Over the course of the next week, Parker and Remi tried to get away together any chance that they could get. Unfortunately, those opportunities were becoming more and more rare and harder to find because Parker had started her new job at 'Dream Dolls & Accessories'. That meant that she was spending less time at Sanctuary, which in turn meant that she was seeing Remi less frequently than she would have preferred.
Remi seemed to be just as bothered by this new development because he had popped into the doll store more than once to surprise Parker. By the second day they had established (without having to discuss it) that they would spend her lunch time together. She would call him from the alley behind the store when she started her break and then he would teleport there so that he could take her somewhere to be alone. Their new hideaway of choice was Talon's old cabin in the Bayou and Remi usually took them there without having to talk it over with Parker. Since they were travelling so frequently via teleportation, Parker's body was starting to actually get used to it and it was getting to the point where she felt little to no ill effects from it anymore.
After her training at the store was complete, Parker renegotiated a new schedule with the doll makers. She could feasibly make a stock of blades or any blades for pre-orders for them to use even if she was only doing the job part-time. She would also keep herself 'on-call' for any orders where a specialty blade was required. She figured that way she was getting the job done, but she wouldn't get in their way as much since they had an established rhythm that worked well for them. She also reasoned that when she got her own Hunter she wouldn't be able to work full time with them either so it would be good to get used to her not being around them all of the time. What she didn't tell any of her new co-workers was that this would also meant that she could also work part-time at the bar, which of course meant that she would get to see Remi more often. Win, win in her books.
Aimée had told Parker that she didn't have to worry about working at the bar, but Parker truly was a bit of a social butterfly, so she really needed that type of social interaction in her life to help keep her somewhat sane. The ladies that she had met who were the doll makers preferred to work in silence and seemed to get annoyed whenever she tried to strike up a conversation with them. Granted she was usually just dropping off her latest batch of blades to them when she tried to chat and she herself forged the blades in silence, but still it made it hard for her and that was another reason she was happy that she was only working there part-time. (She also didn't let herself think about how her leaving when they had breaks might be alienating herself from them as well because she was spending that time with the person her truly wanted to be around.)
Today Parker was smiling brightly because today was her day to work at Sanctuary. Since moving to New Orleans she had purchased quite a few more skirts to wear for when she was waitressing. Today she was dressed in a grey jersey knit skirt, a black 'Sanctuary' t-shirt and finished off her outfit with a pair of black and white Keds sneakers. She was comfortable and felt cute while she weaved her way from one table to the next.
Remi would covertly watch Parker in the dining room every change that he could. Thankfully today he found himself at the stage helping his brother Cody moving equipment around to prepare for the Howlers playing a gig that night. Cody only had eyes for the equipment, so he was completely oblivious to the fact that his brother was watching a certain waitress instead of the wires and tools that were in his hands.
"They really liked the levels we had everything at last week," Cody commented as he plugged in an amplifier to a power bar. "So I was thinking we'd just duplicate all of that for tonight."
"Yeah… sure… sounds good," Remi replied, only half listening to his brother speaking.
Cody didn't notice that Remi sounded distracted in anyway. He was used to his brother being short with him or just ignoring what he said completely and he was actually just relieved that the older bear wasn't biting his head off for some perceived slight or something that he hadn't done. Remi could be surly and some people found him hard to work with, but Cody found that everything went smoothly and he finished his tasks much more quickly when he had someone to help him and Remi definitely could do the job in a pinch.
The two bears soon fell silent as they continued to work. For Cody part of the charm of working with Remi was that he could give his brother a job to complete and Remi would do it with there being little to no discussion. That meant that Cody could get everything done faster and play with the sound levels so that they would be perfect well before the time the band arrived to set up and do their sound checks.
As usual Cody kept his head down and his eyes on the amplifier he was working on until he heard his brother hiss in a long breath. Cody's head automatically snapped up, but he watched Remi drop his tools to the stage floor in a horrified silence. He was afraid to say anything because if Remi had cut himself on the screwdriver he was using, he would turn it into him being mad at Cody for accusing him of being clumsy. But in the next breath if he said and did nothing and his brother was seriously hurt, he'd get his ass handed to him by his sister for not doing everything in his powers to help Remi in his time of need. He knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place, but remaining silent and as invisible as possible while he assessed the situation still felt like the wisest choice at this moment in time.
Remi hissed in another loud breath as he grabbed his left wrist with his right hand. He looked like he was trying to keep his hand completely immobile, almost as if to keep a wound from opening up even further, as he scrambled away from the sound equipment he had been working on. Thankfully his moving put him closer to Cody so that the younger bear could sneak a peek at Remi's hand without having to bother his brother by asking him about what was wrong.
"Fuck… fuck…" Remi mumbled as he settled into his spot by his brother.
