Chapter 31 - A Wake Up Call

Robert woke up in the middle of the night to Georgie screaming his name and a pounding headache.  He threw off the pink floral quilt and stumbled to the door in the dark, fumbling to find the doorknob.  As soon as he got the door open, Georgie began the long agonizing screams with choking sobs at the end.  He tried to get to her as fast as he could, wanting to stop her suffering as much as the pain her piercing screams were causing his head.

Once she was awake and sobbing in his arms, he rocked her a little and shushed her while the reality of he'd done the day before settled over him like a dark cloud.  What the hell was wrong with him?  Why did he think it was a good idea to drink all that beer on an empty stomach?  He should have known he would get completely pissed and do something stupid.

As he remembered the excruciating details of making Georgie sit on his lap and then begging her to lie in bed with him, deep shame burned through him.  After the way he'd acted towards her, what must she be thinking?  And what must May and Marianne think of him for getting drunk at their party, he wondered with horror as even more shame washed over him.  How could he have created such a mess?

When Georgie finally stopped crying with a deep shuddering sigh, her head resting on his shoulder, he didn't waste a second.  He needed to repair the damage before she began, knowing how bad it was going to be.

"Georgie, I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have –."

"Robert, its okay.  I –."

"No, please listen to me.  I'm sorry –."

"Let's just forget it," she said a little louder.  He hesitated a moment, unsure if he'd heard right.

"What?"

"I think we should forget about it."

"But – what about May – and Marianne?" he asked hesitantly.  "They must be –."

"Don't worry about that.  I told them the jet lag finally caught up with you and that's why you went to bed so early."  He could hardly believe what he was hearing.  "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she said, letting go of him.

He was still trying to process what she'd said and it took him a second to realize she'd let go of him.

"Uh, cheers, Georgie," he said hesitantly as he let go of her.

"It's okay.  Good night," she said, not looking at him while she wiped her face, and he stood up.

"Uh, yeah.  Night," he said, and then turned to go to her bedroom, still in shock.

As he pulled off his jeans and climbed into Georgie's bed, he didn't quite know what to make of it.  He couldn't believe she was being so kind to him.  After what he'd done, she had every right to be angry with him, maybe even confront him, demanding to know his feelings for her.  Why would she be so willing to just let it go?

And then it then it hit him.  She'd always been like this.  From the very first day he knew her, she'd never hesitated to excuse his behavior.  Even when he didn't deserve it, she'd forgiven him, and the thought made him feel even worse.  Why was she so fucking willing to forgive him all the time?  He didn't want her to be like that.  He pulled the pink floral quilt over his head and concentrated on his headache, trying not to think so he could stop feeling so guilty and ashamed but it was a long time before he fell back asleep.

When he opened his eyes the next morning, it was late enough the sun was streaming in through the window, making the room too bright and bringing his pounding headache back with a vengeance.  He immediately squeezed his eyes shut and groaned quietly from the pain.  His internal clock must have reset itself to Chicago time.  At least he could rest while he recovered from his hangover, he thought gratefully.

Then his eyes flew open and he lifted his head to look at the clock on Georgie's pink chest of drawers, ignoring the pounding pain it caused.

Shit.

Greg was going to arrive in ten minutes to take him to swim at the university.  He threw off the quilt and got out of bed, the pounding in his head even worse.  He dressed in clean clothes as quickly as he could, then went to the small bathroom.  He rifled through the cabinet behind the mirror until he located some aspirin and popped a few in his mouth.  Then he shaved and brushed his teeth in record time, grateful he'd be able to shower at the pool.

He walked out of the bathroom with just minutes to spare when he suddenly stopped.  He couldn't fucking believe it.  He and Greg had completely forgotten to tell Georgie about their plans.  What the hell was he going to do now, he wondered as his stomach sank.

He felt awful as he slowly walked to the kitchen, dreading Georgie's reaction.  When he reached the doorway, he felt even worse.  All three women were sitting at the kitchen table, still wearing their dressing gowns.  Georgie and May were sitting close to each other looking at something on May's laptop, and Marianne was reading her newspaper.

All three of them looked up when they noticed him and said, "Good morning," at nearly the same time, Georgie coming in last because she'd added 'Robert' at the end.

"Uh, morning," he said tentatively, trying to ignore the fact that he felt like might throw up.  Having to tell Georgie the news was bad enough, telling her in front of May and Marianne was going to be far worse.

"Come in and have some breakfast," May said with a warm smile as Marianne went back to reading her paper and Georgie peered at the laptop screen.

"Uh, actually," he said hesitantly.  "Greg is coming – in just a minute – or so."

All three women looked at him.

"I'm sorry I forgot to mention it, Georgie.  But – he, uh, asked yesterday if I wanted to go to swim – at his university – with him today."

