Nick spoke up, dangling the keys to an Audi RS7 from his finger, “You’re done this year, Blackridge.” Which was difficult to believe, because between Jordan, TJ and Natalie - they’d yet to lose a game of fugitive - but sure, Nick was allowed to be a little confident. Tay was sure she’d heard something about Saylor riding with him this time around, but until the game had started, nobody ever really knew.

Just as TJ and Jordan corralled around Nick to listen to the distinct and detailed specs of the latest model Audi, a hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her back, the sudden force catching her completely unaware as she reached out to grip the other to save her rolling her ankle - only to be met with Bradley leering over her in a way that - a week ago, might have felt a little more endearing than it did now. “There you are,” he pressed a kiss to the side of her mouth - a near miss as she turned her head slightly as his arm wove around her and pulled her closer to his side. It turned her stomach and..— why hadn’t she broken up with him yet? “I’ve been looking for you all night.” Which was ironic - because she’d been avoiding him all night. “Hm? I’ve been right here…” The sight of him alone brought her nothing more than a churning sickness and irritation that she could barely hold onto anymore. The fact that they were in public somehow making it even more difficult to hold her tongue. A hand that might have usually lifted to entwine fingers with his at her shoulder dropped, instead tugging at the fabric of her dress to straighten it out, hues casting back to see if maybe, one of the guys had noticed she’d been snatched right out from under their noses like that. Alas, the gleam of the gunmetal paint job on the RS was seemingly more interesting and she was left to suffer. A mediocrum of suffering at least - which only intensified when she looked up and spotted Parker - chestnut hues seemingly fixed on her - or them, she couldn’t quite tell. Somehow, it only felt worse, knowing he’d seen. Knowing that despite what had happened across the dinner table, and everything she’d said to him only days before hand, she was right there curled against Bradley’s side as if nothing happened at all.  It grew stiff in her shoulders, and without second thought, she stepped away from her… boyfriend? Ex boyfriend? She supposed - she hadn’t actually broken up with him in any context other than in her own head; which, okay didn’t count, but still.. Though, apparently, whether Parker had noticed or not - Bradley had, as his hand instead curled around her waist to hold her there as he lent down to mutter sweet nothings in her ear, even as she tried to lean away from it, her own hand lifting to press against his chest and push gently. “Come on, Brad.. we’re in public can you just..” He laughed, quietly and she should have known that he’d take far more out of it than she wanted him to, “Right, yeah… it can wait until later.” The slow upturn of his smirk only forced her to think about how he might have looked at any other girl while he was with her, leaving her feeling almost suddenly two feet tall and no longer bulletproof.

“So, what do you think?” The brunette twisted his head around at the cars on display... the same cars that Nick had just made a point to ask his opinion on... his fault for asking Nick to ‘can it’ on all the NASA mumble-jumble stuff he’d been chewing his ear off a little while earlier. So, what did he think? He thought... he liked the ‘silver’ one... he thought... maybe if his dad had just given him a few toy cars for Christmas one year when he’d been younger instead of pieces of rare antique sheet music that, maybe he’d have a better answer for his friend right now, then.. “Uh...” Thankfully... whatever mess Parker had been planning on letting slip from his lips just now ended up being swallowed back up as Foster slid up beside them, with drinks and a new ‘friend’ attached to his side and Nick excused himself to go and catch up with Jordan (who was into cars). Which wasn’t unusual for their ‘they’ll never tie me down’ pal but still... tonight? Was she secretly some track star from USC? It was time to find out. “Parker...” his hand reached out for her own... “Tah--” “Tahnee?” No... ‘Tahlia.’ Right. No, that made sense... and he probably should’ve let her finish in the first place, but apparently the need to see if she shared the same name as his roommate, had been a pressing one. He rolled his shoulder back as tried to shake something-- someone back off it that he probably shouldn’t have let rest their-her head on a few nights earlier. And sure at the time he’d welcomed it... someone might even say... enjoyed it, but hindsight was funny like that. His eyes shifted away from Tahlia, Foster, and Nick.. seeking out blonde hair and hazel hues. Why? Because maybe a part of him wanted Foster to be wrong... to see that she was alone here tonight and she wasn’t back with the same asshole that had only a few nights earlier had his tongue in another girls mouth, but nope... there she was. 

