Ocean Eyes || George Smith

29

real life

kelsie walks through the airport, worry etched in her features. she was ready to see karter, but she didn't want to run into george. not after everything that happened four months ago. she was heartbroken, and him calling her nonstop for the month after it occurred broke her even more.

so she packed up her things and went on a road trip, meeting matthew along the way. the two instantly hit it off, and they eventually found out that they were going to the same places after they kept running into each other in different cities. kelsie was happy with matthew, happier than she's been in a while, but it was nothing compared to the happiness that consumed her when she was with george.

and that tore her up. she knew how matthew felt for her, and she was trying her best to give him what he was giving her, but it always came back to george. matthew knew this. one of their first conversations was about george and everything that had happened with him and kelsie. he knew that she was still getting over him, which didn't bother him. they hadn't put an official label on what they were doing, he wanted to give kelsie more time.

kelsie walks to the gate, looking around for her twin as people started to come off of the plane. matthew was holding her hand, making sure they didn't lose each other in the crowd. she gave his hand a tight squeeze before letting go to hug karter, who dropped his carry-on the second he saw her and ran over to give her a hug. he jumped up as he wrapped his arms around her, smiling happily.

"kelso! i missed you so much!"

"i missed you too!"

he breaks out of the hug, staring at her for a brief moment before shaking his head and turning towards his bag, reaching down to grab it.

"can we get food? i'm starving!"

"uh, sure. what was that look about?"

"what look?"

kelsie nodded, ignoring the fact that karter had begun to play dumb. she didn't want to pry, this is the first time they've seen each other in two and a half months.

"what do you want to eat?"

"chik-fil-a."

"really? that's what you want?"

"it sounded good on the plane, and it sounds good now."

kelsie nods, leading him over to where matthew was standing.

"who's this?"

"karter, this is matthew. he's um, a friend. matthew, this is my brother karter."

"i've heard so much about you."
matthew smiles at karter, seeing how close the twins were by their reactions.

the three walk over to baggage claim, and karter grabs his suitcase before leading them out of the airport. he was tired of being in one, his flight to chicago being delayed by four hours due to technical difficulties. they made most of the people who were supposed to get on the plane move to a different one, which stopped in phoenix before finally heading to chicago.

"it's time for food!"

karter runs out of the airport happily, looking around for kelsie's car before spotting it towards the front of the lot.

"we're getting food?"

kelsie turns towards matthew, nodding.
"karter really wants chik-fil-a."

"but there's so many places to choose from."

"i told him that. he doesn't care."

matthew chuckles before heading off in the direction of kelsie's car. kelsie stood there for a moment, debating if she should actually take karter to chik-fil-a. she knew that with chicago being a big city, and the boys having busy schedules, running into george was going to be less than likely.

but she couldn't help the feeling building up in her stomach. she didn't want to see him, not after everything that happened. she was worried that if she saw him she would cry, or it would ruin what she has with matthew. she didn't want either of those things happening.

"are you coming?"

kelsie nods, walking towards her car.

the entire way to the restaurant, karter was talking about how excited he was for food. apparently he didn't eat once in the 10 hours he was stuck at either the airport or on a plane, and kelsie wasn't sure why. but she knew that it had something to do with karter being a picky eater, so she just shrugged it off.

when they arrived, the three piled out of the car and walked inside, the restaurant full of people. this was normal, as chik-fil-a is a popular place. it was even worse back home in la.

"oh my god."

kelsie looks at the girl, confused. she ran off the second she spotted kelsie, going over to a group of girls and saying something to them.

and that's when it hit kelsie.

"oh, crap."

"uhh kels? don't look now, but george is staring at you."

kelsie sighs, looking up and meeting his ocean eyes. he smiles weakly at her, and she returns it. this surprises her.

"wait, as in the george who broke your heart?"
matthew looks at george, who was still staring at kelsie.

"that george."

"oh."

"don't worry. nothing's gonna happen."
kelsie spots reece and blake, who were both busy with a couple of fans.

"i'm going to the bathroom."
matthew walks off, leaving kelsie and karter alone.

"i'm going to go say hi to them."

"kelsie-"

"karter, i'll be fine. i'm just going to say hi to reece and blake, and if i wind up saying hi to george then that's what's going to happen."

"but-"

"come with me."

the two walk over to where the boys were, smiling at them.

reece pops up the second he sees kelsie, smiling widely as he wraps his arms around her.

"kelsie! i missed you so much!"

"not as much as i missed her! move over!"
blake pushes reece aside, wrapping his arms around kelsie.

"blake, i need to be able to breathe."

"right, sorry."

kelsie feels a tap on her shoulder, and when she turns around, george is standing there, his eyes wide as he looks at her.

"hey kels."

"hi george."