Chapter 9 - Blind To the Storm

Not long after Robert had finished his breakfast, he received a text from Joey letting him know he'd arrived. Robert gave his mum a hug and kiss and said good bye to Darrell.

When he climbed in Joey's car, Joey greeted him with a big smile, saying, "Alright, Robbie?"

"Alright, Joey," he replied, and smiled back at him, instantly feeling a bit better. It was good to be back like this, off to work with Joey, just like the old days.

Joey and Robert had co-founded their old band a few years back when they were still in school. Joey had been the lead singer and Robert was the keyboardist and sang back up. He didn't doubt Joey's tousled blonde hair, blue eyes and good looks was the reason they'd been starting to get a regular following of girls who'd show up to see them perform. But Joey had more than his looks going for him, he was a good singer, one of the best in their school's choir.

"Couldn't keep away could you," Joey said laughing. "You're just as mad as the rest of 'em." He was referring to the blokes at their house painting job, the ones who'd been there forever, and would most likely be there long after they left. Each and every one of them was mad in their own way.

"What about you? Thought you would've quit once the band broke up and you'd moved back to your parents'."

"Well, y'know it doesn't pay half bad – and there are a lot worse jobs out there," Joey said, laughing.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Robert replied with smile. He'd give him that.

"Hey, how's that American girlfriend of yours, Georgie?" Joey asked. Robert pretended to look at something out the window so Joey couldn't see his face.

"Uh, yeah. We're not together anymore. She went back to the States," he said quietly.

"Oh," Joey said, sounding a little shocked. "I'm sorry, Robbie."

Robert knew he should respond. Thank Joey for his sympathy, maybe fill him in on some of the details of what happened, but his throat hurt too much, and the pain in his chest was worse again. Perhaps sensing he didn't want to talk about it, Joey immediately changed the subject and started filling him in on what had been going on with the blokes at work since his disappearance. Robert only half listened.

---Then---

While Robert and Georgie were getting dressed after they'd eaten breakfast, he told her he planned to go over to his old flat that afternoon with his dad to get his stuff. While he was there, he was going to have to tell his band mates not only the lie about why he'd disappeared, but also that he was moving home and quitting the band. He wasn't looking forward to it.

"But Robert!" Georgie exclaimed, looking suddenly upset. "You can't give up your music! It's your whole life!"

"You're my whole life now, Georgie," he said gently, putting his arms around her. "Besides, I'm not giving up my music, just the band, yeah? I've got to get serious about my future now that I get to spend it with you."

She smiled shyly at him, saying, "Okay," and he kissed her before he let go of her.

"I can go with you instead of your dad," she said. "You know I'm strong. I can help carry your things."

"I don't think that's a good idea," he replied firmly. "You saw how angry Mary was when she thought I did a runner. We're talking about four blokes. I don't want you there if they're angry with me. You don't need to be around that."

"Oh – okay," she said hesitantly.

A short while later, he filled his mum in on their plans while she sat on the couch, eating the breakfast Georgie had made her. Georgie was sitting next to her, keeping her company while she ate.

"Georgie's going to stay here with you while we're out. She'll be able to help you if you need anything, yeah?" he told his mum.

"Alright, Robbie. I'm sure Georgie and I can find something fun to do," she said, smiling at her.

"Yes.  That would be nice, Alice," Georgie said quietly, with a small smile. When his mum had finished her breakfast, he and Georgie washed up the breakfast dishes and cleaned the kitchen together.

"Your dad should watch your mom, Robert," she said, looking worried. "He's done it a lot longer than I have, he'll be better at it than me." Robert had to work hard not to laugh.

"Georgie, I can't believe you're worried about that," he said, smiling. "You've been so good with my mum, I know you'll do just fine alone. It'll only be for a few hours, anyway." Georgie had been so attentive she even knew when his mum needed to take her medication, sometimes having to remind her.

"I guess so," she said quietly.

About an hour before he was supposed to leave, Georgie found him alone in their bedroom. He couldn't believe it when she brought it up again.

