A/N : Hi there!... Surprise surprise... When I posted 'A rainbow on my hand', I intended it to be a one-shot... and i didn't think that i would end up writing more of it. for this you can blame cj95, an awesome reviewer who asked for another chapter with the team's reactions in it. This is not exactly that... I was in the mood for a little more Parker craziness and E/P fluff... so lo and behold... The next chapter. The next and last chapter of this fic will probably feature the rest of the team and their reactions to the ring...

The next morning sun saw Eliot Spencer awaken slowly, savoring the warmth and familiarity of his own bed before his searching hands encountered air and he shot up off the mattress, searching for the woman who'd fallen asleep the previous night curled into his body, wearing his ring. Forcing his taut muscles to relax when he spied a cup of fresh coffee on the bedside table and his newspaper opened to the page that detailed an astonishing case of art theft at the MoMA, Eliot got up, brushed and took a quick shower before picking up his coffee and walking out of the bedroom in search of his elusive girlfriend.

The article in the paper didn't hold his attention as he was already aware of more details than what had been published due to his girlfriend being the one who'd pulled off that heist. But he knew that it was almost like a matter of pride for Parker that the press and the police had no idea how anyone could've ever cracked the MoMA's new security system, which had just been installed the previous week, so he made sure that he at least read through it.

He was half way through the article that almost seemed to be in awe of the thief who'd pulled off such a heist, when the paper hung unnoticed from his hand once he espied his girlfriend. The smile that made its way across Eliot's face, the one everyone knew only Parker could elicit, had everything to do with the picture the woman in question was making right then, sitting on the window ledge, holding up her left hand and gazing concentrated-ly at the ring that sat on her fourth finger.

"Good mornin' hun... Watcha doin' up so early?... and what's with you and the ring huh?... ever since i slid it onto your finger, you seem to be lookin' at it more than you look at me... Do I have some reason to be jealous?"

The teasing smile on his face softened into something a little more serious, more affectionate when Parker turned to him and he saw her smile... that wide, bright, angelic smile with all the innocence of a child never failed to get to him.

"Well... You should've thought of that before you gave me my ring..."

The cheeky response was accompanied by an equally cheeky smile that earned her a mind numbingly long good morning kiss.

Carefully joining the slim blonde on the window seat, Eliot maneuvered in such a way that his back was reclining against the wall, his legs up on the cushion and Parker securely resting her body against his, tucked into his side. A soft smile made it onto his face as he felt Parker snuggle closer and fit her body to his, making the most of his body heat in the early morning chill. The paper lay forgotten on the floor as the couple spent the next half hour just relaxing, watching the sun rise while chatting quietly, exchanging soft, sweet kisses and whispered 'I love you's.

They'd just decided that they would take it easy and just spend the rest of the day around the house if Nate didn't call them in, when Eliot went and put his foot squarely into his mouth. Ironically, he hadn't even been trying to do anything wrong... A seemingly simple and loving question snowballed into something he couldn't even believe... an argument he lost... not only lost, but got stonewalled, shut out and left out in the cold.

Eliot knew that Parker could easily hold her own when it came to arguments. But they'd not really had any of them for a long time, choosing to resolve their disagreements in other ways. But they both knew that they were equally intense, passionate people, who held the capacity to flare up at a moment's notice like matches to gasoline.

"So... do you like it?"

"It?..."

"Your ring darlin'..."

"Oh don't you call her an 'it'... She'll feel bad..."

It was to Eliot's credit that he looked completely baffled and confused for just a couple of seconds before a pseudo-normal expression slid onto his face. His voice hadn't quite recovered from the shock though and it was quite obvious at his next query, positioned half an octave higher than his usual mellow baritone.

"She?"

It shouldn't be possible to be able to put so much emphasis, shock, bafflement and complete incomprehension into one single word, but like always, Eliot managed it beautifully. Parker in turn looked at him like he was the one giving an inanimate piece of jewellery a gender and calling it a 'she'

"Yeah... She... I've decided to name her Andie... Why?..."

"Y... You do realize that it's a ring... a damned ring... made of metal and stones you're talking about..."

There was a rare stutter in Eliot's voice, sounding as if he was seriously contemplating the mental health of the woman he loved. Her reply though, left him gaping and not able to form a answer before she'd already left the room.

"Well.. Then why do you call your cars and bikes by girls names Eliot?... Aren't they all made from metal and... and... well... aren't they made from metal?"

Without allowing him to answer, Parker neatly executed a side flip, coming to stand on the mahogany paneled floor beside the window seat and giving him a victorious expression, went off to the bedroom still talking to the freakin' ring.