He knew there was a conversation happening around him, but try as he might he couldn’t look away. Still unsure what hurt more... the fact that she’d only just thanked him for his company the other night, while she’d been crying about the same guy who’d just been nibbling at her ear or the fact that she really did hand out forgive you’s to everyone but him. Whatever it was though it kept his eyes locked on her own... questioning the whole thing. At least until Foster was driving his elbow in between his still bruised ribs (which, yeah... ow) and making a gagging sound. “You think...” he watched as Bradley’s hand encased her wrist and fought off the urge to take a few steps forward, because just because his brain was doing silly things like crafting up some idiotic idea that her still being with Bradley wasn’t as much her idea as it was his... didn’t mean he had a right to interject either. “We should...” He was trying to say if now was the time to start gathering everyone up for the game, but every time he started his eyes kept seeing new things that Bradley was doing to Tay that he didn’t like. Like did he have to be on her so much? She clearly wanted space and... okay... he’d had enough, whenever or not she cared if he did or she didn’t, he was going over and saying something and whatever that would be he didn’t know, but his feet had started to move and even though he knew there was absolutely time to turn back he didn’t, ending up in front of the ‘happy’ couple. “Everything alright here?” 

And maybe, for a second at least he’d had the upper hand... but then he’d felt it... an arm come and rest on top of his shoulder, just as a voice he’d rather never hear again peaked up beside him, “Nichols... you know I almost didn’t think that was you... couldn’t possibly be you because last I heard you were off being some famous piano player in New York, right?” So, sure... taking his unread acceptance letter to Wrestling practice, slipping it inside his locker and forgetting that everyone on the team knew everyone’s locker combinations because coach had made them all the same thing, hadn’t been his smartest move... nor had letting Sam read the letter in its entirety to everyone on their Wrestling team in some high-strung voice that eerily mirrored his own mom’s... but outside of the ring and outside of their group, popularity hadn’t exactly been his thing and Sam had always been good at reminding him of that. He shrugged his arm off, stepping back as he watched Sam, laugh and step around him... his eyes on Bradley next as he said hello, before ending up on Tay and-- wait were they like friends or something? Apparently she’d forgotten who was the guy underneath the opposing headgear... the same guy that had put him into the Nurse’s office with a concussion... and the same guy that was now standing next to her and Bradley and mentioning something their dad had said... wait they were brothers? She really knew how to pick them didn’t she? Suddenly his need to ‘butt in’ didn’t seem as urgent as he took a step back around the same time Nick, Tj and Jordan took another forward... “ready?” 

Outside, gathered in front of the row of cars Miki’s father had ‘gifted’ them all for the night, Parker found himself swinging back and forth the small gold keychain he’d just pulled out of Natalie’s probably a tad too dramatic black bag. Engraved into the middle was a single letter... an ‘F’ for Fugitive... which honestly wasn’t the draw he’d been hoping for tonight but at least he’d stashed his BMX just around the corner in case he lucked out... because no way was he walking, running, or whatever the hell Tj did that he dubbed ‘free-running’ all the way to Miki’s tonight. Watching as everyone else got their roles, Parker did his best to keep his eyes lowered as Bradley let out a ‘hoot’ about Tay drawing the same letter as him and maybe his eyes had jumped up for just a quick second at that announcement... just long enough to see Bradley step in front of her and start to push her back towards the Audi that Nick had been frothing about earlier. Oh and was that Sam slipping into the passenger side too? Great... Well at least he didn’t have to worry about Sam starting on the same starting line as him. Queueing up with the other ‘unlucky’ fugitives... nodding as Tj and Saylor shot him a wink, because of course they were going to have fun with this... Parker waited for Miki to give them their five minute head start before he ran off towards the direction he’d left his bike earlier. Grabbing it up with a smirk and heading off down the road... if he’d timed it correctly it would only take him roughly thirty or so minutes at this speed to get to Miki’s if he took the route along the cliffs. Would he be the fastest this year? Maybe... White converse pressed hard into his alloy pedals as he tore off down the asphalt... doing his best to avoid the ‘more’ popular road to Miki’s as his five minute head start came to an end and horns and engine revs echoed off behind him. Jumping his bike up onto the footpath, Parker kept to the shadows as he locked his fingers together and hopped that everyone else who hadn’t thought so far ahead was keeping the cars behind him busy enough for the time being. At least until he hit the cliffs... of course he’d been foolish to think that someone wouldn’t drive ahead... to catch the one’s that slipped through, as headlights hit his back from behind and he forced to take a sharp left and a short detour to avoid them. Only just when he’d thought he’d lost them-- an engine rev’d quite literally on top of him, as metal clanged with metal and he found his bike jerking forward, his wheel spinning out of control, as he came to a quick and abrupt fall to the ground in front of him... The asphalt hadn’t been kind and even though the car had only just clipped his back wheel as he’d jumped out in front of it, his knees and elbows were burning. No time though... as he stood back up, the sound of a door opening and footsteps running up behind him, the last thing he heard before he felt the weight of someone crash in behind him... a hand finding his head next and pressing him down into the dirt harder... “you’re done Nichols...” 

