Trust Me // George Weasley

Chapter 32: The Twin

The white walls of her uncle's house were starting to annoy her just as much as the white walls at the hospital had. Her routine quickly became a bore too. Every day Anna took the three dogs for a small walk around the block, after which she would be so exhausted that she would take a nap. She would read after waking up and before bed, clean until her head hurt, sketch, watch TV and sleep.
It felt like her physical wounds were healing slower because she was emotionally hurting too. After George's reply to her text, she knew for sure that it had not been a lie; he genuinely did not want to be with her anymore. She had not realised that he already had this much power over her emotions. She felt worse now than she had when her three-year relationship had ended.
Every day she felt worse about it. Missing George was excruciating. Her uncle had forced her to put on another jumper but all she wanted was to wear his clothes. Alisa had offered to burn them, but Anna had denied her request.
Angelina did not want to talk about George but Anna could not help but ask whenever she was around. Apparently, George was not doing great either, which made Anna sad. It also gave her a bit of relief to know that she was not the only one that had cared so much about this relationship.
Only a week after coming home, she wanted to go out and do something. Of course, going out scared her. But as her therapist had reminded her; it could also happen inside her home. It truly did not seem to matter where she was, she could get hurt anywhere.
She was rather happy when Fred called her, asking if she wanted to meet up with him. It would be weird to see Fred. George and he were identical twins. She could easily tell them apart but still, it would still strange.
In the morning she had her doctor's appointment, which went okay, not as good as she had hoped. The wound on her hip had started to get irritated again and possibly infected so her dose of antibiotics could not go down yet and she had gotten an extra tube of cream for her scars.
But after her afternoon nap, she got up and hopped into a taxi, telling the driver to drop her off in Camden Town. Anna had requested to go there instead of Fred visiting her at home. She needed to get out of the house for an afternoon and Camden Town seemed like a nice spot to meet up.
She paid for the taxi and walked over to the bench that George and she had decided was their spot when they went on a date there. It had only a few months ago. It felt weird to be here without him, but that was just something she had to get used to. George did not want her anymore and she had to accept that.
Her eyes lingered on their initials carved into the old wood and her heart shattered once more. God, she felt so stupid.
After about ten minutes, a tall man with fiery red hair sat down next to her. Fred had a gentle smile on his lips and he had a knitted scarf wrapped tightly around his throat. It was cold but that was normal for November. The cold wind cut in the scars on her face but it did not bother her all that much.
"Hi, Anna," he said. "It's good to see you."
"Hi Fred," she said and smiled at him, though he could not see that as her scarf was covering half her face. She could not stop wishing that it had been George who had come to sit next to her. "It's good to see you too. Do you want to grab a cup of tea over there? It's colder than I thought." He nodded and together they walked over to a small café.

She took off her scarf and coat and sat down across from Fred, whose eyes immediately scanned the big scar on her face with worry. He quickly looked away when he noticed she caught him staring.
"It's alright. Ginny straight up told me that I don't look good with it, so a little bit of staring is nothing I can't handle," she teased, letting out a small chuckle.
"Oh Merlin, did she really?" Fred groaned and buried his face in his hands for a moment. "Mum can say all she wants but Ginny runs her mouth just as often as we do." She laughed as did he.
Anna ordered a cup of tea for the two of them and immediately wrapped her hands around it. "So, how have you been?" she asked him.
"I've been okay," he said and nodded. "We're starting to get ready for the holidays at the shop, gotta stock up, you know? Get enough packing supplies for deliveries and overall, we have to make sure we've got enough products."
"Yeah, I bet it's a busy time for you," she agreed and leaned back in her chair a little. They could both feel the tension. The exact reason as to why Fred had asked her to meet up was unclear but it was obviously about George.
"How are you? You know, besides everything, I guess," he shrugged his shoulders and gave her a painful smile.
"I mean, the physical pain is bearable. If I do too much my head will hurt and I'll get dizzy. I sleep a lot but I move around a lot when I sleep and my wounds keep opening up, which is not great. And well," she sighed a little and looked down at her cup of tea. "I don't know, Fred. I just don't understand."
Fred sighed. "I know, Anna. He's just-" he groaned and shook his head. "I have never seen him so in love with anybody. He bought a phone for you! So when he came home from the hospital, before you had woken up, and he told me what he was going to do I told him not to do it. I-"
"Why? He said that he does not see a future with me anymore but - I'm sorry - I just don't believe it. I can't seem to believe that," she said and looked up at Fred again. He nodded and pressed his lips together for a moment. "It's because- It's because he thinks that I'm afraid of magic, right?" she whispered. "But I'm not, Fred. I'm afraid of the people that keep attacking the city. Of course, I am. I'm afraid of getting hurt just by walking down the street. But I am not afraid of you or George just because you carry a stick in your shoe." She sighed and shook her head, trying to hold back tears.
"You're right," he said calmly. "But that's not the only reason why he did it." Anna looked at him and tilted her head slightly.
"Did he really fall out of love with me so quickly?" she asked softly, her bottom lip trembling. Fred immediately shook his head and let out a chuckle.
"No! No, Anna, trust me," he said quickly and inhaled deeply. "He must have talked to you about his insecurities, right? Questioned why you asked him out instead of me? About his ear? About how he always feels he has to prove himself to mum just because we're not as uptight as Perce, or I don't know, as successful in their eyes as Bill and Charlie?"
Anna nodded. They had talked about it often. He often doubted himself but she always reminded him that he was good enough. That he was his own person, not a copy of Fred or of any of his other brothers. He was George and he was more than good enough.
"He has convinced himself that he is not good enough for you. That he is not worthy of your love," Fred sighed. "I always tell him that he is good enough but it's so entangled in his brain that whenever something bad happens it's the first thing on his mind. He just- I don't get it. I mean, George is incredible. I try to remind him that he is and-" He seemed rather frustrated and sad about the fact that his brother was struggling so much with this internal battle.
"Fred," Anna said and reached out for his hand. "I understand. I think that he is incredible too. More than that. I told him a lot. I thought that he believed it and I thought that he was going okay."
"It was better. It was for a while," he agreed. "I don't know. I think these attacks and well... you, just drove him over that edge again. It gave him this new fear of losing you not just in an attack, but because of what causes them. He knows you aren't afraid but he has convinced himself that it is his fault. He just loves you so much that he feels like he has to let you go, that that is the only way you won't get hurt. I think it scares him, to love someone so much. He doesn't believe that he is enough compared to the pain that he convinced himself he is causing you."
"But he isn't causing me pain. George brings me such a great amount of joy," she sighed and let go of his hand again. "But I don't know why you wanted to talk to me. George doesn't want to talk to me. It's over," she said and shrugged her shoulders.
"He does want to talk it out. He's just afraid that it's all his fault. He's really insecure, Anna, he is hurting so much-" Fred said, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"And I'm not? I'm just supposed to be chasing a guy who left me while I was in the hospital because he fears that I may fear him and that he is not enough for me?" she blurted out. "I'm hurting too, Fred. I want him more than anything and that is the only thing that terrifies me to my core. I fell in love with him after our first date, after the first time he bumped into me, I swear to God. I've never felt this way before and I know that sounds cheesy but it's true. How can I fix it if he doesn't want to talk to me? If he won't listen?"
Fred fell silent for a moment and Anna blinked away some tears. She understood that George was afraid and that he had his reasons, but she was now dealing with the consequences. It was not fair how it had gone. It was not fair that Fred expected her to fix it all when George was not even willing to speak with her.