Saved from spending the rest of the morning grovelling for something he wasn't even sure he'd done wrong, Eliot went into the bedroom to inform Parker that Nate had called them all in to the office in an hour to discuss their next client. To his relief, Parker gave him a cheerful smile of acknowledgement and it seemed as if she'd forgotten their argument or forgiven his part in it and breathing easier, Eliot proceeded to get ready for the day.

Before they stepped foot out of the door though, Eliot felt that he needed to tell Parker what he thought about their morning argument.

"Parker... About this morning..."

"What is it Eliot?... Is something wrong?"

"Well... It's about the ring... I'm... well... I don't wanna say sorry 'cuz I actually don't know what I did wrong but I don't want any bad feelings between us... so... if I have to... I will say..."

Parker quickly pressed a kiss onto his lips, effectively shutting him up

"It's ok Eliot... You didn't actually do anything wrong... It's just that I got a little excited... I've never... I've never had anything like this of my own..."

The fact that her voice took on a slightly teary quality caught Eliot's attention more than what she said and so her statement took another second to sink in. Quickly ushering her to the comfy couch and pulling her down into his warmth, Eliot wrapped his arms around the slight frame

"What do you mean hun?"

"Well... I've never had any jewellery of my own you know..."

"What are you saying Parker?... You probably have more pieces of jewellery stashed away in your various safe houses and bank safety deposit boxes than most women on this planet do..."

"But those aren't really mine are they?"

"What do you mean?... They are yours... You have them so they are yours..."

"You don't understand... I do have a lot of jewellery stashed in my lockers and in other safe houses but none of them are mine... Those pieces of jewellery were made for other women... They were made with some other person in mind. Some rich guy thought a certain diamond necklace would suit his wife and bought it for her... I stole it... doesn't mean that that necklace is mine... It still belongs to the lady who it was bought for... I just happen to have it..."

The earnestness in Parker's voice as she tried to convince Eliot of her argument had him believing her more than the content of it, because let's face it, it might make complete sense in Parker-ese, her own brand of crazy, but to Eliot it scarcely made any sense. But he chose to go along with it because it seemed so important to Parker that Eliot understand what she was trying to say

"But this ring Eliot... This ring is all mine. You thought about me, you thought it would suit me and that i would like it when you picked it out..."

Here, Eliot interrupted her to put in a comment of his own

"Actually darlin'... I had it made for you..."

Eliot didn't know whether to kick himself for making her cry at that or to pat himself on the back because she was smiling her biggest, brightest smile at him through the tears. He had to settle for breathing because in a flash, Parker had pushed him back on to the couch, settled her body snugly over his and was kissing him like it was going out of fashion.

"Thank you Eliot... You don't know how much it means to me that you went through the effort of having this ring made especially for me..."

The little lost girl was back in her eyes... Eliot could literally see the self-recrimination and absence of self-worth in her body language. He mentally cursed all the people who'd contributed to making her the insecure, self-doubting child she'd been.

At least he knew that she'd turned out okay but he was still glad that he wouldn't be able to meet anyone who'd been involved in her childhood, cuz he'd stopped tearing people to pieces, stopped letting the rage control him but if he ever had to face anyone who'd hurt Parker, he wasn't sure he'd be able to control the beast inside him. But right now, he had to concentrate on making the hurt little girl in front of him feel better.

"Parker... honey... You deserve every bit of it... Every milligram of Platinum on that ring, every carat of all the precious stones are all yours... and you completely deserve them and more. Deep down inside, I know that you deserve more than me baby, but what can I do?... I am a selfish guy and I need you to make me happy. So know this, I am not letting you go... ever."

Eliot smiled into her teary grey eyes and continued

"You are the most important person to me on this whole planet and there is nothing I wouldn't do for you. I love you Parker... You... just the way you are. I love that you are crazy, spontaneous and have absolutely no sense of discretion. I love that you don't know how to hide your feelings, you don't lie to me about anything and you don't expect anything out of this relationship than you are prepared to give yourself... And I absolutely love the fact that you bring so much happiness and freedom into my life that I'd never thought I'd ever have before I met you..."

The kiss that Parker bestowed on Eliot at the end of his little declaration started sweetly enough, but as they both knew, they were like matches to gasoline and nobody could blame them for ending up at Nate's apartment a whole hour late.

A/N : Hope everyone liked it... review and tell me how it was... again, thanks to cj95 for making me think about writing more of this fic... I thoroughly loved writing this piece of E/P fluff... :)

Again... reviews are LOVE... so keep reading and reviewing... :)

lotsa luv

Macybear