The Marine I Know

Chapter 21

"You're the perfect girl for him." Beckett starts, "even though I've known the guy for three years, I can tell whether or not someone is worthy of his attention. You're smart, funny, gorgeous as hell, "I blush and look down to hide my cheeks hopefully, "but you sure made an impression on him. We just met, and right away we knew we were going to get along. Marine training does that, but it was something we had in common, all four of us. After some downtime, we wanted to get to know our fellow friend and sure enough, pulled out a picture from his wallet and showed it to us. You were smiling in the selfie, Parker included, with his dorky black-rimmed glasses. You guys looked to be freshman. He would tell us all the things he fell in love with about you." I look up at him, and he smiles at me, "all I ask is you don't go breaking his heart, it won't be pretty, but the same goes for you. If he hurts you, now I'll go kick his butt."

"I won't." I smile, "thank you." I reach up to kiss him on the cheek and then let go of his embrace to head towards the table, looking for Parker. He's at the table and looks to be drinking apple cider, staring off into space. He sees me coming and puts the drink down on the table before standing up. I walk straight up to him, wrap my hands on either side of his face, and kiss him on the lips. We pull away from each other, and I smile.

"Not that I minded it, but what was that for?" He asks me. I slide my hands down his arms into his hands, and I look him straight in the eyes with a smile on my face. "Come on, let's go outside for some fresh air." I nod in agreement as he grabs his drink, hat, jacket, and we hit the drink table for water before finding a beautiful spot outside away from all the noise. The back patio off the gym was decked out in string lights, giving the place a romantic feel. Parker leads me to a clean bench, so our outfits don't get ruined, and we sit down.

"Beckett told me you talked about me a lot." I smile at him, and he smirks.

"I thought for sure they were going to disown me, but Beckett could see the happiness in my eyes when I talked about you." He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out his wallet, then the picture before handing it to me. I take it, and I look at it. It was us goofing off at my house when my mom made us lemonade and cake. I smile at that thought. Funny how I don't remember that picture being taken. I give Parker back the picture, but he already has another one in his hand. I swap him and look at the other one. We were at the school, and most likely one of our friends took the silly picture. I was smiling at the camera and I thought Parker was too, except he seemed more interested in me. "You got me through boot camp. Your smiling face, even if I didn't leave on the best of terms was something I looked forward to seeing." I look at him, blue eyes shining at me through his black-rimmed glasses.

"He even gave me the speech on kicking my tail if I hurt you, but also since he's dating my best friend, he won't be afraid to kick yours if you hurt me." He gestures for me to move closer and I do, leaning into his side as we wraps his arm around me. I pull out the necklace that was half the heart belonging to Parker. He sees what I'm doing and does the same. His is the guy version of my necklace, and we put the two pieces together, smiling when they fit together perfectly. "Quentin gave me this the night you left. We were at Lilly's house, and the boys went to get us ice cream since I was kinda drowning my sorrows. A movie, friends, and ice cream helped, but Quentin gave me this, saying that you had the other half of it and it was for me to keep up hope that you would come back."

"He's the one who came up with that idea. I didn't want you to think that I was walking out on you after I did that once." He mentions. A cool breeze causes me to shiver, and Parker sees this and drapes his jacket around my shoulders. "Stick your arms through the sleeves." I do as he says and right of the bat, my arms are hiding in the sleeves, then we trail back to the conversation beforehand.

"You sought me out as a way to surprise me, and even when I gave you the cold shoulder, you never left me." I smile as he leans forward to kiss me, and I put my hand on the back of his neck, deepening the kiss when someone clears their throat. Parker and I pull apart, tightening his grip on my shoulder protectively. It was Beckett with a smirk on his face.

"They're about to announce prom king and queen." He says.

"We aren't running for it," I say. Beckett shrugs and heads back inside. I look to Parker, and he does the same thing Beckett did before standing up and offering me his hand, then tucking my arm in his elbow as we walk back inside the gym. There was a crowd of people gathered around the DJ booth, anticipating the results.

"This candidate has seen the worst, and dealing with bullying hasn't helped with much. She's always striving to achieve her grades, but is remotely shy." My hands start to shake, and I tremble all over, anxiety kicking in.

"Are you okay?" Parker whispers in my ear.

"No, I think they're talking about me." Parker maneuvers himself so I'm laying my head on his chest as he's making comforting gestures on my back and I feel relaxed.

"Give it up for this year's prom queen, Belle Mitchell!"