(forever)
a post-modern not-love-storySummary: He will re-write the story. Jarod/Miss Parker. Post-IotH.
He will rewrite the story. He will make it a tale of childhood romance, a tale of love and obstacles overcome with drama and intrigue and, finally, a happy ending.
In the end it will no longer be called The Saddest Little Valentine, in the end it will not be her at all.
- - -
The Centre will burn and crumble. Brick by brick, dollar by dollar, man by man, Jarod will destroy it. His genius built it and his genius will tear it all down.
And afterwards he will go to her. He will go to her and say, "I did it all for you."
And he will not even realise he's lying.
- - -
She will say no in a variety of different ways: destroy the flowers he will send, throw away the candy, and hang up the phone. He will not give up.
When she finally confronts him – he at her door with a bouquet, a box of chocolates, and fine jewellery – he will be confused at her rejection. In his mind he will have done everything right.
"We've changed the ending, Parker," – she will flinch at the informality – "we can do whatever we want."
In a precious moment it will all make sense: the phone calls, the teasing, the running and the chasing, his gifts and sacrifices. The moment, too precious to hold on to, too fleeting to be properly caught, passes, but something will remain.
"Fine," she will sneer, and the look on his face will almost make everything worth it.
- - -
He will be the perfect gentleman. That he could be anything but would not even enter his mind. He will arrive at her house on time and not make a fuss when she's still packing her little black purse.
He will not even raise his eyebrows when she slips in her gun.
He will walk her to his car, open the door, and be chivalrous all night. Some time in between when he starts walking her to the front door and when he says "goodnight" without even trying to kiss her, a realisation of his plan will surface: he's trying to court her.
She will laugh at the thought and even toast him good luck with her night cap.
- - -
He will work out the progression of the relationship mathematically.
Somewhere there will (probably) be written an elaborate formula: just how many dates it will take to get a kiss, just how many before he can kiss her like he wants. The paper is probably titled with her real name and 'date 13, meet family' will probably be in bold and double underlined.
On date three he will lean in and brush his lips against her just ever so lightly - gauging her reaction. When he pulls back slightly and she – damn her – leans forward just a little bit, he will smirk in self-satisfaction then whisper goodnight in her ear.
- - -
For the next date she will wear the slinky black dress which usually drives men to ask if they can order in.
He will merely smile widely and tell her sincerely that she looks gorgeous. His eyes will not drop down after his initial glance, and he will ask her courteously where she wants to go.
At the end of the evening she will kiss him because she's decided she will not play his game. She will be coy, trailing her hands up his shoulders and neck until she hooks a finger under his chin and drags him in. She will open her mouth and enjoy his slight shock and the taste of chocolate in his mouth.
She will leave him smirking – damn him – on her front porch, as if it had been his plan all along.
- - -
He will progress the dates like something from a romance novel. Dinner, gifts, jewellery, more dinner, evenings in reclusive places that always know Jarod on a first name basis. Then, later, picnics by rivers, trips the beach, lunches and dinners.
She has never been one for picnics – not since momma – but he will have cooked it all himself and have a bottle of her favourite wine. How he even knows will be a mystery to her.
He will not bring up his family, the Centre, Sydney, Broots or turning points once.
She will almost be grateful.
- - -
One day she will realise he has stayed longer in Blue Cove than anywhere he's stayed since his escape. She will only realise it when he asks her to accompany him to a work function.
She will raise and eyebrow and say, "what, like as your girlfriend?"
He will look up from his lunch – some odd type of soup – in entertained bemusement. "Of course not. I take you to fancy restaurants and out to lunch because I enjoy your sarcastic barbs," he will say with a laugh.
She will agree to go even though he's clearly more annoying than he's worth.
- - -
One of his co-workers – she has no clue who he is and Jarod never speaks of him – will smile and greet her with, "So glad to finally meet you, Miss Parker. Jarod's told us so much about you." She will think, slightly bitterly, that it really says everything about the two of you.
She will drink heavily and tilt her head away when he tries to kiss her at the end of the evening.
That too will say something about them, but she doesn't really want to think about that.
- - -
He will make the necessary adjustments to his Dating Miss Parker formula (she will wonder if Tommy was a test quadratic in his formula, perfecting the practice before he tried it himself. She will know it's a harsh thought but hold the theory warm to her heart.)
Three days later he will arrive at her door. There will be no gifts, just apologies.
"I'm sorry," he will say. "I was moving too fast. I shouldn't have pushed. I … care about you, Parker, and I won't let little things like this come between us."
She will notice he didn't say 'love', and she will wonder if what he really means is "I won't let you go."
His apology will be accepted and he will kiss her tenderly, pushing slightly away when she tries to deepen the kiss.
