Author's Note: Dear readers...blackmail works...nuff said ;-)

True North
By Jaclyn Parker

"The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can ever end."
-Benjamin Disraeli
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"Mom, can I go over to Sports Zone and check out the new hockey sticks?" Parker asked, shuffling his feet in boredom.

"Hm?" Carly responded, holding up a long black pea coat in front of Sage then switching it to a dark navy one.

"Mom? Hockey sticks?" Parker repeated and Carly finally looked up at him.

"What? Oh sure, Parker. In fact, see if you can drag your brother out of game store with you when you're done. You guys still have homework to do." Carly said and held up a hand. "Five minutes."

"Mom, come on. That's not even enough time to get into the store." Parker said, frowning at her.

She looked down at Sage, who rolled her eyes, and Carly bit back a chuckle at how much their daughter reminded her of Jack at that moment.

"Fine, ten minutes. No more!" Carly said and Parker quickly slipped away before she could change her mind.

Parker walked out of the clothing store and into the brisk November air of Old Town. Thanksgiving was only two days away and he wasn't sure how he felt about having dinner at the Snyder farm this year. Everything was so different now and if it was one thing Parker hated it was change.

He pulled his heavy coat around him more and began to walk across the cobblestone square towards the local sports store. He had only taken a few steps when the wind brought a very familiar voice to his ear. Parker's entire body froze and he felt the blood rushing to his head. Turning his gaze he saw her directly to his left, standing with a group of teenagers, holding a steaming cup of over priced coffee in her gloved hands. She turned her head at the same time and their eyes locked.

Liberty sent him a small tentative smile and then turned to say something to her friends. It was obvious they were teasing her and though Parker knew her response wasn't meant for his ears, the wind oh so graciously carried it to him anyway.

"Relax, guys. He's just a kid I know. I'll be right back."

If Parker thought he was cold before, it was nothing compared to the way he felt in that moment. As she walked towards him, her hair blowing around her face gently, Parker wondered how it was possible to love someone and dislike them so much at the same time.

"Hey." Liberty said softly.

"Hey." Parker said back, pushing his hands inside his jacket pockets to keep them occupied.

"How have you been?"

"Okay, I guess. You?"

"Okay. Busy. You know, with school, dance, the wedding…"

"Yeah. That's pretty soon."

"Well the engagement party is on Saturday. You're coming right?" Liberty finally broke the small talk and looked at him curiously when silence met her question. "Parker, you, J.J. and Sage are coming to my mom and your dad's engagement party, right?"

"I don't know. I wasn't…I'm not sure…I don't know." Parker finally said, not wanting to admit that he was still weirded out by everything that had happened. Not to mention the thought of hanging out with her again and not being able to kiss her or hold her drove him crazy.

"Parker, how can you be so selfish? Our parents are happy. Shouldn't we be happy for them too?" Liberty said, her disapproval shining in her eyes.

"I'm not selfish! It's just hard, Liberty. I…I still love you." Parker said, trying to explain but stopped when Liberty sighed loudly.

"Parker, I care about you too. Really, I do. But you know we can't be together. I'm not ready and you're…"

"Too young, I know. Which, I still don't get by the way. I'm going to be 16 in a month!"

"Parker, please. I don't want to hurt you." Liberty said, truly meaning it. She did care about him, more than she wanted to admit, but the pressures of her friends and what had happened between them this summer were too much right now. She just wanted time to figure everything out. "Please, can't you try to understand?"

Parker opened his mouth to answer her but a voice calling his name cut him off. Both he and Liberty turned to see Mattie walking their way.

"Parker, I'm so glad to see you!" Mattie said, her soft accent echoing in the early evening air.

Reaching where they stood, Mattie threw her arms around his neck in a huge hug and though surprised, Parker hugged her back.

Liberty took in the scene, not liking what she was seeing at all. She cleared her throat and Parker released Mattie to allow her to step back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just so excited to see Parker." Mattie said, wrapping her arms around his left arm and leaning against him. She grinned at Liberty and held out a gloved hand. "My name is Mattie."

Liberty stared at her hand for a brief moment before taking it. "Liberty."

"Oh, like the bell!" Mattie said and just shrugged when Liberty's eyes narrowed slightly. Then as if Liberty wasn't standing there, she turned to smile at Parker.

"Uncle Lee and I ran into your mom and Sage at the store. We're going to have dinner together so I was sent to find you and your brother." Mattie said, rolling her eyes. "Lucky me, I knew that you and J.J. couldn't get too far with the sports store and video game store being next to each other."

"Funny." Parker said, rolling his eyes back at her. She just grinned at him and gave his arm another semi-hug.

In the two weeks since he and Mattie had met, they had hung out almost every other night. If Parker and Mattie weren't hanging out in person they were constantly talking either through texting, instant messaging, or phone conversation. It was as if they had known each other their whole lives and it felt good for them to have a friend of the opposite sex without the messy strings. It didn't hurt that Lee and Carly also got along like a house on fire and they were often going out to dinner or just having coffee in the kitchen while the kids all watched a movie. Thankfully J.J. and Sage thought Lee and Mattie were pretty awesome too and were always happy to have them over. The one person that they hadn't seen much of since that first night was Jack.

At least, not at Milltown.

They went over to the farm some days and had dinner with their dad and Aunt Emma. When Janet wasn't working at the diner, she was there too, but usually those dinners ended quickly and were decidedly uncomfortable. It got better if Holden, Lily and their kids came but none of it hid the fact that Jack and Carly were on the outs again.

"Liberty, are you coming or what? It's freaking freezing out here!" One of the boys in the group yelled out. Liberty, Parker, and Mattie all looked over as if suddenly remembering that they were there.

"Oh yeah, I'm coming." She looked at Parker and then Mattie, forcing a smile on her face. "It was good seeing you."

"Yeah, you too." Parker said and she nodded to him and Mattie before starting to walk away. Just before she reached her friends she turned back. "I'll see you on Saturday, okay?"

Parker let out a giant sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I'll…we'll be there."

Liberty sent a small smile back to him before returning to her friends and leaving. The only sounds for a few moments were other people talking around them, the faint church bells ringing the hour in the distance, and the wind that was picking up movement.

"So that was Liberty, huh?" Mattie asked finally her eyes still watching where the other teenagers had been standing.

"Yeah." Parker said back.

Once the barrier of talking about Liberty had been breached, it was often a hot topic to discuss between them. It was especially for nice Parker to able to get a female side of things even though Mattie had to admit that she didn't quite understand all of Liberty's supposed reasons for not dating Parker.

"Hm." Mattie said and then looked at him with a impish grin. "I think I liked her."

"Thanks, Oz. Just what I needed to hear." Parker said, elbowing her gently.

"Hey, watch it, Yank. Don't make me hurt you." Mattie said, elbowing him back, just a bit harder than he had her.

"Alright, alright. God, your elbows are like lethal weapons." Parker joked, rubbing his rib cage.

"Hey, Mattie. What are you doing here?" J.J.'s voice broke into their banter and they turned to see him walking towards them from the video game store.

"Hey J.J. We're all going to Al's Diner for dinner together and we were sent to come get you." Mattie said, smiling hello at her younger friend.

"Sweet. I have been dying for a chili burger with extra hot sauce." J.J. said and Mattie raised an eyebrow at Parker.

"Fantastic. I tell you what, Yank. You can sit next to your brother."

"Better yet, let's just make him eat outside. Make everybody happy." Parker said and grabbed his younger brother in a headlock when he began to protest.

They all just laughed as they began to walk back to the clothing store to meet up with the rest of their dinner party.