Leo's Gold

Seventeen | The Past

"Parker, please just stay home tonight." Sage looked up from where she was sitting, up at Parker who was putting on a shirt over his tattooed body. He finished putting the clothing on before he moved to the mirror and dressed to fix his hair and put on cologne. "Parker?" He groaned, placing the cologne bottle on the top of the dresser harshly.

"I told you I'm going out with the rest of the gang from the club, and that's final Sage." Sage rolled her eyes as Parker looked behind him at her. He raged with anger, walking over to her and grabbed her by the arm to pull her up to his height. "What did I tell you about rolling your eyes at me?"

Sage looked down, too annoyed to look him in the eyes. "Stop treating me like I'm your child." Parker rolled his eyes, pushing her down on the bed. "Then stop acting like one." Parker finished getting ready, and left the apartment without another word, leaving Sage to order food for herself while her boyfriend was out not thinking twice about her.

At four in the morning, he arrived back home. The bright light of the kitchen came on, letting Sage know he was home. She crawled out of bed, and opened the door to the bedroom to greet Parker. There he stood, drunk holding a whiskey bottle closely to him. "Hey." Sage whispered, biting her lip nervously. Parker looked up from the ground and squinted over towards her.

"Why the fuck are you still awake?"

Sage swallowed hard and shrugged her shoulders, "I was waiting for you to get home."

"Well next time don't wait up."

"Why does there have to be a next time, Parker? We do nothing together anymore, nothing."

Parker chuckled, sipping on the bottle of alcohol. "You know I like going out, by myself," he paused looking down, "sometimes I just don't want to include you."

Sage felt like crying, hearing his awful words. She knew he was being truthful, when he's drunk that's the only time he really is. "Okay, just please go to bed." Parker huffed with anger, throwing the bottle at the wall, letting it shatter into pieces. Sage jumped, cornering herself back into the bedroom slowly.

"You don't tell me what to fucking do Sage. You don't tell when to go to bed, I do." Sage sniffled, nodding her head.

"I'm going to bed." She whispered, letting herself to fall back in bed in a pool of tears.

----

Sage's family, Sage and Parker were all sat together at the fancy restaurant, Angelo's, having dinner and conversing amongst themselves. All was going well, until Sage's father spoke up. "So, Parker when do you think you'll be able to get a job for you and Sage?" Parker dropped his fork down on the plate creating a loud noise to echo through the room. Sage swallowed, knowing what was about to come.

"Excuse me?"

Her father cleared his throat, "well, you are going to support Sage, right? We can't always pay for everything you know."

"Dad I-"

"No, Sage," Parker spoke up harshly, "this is a conversation that doesn't include you." He looked over at Sage's father grimacing, "I don't plan on getting a job, 'sir'. What I do supports me and her just fine. And it's not my fault you have money growing out your ass so much you feel the need to give us any of that shit."

Sage's father scoffed, looking over at Sage, "why are you still with him? Honestly, honey, you can do a lot better than this lowlife." And that was it. That's what set off Parker like no other. In a split second, the table was flipped over, the food and drinks spilling everywhere. Parker threw a punch at her father, then her father threw a punch at Parker and by the time it was all finished, they both had bleeding noses and sweat all over their faces.

"Parker, lets go." Sage tried to pull on Parker, but he pushed her back, causing her to fall backwards. She gasped, looking up at him. His angry facial expression didn't falter, instead he just shrugged her off and left the restaurant with her family to help clean up the mess.

----

Sage knew exactly what had happened when she saw the clothes on the steps, the extra shoes and jacket. She knew that she had heard right when she heard moans and the bed hitting the wall when she walked upstairs. She knew that she had seen right, the scene of a random naked girl in bed with her boyfriend. She knew that Parker had done all this, yet she still felt something for him.

Even time and time again when he would push her, throw things at her and even come close to punching her in the face, she still felt something. She didn't know if it was love, but she knew one thing - she hated Parker. But she also knew she didn't dislike him either.

Parker was her disease, something she couldn't get rid of no matter how many times she tried. He was her escape out of the life she lived with her parents back at home, he was the one that showed her her the thrill of driving a motorcycle and hooking up at the beach late at night.

She didn't how she could forgive him, so she didn't. But she still let him captivate her mind at times, and he was still the cause of her tears most of the time. He was once her everything, so she couldn't let him become her nothing.