Tess smiles as Parrish rises from his crouch.
“How was your shower?” she asks, and he shrugs, slipping his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.
“First shower in weeks where some creeper isn’t watching me through a camera,” he says, and Tess’ face twitches with a mixture of rage and sympathy. She pushes the former aside as she moves into the room, her eyes sweeping over the four of us.
If she only knew the things we were involved in …
“I’d like you to sleep in my room tonight,” Tess begins, and Parrish lets out one of those harsh, arrogant laughs of his, the ones he usually saves for people he wants to ‘bury’. You know, like he used to laugh at me. The sound doesn’t bother me anymore; I like it. I love it. That’s a problem, isn’t it?
“Mom, seriously? I’m seventeen fucking years old. I’ll be eighteen in January.”
“Which means you’re still seventeen for more than half a year,” she argues, her smile softening. “You’re still a baby.”
Parrish’s jaw clenches, and he shakes his head.
“I’m not sleeping with you. Don’t be weird, please.” He cocks his head in my direction. “My friends will sleep in here with me.”
“You can just as easily sleep on the couch in my room,” Tess argues as Parrish curls his hands into fists and shakes his head.
“No.”
Uh-oh. I look up at him, hoping he knows what he’s doing here. He must, I guess, since he knows Tess so much better than I do. I’ve seen him at work before. As protective as Tess can be, she also spoils her kids rotten. It’s a toxic mix.
“No?” Tess repeats, but I can see that she doesn’t want to get angry with Parrish right now. She missed him too much; she thought he was dead.
“We’ll sleep on the floor, won’t we, Maxx?” Chasm suggests, and Maxx nods, still stroking his hand over GG’s long ears.
“Mom, you need to relax,” Parrish starts which was very clearly a mistake.
Tess’ eyes widen and she moves into the room to stand in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders and sliding them down his arms.
“Relax? Honey, I know you’ve been through a lot. I can hardly even imagine how scared you must’ve been.” She cups the side of his face, and he allows it, staring her straight in the eyes. With her heels on, Tess is almost as tall as he is. “But you were kidnapped from this room in the night. I cannot let you sleep in here.”
Parrish reaches up and takes her hand away from his face, but he doesn’t let go of it, giving it a little squeeze.
“I need to be in my own room,” he breathes back at her, his eyes widening. “I do not want to sleep on the couch with you and Paul.”
“Dad,” Tess corrects and Parrish sighs dramatically. He looks so tired all of a sudden. I mean, of course he is. I feel protective of him, standing up without realizing what I’m doing. Tess flicks a look my way, but then turns right back to Parrish. “I’ll sleep on the couch; your father can sleep in the guest room. You can have our bed.”
“You’re being weird,” Parrish says very slowly, very carefully. “Dakota is here; I am here. We are both here, Mom.”
Tess’ eyes fill with tears, and she starts to tremble, withdrawing her hand from Parrish’s.
“I know you’re scared, but it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Parrish puts his arms around his—our?—mother and squeezes her tight. She grabs onto him, clinging and sobbing quietly as he keeps her wrapped up for several minutes. The rest of us do our best to disappear into the floorboards. I sit down hard on the bed and stare at one of the yellow faces peeping back at me from the fabric of my pants. “If you care about me, and how I’m feeling, and how scared I was, let me sleep in my own bed with my friends around me.”
“Parrish,” Tess warns softly, backing up just as Paul enters the room. He stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes on his son. He’s much more attentive than usual, his gaze soft and caring in a way I’ve never seen it. Tess glances back at her husband. “He wants to sleep in here tonight.”
“We need to let him make that choice,” Paul tells her gently, and she frowns, glancing back at their son. “As long as Maxx and Chasm are in here, I don’t see why not.”
Tess sighs and takes a step back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Okay, Parrish,” she says, and he lets out a small sigh of relief, pushing wet hair away from his forehead. “But only so long as your friends are here; you won’t be sleeping in here alone.”
