Chapter Twenty-Seven

"You should have told me!"

"I am right now." Eliot breathed. It had been a hard month but he was finally up and moving again.

"What will you do now?" He watched as she distanced herself by clearing dishes from the table, her home complete in one room.

"What do you mean? I'm stayin' with you." The way she stopped to stare at him had him rethinking that. "If you'll have me."

"You have a woman back in America, you've promised her your heart."

"Yeah, I said she could have it but it's not mine to give anymore." Eliot pulled her closer and she went if not the least bit reluctant. "Itza, you stole it."

"You are only saying what you believe I want to hear.
I do not know how the women in your country would deal with a situation such as this but I will not keep a man that belongs to another."

"Maritza I'm yours.
If I return home and fulfill my promise it will only ruin three lives.
My heart will stay with you, yours will come with me, and she'll be left sufferin' because I misunderstood."

"How do you suddenly just not love a woman?"

Eliot heard the accusation. She believed if he could jump so quickly from Aimee than he would do the same with her. "Because I didn't know what love was. I have love for her but I'm not in love with her."

"So you claim but who's to say I wont end up with the same fate?"

"Trust. The same way that I trusted you wouldn't hand me over to my death."

"And if I ask you to leave?" The words were whispered at best.

"Then I'll go, but I don't want to hear that you want me to leave, I want you to tell me that you don't want me to stay. That you don't love me the way I do you, that I'm not welcome here anymore."

"Stay"

The word was like a knife as he lost all the air from his lungs and his eyes flew open with a horrid pain.
It took several minutes to calm his breathing and in that time he learned that he was alone, glad Nate wasn't going to be witness to his second set of tears in as many days.

"I'm sorry." She was sending these dreams to remind him that it was all his fault. "I'm so sorry." She was haunting him with memories of what could have been. Letting him know that no matter how innocent he might have been at the time his life was meant to be a tarnishment, a plague to anyone who might be unlucky enough to cross his path.

He had ruined his first chance by stealing a second, that had gone straight to hell and everything he could have hoped for with it. He had turned himself into a monster, destroyed the good man he had once been, he didn't deserve a third.
Nate didn't deserve to be stuck with him; he didn't deserve Nate.

No, Nate could still manage to pull himself together if he tried, his hands were still clean, but his? the things he had done with them would... NO! Eliot stopped himself from delving any deeper into those depressing thoughts.
He might not have deserved his third chance but Nate did.
Nate deserved to be happy and he wouldn't ruin that because he wanted to punish himself.

The clock read a little past eleven and for nearly mid day it was fairly quiet in the house.
With a strength he didn't believe he should have he sat up and eventually stood stumbling to a wall that quickly became his guide out of the room.
The steps were slow and painful but it was something to focus on when his mind was so against him. "Nate?"

The living room was empty and he wasn't hearing anything from the kitchen. "NATE!" Eventually he had to let go of the wall and his steps became even slower as he made his way to the front window. He had become completely reliant on others and objects while moving but now seeing no cars in the driveway confirmed he was alone and vulnerable to falling.

The one time he needed a distraction and they were gone, had probably come to their senses and left while he was sleeping.

He shook his head to clear it as he rationalized they wouldn't do that, he just needed to stay positive until he could put those memories back where they belonged.

Her voice continued to ring in his ears though, the silence making it so much easier to hear the hate and he was quickly drowning in it. He needed noise, a sound other than hers in his ears and it had him nearly tripping to the stereo as he slammed his bad hand against it in a desperate attempt to start it as her voice grew louder. It helped some as he focused on the words but eventually she was back and he used his own voice to drown her out as he sunk to the couch.

"...You know Lord I've been in a prison
For something that I never done
It's been one hill after another
I've climbed them all one by one

But this time Lord you gave me a mountain
A mountain you know I may never climb
It isn't just a hill any longer
You gave me a mountain this time" If that wasn't an understatement. Men climbed mountains, he himself had been to the top of three but this, this one would never end.

"My woman got tired of the heartaches
Tired of the grief and the strife
So tired of working for nothing
Just tired of being my wife
She took my one ray of sunshine
She took my pride and my joy
She took my reason for living..." The next words were too close to speak so he left them unsaid as he hummed through the rest. He couldn't even lose the guilt in music, the lyrics reminding him of the burden he had been left with for taking those things from her.

