Chapter 29 - Old Habits, Old Friends

"Robert!"

Robert jerked awake.

"Robert!"

He sighed deeply as he laid there listening to Georgie scream.

"Robert!"

He didn't want to go out there.

"Robert!"

He remembered what it had been like the night before, how much it had affected him to hold her.

"Robert!"

But listening to the desperation and fear in her voice as she screamed for him was like torture.

"Robert!"

Then her screams changed to the long piercing screams of agony and grief as her nightmare progressed. As he listened to her screaming over and over, it reminded him of all those nights in the flat he'd spent lying in his bed listening to her, waiting for her to finally be quiet so he could go back to sleep. Then he remembered how incredibly guilty he'd felt after they were a couple, knowing how much he'd allowed her to suffer for all those weeks. He got up with another deep sigh and pulled on his jeans over his boxers.

When he shook Georgie awake, she cried out, "Robert!" and grabbed onto him just like she had the night before but he was ready for it and braced himself. He hesitated for a moment while she sobbed against him, then sat with her on the couch and put his arms around her. When he felt her body trembling with fear against him, he began rocking her slightly and shushing her while she sobbed into his shoulder, handfuls of his t-shirt in her fists.

While he comforted her he told himself he would do this because she needed it, and because he owed it to her. He owed it to her for all the nights he didn't do it in the flat. It didn't need to mean anything more to him than that. He tried hard not smell her and he didn't rub her back even though he could feel her thick, silky hair under his hands but as the minutes passed, he couldn't help relaxing, feeling her warm, familiar body in his arms, the ache in his chest easing a little more. She was relaxing too, the tension slowly leaving her body as he comforted her.

When she finally stilled with a deep shuddering sigh, he couldn't help sighing a little too. He knew he should let go of her, but before he could make himself do it, she released him, saying, "Thank you, Robert."

"Yeah," he said tiredly as he stood up. She didn't look at him while she wiped her eyes and he turned and walked back to her bedroom.

"Night, Robert," she said as he started to close the door.

"Night," he said, just before it was shut.

As he pulled Georgie's pink floral quilt over his head, he was filled with a grim resignation. There was no way he was going to be able to lie here listening to her scream night after night, knowing how much she was suffering. He had no other choice and he might as well face it. He had twelve more days and twelve more nights with her. It wasn't that long really, he told himself again. He could get through this.

The next morning, Robert woke up early again, still on London time. Georgie wasn't on the couch when he walked through the sitting room, but her bedding was still there. He found May and Marianne sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Marianne was reading a newspaper and May had her laptop open in front of her. The two women greeted him warmly when they saw him. He made himself a mug of tea and helped himself to a bowl of cereal before joining them at the table.

After spending part of the previous day alone with each of them, he'd found he quite enjoyed their company. Even though May had come across as tough and no-nonsense initially, she had a wry, offbeat sense of humor, the things she said not only amusing him, but often surprising him as well. She was keen on current events and popular culture and had kept up with the changing world, making her seem much younger than her years. Robert learned Marianne had been a school teacher like May but she'd taught young primary school children and her quiet manner reflected it, warm and motherly.

While he was eating his cereal and chatting with them, Georgie came in already dressed in her skinny jeans and the shirt with the large floral print she'd worn to the airport. She greeted the two women with hugs and kisses and a 'good morning'.

"Good morning, Robert," she said in her usual soft voice as she went to pour herself some coffee.

"Morning," he replied, keeping his eyes on his bowl of cereal.

Since the party was to start at noon, as soon as he'd eaten Robert left to dress so he could help start setting things up, grateful he was too busy to be around Georgie again. He and May set up the chairs, tables and a grill in the back garden, then he and Marianne went to buy the bags of ice needed to cool the cans of beverages and bottled water. Just as the first few guests began arriving, they were finishing up, bringing out food.

While Robert watched May and Marianne greet their friends, he immediately felt uncomfortable. He hated social situations like this, never knowing what to say. He wandered to the fringes of the yard, hoping no one would bother seeking him out to chat with him. The next thing he knew Georgie was there, standing near him. He moved away from her a little, placing a distance between them but she moved with him.

He glared at her, angry she was insisting on being so close to him and she glanced at him nervously, before looking back at the few guests who were there. He continued to glare at her, hoping she would get the hint and leave, but she wouldn't look at him. Then it suddenly occurred to him what was going on. He was essentially her fucking date at this party. And unless he wanted to confront her in front of everyone, there was nothing he could do about it. He looked away from her, working hard not to let on how angry he was.

A middle-aged couple waved at Georgie as soon as they walked into the back garden, then quickly made their way over to them. Georgie took a step closer to him and he shot her another angry glare. Could she try any fucking harder to make it seem like they were a couple, he seethed. She kept her eyes on the approaching couple but he could tell she was tense, no doubt realizing how angry she was making him.

