A Wild Rose

11 - George

Chapter 11

George

"Go on."

"No."

"Ada, you know you want to."

"No I don't." Ok, so maybe I did. It was one in the morning, and I was trying to help Suzanna clear up the last little bits. She was insisting I go to bed and let her do the last of it, and I had been insisting that I should help. But it was tempting ... warm bed, fluffy pillow. Thanks a lot, Ada. "Are you really sure you don't want any more help with this?"

"No, I'm fine. Off you pop to your nice warm bed."

"Shut up." I muttered, before squeezing her into a tight embrace, and then making my way out of the hall. As I did so, I took my hair down out of its bun, letting it fall loose in a wavy ponytail. I made my way up the stairs, rubbing my eyes as I paced quickly. Which meant I didn't noticed someone else walking until I bumped right into them.

I gasped an apology, getting ready to walk on, when a soft, but firm hand took hold of my arm. I felt myself flush with embarrassment as I saw George looking down at me. He had taken off his coat and gloves, leaving him in simply his white shirt, and his black trousers and boots. "Hi." he said, a small smile reaching the corner of his lips.

"Um ... hi."

There was a pause, and I cleared my throat quietly. I seemed he had been waiting for me to speak again, but I had been doing the same thing. He opened his mouth and stuttered a bit, before finally coming out with a legitimate sentence. "Er ... up so late?"

"Yeah, I was helping Suzanna. You?"

"Me? I ... I couldn't get to sleep. Not really tired. Yeah." George ran his fingers through his hair, looking away. When he looked back, he found me smiling at him, and I noticed the little red tint growing on each cheek. It was sweet how often he blushed. "Anyway ... I ... er ..."

"I should probably be going to bed." I said, saying it for him.

"Yeah. Yeah." He stepped to side. I had done the same. He stepped to the other side. I had done the same. "Er ... sorry ... I ..." I didn't respond, just held his arms, and swivelled the both of us round, before letting go, and raising my eyebrows. "Yeah, sorry. Night, then."

"Night."

I began to walk away, looking down, fumbling with my fingers. A smile was creeping onto my face from the small encounter, though I was trying to withhold it as much as I could. I couldn't explain to myself why, for it didn't appear that there was any reason why I should have to conceal it. It wasn't a crime to smile at seeing him.

I jumped as George came up behind me, trying to take my arm again, trying to stop me where I was. However, because I had been caught off guard, I whipped around quickly, and his grip loosened for a moment, letting my arm slide down. Until he was holding onto my hand.

"It was really amazing, what you and Suzanna did, by the way. The ball, I mean."

"Oh. Thank you." I quickly glanced down at our hands, still interlocked, and he pulled away quickly. The smile I had managed to disguise when I turned around fell right back onto my face. And when I smiled, he smiled too. His return of the gesture felt like the gap between two magnets finally being allowed to close, to let them join together. "It was, mostly Suzanna, though. I just helped out a bit."

We stood still for a moment, before I turned back round to carry on where I was going. It was only a few seconds after that footsteps followed me. I tried to ignore it at first, thinking he would turn a corner, or at least slow till he was a reasonable distance behind me, but the footsteps kept up. It was only when we were close to my room that I stopped, turning my head ever so slightly.