"Why'd you stop? It was pretty."He quickly ran a hand over his face as he turned toward Parker's voice.

"I thought you left."

"Nope, I'm bab-, I was waiting for you to wake up." Babysitting wouldn't be the best term to use on Eliot.

"You should have woke me." He really wished she would've. There were reasons he didn't like to sleep too long; one of those being the memories of what had happened to the last person he had slept a full eight hours with.

"Nate said you went to bed really late and not to bother you." Parker spoke as if she was mimicking his exact words as she grabbed the stereo remote and joined Eliot on the couch.

"Well what did I tell you about listening to him?" Encouraging Parker not to listen to direction probably wasn't the best but less than four hours of sleep and he was trying not to shake from what had been stirred.

"Do another one."

"What?" He was confused but right now it was strangely welcome.

"Song... here do this one." Parker turned the volume up slightly as she looked to Eliot expectantly.

"I don't know the words." He shook his head but it didn't deture her.

"What about this one... No this one... No, no do this one."She nodded her head in approval as she settled on a station. "I like this one."

"I'm not a damn jukebox Parker." She pouted but he didn't budge.

"Fine, I'll just sing myself." He was expecting to hear her rendition of the one playing but what he got was far from it.
"I've been on my own for two hours and I'm bored, I'm bored!
Was already outside with the flowers and I'm bored, I'm bored!
I wish I had supernatural powers and I'm bored, I'm bored!
Eliot wont si-"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" He could not bring himself to listen to another verse of what had to be the worst song in the world. "You win. Whatdya wanna here?"

With a cheeky smile she shrugged her shoulders innocently.

A song for Parker? He didn't even know what she listened to.

"Do something pretty."

A pretty song for Parker?
Well if that didn't just kick all of the get drunk because you're a no good that ruined every decent thing you ever had songs out the window.
Too bad too because those were the only ones he was coming up with.

Rock was a place that there was a vast amount to choose from but he wouldn't consider it pretty.

Classics and oldies were probably closer to it but he had learned most of those from his grandmother and though he loved them and her those memories didn't need to be on his mind while he was trying to clear it.

Gospel was another place where the choices were near endless but he didn't know how Parker felt about religion so he figured it best to steer clear.

No way was she getting anything R&B or soulful from him and pop, HA, he'd die first so it'd have to be country.

A country song that was pretty?
Well that cut out most of the ones he knew.
A blue collared, 9-5, drinking, just got my heart broke, gonna go out and party, those were what he knew and they weren't pretty.
Hell even most of Taylor swift's songs were F-yous and no that did not mean he knew them though he still wouldn't consider them pretty.

"There's a little moonlight," He would have never imagined singing romance to Parker but it was sure better than her continuing on with whatever she called that mess she had been stabbing his ears with.
"dancing on the sand
There's a warm breeze blowin' by the ocean as you're takin' my hand
You need to know... where I'm standing now
That I'm right on the edge of givin' into ya
Baby it's a long way down" She turned off the stereo as she watched him settle into the corner of the couch closing his eyes as he did so.

"If I fall can you let me down easy?
If I leave my heart with you tonight will you promise me that you're gonna treat it right?
I'm barely hangin' on
If I fall, can you let me down easy?

The scent of your perfume floatin' in the air
You're lookin' like an angel lying on a blanket with a halo of hair
And those lips look too good to be true
Once I taste that kiss, I know what'll happen... I'll be at the mercy of you

So if I fall can you let me down easy?
If I leave my heart with you tonight.. will you promise me girl you're gonna treat it right?
I'm barely hangin' on... so if I fall can you let me down easy?
If I fall can you let me down easy?
Just let me down easy."

"Is that how you feel?"

Eliot opened his eyes having been trying to focus on the happy while Parker listened to the pretty. "About?"

"Nate, Is that how you feel about Nate?" He had not been expecting that or the intensity in her stare as she waited.

"Do I feel like that about Nate?" It was a question he'd have to answer for himself first and he took his time doing it. "Well I guess you could say I've felt like that about a lot of things Parker. No one wants to get hurt but sometimes you just have to risk it to see if in the end there'll be a reward."

"So Nate's a risk?" Geeze was this twenty questions or what.

