Georgia couldn’t sleep that night. She lay under her blankets for hours, fuming and sulking as she thought about Harry. His green eyes sparkling with humour and smugness swam behind her closed eyelids, the way he’d hovered over her, his face so close that she could feel his alcohol tinged breath fan her face, his smirk slow. How he’d gone from being angry, snarling at her to smug and teasing within seconds.

She thought about Melissa, and how hurt and angry she had looked when Harry had drunkenly smashed a beer bottle and walked out on her in front of everyone. She didn’t hear any sobbing coming from Mel’s room, just the sounds of smashing glasses and furniture and whatnot. She wondered what exactly her aunt would have to say about that if she were home.

She’d thought a lot about going to Mel’s room and telling her what exactly had happened in the balcony. She didn’t really know why or when she decided against it. Maybe Harry was just too drunk. She could let it pass, no one had to know about it; especially not Melissa.

Georgia wondered why she and Lucas never fought. She didn’t think she remembered a single time he’d spoken rudely to her, or had been loud or aggressive in his behaviour. Actually, she’d never faced any sort of aggressive behaviour at all. Georgia was never one of those kids that were out of control, who came home late, who breezed through life relying on alcohol and drugs, who’s grades were down the drains, who yelled at their parents—no, she wasn’t like that at all. Georgia was always one of the shy, quiet ones, who sat at the back of the class without a word, without disturbing anyone, who went to libraries late at night just to study, who was always polite to everyone no matter how they were to her. She always thought of herself as a little boring, unlike Mel. Mel was the exact opposite of her, but Georgia didn’t resent that. In fact, Georgia admired her cousin’s carefree nature.

You’re nothing like Mel.

She grunted, rolling her eyes at just thinking of him. She hadn’t even known him for two whole days—hell, she didn’t know him at all—and he already infuriated her to no lengths. She thought back on the slap she’d gifted him with and her palm tingled with a sort of satisfaction. He deserved it. But she also remembered the way her slap had sobered him up slightly, and his eyes flecked with guilt.

She snorted and turned to her side. It didn’t matter. He deserved it, she thought to herself again. And if he ever dared to try anything like that again, she wouldn’t hesitate to slap his face off again.
---

Harry fiddled with the phone in his hands, his thumb hovering over Melissa’s name. He knew he shouldn’t have walked away from her like that, and shouldn’t have created a scene. Moreover, his guilt was intensified about ten times more when he thought about how he had forcefully kissed Georgia.

A thought hit him, and suddenly he was sick. Certainly, seeing as Georgia and Mel were cousins and how much they genuinely seemed to like each other, Georgia must have told Mel about it. In fact, that would have been the first thing she’d have done the moment she went home. Is that why he hadn’t gotten a single call from Melissa? Usually after they fought, Mel would flood his voicemail and inbox and call histories with messages and missed calls. Usually, mostly all of them were angry and she’d just yell at him. Sometimes they were apologetic. But he hadn’t gotten a single message from her this time. It made him worried. Maybe things with Mel and Harry weren’t the same anymore, but he wouldn’t want to hurt her—not this way.

He sighed and dropped his phone onto the bed, letting his face fall into his hands. His head was pounding, both because of his thoughts that seem to weigh down on his brain, and his hangover.

There was a knock on his door and he looked up. “Yeah?” he called out.

“Harry,” the door opened slightly to reveal his mother. “Can you take Jade out for a bit? To the park. I’m sorry if you’re busy, it’s just—”

“Don’t worry, mum,” Harry cut her off, shaking his head. “I’m not busy. Just give me fifteen minutes.” He’d never turn an opportunity down to spend time with Jade. Besides, he needed time to clear his head, and spending time with Jade would do help him with that.

Harry’s mother smiled at him. “Thank you, honey.” She said, and left, shutting the door behind her.
---

The weather was dry, much to Georgia’s relief. She didn’t think she could stand another day of rain. This time it had been Mel who’d wanted to go out. She said she wanted to take her mind off things, and by ‘things’, Georgia was pretty sure she meant Harry. So the two girls had decided to go out for a bit, for a stroll in the park and spend time together.

Currently the two girls were sitting under a tree, Georgia leaning against the bark and Mel on the grass, lying on her back, staring up at the sky. The cool wind felt good, especially because it wasn’t accompanied by harsh rain. Georgia had decided to leave her hair open, and the soft golden strands were currently blowing around her face.

