Chapter Eight
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It was a silent night, and the same silence fell between Jarod and Miss Parker. None of them said a word, and just sat there staring at each other.
Miss Parker felt her heart beat fast, she was sure Jarod could hear the quick drumming as she sat there waiting for him to reply, to say something. Why was he so quiet? Miss Parker had never been this anxious in a long time…
"Miss Parker… I…" Jarod started, he sounded unsure of what he should say.
Suddenly Miss Parker felt angry, she had just opened up her heart to him, and all he could do was stare at her!
"Look, I said I'm sorry, if that's not enough I guess I… I don't need you Jarod," Miss Parker almost yelled. "Fine I do need you," she corrected herself. "But no one have ever cared about what I need so why the hell should you? Just leave me alone lab rat, go marry Zoë, have kids and live happily ever after, I don't give a damn, just leave me here!" Miss Parker desperately tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall as she continued her outburst at him.
"If you think that I wanted to chase you all across the damn country to bring you back to the Centre, you're not so damn smart after all, yes, I have wanted to catch you Jarod, but for my own sake, not for them, how could I stand seeing you locked up at that place again? Do you really think I'm that heartless?" Miss Parker screamed, angrily wiping away tears that had started to roll down her cheeks.
"If you could just SHUT UP for one second and let me talk!" Jarod yelled back.
Miss Parker was just about to yell back when Debbie's sleepy voice suddenly interrupted.
Miss Parker tried to calm down; she didn't want to yell at the kid.
"I'm sorry if we woke you up Deb," she started, glaring at Jarod before turning back to Debbie. "It's okay, just go back to sleep, will you?" Miss Parker said, surprisingly soft.
Debbie nodded. "Okay…" she turned to walk but stopped and turned back to Miss Parker. "If you want him to forgive you, you really shouldn't scream like that… just a hint, and you shouldn't take things for granted, one day it could be taken away from you. If you love Jarod, be kind to him, and maybe he'll be kind to you… isn't that what you want?"
Miss Parker stared at her, it wasn't until she saw Debbie's compassionate look she realized she was crying.
"Debbie… I'm sorry…" she started but Debbie had already left. Miss Parker sighed; she knew Debbie was thinking of Broots. And she was right; things shouldn't be taken for granted. She had always thought Jarod would be a part of her life, and she had suddenly gotten to know that he wouldn't. Miss Parker suddenly realized she felt betrayed. It was stupid, but because of her look into the future she knew what would happen… unless she didn't do anything to change her history…
Miss Parker turned back to Jarod, this time calm. She didn't bother to wipe away the tears either.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I know I haven't made it easy for you, and maybe it's too late, but I really want… need you to forgive me, I need you…" Miss Parker paused for a while. "I hate this uncertainty, I just need an answer, I understand if you decide to leave, but please just let me know…" Miss Parker didn't know why she spoke like that, it wasn't like her.
"I don't know what to say Parker… I'm sorry…" Jarod said in a low voice.
"I can't do this… just go, please," Miss Parker turned her back to Jarod, she couldn't look at him, she didn't know how much longer she could take this, it was killing her…
Jarod hesitated, than he started to walk toward the front door. He opened it and stepped out on the porch. From inside he could hear Miss Parker's muffled sobs and suddenly realized she had hoped he would come back, that he would tell her everything would be okay. But instead he had walked away. Jarod just stood there; his mind was racing, should he go back to her, or should he continue forward?
After another couple of minutes of hesitation, Jarod turned and walked back into the house. It was impossible to stay mad at her when he heard her cry. He could no longer ignore the feelings in his heart.
"I'll forgive you," Jarod sat down next to Miss Parker in the sofa and gently placed his arms around her trembling shoulders. He pulled her closer to him and to his surprise Miss Parker leaned her head against his chest, letting Jarod hold her.
"I'm sorry I left you, I'll never leave again," Jarod whispered, softly running his fingers through her dark hair.
Miss Parker closed her eyes. She was afraid that this whole thing was nothing but a dream, it felt so surreal. To be held by Jarod, to have opened up her heart, and actually haven't lost anything… at least not yet. That was what she was afraid of. She just couldn't bear loosing Jarod…
Her thoughts drifted to her future, maybe she had managed to chance a part of her life. Jarod wouldn't marry Zoë, he couldn't do that now could he? No, Miss Parker was pretty sure she had prevented that. And Sydney was alive, and then it was Broots, god she hoped he would wake up again, he was her friend, even though it didn't seem like that most of the time. But most of all she hoped he would recover, for Debbie's sake. And she really needed to do something about Sam too; she still remembered his old face. No, he wasn't like all the other sweepers; he needed to get away from the Centre…
"Jarod?"
"Yes?"
"Can you help me change my future?"
Jarod smiled a little. "Only if I am a part of it," he said softly.
"Of course you are."
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TBC.
