Contagious

Parker removed her headphones and looked up at Paul. "Band practice is over already?" she asked. She'd been busy updating her band's website and answering questions that fans were emailing in; too busy, apparently, to notice that it was now just her and Paul in his basement.

"Yeah," Paul said, nodding. "The weather's supposed to get bad. We could get up to ten inches of snow."

Parker grimaced. "I hate snow. It's cold."

Paul laughed and sat down on the old couch next to his girlfriend, eyes falling on the screen of her laptop. "Fan mail?"

She nodded. "Someone's gotta do it. The guys won't because, apparently, they don't have a way with words like I do," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Of course not. It's a lady job," he told her.

Parker laughed slightly, elbowing him in the side. "Don't be a jerk."

"Forgive me?" he asked, leaning in to kiss the side of her neck. "Pretty please?"

"Maybe..."

Paul kissed her neck again and the doorbell rang. He groaned and sat up. "Better be an emergency," he muttered. He kissed her lips quickly before bolting up the stairs, throwing open the front door. He sighed. "Did you forget something, bro?"

"Did I interrupt something, bro?" Martin mocked.

Paul couldn't help but laugh.

"Look behind me. The weather's horrendous and I really don't want to walk home," he told his friend.

Paul looked over his shoulder and sighed; the snow was really coming down. "Play nice. Parker's still here," he said, ushering his friend inside.

"Ah, so I did interrupt something," Martin muttered to himself.

Paul heard the comment and ignored it. He headed downstairs and sat down on the couch next to Parker.

Parker looked up from her laptop and frowned. She just had to endure a two hour band practice involving Martin and now he was back?

"We're kind of getting snowed in," Martin said, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Please tell me you're kidding," Parker said.

"Nope," Martin said, shaking his head.

She groaned. "You've got to be shitting me."

"Yeah." Martin shrugged. "Mom told me not to walk home and it's only two blocks so it must be bad. She said it's gonna get even worse."

"She's overreacting. You know how mom's are," Parker said before pulling her phone out of her bag. She read her missed text messages and groaned again. "Wonderful. My mom said the same thing."

"Is she overreacting, too?" Martin asked, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.

"Fuck you, Mar—"

"Play nice, kids," Paul interrupted. "The last thing I want to hear is you two and your constant bitch fighting. Just get over it since you're both stuck here for now," he said, his patience wearing thin. He stood up and walked up the stairs, leaving them alone in the basement.

Parker glared up at Martin. "Are you happy now?"

Martin scoffed. "Why the fuck would I be happy?"

"You pissed Paul off!"

"You told me to fuck off and that's when he snapped and walked out!"

"Because you're constantly being a jackass to me!"

"Oh, cry about it, Parker," Martin muttered.

"That's exactly what I mean," she groaned.

"Not everyone is going to be nice to you because not everyone is going to like you."

Parker scoffed and rolled her eyes. "When the fuck did I say anything about that? God, you only hear what you want to hear, don't you?"

"That's the attitude you give off and you know it," Martin snapped.

"Fuck you, Martin," she repeated, setting her laptop aside before walking up the stairs. She found Paul in the kitchen, standing by the sink and watching the snow fall out the window. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, lips pressing against his shoulder through the thin material of his shirt. "I'm sorry, Poolie," she said quietly.

"I just don't understand why the two of you can't seem to get alone for three hours," he muttered.

"I know," Parker said. "I don't want to use our...history as an excuse but it is hard sometimes. It's a piss poor excuse but it's all I have. I can't speak for him, but, you know..."

"Well, you both need to move on. All of that is in the past. It shouldn't dictate who you are and how you act now."

"I know," Parker repeated. "And you're right. I should try a little harder to get along with him because it's not fair to put you in the middle of our petty drama."

Paul sighed. "You just know all the right things to say, don't you?" he asked, a small smile finding its way onto his lips.

She laughed softly. "Sometimes. But I do mean it. Do you want me to talk to him?"

Paul shrugged. "If you want to."

"I'll take care of it, okay? I promise we'll try harder and we won't put you in the middle," she told him. She didn't want to fight with Paul, especially not over Martin.

"Okay," Paul said, turning around in her arms and pressing their lips together.

Parker reluctantly pulled away. "I'll go talk to him real quick, okay?"

He nodded. "I'll be down in five."

"Okay," she said, stepping away and walking back down the stairs. Martin was sitting on the deep freezer, a notebook open on his lap. "We need to talk."

Martin looked up from his notebook, their eyes meeting. "Yeah, I kind of figured as much."

"I'm not going to put Paul in the middle of our little fights anymore, Martin. It's not fair. We're supposed to try to get along."

"You're always the one picking the fights."

Parker sucked in a deep breath, clenching her hands into fists at her side. "I think it's about even."

"No, it's all you," Martin said.

She sighed. "You're doing it again and I'm done with it, Martin. Maybe we just shouldn't speak unless we actually have to. Maybe that's for the best."

"Maybe," he said, shrugging.

"How did we end up like this, Martin?" she asked, her voice soft and unsure.

"We ended up like this when you fucked Paul," he snapped.

Parker's jaw dropped. "Excuse you?"

"I didn't stutter."

"I haven't slept with Paul."

Martin rolled his eyes.

"Not that it's any of your business anyway."

He scoffed.

"What is your problem?"

He set his notebook down and stood up, walking over to her. "Do you like doing this to me, Parker?"

She took a step back, suddenly intimidated by how close he was. "Doing what?"

"Driving me insane? Do you like knowing that I feel crazy when I think about his hands on your body or his lips on yours? Do you take some sort of pleasure in this?"

