Collyn's stare lingers on Parker before it goes back to his beer bottle. It's something Collyn's kept to himself for months. It never seemed important enough to tell Parker. Friends mind friends' feelings and that includes feelings towards other friends. Whether Parker likes Elli now or not, it still eats at Collyn because Parker liked her first. She's not property but, to Collyn, if anyone ever had a chance with her, it's Parker. And Collyn isn't gonna compete for her attention or be a second choice because Parker doesn't know what he's doing or because Elli believes she just likes Parker platonically.

"How long've you liked her?" Parker asks, his tone remaining surprised.

Collyn shrugs. "Uh, couple of months, maybe."

Parker nods, swishing the small bit of beer left in his bottle as he watches the top. "Gonna...do anything about it?" Parker glances up to Collyn and a tinge of jealousy coats his stomach like chard fabric.

Collyn shakes his head quickly before taking a drink of his own beer. "Nah," He chuckles softly. "She's not into me like that. We're friends."

Friends.

And suddenly it's like a spear with Parker's name carved on the handle is impaling his heart. Elli feels like a dirty little secret right now. Parker's lying to his best friend knowing that if he's doing what he's doing with Elli, Collyn never stands a chance to even find out if Elli does like him. Parker might hate the idea of losing what him and Elli are doing but that's not very fair for Collyn to be left out of the loop. But, then again, if Elli liked Collyn, she could call it all off with Parker. She has just as much control in the matter as he does and Parker hopes more than anything that if Elli had feelings for anyone, Collyn or some random guy from a bar, she would tell him. She always has before. So, Parker ignores the tinge of heat in his stomach and the stabbing pain in his chest.

"Yeah," Parker fakes a half-hearted smile. "Elli does have a habit of just saying how she feels, huh?"

Collyn scoffs, gaining an almost annoyed expression. "Yeah, guess." Collyn's brows rise and fall quickly while the neck of the beer bottle comes to his lips again. Parker's brows furrow as he opens his mouth to question Collyn's expression but Collyn beats him to speaking. "Anyway," Collyn sighs. "I've got that piece I'm workin' on and you said Elli should be home 'bout seven, ya?"

Parker flicks his wrist, the face of his watch lighting up as he checks the time. "Oh, yeah yeah. Leave ya to it then."

"Tomorow, right?" Collyn checks as Parker dumps the last bit of his beer down the sink and tosses the bottle.

"Yep, same time. Picking Elli up?"

"As usual." Collyn laughs, holding his bottle up to Parker as a goodbye.

"See you then." Parker heads for the door and heads back home.

The drive felt heavy, almost guilty. Parker knows that Collyn would never be mad about Parker and Elli's arrangement, not even now. It's just not Collyn and he'd probably just brush it off, assume Parker still liked Elli and that'd be it. But, from a best friend stance, it just makes Parker feel a little guilty. Not guilty enough to stop or even the type of guilt that lingers in the back of his throat, just the kind that's there for a little bit and eventually fades to nothing. And lucky for Parker, it only takes the drive with his favorite playlist and the sight of Elli struggling to get boxes out of her drunk for the guilt to fully fade.

"You're gonna hurt yourself." Parker chimes as he comes up from behind Elli, making her jump in surprise.

"You're gonna give me a fucking heart attack!" Elli whips around, glaring at Parker as her heart pounds.

Parker just laughs, moving to the side of her. "That's not good. Who'd pay half the rent?"

"Fuck you." Elli groans, turning back to the backseat of the car.

Parker's hands come to her shoulders and lightly pull her away. "Ya know I'm kiddin'."

"Mhm." Elli hums, trying to hide the smile that's tugging at the corner of her lips.

"How're you plannin' to get these upstairs?" Parker asks as he grabs a lighter box and hands it to Elli.

"Lots of trips and a lot of struggling and hoping you were home to get the tree and breakables." Elli beams, a cheeky smile on display as Parker turns to look at her.

"So, you're just lucky I'm home." Parker quips before turning back to the backseat to grab another smaller box.

"Well, I would have left the other boxes and just asked you once you got home anyway." Elli giggles as Parker stacks the smaller box on top of the bigger one.

Parker rolls his eyes and jerks his head towards the apartment. "Shut up and go upstairs." His words are airy with a gentle chuckle as he turns back to grab the box with the tree.