"Georgie, it's so good to see you!" the woman said as soon as she reached them, giving Georgie a tight hug while the man said, "Hi, Georgie!"

"Hi, Mrs. Nelson. Mr. Nelson," Georgie said faintly while she was being squeezed.

"Look at you!" the woman exclaimed, holding Georgie at arms length and looking her up and down. "You're all grown up!"

"Yes, ma'am," Georgie said quietly, with a small nervous smile.

"Did you enjoy living in England?" the man asked, smiling at her. "I bet it was lots of fun!" the woman interjected before she could answer.

Robert looked at Georgie and she shot him another nervous glance before she said hesitantly, "Ye-es." There was silence while the couple looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

"Hi, I'm Robbie," Robert said suddenly, sticking his hand out to the man. "I'm, uh, a friend of Georgie's - visiting from England." Both of them turned their attention to him, looking surprised. He wasn't sure if they hadn't expected him to be British, or if they hadn't noticed he was there.

The man looked him in the eyes and shook his hand firmly, saying, "Todd. And this is my wife Donna."

He shook hands with Donna while she looked at him appraisingly, and murmured, "It's nice to meet you."

There was another moment of silence while the couple looked back and forth between them as if they were trying to determine the exact nature of their relationship, making Robert feel as uncomfortable as Georgie looked. He tried to think of something to say but his mind was annoyingly blank as usual.

Then Donna turned her full attention back to Georgie and asked, "So, what are your plans now that you're back?"

"Um - school?" she said faintly, before shooting Robert another nervous look.

"That's great!" Donna said with a smile. "Do you know which college you're -?" Todd put a hand on his wife's arm, interrupting her.

"Honey, can we talk about this later? I'm starving!" His wife laughed.

"Okay, okay!" she said with mock exasperation. "Men and their stomachs!" she said to Georgie, nudging her with her elbow and giving her a knowing look before glancing at Robert. "We'll catch up later. Robbie, it was nice to meet you."

"Yeah, it was nice meeting both of you," he said, forcing a smile.

They turned to leave and Robert looked at Georgie. She looked sad as she let out a deep sigh, her shoulders drooping with relief as she watched the couple walk away. Robert felt terrible.

"Georgie, I'm so-," he started to say but Georgie didn't seem to notice because her face suddenly lit up with a huge smile and she shouted excitedly, "Greg! You made it!" Robert looked to see who she was talking to and saw a tall bloke who was speaking to May, turn around. What the fuck?

He was young, around Robert's age, and nearly the same height. He had the kind of boyish all-American good looks that all surfers or baseball players seemed to have with tanned skin, sun streaked dark blonde hair, and bright green eyes. As soon as he saw Georgie, he smiled a dazzling smile, with teeth so perfect and white he looked like he could do toothpaste commercials. But what startled Robert the most was seeing the long, well-defined arms, broad shoulders and muscled chest through his v-neck t-shirt that was so tight it looked like it had shrunk in the wash. Robert recognized the build immediately. The bloke was a fucking swimmer.

Georgie ran up to him and leapt at him. He caught her, lifted her off her feet and twirled her around, making her shriek with laughter before he kissed her cheek and set her back down. What the fuck?

"Hey! How are you, Georgie!" he exclaimed while he beamed down at her.

"I'm so glad you're here!" she cried happily, giving him a quick, tight hug. Then she turned towards Robert with a huge smile, practically jumping up and down and saying excitedly, "Robert! You have to come meet Greg!"

Fuck. The last thing he wanted to do was 'meet' Greg. He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and took his time walking up to them, avoiding looking at either of them.

"Hey! I'm Greg, in case you didn't hear!" Greg exclaimed with a laugh, sticking out his hand. Robert clasped hands with him, working hard not to let on how relieved he suddenly felt. He was almost certain the bloke was gay.

"And you're Robert! I've heard a lot about you!" he continued when Robert didn't say anything.

"Yeah, that's me," he muttered, looking away as he suddenly felt angry again. What the hell had Georgie been saying about him?

Georgie turned to Greg, saying brightly, "It's great you were able to get away!"

"Yup, I came for the whole weekend. Mom was happy. She's always glad for an excuse to have me home." Then he turned to Robert, and said by way of explanation, "I go to Northwestern. Its north of the city."

By 'Northwestern' Robert took him to mean a university of some kind, and by 'city', he took him to mean Chicago. He nodded like he gave a shit while he looked at the other guests.

Then to Robert's dismay, Marianne called out for Georgie to help her in the kitchen. "I'll be right there!" Georgie shouted back.

"I'll be back, okay?" she said, giving Greg another quick hug. "You two talk and get to know each other better!" she said happily before rushing off.