At first Cody couldn't see what was causing Remi to curse, but then Remi opened his hand up to blow on his palm as if it had been burned. Seeing that his brother was completely preoccupied, Cody leaned over so that he could get a closer look. When Remi's palm came into focus, he unconsciously sucked in a breath and regretted making that noise. Unfortunately, just as Cody had predicted, that sound reminded Remi that he wasn't alone. His face snapped around at a break neck speed and the look on his face cause Cody to jump up to his feet so that he could make a quick getaway on foot if the need arose (because with it being the day time he knew it wouldn't be wise to teleport out of the stage area since so many of the human staff members knew that this is where he was working right now).
Remi kept his left hand carefully cradled against his chest with his right hand as he too got up to his feet. He slowly started to stalk his way towards his brother as he growled out in a low, incensed voice, "I thought I told you I would only help you if there were no live wires in play. I don't have a death wish like you and our dumbass brother Griffe."
Cody could tell that Remi was also keeping his voice low so that he could keep his voice as even as possible. That never lead to anything good, so he did his best to look as innocent as possible to hopefully keep the damage Remi was about to inflict to a minimum. He held his hands up in surrender and started backing away from Remi as slowly as he could to keep from spooking him.
As he moved, Cody said, "I swear Remi, nothing that you were working on has been plugged in, honest! I haven't even gotten to that point yet!"
The older bear stopped when he was just an arm's length away from his brother and shoved his hand in Cody's face (just narrowly missing smashing the heel of his palm in the younger man's nose) and asked with the same enraged tone as before, "Then what do you call this?"
"Well…" Cody started carefully as he tried to get his eyes to focus. Because it was so close it took a couple of seconds for that to happens and once Remi's palm did come into focus, Cody's eyes goggled and he started to inch away from Remi once again. "Well… if I had to hazard a guess… I'd… I'd… I'd say that you've been mated."
"What? That's imp…" He stopped himself there and turned his hand back to face himself. Now that the pain was gone he was able to concentrate enough to make out the intricate design that had suddenly appeared on his flesh. The edges of the lines looked sharper and more angular than the markings that he had seen on his parents or siblings and their mates, but he most definitely could tell that his mating mark was of a paw with its claws poised for an attack. Remembering all of the times that Parker had teased him that she was going to use him as her own personal attack dog… or rather attack bear, on anyone that even looked at her the wrong way, Remi sputtered out a soft laugh. No taking his eyes off of the new mark, he absentmindedly asked, "Do you know what this means?"
Cody jumped back another foot when he heard Remi laugh because that was such a foreign sound to hear from his brother. "Umm… that… uhh… That I should congratulate you?"
Remi didn't actually wait for his brother to finish his reply before he turned around and literally ran out the stage door towards the restaurant. Toady wasn't one of their busier lunch crowds so it didn't take long for him to find Parker in the dining room. As she did anytime that there was a lull in the action, Parker was standing by a table of regulars, chatting away. One of the men said something that caused Parker to throw her head back to let out a loud, full bellied laugh. When Remi saw that he initially saw red and started to stalk towards the table with the intention of cracking some skulls. Luckily for the human targets of his wrath, Parker flipped her hair so that more of her blue streaks were visible which brought the bear's full attention back to her and completely extinguished his rage.
She was so focused on her conversation that she hadn't noticed that Remi had entered the room, let alone that he was making his way towards her. At least not until one of the patrons suddenly fell silent mid-sentence and looked like he was trying to shrink back in his chair with his eyes wide open in fear. Parker's brow furrowed into a frown and she opened her mouth to speak, but she too ended up being silenced by the approaching bear.
Remi had complete tunnel vision as soon as he had Parker in his sights. He didn't notice the humans cowering in their booths as he passed they by, he had no idea that the other Were-Hunters in the bar were gearing up not only for a fight, but also to do some major damage control and he most certainly the patron that was too stunned to properly try to warn Parker about the potential threat who was approaching and was almost right behind her.
Parker had opened her mouth to speak, but at the same time someone's hand landed on her shoulder to spin her around. Parker didn't have enough time to register his face before Remi's lips completely engulfed her own. Since she didn't know who it was that was trying to ravish her in front of everybody in the middle of the pub, Parker started to struggle against him immediately. Remi was too task driven to notice Parker's disinterest until one of her fists landed a fairly forceful punch into his groin.
He finally flinched before she could try to refocus any of her punching to cause any further damage to such a sensitive part of his body. He also used his preternatural speed to catch her flailing hands which in turn caused to her to finally take a good look at his face. The instant that she recognized Remi's face, Parker lost all of the fight in her and her arms and hands went completely limp in his still tight enough to bruise hold.
She bent her arms at the elbows as she took a step forward so that she could very quietly ask, "Remi? What are you doing? I thought that we agreed…"
He dipped down to kiss her again which interrupted her questions. After he released her lips he rested his forehead again hers and whispered, "It's okay Parker, now no one can split us up… ever."
"What?" She asked sounding thoroughly confused as he shifted his grip so that he could lace the fingers of his left hand with those of her right.
Before their palms could touch, Remi once again shifted his hold on her hand so that he could brush his thumb over her palm. "Because of these, we can't be separated."
