The Marine I Know

Chapter 14

Parker's P.O.V

How much will you believe me when I say the wind spoke to us. Well, it did, and it left us with matching facial expressions.

"What just happened?" I ask.

"That was weird, but I loved it." She says, smiling with tears in her eyes. I wrap her up in a hug before she starts crying. "I heard my dads voice. That means so much to me." I rub her back.

"Let's go do something, ok?" She nods, and I pick her up bridal style and carry her to the truck. She lays her head on my shoulder, and I can feel her tears on my shirt, soaking through.

"He's not coming back is he?" She asks. I open the passenger side door and set her down on the seat.

"He's always gonna be with you, love." I pull out the dog tags from under her shirt, and I place her hand over mine, holding the tags. "Your dad is always with you. These prove it." I hear a car drive past and stop.

"Well well, Parker what are you doing?" Brittney asks, walking behind me and putting her hands on my shoulders. I shrug her off.

"Comforting Belle. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be." I walk around to the driver side of the truck and get in, making sure Belle is buckled in before I drive off.

Belle's P.O.V

Having Brittney see me in my current state wasn't exactly what I had in mind for today.

"How did she find me? Even worse she'll find out about my dad and who knows what she's going to do next." I start crying. Great, I'm a sobbing wreck, and Parker doesn't need to see me like this. He pulls over, unbuckles and leans over to look me in the eyes.

"Belle, you're the best thing to happen to me. Yes, I made a terrible mistake, but all I want is to ask you for forgiveness."

"Parker, you're the best thing to happen to me since my father died. I forgive you. I-" Crap was I actually going to say it? My heart flutters when he is near, and I don't know what to feel. I don't have anyone I can talk to.

"Belle, ever since I saw you sitting next to me during freshman orientation, I was intrigued. Shy, beautiful, feisty." He says, holding his arms out and I slide over to him to lay my head on his chest with his arms around me, tightly. "I love you, Belle. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"W-what?" I reply, shocked. For some reason, I have a weird feeling, thinking that he's only doing this because he's sorry for me.

"Belle, I can read you like an open book. I love you for you. I don't care about your past, all I want is for you to be happy, and I feel as if I can be that person." I start crying and worry automatically crosses Parker's face. "What's wrong?"

"Parker, I would love to be your girlfriend." I smile through the tears as his face lights up, and he leans down to kiss me on the lips. I wrap my arms around his neck, leaning into the kiss. A phone rings, causing us to break apart. Parker picks up his phone to answer it, and his face goes white.

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir." He says, hanging up the phone call. "Of course, something good happens to me, and then I get called to serve." What he said finally gets through my head.

"Oh, Parker." I lean my head on his chest, and he wraps his arms around me, giving me a sense of safety.

"Relax there, baby girl. You won't lose me that easy." He says, smiling. I can see the twinkle in his eye. "It's only for six months, though. We'll miss school, but I always wanted to video chat with my girl." I smile into his chest as Parker starts the truck. I scoot over back into the passenger seat, but he grabs my arm. "I'll be fine with you next to me." I move back over till Parker has his arm around my shoulders and the other on the steering wheel as we pull back into traffic.

"I'm sorry. I'm just scared." I whisper after a few moments of quiet, country music playing through the radio.

"Hey, no need to be scared. Hell, you're my first girlfriend, and I'm terrified that I'll screw everything up and lose possibly the best thing in my life." I look over at him and his physique. He's much too handsome to not have girlfriends before me, is he?

"You never been with someone?"

"Nope, none of the ladies were my type. Then you strolled along into the auditorium freshman year." I smile as we pull up to my house, and I kiss Parker on the cheek before getting to the door. The door suddenly opens, and I see Parker with a smile on his face, holding his hand out for me to take. I take his hand as he helps me out of the truck and wraps his more substantial hand around my smaller hand.

"It's about time, Parker." A voice behind us has Parker tensing and pushing me behind him before laughing.

"Don't you know not to scare a marine." Parker jokes, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. Quentin, Beckett, and Phoenix make an appearance, each having a goofy smile on their face.

"Damn Parker looks like you are a lucky son of a gun," Quentin says, making his way towards me. "Hey pretty lady, say you ditch Parker here and date me." I laugh, hiding my face in Parker's side as Quentin starts laughing.

"I'm not leaving Parker." I glance up at him to see him already looking down at me with a smile on his face, but I ruin the moment with a yawn, and he starts chuckling.

"Sorry guys, but princesses need their beauty sleep," Parker says, wrapping my body up in his arms as I fall asleep on his shoulder.

"Okay, sweet dreams, Belle."