"I read the piece of paper, and I recognised the writing immediately as Katelyn's. It said: I'm sorry Parker, but we can't stay here any longer. We would take you with us, but Mother needs some one to look after her. You're her favourite, she won't hurt you in any way. If you wish to find us after reading this, go to the place when we were all five."
Blake frowned, now curious. "What place would that be?"
"It's the wheat fields at Crystal Falls. Whenever we went there, we always felt like we were five."
Blake studied Parker a moment– the memories were all poking at him, begging him to get over his grudge.
"Just come in," he sighed, stepping aside.
She looked at him thankfully and then walked in, the warmth of the house heating her up. She looked around the familiar home: it had barely changed.
Blake went to sit by the TV which now stood dark and silent. Crossing his legs over one another he settled himself deep into the couch. "Come on over. So, you know where to look. What are you going to do with that?"
"I guess I'll drive there," She replied, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. "I don't even know why I came to see you: it wasn't on my plan."
She'd beaten him to the question. He shook his head, staring down at his intertwined hands. "I don't know what to tell you, Parker," he said after a considering pause. "We didn't really leave on good terms."
"I know," Parker said, looking down at her own hands. Then she looked up. "I was so focused on finding my sisters that I forgot to be good to you. I'm sorry about that."
(oh my god I'm so sorry, I'm in such a weird place right now I'm struggling to keep up)
Blake stayed silent, refraining from looking up into Parker's eyes. "I'm guessing it'll be dangerous, again."
"I don't know if it will be dangerous, but I can't do it alone." She sighed. "You're the only one that I trust with this."
Blake laughed a bitter, angry chuckle. "You trust me now, do you? Because it didn't seem like it when you cast me aside for trying to protect you from yourself."
"Well I'm sorry if I felt like my sisters were more important than my school work," Parker shot back, feeling anger rising. She took a deep breath. "Look. This took a lot of effort for me to come back here. Mum is sick, you know that. It broke my heart to leave her in the care of a hospital nurse, rather than in out house."
He fell silent. "Fine. Point taken." His hands were still tangled, now holding on so tight they were white. He sat a good couple feet from Parker and yet, the friction between them was overflowing and palpable.
"What am I supposed to do to help you?"
She looked up at Noah, trying to catch his eye. "I…don't really know. I know that have to do this, and I don't know what it's going to involve. But I have a feeling that I'm going to need you with me."
"You…" Blake started weakly. His heart wanted this, wanted to be with Parker and fix their relationship; but she'd hurt him, hurt him deeply, and he hadn't scarred over.
Now she was here, sitting in front of him. Asking for his help. "You're lucky I don't have anything better to do."
An overwhelming feeling came over Parker, and she felt compelled to hug him. So she did. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her head on his chest. She didn't want anything from it. She just wanted to feel his presence.
Blake stiffened under the hug, and it took him a second to let it happen and hug her back.
He set his chin on her head, exhaling. "Welcome back," he muttered.
This feels nice. Was the immediate thought to pass through Parker's mind. It was just like how they used to be. Abi and Blake. So simple yet so delicate.
Blake gently pulled away. "Well. Let's get some sleep before we set off tomorrow then." He ruffled his own hair, looking around at the floor and blushing with joy. "Food?" he asked finally.
She saw the blush on Blake's cheeks, and one slowly crept onto her own. "Yeah, food would be nice." She sighed.
He nodded, turning his back to her as he headed into the kitchen. "Alright. What do you want?"
"Um, I wouldn't mind something healthy?" She replied, mostly in a question.
Blake paused, let out a chuckle, then proceeded to the kitchen. He pulled out tomatoes, avocados, onions and feta and started on a salad.
Parker pulled out her phone, putting the photo she took of the note up on her screen. She studied it.