Disclaimer: I own nothing.

So...yeah. It's tough this writing thing huh? Oh, and I don't do txt spk. :P

/ /

Waiting for Eliot before leaving Morgantown...

Hardison:

So we played a game. The you have sixty seconds to save one thing from a fire game. I need to talk to you Parker. Do you know what I saved from the fake fire?

Parker:

Old Nate's portrait.

Hardison:

Damn girl, you are good. But like, all the other guys were saying people. If we were in a fire you know I'd save you right? You're my best friend Parker. For real.

Parker:

I know. But that's all isn't it?

Hardison:

Honestly I think maybe but BFF's ain't no small thing P. We need to talk. Some stuff happened no biggie but Ima call you later, get it all straight. Don't get all Parker about it. ;) We cool. Right? :)

Parker:

Go freaking Horde.

/ /

Parker couldn't stop thinking about Hardison and the texts. Her chest ached thinking about his smile. All this trip she had figured she was the one who wasn't all in like she should be, wasn't acting like a normal girlfriend should, and now this. Hardison made the play. Huh. She wondered if she should feel relieved about it. Did it let her off the hook for the Eliot stuff?

Watching the scenery morph into ever more stunning vistas, as mountains and forests loomed all around, Parker did not feel relieved. She felt hurt. Really fucking hurt. Which was contrary, but she lived life contrarily so that wasn't exactly a shocker.

The fight with Eliot simmered in her veins, and she couldn't look inside the box she squared those feelings into. Nope. That box was sealed tight. She felt on the verge of exploding already. And that was a sharp edged shiny metal chest full of dynamite in the vault of her brain that she paced around, as she tried to deal with the chaotic emotions triggered by the texts.

Hardison's face floated before her, but she blinked it away, and stared into the beauty of West Virginia, Mountain State. It was blue and wide and green and deep and reached so high her eyes watered when she looked up at the rocky peaks along the wayside.

Had Hardison dumped her? By text? It couldn't be real. The cell slid in her hand as she rolled it, over and over, as if it were a magic eight ball and would give her an answer to a question she couldn't even find words for yet. She had no idea what she wanted to know. Because everything she thought she knew was wrong. The world had shifted and left her behind. Off balance.

Sophie would be an excellent person to speak to right now. Parker didn't make a move to text or call her though. Where had Sophie been for this blind side tackle? Not so sharp eyed there was she? Cooing and making cow eyes every time she watched her and Hardison together. Talking her out of her anxieties, making her trust the entire situation. What a crock that turned into.

She really liked Hardison. Maybe even loved him. Okay it wasn't hot and heavy, and they didn't count bases so much as blades of grass on the outfield but still. She had been a good girlfriend right? Watched a Star Trek marathon and lived through LOTR, which was umpteen hours of the worst lift ever since dawn began, my precious? Jesus if she was Gollum that shit would have been over in like fifteen seconds. Hardison had tried to tell her she wasn't like Gollum. Dude, she was the thief and so was he. Cue umpteen hours of analysing. She had taught him how to lift. She watched Doctor Who with him. She had done all the things a girlfriend was supposed to do. And failed. Miserably. How the hell do you have a guy like you for years and then turn him off you so completely after dating him a couple of months? Her lungs felt tight. She fought the sensation. She would not let this get to her. It was dumb. Dumber than dumb. It was dumb on toast with a side of stupid. He was just a boy.

But he was her boy. The friend she always wanted and never had. He played pranks with her. He let her use Eliot's moves on him. He was her playmate. She wanted him back. Oh man she felt dizzy.

It occurred to Parker that her own actions this weekend had been a little off. What with the naked Eliot imaginings. But that was all it had been. Imaginings. And a bit of teasing. And this weird new tension. Her and Hardison didn't have that. They had familiarity and TV nights and easy hugs. She liked those hugs. Eliot's made her rattle in her own skin. Whatever. Eliot aside, this was about Hardison and his texts. Hardison who had tried so hard and waited so long and now...this.

What had she done wrong? Maybe she wasn't hugely emotional but did he think she cared so little that a blow off text wouldn't hurt? Had she been too cold despite trying so hard? What had she done wrong? He had seen the real Parker and found her wanting that's what. The voice in her head was mocking, and for once, Parker understood why Eliot got pissed when she used that voice. It really was irritating. So she was different. Hardison knew that this whole time didn't he? He was a freak for gaming and all manner of stuff that she had no time for. Didn't make her like him less. A really painful thought sliced through her brain and she froze in her seat.

Had he not wanted her to meet his friends at the convention because of how weird she was?

Time stopped as her stomach cramped and sweat broke out at the base of her spine. Oh crap. Dots before her eyes told her what was coming, even as the internal free-fall began, and she couldn't draw air into her lungs any more. At all. Her face got hot then cold, and her ears popped like she was taking off but she wasn't; she was trapped in the truck and the seatbelt was crushing and she snapped it off and gasped, but the air through the window wasn't enough and everything was closing in and she couldn't hear the radio as her ears rang after the pop, and she was drowning on land and it would never never end.

