"Lydia, hurry and get to the store." Yelled Natalie Martin from downstairs.
"Mom, I'm exhausted. Do I have to go?" Groaned Lydia, rubbing her eyes and wondering why she didn't have black out curtains in her room.
The only things standing in the way of her going on strike from life were the sunshine and her mother. She made a mental note to herself to get blackout curtains. There was nothing she could do about her mother, however.
"Lydia Analeise Martin…I'm having company tonight and I want the ingredients for the roast in this kitchen before I'm back from my professional development class! Do you understand?"
"Yes." She groaned, rolling off the bed and hitting the ground with a thud.
"Love you, honey! Be back in two hours."
Lydia got up and dragged herself across the room, to the closet where she pulled out a flowy yellow sundress to wear. After a cold shower to wake up, she threw her hair in a messy bun, got dressed, and headed for the store with the list and money her mother left on the kitchen table.
Rump roast, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, rump roast seasoning, and frozen yeast rolls. Must be date night.
She was able to get a good parking spot at the store, since most people are at work this time of day. Still the walk from her prime parking spot to the door seemed to be a million miles. She breathed a sweet sigh of relief when the blasting A/C above the automatic door hit her.
Once inside, Lydia slumped over the cart, walking at a snail's pace while she procured all the items on the list. She had to admit, grocery shopping was better than sitting at home doing nothing.
Since that night at that bar, Parrish hadn't asked for her help anymore and she was still too embarrassed to talk to him first. The closest they even got to speaking was when she impulsively called him, then lied and said it was a butt dial when he answered. Even hearing his voice sent her over a tiny emotional cliff and she'd spent the rest of the afternoon staring into nothing while she devoured a row and a half of Oreos.
It'd been a week and a half with no Parrish and she missed the fuck out of him.
She hated feeling this way, and of course she knew wallowing made it worse. There was just nothing that she wanted to do.
She didn't feel like preparing for her classes in the fall, working on her college application packages, or even working on her physical and mental well being as a whole. Moping, agonizing, binging on Netflix, and staying in bed were the events of her days.
Times like this made her realize how lonely she really was. Not just for a romantic partner, but for friends. She and Stiles worked good together as a team when catastrophe hit, but their friendship had become awkward since he started dating Malia. They barely talked to each other anymore. Kira was the closest thing to a best friend Lydia had… besides Parrish. Though with Kira, it still wasn't the same as with Allison.
Whenever she thought of her, memories of their friendship filled her mind and she always felt the pang in her heart that came when she realized the banshee's cry she let out had been for best friend, and nobody else. Even though she didn't see it, she felt the life go out of Allison and it was something she could never forget.
Lydia hadn't realized, but she'd rolled into the baby and dog food aisle and knocked two bags of Purina off the shelf. In a matter of seconds she'd blinked back her tears, brought herself out of the trance she was in, and picked up the dog food before anyone saw. After heaving the second large bag of puppy chow back onto the shelf, her phone rang as if on cue. Kira's picture popped up.
"Hello?"
"Lydia? Do you think you could help me pack for New York?" Asked Kira, sounding a little panicky.
"Sure. Is something wrong? You sound distressed."
"What does it mean if a guy tells you to have fun when you're going away for the summer?"
"We'll talk when I get there."
Lydia stopped schlepping and finished the shopping. She took the items home and put them away, then she went to Kira's place. Mr. Yukamira let her in, offering her tea, then cookies, then pizza. Hungry as she was, she had decided to save her appetite for tonight when she planned to eat as much food from the Patty Queen as she could fit in her front seat.
The Patty Queen was a greasy spoon of a dairy bar. You drive up, you order, you get your food, and park and eat. It was the perfect place for her to devour her emotions and 2 day's worth of calories.
The room was torn apart with clothes everywhere except the ceiling and Kira seemed to be having a meltdown of sorts. She was sitting in the middle of the floor, holding up two of the same shirt in different colors.
"Well, I can see you're not planning to take the whole closet, at least." Said Lydia.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here! Mom mentioned going to visit some colleges and I want to make a good impression. Also there's all the parties I'm invited to and… you don't think Scott is telling me we need to break up, do you?"
