Timeline: Set Season 3, this is an alternate version of "Wake Up". But everything in the episode, up to the point I start is the same. It begins at Thomas' funeral...
Disclaimer: I own none of the Prentender people, places or events. And some of the lines in this are direct quotes from the episode.
R&R!
"Thomas didn't have any family," she began, "His parents died when he was in college, so it...it's my honor to say a few things about him. Tommy...he was a...he was good man. A caring man. In the short time I knew him I never ceased to be amazed by the unselfish way he lived his life. He didn't have many material possessions. He used to say that we didn't own material things, that they own us. But he was rich in so many other ways, in ways that only a loving human being can be. He saw the best in people and he embraced it. He made people feel special, like...like they were the most important person in his life." She paused for a moment remembering the first time Tommy had ever said he loved her, then she noticed Sydney's worried face and continued, "I will think of him often and I will love him forever. Sweet dreams my love." She kissed her fingertips and touched his casket. Then she placed her red rose on the top and walked away.
She could feel the others start to follow her but she didn't look back. Because if she looked back, she would see the coffin, and she couldn't bear to see that again. The wake was going to be held at her home and all she could think of at that moment was, God, there's still blood on my carpet...
But her fear was forgotten as the black car pulled up in front of. She opened the door and stepped. She needn't wait for Sydney or Broots--they'd be coming soon. She just needed to get home...to clean up the blood.
Sam only looked over his shoulder once to check on her. But Miss Parker stared absently out the window. Her thoughts were on other things. On Tommy.
"Do you always brush your teeth before you eat?" she asked.
"Yes, why?" he replied.
"It seems pointless. You're just going to get food in your teeth again," she stated.
"I know."
"So why do you do it?" she continued. He strung his hands around her waist and kissed her cheek before answering.
"Because I do. It's called a habit, Parker. We all have them," Tommy said. Parker smiled lightly.
"We're at your house Miss Parker," Sam said gently, opening her door. She nodded and got out. The house looked the same as it always had. Beautiful in it's mysterious decadence. Tommy had said her house was gorgeous and that is suited her. When she'd asked why, he said because she was just as beautiful.
Out of the corner of her eye, Miss Parker could see the other cars beginning to pull up to the front drive. She moved forward, unlocking the door in a habitual manner. She placed her keys on the table by the door, just like she always had; and draped her coat across the top of her chair.
She whispered, "Honey, I'm home," as she did so. People were coming to pay their respects. She needed to get out her box of tissues. Without really thinking about she grabbed the box from on top of the toilet in her bathroom. The people were starting to come in now. Sydney was first. He pulled Miss Parker into a hug but she didn't respond. She didn't put her arms around him and cry onto his shoulder--she just let him hug her. Then Broots and Debbie came in. Debbie's eyes were bright red--from crying--and she ran at Miss Parker--squeezing her tightly around the waist. But again Miss Parker did nothing. Debbie looked up at her--confused--Broots pulled his daughter back.
Her father was the next to enter--Brigette on his arm--Mr. Parker simply touched his daughter's shoulder and Brigette nodded. Lyle came in after them--and he hugged his sister. Parker simply stared at the floor where the blood spot had been. Tommy's blood.
Sydney took charge then--he and Mr. Parker pulled out wine for the guests, while Brigette and Lyle got the glasses and hor'derves. Broots sat with his daughter in the corner--trying to calm the little girl's sobs. Miss Parker was seated on the couch as everyone around her did the work.
"What's this?" Brigette asked. She was holding up a red flannel shirt--Tommy's red flannel shirt. Some of the women guest in the room began to cry again as the men bent their heads. Miss Parker looked up at her stepmother. She saw the shirt hanging in her arms and lunged.
Parker grabbed at the shirt and slapped Brigette across the face. Brigette recoiled and placed a hand on her cheek. Parker pointed menacingly at her.
"Don't you dare touch Tommy's things! Especially this!" She held up the shirt, "Especially this!"
People looked at each other--Parker knew they felt bad for her--they were grieving for her--not him. Sydney placed a hand on Miss Parker's shoulder. She calmed slightly and turned on her heel--away from the startled Brigette--Sydney helped her back to the couch.
After a little while, Lyle walked over to her and said her had to go. That he had a business meeting to attend and he was sorry he couldn't stay for longer. He said he would send a bottle of scotch to her house when he could and he'd visit again soon. He touched her head and headed towards the door. A woman was also leaving through the door--carrying a wine glass. Lyle bumped into her while walking out--knocking the glass to the floor and shattering it. Miss Parker jumped at the sound of breaking glass. She looked at the floor--there was a red stain--in the exact same place as before. Miss Parker's eyes grew wide as the woman reached down to clean up the mess.
Again, Parker leapt off the couch. She pushed the woman away and began scrubbing at the floor. The other guests watched as she furiously dug at the floor--long after the wine was gone. Debbie grabbed at the towel, stopping Parker.
"Miss Parker, it's all gone. There's nothing there," Debbie said softly. Miss Parker stared at her for a moment before grabbing the towel back and wiping again.