"Love you." Elli holds out the last word as she heads for the apartment.

Parker leans up and watches as Elli walks. Her jeans hug her hips just right, pink coat hood slightly bouncing with every step and her head peeking around the boxes to make sure she doesn't trip. Her boots slush through the soft snow that's leftover from the snow plows and Parker just smiles to himself. How does one person look that perfect from just walking away?

As Elli enters the apartment, she rests the boxes on the table, the fresh warmth of the home sending a calming chill down her spine. She lets out a breath, her nose starting to run with the new warmth while she starts shrugging her coat off. By the time she's onto taking her boots off, a knock sounds on the door and she's opening it for Parker.

Parker carries the large box with the tree inside to the living room, boots tracking melted snow across the hardwood floor until he reaches the carpet. He lets out a breath as he rests the box on the floor, turning around with a triumphant smile on his face.

"You tracked snow in the house." Elli crosses her arms.

"Technically, it's water." Parker gives Elli a cheeky grin, happy with his quip.

"You wanna wipe it up?" Elli retorts.

"If you wanna get the other ornaments."

Elli scrunches her face in disgust with the thought of facing the cold yet again. "Fine." She walks over the paper towels, ripping a few off.

She hears Parker chuckles as he starts jogging down the hall, leaving the door cracked open. She shakes her head and gets to cleaning up the leftover water so no one slips. Elli might love winter but she hates the actual clean up that comes with the snow. It gets tracked everywhere, salt strips the color of shoes if they're not protected, floors are slick and an accident waiting to happen. She'd never move anywhere where it didn't snow, but she wishes the snow could be a little less of a mess and a little less of a hassle.

In minutes, Parker is coming back, lightly nudging the door open with his hip and walking to the table to rest the box beside the ones Elli brought up. His eyes go to the living room where Elli is already sat on the floor getting pieces of the tree out and already changed into sweatpants and a tank top. He can't help but smile to himself as he shrugs his coat off, hanging it up beside Elli's.

"Couldn't wait to get started?" Parker asks.

"Christmas is in like two weeks, we're behind!" Elli exclaims, distress in her voice as she looks to Parker with a pout.

"I'm sorry." Parker smirks, hands up in surrender.

"Are you gonna help?" Elli asks, eyes wide and pleading.

"Yes." Parker remarks, crouching down to take off his boots. "You want coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?"

Elli beams at him. "Hot chocolate."

"Okay." Parker says softly, looking up to send Elli a smile sweet enough to cause cavities.

Elli works on sorting the different tree branches while Parker works on making hot chocolate, insisting to make it on the stove since it tastes better despite it taking longer. As he waited for the milk to heat up, he brought the remaining boxes from the kitchen into the living room and set them aside so Elli had plenty of room to continue to sort the green branches. By the time the branches were sorted and the base of the tree was set up, Parker was pouring hot chocolate into a Batman mug for Elli and a Spider-Man mug for him. Steam rose from the tops of the mugs as Parker walked them into the living room, carefully bending down to hand Elli hers.

Elli smiles delicately, wrapping both hands around the mug as she brings it to her lips and taking a small sip, careful not to burn herself. She hums in delight, eyes closed as the chocolate flavor consumes her mouth and the warmth floods her body.

"Good?" Parker asks.

"Mhm." Elli hums, eyes opening to take another sip. "Thanks."

Parker nods, still crouched in front of her. "Smells like Christmas in here already." Parker chuckles, taking a small sip himself.

"Good." Elli mumbles, taking another sip.

"What d'ya want me to do then, darlin'?" Parker asks, eyes soft and not leaving Elli's.

"You can either attach the branches or start untangling the lights."

Parker scrunches his face. "Think I'll take the branches." Parker says but he doesn't make the effort to move.

"What's your deal with the lights?"

"Kind of your thing." Parker shrugs a shoulder, taking a sip of the warm drink. Elli furrows her brows in curiosity. "You've all those lights 'round your room."

"Are you sure it's not because you broke a strand a few years ago?" Elli questions, tilting her head innocently to the right.

Parker's smile drops as he squints his eyes. "That strand was already broken."

"Okay." Elli laughs. "Whatever you say." She leans forward and presses a chaste kiss to Parker's cheek.

Parker shakes his head as the gesture sends a warm chill down his spine and electricity through his veins. "I'll start on the branches." Parker says with a mocking tone, getting to his feet.

