Chapter 27

5:32 PM

Los Angeles

February

"What is it? What the fuck, Julian?!", Parker sounded more agitated as he was pushed inside his own office before Julian closed the door behind him, his cold, dark gaze glanced towards him.

"Why do you do this?", he asked him, Parker shot him a quizzical look.

"The fuck does that supposed to mean?", he crossed his arms in anger.

"You love him? Please tell me you do love him", Julian stepped closer towards him, Parker slowly backed away until he was practically pinned behind his desk.

"Why do you ask this shit? I don't even know what you're saying", Parker replied to him as he glared at him.

"You do love Leon. Admit it. He's better than me", Julian continued, Parker finally put the pieces together...was he jealous?! Did he still have feelings for him?!

"Shit...so you're saying that you're jealous of him since you have seen me being so nice to him?", Parker scoffed unbelievably,"Seriously, man, get your shit together. I only let you talk to me  because I said we were going to be friends. Friends only. Don't try let all of that go out the goddamn window".

"Parker, I can't hide it anymore. I want you. I want to be with you. When will love me again like you used to?", Julian turned around to look away from him for a few moments. Parker realized he was being asked a serious question, he had been betrayed by him before in the most brutal way possible. There was no way he was going to open his heart to him again now that he literally depises commitment.

"Julian, please listen to yourself. I've only talked to you for two months and you're already babbling to me out of your ass as if I'm a weak, stupid bitch who is capable of forgiving that easily knowing you have done something that wouldn't be forgivable in the first place. I don't want you like that and never will", he harshly told him, making Julian's heart drop.

"Parker, I'm not like that anymore. I bet Leon has done a lot of mistakes and you still forgive him. What about me? I committed a mistake once and you don't want to be with me?", he was already getting off Parker's nerves as he was trying to convince him to get back with him, he never thought Julian would react in such a way. He should've known by now that his ex would be stubborn to get him to date him all over again.

"He's my friend, he won't be capable of the mistake you did. What you did was fucking evil, but it looks like we're all evil, huh?", Parker chuckled sarcastically, "My point is that I'll never date you again. Simple. Now we either continue being friends or we start being enemies, which one do you like?".

Julian gazed towards him, he's been rejected by him at this point, but it won't stop him to get him what he wants. He wanted for him to understand his past mistake he committed was because he had no other choice.

"None", he stepped closer towards him until they were only a couple of inches away from each other, Parker pushed him away before going towards the door. "Last chance or you're getting out of here", Parker warned him, he was trying to have some mercy for once.

"Fine...let's stay friends", he sighed in defeat, Parker opened the door before shutting it, leaving him behind. Julian realized it wasn't going to be easy for his ex boyfriend to give in, Parker still let him inside his home everyday he would come by from the morning all the way to the afternoon, yet he wouldn't date him?

"Pathetic", he thought to himself as he glanced around the office, he also decided to take his leave at last.

Parker went back where they stayed the rest of the time playing until Leon's daughter and babysitter decided to go back home.

°~7:21 PM~°

"Leon, what are you doing?", Parker asked his friend who plopped himself on the bed without hesitation, laying down in his stomach.

"I'm going to sleep", Leon replied to him, Zoey and Fionna went on another car to their home since he was back, but he might stay in his friend's home...again.

"So that's why I have an entire suitcase next to my door? You're getting too comfortable around my house. Not like Julian though", Leon raised his head in confusion as he looked over at him.

"He was trying to force me to get with him since last time. And as you know, I hate commitment. I hate it! I fucking hate it, and god forbid my ass to ever fall into a trap about romance again", Parker started rambling while walking towards his closet to grab a bath robe and a towel, he looked through his closet full of fur coats for the entire year.

Leon found it strange, and funny to hear his friend talk nonsense out of the blue, he suddenly let out a small laugh unexpectedly, later stopping himself as he realized he was feeling as if Parker was getting into his skin, he hated that feeling.