Remi leaned down to kiss her again, but Parker flinched back and took a large step away from him. The only thing that kept her from getting more than one arm's length away was Remi's grip on her hand. He then refocused his attention to her hand that he was holding. After flipping it over he placed a long, lingering, open mouthed kiss to the back of it.
"What are you doing Remi?" Parker asked quietly while her eyes frantically moved around to look at the growing crowd that was now watching only them. "Remi? What happened to keeping this between just the two of us? Why are you doing this…? And why now?"
Parker's voice cracked at the end of her last question which cause Remi's eyes to snap up to her face. He opened his mouth to reply, but her eyes kept moving from face to face around the room and she absolutely refused to look at him which silenced him for the moment. He went back to kissing their entwined fingers until Parker's eyes finally landed and stayed on him. While she watched him embracing her fingers, a single involuntary tear slipped out of her eye and trickled slowly down her cheek. He watched it land on the back of her hand, so then he decided to try to switch gears.
"Parker we don't have to keep this to ourselves anymore. These…" He paused there to once again flip her hand over. He then slowly moved his hand away to reveal her palm. At first it was slow and sensuous, but then suddenly he snatched her hand up to get a closer look at it as he asked, "Wait… wait! Where is it?!"
"What? My tattoo?" Parker retorted sounding utterly confused. "Remi, it's on my left wrist. You know that… don't you?"
"No! Not a tattoo," he replied, no starting to sound angry. "No! Where's…? Where's your…? Why isn't it…?"
It wasn't often that Parker had ever seen Remi completely lost for words and it was even less likely that anyone sounded so much like her, so Parker immediately tried to get him back on track so that she could find out what all of this was about. "Remi I don't understand. What…?" Just then she caught a glimpse of something on his palm. She then snatched his hand up and said in a tone of utter disbelief, "Your…? You…? Oh gods… you've been…?"
Before even trying to finish one of the thousands of thoughts that were rapidly racing through her mind, Parker dropped his hand and turned to run away. Even without seeing Remi's hand, pretty much every Were-Hunter in the room could guess what Parker had seen gracing Remi's flesh. Even more obvious to them, as shocking as that news was to them, was Parker's reaction to having been shown it. No one, even in their wildest dreams, would have guessed that the two of them, that Parker and Remi of all people, would ever find themselves in the position to actually become mated to each other.
The first person to break out of their stunned state was Aimée. At first she started to follow Parker's route towards the kitchen, but just as quickly she stopped and looked back at her brother. Say what you want about the surly, short-tempered bear, he was her brother and she loved him fiercely. No matter what he did or said to her to tease or annoy her, he was her big brother and she would always remember the times when he had quietly helped to put Band Aids on her cuts or where he was there to lead the charge to put an unwanted Romeo in his place when she had made it clear his advances were definitely not being well received. Even without all of that, she would love him simply because they were kin, so seeing the devastated look on his face was like a punch to the gut for the bearswan and she wanted to do nothing more than to erase it as soon as possible.
She was torn and couldn't decide whose side she should rush to in order to offer them her support. She watched as Parker literally pushed pass Dev, who was trying to stop her at the doorway to the kitchen to ask her if she was alright. Parker had never shrugged off anyone that was trying to offer her comfort, least of all Dev. Dev was like a big brother to the human and on more than one occasion she had actually sought him out over anyone else for a hug or words of encouragement.
Seeing Parker ignore her favorite bear, well at least Aimée had always thought that he was before she saw Remi kiss the younger female, had helped Aimée to make up her mind. She moved to follow Parker but then she heard a low growl emanating from her brother's lips. Remi kept his eyes laser focused on Parker until the kitchen door closed and she could no longer be seen. Once the door closed off his view of Parker, Remi let out another low growl and then he turned to move towards the exit door on the opposite side of the room that would lead to another alleyway.
Aimée once again found herself feeling torn and just stared at the two different paths that she could follow. She remained caught up in her own thoughts until she heard one of that patrons that Parker had been joking around with say, "Dude, I told you that there was no way that a girl that hot would be single."
"Yeah, but the scary one? There's no way any of us could have predicted that one! I guess she really can tame even the wildest of beasts."
Aimée suddenly thought that maybe she should be checking on their few customers to make sure that they weren't put off by the scene that had played out before them. That concern was squashed nearly as quickly as it had formed because the men started laughing at each others' jokes, returned to eating their food, and acted as if nothing out of the norm had happened. They didn't seem to be bothered in the least, so she turned her thoughts back to which person that she loved that she should be following right now.
Much to Aimée's relief, Dev had made his way to her side and he led her back to the bar asking, "Did I miss something? Why is Parker sprinting to her room in tears?" Just then they heard the exit door being slammed closed loudly. "And why is Remi...? Wait, scratch that. Who or what has pissed Remi off now? And how hard is it going to be to calm him down?"
Aimée let out a soft laugh because Dev had voiced the questions that would be on anyone's mind that hadn't witnessed the scene that caused this fallout. She took a deep breath and then answered, "Remi has been mated."