"Robert, you know I'd protect you! I don't care if its blokes!" she said fervently, her eyes begging him. "I'm not scared! I can fight for you!" He couldn't understand why she just wouldn't let it go, and he was starting to lose his patience with her.

"No, Georgie! I told you already! I don't want you there and that's my final decision!" he said loudly, leaving her and going downstairs, not wanting to discuss it further.

While he and his dad were preparing to leave, Georgie was there, hovering so close to him she was in his way every time he turned around, irritating him. Just as he began to put on his jacket, she suddenly grabbed onto it.

"Robert, please take me with you!" she cried desperately, as he struggled to put on his jacket.

"No, Georgie! Stop it!" he shouted, completely losing his cool, while his parents looked on with shock. He felt ashamed, and immediately regretted raising his voice.

"You could get in a car accident!" she cried out, not seeming to notice everyone was staring at her. He pushed his hair out of his eyes so he could see her better. She looked almost panicked, like she was barely holding it together.

"Is that what you're really afraid of?" he asked her. She pressed her lips together, refusing to answer, but her eyes were begging him. He took her by the hand and led her into the kitchen so they could be alone.

"What's this about?" he asked quietly, trying to keep his parents from hearing.

"Robert, please don't go without me! I just know if you leave, I'll never see you again!" she pleaded desperately, hanging on him. "Something will happen to you and I'll never see you again!" He couldn't believe she was acting like this.

"Georgie, you need to calm down. Nothing is going to happen to me," he said, trying to soothe her. "I'm a good driver and I'll be perfectly safe. I promise I won't be gone long. You stay here with my mum and I'll be back before you know it, yeah? You can do this, alright?" She nodded but she still looked like she was barely holding it together.

When he walked to the front door, she followed so close behind him she was almost walking on his heels. His dad was there waiting for him and walked out first. As Robert closed the front door behind him, he glanced at Georgie. She looked on the verge of breaking down, her eyes begging him not to leave her.

He and his dad walked to the car and just before he got in, he looked up at the house. Georgie was framed in the front window, pressed against the glass looking distraught. When he and his dad had closed the car doors, he put in the key but couldn't make himself turn the ignition. He leaned his forehead on the steering wheel, suddenly completely overwhelmed by her neediness. His dad didn't say anything.

"I don't know how to deal with this, dad," he said quietly after a minute. "Y'know in that place, it seemed like a lot of the time, I was the one who was mental and she was the normal one. This is – too much. I just don't know what to do."

"I think your expectations might be too high for her right now, Robbie," his dad said quietly. "She's been through a lot, yeah? You said yourself you're all she has right now. Maybe this is just too much, too soon for her, y'know? Expecting her to be alright with you leaving her?" Robert immediately felt better hearing his dad's perspective. Maybe he was expecting too much from her, too soon. After all, this was the first time he'd be away from her since the day she'd met him.

"I reckon it'll be alright if you take her with you. I have a feeling if those lads gave you a hard time, she'd have their eyes out before you could stop her," he said, chuckling a little.

He and his dad got out of the car and when he looked up at the house, Georgie disappeared from the window. She was out the door, pulling on his old denim jacket and wiping her eyes with her fingers before they'd even made it half way to the house.

When she reached him, she said fervently, "Thank you, Robert! You won't be sorry! I swear it! I'll do whatever you want! I'll fight for you or I'll be quiet! Whatever you want, I'll do it!"

He put his arm around her and led her to the car, saying, "Don't worry about it, Georgie. You don't need to do anything, yeah? Just be yourself and you'll be fine."

"Okay. I'll be myself," she said firmly, as he opened the car door for her. She smiled up at him nervously when she sat down and he closed the door for her. When he sat in his seat, he could tell she was still tense from her near breakdown and he was worried how she was going to handle the meeting with his band mates.

As soon as he turned the ignition, his dad's news station came on the radio. He was going to change it to his favorite music station but hesitated. He knew there was a station that played Georgie's mum's favorite music, the older songs she liked to sing. Maybe that would help calm her nerves, he thought changing the channel.

