Needing You #2 - Wanting Him (19 page)

“I can’t stop shaking,” she says
, as we head towards the car.

“I’m so proud of you.”

“So am I, you did great Nora,” Parker says.

“Thanks.  Can we just go home though?  I don’t want people to see me like this.”

“Sure,” I say as we get in the car.

We end up spending the rest of the day hanging out watching silly comedy movies.  Parker ended up leaving after the first movie to meet up with the guys to figure out a time to
head back to their tour.

I thanked him numerous times for coming to help, though he didn’t need to.

Chapter Eighteen

After a week
, life’s starting to get back to normal for Nora and me.  Her bruising went down and we were able to cover it up with make-up, so she only ended up missing a few days of school.  Her nightmares are still happening, but they’re not every night.

Brad has been arrested and is out on bail.  I know who
he is now and I’m determined to get my revenge.  I won’t tell Nora that though.

I
head inside the house and find her sitting on the couch eating ice cream.

“Hey, you could use a bowl you know,” I say nodding to the carton she’s eating out of.

“You know I don’t need a babysitter right?” she says as she eyes me curiously.

“As long as that asshole is out on bail
, you better believe I’m not letting you alone.”

“Aww
you do care,” she says sarcastically.

“Oh hush,” I tell her as I throw a pillow at her head.

She starts to laugh immediately.

“So, what would you like for dinner tonight?”

“Spaghetti please,” Nora says quickly.

“
Alright, I’ll start dinner.”

As I start to pull out the things I need for dinner, Nora sits at on the chair at the table, “Parker
called to check up on me today.”

“Oh, well that was nice.”

“I don’t like his girlfriend or whatever the heck she is,” Nora says bitterly.

“They’re going to be a family
.”

“I know
, but it’s stupid.  I wish she was lying.”

“Yeah well that’s not usually the case.”

“It should be.  He deserves so much better than her.  You know he still loves you right?” she says surprising me.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.  I’m going to start seeing other people, moving on,
ya know.”

“I guess.”

“What?”

“
When I fall in love, I want Earth shattering, world tilting, butterflies swirling, kind of passion.  I won’t settle for anything less,” she declares.

“Where the hell did you hear that before?” I ask shocked.

“I read some of your books.  Now those men know how to treat women.  I want one of them,” she says with a determined look.

I start to laugh, I can’t help it. “Nor
, those aren’t real.  Majority of men aren’t like that.”

“Well I will find one that is,” she deadpans.

“Good luck and while you search you can look for one for me too,” I tell her, still laughing.

“You had one,” she snaps.

“Not again.  No Parker talk.”

“Fine.”

We end the conversation and turn the television on to watch the Family Feud, until dinner is ready.

After dinner
, the rest of the evening consists of us hanging out until Nora decides to head to bed.

The next
morning I wake up to hear my sister yelling at the television.  I walk out into the living room to see tears streaming down her face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask panicked.

She points to the television, it shows picture of Brad, stating he was in an accident and was life-lined to the nearest hospital.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry, he…he freaks me out.  It takes hours sometimes days to get his picture out of my head.”

“Don’t apologize for that.  He tried to do the unthinkable to you.  It will be alright.  Did it say what kind of accident?”

“Yeah, he was beat up.”

“Do they know who did it?”

“No, there were no witnesses; at least that’s what the news lady said.”

“Huh.”

“You don’t think Parker did that, do you?” she asks worriedly.

“No
, he’s on tour.  It’s not him, don’t worry.”

“Who do you think did it?”

“I’m not sure.  I know I wish it was me.”

“Stop, I need you here with me.  You can’t leave me too,” she says with tear filled eyes.

“Nor, I’m not going anywhere.  It’s me and you remember,” I tell her as I pull her in for a hug.

“You do know what’s coming up right?” she asks out of nowhere.

“Of course I know.  I would never forget,” I say still hugging her.

“Do you want to do anything special?”

“We’ll keep our tradition,” I tell her with a smile.

“Good.”

“Why are you up so early watching the morning news anyway?” I ask as I eye the clock and see it’s already 6:30 a.m.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she says as she shrugs her shoulders, “G
uess I’ll get ready for school.”

“Okay,”
I say as she heads into the bathroom.

I watch the television still in shock by what happened to Brad.  Not one bit of me is remorseful, that
asshat deserves everything he gets.  I’m just curious as to who did it.

The rest of the day goes by uneventful and before I know it
, I’m home waiting for Nora to get home from school.

She gets in around 3:30 p.m. and looks angry.

“What happened?” I ask from the couch.

“Fucking Liz, I hate her,” she spats.

“What did she do now?”

“She’s telling everyone I paid someone to beat him up and put him in the hospital.  That’s not true, I didn’t I swear.”

“I know you didn’t.  So what did you do?” I ask, eyeing her hand that has an ice pack on it.

“I bitched her out.”

“And?”

“She pushed me first, so I punched her.”

“You hurt your hand from a punch?” I ask curiously.

“NO, I punched her like ten times,
a bunch to her stupid face,” she says harshly.

“Didn’t I tell you not at school or on school grounds?”

“Don’t worry it wasn’t.  A friend gave me a ride home and she needed to stop at Brother’s Pizza.  I ran into her there.”

“Okay.  Did she hurt you?” I ask noticing she doesn’t have a bruise or scratch on her.

