thirty-six hours with you | georgenotfound x reader

19. meerkats

"I don't know if I'm following the directions right." I turn the noodle bowl over in my hands to reread the instructions to cook it.

"It's add water and heat." George sits on the motel bed without hesitation. "It's not that complicated, y/n."

"Shut up," I mumble.

I follow the instructions step by step, knowing that the first one is not only George's dinner but also my trial run. When the microwaves beep to signify it's done, I carefully take it out and put it on the side table next to George. I stand and watch him give it a once over.

His eyes flit up to me. "What?"

I shrug. "Nothing."

"Are you waiting to see if I've burned this before making yours?" George's brows raise.

"No," I lie. That's exactly what I was going to do.

George sits up straighter, crossing his arms. "Go ahead."

I glance at the bowl in my hand, then back to him sitting on the bed. "Go ahead what?"

"Make yours." George gestures to the microwave. "We can taste test together."

I scoff and turn back to face the microwave. "You're an asshole."

"You were going to use me as, like, a poison tester," George counters.

"You probably deserved it." I place the bowl in the microwave.

"How do I deserve it?"

I press start. "I don't know, but you've probably done something."

"Name one."

I laugh. "I could name three."

"You can't include that I can't drive."

"Even then."

"And you can't do before we got to the hotel room," he adds.

That stumped me. I sit for a moment, trying to remember something George has done to piss me off. Last night, he was very kind when I couldn't sleep. And today we watched movies and went to the gas station. It feels like we've been in this room for weeks, but it's only been about twenty-four hours. And I can't think of a single thing he's done.

I turn around to face him again, leaning my body weight against the dresser. I squint towards the man in front of me and cross my arms. "Who are you, actually?"

George chuckles. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have been.." I trail off for the right word. "Normal."

"What was I before?" George is amused by my observation.

"I don't know." I try to think for the right word to describe George that isn't 'asshole'. The microwave timer goes off, but I ignore it for now. "You're just acting like an actual decent human."

"Compared to cavemen-like ways of before?"

"I changed my mind." I reach to my right for a crumpled up paper on the desk from earlier and throw it his way. "You're still an idiot."

George swats the paper ball away when it gets near him. "An idiot?" He places on hand on his chest. "That hurts, y/n, right in the heart."

I grab my bowl out of the microwave. "What heart?"

"Sorry." George grabs his own bowl now, too. "I meant the lump of coal in my chest."

"Ah." I sit on the bed next to him. "That makes much more sense."

George turns the TV on while we eat. It's some nature documentary about meerkats, but neither of us make an effort to watch something else.

"The meerkat is the most murderous mammal," the narrator's voice says, "It's been found that a meerkats have killed thousands of their own kind."

"Is that how you portray me?" George asks, "Murderous."

I look up from my bowl to search for murder in his eyes. "I don't think you would murder someone, but you could certainly get someone else to do it for you."

George laughs. It sounds evil against the static TV and background drizzles of rain. "How do you even think of that?"

"You're evil, George," I tell him, "I can tell."

George places his bowl on the table next to him before leaning back; his hands rest behind his head. "Oh really?"

"Mhm." I take a sip of my drink.

George looks from me and back to the TV. "Interesting."

I roll my eyes and place my own bowl to the side as well. I lay down with a blanket around my shoulders.

Neither of us say anything more; we just listen to the documentary tell us about meerkats.

A loud yell sounds from the TV is what wakes me up in the middle of the night. I don't remember falling asleep or what I was doing, but the clock reads 3:52am.

I turn over to see if the remote is still on the pillow separating George and I. The TV light doesn't help enough so I pat around until I feel the pillow. I hit it a couple times before hitting something.

George jumps up from his sleep, taking the pillow he was cuddling with him. "What?" His voice is raspy and nervous.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Sleeping." George sets the pillow back down and squeezes it once.

"Not in my bed you're not." I grab the edge of the pillow and pull it slightly.

George yanks it back. "I wasn't even bothering you."

"Well, now you are."

George huffs. "Let me sleep."

"We need a pillow between us," I tell him, once again tugging the pillow.

George grabs the pillow above his head and slams it between us aggressively. "Here. Are you happy?"

I turn away from George. "Not really."

George turns the volume of the TV down, but he doesn't turn it off. I actually like the little light it gives off now that it's not blaring.

"Thanks," I mumble.

"Whatever."

I force my eyes to shut, hoping to focus on sleep rather than George's presence next to me.

author's note:

hopefully i can get back to a normal writing schedule soon to update for you guys!

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happy halloween!