"What? Seriously?" He looked towards the closed exit door and then turned his eye back to his sister and added, "Okay so he's annoyed at who he's been mated to, nothing new there, but why is Parker so upset?"
"Well, I'm not completely sure, but..." She pulled Dev by the arm through the kitchen until they were alone in the alley that lead to Peltier House. Once she was assured that they were alone she said, "I'm pretty sure that both of them were expecting Parker to have a mating mark too."
Dev scowled then asked, "What?"
Feeling a little bit annoyed that she was going to have to spell this out for her brother, Aimée gave Dev an exasperated look then slowly stated, "Remi has a mating mark and he was expecting that Parker would have a matching one but she doesn't... and now both of them are pretty emotional. Come on Dev, I know you know what that means."
She smacked her brother's arm when she thought that he was being intentionally obtuse. He grabbed his arm protesting her abuse with a loud, "Ouch! What the hell?"
"Dev, please..."
"No, no I get it Aims," he interrupted when he saw her getting visibly upset. "I understand what you're getting at, but please do excuse me while I have an aneurysm at the thought of Parker and Remi together... like 'getting it on' together. Tell me you don't think that's more than a little weird."
"Of course I..." Aimée started before she forced herself to give his words some thought. "Okay, I guess that it could seem kind of odd, but then again... then again they've kind of become friends, so y'know maybe it really shouldn't come as that much of a surprise to us... maybe."
"They have? Really? But fu... umm anyways, I guess someone needs to check in with them," Dev answered sounding quite pensive.
Aimée gave him a sympathetic smile and then said, "My thoughts exactly. That's why I was on my way to go check on Parker when I ran into you."
She then moved to walk around her brother, but he caught her arm as he replied, "Oh I don't think so sister. There's no way that I can say anything to Remi that won't end up with him at least trying to deck me."
"Yeah, but..." Aimée looked up into Dev's pleading eyes and then said, "Fine... I'll go talk to Remi. But you better be careful with our Cub!"
"I hadn't planned on being anything but supportive," he retorted before he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Aimée placed a hand on her protruding belly as a further reminder of why she couldn't do the same thing. The little life, or lives, growing inside of her most likely wouldn't survive during any teleportation, so she had no other option but to walk from one alley to the next.
Yes, there were days when she was beyond super annoyed that she couldn't use all of her Were-Hunter abilities, but for the life that was growing inside of her she was willing to suffer. She and Fang had been through so much together already and she was beyond excited to face this new challenge with him. But then again giving birth to an expression of their love really didn't feel like such a daunting task. Their child truly was an expression of their love and she could only wish that everyone could be as lucky as her, Dev and their parents and be mated to their true love match.
Aimée had a smile on her face because of that last thought, but it quickly faded. Obviously Remi had feelings for Parker and had expected for him to be mated to his love march, but he wasn't. So how would he react to his obviously pregnant sister seeking him out to talk to him about it? She was sure that she would be negatively received, but on the other hand she couldn't just sit back and do nothing either.
Before she pushed the exit door open, she took in a deep breath to help center herself. She still had no idea what she was going to say to Remi, but she was sure that something would come to her once she saw him. At least that was what she hoped.
"Hey Remi, I…" She started to say as soon as she started opening the door. "I know this…" She stopped herself there because Remi wasn't anywhere to be seen in the alley.
She spent a couple of minutes making sure that he wasn't just in an alcove or somewhere that wasn't visible from the door. She triple checked each area that someone could hide in before she abandoned her search. There was a chance that he had made himself invisible because he didn't want to talk to his sister and if that was the case she knew that she couldn't force him to reveal himself to her. But Aimée still wanted to make sure that he knew she was there for him whenever he was ready to talk.
"Remi?" She said to the open air of the alley. "You aren't alone in this, Big Brother, we're all here to help."
Aimée waited in the alley for a minute to give him a chance to reveal himself, but there was no change. She then moved towards the door to the pub, but before she went inside she said, "You know where to find me when you're ready to talk."
Dev stood at Parker's closed bedroom door and pressed his ear to it to try to listen to what was happening inside. Much to his surprise there wasn't much for him to hear. It sounded like Parker was moving around her room but she didn't sound as frantic or upset as he had expected. He could hear her sniffle from time to time, but other than that he wouldn't have known that she was actually inside her room.
He knocked softly on her door as he called out, "Parker? Cub? Can I come in and talk with you?"
Dev received no response so he knocked again, but this time a little bit louder. He was just about to yell out again to her when her door creaked open. He waited a couple of seconds for Parker to reply but he once again only heard the sound of footsteps and the occasional sniffle. With a gentle hand he pushed her door open even further and then he just stood in a stunned silence at the scene that was playing out before him.
Other than opening the door for him, Parker did nothing to acknowledge his presence. She had retrieved two of her suitcases from the closet and was piling clothes up on her beside them. She was mumbling to herself and looked like she was trying to control her actions and not give into her anger just yet.
