Disclaimer: The Pretender doesn't belong to me and neither do any of the characters. The story and situation are property of my chocolate and Pez sodden imagination. PS: This is all Mickey's fault.
This is a response to Mickey's L'il List Challenge.
Jarod walked quietly into Parker's house. It had been a month since he had last been there, but from late night calls, he knew that her nightmares were getting worse. He tiptoed up the stairs and entered her bedroom. "Parker?" he called softly.
She sat straight up in bed and looked at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Jarod?" she answered in a quavery voice. She slid out of bed, ran to where he was standing, and threw her arms around him. "I dreamed you were dead," she said, the words tearing from her throat.
"I'm not dead, Melissa," Jarod said softly, using the name he had not uttered in three decades as he brought his arms up around her and caressed her hair gently. He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Parker turned her face up to him, silently asking for a kiss to reassure her that he really was still alive. Jarod looked at her for a minute, hesitant to give her what she seemed to want. She was so fragile lately that he was afraid of destroying the newly-rebuilt friendship by starting something that would irrevocably change their relationship forever. Slowly he leaned down and approached her moist lips. He wanted to make her happy; to make her tears go away. Recklessly, he decided to just give her what she was asking for--it was only a kiss, after all.
His lips hovered over hers for a few moments as he brought his hands up to tangle in her long, dark, silky hair. He brushed his lips over hers softly, re-creating, abet from another perspective, their first, innocent, childhood kiss. Parker's arms came up to latch around his neck as her lips covered his, suddenly deepening the kiss. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, pressing closer to him as their tongues began a mutual exploration of unfamiliar territory. Jarod tightened his arms around her, wishing that the moment would never end. Slowly he broke off the kiss, and leaned his forehead against hers.
"Shh. We'll talk about it in the morning, Jarod," she kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Come and keep the nightmares away," she said softly, temporarily leaving his embrace for the warmth of her bed. She scooted over and motioned to him. "Come on, Jarod," she demanded.
Jarod stripped down to his boxer shorts and climbed into bed, smiling as Parker laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He dropped a gentle kiss on the top of Parker's head and held her close as they drifted to sleep, seemingly safe from nightmares at last.