Liz nods. “They had just turned six.”
“Always been a painter, huh?” Landon asks.
“Ah,” Parker muses. “I remember. We went to that bird sanctuary. I remember thinking the prettiest bird sounded green and yellow.”
“Was it?” I ask as we flip to the next photo.
“Huh?”
“The bird. Was it green and yellow?”
Parker snorts. “I don’t know. I couldn’t see it. I could only hear its call, but itfeltthat way.”
Liz smiles. “They threw the biggest fit known to humankind that day. Wouldn’t calm down until I bought the right shade of green.”
“The green I had wasn’t right. It was dark. I needed something brighter,” Parker says unapologetically. “I didn’t know how to mix colors back then.”
“Makes perfect sense to me, Lovebug.”
Liz flips the page again, and Parker groans. “Ew. Why do you have this?”
I lean closer, looking at teenage Parker, their arms wrapped tightly around a guy’s waist. He looks happy, his eyes bright and his smile wide. Parker doesn’t. They’re dressed in an oversized hoodie, white-blond hair draped over their face, eyes dull and lifeless. My heart thumps hard. “Lincoln?” I ask.
“Loser Lincoln,” Liz says, reaching into the plastic sleeve and pulling the photo out. “Wanna burn it, Park?”
Parker shakes their head. “Nah, just toss it.”
“Sorry about that, kid. I thought I got rid of him.”
The next photo is one of Parker and Darcy. Darcy’s adorable in a nerdy way. He really grew into himself through the years, and I can’t help but grin at his oversized wire-frame glasses and round face.
“Oh, West would love this. Darcy looks adorable,” Landon says, voicing my thoughts out loud.
Liz grins. “West?”
“Darcy’s boyfriend,” Parker says.
We flip through photo after photo. Parker with paint in their hair, on their face, and on their fingers. Parker standing next to paintings stuck proudly on the fridge. Them with their parents. More photos of them with Darcy.
You can almost see the progression of their art and passion through the photos. Finger paintings to landscapes to abstract works with streaks of colors.
You can see the love and stability they grew up with. The hard times and the teen angst and coming to love and accept themself for who they are. You can see Parker’s soul laid bare.
Landon leans in and presses a gentle kiss to Parker’s temple. I catch Parker’s sweet smile as their eyes slip closed.
My stomach swoops and my heart soars.
God, I’m so in love.
Chapter 29
Landon
Iwoke up sometime in the night, and I’ve been awake for hours. It’s still dark, but I haven’t been able to fall back asleep.
There are worse positions to be in, surely, but my mind won’t calm, and my stomach has been churning to the point I’ve worried about throwing up. After getting home from Parker’s parents’ house last night, I called my mom. She was happy to hear from me and even happier to know that I’d be coming to visit today with a couple offriends.
Guilt is still weighing heavy on my heart.