“The weather is amazing today,” Georgia commented.

Mel laughed. “You’re not a big fan of rain, are you?” she asked her cousin.

Georgia smiled. “It’s not that, I like it,” she said. “But not all the time.”

“I know, I get tired of it too,” Mel sighed. “You have really nice hair, you know that?”

Georgia laughed. “You have nice hair too, Mel.”

The other girl grimaced and shook her head, reaching behind her for her hair and inspecting a few strands between her fingers. “You’re kidding,” she snorted. “My hair is dull and stupid.”

“No it’s not,” Georgia assured her.

“Yours is so golden… and shiny,” Mel said in a child-like manner, making Georgia laugh more.

“I saw your mum’s picture the other day,” Mel said softly. “She’s very pretty. You guys look exactly the same.”

Georgia smiled, but the mention of her mother brought back a flood of sadness. She sighed and sunk down slightly.
“Yeah, everyone used to say that.”

“I know you miss her a lot,” Mel said. “It’s so unfair, you know?”

“What is?”

“How you had this…like, you had your whole life, and now it’s just—gone.” Melissa said, sounding a little angry. “And all because of some arsehole who decided it would be fun to drink and drive.” She rolled her eyes and sat up. “If I could bring your parents back, I would. You know that, right?”

Georgia looked at her cousin, filled with sudden warmth towards her. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

Melissa nodded with a small smile. “Everything fucking sucks sometimes,” she grumbled. “I wish I knew your parents. I wish mum had told me she had a sister.”

“My mum never told me either,” Georgia said.

“I wonder what happened between them,” Mel sighed. “I know you miss your parents a lot, G. But my mum is your mum now. And I can be the sister you never had. You’re family, okay? You always will be.”

Tears stung the back of Georgia’s eyes at Melissa’s words, and she had an urge to hug the girl. “That means a lot,
Melissa.” She said softly.

Mel placed her hand on Georgia’s. “I always wanted a sister.” Mel told her with a grin.

“Me too,” Georgia smiled back.

The two girls continued talking, each girl curious about the other’s life. When Georgia got to the part about Lucas, Melissa squealed and gawked at Georgia, attracting attention from those few who were near them.

“You had a boyfriend?” she asked loudly.

Georgia chuckled. “Is that so hard to believe?” she asked.

Melissa shook her head. “No, no way,” she said quickly. “Oh my God, was he hot?”

Georgia laughed. “He was, I guess,” she said with a shrug.

“Were you guys in love?” Mel asked her, the last word stretched playfully in a sing-song manner.

Georgia sighed. “Yeah, I think we were,” Georgia said.

“You don’t think you love someone, G,” Melissa said matter-of-factly. “You just do.”

“What about you and Harry?” Georgia asked her.

Melissa’s expression hardened slightly, and Georgia feared she’d crossed some sort of line, or maybe hit a nerve. She eyed Melissa, and was about to apologize for sounding nosy when Melissa replied.

“We were,” she told her. “I don’t think it’s the same anymore.”

“I’m sorry.” Georgia breathed.

“Me too,” Mel shrugged. “Do you and Lucas still talk?”

“Sometimes,” Georgia said. “He calls me up when he gets the time. When I first came here we used to talk every day, but it’s a lot less now.”

Mel’s eyes widen. “So that’s it!” she said with a smirk. “I always wondered what muffled noises I heard from your room late at night. You had some major phone sex thing going on, didn’t you?”

Georgia blushed furiously. “No,” she said. “It’s not like that.”

Mel snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“No, really,” Georgia insisted. “Lucas and I never…you know…”

Mel’s eyes widened. “You guys didn’t have sex?” she asked, again a little too loudly.

Georgia cast a look around them, embarrassed. “No,” she said. “I mean, we kissed and all…”

“Third base?” Mel asked without any hint of embarrassment. She didn’t look uncomfortable with this conversation at all. Georgia wasn’t sure she felt the same. “Tell me you went to third base at least?”

“I…”

“Third base,” Mel repeated. “You know, when you guys—”

“I know what it is,” Georgia said quickly. The whole deal was quite childish to her; she never understood the concept of ‘first base’ and ‘second base’ and such. She found it strange. “No, we didn’t.”

“Holy shit, G,” Mel said. “What, so you guys just kissed?”

