A Parker/Eliot Story
By Brown Eyes Parker
Summary:
When nobody else sees it, Parker does. Eliot is completely and utterly innocent. Based on "Innocent" by Taylor Swift.
Shout-Outs:
Bprice, leavenotrace, Noelle86, futurecop, & Ultrawoman. . . thank you for your reviews guys. I really appreciate them & To everybody who favorited, or put this on story/author alert, thanks to you guys too! Reviews and favorites, and alerts are what keep me writing.Honorable Mentions:
saides, my incredible beta-reader. It's a pleasure to work with you, because you push me to be the best I can as a writer, and won't let me take the easy way out.
Disclaimer:
I own an iPod, a couple dozen journals, and the deluxe edition of "Speak Now". I don't own Parker, Eliot, Leverage, or the rights to the song "Innocent".
Author's Note:
I think that I may be making Eliot and Parker slightly OOC. But it's for the sake of the story, and to fit the song.
.
"Eliot?" Parker called one day in early October. She let herself into his house with the spare key she had stolen on her last visit to him. "Eliot, are you here?"
"Go away Parker!" He barked.
Parker quietly closed the door, and followed his voice to the living room. She found the hitter stretched out on the floor with his eyes closed. The room was dark, save for some light streaming in through partially opened curtains.
"Eliot?" She asked. "Are you okay?"
"I told you to go away," Eliot answered.
Parker sat down at his feet and pulled her legs up, resting her chin on her knees. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Then why haven't you come to work in four days? We've all been worried about you."
"I've been tired," he mumbled, making a pretense to cover his eyes with his forearm.
But Parker wasn't as dumb as everybody made her out to be. "Something's bothering you."
Eliot sighed wearily. "Nothing's bothering me, I promise. Now leave me alone. . . please."
"No."
He sighed again. "Parker—"
"Eliot," she parroted. "Come on, tell me what's bothering you."
"It's catching up with me," Eliot finally answered.
"What's catching up with you?"
"The job. . . Parker. The job's catching up with me."
Understanding dawned on Parker's face. "Yeah, but it's not always like on other days."
"There were kids involved this time though," Eliot said. "Twelve kids. . . and they're all gone because of me. Their childhood's, it was snuffed out in an instant. It's all I've been able to think about Parker, every time I close my eyes—"
"It was part a job though," Parker replied. "And you didn't know. . . they didn't tell us—"
"I'm supposed to protect people!"
Parker was silent, she wished that Sophie was there. Sophie was better than she would ever be at handling situations like this. She sighed, rocking back and forth. "Eliot—"
He got to his feet, turned his back to her, and went over to the window. He put his hands on the curtains. "Parker, just go. . . please."
"No," Parker replied as she stood too. She went up behind him and took his hands off the curtains, afraid that he was going to rip them down if she didn't. "I don't want to leave you alone."
"Well, I want to be left alone. . . don't you understand the meaning of that phrase?" Eliot demanded.
She shrugged and pulled back the curtains, looking out at the gray clouds that held the promise of snow. She waited a long moment and then turned to look at him. And then in a very Parker-unlike manner she said, "You know, I wish people hadn't left me alone when I was younger. . . maybe things would be different today."
Eliot avoided her steady gaze, ashamed of everything. "How can you even stand to look at me Parker?"
"Because. . . You're innocent." She took a step towards him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "And we all mess up. . . we're only human—"
He recoiled like he had been burned by her touch. "I'm not innocent though. You have no idea what I've done Parker. No idea!"
"I know the things you did then, don't make you what you are today."
For the first time that she since had come in, Eliot really looked at her. "You honestly don't believe that."
"I do."
"Then you're a walking contradiction," he said without elaborating on what he meant.
Parker would never admit that the words stung her to her very core. But Eliot was always saying things like that to her, so she had learned not to take it to heart too much. There was a long silence, and once again Parker found herself wishing that Sophie, or maybe Nate, was there with her.
Finally, an idea hit her. She couldn't believe that she hadn't thought about it before, she took a few steps towards her friend and grasped his hand. "Come on, I'm taking you out."
"I'd rather stay here."
"Please Eliot?" Parker pleaded, giving him the look she usually did when she wanted something from him.
.
Just one look from Parker, and Eliot found himself eating Late Night Snack ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor.
"Why'd you bring me here?" He asked through a mouthful of chocolate covered potato chips. "You know I usually don't eat stuff like this."
"Ice cream is comfort food," Parker answered with a shrug. "Besides you needed a change of scenery. . . you needed to clear your head. You haven't left your apartment in four days, no wonder. . ." she trailed off, realizing that she had probably said too much and took another large lick of her ice cream cone.
Eliot watched her curiously, he had never seen her like this. She was actually speaking like she was a thirty-two-years-old. He spooned some more ice cream into his mouth and sighed, wishing that he had insisted on sitting in a booth. But Parker liked sitting at counters, she swore that it added to the ice cream parlor experience.
He smiled in spite of himself, feeling considerably lighter than he had earlier in the week. Parker was exactly the kind of medicine that he needed, he wondered how she knew that exactly.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked.
"How in the world that Jimmy Fallon guy would come up with potato chip ice cream," Eliot lied. "And why on earth you'd want to eat it."
.
The sun was setting when they came out of Ben & Jerry's, causing the changing foliage to make the street look like it was on fire. Parker was smiling and humming a Katy Perry song while she drank a Coke.
He still wasn't feeling like his old self, the guilt was still gnawing at the corners of his conscience. But Eliot wanted to thank her for not giving up on him that afternoon. He knew if it were any other girl, they would have left him alone after the first time he had snapped at them.
Instinctively, his hand slid through hers and he gently squeezed her fingers. He didn't know if he'd ever feel innocent again, but he knew. . . somebody believed in him still, and somehow, that made everything easier.
_The End_
Author's Note II:Like I said in my first story, I'm from New Hampshire. . . so when it comes to things New England, I know what I'm talking about. So, I can say with certainty that there are, in fact, THREE or FOUR "Ben & Jerry's" in Boston. . . although the first time I had it was on vacation in Vermont. Wherever it is, it's AMAZING.
And Jimmy Fallon really does have his own flavor called "Late Night Snack". . . I mean, go figure he'd have something like that, right?
Anyways, the next story I'm going to write is to, "You Belong With Me". So, be on the look out for that.
Peace and Love,
Holly, August 2, 2011_