"Oh! I know that song!" she said excitedly, when she heard what was playing. As she listened to the music, she seemed to relax, singing along softly to some of the songs, holding his hand and looking out the window while he drove.

Robert was nervous as they walked to the door of his old flat, but when he looked at Georgie, he was surprised. She looked more determined than anything else. He knocked on the door even though he had a key, and Joey opened it.

"Alright there, Robbie?" he said grinning, looking relieved and happy to see him, slapping his hand and pulling into a one armed hug.

"Alright, Joey," he replied, with a smile. Joey looked surprised when he saw Georgie behind him.

"Oh, this is Georgie, my girlfriend," Robert said, putting his arm around her, and he couldn't help the note of pride in his voice.

Georgie stuck her hand out, and said with a smile, "It's nice to meet you, Joey. Robert told me about you." Robert loved seeing the look of shock on Joey's face when he heard her accent. He shook her hand with his mouth open a little and when Georgie released him, he just stood there.

"Well? Are you gonna let us in?" Robert asked with a grin.

"Uh, right. Sorry," Joey said quickly, apparently having gained the ability to speak again, and stepped aside.

Once they were inside and the door was closed, the mood was anything but jovial. The rest of his mates were standing around looking nervous, not saying anything. Then Georgie shocked him by walking up to the boy closest to her.

"Hi, I'm Georgie, Robert's girlfriend," she said firmly, with her hand out.

"I'm Chris," he mumbled quietly to the floor as he shook her hand, too shy to look at her.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Chris," she said firmly.

Then she walked to the next closest boy, saying, "Hi, I'm Georgie."

"Hi – I'm – Lexie," he said hesitantly, as if he had to think of each word before he could say it, completely overwhelmed.

"Pleased to meet you, Lexie," she said, letting go of his hand. He wasn't able to hide his shocked reaction to her. He looked at Robert like he couldn't believe Robert had such a fit American girlfriend.

As she introduced herself to Josh, Robert realized she was looking each of them in the eye, letting them know she wasn't afraid of them. Josh did his best to turn on the charm, giving her a smile and lowering his head so his dyed black hair would fall over his eyes, his signature move. Robert got a lot of satisfaction seeing the look of disappointment on his face when Georgie didn't seem to notice. Still a wanker, he thought.

When the introductions were finished, they all sat down. Georgie sat so close to him on the couch she was almost sitting on top of him. She clasped his hand between hers and threaded her fingers through his. He could tell she was tense, jiggling her leg and sitting on the edge of the couch like she was ready to spring to action. When he glanced at her, her expression was still determined. No one was going to take on her Robert, she was saying with her body language. If he hadn't been so nervous it would've been funny. Robert took a deep breath and pushed his hair out of his eyes before he started.

"I owe all of you an apology. It, uh, was too much to try to keep the band going and I – well I went up north for a while to clear my head and, uh, figure out what I wanted to do. It wasn't right, to do a runner like that, yeah? And I'm sorry." He was tense, waiting for their reaction but they surprised him. Most of them looked guilty.

"We should've known how much pressure you were under," Joey said after a moment of nervous silence. "We knew you did most of the work trying to keep the band going. We should've helped more, yeah?" He looked at the others meaningfully when he said the last bit.

Lexie cleared his throat, and said, "Yeah, Robbie. I know we left it all on you. It wasn't fair." This was going a lot better than he'd expected. He wondered if they'd be alright with the rest of it.

"I've decided – I'm going to move back home and, uh, I'm quitting the band," he said hesitantly. They looked embarrassed.

"The band's not really – together anymore," Joey said guiltily. "After you left, it all kind of went to crap."

"You twats couldn't even pull it together after I was gone?" Robert blurted out angrily.

Josh glared at him but the rest looked guilty. He wasn't surprised by Josh's reaction. Fucking wanker. No one said anything and Robert felt maybe they'd said all there was to say.