"Are you going on a trip Parker?"
She briefly looked over her shoulder before she scoffed loudly and replied snidely, "Like you really give a shit."
"Cub, of course I care," Dev said sounding truly hurt.
Parker slumped in her place because she realized that she had snapped angrily at the wrong brother. That realization was quickly followed up by a loud sob. She had wanted to hold onto her anger because it was easier for her to accomplish what needed to be done with it guiding her. But she didn't want to direct her anger at anyone that didn't deserve it. Dev definitely did not fall into the 'deserves it' category because he would never do anything to hurt her, at least not intentionally. Even when he teased her it was always in good fun and never unduly harsh or cruel.
Another sob escaped her lips, so she threw her hands over her face and sat down on her bed while she continued to cry. Dev could see that she was no longer able to control her emotions, so he gave her a couple of minutes to cry and get the worst of it out. The last time he had seen Parker like this was just after her mother had passed away. At the time he had found that she couldn't talk about her feelings until after she had had a good, cleansing cry.
Once her sobbing had settled down some, Dev approached her cautiously. He gently touched her shoulder and quietly said, "Cub, I know…"
"Don't," she interrupted as she smacked his hand away. "I can't talk to you about this."
Although he was shocked by her actions and tone of voice, Dev tried not to let it show. "I know it isn't the most comfortable topic to talk about, but I'm here for you. Just like I always have been, I'm here to listen Cub."
"I'm sorry Dev, but I can't," she repeated with her hands still covering her face.
Dev sat down on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she tried again saying, "Sure you can. You didn't think that you would be able to tell me about you crush on Talon, but you did. Just like you did back then, you just have to take your time. I'm in no hurry to be anywhere else."
Parker threw Dev's arm off of her and stood up off the bed. He noticed that she kept her eyes closed and then she kept her back turned to him. Tears wanted to spring up into his eyes because he had no idea what to do next. Normally he would hug her while she cried and then once her tears had subsided, she would cuddle into his side and talk it out. But that was when she was a little girl and he had to remind himself that she was a woman now who obviously didn't react the same way that she did back then.
"Parker…"
"Don't you get it Dev? I can't talk to YOU about this," she interrupted as she walked away from him. She sat down on the chair by her vanity, rested her elbows on her knees and hid her face in her hands again. "You look just like him. If I talk… it's almost like… so I… I can't. Gods! You're my best friend and I love you, but at the same time I just want to punch you in the face… so hard… because it's his face too."
Parker had started to cry again into her hands. Dev wanted to get up and give her a hug, but he forced himself to go against his instincts. What she had said about it being hard to look at him made sense to him, so he tried his best to respect her wishes.
"Well Cub, if it would make you feel better, then you are more than welcome to punch me as hard as you can or want," Dev offered in a humorous tone.
Parker sputtered out a laugh through her tears. She kept her face securely planted in her palms as she replied, "You're not funny."
Dev smiled to himself because Parker was still chuckling during her reply. He then stood up and walked over to Parker's side. She didn't move or acknowledge him, so he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She shivered in her spot and continued to sniffle in a few breaths.
"I love you too Cub and…"
"Dev, please…"
"No, wait. Please just one minute Parker," he interrupted in a calm yet forceful tone. "I love you too and I won't force you to talk to me or look at my ugly mug."
"Dev," she whined out with another soft laugh.
"See? I AM funny. And I mean it, I won't push," he said as he stepped behind her and squeezed her shoulders. "But you know that after I leave here Aimée will have questions and when I don't have answers…"
"She'll…" Parker tried to say but then she sputtered in a breath and had to swallow a sob. Parker took her hands away from her face and put them down at her sides and held the seat on either side of her thighs in a death grip. "She'll come to get them herself. Oh gods… this has all gotten so fucked up, I… I… I'm not even sure… I mean what can I even say to her? To you?"
He squeezed her shoulders and kissed the back of her head again. "Cub, we just want what's best for you. All you have to tell us is the truth. We don't care how ugly it is, okay?"
"Okay," she replied as she placed her hands over his to give them a grateful pat. "Okay… but Dev?"
He squeezed her shoulders again and leaned his head down and answered quietly, "What is it, Cub?"
"Can you…? I mean I know she probably won't listen, but… could you ask her to give me a couple of minutes before she comes in? I just want… I need some time to get my thoughts together."
He wrapped his arms around her neck to give her a hug. Parker's arms immediately molded themselves over his forearms. Dev smothered a smile into her hair because it was such a familiar gesture. He truly did understand why it was hard for her to look at any of his brothers who were an identical quadruplet to Remi, but he was also genuinely worried that he was on the verge of losing a close friend. Now that she had returned his loving and comforting gesture, Dev had hope that everything was going to turn out alright, no matter how long it took to return to relative normal.
"I'll try my best Cub, but now promises," he replied softly against her hair.
Parker barked out a quiet laugh as she sniffed in a breath. "That's all that I can ask."
