Dandelion- Jess Mariano

♡Chapter 45: Separated♡

"I missed this." Jess said quietly, as he runs his fingers through Parker's hair. Parker smiled at him as she leans against his chest. They were sitting together on her dorm bed, and Jess was laying back against her headboard as she studied.

Parker put down her pencil, closing her eyes to savor the moment with him. "I don't want this to end." She says, and he nods. "But you know this can't last forever." She says, and his soft smile fades a bit.

She sits up and turns a bit to look at him, as he looks down a bit, avoiding her eyes. "Jess, I'm serious, it's not like you can stay at my dorm, and I don't even know where in New York you're staying right now." She says.

"It's an apartment in the city, it's not the nicest place but it'll do." Jess says, and Parker nods, lifting his chin to look at him in the eyes.

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion, wondering what the change in the atmosphere meant. "I love you." Parker says, and Jess smiled back at her. "Don't disappear this time, okay?" She asks, and he nods, before using the hand already holding his chin to lean in and kiss him.

Jess wraps his arm around her waist pulling her closer until she was sitting on his lap. The world seemed to fade away as they kissed, finally feeling as though their lives were falling into line with eachother.

Jess's hands started to fiddle with the lower edge of Parker's shirt, but Parker soon gets impatient and takes her shirt off in one swift movement before quickly removing his too. She goes back to kissing him but then the door slams open, and Elijah walks in, rambling about some teacher who fell asleep, not noticing Parker and Jess, scrambling to put their shirts back on.

Suddenly, he turns around, to hand Parker a book and his eyes widen, but being Elijah, immediately just goes for a joke instead. "Y'know, we have a do not disturb sign for a reason." He says and she laughs, glad he wasn't upset. "So.. you must be Jess." Elijah says, and Jess, now fully clothed, nods.

Jess stands to greet him, putting a hand out. "Great to finally meet you, man." Elijah says. "I'm Elijah, Parker's roommate." He takes his hand in the handshake, seemingly being nice. But as Jess tries to pull away, Elijah's grip tightens a bit, and Jess's eyes widen.

"Elijah?" Parker asks, confused at his quick change in tone.

"Listen. She's my best friend. You break her heart again and I will end you, got it?" Elijah says, and being taller than Jess, he looked very intimidating and a bit scary. Jess nods, and Elijah's entire demeanor changes, and he smiles widely. "Great! So good to meet you." He says.

Parker rolls her eyes at him, and Elijah shrugs innocently as though he didn't do anything. "Don't you have class in a few minutes?" Parker asks him, and he nods, grabbing his bag off his bed.

"Yep! I'll see you in pathology later, right?" He asks as he walks out the door. Parker nods, and he turns back to Jess with a smile. "Good to meet you." He says, before leaving. Jess turns back to Parker with a inquisitive look on his face.

Parker shrugs, gesturing for Jess to sit back down next to her on the bed. "He's just overprotective, don't worry about it." She says, and he nods, tucking her back into his chest in a hug, savoring the time they have together.

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Parker stretches as she wakes up, looking over at the clock on her bedside table. Sighing in relief as she realizes she still has some time before class, she sits up, looking around for Jess.

They had fallen asleep together after Elijah left, snuggled close. Looking around, she doesn't see him anywhere, so she walks over to the door, looking into the main area.

In a moment of panic, she worries that he left again. Worried that he waited for her to sleep and then snuck out. Looking into the living room, she sees Caitlyn on the couch, reading a textbook.

"Hey, have you seen Jess?" She asks, disrupting her focus. Luckily, Caitlyn doesn't seem to mind.

Smiling back at her, she nods. "Yeah I think he went outside, something about a phone call." She says. Parker nods to her in thanks, but before she turns around, Caitlyn spoke again. "He's hot, but if even Elijah is that worried, be careful, okay?" She asks, and Parker nods.

They had never gotten close or had the chance to connect, but that small sentence had cemented their small friendship into place. "I will be." Parker says, before going out the door.

Looking out the door, she sees Jess, talking animatedly on the phone. "Luke, I'm handling it!" He says, and he puts Luke on speaker as he rifles through his bag.

"Jess, explain to me why I got a call from some sketchy sounding guy telling me you owed him rent!" Luke said, sounding more and more impatient. In the background, Parker hears him yell again, but this time it was not directed at Jess. "No Taylor! I will not pitch in to buy you horses for your carriage!"

"Look. I'll get him the rent. I promise." Jess says, sounding tired and slightly desperate. "He's not a bad guy, as long as I get him the rent he needs." He adds.

Luke was silent for a moment, seemingly assessing what Jess had said. "Fine. Just don't get yourself into any bad situation, okay?" Luke says, and Jess agrees, before they say a cordial goodbye, hanging up.

"Is everything ok?" Parker asks, and Jess jumps, only now realizing she was there. He nods, dismissing her question. "Do you need money? I could give you some if you need it." She says, trying to help.

Jess immediately shook his head, looking kind of defensive. "No way, I'm not taking your money." He says. Parker knew he had an issue with letting people help him, but she hoped he would be open minded. "I don't take charity." He claims.

Parker immediately tries to defend her offer, wanting to avoid an argument right before he has to leave. "It would be a loan, not charity." She tries to explain, but Jess was having none of it.

"No. Just, no." He says with a tone of finality. "Please just drop it, I'll figure it out." He says, and Parker, knowing when to stop pressuring him, nodded. "Thanks. My ride is here." He says, looking at the car that has just pulled up, waiting at the curb.

Parker looked up at him, and it almost breaks Jess's heart to see her look so sad and heartbroken that he can't stay. They both know it would be impossible, but it doesn't make it hurt any less to say goodbye. "I wish you could stay." She says, and he pulls her into a tight hug, wanting to never have to let go.

"Me too baby, me too." He says, quietly whispering into her ear. "I love you." He says, and there is a pause, as Parker tries to speak through the lump in her throat as she holds back tears.

Finally, she pulls back, and he looks at her. In his eyes, she can see that his is worried that she hasn't said it back yet.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have-" he tries to say before she interrupts him.

"I love you too, idiot." She says, and he smirk, jokingly hitting her arm. They smile, and hug one more time before he goes to get into the car.

He waves at her through the window, both feeling as though a piece of them was being ripped away as they got farther and farther apart.