Elli moves to her knees and moves over to the box with the lights, resting her mug on the coffee table. As she opens the box, Parker opens the case to his turntable and puts on + by Ed Sheeran, soft guitar fills the room with the first song. Elli's eyes move with Parker as he grabs a few branches and starts placing them in their correct positions. Blue flannel with dark blue jeans, a white t-shirt sneaking out from under the flannel, his hair flatter than usual from the long day and there's something about him today that makes her heart flutter more than usual. Maybe it's because he looks absolutely striking in the color blue or maybe it's because it's rare to see him with hair not a disheveled mess, or maybe it's just that they're two people sharing the moment of decorating with a record playing and he's busy barely singing to the record. Maybe it's more.

Parker turns and grabs more branches, sticking his tongue out at Elli, snapping her from her thoughts making her cheeks shoot red. Parker just chuckles with the new branches in hand and mouth moving to the lyrics of the song while Elli grabs the lights to untangle them. There are very few things more satisfying to Parker than catching Elli staring at him and making her blush over it. Sure, it's an ego boost but the way she turns red and immediately goes to doing something else as if they haven't been friends for years, it just makes Parker wanna pull her into him and never let go.

By the time Elli has the lights untangled, there's been a hundred stolen glances and four songs have passed while Parker's just finished adding the last branch to the tree. The two of them work together to start stringing the lights around the tree, neither one willing to speak as the record continues to play. There's a sense of complete happiness that fills the air as it's just them decorating the tree. There's smiles and hearts skipping a beat with every glance at the other. Parker's humming is just barely heard over the record and it sends Elli's heart soaring.

The ornaments are being hung, Parker on the floor as he hands them one-by-one to Elli, fingertips brushing against hers and then Parker's favorite song of the album comes on. His eyes close and the delicate smile he had almost permanently etched across his face spread wide and his voice grows louder and he sings the first words of Lego House. Elli looks to Parker, no teasing on her lips or in her eyes, just genuine and sincere warmth and adornment for him. It makes the tiny butterflies flutter through Parker's stomach and to his heart. He gets to his feet and sticks his hand out. Elli's brows furrow but she gives him her hand without hesitation.

Parker's hand holds Elli's tightly while his other hand goes to her hip and a smile so fragile comes to Elli's face and she places her free hand on Parker's shoulder. The two of them sway to the song, both becoming slower and the small space between them becomes just enough for them not to be tripping over each other's feet. Parker bows his head, his forehead pressing against Elli's as he continues to sing to the song, his voice low with a quiet tone.

And for a moment, they both forget they're friends.

Anything can be platonic. Friends can do anything lovers can, there's no rule that says they can't. So, while just dancing in the living room against the lights of the Christmas tree with a record playing and Parker singing, it doesn't feel like they're friends. Elli can swear that every word that comes from Parker's mouth is meant for her despite this being the billionth time she's heard him sing those same words. He's sung them to her before, while making breakfast, in the car, practicing before his first live set. He's sung them in the shower and from the quiet of his room. It's nothing new but this moment, this moment with their hearts beating at the same nervous and adoring rate, it feels like they're meant for her and maybe she's hoping they are.

As for Parker, he can swear his heart is just beating for her. She could ask him for anything and he would do it right now without ever questioning it. He never wants to move, never wants the song to end. This moment, it's perfect and he can feel her breath against his skin, the scent of her flowery shampoo mixing with the scent of the tree is like home. It's home and it engulfs him, making him swear to everything in his being that he's hopelessly and endlessly addicted to her. Addicted to her in moments like these and moments of laughter, and tear-stained cheeks. He's addicted to her in every sense of the word, through the good, the bad, and the ugly and all he wants, right now, is for Elli to be happy and have everything she ever wanted because he is crazy for her.

The song starts to come to an end and Elli doesn't wanna lose the warmth of Parker, doesn't want to lose the moment so, her hand drops Parker's and moves to the back of his neck while her nose brushes his softly. Parker's free hand goes to her hip, squeezing her clothed hip as his lips meet hers in a delicate and hesitant kiss. The kiss remains tender and soft as their lips move together in a type of melody only they know, tongues dancing in perfect harmony.

