"You can do this"
"I don't think I can"
"Well you're wrong, because you can, and if things go wrong - not that they're going to - I'll be here for you, and if you need to be alone with them, then I can go"
Parker took a deep breath, almost to stop him from telling Sloane he loved her, because it wasn't the right time "Okay" He raised his knuckles, rapping on the door a few times before flinching back like he had been burned.
When it opened, Parker's mother stood, disbelieving of the sight infront of her.
The woman's eyes instantly teared up as she recognised the visitor as her son, the resistance to reach out to him clear in her face.
"P-parker" She spoke shakily, biting her lip as it quivered.
"Hi, mum" Parker rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
At the sound of the man who had run away more than a year ago calling her his mother, she burst out into sobs, wrapping her arms around the boy.
Parker froze for a second at her instant affection, before hugging his mother back.
Sloane blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes at the sight of the two, remembering her mother. Another painful tug reached her heart at the sound of another sob.
Bianca pulled back from her son, wiping her eyes and smiling as she cupped his face in her hands.
"Would you like to come inside, honey?" Bianca asked softly, the fear of rejection running through her mind.
She even feared that she was dreaming, since she often thought about her son finally coming back home.
Parker smiled at the much shorter woman, nodding "I would love t-"
"Who's this?" Bianca asked excitedly as she finally noticed Sloane who was standing a little behind Parker.
Parker grinned to the girl, lacing his fingers with hers "Sloane Mathews. She's my girlfriend" He said proudly as Sloane blushed a light shade of pink.
Bianca beamed at Sloane before attacking her in a bear hug "It's so lovely to meet you!" She told the poor girl that was now being suffocated... nicely?
When Bianca pulled away, she stared into the eyes of the girl she hoped would be her future daughter-in-law, seeing exactly what Parker saw in her.
That was something Bianca could see about people. She could see what the people who loved them could.
And she could see that her son was head over heels for Sloane.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Lawson"
Bianca waved a hand dismissively "You might as well just call me 'mum'"
Parker's eyes widened as both his and Sloane's cheeks flushed "Mum! Weird!" He scolded as Bianca laughed.
She had most certainly missed messing with the poor child.
"It's just Bianca, dear" Bianca winked, her challenge of embarrassing her son completed "I hope you would be able to stay for dinner, the both of you. I'm sure Parker's father would love to meet you as well"
Parker's heart dropped ever so slightly "Is Anya not home?"
Bianca shook her head "She'll be home in an hour. She's hanging out with her friend Yasmine"
Sloane reached for Parker's hand again, sensing his disappointment.
As much as he was here to see his whole family again, he had made a promise to a young girl long ago that he was determined to keep, and was almost desperate to not hold onto it any longer.
It was as if the x on his heart burned more as the days went by, and he knew it wouldn't stop, no matter how he would try to avoid it.
"Well, come in dear. William will be in the study, I'll get him"
The air was odd, much like no one knew exactly how to act in this situation.
Parker was trying his best to make sure that Sloane wasn't uncomfortable, and Bianca was trying her best to make it feel as if he hadn't left, even though she knew exactly how much needed to be discussed.
She couldn't help but to want to hold it back for a little while and just be a family again.
Sloane looked up at Parker, attempting to read his emotions and help him through whatever way he needed.
"This is going to sound so dumb," Sloane started, rubbing the back of Parker's hand reassuringly with her thumb "But are you okay?"
Parker felt his lips curl into a smile, something Sloane could do no matter how he felt "I have no idea"
Sloane raised an eyebrow, and opener her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of a man clearing his throat.
"Parker" William, Parker's father, nodded in acknowledgement
"Sir" Parker nodded back.
"For fuck's sake, William, don't be a prick!" Bianca scolded the man, making Parker's eyebrows raised and cause Sloane to have to stifle a laugh.
"For fuck's sake, Parker, don't be a prick" Sloane repeated in a soft voice to Parker, quiet enough so only he could hear it.
She released his hand, urging him to get some kind of closure with his father.
Parker stood across from the man, almost a reflection of an older him, and held his hand out.
"I think we've both been shit enough to understand that handshakes don't work" William stated, before embracing his son in a hug.
Sloane bit her lip in an attempt to hold back her smile, but she couldn't, seeing how Bianca was almost doing a happy dance.
William and Parker broke from their embrace, the girl who stood watching catching the older man's attention "And who's this? Girlfriend?"
