Take Me Home {Completed}

Chapter Seventy

Unedited

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"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you."

- Walt Whitman

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Chapter Seventy:

Once the waiter had left with their drink orders, Parker realized just how nervous he was. Throughout the whole day, he was calm and collected, excited even, about asking Nola out. He had everything planned - well, not everything, like the puppy which was not planned but worked out in his favor.

Now that he was there, at dinner, Parker could no longer remain calm and collect. On the inside, he felt as if everything would go wrong. Parker began to fear that he would say or do the wrong thing. More importantly, Parker did not want to remind Nola of Mitch. He wanted to show her what they could be — just the two of them.

However, Parker was scared that something would happen that would trigger Nola. He could imagine her shutting down after something happening and demanding to go back to the apartment.

Or, Parker considered, she would get upset about something and demand to go back to her parent's house.

All the ways the night could go wrong were formulating in Parker's mind. His panic state was no longer concealed within himself.

"Hey, Parks, are you okay?" Nola asked when she saw sweat forming on Parker's forehead. "Is it hot in here, to you? They suggested patio seating before, we can change out of these booths," Nola suggested. "It might be cooler outside."

Parker brought himself back to reality by blinking several times rapidly. "What?" Parker cleared his throat and shook his head in objection. "No, I'm fine." Parker placed his sweaty palms under the table and gave Nola a smile in order to convince her that he was all good.

Nola's eyebrow arched, not believing that Parker was okay. "You don't seem fine to me."

Instead of continuing the topic of conversation concerning himself, Parker decided to bring up something else. "You told me your parents were going out of the country, yesterday. Did they make it safely?" Parker asked, even though he felt sour about the topic of her parents.

They were horrible people, in his opinion. However, it was clear to Parker that Nola cared about her parents in varying degrees over the time he has really known her. Yet, Parker had noticed a shift in Nola after the hospital discussion she shared with them. She had been talking about her parent's more openly in the past couple of days and practically lit up at the conversation of them.

"Yes, my mother texted me this morning saying that they had landed." Nola could see that Parker did not understand her parents or their methods. "Parks, they are good people."

Parker nodded, "I know you believe that."

With a roll her eyes, Nola wondered if she could ever change his perception of her parents. Biting her bottom lip, she fought back an argument in her parent's defense.

It was not because Mitch had tried to teach her not argue that Nola held back her case, but that she didn't want to ruin the dinner. "So, what are we doing after here? You never told me," her eyes twinkled with curiosity.

Just then the waiter came over to them with a tray and proceeded to place their drinks down in front of them. "Here's some complimentary cheddar biscuits." The waiter informed them as he placed a steaming basket in the middle of the table. "Are you ready to order? Or, would you like another minute to look over the menu?"