Sanctuary

She awoke to three light taps on her door. She glanced across the room, where Hallie sat at her desk, headphones on and oblivious to the world as she squinted at her computer screen. Taryn sat up, tossing the fleece blanket from her feet and sliding off the bed. Hallie jumped, pulling out her earbuds and smiling over at her roommate.

"Hey, girl! How was your nap?" she asked as Taryn reached for the door.

"It was good," Taryn said, stretching as she pulled open the door. Shae stood on the other side, a dark grey beanie over top of his thick hair.

"Hey," he said slowly, pausing to scan the room. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Hallie said cheerfully. "Just…getting some studying done."

Taryn pulled her hoodie tighter around her shoulders. "What are you up to?"

"Um…just got back from the library, actually," he said slowly, gripping the straps of his backpack.

"Shit," Taryn said, her stomach dropping in embarrassment. "Our study date."

"Yeah, but, um, it's no big deal or anything. Just wanted to come by and make sure you were alright." Hallie sat still, watching the two talk.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just…fell asleep. Wasn't feeling too well."

"No worries," he said, rocking back and forth on the balls of his Converse-clad feet.

"But, um, yeah, I'm sorry I flaked. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow? I can come to you. So you know I won't bail again." She rubbed her tired face, feeling awful for having let Shae down. Especially after knowing how much help he had needed with math. "God, I'm terrible."

"Seriously, don't worry about it. Shit happens. You just weren't answering your phone so I figured I'd come by. Do you want to grab dinner or something?"

She looked over at her phone, suddenly not hungry. "Um, I think I'm alright. I think I'll just have some cereal here or something. I'm still feeling kind of crappy."

Shae glanced to his side, where Alex was passing by in the corridor. Alex waved to Taryn, who flashed him a grin and a wave in return.

"Hey!" she called out to him, leaning out into the hallway past Shae. "Where have you been?"

Alex turned around, shooting her a flirty smile. "Around. I'll come hang later, okay?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling and biting her lip. She backed up into her room.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" she said slowly to Shae, placing her hand on the doorknob. Taking the hint, he nodded.

"Yeah." He glanced over at Hallie quickly before turning for the elevators. "See ya."

***

"So why'd you want to grab lunch with just me?" Taryn laughed, following Parker into the dining hall the next afternoon. He had called her earlier, asking if she was available to grab food with him. Initially, she had expected the whole gang to show up, considering she hadn't seen much of them lately. But it had quickly become clear that it was just the two of them.

They chose a booth near the entrance, tossing their coats in and heading for the salad bar. "So it's almost Valentine's day," Parker started, messing with his hair. It was a nervous habit that Taryn had noticed back when Parker was infatuated with Teresa. He always did it when he wasn't sure how to word something or was just uncomfortable in general.

"Oh, God, don't tell me you're secretly in love with me?!" Taryn joked, laughing as she poured french dressing over her salad toppings.

"Not exactly," he said, avoiding her gaze.

"So it's not me…but?" Taryn said. She was suddenly incredibly curious. She could tell he was worked up about someone, but this was different than the Teresa thing. He seemed…anxious.

"Hold on," he muttered, making it clear that he wanted to wait until they were back at the table. She obliged, grabbing some water before regaining her seat and waiting for Parker to join her. She found herself wishing that this, finally, was the moment Parker was confessing his suppressed love for Hallie. But that would also mean the stars would actually be aligning perfectly for once. And, as she cynically reminded herself, love didn't work that way.

It seemed an eternity before Parker finally took his seat across from her, still avoiding eye contact completely.

"Parker, just spit it out," she joked, trying to make him more comfortable. Clearly he had deemed her worthy to confide in, but now, all of a sudden, he was clamming up. She wanted him to speak before he shut her out completely.

"So you're really close with Hallie, yeah?" he said slowly, his voice almost inaudible.

"Yeah…" she said, her heart pounding as his words sunk in. Maybe miracles did exist.

"So, how does she feel about me?" he said quickly, releasing a huge sigh that it seemed he had been holding in for ages.

"In what sense?" she said.

"Like…if I asked her out for Valentine's Day, would she laugh me off?"

"Parker!" Taryn squealed, biting her tongue with excitement. Okay, so despite her own cynical views, maybe love really did work out sometimes. "I can't believe this! Where did this come from?"

"I don't know…I've just been thinking. She helped me out a lot with Teresa, and I know she cares a lot because she's always there to talk to. And I was thinking the other day, hypothetically, who I would ever ask out to dinner. And her face just came to mind and that must count for something, right?!" he rambled. Taryn beamed at him, marveling at how uncomfortable he was. She supposed Hallie made him more nervous than Teresa ever did because he was putting a friendship on the line. And God knew Taryn was familiar with that situation.

"Yeah. It definitely means something," Taryn said supportively. She took a bite of lettuce, chewing it as she thought carefully. "And I…don't think she'd mind. She's a nice girl. You should go for it."

He stared at her for a moment, seemingly relieved. "Okay, so what should I do? Like, show up at your door with flowers or something?"

She smirked at the thought of him asking for advice on something like this. He was probably the only guy that had ever done that before.

"Um, that might freak her out, honestly," she said softly. "But I'm sure if you invite her to get coffee or something and ask her that way, it'd be so cute. She'd love it," Taryn said, desperately trying to not let it slip that Hallie liked Parker just as much. She couldn't wait to hear about it when he figured it out.

"Okay. I can do that. Thanks for this," Parker said, finally taking a bite of his sandwich. "You're the best. What are you doing for Valentine's Day this year?"

"No idea," Taryn said, chastened by the sudden shift in conversation. "Truthfully, I might just be spending it with Ben & Jerry's. And Netflix."

"Nice," Parker said. "That honestly sounds great. Avoids the stress and all."

"Exactly," Taryn said, trying to play off her discomfort. She wanted Parker to think she was right where she wanted to be. In fact, she wanted everyone to think that. If she was going to pull off her new image, that's what she had to portray at this point.

And if Parker seemed to buy it, maybe everyone else could, too.