four walls ☾ george harrison

EPISODE ELEVEN

the sky was now a tangerine orange reaching out to kiss the skyline a deep pink. violet looked over into the warm hues, wishing she could appreciate their beauty in a comfortable manner. sadly, it was impossible, for george was planted directly in front of the mesmerizing tones of the sky.

she could step on that hope in nine inch platform boots for all george had cared. maybe that was a bit much, but the atmosphere convinced violet it was the truth.

the two were placed in their cart for maybe two minutes and a single word had not been exchanged. it wasn't entirely george's fault, of course.

violet had no idea what to say. she hasn't had one on one time with the scouser enough to know what to talk about.

george sat in front of her, his head slightly angled up. the warm sky lit up the side of his face, accentuating his cheekbones by the shadow they cast down.

"you didn't want to be paired with me, huh?"

violet perked up at the sound of george's voice, it was softer than it had been earlier today. she looked back to his face, watching his lashes as his eyes blinked. violet's eyes flickered to his own, realizing he was awaiting an answer to a question she hadn't heard. she was focused on the way his voice sounded, soft and velvety to match the sky around them.

"hm?"

he sat up, facing her straight on, "you'd rather be paired with someone else," violet looked from him to the chipped paint on her nails.

"what makes you think that?" she asked, not trying to sound as curious as she knew she did. in truth, conversations with george always made her want to seem as cool and collected as he displayed. she was never that, with him around at least.

he made her feel strangely disoriented and she hoped he had not noticed anything about it.

"you've been avoiding me," he replies in a matter of fact tone, "only me."

violet forces a scoff from her lips at his sentence.

"no, i haven't," it was a lie. she was definitely avoiding george. paul and herself wandered off from pattie and george various times, only coming back to them when george texted paul asking of their whereabouts. violet told paul only to answer the texts about twice out of the five times they popped up.

they both avoided the other two, not just for violet's sake, either.

paul was clearly distressed by the situation, watching his best mate be close with his crush. paul didn't talk about it, though. violet wanted to pry, but she felt it was best not to make him feel forced to speak to her about that.

he didn't force her to talk about why she was avoiding her best friend, she would kindly return the favor by not meddling in his business.

"yes, you have," george insisted, leaning back, "pattie and i noticed it around the second time you guys left us."

she felt a bit uncomfortable under his stare, feeling much smaller than she knew she was. she crossed her arms, "paul and i were just having a good time, s'all. no one was avoiding anyone," she muttered.

george shook his head, his hair moving against his actions, swaying carefully until it stopped at the apple of his cheeks, "try again."

her brows knitted in confusion, "what?" she asked, head tilting slightly at the darker tone in george's normally calm voice.

"i'm not stupid, you know," he said, his voice was louder than it had been when he first asked violet that damned question. not exactly a shout, but it had violet flinch, anyway. it was maybe just a notch above his normal speaking voice. "i notice things, a lot of things," he adds, violet fights the urge of squinting when she noticed george was now at the edge of his seat.

her arms involuntarily dropped from their position, "what things?"

as soon as she asked, she knew she'd regret it. the look on george's face went from the usual unreadable gaze to a knowing smirk. without giving her time to process the reason behind the sly grin on his face, he stood up.

violet's heart sped up as he took a step towards her, "ive seen how you react to pattie and i," he nods slowly.

his lanky body slowly stepped toward her once more, lessening the already uncomfortable distance between them. "how you stare at us," he took a few more antagonizingly slow steps and stopped directly in front of her, leaning down so his face was about a head above her own, " how you stare at me," he said above a whisper.

violet felt her hair on the back of her neck stand up at the close murmur of his voice. she looked up, meeting with the view of george peering down at her, "stare at you.. like what?"

she wasn't aware of what he even meant. if she had been obviously looking at george as he says she has, maybe it wasn't that hard for paul to come up with that idea earlier.

"like that," he muttered, his eyes softening as she took in his features from the new found angle, "with that look in your eyes."

if violet knew what look he was speaking of, she would definitely be more comfortable. her mind searched all of the possibilities as her eyes sank to the floor, out of nerves and not knowing how to respond to him due to the proximity.

her clothes felt odd on her now, not like they hadn't before, that is. her hands toyed with the sleeve of her shirt, fingers tugging at the ribbed fabric. "look at me, please."

she didn't comply. she couldn't. violet was frozen, scared to look up at george. it felt weird, her palms were now rested flat against the material of her pants. she was trying to make them less clammy, lightly rubbing them over her thighs.

"violet."

she nearly stared back at the plea in his voice, nearly.

that's when she felt his warm hand on the left side of her face, gently cupping her cheek. he started caressing her skin with the pad of his thumb, the rough skin of his hand sending waves of shivers down her spine. his hand dropped a little, now at her chin. he lightly tilted her head up to face his own, her gaze was caught in his.

she sat silently, in awe over the gentle look to his angled face. her heart thudded against her ribs and as he moved in closer she hoped her could not hear her wild heart. what should she do?

push him away? sit here with him looking at her for maybe another two minutes?

her mind raced with ideas, blanking when she saw his lips part ever so slightly.

this is it.

he leaned in, violet stirred up a bit at the sight of his face nearing hers. she held her breath in, this is it.

just when violet thought he'd press his smooth lips to her own, he turned her head to the side, his lips brushing against her cheek as he whispered in her ear.

"i know you like me."