"Wife, actually" Sloane answered, her quick wit getting the better if her. She covered her mouth, eyes wide "I'm sorry, that was totally inappropriate-"
"I understand why you like her" Bianca laughed "She's awesome"
"Mum, don't flirt with my girlfriend"
Bianca raised her hands in surrender, "alright, bugger off. I was not"
William smiled to Bianca, his eyes showing she certain love that could never be feigned. Parker tended to smile at Sloane the same way.
"Dinner will be ready in an hour and a bit, so if you would like to go to your room, that's fine"
Bianca wanted to speak of everything that had happened in the last year, but decided it would be best if she let Parker decide when to do that.
She didn't want him to run away again.
After sharing an inaudible conversation with Sloane to find her opinion, Parker nodded "Sure"
The two walked hand in hand up the stairs and down the hall to Parker's old room.
He opened the door, half expecting a mess to only be greeted with a cleaner version of the room he had left.
The two dropped their hold of each other as Parker inspected the room.
He ran his fingers across the smooth surface of the desk, suprised when he found there was no dust.
Sloane instantly flopped down onto his bed, uncaring of the fact that the action made her shirt ride up past her bellybutton.
Though she was his girlfriend, and it was just her stomach, Parker felt as if he shouldn't look.
She was his delicate China that he couldn't break under any circumstances.
"Are you okay, babe?" Sloane asked, even though she knew it would be frustrating that she continuously asked.
Since it was her idea to come here, she needed to make sure he was at least a bit okay.
Parker's lips turned into a smirk as he looked over to Sloane, sitting cross-legged on his old bed.
He loved it when she called him their nicknames.
He walked over to the edge of it, brushing Sloane's hair and moving her head slightly closer so he could kiss it "I'm okay as long as you stay by my side"
Sloane subconsciously closed her eyes and leant into his delicate touch, adoring the feeling of his hand on her cheek.
Parker ducked down to her face level, placing a chaste kiss against her lips before giving her a reassuring smile.
The touch was too short for the two, however, leasing Parker to kiss her again, this time, significantly longer.
As Sloane felt Parker invest more in the kiss, she stopped it, completely flustered as her heart raced.
"You're such a flirt"
"You like it"
He grinned pulling her down to his chest as he rested his head against his pillow.
Sloane reached out for the photo on his bed side table, a smile on her lips "Is this Sam?"
Even having been told about Sam a while ago, Sloane had never had a face to match with the name.
Sam was beautiful, and had an incredible family, but Sloane knew how the pressure could get to a person all too well.
As Parker saw that photo once again, he was reminded of the painful fact that Samantha Lawson, had indeed, killed herself.
And for so many years, he felt he was the one to blame.
Until he had been convinced other wise by a girl who's stunning hazel eyes told him everything he had ever needed to hear.
And as he hour clocked by, and he sat with his family for the first time in a bit more than a year, next to the girl he had most definitely fallen in love with, he felt the world no longer on his shoulders, the tattoo on his chest no longer burning through to his heart.
Because he had kept his promise. He had come back. He had seen the young girl again, and had planned on seeing her many more times after that.
Even so, there was a discussion that needed to be had.
And as they finished dinner, he parted ways with the girl he loved, and the girl who's promise he had finally kept, as he stepped into the office he remembered to clearly from a year ago.
And the discussion began.
"The company was always Sam's thing. She was always ready for that kind of commitment to something, and then she died, and I understand that I was next, but it wasn't me, and I didn't know how to say it without disappointing you. Then I disappointed you. And Anya" Parker spoke solemnly.
William shook his head, in a way to tell his son that he was wrong for believing that anything he had done was incorrect "We should have known better than to put pressure on you, make you feel like you had to be the one to change. If you didn't want to, we should have given you that option, and we understand that now. Things have changed in the past year"
Parker felt his lips curl into a smile as he thought about Sloane.
"You really care for that girl, don't you?" William felt himself smile at the happiness he recognised on his son's face.
"Sloane's the reason I'm here, actually" Parker admitted, rubbing the back of his neck "I couldn't have come here without her, not for a longer time"
"I know it's new, and you're young, but I still feel I should ask" There was a pause lingering where a question should be as Parker stared into the eyes for his father "Is she the girl you see yourself marrying?"
He though about the day he first texted her, the anger bubbling through his system, to the day he met her, completely serene with her lips against his.
He smiled, meeting his parent's watchful gaze.
"Yeah. She is"
*
The last chapter is next and i'm low-key devastated lmao.
vote, comment and share my lovelies!
- sage xx