HEAVY RAIN|joji

14

4:30 am

Everyone was asleep, everyone except me. For some reason, i couldn't sleep at all. I tossed and turned in my comfortable bedsheets. 'Maybe I should get a glass of milk' i thought to myself.
Tip-toeing my way downstairs was like a scene from Mission: Impossible. First, I had to get past Max, which was easy considering how loud his snores were. I could hear it from outside his room. Ian was a little harder. I didn't know if he was asleep or not. as I pressed my ear to his door, I was relieved to hear his soft breaths.

George's room was..
silent. Almost as if it was vacant. The only reason i checked if they were asleep or not was because i did not want them to wake up because of me. Everyone was stressed already with Chloe leaving so I just wanted to let them have their sleep.

Finally making my way into the kitchen, a strong smell hit me. Not just a hit, the smell rammed into my nostrils. It was so powerful. It was also the smell of whiskey and cigarettes. The only answer to this, George. He smelled like cigarettes and he was always drinking whiskey. Why today? The thought occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't have left my room because now I knew how George truly felt and honestly the less i know, the better. He was so broken. And i'm not a fucking engineer i don't know how to fix this. All my love for him is real but how am I supposed to be with him if I'm not even as pretty as Chloe. A distinct sound of footsteps snapped me back to reality as a drunken George stumbled back inside. I quickly decided to hide behind the kitchen counter. "Serena, I know you're there." He called out. My head peeked out from the counter, I was inevitably blushing. I sighed, standing up and raising my hands in defeat. "What are you doing?" George asked. My brain quickly wracked itself for an answer. "I-uhh, I was looking for some food?" I replied, the sentence unintentionally sounded like a question.
He scoffed, "Where's the milk then?" My eyes scanned the room for a solution. "I..don't know?" George shook his head, "You know, you're terrible at lying." My posture shrank down. "I know.." I trailed off.
He sighed and reached out his hand to me, "Come on up to the roof with me. I know you can't sleep either." We jumped our way to the roof of the house. I sat down next to him and kept a safe distance away. He looked up at the stars and his beautiful, brown eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "Can I tell you something?" He asked. I nodded, playing with a loose strand of thread from my t-shirt. "I just- Chloe seems annoyed of me. It's like she doesn't even want to be around me. I try so hard to talk to her but she never initiates the conversation! Tell me what i'm doing wrong, Serena." He ranted.

I was not prepared for this. A part of me was disappointed that he just kept talking about her. But some part of me would do whatever I could to make him feel like himself again. Even if i'm not happy. I shrugged, "You're doing everything right, mate. I guess maybe she belongs to another person?" I explained. George was silent for a while, before nodded.

"Serena?"

"Yeah?" I replied, turning to him, only to be engulfed by the warmth of his body. He hugged me so tight I could barely breathe. Somehow, my small hands miraculously snakes around wide his waist and he kept his knees between my legs. George pulled away from the hug and looked into my eyes. "You know, now that I think about it, your personality's way better than Chloe's." He states. My eyes light up, "Really?" George nods, "Really. And..she's not much prettier than you." I smiled widely, "Seriously?" George nodded, he stuck up his two index fingers together. "Maybe just this much prettier.." he said. Just as I was about to swoon he pulls the two fingers apart as wide as he can. "This much!" My faces falls, only to be replaced by an amused look.

"George!"

We laugh for quite a while. Then, we go back to sit in silence. Occasionally I steal a look or two. When he notices that i'm looking, I turn away. But as I turn away, out of the corner of my eye, I see him smile to himself.

I wonder what he's smiling about.