“Please.  She couldn’t land shit.  I’m pretty sure I broke her nose though and maybe a few teeth.  She was bleeding pretty bad.”

“Now you know I don’t condone fighting but in this case, good job,” I tell her with a smile.

Liz deserves what she got.

“Thanks,” she says as she sits beside me for me to check her hand out.

“Just keep the ice on it for a bit.  It’s swollen but it doesn’t look broken,” I tell her.

“I can move it.  It’
ll be fine.”

We spend the rest of the afternoon discussing what our plans are for next Sunday and spending quality sister time with one another.

During the next few weeks nothing exciting happens other than Brad, the asshat, hasn’t improved and is still in the intensive care unit.

“Do you work tonight?” Nora asks.

“Yeah, from 8 p.m. to close; are you going to be okay?”

“I’m not a baby.  I was fine the times you worked this week, I’ll be fine tonight too,” she snaps.

“Alright, alright, I just want to make sure,” I say, holding my hands in the air surrendering.

“If you
need me you know you can call.  I’ll have my phone on me,” I remind her.

“Yes I know.  Oh by the way…Parker may be in town this weekend.”

“Oh,” is my only response.

“He still calls and texts to check up on me,” she says smiling big.

“Good.  But why’s he coming home?” I ask surprised.  He sends me a text maybe once a month, not really saying much, but he never told me he was coming home.

“Not sure, something about a family situation.”

“Okay.  I’m sure he’ll probably stop over to see you,” I tell her giving her a smile.

“Yeah, he said he would. 
You know Parker’s baby’s due soon right?” she says changing the subject.

“Yeah I know.” I mumble.

“Okay,” is all she says.

“Why did you
feel the need to tell me that?” I ask slightly irritated.

“Just wanted to see your reaction.”

“And what did you see?”

“That you’re still not over him.”

“You could have just asked me.  I would have told you the truth.” I say annoyed.

“Nah, it was better this way.  I’m
gonna watch some television, let me know when you leave.” She says, heading to her room.

“Will do.”

I spend the next few hours reading the rest of my current book before getting ready to head into work.

I let Nora know when I leave
, so she can make sure the door is locked and I head into PowerTrips.

Harper is getting out of Tuck’s car when I park and we head in together.

“How are things going with Tuck?” I ask, being a good friend.

“Eh so-so.  He’s doing really good
, but annoyed when I try to do everything for him.

“Oh, well let him do things on his own.  He’ll be fine,” I tell her.

“Yeah, I know.  I will.”

“Hey, did you know Parker was coming into town this weekend?”

She looks at me surprised then looks quickly away.

“Harp, what’s going on?”

“I knew he was coming.  How did you know?” she asks nervously.

“He’s been talking to Nora, making sure she’s okay.  She told me today.”

“Oh.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to say,” she says looking away.

“Why not?” I ask annoyed.

“Because I don’t know if it would hurt your feelings,” she says softly.

“Please.  W
hatever it is, I’ll be fine.”

“He’s bringing Claudia here to meet his family.”

“Oh,” is all I can say.

“Nat, Tuck told me that Parker’s thinking of proposing to her; that way they can really be a family,” she says
, looking at me worriedly.

“Really?  Prop
osing? I say shocked.

“I know, that’s what I
thought, but I guess she and the baby can’t go on tour with them unless they are married.  He won’t leave his child behind.”

“Wow.”  I feel dizzy from hearing this information.  I mean I know I told him to be a family
, but marriage already.  I didn’t see that one coming.

“I’m sorry Nat.”

“It’s okay.  He must really care about her to propose.  Parker’s not the type to just do it without feeling something.”

“I guess.  Are you okay?”

“I’m good.  Don’t worry about me.  We’re both moving on with our lives.  I’m happy for him.” I lie.  It’s more like jealousy.  Claudia gets what I wanted with Parker.  She gets him and a family.

“You’re lying to me,” she says looking really worried.

“It just took me by surprise.  I’m alright, I promise.  We need to get to work,” I tell her quickly before heading behind the bar to begin my shift.

Luckily
, the bar gets busy for a karaoke night and I don’t have much time for Harp to corner me or check up on me.

Around 11:30 p.m.
, Parker walks in with Declan and Nate making the girls go crazy.  They start to laugh and begin signing autographs for the rambunctious bunch.

“Hey sweetheart, how are you doing?” Declan asks from the other side of the bar.

“Hey you,” I tell him with a huge smile.  I walk around the end of the bar to give him a hug, “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too.  How have you been holding up?” he says
, eyeing me suspiciously.

“I’ve been good,” I tell him with the biggest smile I can muster.

“You do know I know you, right.  You don’t have to lie to me,” he whispers in my ear.

“I know.  I’m doing alright though.”

“You know...you could date me.”

“Oh that would go over real well I’m sure,” I say with a laugh as I make my way back around
the bar, “Plus, I think there’s something between you and Rowan already,” I say with a wink.

“What?”

“You heard me. Now what can I get you to drink?” I ask, changing the subject.

“I’ll take a rum and coke.”

As I start to make his drink I ask, “How long are you guys in town?”

“Just until Tuesday
,” he says as I hand him his drink.

“It’s nice you get a little break.  Your tour’s almost over
, right?”

“Ha, it was supposed to be, now I’m not so sure,” he says looking a little annoyed.

“Why, what’s going on?”

“Our manager wants to go on another tour after this one ends.”

“Oh, would you get a break between the two tours?”