She will think wirily that no fairy tale ever mentioned the White Knight being so determined to protect the girl's chastity.
- - -
Two months will arrive without her realising it. He will invite her out to dinner as if it is any ordinary night. The only clue will be after desert when he hands her a jewellery box.
It will be a gold and diamond angel pendant and he won't even say "happy two months" or anything cheesy that would have given her a reason to laugh at him.
She will only figure out why he gave it to her at three am the next morning, and will realise horribly that she feels guilty for forgetting.
- - -
Eventually he will ask if she would like to meet his family. He will say it jovially so she can quickly and easily turn him down, and she will realise he honestly expects her to say no.
"Okay," she will say slowly. She won't point out that she's met his father – met him in a Centre cell while brandishing the gun she was sure he used to kill her mother. She won't point out that she's met his brother, because he's her brother too, or that until a while ago they were nearly even on the tally of sightings of Margaret.
He will smile and laugh and his enthusiasm will be so infectious she will not be able to help but kiss him and laugh along too.
- - -
Lunch with his parents will be awkward in the way that things get when a group of people are most determined not to let things be awkward. She will wrap her head around the semantics of that while Margaret pours tea and asks about what she's been doing since.
She will tell the boring and ever-so-slightly fictional tale of her current life while she watches as Margaret edges her chair ever-so-slightly away from Charles. She will not think trouble in paradise, and the thought will definitely not make her smile.
Ethan alone will be truly cheerful to see her. She will stick close to him and Jarod.
Ethan will whisper in her ear, "I hope you and Jarod work out." She will smile – sincerely, damn her – and say she hopes so too.
Jarod will overhear and smile.
- - -
She will remember the anniversary this time. She's never really been one for celebrating these types of things: congratulations you didn't kill each other for X months/years/decades, here have a gift, etcetera. This time, she thinks, the occasion might be something a bit more special.
(She will definitely not think that pessimistic definition could be applied literally to their relationship.)
Shopping will be a nightmare. She will agonise over what to get him – in the toy isle – and wonder if he'll accept a gift voucher for the store. Eventually she will settle for a giant PEZ dispenser.
The lady at the counter will look at her oddly, but she'll just smile at her expression.
- - -
After dinner she will drag him in the door with her. He will be resistant, say stupid things like "I don't want to hurry you," even though he's over six months behind any guy she's ever dated.
They will not make it to the bedroom. The floor will be uncomfortable and the pressure on her lower back almost distracting, but it will be good enough that she won't think about it.
After, he will hold her in a tight embrace and somehow find a blanket to drape the both of them.
Before she drifts off to sleep he will say, "I'm so glad…" but what ever he's glad for she'll never remember, or even hear.
- - -
He'll still be there in the morning, curled around her.
Another realisation will hit – that she's not just another girl in just another State to make him feel less empty while he's still around.
It will be like an icy kick to the gut, and she will not answer the phone for two days.
- - -
Again he will appear on her door. His eyes will be drawn and there will be bags under his eyes.
"Please, Parker," he will beg, "tell me what I did wrong!"
"Nothing," she will answer, and close the door on him.
- - -
Only a few hours later she'll arrive at his door. He will live in a nice home in suburbia, with nice looking neighbours who all mow their laws and look after their families. She will pace on the patio before he opens the door a minute and a half later.
The relief on his face will be obvious.
She will stay the night, and never tell him why she did it. A part of her will call it a test; see if he really does know her. Another, a small tiny part she tries to ignore, will say she's setting him up to fail deliberately.
- - -
He will treat her like a puzzle – one he just can't solve. He will test and try against her reactions to solve her, like someone putting pieces together in vain hope.
"I'm not going anywhere, Parker," he will say. "I'm not going to run off without you."
She will believe him; he did, after all, find the right pieces.
"I love you," she will say and it will be true. As much as anything in her life has ever been.
"I love you too," he will whisper in her ear, and she will be able to feel him smile.
- - -
He will propose on one knee with a ring in his hand. His words will be heartfelt and sweet and appeal to a part of her that she'd long thought dead.
She will once again draw her hand along his body until she reaches his chin, and from there she will draw him up. She will kiss him and he will understand that it means yes more than any words could.
He will hold her close and whisper in her ear, "I told you I could change the ending."
- - -
He will rewrite the story. He will make it a tale of childhood romance, a tale of love and obstacles overcome with drama and intrigue and, finally, a happy ending.
In the end it will no longer be called The Saddest Little Valentine, in the end it will not be her at all.
In the end she will not care.
-end-
Author's note: apologies must be given for the use of future tense, but it simply would not accept anything else. And at least I didn't go with second person. In the end, that is.