UNCONDITIONALLY YOURS

I want them to know // 31

We stepped back and admired our spray painting. It was no work of art, but certainly suitable. In fact, seeing it on that huge, empty wall that many people would probably walk by felt amazing. And knowing I had done that with Parker, but no one ever know it was us, gave me a stronger sense of freedom I had felt in so long. The message was perfect, and I think it expressed mine and Parker's feelings substantially. I read what we had spray painted out loud.

"David Atkinson is an asshole!"

We both began to chuckle with uncontrollable surges of laughter, mainly in the sheer amusement of knowing this would be on the wall.

"It really is perfect, isn't it?" Parker said admiring the wall and we began cracking up with laughter again. We then heard a shout form over to our right and we snapped our heads around.

"Oi! You can't spray paint!" A police officer shone his torch on us. Shoot. That was the one downside to our marvellous plan; it was illegal. Parker hesitated for a moment and looked back at me flashing me a guilty look. If we were arrested, that would be it for my father not finding out. And imagine the papers if it went public that David Atkinson's own daughter spray painted that he was an asshole illegally. Parker was reluctantly about to step forward when I realised something. We still had our masks on.

Like instinct, and without even thinking, I grabbed Parkers arm and dragged him away as I began to run. He quickly followed my lead, and we legged it together. Somehow, as we continued to try and put some distance between us and policeman, we began laughing together again. First, I snickered a little, but he soon joined in until our snickers became full-on laughter. Parker suddenly caught my shoulder and he grabbed me over into an alleyway.

"Shhhhhh." He hushed quietly and he put his hand on my mouth to stop me from talking. We turned around to look out back as where we were being chased. The officer was still there, scouring around for us.

"Where to now?" I whispered. He started walking further into the darkness and I hesitantly took and couple of steps to follow him.

"Don't worry." He murmured and he took my hand into his squeezing it. "I know a place." He looked into my eyes and that was all the reassurance I could need or hope for.

We came to a small and rusty ladder when Parker let go of my hand an began to climb it. Where on earth could we be going up a ladder? I sighed because I knew I should bear with him. Every time I judged too fast or underestimated him it only ever backfired, so I figured that was something I should learn from. I clasped the cold metal tightly and followed him to the top, only to be pleasantly surprised once again.

We had come to a small, flat roof top with railing around the edge. It was lit with a warm, orange glow by lanterns that were dotted all across the floor. In the middle was a rug and cushions, all brightly coloured and cosy looking. It was like a scene from a movie, and along with the gentle moonlight and the bright stars, it was truly perfect.

"Wow... Oh my goodness wow. Parker, did you do this?" I asked still astonished at how beautiful is was and how sweet of him to bring me there.

"Yeah." He mentioned casually and shrugged it off. It was strange how Parker could be such a strange and extreme balance between cocky and modest. They were such contrasting traits, yet he had mastered and demonstrated both of them. He acted cocky sometimes, but it was only part of his jokey personality and in reality, Parker Jones desired zero credit for everything amazing he did. With the amount of girls in the world that were practically falling at his knees, he must have known he was attractive, but he would never boast and brag about the real things. The things like his ability to care for people, to be strong, to be kind, to support me, to make me feel better when no one else could, to be perceptive, to be understanding, to be honest, and the list could truly go on forever. But it was my job to show him just how amazing he was and to let him know I appreciated him more than words could describe.