♪ I Like Me Better - Lauv

The brown-haired boy stood on the edge of the field. With a swift kick, he sent the ball flying onto the middle of the field. His jersey was a little too long, and one of his fluoro yellow coloured socks was pulled up mid shin while the other bunched up around his ankle.

His teammates cheered as they all ran after the ball. All of a sudden, he felt a rough shove from behind which sent him barreling forwards, landing on his knees, skidding across the grass. Behind him, another boy smirked proudly before running after the ball.

The little boy got up. The skin from his knees had scraped, with blood starting to seep. The tears welled up in his eyes and he sprinted for the sidelines where the woman was watching on the stands.

He ran into her arms and she held him gently while he cried. "My knees hurt," he said. She went onto one knee and looked him in the eye.

"Parker, as Lennoxes, we do not show weakness," she said sternly, wiping the tear from the corner of his eye. He sniffled and brushed the dirt from his knees. She rolled up his socks so that they were symmetrical across his shins.

That was the last time Parker Lennox cried.

And it was safe to say that other boy never played on that soccer team again.

--

I was discharged in the morning and my mum drove me home. Once the painkillers wore off, it was obvious that they had been helping. My back was still stiff and sore, so I was left sitting upright, barely daring to fidget. I finally felt relief when it was time for my next dose at lunch time.

My heart still seemed to dance every time I thought about the night before. I was even smiling to myself like an idiot. Maybe it had been the meds, because everything I did seemed so out of character for me. Or maybe it was because it was Parker.

My phone buzzed. I still couldn't get over the fact that Parker preferred phone calls because he was too lazy to text. "And what's wrong with a text message?" I answered immediately.

"I'm injured," he said.

"Fine. What?"

"Can you come with me to a lunch tomorrow?"

"Um sure. Who's it with?" I asked, figuring from how he'd said it that this wasn't a date.

"You'll see." It was weird, but it was like I could hear him smile as he said it, even though I couldn't see his face. He was just like that.

"Mysterious. Okay."

"You'll have to drive though, because my arm is sort of out of action."

"I don't have a car."

"Come to mine and drive mine," he said.

The following day, against my insistence that I was going to be fine, my mum was not letting me out of the house unless she was dropping me off at Parker's herself. I was having palpitations as I approached the front door. What was I going to do if his parents answered the door? I wasn't ready for it. Before I had the chance to psych myself out, I rang the doorbell.

To my surprise, Parker was the one to answer the door. "The butler has the morning off," he explained. Seeming to sense my unease, he followed up with, "and my parents are out."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved his parents weren't home. There were few people who scared me that much. Not to mention his mum hadn't had the greatest impression of me since seeing me the first time with Holden.

There weren't many personal touches in his house. It was...cold. On the mantel above the fireplace were a couple of photo frames, but no family photos. There was one of a young boy in a soccer jersey and knee high fluoro yellow socks. He held the soccer ball with both hands, straight-faced, no smile. The other photos were similar. Images of his parents at family functions. There was a recent one of Parker from the gala. My finger trailed against the frame. He looked straight at the camera. Again, no smile. How were these the moments that'd been captured by everyone? The Parker I knew had kind eyes and a warm, bright smile.

"Let's go down to the garage," he said.

"I thought the garage was that way," I said, pointing back to the way I'd come in.

"The underground garage," he clarified.

"You have an underground garage for cars!?" I exclaimed. A small lift took us down and the lights flickered on as we stepped into the garage. As the bulbs flicked on, my jaw dropped to the ground as each of the spaces lit up. Sport cars of all varieties along with some old looking ones.

"Some stuff my brother collected," he said.

"You have a brother?" My attention was immediately back on Parker who was nonchalantly looking at the keys hung up in a small cabinet. As far as I knew, Parker was the only son of the Lennox family.

"He left when he was eighteen because he didn't want to go into the family business. He left all this behind." He gestured to the impressive convoy of cars that was worth far more money than I could even imagine. He picked a set of keys off from the cabinet and started walking towards a car. I followed. He took in a deep breath. "My parents cut him off. Like Steph, my family's been bringing me in to show me some things. They'll want me to take over once I graduate from college."

"What about you? What do you want?" I asked softly. He shrugged, looking at his feet. I hugged him from behind, wrapping my arms around his waist. He stopped in his tracks. I was so small in comparison that I probably looked like a backpack.

He always seemed so burdened by his family name. Ever since the scandal earlier in the year, the way everyone seemed to distance themselves from him and then cozied up again once everything cleared up, was further testament to his belief. "You're your own person. Not just a son of the Lennox family," I said. I rested my head against his back. I could feel his gentle breaths in and out. He turned around to face me and held my hand before walking again.

"I'll tell you then," he smiled. I nodded. "I've always wanted to be a doctor. It seems so cool, working out what's wrong, helping people." There was a twinkle in his eye.

"I think you'd be a great doctor," I grinned.

"Well, thank you. Anyway, this is what you'll be driving today." Just like that, he was grinning again. He clicked a button on the key and the headlights of the car in front of us flashed twice before stopping.