"He told you to have fun?"
"Yes."
"Well, knowing Scott it meant nothing. He's not really a deep person. You just have to take most of the things he says at face value. He probably really wants you to have a good time and enjoy your summer."
"Good, because it would have really sucked if he was breaking up with me. Especially after what happened when we went to the drive in."
"What did happen?"
"Let's just say we're a lot more acquainted."
"I am so glad I left when I did… still, I want details."
"Not long after you left he just sort of, we just sort of… happened. It started with kissing…"
After getting the details of what went down in that Jeep, Lydia was glad she took her leave that night.
Listening to Kira and helping her get her entire wardrobe into two tiny suitcases gave Lydia a convenient distraction for a while, but when all the clothes were packed and Kira was sure Scott wasn't breaking up with her, she found herself riding the same old train of thought. The Jordan Parrish Express. Fucker.
Now she had convinced herself there was never a moment.
That just made it more embarrassing because she'd shown Parrish how desperate she was and he'd run for the hills. Like any sane person would. They'd had a perfectly good friendship and she screwed it up. Now she just had to deal with it. She had to put on her big girl panties and press on.
After bidding Kira goodbye and making her promise to keep in touch, Lydia hopped in her car and went to the Patty Queen. She ordered the patty wagon… which included a triple patty burger, fries, a milkshake, and a side salad. The first bite filled her mouth with grease, and she was disgusted with how delicious it was. Every bite afterwards was just as wonderful. Horrible… but wonderful all the same.
After the last bite of her burger and the start of her fries there was a knock on her car window. In her most horrid state, of course Jordan Parrish would show up out of the blue. She swallowed the food and dabbed the corners of her mouth, missing the mustard on her chin and the ketchup on her nose.
She rolled it down, though her first instinct was to crank up and drive away with him standing there.
"Yes? May I help you?" She asked in her best, bitchiest voice.
"Things have been weird between us." He said, with sad eyes and a forced smirk.
"Well you're the one who has been ignoring me for the past week." Said Lydia, rolling her eyes at him and crossing her arms.
"And I apologize… Did you know that you have ketchup on your nose and mustard on your chin?"
"Of course I knew that." She said, righting herself. She didn't know that.
"Sit with me and finish your food. We need to talk."
"Talk… here?"
"Where else?"
"I don't know. Somewhere a little more private than the picnic area of a dairy bar where people are yelling at their kids and swatting mosquitoes. Speaking of which… there are mosquitoes out there."
"Fine. Trail me back to my place."
"My fries might get cold."
"I have a microwave… I'm not that poor."
She rolled her eyes at him, unable to think of a comeback or an excuse as to why she shouldn't.
When they arrived at his house they warmed their food and sat awkwardly in his tiny living room for a few minutes. Nervously she started eating the reheated fries, which had now gotten that gross, chunky texture reheated fries have. Still, she kept eating. She never knew she could eat a medium fry so quickly! When there were no more fries she knew there was either the option of eating the withered side salad, or starting the conversation with Jordan. She cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry I came onto you. That wasn't right… I should have known."
"Should have known what?" He asked, sounding surprised and curious.
"That we would never happen." She said, glad she'd released her hair from its messy bun earlier. It was now providing excellent coverage for her while she forced the traitor tears trying to escape back into her eye.
"I'm sorry too." Said Parrish. "I said there wasn't a moment, but there really was a moment."
"You don't have to lie to make me feel better. I know there wasn't a moment, Parrish. I was just desperate and emotional."
"I'm not trying to make you feel better. I mean, I am… but I'm trying to make me feel better too because I lied. Do you honestly believe I wouldn't want you?" He asked, moving her curtain of hair and wiping escaped droplets barreling down her cheek.
"That's not so hard to believe when you accused me of being drunken and crazed before you drove away and left me crying in the parking lot of a bar! Besides… Nobody seems to want me these days."
"If I told you that I haven't loved anyone since I was a senior in high school… would you believe me?"