Vaguely she heard Eliot's voice calling her but it was a million miles away and through water, and she opened the truck door and rolled onto the road rushing by just to make the world stop swallowing her whole. Just to stop it a while. Cool air hit her like bliss bubbles and the sound of the world roared back from the place it had ran to, screaming loud and raw as she hit the asphalt. The world stilled and she could breathe again. Huge gulping mouthfuls of ragged breathing.

Her body wasn't her own yet, and she stared up into the blue sky, feeling the hard road biting her back and thigh, but not really feeling it yet. The blue was big. It was the biggest blue she ever saw and she felt small in the face of it. So fucking small. Her eyes blurred.

Eliot was kneeling beside her and his hands were running over her legs and back, checking her head, checking well, everything. Though he needed a hack saw to do it right she thought, just crack her open and see about fixing all the broken shit inside.

Had Hardison seen the broken shit? Of-course. That helpful voice again. Lovely.

"Tell me where it hurts." Man Eliot sounded hoarser than she ever heard him, and his question just about sandpapered her skin off.

"Everywhere. Nowhere. I think that's the problem." She shrugged and winced as the road had the last laugh. Even she knew that throwing herself out a moving truck was freakin' crazy. Damn if Hardison had dumped her after she tried to be normal for him, Eliot would be smart to just get in his truck and drive away. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable silence. She had gone over the edge. This was why she stayed alone. Why she should have never thought she could be somebody's girlfriend. A Miss Right. Stupid stupid thief.

Eliot picked her up, slipping his arms beneath her knees and wrapping one arm carefully about her back, forcing her to twist her torso into his chest unless she wanted to lay like a dead body for the pyre in his arms. Her shoulder hurt as she looped her arms about his neck, and she tried to let the hiss out quiet but he heard it anyway. He was a wall. A tough, warm, breathing wall. And he already thought she was nuts. Nausea flooded her. She had ripped off her mask and he had now witnessed just how screwed up she was. Not even in control of her own body. Not even able to handle a break up like a normal human being. Shame burned through every cell and stung her eyes and lodged itself in her throat. She refused to fucking cry as well. Using every ounce of will power she had remaining she swallowed back the bitter hot tears. It was a tiny victory in the face of her failings. But it mattered to her that she won that particular battle. It mattered a lot.

The truck had skidded to a halt at the side of the road. He had hit the brakes so hard rubber striped the asphalt. When he opened the back seat, she wanted to die. Being put in the back seat. Story of her life right?

She didn't expect him to sit her in gently and tell her to lie down. She didn't expect him to lift her feet and put them on his leather seats. She didn't expect him to climb in the other side and lift her head onto his lap. She didn't expect compassion in his eyes as he looked down at her. Her throat swelled.

"Don't you ever make a liar of me again Parker. Never a-fuckin-gain." His voice was pure controlled anger and relief and fear rolled into one. His hair was loose at his shoulders as he stared down at her and she blinked, confused. He undid her ponytail so her head could sit easy, and her hair fanned out, tickling her cheeks. His hands stroked her arm and her forehead, over and over, as if calming the crazy right out of her. Not that that was possible.

"I didn't." She hadn't called him a liar had she? Honestly she couldn't even recall what she had done. Just the sweet moment that the vice like grip of panic released when she hit the ground and the sky greeted her above. Oh. Did he mean his declaration that he wouldn't touch her again? Her stomach plunged. She wanted to disappear.

"Yes. You did. I didn't catch you Parker. And I made a promise to." His voice was deep and raw and sad and the box in her head threatened to bust wide open.

"I don't remember that promise." She really didn't and her voice was croaky. Man her head was swimming. She went to sit up and his hand at her arm gently kept her down. His lap was warm and firm beneath her head. He reached for the cooler, his midriff pressing lightly at the side of her face for a second and she became utterly aware of his body, his strength, and his proximity to her own aching limbs. The muscles of his stomach were hard and flexed beneath his tee shirt as he stretched, and she clamped her teeth on her lip. His muscles were vibrating, and she realised dimly that he was tempering his rage because he was worried she would crack her ugly all over him again. Tears threatened and she battled them back. He pierced a juice carton and put the straw to her mouth, waiting till she drew the juice in.

"Just 'cause you never heard it don't mean it wasn't made Parker." Eliot logic. Gruff. Irrefutable. Huh.

The truck was quiet, and no radio played to distract her from her introspection and humiliation. Breathing resumed its usual pace slowly, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the hammer to fall. Because it would. It always did. She thought of Hardison, of losing her best friend and batted the hollow feeling away. Doom lay that way. Oh man she had thrown herself from a moving vehicle. Eliot was going to think she was suicidal. Or worse, actually truly insane. Not the cute eat Fortune Cookies for breakfast insane. The white coat kind.

"I'm not insane." She said it in a rush, eyes closed. His hand paused before resuming its soft pass over her hairline. She sucked more juice.

"I know."