Resigned to his fate... and the fact his BMX was no longer worth the trouble of trying to tie it to the roof of one of Miki’s new cars... the brunette stood up and pushed Bradley off him. Of course it had to be him. “Get off me.” Walking over to the car, he opened up the door and pushed forward Brad’s seat in order to get into the back with Tay, who apparently hadn’t won the right to ‘shot-gun’ this ride. “Hey...” After slipping out of his jacket, Parker unclipped his cuffs and rolled them up to his scratched up elbows... “Fugitive spotted on Temple...” Sam’s voice cutting through the music, as Brad jerked the car into reverse and spun them all back around... and really... if he hadn’t... if he’d just given them a little chance to get properly situated first, before tearing off into the night like he was in some Fast and the Furious sequel, then maybe Parker’s hand wouldn’t have had to slip over the top of Tay’s knee to steady himself but he had and so had it... so.... there it was. For a few seconds at least, until he’d pulled it back and forced his eyes to look elsewhere. 

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

It might have seemed like the furthest thing from possible. What, with the image of her boyfriend kissing someone else still so vibrant in her mind - laughter in any capacity, that actually felt lighter than it did a momentary distraction didn’t feel natural. And yet the very real idea of Tj and Parker screwing with Brad at all was one that was almost too realistic not to laugh at. “I think you two can do better than that.” The muttered, half amusement in her voice still heavy, but it was something, perhaps. An easier thing to focus on than the fact that the feeling of being watched and the discomfort that came with it felt more and more uncomfortable knowing it was one more moment in a growing list of vulnerabilities she’d offered him without ever actually wanting to. She didn’t really know where it started - not really. Though the obvious turning point for her usually icy demeanor might have rested on all that followed the car accident that took her mom, and maybe that really was where it became so obvious - but Tay knew the same unrest existed well beyond that. Too often had the premise that Tahnee Conrad was a little .. off – a little colder, take precedence over whatever warmth she might have held within her, almost as if it might have been the only thing worth noting about the petite blonde. It became easier and easier to wear and by the time whatever semblance of her life had begun to fall back into place after the accident; she might have allowed anyone to believe that there wasn’t anything else left in her. But this - breaking in front of Parker, someone who might have known the sharp edge that existed in so much of her, didn’t actually exist as vibrantly as some might claim it did, felt vulnerable to a point that it turned her stomach and made her wish she was a little stronger.  His knee knocked into her, and Tay looked up from the waves beyond and cast fleeting hues to him, “Maybe,” a tight lipped smile - maybe more a grimace than anything, noting that she knew he was probably right. Something she’d neither voice, nor accept just as readily, despite the fact that it seemed whenever Parker chose to weigh in - or whenever she gave him the time to, at least, she couldn’t help but cling to almost every single word. Only, the longer she thought on it - tried to piece together what he was saying with everything she was feeling - what she saw wasn’t the betrayal that Bradley had dished out because he’d grown.. Restless - or because he was an asshole. What played out within the mess of thoughts was what she’d done to him. Parker Nichols - a fifteen year old kid who’d worn the brunt of her pain, loss and guilt and just.. Let it happen. Something that she’d truly never understood, never even tried to understand because he’d made it too easy for her. Too easy to forgo holding her tongue and the scathing thoughts that jumped from her mouth far too often… “What’re your thoughts on karma, then? ‘Cause, between you and me.. I’m not so sure this isn’t my healthy dose of it..” It twisted the already tightening knot in her throat because - if this was how she felt now, knowing that there wasn’t really anything in her current relationship that could grow into something more, had the agonizing torment of whatever they’d once been being set aflame by Tay herself - even as kids, been any less or more painful for him, than this feeling that sought to tear her up inside? The thought alone riddled her with guilt —– But Parker wasn’t the one lodged between her ribs right now - Bradley was and maybe that was far easier to focus on as Brenden’s voice sought to interrupt from the balcony. She sat up a little, whatever need she’d had for the solid comfort of Parker’s shoulder dwindling near instantly at the prospect of being seen in what Tay might actually consider a compromised position. Vulnerability freezing within her chest as she tucked away the aching pain that painted her features so easily without prying eyes. As it stood - trusting anyone within this house was something she wasn’t all that willing to do. She doubted even her own dad, sure that he might have sought to dish out quiet, private conversations to his new wife if opportunity rose. It grew rigid in her spine as Brenden tried what she assumed was his best to stammer out an apology that might have even been worth listening to. Should’ve told Parker? Okay - well no, her immediate rebuttal already caught in the grit of her teeth as she considered voicing the fact that Bradley cheating wasn’t any of Parker’s business and she’s the only one Brenden should have said a single thing to… but - something about his attempt at an apology sounded almost as horrid as far too many of her own and she could have almost laughed at the comparison. She didn’t though. Fingers wringing the blanket between them, “It’s.. fine, Brenden. It’s fine. You just..—– Wait, you were mad at me? What the hell did I do to you?” Breathe. Biting back certainly wasn’t the last thing she wanted to do, somehow, she believed wholeheartedly that Brenden Nichols deserved to feel the sting of venom that Tahnee could manage, even as deflated as she felt now. It’d been his spider in her bathroom and she hadn’t even considered getting back at him for that mess either… “Well, yeah…— I just, whatever I was just mad at you okay? Doesn’t make any of..— that okay.” Which, still made absolutely no sense to Tay, but truly.. Did she care enough? Did she care enough about the crumbling state of her relationship to try and hurt anyone else to make herself feel better? Truthfully - she didn’t. She didn’t care enough about this - or Bradley, to allow the heartache to stem from this loss over the fact that she… really, didn’t deserve this. “You didn’t shove his tongue down her throat, Brenden. It’s fine.” She shook her head, casting hues back to the balcony to offer him some semblance of her full attention, “Or did your sick and twisted mind somehow manage to make that happen too?” A non-question, because she knew that while Brenden might have been quite literally the most sick and twisted little kid she knew, he wouldn’t have apologised like this if he hadn’t meant it. “I..– no…” his features shifted, “—- that would have been cool though.” And the smirk on Brenden’s face felt more natural than anything else that had happened so far and it drew hues into the back of her skull as she sighed heavily, “Go away, Brenden.. – before I decide to not forgive you.” And though she didn’t really know what Brenden might have been hoping for when he popped his head out, apparently that was enough for now. 

