It was a few days before her sixteen birthday and Debbie had wanted nothing more then to spend a day with Miss Parker, but she had gone an extra step and let Debbie spend the weekend with her.

They had done some shopping and other girly things, and for the first time in a while Miss Parker could set aside almost all thoughts of the Centre to the back of her mind. At lest until she dropped Debbie off at her home and returned to an empty house she couldn’t stand the silence.

So Miss Parker turned on her cd player not bothering to wait for it to start she went to her bedroom to change as the first song began to play she realized that Debbie had left one of her cd’s in the player she decided to change it when she was done.

But before she even got to enter her room Parker heard a noise from the living room, silently grabbing her spare gun from the hall closet then cautiously made her way back. 

“Jarod your hurt?” She said shocked to see him standing with what looked like a bullet wound to his right shoulder.

“She wasn’t supposed to be there ” he whispered sadly.

“Jarod who wasn’t suppose to be there, tell me what happened?” concern Parker lowered her gun and placed it on the small table next to her.

She realized that something worst then being shot had happen to Jarod, when he didn’t notice that she had done something so out of character.

“Elise she was a friend of mind, we meet through a previous Pretend I did. She called me up because her fiancé Adam had been killed buy a guy named Jeff. Because he witness him kill a cop in cold blood and made it look like Adam had done it then shot him in ‘self defense’” his voice flat and emotionless. 

Jarod took a deep breathe and paused a second to reflect on what had happened just a few hours ago then continued.

“Elise must have followed me because just as I was about to push the button that would open the trap door he was standing on, she stepped out of the shadows which cause him to point the gun from me to her. Elise had a gun aimed at his head and said that only in death would he get the punishment that he truly deserved. So I hit the button but not before he fired which hit her in the chest I ran to her not giving Jeff a second thought”

Miss Parker took a small timid step forward when she noticed him sway a little, while Jarod took a caution step back not ready for her to be near.

“As I sat there cradling her in my arms she told me that at lest in the after life they’d be together. Jeff managed to escape the trap and as I tried to get up he shot me in the shoulder. I recover quickly and shot him in the leg as he ran away, Jeff fell and the gun flew out of his hand. I managed to get to him before he could get to the gun and dragged him back to the trap, called the police and drove straight here to you” 

“Jarod why.. why did you…”

“Because I can’t... I can’t go on like this anymore I.. I love you Parker and I’d rather have you kill me right now for saying that to you then spend the rest of my life keeping it to myself, so do what you want with me for my life as well as my heart lies in your hands” he confesses meekly.  

The cd which they had forgotten about began to play a new song, both unsure of what the next move would be stood there in an uneasy stance.

Lost and broken,
Hopeless and lonely.
Smiling on the outside,
and hurt beneath my skin.

My eyes are fading,
My soul is bleeding.
I'll try to make it seem okay,
But my faith is wearing thin.

So help me heal these wounds,
They've been open for way too long.
Help me fill this soul,
Even though this is not your fault,

That I'm open,
And I'm bleeding,
All over your brand new rug.
And I need someone to help me sew them up.

It was then that Parker realized they both had wounds to heal, both emotional and physical and only together would they heal. Unsure of what she was about to say but knew that whatever it was, it would be coming straight from her heart and that’s all that mattered.

So taking a deep breath and a tentative step forward she let her voice say the words her heart longed to say but never truly knew it till now.

“Jarod I… I love you guess I was always in love with you from the moment we became childhood friends. But certain things happened to us and along the way my heart had built a wall around itself, I had let it down partly for Thomas. But it has never truly been down till now” holding back tears that threatened to fall, yet a single tear fell down her cheek.

Miss Parker had finally done it, she had laid her cards and her heart on the table for all to see. Now she stood there mere feet away from the man whom she confessed her love for and waited for his response.   

Jarod took a moment after all had been said and bridged the space between them by pulling her into a loving embrace, glanced into her eyes for a mere moment then leaned in for the most passionate filled and longed for kiss that both had never felt before and knew that they would NEVER feel from another.

After attending to Jarod’s wound and packing a few things for herself, they both slipped away into the night knowing as long as they were together that they have already won.