He was dismayed to see the look on her face.  She was clearly shocked.  Both older women glanced at her, then Marianne quickly looked down at her newspaper while May looked back at him.  He was too ashamed to meet her eyes.  Georgie made an attempt to recover.

"Oh, that's – good," she said faintly, but he could see the disappointment and pain in her eyes, and it made him feel even worse.  She was covering for him again.

"I – Georgie.  I – I'll tell him I won't go," he said, suddenly deciding it wasn't worth it.

"No, Robert.  You should go," she said a little louder.  "I know it's been a long time since you've been able to swim."

"But I'm sure you've made plans –."

"It's not a problem.  The museums and stuff are open every day," she said quickly, almost sounding convincing.  Just at that moment, the doorbell rang.  He didn't move, still not sure what to do, and Georgie got up to answer it.

As she passed him, he said quietly, "I'm serious, Georgie.  I don't have to do this."

"Its okay, Robert," she said just as quietly, but she wouldn't look at him, making shame and guilt burn through him again as he watched her walk to the door.

When she opened it, Greg looked startled to see her and then sheepish as he stepped inside.

"Do you hate me?" he asked immediately.

"You know I could never hate you, Greg," she said sadly.

"You know what I mean.  Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," she said with a sigh, and stepped forward when he reached out to hug her.  He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, rocking her slightly.  Then he squeezed his eyes shut like he was in pain and buried his face in her hair.

"You know I love you, kiddo," he mumbled, his voice rough.

"I know.  I love you too," she said into his chest.  Robert had to look away, swallowing against the sudden tightness in this throat.

After a minute, Greg seemed to have recovered and let go of her.  He held her cheeks as he kissed her forehead.  Then he looked in her eyes with concern.

"You okay?" he asked.

She quickly wiped her eyes and nodded, but Greg didn't look any more convinced than Robert she was telling the truth.

"Hey, uh, Robert," he said, still looking at her while reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys.  "Why don't you go to the car and I'll be there in a minute," and tossed the keys to him.

Robert caught them easily but hesitated, still unsure what he should do.  Then he saw the look in Greg's eyes.  It was clear he wanted to be alone with Georgie and Robert decided to step out.  He could use a moment alone as well.  When he walked past Georgie on the way out the door, he was too ashamed to look at her.

As Robert walked to Greg's car, he felt awful.  Georgie had bent over backwards to forgive his drunken behavior the day before and he'd repaid her by abandoning her at the last minute when she'd probably made plans for them to go somewhere.  He shouldn't do this, he decided firmly.  Springing this on her at the last minute was just making the situation worse than it already was, and that was the last thing he needed at this point.

When Greg came out of the house, Robert immediately walked up to him.  "I've decided not to go.  Georgie probably –."

"Naw, dude.  She's cool," Greg said casually, holding his hand out for the keys.

"What?" Robert asked with shock, handing them over.

"I explained everything and she's cool with it," he said, unlocking the car doors.

"But how – wait – what did you say?" Robert asked as Greg climbed in the car, but he didn't seem to hear because he closed the door instead of answering.

Robert looked up at the house, uncertain what to do while Greg turned on the car.  He expected to see Georgie framed in the front window looking upset, but she wasn't there.  Maybe Greg had been able to convince her.

"Dude!" Greg called out through his open window.  Robert reluctantly turned and got in the car.

As soon as he'd closed the door, Greg asked, "Was she pissed at you for getting drunk yesterday?"  It took Robert a second to translate what he'd said.

"Uh, no.  She wasn't, actually.  In fact, she said we should forget about it," Robert replied, feeling guilt and shame burn through him all over again.  "She covered for me with May and Marianne as well.  I reckon – she covered for both of us."

"That's Georgie for ya," Greg said quietly, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," Robert said simply, looking out the window so Greg couldn't see his face.  That was Georgie.

"Just like Frankie," Greg muttered under his breath as he started to drive.  "You hungover?" he asked more loudly.

"Some.  It's not bad," Robert replied, grateful for the change of subject.

"Yeah, me too.  I think we should drive through somewhere and get some breakfast."

It took nearly an hour to reach the university, Greg talking almost the entire way.  It was in sharp contrast to how it usually was with Darrell, Robert thought bemusedly.  At least Greg didn't expect him to participate much in the conversation.  He looked out the window at the passing urban scenery, catching glimpses of the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago in the distance as Greg chatted about Northwestern and what he was studying, architecture and design.

When Greg finally parked the car and Robert got out, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  He walked across the car park, right to the edge of a large body of water and Greg followed, the strap of a large athletic bag slung over his shoulder.

"Is this – the lake?" Robert asked him with astonishment.

"Yep, that's Lake Michigan.  Dude, didn't you see it when you flew in?"