"Every relationship is, there's only two ways it can go and them ain't good odds." Though he wasn't risking much with Nate having already lost it all. There were only a few feelings from his blackened heart left and it really wouldn't make much of a difference if they got hurt.

"We're thieves remember. We make sure the odds are fixed in our favor." He couldn't help it, he laughed and she smiled.

"Are you trying to say something there?"

"Yeah," Parker nodded as she glanced at the clock, nearly noon. "you shouldn't buy the ticket if you're just going to throw it away." He had no idea what she meant but somehow it made sense anyway.

"I'll keep that in mind." He offered instead of questioning anymore as he absently itched at one of his bandaged fingers.

"You're Bleeding!" Parker nearly jumped as if the sight of blood frightened her.

"I am?" Following her eyes downward he spotted the small pool of blood staining his shirt.

"Why are you bleeding!"

Parker calm down!" She was pretty close to a major freak out and it was stressing him. He lifted his shirt slightly to find his stomach stained but not bleeding.

"How are you bleeding if you're not bleeding!"

"Parker seriously st-" and that's when they spotted exactly where the blood was coming from.

"How did you do that!" She pulled his right hand to her, inspecting the split in his palm.

"Ahh, you wanna watch that!" Only Parker would squeeze broken fingers.

"I'll be back." She hurriedly left the couch leaving him to stare at his hand.

It was speckled in pink spots that were in various stages of healing from where the skin had taken damage and atop all of it was dried blood. It could have been caused while on his trip from the bedroom but it was probably from the stereo, hitting it really wasn't one of his best calls unless he was trying to dislocate his thumb again or make his one good finger feel wanted and make it match the others.

"Gimme" Parker pulled his hand back as she settled back down with her supplies.

"Parker it's fine." She looked as if she was ready for surgery and he was liking his hand in one piece.

"Nate will have a cow." She shook her head as she began wiping the blood away.

"I'm not gonna tell him." Nate already yelled at him for every little thing, not happy with his refusal of a wheel chair or anything about the situation really and he wasn't going to be stupid enough to add to it.

"He'll know, he always does." She whispered looking over her shoulder as if any minute now he'd actually appear.

"Where is he?" He had been awake when Nate went into the bathroom that morning but had dosed before he had come back out.

"With Hardison." Her interest was suddenly bent and intent on the backing of a band-aid and he was suspicious.

"Parker where are they?"

"Court."

"Court? What the hell are they doing in court?"

"The guy that hit you didn't want a trial." Nate had told her to keep Eliot away from the questions until he got back but honestly had he ever tried lying to Eliot, the mans eyes were like pure fire. "Nate's giving his testimony before sentencing and Hardison said he's going to make sure the man gets what he deserves."

"And nobody thought I deserved to know about this! They can't just go lookin' for revenge like that!" He was mad that they were keeping shit like that from him, especially Nate who had told him all of this was already done and closed for them.

"He hit you Eliot!"

"So I would have gone over there and hit him back! I would've taught him a thing or two but I don't need Hardison trying to get him locked up for life!"

"Not life, just a few decades." Parker mumbled as she started clearing the mess she had made.

"I still don't think it's right, ya'll could have atleast said something." He glanced at the fresh band-aid on his palm appreciating the gesture even though he knew it'd fall off within an hour or two.

"I'm sorry." Hearing Parker apologize swarmed him with guilt, she hadn't done anything wrong and he hadn't meant to make her feel responsible for any of the trouble they had been dragged into.

"How 'bout after I change we order some pizza?" Before he even made to move she was by his side and offering help.

He'd never ask but he wouldn't turn it down either.
It was hard for Parker to interact with others and he wouldn't have Sophie on him for postponing the girls progress.
Maybe he'd convince her to hang out in the bedroom with him, he could prop up his leg that way and keep her from remembering about his damn meds.
They left him drowsy and he usually drifted off and right now he'd preffer to get run over again than fall back to sleep and with it nightmares.

E/N: So a bit music-ee which isn't usually my style but I figured I'd give you guys a puzzle.
Those songs weren't picked by my liking of them but for the story they tell and if you're familiar with them or read a little bit more into the lyrics you might find some of Eliot's back story hidden and even some spoilers for the upcoming chapters.
It's like the hidden image in the paper, Happy Hunting!