The record plays on the kiss deepens and Parker's hands play at the hem of Elli's shirt, sliding under the fabric. Elli gasps against Parker's lips, his hands warm against her skin. A smile spreads across Parker's face as he goes back for a kiss, Elli gliding her hands across his shoulders and to the buttons of his flannel. One-by-one Elli gets the buttons undone and tugs the fabric from Parker's arms, his hands leaving her skin just long enough to let the shirt be tossed to the side. Parker's quick to tug up Elli's tank top, tossing it away with his shirt before his lips connect with her collarbone.

Elli reaches behind her own back, undoing the clasp of her bra and tossing it aside. A devilish grin crosses Parker's face as he stops marking her collarbones but Elli doesn't waste much time moving things to the floor, tugging the collar of Parker's shirt for him to fall on top of her. Parker's mouth is right back on Elli's, the kiss fevered and electrifying. Her fingers thread through his hair, tugging slightly and gaining a lovely grunt from the back of Parker's throat.

The sounds of their breathing getting heavier mixes with the music but they're only focused on each other. Parker's snaking his hand into the hem of Elli's sweatpants and underwear, gliding a finger along her already slick folds and Elli is palming Parker over his jeans. They're entangled in each other, lost in gruntled moans and hips grinding against each other, silent pleas for more contact, something to relieve the pressure in their stomachs.

It's Parker that makes the move to remove Elli's sweatpants and underwear, his pants and boxers following right after and soon, he's flipping Elli on top of him, her hands flat on his chest. She looks down at him, her chest heaving in the same rhythm as his. Her eyes scan from his eyes to his flushed cheeks down to his chest to his abs he's worked too hard to get. When her eyes meet back to his, Parker's gained a smirk, sticking his tongue out at her. Elli scrunches her nose with a giggle, sticking her tongue back out at him only for him to reach a hand and tweak her nipple. A moan falls from her lips, eyes closing and smile falling. Elli grinds down on Parker, nails digging into his pale skin.

"Condom?" Parker mutters out, hands trailing from her breasts and down her sides until they reach her hips.

"Bedroom?" Elli quirks a brow, knowing her condoms would be in her bedroom.

"Wallet? Pants pocket?" Parker offers with a cheeky smirk.

Elli rolls her eyes but a smile doesn't budge from her lips while she bends back and grabs Parker's pants and his wallet from the back pocket. She grabs the condom and tosses the wallet with the jeans to the side. Parker's hands glide over her sides sending goosebumps over her body as Elli tears the package open. She lifts herself up and grabs Parker's erection, sliding the condom easily onto him before lining her center up with his tip. At an agonizingly slow pace, Elli sinks down onto him, Parker's grip on her sides tightening while her nails go back to digging into the skin on his chest.

Once Parker's cock fills her up fully, she takes a minute to adjust, Parker adjusting to feeling with her as his eyes take her in. Eyes going from hers, lingering on her breasts, and traveling down to where their lower halves connect, an involuntary groan coming from Parker's throat at the sight before he looks back up to Elli. Once his eyes are back on hers, she sends him a lust-filled smirk before she starts riding him, slowly at first and speeding up as Parker's grip starts to tighten on her hips.

Parker's name starts sputtering from Elli's lips, hitched breathing in between as her head is thrown back, blonde hair dangling down her back. She starts clenching around Parker and he takes his chance to move his thumb to her clit, rubbing figure eights against the bud. Elli jerks and an almost pornographic moan comes from the back of her throat.

"P-Parker." Elli gasps out.

"C'mon, 's it. You're so pretty like this darlin'." Parker pants, the rubbing of his thumb never stopping.

In only seconds, Elli is yelling Parker's name, her orgasm hitting her hard as she falls onto Parker's chest. Parker's feet plant themselves on the floor as he pounds into her, chasing his high as he helps Elli ride out hers. Elli starts coming down but she whispers praises into Parker's neck, kissing and biting, sucking on the glistening skin. The whispered praises and assault on his neck are enough to throw him over the edge.

Parker's movements come to a halt, his breathing heavy in Elli's ear. He buries his head in the crook of her neck, trailing kisses from her neck to her cheek. Elli giggles in response, turning her head to look at him before pressing a quick and sugary kiss to his lips.

"Your hair's a mess." Parker chuckles, his voice gravely as he reaches up to try and part it the right way again.

"So is yours." Elli mimics his movements, the two of them laughing with each other but not exactly fixing the other's hair.

"Mmmm." Parker hums. "Better get up."