"It depends. Why?"
Jordan got up and went to his bookcase; it was surprisingly well stocked for someone with so little free-time. He pulled out a brown photo-album and flipped through it until he got to a page with a news-clipping on it.
He didn't say anything as he handed Lydia the book to look at. It was a newspaper from Belmont Maine. Parrish is from Maine. She could see him living in some little coastal house, catching lobsters for a living. She could see herself there, too.
18 year old Florence Rey was found dead Monday night. There have been search parties out for the high school senior since last Saturday when her car was discovered running and abandoned in the parking lot of the Jinx's pharmacy, where she was working the night shift. Her body was discovered by the local cross-country team who was having a late night practice on the trail along Little Light House Lake. Investigators believe that Rey, who hoped to attend Julliard in the fall, was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. There were wounds on her body consistent with cigarette burns, electric shock, and skinning, which were all obtained before death. There was no evidence of sexual assault. Currently there are no leads on who could have committed this crime against Rey, but investigators are diligently searching for this bright young woman's heinous killer.
Lydia's hands were shaking when she got done reading the article because for some reason, she could see Florence's body post-mortem and it made her sick that someone would cause so much pain to another person.
"There was an away game that weekend and the bus broke down, we ended up staying away until Monday. I'd usually be there to stay with her during closing and then I'd walk her out… see her off. Her car was shit and it was always quitting, so sometimes at midnight I'd find myself under the hood taping hoses and praying for a miracle."
"But you weren't there that night…"
"No. I wasn't. I was at a stupid Baseball tournament and she was dying. This sounds stupid, and it's no justification for the way I acted but I'm scared as shit that I'll lose you. That was the worst feeling… It was worse that I imagined death, it was worse than being burned alive. It took me a long time to put myself together after that."
"I… "
"I'm not finished. When you told me our moment was your heaven I panicked because I don't know if I can show you the love you need. You scared the shit out of my when you told me you loved me, because I love you too."
Lydia couldn't say what she wanted to say. It'd only come out as a gasping sob, so instead she changed the subject.
"Do you ever go back to Maine?" She asked, trying to steady her voice.
"No. When I left for the army I closed up any business I had there. It just wasn't the same. It never is when everybody's looking at you with pity in their eyes. When there are reminders everywhere you go."
"Your parents?"
"They moved to Florida. I don't want to talk about Maine anymore. Or my parents."
"I know," She said, turning her head from him. "I don't know why I'm crying!" She growled, futilely wiping her face as they kept coming down, pooling at her chin.
He chuckled at the sight.
"So you think something like that will happen to me? Is that why you won't love me?"
"You come close to something like that happening to you every few weeks. It's almost like it's inevitable. I just don't want to love you when it happens. I don't want that pain again. But I don't have a choice about that, do I?"
"No. You don't. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to try my best to stay around and you better do the same, because you're in danger just like I am. We're just going to be careful and strong and love each other until it ends. I'd rather love you and feel pain if I lose you, than never love you at all. You can't live like that, Jordan."
Lydia inched closer to Jordan and then placed a kiss on his lips, perhaps the softest kiss she'd ever given. Before she could scoot back he grabbed her as quickly as a coiled snake strikes, and pulled her into a kiss that shocked the shit out of her.
A fever set in from that moment and they didn't pull apart again. Their bodies were singing for each other, songs of longing and needing. Lydia climbed onto Parrish's lap, straddling him so that she could look at his face. Impatient Jordan ripped the front of the sundress open, making buttons scatter across the floor. He pushed the dress's straps away from Lydia's shoulders and placed hot kisses there before, moving down to kiss her eager nipples through the lacy material of her bra. She whimpered in delight and threw her head back while Jordan teased her through the cloth. That didn't last long, though. With one hand Parrish unhooked the bra and assisted Lydia in getting it off. Soon it was tossed onto the floor with the buttons.
