"Tina? Hi! Yeah I can cover after school, that's fine. Oh of course, don't worry about it!" I nodded along, nodding along to one of my colleagues' requests. Here I was contemplating what shorts to wear when I should be making lesson plans to compensate for the period I was missing in order to substitute.
Should I go for long ones? The yellow ones with baby blue petals? Or perhaps the shorter black ones.
The black ones, that nagging feeling in the back of my head told me that I would need smaller shorts. So they wouldn't get... wet.
What George had told me unsettled me. He knew I had the answer and was so confident in that claim also. Was I really that easy to read or did he just pay attention to me really well? I knew what his analogy was to and it was scary. The concept itself and also the fact that it was a good analogy. My relationship with him compared to my relationship with the water is so surprisingly similar it was unnerving.
If I could develop my feeling of comfort with that man, what's to say I can't overcome whatever fear I have of the sea? It took many minutes of self convincing, but I finally brought myself to wear those damn shorts and get in the car.
I drove down the usual path, taking a right at the Baskin Robbins I went to sometimes. Maybe it was because George was on my mind but I had a fleeting thought that I should take him there sometime. Maybe I would ask today.
I took another right, the cityscape fading more and more until it reached the beach. I involuntarily let out a small sigh as I was reunited with the cliffs I was so familiar with. I drove more into the... what's a word, wilderness? It isn't ideal to describe the landscape like that but... I couldn't describe it much else. The minimal people turned to none except for a single black Mercedes in my way. I parked a couple feet behind and hopped out, joining George at the edge.
"So George from London." I say softly, my hands held behind my back, staring out ahead. "I'm here. And I'm wearing shorts."
He looked at me and giggled, "You are! That's good. Do you know why?"
I looked at him anxiously, "I think so." I said quietly and shivered, realizing how unusually cold it was out today. I was wearing the hoodie he gave me but I still felt gooseflesh flare up across my arms and legs. He held out his hand and I warily took it, pressing my lips together in a thin line. I gripped his hand tighter every step we took off the path.
"Relax." He whispered, grasping back with equal force I had before. This made me think, was he nervous too? And yet, he looked so... calm. Tranquil. And actually facing it. Not going back like how I want to.
And that was inspiring.
So I took a sigh and walked on, but my grip on his hand remained at the same intensity it was before. We followed along to the left of the raiing, the gap between it looming closer and closer. Within seconds we were at the makeshift steps from the cliff to the bottom. The same place where the sand actually came in contact with the water.
We were halfway down the steps when I froze. I couldn't do it.
As if reading my thoughts, George softly said, "Marlowe, you can do it. Let me just show you."
"I'm going to die." I replied with the same voice and he laughed. It wasn't even supposed to be a joke but I ended up snorting too. We stood there giggling to ourselves and my mind was only thinking one thing, Why did this man make me feel this way?
Suddenly, with no warning, George disconnected his hand from mine and ran to the waves, stopping once the water hit his feet. He jumped up and laughed, "It's cold!"
"Why are you happy?" I yelled out.
"Because today I managed to come in contact with my third most favorite thing in the world, Marlowe." He smiled. He beckoned me to come close, gathering water from below and throwing it up. And damn, he looked beautiful.
I swallowed the saliva gathering in my mouth and took a deep breath.
And I ran,
And ran, and ran, and ran.
I ran until I knocked into George, his warmth and arms wrapping around me compensating for the painstaking cold lapping at my feet.
I widened my eyes.
I wasn't dead.
The water didn't consume me or spit me out.
It was just there.
Just like it always had been.
And now that I thought about it, so had George.
He'd always been there. He was a part of my life now. Something I looked forward to. I had come to the ocean to escape. But now I came to the ocean because of George. I didn't come here to leave what I had behind. I came here because I had something here that was worth going for.
So I pulled away from our embrace and looked at him hard. I grabbed his chiseled face in my hands and made agonizing eye contact. "George from London."
"Miss Marlowe." He nodded.
"I love the ocean." I stated. And he smiled again. A smile that I wanted to stare and look at forever because I know it would grant eternal happiness. He breathed out, the hot air fanning out on my face, "You're welcome."
I drew back and ran about 10 feet to the left, whooping and hollering because I could. I yelled out things that weren't even words. I yelled out things that made me happy because no one except George would hear.
After a good few minutes of me exhausting all the air that could be in my lungs, I sat down in the water. My entire body was wet but I didn't care. I sighed out and looked out like I usually did. But it was so much more beautiful than I could have imagined.
I was part of the beauty now. There is nothing more rewarding and liberating than that.
I heard a splash next to me and ripped my gaze away to face George. He was doing what I was doing earlier, observing the view. His soft brown eyes were glowing with moonlight and his skin, drenched with water droplets, shimmered. His hair lay in a pretty mess above his prettier face. And his lips were full and wound in a relaxed state.
I decided then and there that that was the most gorgeous view of them all.
YOU ARE READING
Unlonely Nights- GeorgeNotFound x OC
FanfictionHe had asked me, "Are you alright?" I nodded, raising a brow at his British accent. "Are you going to jump?" I shook my head, a little surprised he asked me. I didn't think someone I didn't know would even bother if I was actually contemplating doin...