"Yeah," Elli sighs, sitting up slightly. "I'm stealing your shirt."

"You always do." Parker quips, eyes widening in a teasing manner.

"You love it." Elli retorts, sliding off of Parker and finding her underwear and Parker's flannel.

"Yeah," Parker says, the word just above a whisper. "I do."

Elli sends him a wink as she wiggles her underwear on, not bothering to actually stand. Parker just rolls his eyes before he gets to his feet and goes to dispose of the condom, his clothes in hand. By the time he comes back, Elli is still laid on the floor with Parker's flannel buttoned enough to show her cleavage but nothing more, the blue cheeky underwear peeking out from under the fabric as she watched the lights on the tree.

"You alright there, darlin'?" Parker asks, swapping out + for X on the record player before laying beside Elli.

"Perfect." Elli mumbles, sending Parker a sincere smile.

Parker returns the smile and offers his hand to her. The two of them fall silent, enjoying the music and the post-sex bliss, both having their minds on the moments before the kissing had started. They'd never shared a moment like that before and they're both questioning why not and why now. If it even met anything to the other. If that's what the other really wants. That kind of loving and adoring type of happiness.

A few songs pass and Parker's fingers are interlaced with Elli's as she's laid on her side, her eyes on her hands, carefully moving to the soft sound of the record playing from the opposite side of the room.

"Can I ask you something?" Parker asks suddenly, his eyes coming to her face.

"Anything, darling." Elli responds, mocking his usual tone as her eyes meet his.

Parker rolls his eyes, propping himself up on his elbow, resting his head on his hand as he faces her. "I'm serious."

Elli sighs, gazing up at him. "Okay, what?"

Parker licks his lips and he gives you hand a squeeze, brows furrowing as a few beats pass. "Uh, just...how long...did you want to, ya know....keep this up?" Parker asks and the hesitance in his voice snaps Elli from her blissful state. "I mean, um, we never, er, established it, suppose?"

Elli's heart sinks as his eyes dodge hers, now solely on their hands, fingers still moving effortlessly together. "Do you want to end this?" The question burns Elli's tongue, a sour taste consuming her mouth.

She'd never thought about ending it. In fact, the idea has never once crossed her mind. This is who they are now. Friends with benefits. They're still friends without the benefits but the very idea of losing it, of losing moments like this with his fingers intertwined with hers and one of his favorite records playing while she's in nothing but his flannel and lace underwear, it's....soul-crushing.

"No," Parker says quickly, shaking his head. "I just," Parker takes a deep breath, exhaling through his nose. "You're kind of a hopeless romantic, makes me wanna gag half the time." Elli scoffs at Parker's remark but it just makes him grin. "Wouldn't call this very romantic."

Elli's eyes narrow and her heart rate is speeding up with every passing second. "You're stalling."

Parker chuckles but the smile he had gained falls short when his eyes meet hers again. "Okay, um, you're not gonna have your happy after or whatever if you're fuckin' me on our living room floor."

"Maybe you're my happy after or whatever, ever think of that?"

Parker raises a brow, knowing Elli can't be serious. "Oh, I'm your happy after?"

"We could get married at the Shedd aquarium, move the burbs in some house with a white picket fence and have three kids."

Parker bursts into a fit of laughter. "Three kids? Really?"

"Yes!" Elli exclaims.

Parker flicks her forehead. "C'mon, Elli. I'm being serious." The laughter subsides and the smile falls.

Elli's heart stops and her smile falls with Parker. "Why does it matter?" She asks. "I like what we're doing and you do, too. We're not seeing people. What's it matter of a sudden?"

Parker watches her, Elli's face reddening in a way Parker knows is panic. Her face always reddens around her ears first when she's panicked about something. Her voice is always higher pitched just like it is now and there's no reason for her to panic. Not when it comes to him.

"I just want you to be happy, Elli." Parker admits, licking his lips before swallowing hard. "I, uh, I just....I know that stuff means a lot to you so, I just want to make sure you get everything you ever wanted. I want you to be happy."

"Yeah, but I'm happy with you." Elli says, the words coming from her mouth without a second thought. Second nature. Parker is second nature. He's her happiness."That's why you're my best friend. Ya know, my person. You make me really happy." Elli whispers, unlacing her fingers from Parker's as she cups his cheek. "I'm always happy with you, Parker."