"No.  I didn't," Robert replied quietly, looking back at the water.  He wasn't sitting next to a window and when they were descending, he'd been so preoccupied about the fact he was about to see Georgie for the first time since she'd left him, he hadn't even thought to look out.

It was hard for Robert to believe this was merely a lake.  No matter which direction he looked, the water met the sky at the horizon.  It was a sunny day and the water was a sparkling deep blue.  The air was warm but there was a slight, cold breeze coming off the lake, giving a hint of the frigid temperature of the water.  Instead of the briny smell he would have expected, the wind smelled fresh, and clean.

"Dude, c'mon.  I wanna swim," Greg said, after a minute.

"Right," Robert said, tearing his eyes away from the view.

He followed Greg into the building, immediately noticing the familiar smell of chlorine and was surprised how excited he suddenly felt.  Greg led him to an empty men's locker room, then put the athletic bag on a bench and unzipped it.  When he straightened up, he didn't take his eyes off the bag.

"I wasn't sure what you'd want to wear so I had my mom wash everything.  I think we're about the same size."

"Yeah, I reckon," Robert replied, sensing a tension in Greg that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"I'm going to talk to the captain about you swimming with us," Greg continued, avoiding his eyes.  "I packed extras of everything so take whatever you need.  I'll see you out there when you're done."

"Oh, yeah.  Alright," Robert said, trying not to sound grateful.  It didn't bother him Greg was gay, he had gay mates back home, but the situation was somewhat awkward.

It wasn't long before he'd showered and changed into a pair of Speedos.  He went out to the pool deck with a swim cap and a pair of goggles.  It was large pool, as he would have expected for such a big university, with many lanes already taken by swimmers doing laps.  There were large purple and white banners hanging on the wall with a picture of a snarling cat's head, no doubt the university mascot.  Greg was talking to someone but as soon as he saw Robert, he excused himself and walked up to him.

"Everything's all set," he said as he walked up to Robert with a smile, completely relaxed.  "Go ahead and pick a lane.  I'll be out soon."

"Cheers, Greg," Robert replied, and he couldn't help grinning, excited to get in the water.

When Robert dove into the pool and began swimming, he couldn't believe how good it felt.  At the end of his last swim season over a year ago, he'd thought he was finished with swimming forever. But now, feeling the water slide past him as his body naturally took to the easy rhythm of the strokes, he felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

It wasn't long before Greg was in the lane beside him and they paced each other as they swam.  They'd been at it for almost two hours when Greg told him he was going to shower and change.  Robert swam a bit more then decided he was finished too.  He got out of the pool and almost immediately, a group of swimmers walked up to him.

"Hi, I'm Dean," said one, sticking his hand out.  He was shorter than Robert but looked older and had an easy air of authority.  Robert wondered if he was the team captain.

"I'm Robbie," he replied, shaking his hand.  When the rest of the swimmers introduced themselves to him, Robert was surprised not all of them were Americans.

"So, are you a – friend of Greg's?" Dean asked, once the introductions were over.

There was something in the way he said it that got Robert's attention.  He was looking at Robert in a friendly way, but it was clear the question he was really asking was if Robert was more than mates with Greg.  Robert quickly looked at the other blokes surrounding him.  By the looks on their faces, he could tell some of Greg's team mates knew he was gay, but some didn't.

"No, not really," he said, looking back at Dean.  "I met him yesterday at a party."

Dean nodded knowingly and Robert realized what he'd just said.

"It was a barbeque," he interjected a little louder.  "At my girlfriend's house.  I'm visiting her for a few weeks."  There were nods all around.

He knew he shouldn't have called Georgie his girlfriend, but he didn't know what else to say without outing Greg to his teammates.

"You look like you've done competitive swimming before," Dean said, looking at him appraisingly.

"Yeah, I've done a fair bit.  I was on my school's team but – it's been a while," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"You don't swim for your school now?"

"Uh, I'm not attending university yet," Robert responded, feeling embarrassed.  "I've applied to some – but I haven't decided which one I'm attending."

"Oh," Dean said simply, and Robert felt even more embarrassed.  Thankfully Greg appeared at that moment, and Robert quickly excused himself.

Once he was dressed, Greg took him to a nearby canteen on campus for lunch.  "I really appreciate this, yeah?" he said gratefully to Greg, when they were getting settled at a table, their trays filled with plates and bowls of almost every kind of food served.

"Good!  I'm glad you had a good time," Greg said, smiling back at him.  "You know, you swim pretty well," he said, digging into his food.  "You should pick a college with a swim team.  I bet it wouldn't be too hard for you to get back in shape."

Robert suddenly looked at him, but Greg had his eyes on his plate as he ate.  It was starting to dawn on him why Greg had invited him, and he could feel the anger rising up inside him.

"Is that what this is about?" Robert demanded loudly.

