The Reality of Growing Up//Wattys 2k16

☠parker☠

chapter 15: ☠parker☠

published: 7.19.16

 As soon as Nico says those words, the tension in the air rises like dough baking in an oven. Blake is stiff and he has on a fearful expression. I've never seen him so angry and betrayed before.

"Let's get out of here," Cora suddenly says, trying to nudge her brother towards the direction of the car.

The way Cora is handling the whole situation makes me feel a little jealous. Elena and I had always been close, but Cora and Blake? They're basically the same person; they always understand each other and have these silent conversations with their eyes that nobody can interpret besides them.

Blake unfreezes and shakes his head. "No. I'm staying," he decides, crossing his arm.

Maeryn steps in front of him and lets out a disgusted noise. "Nico, you're the biggest asshole in Kendall. How could you do this?" she demands.

She continues on yelling at him until Blake puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head, signalling for her to stop. "It's fine, Maeryn. He's right anyways. No use in pretending otherwise."

Luke sputters from the sidelines and all of me is hoping that he doesn't trip up and cause everything to suddenly explode, even though it already kind of has. "Wait dude...you're..." he lets his unasked question linger in the air.

"I'm gay," Blake shouts, throwing his hands up. "I like guys. So say whatever. I don't give a shit anymore." But there's a gleam in Blake's eyes. Despite the negativity of the situation, the guy seems a lot more...relaxed. Open. Like the weight of the universe has just been lifted from his shoulders.

I clap Blake on the shoulder, to show him my support. "Proud of you, man," I say.

Blake shrugs me off. "Just because I like guys doesn't mean you all should treat me any different. It's just a preference."

Cora nods, understanding. "Yeah. Nobody better treat him different," she adds, glaring around at everyone.

Nico is just watching the whole scene with a smirk that I want to slap off his face. The guy just pisses me off. "Well, this was all very sweet," he spoke slowly.

"We need to talk," Blake says to him, dragging him by the shirt inside one of the buildings.

None of us really know what to do after the two of them leave to chat. I mean, how are we supposed to act?

I glance at Maeryn and see she's doing the same thing. She gives me a small smile and in that second, it's like she's given me the whole world.

After our horrendous time in New York and the way I acted, I'm glad she's even forgiven me. The truth is, seeing Elena and my dad and all the people at the hotel made me go back to old Parker. The one I spent most of the summer trying to abolish. The snappy one who treated everyone who worked for me like shit.

Leaving Maeryn at the shop with no way to get back to the hotel is the worst part of it. If there was a time machine and I only had one use of it, I would definitely use it to at least make sure she got back safely.

Before the charity event was even half over, I sprinted out the doors and back to the hotel to see if Maeryn had made it back. But when I got there, all her things were gone and so was she. There was an awful, hollow feeling in my chest when I realized that she left. I didn't even know how she left. Jealousy started gnawing at my brain when I made the assumption that Maeryn had called Luke or someone from Kendall. But the reasonable part of me knew that whatever happened next in our relationship would be because of me.