“Mostly, yeah,” Georgia said, thoroughly embarrassed. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire, and she wished Mel would stop asking her about her non-existent sex life.

“Oh my God,” Mel said, as if the idea personally offended her. “Georgia—”

Suddenly, she broke off. Georgia looked at her to see Melissa’s face hardening as she glared angrily at something behind her shoulder. Frowning, she turned to see what exactly it was that had changed her cousin’s mood so suddenly.

He hadn’t seen them yet. He was with the tiny girl again, the one she’d seen him with at the café. They were tossing a tiny ball to each other, the girl giggling happily every time he pretended to miss the catch and let the ball slip out of his hands. He seemed to be enjoying her reaction, missing again and again on purpose, losing just for her.
It was as if right on cue that Harry turned slightly to catch the ball rolling away from him, and he spotted the two girls under the tree. He frowned, and the moment he laid his eyes on the two of them, he was wracked with guilt.

“Hazza!” Jade called him to grab his attention.

Harry watched Mel turn her face away, and he sighed. He looked over at Jade. “Jade, I need to talk to Mel for a bit,” he said gently. “Can you give me two minutes?”

A sigh escaped the toddlers tiny lips, but she nodded. “Okay,” she told him.

“Let’s leave,” Mel said quickly, when she saw Harry approaching them. But Georgia quickly placed her hand on hers, and stopped her.

“Mel, don’t do that,” Georgia said quickly. “Talk to him, don’t run.”

Melissa didn’t have much time to protest, because Harry had already approached them, looking slightly hesitant. He cast a look down at Georgia first, who pointedly looked away from him. She saw Jade standing behind Harry, holding her ball, and raised her hand to greet the little girl.

“Hi, there,” she said softly.

“Hey,” Jade replied shyly, her eyes wide and nervous.

“Mel, I want to talk to you,” Harry said awkwardly. It was clear that he wasn’t quite used to apologizing. Mel looked quite satisfied with his expression, and nodded and got up.

“Georgia can watch Jade till then,” she said quickly, looking down at Georgia pointedly.

Jade’s hand tightened around Harry’s, her eyes wide, and Georgia guessed she didn’t want to part with him. She gave Jade an assuring smile.

“I saw you playing ball with Harry,” she said kindly. “You were quite good.”

Harry looked down at her. “Just two minutes,” he promised Jade. “Why don’t you show her how well you know how to catch the ball?”

Jade stared at Georgia quietly, her eyes still wide with nervousness, but her grip loosened on Harry’s hand. Harry bent down and murmured something softly in the little girl’s ear, and she nodded at him. He smiled at her then, a genuine smile, so much more different from the smirk she’d seen on his face the previous night, and pressed his lips to her forehead. Georgia’s eyes widened slightly as she saw him be gentle with the tiny girl. She knew it was not her place to judge (she barely knew the guy after all), but she didn’t think he was capable of showing any loving emotion.

Mel and Harry walked away together, and Georgia watched them go. The tension between them was thick and clear, both sets of shoulders set in a stiff way, the distance between them unnecessarily large. Her attention from them was pulled away when there was a light tug on the sleeve of her t-shirt, and she turned to see Jade looking at her apprehensively, the ball in her hands.

Georgia smiled at her. “Come here,” she said gently, and the toddler waddled over to her lap, where Georgia set her down. “So, Jade, are you Harry’s sister?”

Jade shook her head. “No,” she said, and Georgia had figured as much. They didn’t look alike, but Georgia had seen an sense of protectiveness around Harry both times she’s seen him with Jade. It was as if the asshole from the party didn’t exist at all. “He’s my best friend.” She said the last sentence with a sense of pride, as if having Harry as her best friend was something she liked to boast about. Her tone made Georgia smile. “Who’s your best friend?” she continued shyly.

Georgia smiled sadly and shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said.

Jade’s eyes widened. “Why not?” she asked her, as if the idea was too ridiculous to believe. “Everyone deserves a best friend.”

“I guess,” she shrugged, enjoying the girl’s reaction.

“Is Melissa your best friend?” Jade asked curiously.

“She sort of is, yeah,” Georgia nodded. “She’s very nice.”

Jade frowned like she didn’t like or agree with Georgia’s statement. “Harry likes Melissa too,” Jade said thoughtfully.

“Why, don’t you?” Georgia asked.