Enough for him to leave and the silence that she so often sought out on the rooftop to find her again. Tahnee both inherently aware of Parker still sitting beside her and almost completely uncertain of why. The same uncertainty that drifted restlessly between them only moments before growing warm in the palms of her hands despite the same chill in the air remaining. The only grace she’d been granted apparently, was the dispersing pain in her chest as it eased somewhat and gave her enough air in her lungs to think a little clearer. All it really left her with, was the hanging silence and a sudden desire to move. Though - whether that was meant to be something productive or merely something to keep her further occupied and keep her from slipping beneath the still remaining weight, she didn’t really know. She’d been worth more than… this, right? It left her fingers twisting together and a much more familiar bitterness to cling to her tongue as she wondered how long it might take to swallow back - to rid herself of the metallic taste long enough to taste the blood of heartache instead. “I really don’t deserve this.” Muttered, almost inaudibly to herself before she was shifting beside Parker and pushing the blanket towards him before she stopped, “Can you cover for me? I think..– I should probably go and..” She swallowed thickly, realising whatever conviction her thoughts had held even moments before hand, that it might not so readily hold up beyond this moment. “I just need to go,” Surely, he’d understand that much. “A few hours at most.. If you want anything or… one of them comes asking for me, just..– I don’t know, call me or whatever.” Getting to her feet, a little more steady on them than before, Tay crossed the roof and hopped the short distance to her balcony. “And, Parker?” Her hand fell to the glass door, fingers tapping lightly against it before pursed lips parted and, “Thank you..— Thanks, for… this and everything else I haven’t thanked you for yet.” Because, apparently there was more of it than she was willing to voice right now. Not while right now, she just wanted to think beyond the sick feeling in her stomach that came with the idea that she was about to go and see Bradley. The small smile she offered - as she crossed the threshold to her room and snatched up her keys, - still colder than usual. Though, perhaps that was to be expected knowing her intention would fall short - and she’d never make it to her boyfriends front doorstep, and instead - drive until she couldn’t anymore, drop her location to Jordan and wait until his knuckles tapped on her passenger side window before she cried the four hundred tonnes of water weight she was drowning beneath.

END.