"He's gone. He's all gone. He's not there anymore!" She moaned struggling against tears and continuously running the towel over the non-existent stain. Sydney pulled Miss Parker back by she fought him trying to get to the stain. He pulled her halfway up before she fell out of his reach and collapsed on the floor. As she sat there she began to cry. She burst into tears and had to cover her face in her hands.
Sydney and Broots looked at each other before turning away and ushering people out of the house...
Later...
Miss Parker stared at the fire. She'd been doing that a lot lately. She thought about Tommy--what he'd said when she'd told him she couldn't go to Oregon... She thought about when he decided to stay with her in Delaware. She completely zoned out, until...the doorbell rang.
She looked at the door once and then back at the fire. Then the bell rang again and she stood. She walked to the door and didn't even bother to look through the peephole. She opened the door and leaned against the doorframe when she recognized her late-night visitor.
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"I was really, really happy," she replied, covering her mouth as she began to cry again. She silently stepped into his open embrace, burying her face in his shoulder....
"Tommy wanted me to move to Oregon," Parker said softly. She sighed as Jarod moved the brush through her hair--just like Momma had. She was seated between his legs on the floor of her home. The fire right in front of the pair--Jarod was leaning against the couch.
"Were you gonna go?" Jarod asked.
"Yeah," she replied, "I was."
"What did he say when you told him?" Jarod put the brush down and leaned over her shoulder. Miss Parker didn't answer; instead she sipped her wine and remained quiet.
Jarod realized what had happened, "You never told him, did you?"
Miss Parker glanced at him--holding his gaze for a minute--, "No, I never had the chance to tell him."
"He knew," Jarod assured her, "he knew if he went, you'd follow."
"How?" she croaked.
"Because you loved him--and he loved you--people in love share a special bond. You always know what the other person's going to do, or say--that's why a lot of couples finish each other's sentences," Jarod explained.
"Maybe...I would have...gone...but..."
"You won't get the chance to find out," Jarod finished. It didn't even register in his mind the statement he'd made about people in love only a minute before.
"Yeah." Parker began to tear up again.
Jarod pulled her back, against his chest and cradled her for a moment. She finally ceased crying and simply lay against him in the closest thing to peace she'd seen in a few days.
"Why does love have to be so complicated?" she asked quietly.
"Love isn't complicated. The issues surrounding love are thing that are complicated," Jarod replied, "Love is simple. If you have two people--you and Tommy for example--and one person loves the other and vise versa. That's love and that's simple."
"Then I suppose the complicated part is the being together," Parker mused.
"No, that part's simple too. When you think of Thomas--when you remember the good times you had with him--you're with him and he's with you. You're together--see, another simple," Jarod continued.
"You make things sound so easy," Parker complained.
"They are," Jarod replied.
"Maybe for you. You're free to live life how you want to. I'm not."
"If you remember, Parker, I'm hardly free. I can't have long-term relationships because I'd be endangering their lives."
"Yes, the Centre does seem to kill everyone we love, don't they?"
"And all we can do is find the missing pieces of the puzzle," Jarod agreed. They sat in silence for a few minutes, "What're you gonna do now?"
"I'm gonna grieve. I'm gonna remember all the good things I had...and them, when they think it's all...forgotten, find out who did this and make them pay," she replied determined.
"I'll always be here to help you with that Parker, you know that," Jarod said.
"Missing pieces, right?"
"Right."
The Next Morning...
Parker rolled over. Immediately, she recognized the absence of the second body, with whom she fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and squinted at the sunlight pouring in from the window above her bed. She tried to open them again and discovered an indentation in the pillow and sheets where Jarod had laid--but the pretender was nowhere to be found.
She sat up quickly and looked at the chair in the corner of the room. Sitting there was a package wrapped in generic brown shipping paper. She frowned at it, knowing it had not been there the previous morning. She was about to push the covers away from her when her cell phone rang. She picked it up off the bedside table and answered it.
"Hello?"
"I see you woke up right on time," came Jarod's reply.
"Where are you?" Parker asked.
"Always the huntress, aren't we?"
"I mean you're not here--I wanted-expected to you to be here," Parker answered.
"I left you something."
"I noticed."
"Open it. You might like it."
"Maybe I want to keep it with Momma's gift?"
"You opened your mother's gift, didn't you?"
"Fine, ruin the moment." She smiled lightly.
"It's nice to see you smile," Jarod said. Miss Parker frowned. Could he see her? Or was he just assuming? She sat further up in bed and pulled back the curtains on her window.
"There's no use looking for me--I'm not what you're really searching for."
"Oh," Miss Parker searched around her backyard, "and what am I really searching for?"
"Missing pieces, Miss Parker, missing pieces," Jarod replied and hung up. Miss parker stared at the phone in her hand.
Outside...
Jarod removed the phone from his ear. He could see her still scanning the yard--but he was well hidden. Not that he wanted to be--he would have much rather been sitting by Miss Parker in bed--but the possibility that Mr. Parker or even Lyle might drop by to pay her a visit had frightened him away.
He closed the phone and put it in his pocket. He turned on his heel and walked into the woods--alone.
End.