Blondie- A Jake 'Hangman' Seresin fanfiction

Chapter 8

Jake had been bickering with Payback about the merits of the Dallas Cowboys' new quarterback when Lainey appeared at his left shoulder.

"You should go check on Georgie," she muttered, nodding in the direction of the door swinging shut behind his girlfriend.

"Thanks," he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder momentarily. "Sorry, Payback, back in a minute."

He retraced Georgie's steps out of the bar and found her outside, sat on the floor against the building's end wall, hyperventilating.

He immediately sat down beside her and slid an arm behind her, rubbing her back. "You're okay, baby," he whispered, "you're okay."

He sat with her until she had calmed down, wiping the tears from her face before she rested her head on his shoulder, still shaking a little.

"You shouldn't be with me, Jake," she said finally.

"What?"

"You're the most attractive, most confident pilot in the navy, and I'm just a mess."

He sat up straighter, taking her face in his hands. "I wouldn't care if you crashed that plane out of incompetence, I love you. And you didn't. You are honestly probably the best pilot I can think of. And I think we make a pretty good couple- two hottest naval aviators."

The ghost of a smile reached her lips.

"All I'm saying is, you shouldn't have to look after me like this."

"I'm here because I want to be. I want nothing more than to look after you for the rest of my life."

Her eyes filled with tears again. "Jake..."

"I love you," he whispered, and he kissed her, long and slow.

"And one other thing," he added after a moment, "I had a text from my mom earlier. She's having some kind of family gathering this weekend, back home in Texas- and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? It's a three-hour flight, and we'd have to stay overnight with my parents-"

"Jake, they're your family- I can't wait to meet them," she smiled.

"So you'll come? I'll text my mom later and tell her. She's going to be so excited."

////////

"If we were different people, this would have happened a long time ago," Jake said. It was Friday night and they were on the flight to Texas, having gone pretty much straight from the military air base to the commercial airport.

"What do you mean?" Georgie asked, absent-mindedly rubbing her thumb across his.

"I sometimes think about what my life would have been like if I had stayed in Texas and gone to work in my dad's factory like I was supposed to, only I like to imagine that I still met you. I'd have dated you the way the boys do in my hometown. After we'd been on a couple of dates I'd have brought you to have dinner with my parents. We'd probably be married by now after you accidentally got pregnant, regardless of whether either of us actually wanted kids. Basically the way my brother's life ended up. And yet the way things turned out I didn't even get to officially ask out until six months after our first date. And we've been apart for nearly half of our entire relationship."

"The way things turned out is exactly the way I want them to be," Georgie insisted. "I couldn't have been a housewife or a stay-at-home mom. And even though it was hard for us to be long-distance, it meant that we both got to keep doing what we loved."

"I'm glad we've been put back together."

"My life couldn't be more perfect," Georgie smiled. "I'm stationed in the best state, at the best base in the country. I'm in the best squad, and so are all of my friends, and you."

"Babe, I love you, but you're so tired that you sound drunk. Go to sleep."