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

It wasn’t until she was there, at the bottom of the stairs, that Tahnee even paid any mind to the way in which her body did and didn’t respond right now. It wasn’t life threatening, logic told her that much, but the ache was more than enough to cripple her into feeling like it was. Another reality that she just, hadn’t been willing to face until Brenden left her with no real choice anymore. It might have been easier, had she reached out for the bannister - she might have even made it beyond the eyes of everyone in the dining room if she had. Instead, her arm curled around her stomach and almost unwillingly, the single breath she tried to fill her lungs with broke, unsteady and pained - a sound that might have pulled her focus entirely as she sought to rid herself of it in a menial panic until Parker’s voice sounded quietly beside her. Her hand shifted from her stomach, nimble fingers instead curling around his wrist as he wove an arm around her and she nodded. The fact that he’d followed or been forced from the dinner table at all for her was not something she’d even had the capacity to consider until she was sitting on the roof beyond her room and he’d disappeared back into the house. Left alone with that thought, she felt so small - fragile - and she wondered if there would ever be a moment in time that she wasn’t left feeling such a way with Parker around. Fault couldn’t lie with him, well - maybe it could, but surely whatever greater workings the universe lay at the whims of, could offer her just one moment of weakness that didn’t leave her feeling little more than pathetic and small with him as the singular witness to it. Tay might have been happy to have been left there on her own - happy being a goal and not exactly her frame of mind as her mess of thoughts swept her up between being humiliated, the continued embarrassment of all that followed, and the twisted image of Bradley with someone else. The chill in the air cast itself across her skin, leaving her a riddled mess of regret and goosebumps as she pulled her legs up against her chest just as Parker reemerged with a blanket in hand and a slew of words that maybe even he wasn’t certain of. Reaching, her hand curled around the blanket and pulled it across her legs, not saying anything - unsure if she even could just yet. Did it matter all that much what she said now? Would anything she said next make her seem like any less of an idiot as being told her boyfriend was cheating by her fifteen year old… brother over calamari and fucking couscous? No..– No that’s.. Nothing was worse than that. At least until. Lana accused me of cheating on her with you earlier… Another twist filled her stomach and she laughed through the ache, no humor or relief resting within the sound because holy shit, when the fuck was she ever going to be given a fucking break? Both of her hands lifted from the blanket, as if one more thing, wasn’t enough yet, to pull down across her face and cover the tepid wretch of a sob that came with trying to keep breathing, “She’s a bigger idiot than I thought then -” Did she care if that offended him? Not right now, at least. “ I hope you told her that’s literally never going to happen,” An ode to a burning distaste she still held for Parker prevalent - even as she lifted the edge of the blanket and gestured to the spot beneath it - you know, if he wanted to talk - he didn’t have to freeze to do it. And though the edge of her voice was weakened by the rising emotion that burned the back of her throat, there was undoubtedly a heavy conviction in what she said.

The only conviction that held steady enough in her voice as the idea that anyone thought she was that kind of person, fell in among the tirade of pain that lashed itself against her ribs. “I wish I was surprised, you know?” Teeth pulled her lesser lip inwards, and she wondered if she bit down hard enough to draw blood, it might give her a better reason for the salt water that began to well in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, the back of her hand rising to press away the heat as she inhaled through grit teeth and sought to look up at him, “I don’t really think anything with me and Brad has been okay for a while now. I thought,” What exactly did she think? Whatever it was, it hurt. “Maybe after what happened out there,” the lashing of water against the shore pulling her attention as Tay thought back on all she could remember from that day - and Bradley hadn’t been one of them, “ that he’d try a little harder to make things work or.. make them better and maybe he did, in his own way.” Which, didn’t exactly fall in line what most would expect after your girlfriend almost drowned, but part of her hadn’t thought to fault him. “But maybe I just gave him more of a reason not to.” Her voice broke, shattered beneath the weight of fault as she pressed it in against her own shoulders, “And that sounds so fucking pathetic, I know,” her lips pursed tightly, stifling the self depriciating laugh that split down the middle and ended with Tay fighting the silent heaving ache. Something about it being Parker made this simultaneously easier to breathe through and yet infinitely more difficult to feel. “Last week when..— in the bathroom, when I asked you about Lana.. – you we’re talking about doing something because it’s just… easier than whatever you’d have to do if you stopped doing that one thing. I think maybe this feels a little bit like that. Or I thought it did. Doesn’t really make sense for it to be that one thing if it hurts too, but he’s just… he’s bailed on me at least six times in the last three weeks alone, he barely answers my calls anymore and when we do spend any time together, he’s always leaving early and..— not doing anything about that still feels easier because even if he’s flaky and… kind of a shitty boyfriend, it’s a constant, and I..— well, I don’t really have a lot of those, do I?” The self pity that rose in her stomach sickened her and,  “It sounds insane.. But I thought that if that’s what he’s been doing then, I’d just be able to accept it or whatever, because he’s never around anyway but..” But it stung like hell - despite whatever suspicions she might have had, the seemingly never ending ache that clung to her insides like she was forever cursed to feel nothing but that, only grew brighter and hotter the more she thought about it. Which made it seem almost ironic, that her current company was one of the first to burn her with such a horrible feeling and one in the same that dulled it now.  “How can I not be surprised about it and still…” Hurt so much.. She sighed, heavily, the back of her hand wiping at her face as she laughed again, a sound that perhaps didn’t hold the same shape as it should have as it gave her a fleeting moment longer before she couldn’t just breathe through it anymore. A moment longer before Tay sought comfort beyond the blankets warmth, with anything more she could have said buried beneath the unfailable constant of pain as she lent into Parker’s side as if hoping he might burn her more than this did. “Can you just,” She swallowed back the metaphorical shards of glass it took for her to speak - to say what she was trying to,  “stay out here a little longer, please?”