"Hey, did you laugh? Seriously this is the first time I've heard you laugh when you're daughter wasn't around was three years ago. You're getting into a good mood, maybe?", Parker turned to gaze at him, smirking at him playfully.

"Don't worry about it, worry about Julian. You said he was forcing you to date him, kick him out or something. I wouldn't date anybody if I depised being in love", Leon advised him tiredly as he rests one side of his face on the pillow, his friend chuckled in response as he closed the closet door, going to his bed and sitting down next to him.

"But you would date me right?", Parker teased him out of nowhere as his hand touched his shoulder, Leon turned his body around to see him as his hand left him, placing both of his hands on his shoulders and slowly crawled on top of him, pinning him down.

"Parker, shut the fuck up", Leon told him slightly annoyed as his diamond, blue eyes stared into his. He didn't expect for him to do such a move on him, but considering they have had been intimate before this wasn't bothering him much.

"Really?", Parker leaned in towards him until their faces were close enough, he laughed under his breath, startling Leon  as he was feeling quite embarrassed.

"I wouldn't even date you even if I were dead", Leon muttered, his hands reached for Parker's shoulders to try and push him away, but then Parker kissed him deeply without warning.

He pulled away for a moment to kiss him again, Leon felt defeated at this point, Parker's fingers traced their way down to his chest.

He kissed passionately a few more times before he came into a halt, he loved to tease his friend.

"I know you would date me", Parker teased him again as his finger touched his friend's bottom lip. His lips curled into a teasing smile, Leon frowned slightly.

"Fuck you", Leon mumbled as he pushed his hand away from his face, Parker got off of him to go take a shower afterwards, which Leon went in right after him.

After Leon was done changing his clothes, he laid back into the bed while reaching for his cellphone as it was ringing loudly, who was calling him at this point?

"Leon! Leon, how are you? I wanted to call you to see if you were here", Leon realized it was his aunt Giana, he grabbed the blanket before covering himself up.

"I am here, would you like to visit tomorrow?", Leon asked her curiously, assuming that was what she wanted.

"No, not exactly. I wanted to tell you that there is going to be a family dinner tomorrow. Wanna join?", she asked him in return, he hated having dinners or events of any sort that included his family, especially Adrik.

" I'm busy", Leon replied to her, he could her sigh from the other side.

"Adrik wanted to see you, but...I'll tell him you're busy, no worries, my dear nephew", she joked lightly, giggling a little.

"Well that's all. Take care", she ended the call abruptly, how strange.He placed his cellphone on the bed next to where Parker was laying down. "Leon, let's go eat dinner. Come on", Parker turned to look at him, getting himself off to go towards the door where unexpectedly his other friend, Julian, was waiting for him.

"What do you need, Mr.Castellano?", Parker asked him. Julian gazed at him blankly for a moment before his eyes met Leon as he was heading for the door.

"Excuse us", Parker ordered, Julian slowly moved out of the way, he was noticing Leon was following Parker all the way down the stairs.

As they all reached the first floor to the dining room, they took their seats to see steaming, hot plates of delicious food waiting for them, Parker sat down before gazing towards his friend.

"When are you going back to Russia, Leon? It's been years since last time we went. We were 17, I mean you were 17 and I was 15", Parker decided to talk about their memories, they used to live in Russia for about 5 years before going back to the United States. During their time, they were learning all sorts of fighting skills and were practicing to become heir of their mafia group, which they decided to create their own group instead.

"I remember back then when it was winter and we had to clean Mrs. Cashmere's barn as punishment, we were playing around with the shovels and I accidentally hit a horse on the head", Parker started to laugh hysterically without sympathy, Mrs.Cashmere was Adrik's wife.

"That horse didn't do shit to you, I bet it wants to get revenge only if he were to talk", Leon reprimanded him before taking a bite out of his food, eating casually.

"What? I bet he forgave me", his friend hesitated as he ate his food, Leon gave him a sharp glare.