After another tight squeeze of her neck, Dev move to let Parker go so that he could intercept his sister. Parker, however, wasn't ready to let him go just yet. As his grip loosened on her neck, hers tightened on his forearms. He froze in his spot to allow Parker to cling to him for as long as she needed to right now.
"Thank you Dev," she finally whispered as she continued to hold onto him. A couple of tears dripped onto his arm. "I know I sound like a crazy person, but seeing that's he's been... it was so unexpected so I'm... I think I'm like in shock or something, so thank you for being so patient with me. I'm really sorry that I'm being such a pain in the ass."
"You don't need to apologize, Cub. I can't even imagine what you are going through. I mean kissing Remi should have been enough to make you comatose."
"Dev!" She nearly shouted with a laugh. "Stop making me laugh. I want to be grumpy right now."
"And you have every right to be grumpy. I'll go see if I can find Aimée and try to delay her for a bit. You relax and take your time, okay?"
Dev kissed her on her left temp as he hugged her tightly once again. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Dev disappeared without another word. She then closed her mouth and hugged her arms around her torso. If anyone could delay Aimée she was sure that Dev was her man... Err bear.
She looked around her room while she tried to take stock and get her thoughts in order. There were still so many unknowns in her life but she knew two things were true. One: she couldn't stay at Peltier House any longer. This was Remi's home and he would want to make a life with his mate here. Whomever that skank was, she probably wouldn't look to kindly on Parker for sleeping with her mate either. And two: she owed Aimée and Dev the truth. She hadn't been sneaking around with Remi for all that long, but she still hated that she hadn't been able to tell them about their relationship before it crashed and burned so spectacularly.
The first dilemma was quite a predicament. She wasn't exactly sure where she would go, but anywhere but here seemed like the simplest answer. Maybe she could call Talon and stay with him and Sunshine. But that would mean that she would have to explain why she had to leave Peltier House. Instead maybe she could call Acheron and seek refuge with him and Simi. He knew about their relationship and seem cool enough about it. He always just seemed to know stuff so she wouldn't have to explain all of the nitty gritty details to him. But what if his wife asked her for details? Or worse yet, Simi? She was sure that the little goth fairy would want to Bar-B-Que herself a bear. That is unless Parker could convince her otherwise. That would mean that she would have to tell them the truth or some version of it, which she still wasn't sure she knew how to put into words.
That brought her back to her second quandary. After struggling to find the words to cover up the truth, how was she going to take it all back? But more than that, how was she going to recant every untruthful work and still be able to retain her closest friends?
Thinking about it in those terms made that task feel like it was too daunting to accomplish. Because she had to do it, Parker knew that she was going to see it through, but that didn't stop her from wanting to succumb to her self doubt. Right now that mean that she would haphazardly toss the shirts that she had folded into a suitcase before dumping it just as carelessly onto the floor. With her bed now clear, she curled up on top of the covers to try to think of what she would say to Aimée when she finally made it up to her room. Well that was the plan, in reality she just curled up into a ball and continued to cry silently.
As luck would have it, Dev was able to catch Aimée before she made it to the stairs to the bedrooms. He really had no idea what he would say that would keep his sister from rushing up to Parker's side, so he came up with a different plan. If words were going to fail him then he hoped that actions wouldn't. That meant that instead of trying to talk circles around his sister to slow her down, Dev decided to give Aimée a task to complete to try to distract her.
After Aimée had brewed a pot of tea and warmed up some biscuits to eat, she carefully made her way up the stairs. Dev had suggested that having a hot beverage and food to eat would help to give them something to focus on during the inevitable and uncomfortable lulls in conversation. She wasn't entirely sure that he was right, but he had always been closer to Park than she had, so she was willing to default to his logic for now.
With the tray of food and beverages balanced on her left hand, Aimée carefully knocked on Parker's bedroom door. It took almost a full minute before Parker opened the door. Unlike when Dev knocked, Aimée found the human in the doorway after she had opened it to let the bear into her room.
"Dev said that you might need a little something to calm your nerves before you could talk," Aimée explained.
Parker snicked before she replied, "He wasn't wrong." She then looked down at the tray and noticed that there was no alcohol to be seen on it. She started to pout until she looked over the full contents of the tray. Her eyes then went wide as she asked, "Do you have biscuits and honey? Like your Maman used to make? I missed those almost as much as the Jambalaya."
Aimée walked into Parker's room answering, "They most certainly are, but don't let Dev know about how much you've missed them because then he'll start gloating about how right he was and he'll get a big head."
Parker chuckled at Aimée's joke and pulled up a chair beside her bed for the bear to sit on. After placing the tray on Parker's suspiciously clear night table, she sat down on the offered seat. Her eyes immediately started to survey the room to try to get a handle on the situation. Parker continued to move around the room almost as if Aimée wasn't even there.
