Avenging You

Chapter 17

Parker

I immediately laid down on my bed as my thoughts began to overwhelm me. I didn’t want to give up and go to Hunter, but my child’s safety matters to me more than anything else. He would be taken care of… I know he would, but that doesn’t make it any easier. I hear my door open and I don’t even look at it because I know it’s going to be Ryan.

I feel him lie down beside me and he stares at the ceiling as well and says, “Promise me, you won’t go.”

I sigh, “Ryan…”

He cuts me off before I can say anything else and he says, “Promise me, Parker, and if you do go then you better freaking say goodbye this time.”

I turn towards him and he looks at me and I swear his blue eyes are darker with his anger. I take a deep breath and say, “I promise.”

He nods and looks back up at the ceiling and so do I. We fall into a comfortable silence with one another and he said, “You know, we’re going to do it this time, Parker.”

I sigh sadly, “How do you know, Ryan? We’ve lost a lot of people and I had my chance to kill him and I failed. I’m scared that this is going to be AJ’s life. Constantly hiding, on the run, and making plans to kill some evil psychopath and losing your loved ones in the process.”

He turns towards me, “That’s not going to happen. AJ is going to have a happy life, Par. He’s not going to have to worry about losing anyone.”

I whisper as I try to hold my tears back, “Did you ever think we would’ve lost as many as we did?”

“No,” He chokes out and I turn towards him and see the tears beginning to fall down his face. I huff, “I just… I don’t want this for him.”

“So, what are you going to do? Go back to Paris?”

I noticed his lip quivered when he said that and I say, “Ryan,” He doesn’t look at me and I softly touch his cheek and force him to face me, “I promised you, that I wasn’t going anywhere and I meant it. We need to figure out where Hunter is hiding. I need to get alone with just him and that’s how we will defeat him.”

“How is that ever going to happen without you giving yourself up, Parker? I’m not willing to let you leave. It’s not worth the risk. You can’t leave us… you can’t leave AJ.”

I nod, “I know.”

I put my focus on Ryan. His eyes are closed now, and his arms are behind his head and he seems pretty relaxed. I ask, “What if we had a memorial for them?”

He looks at me curiously, “Bella and Ashton?”

“Everyone… Nikki, Bella, Ashton, Lorelei, Travis… all the Originals who have lost their lives these past few years. Let’s have a time to focus on everyone we’ve lost and to get our heads back in the game. For them we have to push forward and continue on our path to defeat Hunter and get rid of the evil.”

He nods, “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good idea. It would be a nice refresh for all of us.”

I smile and stand up, “I’m going to go see Emma and Ava and see if they have some of the things we would need.”

He smiles at me and says, “I appreciate you, Parker. I’m glad you’re back.”

I grin, “Me too.”

I walk out of my room and walk past Skye and AJ this time making sure to give AJ a kiss on the head before getting back out of the bunker to go find the others.

I find the others easily and the four of them seem surprised to see me by myself. Tom asks, “Everything okay, Parker?”

I nod, “Yeah, everything is fine. I just had an idea that I wanted to run past you guys and I thought the girls might be able to help me get the supplies for it?”

Jasper and Tom looked confused and looked at one another and then back at me and Jasper asks, “What’s going on?”

“Well,” I take a deep breath then continue, “Ryan and I were talking about how many people we have lost.”

Everyone’s faces get really serious and sad and I continue, “I don’t want AJ to have this life we have had. I don’t want him to always be worried that he’s going to lose another person. I think we should have a memorial for the people we lost and remind ourselves the reason we are doing this. We have to push through and remember that those lives can’t be lost in vain.”

Tom smiles and nods, “I’m in.”

Emma adds, “Me too.”

Jasper and Ava look at one another and simultaneously say, “Us too.”

Both of the girls come to my side and Ava asks, “What do you need?”

Ryan

Parker left and I didn’t move from the bed because it was so comfortable, and I just wanted to rest. I hear the door open and the bed move, and I open my eyes and look over seeing AJ sitting on the edge of the bed. I smirk, “What’s up, kid?”

He tilts his head to the side and asks, “Why do you love me?”

My eyebrows scrunch together as I was caught off guard with his question and I ask, “What are you talking about, AJ?”

“When you love someone your heart is pink. From the day you saw me you had pink and it’s gotten stronger with each day. Why? You aren’t around me much.”

I chuckle and sit up and look at him. His brown eyes are wide with curiosity, but he’s frowning in concentration as he is trying to read me. I say, “Well, I love your mommy and you are a part of her so I love you too.”

His eyes get wider and he sits up excited, “You love mama? Does that mean you’ll be with her?”

My eyes widen in shock as I realize the way he took my words and I stutter a little as I say, “U-um, AJ, I I love your mom like she’s family. Not in that way.”

His facial expression immediately falls and he falls back on the bed and I ask, “Are you okay, bud?”

“I want a daddy.” He answers looking towards me and I feel like my mouth dried out by his words and he huffs, “I know that I can’t have my actual daddy, but everybody else has someone like that. Why can’t I?”

“Tell you what, AJ, if you ever need any fatherly advice you can come to me.” I try to reassure him, and he shakes his head, “Mama needs someone in order to be happy.”

I shake my head, “No, she doesn’t, AJ. You make your mom happy she doesn’t need anyone else.”

He sighs, “You don’t understand, RyRy, you haven’t seen how sad she gets. You don’t see when she wants to talk to an adult but has no one to speak to.”

He gets off the bed and walks out the room with his head hanging low and I hear Skye say something to him in an effort to cheer him up.

I didn’t realize how hard things have been on Parker.

Now, I feel like a real jerk for being so tough on her.