Shit. He didn't want to fucking get to know Greg better. He just wanted to go back to the corner of the garden where hopefully no one would bother him. There was an awkward silence while Robert looked off like he was fascinated by the other guests.

"So," Greg said, drawing out the word like he was trying to think of something to say. "Georgie says you're a swimmer."

"Used to be," Robert muttered without looking at him.

"I swim for Northwestern."

Robert nodded once and kept quiet. The last thing he wanted to do was chat about swimming.

"Georgie says you're a musician," Greg said after a pause.

"Used to be." Obviously Georgie hadn't given him very accurate information, or Greg wasn't paying attention.

Then May appeared with cans of beer for the two of them. "Robert, I know you're underage, but since you can drink legally in England, I'll say it's allowed."

Robert cringed on the inside, but took his can of American 'lite' beer with a smile, saying, "Cheers, May."

Greg laughed and said, "You know I'm underage too, Mrs. M!" This seemed to fluster her.

"Oh, are you - still?" she said worriedly. "Well - you probably drink at the college anyway so I'll say it's allowed for you too," she said quickly and then made a hasty departure.

Greg opened his can with a pop, and Robert followed suit since it was easier than chatting. Greg raised his can, saying, "Cheers!" Robert raised his can a little with his eyes on the other guests, then took a sip.

God, it was awful. It tasted like dirty water. He suppressed the urge to spit it out before he swallowed. Did people really drink this shit?

"I know," Greg said.

"Excuse me?" Robert replied, looking at him.

"It tastes like piss. We should go out and get some real beer," he said with a smile, obviously making an effort to be friendly.

"Don't bother yourself about it, mate. Its fine," he muttered, looking back at the other guests. He wished Greg would stop trying so hard and fuck off.

"Dude, no way! I can't let you go back to England thinking this is what American beer tastes like!" Robert didn't try to hide his anger as he glared at Greg.

Greg smiled back at him in what was probably considered a charming way and said, "Are you telling me, if I came to visit you and some elderly neighbor gave me the equivalent of this," he held up his can. "You'd let me drink it and not make sure I had real British beer?" Robert couldn't deny he had a point.

"Yeah, alright. If you think you've got good beer in the States, you can try and prove it," he said with a shrug as he looked away.

Greg laughed, nodding his head. "Oh, I'll accept that challenge!"

Robert kept quiet and drank his beer, pretending it wasn't awful and the party was fascinating.

"I grew up one street over," Greg said, suddenly sounding more serious. Robert nodded without looking at him. "I lived two doors down from Frankie and Georgie. Frankie and I were the same age."

Robert couldn't help looking at him and imagining Frankie as old as Greg. He'd never thought about how she'd be a young woman now, older than Robert and attending university. He'd always imagined her as the thirteen year old girl Georgie always talked about, especially now that he'd seen the pictures of her.

"When the accident happened, it hit everyone pretty hard. Obviously Georgie was devastated," he said more quietly. Robert looked away feeling uncomfortable.

"Frankie was my best friend," he said, his voice suddenly rough. He cleared his throat before saying, "I'm sorry. It's still hard to talk about her." Greg was quiet for a few minutes and Robert gave him his privacy, keeping his eyes on the other guests.

"It's kinda weird," Greg said after a few minutes, his voice back to normal again. "Georgie's personality, I mean. She reminds me so much of Frankie. She didn't used to be like that." Robert looked at Greg and was relieved he seemed to have recovered. Greg didn't say anything more and Robert couldn't help being curious.

"What was Georgie like before?"

"Wild," he said with a smile, as he looked off remembering. "A tomboy with tons of energy. When she decided to quit soccer and dance ballet, it was a shock to everyone. Nobody expected she'd do something so - girly," he said, shrugging his shoulders and looking back at Robert. "And she was always telling jokes. She was funny as hell. I think she drove her mom a little crazy, to tell you the truth." Robert was surprised. He'd seen glimpses of her humorous side, but he never would've guessed the rest.

"Frankie was the quiet one. Calm - and so protective. She was always trying to take care of people," he finished more quietly.

Robert looked away, giving Greg his privacy again. He was sorry he'd asked. He didn't want to hear how much Georgie had been changed by what had happened to her, or that she'd essentially swapped personalities with her dead sister. He sipped the awful beer, trying to ease the pain in his throat and saw Greg do the same out of the corner of his eye.

"Dude, I can't drink any more of this shit," Greg said after a few minutes. "You wanna go now before they claim I'm too drunk to drive?"

Robert weighed his options. Stay at the party for more awkward conversation, or opt for a change of scenery with the promise of getting quietly pissed on something halfway decent.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

They found May and Georgie in the kitchen. Not wanting to let on they were off to buy beer, Greg told them he was going to take Robert for a quick tour of the neighborhood. There were a lot of questions about how much of the can of 'lite' beer he'd had and how sober he felt but he didn't have to work too hard to get them out of there. Georgie was ecstatic they were getting on so well, irritating Robert.