"Well – I reckon I'll get my stuff then, yeah?" he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Georgie immediately jumped up, saying, "Maybe you guys can help us carry everything?" But she made it sound more like a command than a request.

It didn't matter, everyone seemed relieved the discussion was over and were excited to be near Georgie, helping gather up Robert's belongings and putting them in bin bags while they talked to her so they could hear her cute accent. She chatted happily with them, completely charming them. When everything was loaded in his dad's car and Robert gave the flat keys to Joey, they all stood around, not knowing what to say. Then Georgie surprised him again.

"Well, it was so nice to meet all of you," she said, and then stuck her hand out saying each of their names as she shook their hands good bye. Robert took her lead and slapped hands with each of them. He gave Joey a one armed hug in gratitude and then opened the car door for Georgie.

After they drove off, Robert made sure they were out of sight of his mates before he pulled the car over. He looked at Georgie with shock. How could this charming confident girl be the same one who was panicking at the thought of being without him for a few hours?

"What?" she asked when she noticed him looking at her.

"Georgie, you were brilliant!" was all he could manage to say.

"What do you mean?"

"How you acted. It was so – not like – how you are sometimes," he answered carefully, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"Oh, that." she said casually. "Well, there was no way I would let them do anything to you and I let them know that right away – so they wouldn't try anything, you know? I told you I would protect you, Robert. They seemed like they weren't mad though. I was surprised." She said it as though she hadn't completely transformed right in front of his eyes. He couldn't resist giving her a kiss before he resumed driving.

His father had been right, he thought. He just needed to take things slow with her and she'd be alright. When they were home, Robert couldn't help telling his parents how brilliant Georgie had been, knowing they would be just as surprised as he was. Georgie seemed mystified.

"I don't understand why it's such a big deal, Robert. I told you I'd protect you, even if it was blokes." When everyone started laughing, she looked confused. "What's so funny?"

"You are," he said laughing, and pulled her to him for a hug.

---Now---

Looking back on it now, it was easy to see he hadn't taken what happened that day seriously enough. It was his first taste of how life with Georgie would be. She'd be incapable of dealing with some ordinary everyday occurrence, sometimes falling completely apart, and then seem totally fine, making him question why he thought there was anything wrong.

He realized Joey had asked him a question. "What?"

"I said, what're your plans now, Robbie?"

"Oh, uh, I've been applying to universities. Hopefully start this autumn."

"Hey, me too! Maybe we could go to the same one!"

"Yeah! Wouldn't want to break up the team!" Robert replied, laughing. But it suddenly didn't seem like a half bad idea. They'd attended the same schools since they were little, started the band together, worked together, and wrote music together. Why not go to university together?

"Yeah, it – would be nice," Joey said more quietly, trailing off at the end. "Only, I'll be attending something local, small, y'know? And I'll be staying at my parents', y'know, to save on expenses and all that. You'll probably be off at some big university." Robert knew Joey's family didn't have a lot of extra money.

"Uh, actually, I had the same plans," he said quietly while he looked out the window, the pain in his chest worse again. He might as well follow through with that bit, he thought grimly, even if the reason why he was doing it no longer existed. But then he didn't exactly feel up to going off to a large university anyway.

"Hey, I heard Josh started another band," Joey said, changing the subject.

"You're joking! Fucking wanker!" he replied, laughing.

"Yeah, he's the lead singer. I heard they were crap." Robert laughed even louder at that. Josh always wanted to be the lead singer, but no one else in the band wanted him to. Not only was the wanker already a rock star in his own mind, but his singing was rubbish.

"Hey, we should go see him sometime, for a laugh," Joey said.

"Yeah! That'd be brilliant!" Robert replied laughing, feeling better than he had in a long time.

****

So now we're at the point where we're going to start seeing what happened after Robert and Georgie got their happily ever after.  And Robert is starting to feel a little better!  I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, please vote and leave me a comment!

This chapter is dedicated to evilgirl_18 for her great banner!  Thanks for picking the perfect Joey for me!