Love You Forever (2013 Wattys Finalist)

Chapter 35 - Always Fighting

While Robert walked a half step behind Georgie on the way back to May’s house, it occurred to him that she really didn’t want to go to that party – and he’d just committed them to it.  And not only that, he’d been a complete twat, practically flirting with Lauren right in front of her. 

But Georgie had said he should be the one to make the decision for both of them, he thought, suddenly feeling angry.  Why didn’t she just tell her friend ‘no’ instead of leaving it to him?  And it wasn’t like he was interested in the girl.  He was just being friendly.  Then he remembered the look in Georgie’s eyes, practically pleading with him to save her while Lauren was demanding an answer. 

By time they’d reached May’s, he felt equal parts guilt and anger.  When they walked in the back door, May was just finishing cleaning the kitchen.

“How was your walk?” she asked, smiling at them.

“It was okay,” Georgie said quietly, and May’s smile faltered as she heard the tone in Georgie’s voice.  She quickly glanced at Robert before turning her full attention to Georgie.

“We saw Lauren,” Georgie said.

“Oh?” May asked, suddenly looking concerned.

“She invited us to a party,” she said, and May looked surprised.

“What did you say?”

“Well, we said ‘yes’,” Georgie replied even more quietly.

“Oh – well.  That’s – good,” May said, sounding like she didn’t think it was good at all.

“Yes, I – guess so,” Georgie said.  Then she dropped her head and walked out of the kitchen.

May watched her leave, then looked at Robert with a troubled expression.  She seemed like she was about to say something and he waited, but then her face changed and she turned her back to him to resume scrubbing the kitchen sink.  

His stomach sank.  It was obvious to him now.  There was something going on between Georgie and Lauren, and May knew about it.  He saw the pleading look in Georgie’s eyes again, and guilt burned through him.  He knew she was still fragile in some ways.  Why the hell hadn’t he done more to protect her?

He slowly walked to Georgie’s bedroom, feeling awful.  When he closed the door, he stood in the silence for a moment, then went to the painted pink chest of drawers and picked up the picture of Georgie with her friends.  He looked at all the girls carefully until he spotted Lauren.  She was the girl whose lap Georgie was sitting on, the one who was tickling her. 

There was a soft knock and he quickly put the picture back the way he’d found it.  He was surprised to see Georgie when he opened the door.  She happened to be looking up but quickly dropped her eyes. 

“I was just wondering if I could get some clean clothes,” she said quietly, looking into the room behind him.

“Yeah, of course,” he said stepping aside.

She went to the chest of drawers and he took off his leather jacket to hang in the closet, feeling even worse.  He turned and watched her as she pulled t-shirts out of a drawer, noticing the tension in her shoulders.

“Georgie, we don’t have to go to the party.”

“No.  Its okay, Robert,” she said quickly, without turning around.  He sighed deeply.  He knew she wasn’t telling the truth.

“I’m serious.  I’ll call her and tell her we’re not going.  I don’t have a problem doing that.”

“No, Robert.  It’s not fair to you,” she said, finally turning around to face him.  “You should be able to go to the party if you want to.  You might not get another chance,” she finished, repeating what Lauren had said.