runaway

16 ~ gone

- short chapter

George's POV

"I'll be gone for two weeks, love. That's not too long." I hug Dream so tight it probably hurts him. He was gone today.

"And after that?" I ask, looking up at him. His jaw tightens as he counts the calendar out loud.

"Probably a week before Christmas." He says, lifting his hand and shoving hair out of my face.

"How long would you stay for?" I sounded whiny, but I needed the answers to live. I needed the answers to know how often he'd be here.

"Three weeks. I'd leave again the first or second week of January." His hand falls to cup my face as he leaned his forehead onto mine. "And then I'll be back that February for Valentines, okay?"

"Promise?" He nods, pressing a kiss on the tip of my nose before eventually connecting our lips. This kiss was slow and loving, a 'see you soon' goodbye.

He pulls away and looks behind me, probably where Jane and my mom stood to watch this godforsaken goodbye.

"Two weeks, okay?" I nod, reaching up and wiping the tears off my face, "mhm.."

I pull him into another tight hug. "I love you so much, please be safe."

"I love you too, George." He chuckles, "and I will, I promise."

"I'm not going to be there to tell you to stop looking at your phone."

"Okay now." He laughs, jokingly pushing me away.

"I'm serious!" I laugh, "be safe, 'kay?"

He nods, "okay."

"M'kay." He smiles and waves off Jane and my mother before looking at me.

"Uh— I'll miss you." I smile lightly and nod, "me too."

"Two weeks." I nod again, "two weeks."

"Okay!" He lets out a big breath before laughing it off. He was excited. He always does that when he's excited.

"Okay."

"I love you." He says to me before opening his car door, "yeah, I love you too, dickhead."

"Sure, sweetheart."

"Just go already!" I laugh, trying to get this whole hesitancy out of the situation. "Okay! Okay!" He does the breathing laugh thing again. It wasn't his wheeze or anything, it was just a huff of air mixed with a laugh. It still caused butterflies in my stomach even months later.

I give him another kiss before pulling away and stepping on the concrete sideline, giving him a soft wave as he pulled out of his parallel park and drove off.

The more I watched his car disappear with distance, the more I wished I never let him leave. I wanted this all to be a joke or some big elaborate plan for a surprise party. That'd be pretty shitty though; putting someone down on their birthday just to throw a party for them.

But it's not. He's going and there's nothing I can do about it. I bitterly smile at the thought before turning around and walking back inside.

"Are you okay, honey?" My mom asks, cautious about the way her words would come out.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm okay." I smile at her before walking down the hall and into my bedroom. My empty, undecorated bedroom. It looked like I was the one who was supposed to move out.

I spot a book on my bed. Perhaps one he left? I pick it up and open the cover to find a sticky note.

'My mom gave me this book. I liked it :)' I look back at the cover page and realize it was the book he always read. It's the book he'd never put down even if I asked him to. I smile lightly before opening the book again, reading the small note in the corner.

'I already read it tons of times, so it's your turn! P.S. don't mind the annotations..'

I turn to the next page where it showed the title. 'The Great Gatsby.' I instantly see the small scribbles and annotations he added, making me laugh as I look at his messy scribbled and doodles. The book was relatively short but it still never caught my attention. He always talked about it and his frustration with the way the characters acted, but I never actually listened. I just liked watching him talk about it.

I shut the book and hold it close to myself, letting out a sob.

I miss him so much.

—

"That's dumb." I laugh, holding the phone close to my ear as I toss the laundry load into the tumble dryer.

"Yeah! New York is crazy, George. All the libraries and art museums." I listen to him list off all the places he's been so far and smile with endearment as I insert the money to start the machine. "—it's so nice, George. I wish you were here."

"Yeah. It sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm sure you're more into the architecture and artsy things more than I am, plus, mum is sick again."

"Oh, right. Is she doing better today?"

She got sick two days ago. I think it's a cold, but I'm not going to put my hopes too high.

"Jane says she just has a fever now." I lie, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Yeah, me too." the call falls silent for a moment before I hear a yawn echo through the phone.

"You should go to sleep."

"No! This is the first time I've spoken with you in a week!" Dream whines, "plus, it's only right pm."

"Early bird gets the worm, I guess." I lean onto one of the many spared washing machines just as someone else walks in.

"Are you pushing me away, sweetheart?"

"You and I both know that I would never." He laughs at that, a tired chuckle.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Georgie."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he erupts into more laughter that statics through the phone, it makes me want to laugh too.

"I miss you, George." I smile bitterly as I check the number on the tumble dryer.

"Yeah?"

"Mhm,"

"I miss you too, idiot." I take a deep breath, "next Wednesday, right? You'll be back?"

"Already counting down the days, love?" he teases, "yes. One more week."

"Okay."

"Okay."

We fall into another round of the silence game. Who will be the one to break it first?

"I think I might take up that sleeping offer, actually."

"Oh, okay." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Why was it harder talking to him over the phone?

"One more week, George." I smile, "yeah. One more week."

"Goodnight, George."

"Goodnight." I hang around a bit longer, the words I want to say about to slip off my tongue. "I love you."

"Yeah, I know you do." I roll my eyes and right after I did, he laughed. "It's like I could see your face. I love you, too. Goodnight."

"Mhm, goodnight idiot." I let out a soft giggle before I hang up. The laundry was almost done and I was just ready to go home after that phone call.

One more week

That's it