Aimée watched as Parker placed a pile of neatly folded shirts into a suitcase and opened her mouth to question her. Parker didn't notice that her friend was concerned about what she was doing because she kept her eyes focused on her hands. That also meant that she didn't know that she was actually interrupting Aimée when she said, "I'm sorry I lied to you Aims. We... we only expected it to be a fling... no big deal, y'know? So we didn't want anyone else to know since... since it wasn't supposed to go anywhere...But I never meant to lie to any of you and I'm really sorry that I did and that... that I hurt you. That wasn't my intention and I totally understand if you don't trust me anymore."
"Oh Cub, please don't be upset about that. If anyone knows about having to hide their relationship from the people they love, it's me," Aimée replied with a sad smile on her face. "And if that's the reason you're packing right now, you can stop. I won't condemn you for doing the same thing I had to do."
Parker paused and then held the pair of pants she was folding to her chest. "That's right, Fang's a wolf. I forgot... but that's... that's not why I'm leaving Aims... I mean, it was sort of part of it, but the bigger... umm... the real reason... This is his home and I'm just a guest here, so it only makes sense for me to leave. I'm sure that his mate won't really be to happy with seeing me around since he and I were... umm... since we..."
At that point Parker had started to cry again, so she stopped talking to try to keep her breathing as calm as possible. Although she had a thousand questions running through her mind that she wanted to ask Parker, Aimée remained silent for now. The bear sipped on her tea to remind herself to be patient and to let Parker take her time to explain everything. She then almost laughed when it occurred to her how right Dev had been about the tea and biscuits.
When it looked like Parker had calmed down considerably, Aimée placed her mug of tea back on the tray and asked, "Cub? Can I ask how the two of you ended up together? I mean I know that Remi said that you two had been spending time together while you cleaned up at night, but he didn't say that you were more than just becoming friends at all."
Parker kept her eyes fixed on her hands as a dark blush spread up her neck and across her cheeks. She continued packing, so Aimée thought that she was going to ignore her question, but in reality Parker couldn't find it in herself to look Aimée in the eye right now. She was embarrassed about lying and she still wasn't sure how she was going to explain everything.
"Well..." Parker finally started slowly as she moved a bunch of clothes from a drawer to her bed. "I guess you could say that it's all my fault... that I started... umm... that I initiated it. After I talked with you and Dev about how I really got my stitches, I went to apologize to Remi. Since you had given explicit orders that I was to be on bed rest, he didn't really want to get into trouble with you for chatting with me, so he tried to just blow me off. Of course I wouldn't let him ignore me, so I kissed him to get him to pause for a second. That kind of lead to a make out session and then after that... well... any time that we were together, we couldn't just... y'know... talk. I don't know, it was weird... but anyways, soon enough one thing led to another and we've met up almost everyday for a little over a week now."
Aimée had started to scowl because she was listening so intently to Parker. When the human fell silent, the bear made sure to make a conscious effort to soften her expression before she said, "Parker, when you say that you two couldn't just talk, do you mean that you felt like compelled to touch each other?"
That question got Parker's attention and she finally paused to look over at Aimée as she replied, "Compelled? Yeah that would be a good way of describing it. It was just like... I don't know... when I saw him, I wanted... no like I had to touch him or I'd get like itchy or something." Parker shook her head and returned to folding her clothes. "It sounds crazy, I know but that's the truth."
"Parker? Are you sure you don't have a mating mark on your hand?"
Not sure if Aimée was joking or not, Parker stopped again and looked up at the bear. Immediately Parker could see that Aimée was being completely earnest, so she pushed her feelings of hurt and anger aside. She dropped what she had been holding and then she walked around her bed and sat down in front of the other woman.
"Yes, Aims, I'm sure," Parker replied softly as she held her hand out to her friend. "They're supposed to appear at the same time, right?"r
Aimée took Parker's hand in both of hers and gently stroked her fingertips across her still empty palm. "You're right, that's how it works Cub."
Parker took in a deep breath to try to will her tears away, but they still hit her with a vengeance when she said, "It's so stupid... I know we could never... but I... I actually started to... even though it's impossible..."
Aimée stood up and wrapped Parker in a tight hug. Parker shifted on the bed so that Aimée could sit down beside her. They somehow shifted their bodies at the same time so that they fit together with Parker snuggled into Aimée's side where she continued to cry. Just like she always did when she was comforting the young human, Aimée started to pet the length of her hair to try to calm her down.
"Parker it isn't stupid," Aimée replied in a soft, serene voice. "The heart wants what it wants, no matter what our brains think."
"Thanks Aims," Parker whispered, sitting up and brushing her tears away. "That's the other reason I can't stay. I don't want to have to see him, knowing that he isn't... that we can't... it hurts too much. So I'll go and work and the doll shop and... I don't know... try to forget about him, I guess."
"Yeah, when you put it that way it does make sense," Aimée said as her own tears started to form and threatened to take her over. "But can you promise me one thing?"
"Sure Aims, anything... well almost anything."
Aimée couldn't help but to laugh at Parker's quirky sense of humor. "Like you said before, this news has been a bit of a shock for all of us, so... would you sleep on it before you make any final decisions, please? If after you've rested and you still feel the same way, I'll make sure a couple of the guys are available to help you move everything."