"That's a Lambo!" I exclaimed. It was an all-black Lamborghini Aventador. I'd only ever seen pictures of these on phone and laptop wallpapers and magazine spreads. "You're insane. I don't have the insurance to cover this!"

"But I do," he grinned yet again. He put the keys in my hand and opened the driver seat door for me to get in. It was so low, and I had to fold myself to get in. The car even smelt of luxury. I was pretty sure all my internal organs on the black market wouldn't be able to pay for the steering wheel. He groaned repeatedly as he got into the car.

"Your ribs are like that and you couldn't pick a different car?" I asked.

"I wanted to take this one for a spin."

I started the car and feathered the clutch. The roar of the engine echoed in the garage.

"Take care of my baby," he said, patting the dashboard.

"Ok jeez, maybe you should just drive. I can't handle this pressure," I replied.

"I wasn't talking to you," he smiled. My face flushed with heat and looked back in front of me.

He told me that there was a hydraulic lift which took the cars up to the main garage that opened up onto the driveway. I let it sink in for a moment. There was a freaking lift in their garage to take cars up and down.

I drove up to the lift plate. "How do I know if I'm on it correctly? I don't want to have it start lifting then crush the roof of the car," I said frantically.

"It's weight sensor based and can tell if any parts of the car are over the plate. Don't worry," he grinned.

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled.

It was hard to ignore the stares we were getting from every driver we were stopped near at the lights, although they probably couldn't see us because the windows were tinted so dark. I nearly went into cardiac arrest when it came time to parallel park the car. Thankfully, there were two spaces free right in front of the café.

Parker waved at a guy sitting alone at a table near the back. His brother, I assumed. "Daisy, this is Ashton, my brother. Ashton, this is Daisy, my girlfriend," he introduced. Against my will, my face flushed pink again. It'd take me a while to get used to hearing that. With that, my stomach started looping itself again.

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand.

"I can't believe what happened to you two. I'm so sorry I couldn't come visit you in hospital. I didn't hear about it until after you were discharged," Ashton said.

"All good. Of course, Holden dragged everyone in and made a huge ruckus," Parker replied. Ashton laughed, shaking his head slowly.

"He's always been like that hasn't he?" He cleared his throat and placed two white envelopes on the table. They had white lace trimming and roses embossed on the front.

"You sly dog!" Parker exclaimed after taking one look at it. "You're getting married!" He leapt up and walked around to the other side of the table, giving Ashton a bear hug. Seeing them next to each other, there was no denying they both had the same kind eyes. Ashton looked like an older version of Parker with stubble. Parker backed off when he started grimacing in pain.

"Do you ever listen to the doctor?" Ashton scolded. Parker sat back down. "I've been meaning to come by and drop these off," he continued. "I would've added your name to the invitation, but I didn't find out until today," he narrowed his eyes at Parker.

"It's all good. It was a very recent thing," I laughed.

"But I'll be expecting the two of you there?" He looked at me. I looked at Parker who simply smiled at me. I nodded.

"Of course," I replied.

"How is Nicole? I haven't seen her in ages?"

"She's doing well. Got us some good discounts on our honeymoon plans," Ashton replied. "She's a travel agent," he explained, obviously seeing the confusion on my face. The café was so busy they hadn't come to grab our order.

"I'll go order," Parker said, getting up. He looked over at Ashton. "What do you want?"

"Chicken parmigiana," he replied. Parker looked at me.

"Hmm...classic beef burger and fries."

"Drinks?" Parker asked again.

"Coke," Ashton answered.

"Me too," I said.

"Cool. I'll go order."

"No. You should rest, your ribs are all busted," I said, getting up instead. He placed both hands on my shoulders and sat me back down.

"I can handle it Sorenson," he said. I found myself smiling like an idiot again. Parker disappeared back to the front of the café where the counter was. I sat there twiddling my fingers, not sure whether it was appropriate to ask Ashton how he and Nicole and met as a conversation starter.

"I'm surprised Parker has a girlfriend," his brother remarked. "As you probably know, our family is quite...unconventional. Parker's always been very guarded."

"I'm really surprised everyone thinks he's like that. He's really nice," I spat out, immediately wishing I'd have jammed my foot into my mouth instead.

Ashton laughed and sipped on his coffee. "I haven't seen him being this open, smiling this much in a long time," Ashton remarked. "I don't know you, but you seem good for him. Please be patient with him. He needs some work with his communication skills," he chuckled. "And please don't break his heart."

"I won't. I promise."

--

sooo, quite a long chapter I thought - do you guys prefer shorter chapters or something this length?

not too much action but I hope you guys enjoyed that further development of the parker x daisy dynamic and finding out a bit more about parker!!

i must say i've been on a roll with these updates - probably mostly because of the love and encouragement you guys have given this story and me which i am incredibly grateful for ♥

thankful, and love always,

daria xoxo

ps pls vote if you enjoyed the chapter

pps yeah so i couldn't come up with a chapter title so i decided to publish rather than hold up the update!! feel free to give me any suggestions!!