"This hasn't happened since I was six." She began to chew the straw.

"OK."

"I'm not broken." Why was she still talking? Begging him to understand what even she couldn't? She gulped air in, and his hand on her arm squeezed lightly. She jangled all over, from the inside out, bones and tendons and joints all coming apart and she was nothing but thoughts in human soup.

"Hey Parker?"

"Yeah?" Teeth still attached to the straw and fearful, she responded anyway. It was going to come sooner or later. May as well get to it.

"Don't make a liar of me again. Promise me."

"But I-"

"Promise. Me." He was serious. Why did it matter now? She had ruined the trip by throwing her inner turmoil all over it, graffiti'd her secrets all across the morning sky in bright neon letters. "If you ever have a...if you ever need to fall you fucking tell me and I will stop whatever we are doing and we'll deal with it."

"Deal with it?" Parker didn't get it. Besides it was a one off. A moment of weakness under a building pressure she hadn't regulated right. Her own stupid fault. She should have eaten cereal whilst she thought it all through. That helped. Helped ground her.

"Yes Parker. Deal with it. Find you a building to jump from or a safe to crack. Anything to relieve your..." He groped for a word and she swallowed, and he continued stroking her head. He abandoned his word search. "Anything but throwing yourself out of a moving fricking vehicle on the Interstate."

"I didn't mean to, I mean, I didn't-" Oh God, she covered her face with her hands. How to explain she just needed to escape herself? How sad was that? Truly pathetic. International jewel thief. Class A weirdo. "I promise." Eliot stayed quiet, all out of words but she felt him humming around her. "Is there really something wrong with me Eliot?"

Eliot ran his hand along her arm and she felt him lean down toward her even before opening her eyes confirmed that's what he was doing. His lips touched her forehead lightly, and he hovered, before clearing his throat and lifting his head.

"Hell yeah. You wanna list?" For some reason his voice and smile eased the knot where her heart should be. He shifted like he was reaching for his back pocket, his stomach at her head again, firm and warm. "I've been keeping it a while, updating it every ten minutes, so it's pretty concise. It's probably in my jeans if you want me to-"

"Shut up." She sat up, and felt cold away from his warm lap. Teasing Eliot she could just about handle. She elbowed his side and he mock scowled.

"You need to put ice on your shoulder." He tossed her a gel pack from the cooler, and she raised an eyebrow as she caught it.

"Do you have shares in these?"

"Whatever. smart ass. Just put it against the tender parts and be grateful. You could have died Parker. I swear if-if a car had been coming or a-"

"I'm okay now. We should get back on the road. How far is it anyway?" She climbed from the back seat into the front gingerly, a lot more bruised than she was willing to admit. Better not have Eliot dwell on that diving from the truck thing. He was tensing up and she liked him when he was teasing. It meant he still saw Parker, not a fragile freak. She would call Hardison as soon as she had a minute. They needed to talk, not text. A weight lifted as she thought that now, and it didn't crush her as it had earlier. Things would be okay, as long as he was still her friend. And he had called her a BFF. That was a good thing. Maybe she could be good at being that. Eliot snorted at her and she span to face him and his raised eyebrows.

"Now you ask? We've travelled for almost-" he glanced at his watch-"eighteen hours and now you ask? That's going on the list Parker."

"Well how far is it?"

"Not tellin'." Eliot got back in the drivers seat and ran a hand through his hair, his eyes soft when he looked over at her. She harrumphed.

"I could have died you said. I'm living for every moment now. I need to know."

"Oh you had that epiphany in the last twenty seconds did you? Nope. Not tellin'." Eliot grinned at her as he shifted gears and she put the gel pack behind her shoulder. His expression darkened momentarily, before clearing and he turned up the radio. All Right Now by Free was playing and he glanced up to the truck ceiling with a shrug, before smiling to himself.

"Eliot c'mon. How long till we get there?" Parker grabbed a snack bar and threw one into his lap.

"Not tellin' Parker."

"Don't make me jump again Eliot." She sing-song'd it, and joking about it made it less of an exposed scar even as he growled at her.

The child locks clicked on.

"You were sayin' darlin'?" He looked at her with innocent who me eyes, and she sighed, and the wobble inside was slowly starting to settle. Parker smiled. Everything would be fine. The sky had not fallen in. Eliot had not tried to get her sectioned. They drove for about half an hour, letting the radio tug them along, Eliot humming and Parker sporadically asking:

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

The scenery was dramatic and Parker felt like she was in a living art gallery, every stunning new view was a mental photograph to be treasured. Eliot left the highway and took a couple of roads she had no idea existed until he magicked them from crowded forest enclosures. Secret roads she thought. Her favourite kind.

"Are we there yet?"

"Actually yeah."

Oh. Parker looked up at the huge arched sign above the turning Eliot was hooking a left for.

The Confluence Resort.

"This is it?"

"Yeah." Eliot was watching her closely. "Welcome to my Plaza suite Parker."

Notes: The Confluence Resort is real for those that like to know.