Dirt And Diamonds

15: Nicknames

Parker's jaw did end up being broken, but the doctor said that it would heal on its own and told him to take Tylenol or ibuprofen for any pain. So that was good. At least it wasn't that bad.

As for me, my wrists were sprained. But that was thankfully the worst part of my injuries. But Parker hated the fact that I had marks all over me, and I did too. They only reminded me of that night and made me feel nasty. I covered them up with long sleeve shirts and scarves.

Also, I didn't tell anybody about what happened that night. Well, nobody from back home. I didn't tell Lizzie and I sure didn't tell my parents. I didn't want to leave Haines. But since Haines is such a small town, soon everyone around here knew. And all our friends were very comforting about it, and so were his parents when we went to their house for dinner the night after.

I didn't feel that bad about it anymore. I didn't feel like it was somehow my fault. And Parker realized that it wasn't his fault. You learn to move on from things like that.

But Parker was still my hero. I'll be forever grateful to him for what he did that night.

It had been a week since it happened and filming was postponed until they could find a replacement for Paul. The day after tomorrow, a new producer is supposed to come.

Parker and I have been getting along good. We're back to laughing, talking, and playing around like we did before. Neither one of us has mentioned the kiss we shared that night, and we haven't kissed since then. I haven't slept in his bed since then, but I did move back into the house instead of the hotel. And I gave him his hoodie back.

***

"I think I'll call you Shaggy from now on." I told Parker as we were eating grilled ham and cheese sandwiches in the living room.

"Why?" He smirked with his mouth full.

I chuckled. "You look like a Shaggy. You look like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo."

Parker chuckled as he got out his phone. "Let me find this picture one of the fans of the show did years ago."

"What is it?" I said before I sipped my drink.

"Just wait." Parker smirked as his thumb was moving over his screen.

"Yeah, I'm calling you Shaggy." I nodded. "Shaggy haired weirdo."

Parker chuckled. "Well, I call you Lays, so I guess we're even."

"Yep." I smirked.

"Here it is." Parker said as he showed me the phone screen. It was a cartoon picture of Parker and Dozer and another guy. It looked like Parker was Shaggy and Dozer was Scooby-Doo.

I chuckled. "Now it's definitely your nickname. Who's the other guy supposed to be?"

"Oh, that's Rick. He's my foreman up there at the mine and one of my best friends." Parker explained as he set his phone back down.

"Aw." I smiled. "Shaggy has a best friend."

"Yeah, I'm not an antisocial ass all the time. Just most of the time." Parker smirked.

"I know, it took you like a week to talk to me off camera." I chuckled.

"If I remember correctly you didn't make any efforts to talk to me." He smirked.

"Okay, maybe I'm an antisocial ass too." I chuckled. "Sometimes."

"Well, we make good friends, huh?" Parker said before taking a swig of his beer.

I nodded my head as I was eating a bite of my sandwich.

"At least you're not an ass to me. Usually." I said.