"I actually don't," Parker said quietly. "This isn't fair to me either, Martin. I'm happy with Paul. Why are you trying to ruin this for us?"

"Because I want you back."

Parker's jaw dropped once more.

"It's silent down here. You two didn't kill each other did you?" Paul asked, slowly walking down the stairs.

Martin looked up at him and smiled. "Nope. We talked and we're fine now."

Parker was still in shock.

+

did he seriously say he wanted you back?

Parker glanced down at her new text message and felt her stomach twist again. Paul and Martin were on the other side of the basement, practicing a song, and Parker was messing around with her laptop. And texting Orion. yeah, idk what to think about that. then he acted like nothing was wrong when poolie walked in.

One of the main things she liked about Orion was her texting ability. Okay, maybe not, but the girl was fast and that was much appreciated in a crunch time. She didn't want to tell Paul. Of course, she didn't want to keep secrets either. But some things were better left unsaid. She could handle fighting with Martin. She could handle feeling awkward around him and not knowing what to say. She didn't like it but she could handle it. She didn't want to cause a fight between the two friends or cause. It wasn't worth it.

you know what i'm about to ask, parks. you're not an idiot.

She sighed. She knew. Orion cut to the chase. She set her phone aside and pulled up a fresh word document on her computer, typing out some lyrics. It wasn't fair that Martin got to control their whole situation. She was more than willing to fake formality when she didn't even want to see the guy. But Martin was Martin and that meant he wanted to control it if he could. And he could. She would let him just to shut him up. He was playing God and he didn't care about anyone else in the situation, only himself.

and you know my answer, orion. paul's amazing and he legit makes my day because i never know what to expect. i know what to expect with martin. constant fighting and constant making up.

Maybe her and Martin weren't the best couple in the world, if they were ever considered a couple. They fought more than they got along and they spent more time screaming at each other than actually talking. But it was a rhythm that they had gotten used to and, Parker wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she missed it sometimes.

paul's the best choice; ross agrees with me.

She glanced at her phone and paused before smiling like an idiot. “I knew it!” she whispered to herself. you with him now?

yeah.

then stop texting me and hang out with your lover! fool.

you da boss. see you tomorrow?

if i don't off myself out of awkwardness tonight, most def.

there's the positive attitude i know and love.

stop ignoring ross; he gets cranky if he doesn't get enough attention ;) She set her phone aside and closed her laptop slowly. It was barely nine at night and she was already exhausted. She watched Paul and Martin for a minute; they played beautifully together, she couldn't deny that. She could watch and listen to them for hours without ever getting bored. She bit her lip before standing up and stretching.

“Hey, Poolie?”

Paul looked up from his guitar, a smile on his face. “Yeah, babe?”

“Um, is it cool if I go to bed or...whatever?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Be back in just a minute, bro,” Paul said, setting his guitar aside before walking over to Parker. He grabbed her hand as they walked up the stairs and he lead her to the second floor where his room was located. He kicked a few dirty articles of clothing out of the way, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand awkwardly. “Um, it's a little messy...”

She laughed and looked up at him. “In case you forgot, I was stuck on a tour bus with three boys. I know messy,” she told him.

Paul laughed. “Yeah, that's true. So, um, yeah,” he muttered, releasing her hand to dig through his dresser drawers. He pulled out a pair of pajama pants and an old shirt, handing them over to her. “The pants will be too long but the shirt might be okay.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said. The silence that overcame them was only half awkward. “So. You can stay in here. Martin and I can sleep on the couches downstairs.”

“Thanks, Poolie,” she whispered, holding the clothes to her chest. “Sometimes I think you're too good to be true.”

Paul flushed slightly and he scratched the back of his neck again. “I am not.”

“You are,” she told him, leaning up to brush their lips together. “Thank you for letting me stay here tonight.”

“It's no problem,” he said, kissing her again. His hand cupped the back of her neck, thumb sliding over her pulse and he smiled into their kiss. It might have been the first stage of the relationship where everything was exciting and everything was perfect but he knew the happiness building up inside of him was more than that. It was funny how things changed. Their relationship started because he wanted her to see she wasn't over Martin but he found himself falling faster everyday and he knew that she was getting over him. And the thought that he helped cause that made his heart beat just a little bit faster. He didn't expect it to go so far, so fast but he wasn't complaining.

“You're amazing,” she whispered against his lips, dropping the clothes that she was holding and sliding her arms around his waist, hands slipping under his shirt to rest on his lower back.

Paul moaned slightly against her lips and he forced himself to pull away. “Though it's the last thing I want, we should probably stop.”

Parker pouted slightly and rolled her eyes. “First I say no, now you say no. We're never going to agree.”

“Nah, you know we will at some point,” he told her, thumb running over her jaw before he leaned in and kissed her again. “Just at the right time, you know?”

“I know,” she whispered.

Paul smiled and leaned down, picking up the clothes and handing them to her. “Sleep well, babe.”

“You, too. And, you know, if you get cold in the middle of the night...” she trailed off, shrugging, only half-joking.

“Trust me,” he told her, “if my parent's room wasn't right down the hall, I'd stay in here tonight.”

She smiled softly, biting her lip to keep her from grinning as wide as she wanted to. “See you in the morning?”

“Will you be the one making breakfast?”

She laughed. “Don't get your hopes up, Poolie,” she told him, leaning up on the balls of her feet to press their lips together one more time. “Don't smother anyone in your sleep.”

Paul rolled his eyes before kissing her forehead and exiting the room slowly. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it for a minute.

Happiness. Yeah, that's what it was.