They drove in silence to a nearby liquor shop in Greg's older model Jeep Cherokee. It was pretty beat up but Robert gave him credit for not apologizing for it. When they were in the shop, Greg quizzed him about what he normally drank then picked two different brands he said were locally made. Robert was surprised he seemed to know so much about beer.

The girl working behind the cash register seemed dazzled when Greg set down the two six packs. He handed over his drivers license and she gave it a long lingering look before she handed it back, saying, "Thanks, Greg," with a giggle. While she scanned the beer and put it in a bag, she flirted aggressively and giggled entirely too much. Greg took it in stride, showing a lot of teeth and making her forget how to count change. She didn't seem to notice Robert was even there.

When they got back in the car, Robert suddenly realized something. "Hey, I thought you were underage?"

"Fake I.D. Never leave home without it," Greg said with a laugh.

"Oh, right."

Instead of turning the car on, Greg turned slightly to face Robert. Seeing the determined look on his face, Robert immediately felt wary and pretended to be busy with his seatbelt.

"I wasn't kidding when I said Frankie was my best friend," Greg said.

Robert looked straight ahead now that he'd finished making sure he'd arrive back at May's in one piece, feeling uncomfortable.

"I loved her a lot. She was the first person I told - when I - when I knew - I was, you know - gay." Robert couldn't help looking at him, surprised he was willing to bring it up.

"I could tell you figured it out when you met me," Greg explained with a shrug. "Usually most people don't get past the surface with me." Robert thought he knew what Greg was referring to.

"Dude, I don't want this to be awkward or anything, but I have to say something," he said firmly. Robert looked straight ahead, fervently wishing now he'd stuck with the cans of 'lite' beer. He knew it wasn't going to be good if this was how Greg was starting.

"I don't know if you knew but - Georgie told me a little - about how you two met."

Robert glared at him, suddenly angry. This was the person she'd confided in?

"Don't be mad at her for telling me," Greg said quickly, seeing the look on his face. "We've been close since the accident. I kind of adopted her as a little sister. I tried to take care of her - you know, for Frankie. Well, I did the best I could - for being a screwed up kid myself," he finished sadly.

Just as Robert was starting to feel sympathy for him, he said, "I get why you're angry with her," and Robert felt the anger boil through him again as he looked away, glaring straight ahead. It was obvious to him now. Georgie had been talking to Greg since he'd arrived in Chicago.

"Believe me, I understand why. She didn't go into a lot of detail, but I got enough to know you went through hell getting her out of that place. All I want to say is she really loves you and -." It was the last fucking straw.

"I'm getting awfully tired of people telling me that, y'know!" Robert said loudly to the window.

Greg was quiet for a minute, before he said, "I guess - I don't know everything that happened between you two but -."

"Right! You don't!" Robert interjected. Greg paused for a moment.

"But I know Georgie," he continued quietly. "Deep down she's still the same kid who used to live two doors down from me. I've talked to her for hours since she's been back and most of the time what she's talked about is you. I can see she's in a lot of pain and - she's confused. All I ask is that you have some patience with her. Give her some time. She's been through a hell of a lot in her life and -." He stopped suddenly and sighed. "I'd just hate for her to lose one more person she loves, that's all," he finished sadly.

Robert glared straight ahead, saying nothing and Greg finally started the car. As they drove back to May's in silence, Robert tried not to think about what he'd said, but it was impossible. Why didn't everyone understand that Georgie was the one who'd left him, not the other way round? What the hell was he supposed to do after she'd decided she didn't want him any more? Lock her up like the fucking bastard? And after the hell he went through when she left him, was he just supposed to just welcome her with open arms the minute she decided she wanted him back? People just needed to stay the hell out of it, he seethed. Especially when they had no idea what they were talking about.

When they reached May's street, Greg said hesitantly, "I - don't know if you'd be interested or not, but - I can take you to Northwestern tomorrow. I can get you into the pool - to swim. That is - if you want to." He sounded like he was afraid of Robert's reaction.

Robert was about to refuse, but he hesitated as he considered the offer. It would be the perfect excuse to spend time away from Georgie. Maybe he'd even manage to be away for the whole day. And he'd get the chance to burn off some of the nervous energy he'd been feeling since he'd arrived.

"Alright. Cheers, Greg."

"Great! We can go up in the morning," Greg said, sounding relieved. Then Robert thought of something.

"Shit, I didn't bring anything to wear." Greg laughed.

"Dude, I think I can find you a swimsuit!"

****

I would love to hear your thoughts about this chapter, your opinions about Robert's behavior, what's going on between him and Georgie, as well as Georgie's friend, Greg. Why do you think Greg asked Robert to go to the university? What do you think is going to happen when they go back to the party? And if you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a vote.