Parker’s feet had already made it back to the concrete shingles that covered their roof by the time her hand had wrapped around his blanket and pulled it over the top of her legs. A wordless ‘thank-you’ just maybe existed somewhere beneath her chest, as she organised the mess of tartan fabric across her lap. And he was right... watching her lift up the corner for him to slip in beside her. Though perhaps... if the words that had left her mouth next had managed to slip out before he had he might’ve have stayed standing a little while longer. ‘Cause really now? And when he was sitting right there beside her and had been for weeks... Was forgetting about that one time she’d thought that being with him wasn’t the most idiotic idea in the world to have, really the only thing that mattered right now? Or for as long as it took for her to make a point that the idea of being with him again was beyond any rational kind of thought she still might have, which sure... even though she wouldn’t have been his first choice either... it wasn’t like she’d be his last... and besides she’d been the one to nearly kill him so... His body shifted back towards her balcony. The blanket that had once covered his legs almost completely (he still had very long legs) slipping off his right knee as he pulled away from her. Right. The brunette’s mind going elsewhere for a moment as he looked out at the ocean crashing just a few miles ahead of them. What he’d do to be out there right now... surfing, swimming, diving... finding breath where it shouldn’t be, but always was... well at least in comparison to everywhere else in his life. His eyes drifted over to Tahnee next, whose hazel hues were locked where his own had just been... the waves below. And despite everything he found himself shifting back towards her, his knee bumping against hers underneath the blanket, his shoulder now only a few inches away from her own. Because it was easy to forget sometimes that even though Tahnee was very, very good at making others believe she wasn’t the kind of girl that felt things as hard as some of the other girls in their group... she was... and she didn’t keep that from the group because she didn’t want them to find out and think differently of her. She kept that from the group because she didn’t even trust herself enough to let herself in on the fact that she was still human like the rest of them. And humans got to feel sad when their boyfriend for nearly an entire year now... cheated on them... with some ‘fish nerd’ at the same aquarium they clocked in to work at every Saturday. A kind of sadness that trumped anything that Parker, may or may not have been feeling because Tahnee had decided he wasn’t the kind of guy she even wanted to think about in that kind of sense anymore. Which shouldn’t have been as much as a surprise or whatever it had been for him... but... yeah. Not the time. Not the place. “Just say the word and Tj and I, will fill his work snorkel up with lube...” 

The small laugh that had left Parker’s lips at his ridiculous idea for retribution, had disappeared almost as quickly as it had emerged. Tay’s words forcing his mouth closed as he turned his eyes towards her and listened. He felt bad for her. Which wasn’t a first. At least not in the last few weeks. And even though she wasn’t making the best points... and he’d wanted to interrupt her a few times to correct her on a few things... he’d kept quiet. Waited till the end, before he shook his head and his knee brushed against her own again... “I think you’re giving him too much credit...” Bradley wasn’t complicated. He wasn’t sleeping with some fellow sea-cucumber loving nerd at her work, because after her accident he hadn’t been able to find a way to connect with her. He was sleeping with her because he was an asshole. An asshole who’d proven time and time again, that the small number of apologies that Tahnee Conrad, decided to hand out to people... had only ever been wasted on him. He ... wouldn’t have wasted them. Parker watched as her hands came up to wipe across her face... taking the time to get his own words in, before she decided she’d had enough of him for the night and escaped back into her room. “Cause betrayal hurts... even when we expect it... because some small tiny part of ourselves.. the one that keeps us rooted to the same spot and saying things might change if...” Was he even talking about Bradley anymore? The pain from his bruises that he’d felt earlier when he’d sat down at the table and later when he’d sat down beside her was back and telling him... maybe not... at least not completely... “that part keeps telling us the same story we’ve always heard... that people who supposedly love us aren’t supposed to ‘hurt’ us... so when they do... when everything we grew up knowing gets flipped on top of its head and starts to see the world as this confusing upside down new reality... the blood rushes to our heads and it doesn’t take long for the pain and the confusion to follow.” He kept his eyes on her. Trying to say... what he’d been trying to say all night. Not to get over it. But it was alright to not be over it. A word-less conversation that got interrupted as his brother’s voice peaked up from Tahnee’s balcony beside them both... “uh... Tay...” it was the first time he’d heard his brother call her that. At least out loud anyway. And it was also the first time he’d seen his brother seem so... was that? Apologetic? “I’m...” Parker watched as Brenden’s hands started to twist together. Tying themselves into knots... before untying... and repeating the motion again, and again, and again... “sorry. I should’ve told Parker... I should’ve told you... I should’ve told one of your first.. but I... I was mad with you and I just... I shouldn’t have done it the way that I did... and..” his brothers words were coming out so fast that Parker honestly thought he was going to start choking on them... “I’m really sorry. And if it matters... you can do loads better than Whale Boy anyway... you know, when you aren’t being a complete bitc-- I mean when you’re being cool and showing Connor how to do a kick-flip and whatever...” Parker could tell Brenden was going to wait for some sort of acknowledgement from Tahnee that she’d forgiven him... something he was kind of hoping she would give him... it was just, Brenden never apologised for anything. So, he must have felt bad... and it be nice for everyone to just stop being so at each other’s throats all the time. It wasn’t like he expected them to all hug it out or whatever, especially when the last time his arms had been wrapped around Tay his feelings for the blonde had been on a completely different axis, but some sort of truce between her and his brothers could be, uh... nice? 