Jordan showed attention to both breasts equally; with every stroke of his tongue Lydia could feel herself becoming wetter. The walls of her core started to clench and tighten. Parrish grabbed hair and tugged lightly, pulling her face down to his so that he could taste her lips. With his free hand he let his fingers walk along her thigh before slipping his fingers into her panties and gently massaging her clitoris. She broke the kiss with a moan, but he captured her lips again.
"I've missed you." He said, between smooches.
"I've missed you too."
With a flick of Jordan's finger Lydia erupted, moaning into his mouth while they continued to kiss. There was no time to say "oh shit," there was no time to catch her breath. Jordan Parrish was a sun flame burning her down to nothing.
She raised her arms and he slipped the dress over her head. She stood, and he slipped her panties off, kissing the space below her belly button and above her bikini area while he looked up at her. It sent a shiver up her spine and her legs wobbled. She assisted him in taking off the black tee and jeans he was wearing. They lay down on the couch. The feeling of their skin touching with nothing between them was almost indulgent. She imagined it was what it felt like to lie naked in the sun or to sit naked by a fire.
They continued to kiss, pressed against each other. The couch was soon unable to contain their passion and they rolled onto the floor with a thud. They took a moment to laugh at themselves but remained on the ground, luxuriating in the room available to move around. Jordan took advantage, placing kisses up and down Lydia while her body rolled and contorted under his, almost unable to withstand the pleasure and leisure of it all.
"You're sure patient for someone who hasn't been with a woman in 6 years." Said Lydia, her voice groggy and accusing.
"I said I haven't been in love for that long, I never said I didn't have sex." He said with a chuckle, taking Lydia's clitoris in his mouth and suckling it with a pop.
She yelped his name and though she couldn't see him, she knew he had a shit eating grin on his face. That didn't matter soon though, because his tongue started roaming over her core, striking nerves that made her legs tremble and her stomach muscles contract. She said his name over and over again like she was trying to memorize it. As if she could ever forget it.
He stopped when she was almost to point of orgasm, and he kissed his way back up to her lips. She could feel his length against her.
"You sure you want this?" He asked, kissing her neck.
"Yes." She said.
Jordan entered her at a slow and torturous rate. Impatient, Lydia dug her heels into the back of his legs, wanting all of him. Still he kept moving just slow enough to make those tingles all over her body seem a million times fiercer. He kept this pace, driving Lydia completely out of her mind. Her hair was drenched with sweat, her voice was fading, and her whole body was shaking. When she thought she couldn't take it anymore her body erupted with orgasm making every muscle in her body clench while her thighs trembled. The aftershocks lasted for minutes. She cried out, unable to do much else. Parrish followed her, clutching her hip and kissing her hard while he came inside her.
After a few minutes of stillness to catch their breath, he held her. No blanket needed and they drifted off to sleep on his living room floor. She'd have to remind herself to pick up some Plan B from the drug store in the morning.
Over in the middle of the night they'd moved from the floor to the bed and they'd made love again and once more until they became too spent to keep their eyes open. Lydia relished the soreness in her thighs and the tenderness between her legs that constantly reminded her Jordan had been there.
The next morning she watched him get dressed for work and she saw him off, even making him eggs and coffee. She'd lied and told her mother she was staying with Kira, which was a good thing because getting up and sneaking home would have been the very last thing she wanted to do. Still, if she hadn't lied, she'd take a million days of being grounded to be held in Parrish's abnormally warm arms while they slept. That feeling was better than a sweater on a chilly day.
After getting back home, showering, and changing into sweats, she lay in her bed. Slightly exhausted but too excited to go to sleep. Her phone buzzed.
Jordan: Research tonight? My place. I think I'm a Wendigo.
Lydia: You are not a wendigo… and yes. Do you get off at 8?
Jordan: Yeah. I'm counting the hours.
Lydia: Me too. Maybe you should try to have fun?
Jordan: Sure, fun! I'll alphabetize all the front desk files.
Lydia: That's the spirit!
Jordan: Lydia…
Lydia: What?
Jordan: I love you.
Lydia: And I love you.
Lydia found herself calm enough to sleep now, so she took the Plan B and settled down for a mid morning nap. She had a feeling she'd be needing her strength from now on.