"What?" Greg asked, looking up at him with surprise.

"You thought if you invited me to swim, I'd decide to attend the university and get back together with Georgie!"  Greg looked shocked.

"Dude, no way!  I invited you because I could see how tense you were yesterday.  You looked like you were ready to blow a fuse!  I thought swimming would help.  It always makes me feel better."

"Oh," Robert said, immediately feeling ashamed.  "I'm sorry."

"No problem," Greg said, shrugging his shoulders and going back to his food.

They were quiet for several minutes while they ate and as Robert reflected on it, he realized Greg was right, he felt much calmer.  Since he'd arrived in Chicago, he'd been completely on edge but swimming had made a huge difference.  It was just like when he'd been a prisoner.  Exercise had been the key to dealing with his nervous energy – and from taking his anger out on Georgie, he thought suddenly.

As he remembered how he'd been treating her since he'd been in Chicago, he felt fresh shame wash over him.  Not only had he allowed his anger to get the better of him, he'd done his best to avoid spending any time with her.  He'd been trying to save himself the emotional turmoil of being around her but it had blown up in his face in a spectacular way.  The trip had turned into a disaster, one of his own making, and both of them were suffering as a consequence.

From now on, he had to do things differently, he thought firmly.  He'd make sure he exercised every day, and he wouldn't fight the inevitable.  He knew he was going to have to spend time with Georgie when he came here, and he just needed to do it and get it over with.  After all, it was just eleven more days.  With his thoughts back on Georgie, he suddenly remembered what May had told him.

"Hey, can I ask you something," Robert asked just as Greg leaned back in his chair, pushing the tray of empty dishes aside in a satisfied way.  "Yesterday – May said Georgie had run away from two foster homes."  Greg's expression immediately darkened, and his eyes started shifting around the room without seeming to see anything.

"Yeah, she did," he muttered.  "I was the one who found her the first time."

"Where'd she go?"

"Her house," Greg said grimly, finally looking at Robert.  "I was out playing – or some shit – I don't even remember, when I saw her.  She was curled up against the front door.  The house was empty by then.  When she saw me, it was like she didn't even recognize me for a minute.  Then Mrs. M. showed up.  A neighbor saw Georgie just before I did and called her."

"How'd she get there?" Robert asked.  His voice was suddenly rough and he had to clear his throat.

"Walked," Greg said bitterly.  "Took her two days."  Robert was horrified.  Greg began shaking his head.

"Then all hell broke loose.  Georgie started getting hysterical.  She was making no sense at all.  We were trying to calm her down when the caseworker showed up with the police.  They were going to arrest Mrs. M. because they said she'd helped Georgie run away – or taken her – or some shit."

Robert couldn't help imagining Georgie the way she looked in the last photograph with her family, how young she was.  It must have been terrifying for her to go through all of that.

"Finally, the neighbor and I were able to convince them Mrs. M. didn't know anything about her running away since we'd been the ones to see her first.  What a fucking mess – and poor Georgie –."  He didn't finish, continuing to shake his head.

"What happened the second time she ran away?"

"The caseworker called Mrs. M. and she went to Georgie's house to wait for her while the caseworker tried to find her.  Georgie was smart that time and stole some money.  She took a taxi and it wasn't long before she showed up.  Then Mrs. M. found her another home – that couple with the babies.  She did better with them," he finished quietly, picking up his glass to take a drink and Robert sipped his soda to ease the pain in his throat.

After a few minutes, Robert asked, "Did Georgie ever tell you why she ran away?"

"No," Greg said grimly, his eyes roaming the room again.  "She never talked about it, but I –."  He stopped suddenly and then looked at Robert.  "I shouldn't say it.  I don't know the reason," he finished firmly.

Robert was about to ask him what he suspected had happened, but then he saw the look in Greg's eyes.  Whatever it was, Greg didn't want to say it, and Robert suddenly decided he didn't want to hear it.

"Dude, you ready to go?" Greg asked, already pushing his chair back to stand up as he reached for his tray.

"Yeah," Robert said.  He began to gather up his trash and empty dishes, swallowing against the tightness in his throat again.

****

Robert seems to have received his 'wake up call' and has finally decided to stop resisting being around Georgie.  What will happen once they start actually spending time together?  Why do you think Georgie decided not to confront Robert?  And what do you think the new information about her past reveals about her?  I have posted a picture in the multimedia of Lake Michigan so you can get a sense of the size of it.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider giving it a vote.  I'm on facebook now!  You can find the page here http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKatherineGanzel  There are some terrific pictures posted there of different readers' ideas of who 'Robert' looks like.  Surprisingly, they all look fairly similar!

Dedicated to my good friend, LiterallyFictitious.  He writes really good teen romances so be sure to check them out.  :)

Thank you for reading!