"You almost knocked him out dead", Leon replied to him sternly. Parker chuckled under his breath, he could feel an intense stare from someone, he looked up to see it was Julian eating his plate while glaring at every movement he's making.

"Julian, do you want to stay tonight?", Parker asked him jokingly, luckily Julian got the impression he wasn't being serious so he silently shook his head while taking a sip of his cold drink.

"What are you gonna tell Zoey?", Parker asked him as he realized Leon had to call Zoey to let her know he's not going home tonight.

"I'll get to it later", Leon replied to him casually as his eyes were staring blankly towards a lot of photos put up in the shelves of the dining room in front of him, he examined every single one of them until he saw one in particular that made his heart sink into his stomach, her.

There she was, smiling brightly along with him, Anya, Parker, and the rest of the people working there, it was the day of the grand opening of the building of Gaze in Moscow over three years ago.

She was happy that day, with her smile that could light up the night sky with glowing stars, the joy and laughs that they shared along as they explored inside of the building, the day that he asked her to be his girlfriend. Parker glimpsed towards his friend who he was noticing Leon's stern expression as he stopped eating to rest his face on his hand, covering his mouth.

"What's wrong with you?", he asked puzzled, he followed the direction of his eyes to see the picture, realizing that Leon might be going through all of those horrible feelings of grief and pain.

"Leon, Leon, Leon", Parker called out his name repeatedly, "Leon!".

Parker started to shake his shoulder a little aggressively, finally getting Leon out of his thoughts, he felt a little startled as his hand suddenly pushed him away. "What the fuck were you looking at?", Parker questioned him, looking back towards the picture.

His friend gazed back at picture without a word, he felt such guilt that it was slowly getting to him, his chest tightened becoming more difficult to breath. "Leon, want me to put it down or-", Parker suddenly felt astonished as Leon stood up before taking off, not saying another word. "Leon! We haven't even gotten to dessert yet", Parker yelled out, sighing in defeat.

Julian looked over as Leon walked away with anger, or that what was his face was showing.

"Is he alright?", he asked, Parker turned over to look at him, offended.

"Oh he's more happy than ever- Seriously are you gonna ask me this shit?", Parker yelled out at him, he stood up to walk all the way to get the picture that caused his friend to storm out of the dining room, he walked back with it to take it off it's frame, Julian watched silently as his ex grabbed the picture to rip it in half before throwing it on the ground.

"Pick that up for me later on your way out", Parker ordered him, while finishing up his plate. Julian gazed down at the picture, he nodded silently.

They finished eating their food without another word, Parker rushed himself to where his friend was, he was in the library room along with his bodyguard, where they were surprisingly talking to each other as they were both looking down at an old yellow book.

"Leon, you're good?", Leon looked up at him coldly.

"Well Noel, follow me", Leon stood up from the floor along with his bodyguard, Noel leaving the book back in its bookshelf.

"You finally found yourself a new friend", Parker teased at him, trying to lighten up the mood but he felt the radiation of gloominess around him coming from someone...Leon.

They walked all their way back to his bedroom, Parker opened the door before asking his friend to get inside.

°~9:04 PM~°

"Noel, you're dismissed, go out through the back entrance leading to the driveway where someone will be waiting for you", Leon ordered him, Noel nodded his head in affirmation.

"Have a good night, Sir Cashmere, Mr.Klein, good night", Noel said his farewell before walking away without another word, Parker looked over at Leon.

"What are you waiting for?", Parker asked him curiously, Leon turned back to gaze at him, he went inside his bedroom where the door shut before getting it locked, Parker walked up to where Leon was as they both sat down together.

"Is there anything bothering you? I didn't notice that it'll bother you so I'm sorry about that", Parker said in a corcerned tone, his hand holding his.

"Fuck you", Leon replied to him harshly while looking away, his eyes softened as they were fueling up with tears, he was trying to hold back since he had to forget about her, but it seemed as if no matter how many times he would drift apart from the hurt, the hurt would always chase him.