[prkrnichols]

[prkrnichols]

[prkrnichols]

tchnee​:

Maybe, if given the opportunity, Tay would have outwardly told Parker that, sure maybe he needed the extra room but if he was going to take up so much space then he should take up someone else’s. As if it wasn’t already irritating enough to have to share most other things under this roof now. Sure, she’d managed to, at the very least, hold onto dwindling frustrations over the last week. Held her tongue and minded her own business where the strangely crowded house - hallway - and bathroom were concerned because well, he’d left her mostly alone when she’d been recovering. It wasn’t so out of character for her to do the same; she’d done nearly everything she could to ignore him for the past four years so, it wasn’t that much different. Only, opportunity fell short and where Tahnee might have been much more appreciative if everyone had just…. Let what Brenden was saying, go… It didn’t seem like something to inevitably just, brush under the rug. “No,” she cut sharply, something built within her tone a mottled mess of frustration and denial because, was it really such a stretch to believe that Bradley could hone in on the absolute minimum expectation of any relationship? Probably. “We didn’t break up,” spoken a little louder, in some hope that it’d drown out the light chatter that seemed to blossom at every side of the table. “You didn’t see anything -….” Viridescent hues leveled with Brendens before she turned to Max, “He didn’t see anything, okay? What, he saw him at the aquarium? Brad’s worked there for as long as I have. There’s nothing groundbreaking in that.” Conversation that both burned a heated rejection in the back of her throat for anything that was said - while in the same breath tore up a sheet of nostalgia. Brenden’s inability to let it go made it feel, almost as if, her mother sat at the table with them. The near familiar  gentle prod of something Evie had seen - something she’d heard and tucking it in beneath Tahnee’s ribs until it pulled her from a non-reaction to one that undoubtedly spoke far louder than Tay ever did about it. Fingers curled tightly around her fork, she thought that maybe, if she held on tight enough something would snap and draw attention elsewhere as the feeling of everyone’s eyes on her burnt a nasty hole into every which side of her skull. The near desperate need for Brenden to stop talking, swelled in her throat and begged her to cast it across the table but even that she couldn’t manage - not while the prospect of finding out what he saw loomed like an eleven foot wave she’d once been buried beneath. 

And she knew this feeling - the spinning. Left to the mercy of the undertow as it curled beneath the surface and she looked for a way up. Erratic and heavy, silence filled the room and perhaps - Tahnee heard a great many things break before she did. The quick movement beneath the table, not gone completely unnoticed as she bit back against the mouthful of couscous, dry like sand and as sharp as glass on it’s way down. Her dad’s hand curled around her arm and Tay shrugged out of it almost naturally, looked up and smiled softly. “It’s fine, dad.” Which, it was - if fine meant it felt like someone had just dropped a cinder block against her chest and pressed down on it from above. If fine meant that her body’s first natural instinct was just to curl in on itself, from the inside out and instigate an internal war between the cold shiver that clawed its way across her spine and the hot flush that set itself against her neck. “You probably just…— um…” She started, still, seemingly unable to look beyond her plate or the half empty glass of water that she now reached out for with a mildly unsteady grip just to finish off. “Thanks, Brenden.” A sentiment, neither lacquered with scathing sarcasm nor all that genuine, that felt as strange coming to fruition than perhaps any of them actually understood - or maybe they did, Tay wasn’t exactly filled to the brim with pleasantries. And truly - could she discredit him? Even if she was more than aware of how much of a horror Brenden Nichols could be - was she really prepared to sit there and defend Bradley when… it was almost too easy to believe? Some things didn’t add up – and others.. “I think I’m done.” Her fork laid down near silently on her plate as she looked up, vision neither in or out of focus as she barely looked across to her dad and Sarah. “That’s okay honey, the boys will tidy up, won’t you?” Which was, undoubtedly pointed towards Brenden - perhaps even Max for being far more interested in detail than the inappropriate nature of such a conversation over dinner. When she pushed her chair back and stood, it felt surreal almost - something like stepping from an escalator a moment later than she should have, and a hand that should have curled around the back of Parker’s chair in a near inconspicuous effort instead fell to his shoulder and slipped away a moment later. “Why’d you have to do that?” Connor’s voice rose above the silence, “Can’t you..–” “It’s okay, Connor.” Tay noted simply, a hand brushing back his hair as she sought a lingering effort to focus on anything beyond the pounding of her heart against her chest. “I’ve just had enough to eat.” Her plate, barely touched. Despite how hard she had to swallow that lie back, she smiled softly and turned her back on the table; seeking refuge anywhere but here. The recurring nature of her desperate need for air not quite lost on her as the same eleven feet - four hundred tonnes of water ripped her under and stole breath from her lungs all before she found the bottom of the staircase.