Jade opened her mouth to reply, but then shut it quickly and stared ahead at something. Georgia followed the direction of her gaze, and saw that Jade was now looking at Harry and Melissa, who were now kissing. Georgia was instantly reminded of Harry kissing her, his lips forcing her mouth open, yet feeling so soft against hers, the way he gripped her like he was gripping Melissa now. Anger bubbled inside her and she almost felt like walking up to them and telling Melissa all about the previous night. But then she decided against it. She knew that Melissa wanted to work things out with Harry, and Georgia didn’t want to ruin it for them. Besides, maybe he was simply a little too drunk.

Jade and Georgia looked at each other and grimaced, followed by a childish and high pitched “Ewww!” Jade giggled and Georgia laughed.

“Your hair is very pretty,” Georgia was told for the second time that day.

“It’s just like yours,” Georgia pointed out, twirling a golden strand between her finger.

Jade nodded, her eyes suddenly sad. “It’s like my momma’s,” she said quietly, and Georgia frowned, wondering why the little girl had suddenly tensed at the mention of her mother.

“Mine too,” Georgia told her kindly, and Jade smiled up at her.

Harry and Melissa walked up to them, this time holding hands. The tension between them had lessened considerably, and despite everything, Georgia was happy to see that things were looking okay.

“Sorry if we took too long,” Melissa said, and then looked at Jade. “Hi, you!”

Jade mumbled back a much less enthusiastic reply, her hand lifting slightly to wave at Mel. Mel kneeled down next to Georgia and scooped the tiny girl into her arms in what Georgia figured was an extra attempt to be friendly due to her recent reconciliation with Harry. Jade looked a little uncomfortable, but Melissa didn’t seem to notice. Harry sat down on the grass beside Georgia, who instantly stiffened.

He noticed, of course, and sighed. Seeing as Mel was too busy with Jade, he turned to Georgia. “Look,” he said softly, “I’m sorry, okay?”

Georgia looked up to glare at him.

The corner of Harry’s mouth twitched slightly, but he quickly composed himself. “I really am,” he said. “And thank you—for not telling Mel. I didn’t think you’d do that.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Georgia said bitterly.

Harry shrugged. “Even so,” he said. “I’m really sorry. I was pissed and I was really angry, you caught me at the wrong time.”

Georgia rolled her eyes. “Right, I’ll make sure to get that appointment the next time I run into you,” she mumbled sarcastically, “so I don’t ‘catch you at the wrong time’.”

Harry frowned at her. “Don’t be so difficult,” he mumbled, but Georgia ignored him. “Hey,” he said, his tone a little softer now. He poked her shoulder childishly. “I said I’m sorry.”

She looked at him, the crease of his brows to show that he was displeased, the slight pout of his plump lower lips, his beautiful green eyes narrowed as he eyed her, clearly upset that she was being so stubborn.

“Okay,” she said simply.

“Okay what?” he rolled his eyes.

Georgia opened her mouth to snap at him, but then Melissa spoke up. “You guys, who wants ice cream?” she asked. She looked down at Jade. “Jade, how about some ice cream?”

Jade nodded slightly, and then looked at Georgia. “Georgia, will you come with us for ice cream?” she asked her hesitantly.

“Of course she will!” Mel spoke for her, but Jade continued to gaze at Georgia. Harry watched the tiny girl in slight confusion. Usually, she didn’t really like to talk to any of his friends—and Georgia wasn’t even that. Hell, Jade didn’t even like Louis, and he was Harry’s best friend. But Jade was looking expectantly and Georgia, as if she really wanted the older girl to come along with them.

“Of course I will,” Georgia repeated softly and reached down to tap Jade’s nose. Jade smiled, and Harry’s confusion turned to surprise. This usually quiet and bordering on hostile girl was smiling brightly at Georgia in an uncharacteristic way. The two girls seemed to be getting along. Harry didn’t think Jade got along with anyone but himself. She didn’t even like kids her own age. Georgia held her hand out. “Wanna walk with me, then, beautiful?”
Without hesitation, Jade pulled herself from Melissa and waddled off to Georgia and took her hand.

Harry could only look on in surprise.

Notes

i'm sorry it's late, it's just that school has just started and it's a bit hectic BECAUSE I FUCKING HATE THAT PLACE. but no, you guys enjoy! and please vote and comment and subscribe! :)x