Disclaimer: Don't own any Ducks, just the original characters.
A/N: Second to last chapter… (insert upset face here). I know you guys are up to the rim with your patience with Parker, but this chapter is pretty bittersweet. When emotions are high in the group, things don't go so well with everyone, as you have read. Anyway, I'm rambling. On to the chapter, it's a bittersweet one, hope you guys like it. Reviews, please!
- - - - - - - - -
"Hey," Guy said,
as Parker entered the room automatically bringing a bad feeling to
his stomach. The way she was looking at him. The emotion on her face.
The strong hold she was trying to keep. This wasn't going to be
good. Parker sat down on the couch, looking at her fingers.
She'd refused to make complete eye contact with Guy. She knew that
he was beginning to see through her, and seeing through her was not
the right thing for them right now. "Hey," Parker mumbled. "Uh,
so, we should talk, yes?" Guy nodded, facing her, sitting on
the edge of the other side of the couch, "Yeah, we should." Parker
looked up, making eye contact, knowing she had to put up a strong
front if she was going to tell him this looking straight into his
eyes, "I can't do this." Guy blinked, "Can't do
us?" Parker shook her head, looked down. She could only look
at him for a few seconds, "I-.." Parker swallowed, "I have to
stand on my own feet. I mean, Jess is leaving. This should probably
be a time when I really do it alone." Guy looked down, and
mumbled, "You always do it alone." Parker looked up, taken
aback, "I-" Guy glanced up at her, his face serious,
hiding the pain from her, "You do whatever you have to do, Parker.
But I'm here, as your boyfriend or your friend. Whatever you want
me to be, but you can't push me away just like that. No matter how
fucked up your life gets, I'm gonna be here. It doesn't matter
how much you convince yourself that I'm going to leave, I'll
still be here." Parker stared at him, his glance fixed on her.
"Okay?" Parker nodded. With that, Guy got up, leaving her
to watch him walk out the
door.
Looking over at
Parker, Guy stared at her, her elbow propped up by the window, and
staring out the window. She didn't move an inch from that position
the whole car ride. Looking down at her hand, resting on her leg, he
wanted so bad to hold on to it, give her some reassurance that
everything- that she'd be fine. But that was probably not part of
the whole breaking up thing.
Pulling his attention away from Parker, he looked at Cooper, to his left, who stared at her hands. She was tired of crying about it, so she just zoned out. She sniffled a bit, but just kept her head hanging low. Lifting his arm, Guy put it around her, pulling her to his side. He faced forward to see Max, watching Cooper, wishing he could do something. Then Max looked at Greenberg, driving, his face serious, and staring.
Greenberg slowly released his death grip on the steering wheel, and turned to Maxwell. As quietly as he could, Greenberg asked, "Where are we going?" Although, his voice was soft, the whole car heard, and all faces looked up, looking at each other. Where were they to go? They always went to Jess's. Parker's apartment was a mess, because everyone stayed at Jess's to spend as much time with him as they could. Guy looked at Parker who stared in Greenberg's direction. She was breathing slowly, and her face still kept its serious form. She looked up at Guy, and for a brief second he saw her eyes water over. She quickly turned away, leaving him wondering if what he saw was true.
The five sat there, not saying a word, not knowing where to go, leaving the silence fill the car up to it's brim. "Let's go to Jess's," Cooper whispered, and Max looked back at her.
Max nodded, and whispered back, "Okay." With that, Max whipped out his cell phone to tell Luis, Portman, and Fulton since they were in a cab.
Parker turned away from the window, leaning forward to look at the Cooper, who was completely zoned out. Slowly, Parker took her own hand, grabbed onto Cooper's and held on to it. Guy watched as Cooper looked up at Parker, smiled slightly, and then squeezed Parker's hand back.
- - - - - -- - - -
Small smiles appeared on the faces of the seven, as they watched videos of Jess's old birthday parties, as a kid. Videos he hid all the way back in his closet, where only Parker knew where they were. A laugh escaped from Cooper's lips as the audio and bickering filled the room.
"No, Jess, this is
mine!" Parker yelled as she and Jess fought over a dinky little
water gun. "Parker, no! It's my birthday!" Jess yelled
back, and Parker pulled her side of their tug a war. "I
don't care!" Parker yelled back and pulled furiously, matching up
Jess's strength. Parker let go of the water gun, and Jess fell back
from pulling so hard. She ran over to him, and pointed, "Look,
there's pink on the gun! It's for girls!" Jess, still
confused by his fall, looked at the gun, spotting a part that was
pink. He scrunched his nose, and handed it over, as Parker ran away,
satisfied.
"Yeah, we'll be fine," Portman said, and everyone nodded.
Parker sat up a little, "Yeah." She looked at Cooper, smiling at her, "We will be." Parker looked up to see Guy's hand resting on her head. She stared up at him, as he looked down at her, not smiling, but a reassuring face. She smiled at him, as they watched the night away with birthday cakes, more Parker and Jess fights, and ice hockey games.
- - - - - -
"Hey," Greenberg said to Guy, who got stuck with washing the dishes that night.
"Hey, man," Guy said, turning to only look at him. "You good?"
Greenberg nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just as long as Cooper and Parker are okay, I'm sure us guys could handle."
Guy gave a laugh, "Yeah, that's true."
Greenberg sat on one of the chairs, facing Guy in front of him, "So I heard that you and..." Greenberg turned around to look the couch Cooper and Parker were sleeping on.
Guy nodded, "Yeah." Guy shrugged a little, "Well you know."
Greenberg shook his head, "No. This is the biggest test."
Guy looked at him oddly, "What?"
"She's
pushed you away, to the limit. I know you just wanna leave her alone
sometimes, but that's exactly why she feels like people always
leave. No one really fought hard enough to stay with her, no one
tried to show her that their there. This is the time you prove to her
that you aren't going to give up. You can say it, but you gotta
show her in some way. I have no clue how, but show her everything
you've got to give." Greenberg said, and Guy looked at the
dishes. "Don't let her let you go." Greenberg pointed with a
slight smile, getting off the chair, and walking into the room where
all the guys
would be sleeping that night.
Guy turned the water off, and stood there, thinking on how much more he can do, and how much he can show Parker that he's there. He was sure that she knew he was there, but he also knew that she wasn't sure if Guy would stick with her. That was the one thing she was scared of, right? People always leaving? Well, Guy wanted to show her that even if he had to leave, she wouldn't be leaving her. Running into the bedroom, Guy rummaged through his box of mixed CD's that Parker made for him, looking for the perfect song.