Was his brother the type of person to lie? Without question. He lied every day... about his homework, about his chores, about whenever or not he knew how to break through the parental restrictions on his cable tv... and he was good at it, BUT was he the type of person to lie about something like this? Something that hurt more people than it didn’t. No... he just couldn’t find a reason for him to. Of course he knew he was upset, but something about this whole thing with Bradley, and Tay’s reaction to it-- like maybe it had happened before and therefore, there wasn’t really any need to question or fight Brenden on it, had him thinking... yeah... no. Still his eyes lingered on his brother’s as he held their two brown orbs together... asking... no, not asking... daring him to reveal his real intentions, because if this was just another one of his games he was going to have to do a lot more than just kick his shin under the table. Only what flickered back wasn’t something he could ever remember seeing in his brother’s eyes before now, but rather something that looked a little like... remorse? Though he didn’t get too long to really analyse it. So he couldn’t be certain. His gaze forced elsewhere, as the pressure of something warm found his shoulder and his eyes jumped down to something small, fragile, and fleeting...  He’d wanted to tell her that Bradley was a douche and she could do better anyway... but before he could she’d left the table and it was Connor whose voice was cracking through the silence instead of his own. The true heart of the Nichols’ gang. He watched as Tay brushed his concern aside but something felt wrong... that Tay wasn’t quite ready to stand up just yet and that she hadn’t given herself the proper time to process what she’d just heard from Brenden. And he supposed he’d been right to presume all of that, because she hadn’t even made it back over to the steps leading up to the upper floors, when Parker had been forced to watch her stop... her body giving in...and... and... he was up. And Michael was too... maybe even Max, but he wasn’t looking back to count how many bodies her own giving out had set towards her... not when all that mattered was that he’d gotten to her first. Just like a few weeks ago in the water... “come on. Let’s get you some fresh air...” He wrapped an arm around her waist, his other holding onto the rail as he guided her up the stairs and towards her room and that spot on the roof he knew she’d made her own personal getaway. Even if it was from him 99% of the time. 

It was a cold night... unusual for this time of the year and he felt bad that he had nothing to offer her, so after he’d settled her down he’d made his way back inside... grabbing up a small blanket he’d thrown over his computer chair and heading back out to where he’d left her with the offer for her to take it, “I just figured... you know... if you wanted to maybe talk for a bit... I mean it’s still yours if you don’t... I’m not going to hold your comfort at hostage or something...” Wow. Shut up. “But yeah... you know if you felt like it?” Did he expect her to take up his offer? Maybe. She had said he could ask her about her arm just a few days ago, so maybe Bradley and whatever had just happened downstairs was also something she might feel somewhat comfortable talking with him about. After all, technically Parker had been the first one to be ‘introduced’ to Whale Boy in the first place. He’d been on campus waiting around for Lana, because she’d had a late class and she’d asked if he’d pick her up, because she didn’t want to take the bus home so late (she really did need to get her licence) and he’d caught a glimpse of them together in the quad. He was the first guy that had ever come close to making him feel small... as he watched the two for a moment or two and it wasn’t like he was jealous or anything. He’d long stopped caring who Tahnee Conrad dated... but there was just something about the guy that had felt bad... so he’d thought it was his responsibility as her ex... whatever... to go over and check the guy out. And he wasn’t sure what he’d expected her to say or introduce him as, but a TA.. a fucking teacher assistant hadn’t been one of them... what was he? A creep or something? And maybe he wasn’t, but he was definitely a douche, so Parker was going to give his spider senses a bit of a clap on their non-existent backs anyway... “you know. Lana accused me of cheating on her with you earlier... so you know... could all just be some big misunderstanding...”