"I told you to forget about her but I brought you back to those memories, you were so happy and I still remembered you used to smile a lot. Your spark faded when she died so I honestly understand what you're feeling. People who die only get to live once, good or bad. She was good, she really was. She didn't deserve at all and I tried to stop her but...I failed", Parker told him, sympathetic. He gazed down as his hand was holding his gently, Leon sighed in frustration and defeat, his lips quivered as he took a deep breath.

"And you tried to protect her, but you couldn't. It was too late, she was shot by that guy. I remember that moment since I was there, she ran up to you to protect you from a bullet. When that guy realized he messed with the wrong girl, shit went loose but sadly we couldn't save her. She already lost a lot of blood at that point, when she arrived at the hospital, they tried to save her but they couldn't. When you cried that night you received the call, the call that changed you forever. And it's okay to cry, even if you're a man, a man who's nice to everybody and gives respect and even if you're serious bat shit like you", Parker went out into details," Or if you're a crazy bitch like me".

"You can feel emotions and express them, you're allowed to do that. I know you're still so emotional about her death, you only looked at her picture and all of those bad feelings came back at you like nothing, and it's okay to feel that way. Don't let them get too much in your head", Parker advised him, Leon felt so disappointed in himself since he was still feeling the way he was after three years.

"It was my fault", Leon mumbled as he tried his best not to cry, Parker looked over at him.

"No it wasn't, love", Parker leaned towards him to kiss his cheek, Leon continued to look away as to avoid eye contact.

"It was my fault, she wouldn't be dead if I had been the one getting that bullet, I would've died for all I care! Why her? Why? Why did they take her away from me?", Leon started to sob relentlessly, he was uncontrollably unstable at this point.

"Why?", Leon kept repeating himself over and over again as he laid his head on his friend's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go to sleep instead, alright?", Parker offered him politely as he laid down on the bed, Leon continued weeping for a long time, his face was buried into his hands in such guilt. It wasn't his fault, but he still felt like it was.

"Come on, let's go to bed", Parker crawled up to him before wrapping his arms around him, leaning his head on his shoulder.

His friend tried to meditate by slowly inhaling and exhaling, but then he silently cried until he felt drained and tired.

°~10:46 PM~°

"You're done?", Parker asked him as his eyes gazed towards the large glass window where the lit up moon was gleaming confidently in the night sky.

"I-...I want to kill myself. Why did I let myself cry my heart out again?", Leon started complaining ruthlessly, he's back to his usual self.

"But it's good to cry your heart every now and then. You later forget about everything that was bothering you and then you feel more relieved, you know?", Parker smiled brightly knowing his friend was starting to open up towards him, he's trusting him more than he used to. He loved this side of his where he could spill out his emotions he suppresses constantly inside, he's not embarrassed or afraid of showing how he really feels.

Leon finally decided to stand up before walking his way over towards the left side of the bed, where he laid down comfortably without another word.

Parker laid down next to him to hug him, he gazed towards him as he decided to go ahead and suddenly crawl his way on top of him again. He leaned in towards Leon and their lips met again, his friend felt stunned as he was trying to process what Parker was doing. 

"Wrong timing but do you want to do it?", Parker asked him, caressing his hand gently while gazing directly into his eyes. "Do what? Be specific", Leon replied to him while his other hand touched Parker's face, his brown eyes glistened. "Ha...you know", his friend smirked at him, kissing him again. "I don't know", Leon gazed at him, he kissed him in return before his arms hugged him around his waist. 

"Let me make you feel better", he whispered into his ear, his hand moving up to move Leon's bangs covering his face. His friend gave him a long, silent stare before finally exhaling deeply.

"I guess...", his friend replied to him, Parker laughed in response.

"I told you don't tell me that, it's a yes or no, now tell me, yes or no?",  his friend pleaded joyfully, hugging his friend tightly while resting his head on his shoulder.

"Fine", Leon replied to him, Parker lifted his head before they shared a kiss once more.