"Aims I don't think a nap will change my mind. He'll still be mated to someone else when I wake up."
"Would you humor me, Cub? Plus where will you go right now?" Parker's blush flared up at that question and Aimée forced herself not to laugh because she really wasn't trying to be mean, she just wanted to try to delay Parker's departure for as long as possible. "While you nap, I'll call Talon and see if he has a room he can spare for you for a while. I'll fill him in on everything so you don't have to, okay?"
Parker practically knocked Aimée over when she surged forward to hug her. "Thank you so much! I don't think I could... but he's who I..." She stopped herself there and sat back to look Aimée in the eye to say, "You have yourself a deal. I promise I'll sleep on it before I make any final decisions."
"Good. And thank you Cub," Aimée replied. She gave Parker another hug and then asked, "Did you want me to leave you the biscuits and honey?"
Parker looked sheepish as she nodded then answered, "If you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all Cub. Sweet dreams."
With that said Aimée left the room while Parker dug out her favorite t-shirt that she had bought a concert years ago and her oversized black and white flannel lounge pants. Part of the reason that she had agreed to Aimée's request was that she was starting to feel too tired to function. Granted the offer to call Talon pushed her over the edge, Parker was also starting to feel the effects of the day. She would need to rest before she could do anything else, especially if moving was going to be on the agenda.
After she was changed into her pajamas, Parker shoved her suitcases to the floor so that she could crawl under the covers. Her mind was racing too much for her to sleep, but it felt good to be off her feet, snuggled into her bed and just resting.
WHEN AIMÉE left Parker's room she was quickly met by her brother Dev. She hooked her right arm through his left and turned him around to lead him further away form Parker's bedroom. She knew he had questions because she had been the same way when he left her room too, but she wanted to put some distance between them and the human before they started to get into it all.
"So how bad was it?" He finally asked when Aimée's feet started to slow down.
She shook her head answering, "I still can't believe she isn't his mate. When she talked about them being together it sounded exactly like how most of us describe being around our mate. It's just too weird." She pulled him to a stop so that they could face each other and then added, "She's decided that the best thing for her to do is to move out. I'm not convinced that it is because I'd rather she stay close while we try to figure this all out, so I talked her into sleeping on it before she finalizes any plans."
"Where will she stay if not here?" A voice called out from behind them. Aimée and Dev turned towards where Remi was now standing behind them as he asked, "Will she be safe if she isn't living with us?"
Aimée let go of Dev's arm and took a couple of steps towards where Remi was standing answering, "I was thinking of calling Talon because I know he'll protect her like she's kin to him. And if it won't work with her staying with him, I thought that Acheron would be another good choice."
Remi nodded with a sad look on his face, but he didn't verbally reply. Aimée felt sick to her stomach at seeing that look on her brother's face. She instinctively moved over to him and wrapped her arms around his right arm. He didn't seem to notice her at all because he was tracing the lines on his left palm with his right index finger. She rubbed his arm as if to try to warm him up and watched as he traced his mating mark. She could remember the mixture of emotions she had felt the day that her mark appeared so she could easily imagine the emotional rollercoaster her brother was on right now.
"Remi...?" She started quietly.
"No, you're right. Talon and Acheron will take good care of her. They've always been good to her," Remi finally commented, sounding completely distracted. "They'll take good care of her."
"Of course they will, Sweetie," Aimée replied rubbing his arm again to try to get his attention off of his mating mark because it seemed to be causing him so much distress. "But she's going to have a nap first before she makes any final decisions."
That comment actually helped Remi to focus. He then turned to his sister and asked, "So does that mean...?"
"She's still in her room right now," Aimée replied with a large grin spreading on her face.
As soon as she was finished her sentence, Remi disappeared. She and Dev shared an amused look and both let out a quiet chuckle. Dev looked like he was going to say something, but he was quickly silenced himself when Remi reappeared beside them.
"She isn't in her room," he said frantically to his sister and brother.
"What? Of course she is, I just left there," Aimée responded with a tone that made it sound like she thought that he was going crazy.
"And I just went in to check on her and her room is empty. All I could see was a suitcase on the floor," he retorted sounding even more desperate.
Aimée then turned to Dev and they gave each other a knowing look. They both had seen two suitcases being packed by Parker which meant that Remi should have seen both of them as well. Of course there was the possibility that Remi was mistaken and had only noticed half of what was in the room because he was so unnerved by not seeing Parker in bed right away. Then again maybe something strange was happening and Remi having a mating mark on his hand was only the half of it.
"Go," Aimée frantically told both of her brothers. "Go, I'll catch up."
"COME MY Little Primrose," a gruff voice with a Scottish accent commented conversationally as he ran the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "There's no need for you to pretend with me. Please open your beautiful violet eyes, Lass."
Too confused and curious to stop herself, Parker opened her eyes so that she could see who was touching her.