George
I was halfway through the fifth season when Dave peeped in. I sat up and smiled at him. He smiled back. He came inside and stood beside the bed.
"Hey," I said. "Hi," he replied. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working?" I asked.
"George, it's Saturday," he said, the concern evident in his voice. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the day on my laptop and laughed.
"Oh," I said. "Yeah, I haven't had the hang of time that much."
He sat down on the bed and put down the laptop lid. "Are you okay?" He asked as he sat down on the bed beside me. I gave him a bewildered look, "Yeah, I'm good."
"George. Something's been wrong since the day you came back," he said carefully. "You've never been like this. From what you've told me, this was you in London when you were living with your dad."
Realization dawned on him. I could almost hear it click in his mind. I had wanted to avoid this. So badly. I'd thought I'd get out of this room feeling a bit normal.
"Something happened in London," he said.
A friend's intuition is the strongest when it concerns another friend.
Lucy called him. This screamed Lucy's involvement. A flash of anger ran through me and I said, "Tell Lucy that I'm fine."
"George, she's just worried about you," he said. I got off the bed and threw my hands up in irritation. "See, that's the thing, Dave! I don't need anyone worrying about me. I'm not that same fourteen-year-old girl anymore. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"We all know that, George. But that doesn't change the fact that you need help right now, because from what I can see you're not able to help yourself," he said firmly.
I stared at him for a few minutes and said, "You're with her on this? Dave, I'm fine. I'm fantastic. I'm just taking a break."
Dave pinched the bridge of his nose and got up. He walked to me and framed my face with his hands. "Okay, look. I get it. I get your impulse of not wanting to tell others. But it's a good thing sometimes."
I sighed again and shook my head, "I'm telling the truth, Dave."
His eyes turned steely. He took a few steps back, distancing himself. He shook his head, sighing, and said, "Do you know just how painful it is to know that you're hurting and not being able to do anything about it? God, what the fuck are you so scared about, George? It's always like this. You just expect us to ignore it when you behave weirdly."
"Well, yeah, of course, I do. I can deal with my problems myself," I said. He gave me a sad smile and said, "Have you ever thought about the fact that there will be something you'll need help in? Something you can't deal with yourself? What will you do then?"
I was floored by the question. He sighed and said, "I'm just really hurt that you can't trust me with your pain. Even after I trusted you with mine."
I could feel my heart breaking into little pieces slowly. I hurt him. I never wanted to hurt him, but here we are. I realized that I could never get myself to tell anyone about my pain.
But that'd keep hurting him. It'd hurt him when I'd have a panic attack and he wouldn't know why it happened. What if he thinks it's him at some point in time?
I closed my eyes as I took my decision. I could hurt myself but not him. Never him.
"You know what?" I said, trying to keep my grief out of my voice. "Maybe we should take a break from this. You've got your big meeting coming up, I have a dress to design. We can talk when you get back."
He looked at me, tears shining in his eyes. My heart broke some more. He nodded and went out of my room.
"Dave? Shit, what did she say?" I could hear Lucy ask. Dave said something I couldn't hear. I heard the front door closing and mine opened to reveal a very angry Lucy outside.
"He's crying. I hope you're fucking happy now," she said and closed the door. I fell to my knees, like the girl in my dreams and closed my eyes to stop myself from crying. The door opened a little again and Rey rushed beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders as I felt pain in its greatest form ever.
I'd known heartbreak to be painful. I'd seen it on my friend's face, but I hadn't felt it that much. But now, everything was hitting at the same time. Heartbreak, grief, anger and this was just the beginning. When he'd come back from his work trip, I had to look him in the eyes and let him go. I had to give him that pain so he wouldn't have to bear the torment I could give him. I had to watch the person I loved walk away.
I let out a choked sob at that. I can't be weak. I can't let myself cry. I needed to be strong. I finally exhaled deeply and lifted my head.
Rey squeezed my shoulder and went out of the room. I decided to take a nap. It might be the only way I'll wake up feeling a bit normal.
Three hours later, I woke up, still feeling like shit. I groaned and woke up, deciding to distract myself.
Dave
"Get your eyes off the screen for, some time, man," Lucas said. I looked at him and said, "Hm? Yeah, I just have to finish this."
Since my outburst with George, I hadn't met her. I couldn't meet her. She wanted to take a break, and somehow I knew what was coming next. So I was practising to handle the pain.
"You've been saying that for fifteen minutes," Linda said. I hummed absentmindedly.
"David Sherlock Wilson. Close that thing right now or else," Linda said in her big sister voice. I immediately closed the lid. I didn't have the strength to go after her when she snatches it away.
"What is up with you? There are still three days left for your trip. Chill," Karan said. I nodded and said, "Yeah. There's still some stuff left to be done though."
"Doesn't mean you'll kill your eyes for it," Linda said firmly. I mocked her words back to her.
"Hey, anyone heard from Lucy? She's not picking up my calls or answering my texts," Brent said in an irritated tone. But his eyes were showing his concern for his baby sister.
"She'll be fine. She just fought with George," Linda said. Brent's eyes widened. "Just a fight? She was crying buckets the last time," he said, startled.
Linda shrugged and said, "They've been friends for a long time. A small fight won't put a wall in between them."
I hope it's a small fight.
"Why am I always the last one to know about this stuff?" Brent grumbled. "Because you overreact about it," Karan said casually. Brent looked at him with a deadpan expression. "That's a good thing because it shows that you care," he added quickly.
Even after that answer, they kept staring at each other. I felt tension crackle in the air around them.
Linda dropped a spoon on purpose and they jumped. "Oops," she said with a knowing smile.
Lucas whispered something in her ear and she shrugged. God, seriously, if they mess this up I'll be their personal matchmaker.
Shut up, bro you need one yourself.
Pain erupted in my heart and I sighed. Just when I thought I'd forgotten about that for a few minutes.
"Did you and George fight or something?" Lucas asked. I shrugged at him, picking at my food.
"That's not an answer," Brent said between mouthfuls of food. I sighed in exasperation and said, "Yes."
I told them all about it, except that the break part was meant for our relationship and not friendship. They all were shaking their heads in disappointment.
"It's fine though. I mean she has been in l-" Lucas started when Linda slapped her hand on our dining table and said, "Who's ready for ice cream?"
"Oh. Right," he said. "Meee!" He said in fake excitement to cover up the mistake he'd made.
"You were saying?" I said, looking at him pointedly. He shook his head but I glared at him.
"We know that you've been dating," Brent said in a deadpan voice. My mouth dropped open and asked, "All of you?"
Karan shrugged and said, "You haven't been doing a good job of hiding it."
"Yeah. It was actually nice to see all the playful glances and lovesick smiles, though," Brent said.
That's how bad I was at hiding my love. But now, it was going to be ruined.
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Author's Note
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