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His chest pushed against my hands for a moment. He closed his eyes for a second and drew in a deep, unnecessary breath. When his blue eyes reopened, he looked down at me wearily. "I am only tolerating this because she is your friend and I love you. Know and remember this. "
My shoulders sagged in relief as I sent him my mental thoughts. "Thank you, Stefan. I love you. "
"Georgia, open the trunk please," I called out. The trunk lid popped open and I placed my keys in his hand, my fingers lingering against his longer than necessary.
"Let me handle this. Take our bags inside and let me talk to her, ok?" I thought to him, trying to force a tiny smile.
He nodded imperceptibly and turned to head to the back of the car, pulling our luggage out. He headed towards the front porch with the bag in one hand, impatiently jingling the keys in the other. I waited until he had opened the door and stepped inside before I faced Georgia.
She looked smug and self-satisfied with her little performance as she leaned against the side of her car, her arms crossed under her chest. Seeing her like this made me even angrier, even though I was trying my best to not take sides.
"Are you happy with yourself?" I asked, walking to stand in front of her, mirroring her stance.
"Huh?" Georgia blinked. She pulled her arms tighter around herself, her head rising sharply as she met my gaze.
"I'm trying to not take sides and you're making it really difficult not to do it," I confessed, glancing away to stare at the gravel before meeting her blue eyes. "I get that you maybe don't like him, or you think he's wrong for me or hell, maybe you're just pissed off that I'm running off with him. "
"Dickmatized was more along the lines of what I was thinking actually," Georgia interrupted, her eyes burning holes through me.
A dry laugh escaped before I could stop it. "Whatever. You can think what you want because no matter what I say, I'll never change your mind. You're my friend, and you'll continue to be my friend if I live in New York or New Zealand. You have to stop with the whole 'I'm going to annoy Stefan' thing you've got going on. It's not helping things with him. Or with me. "
She glanced over my shoulder, off into the distance. Her face was set in a mask of defiance. "Fine. "
I'd had enough, enough of her pettiness and enough of her bullshit. Grabbing her by the shoulders, I gave her a gentle shake. "Stop acting like a petulant five year old that lost her lollipop, Georgia! For fuck's sake, I love him. Does that even matter to you?"
She pushed a strand of dark hair back from her face and looked at me, her blue eyes glittering with tears. "Of course it matters to me. He's going to break your heart. He's too smooth, too pretty and he's gonna be like Jon and leave you once you're not so young and pretty anymore. "
A proverbial light bulb went off in my head with her honest statement. Georgia's problem with Stefan had nothing to do with him, it had everything to do with her ex-husband who'd left her six years ago. There was no way to tell Georgia that I'd never have to worry about pesky things like aging anymore. I'd always look 28. If Stefan chose to leave me, it wouldn't have anything to do with me getting older.
"Georgia, Stefan isn't Jon. First of all, Jon is a jerk," I reminded her, moving to her side, leaning against the car. "Second, Stefan is it for me. When I saw him, my heart and soul knew it. He's the one. "
I couldn't help but lose myself in the memory of seeing him on the beach and in the bar the first night I met him, with his golden blond hair, high cheekbones and eyebrows that arched over his expressive sea blue eyes. My mind had taken a mental snapshot of him leaning across the polished wood of the bar, dressed in the black t-shirt that strained tightly against his broad chest and the low-slung jeans he wore that rode low on his narrow hips, clinging to his long, powerful legs. I didn't ever stand a chance. Deep down I knew I fell in love with him at that moment. My heart knew it then; my mind was the hardest thing to convince.
"I just don't want to lose you, Josie. You're my best friend," her voice pulled me out of my memories. My eyes refocused and I put my arm around her shoulders. "You're gonna move and forget all about me. "
Careful to keep my shields in place, my own sadness wrapped around me and tugged at my heart. I knew how difficult it was for her to admit her feelings like this, which made the fact that I'd eventually have to let her go cut even deeper. Moving away was the first step, slowly cutting ties. In a few years, we'd have to disappear from their lives for our own safety.
Georgia needed me to make her laugh and I gave in, feigning mock irritation. "How could I forget about your exasperating ass? You have to be the most annoying woman on the face of the earth. "
My words coaxed a giggle out of her. She put her head against mine and we were quiet for a moment, listening to the quiet sounds of the wind rustling through the trees.
"So are we ok?" Georgia asked meekly.
"Of course. But I'm going to take a rain check on tonight. I just flew 20 plus hours and I have a house to sort through. I promise we'll get together in the next day or so. "
Georgia sulked for a moment and then smiled, pulling me in for a hug. "Deal. "
I backed away from her car and watched her get inside and start her car, honking wildly as she drove down the driveway.
Waving until her car was out of sight, I dropped my hand and hugged my arms around myself. For the first time in my life, after all of my years of wandering from place to place, saying goodbye was going to be difficult.
* * *
We had been up since 8 am sorting through my bookshelves. Books and clothing were really the only thing I shipped from place to place when I moved. Tackling the bookshelf was also the most time consuming since Stefan was trying to talk me out of keeping the majority of them.
"Explain why you have two copies of The Great Gatsby?" His question was more of a statement. He flipped through the first well-worn copy before tossing it aside to reach for the second. He looked down at me, waiting for me to answer him.
"One was given to me by my Dad. I mean, my adopted father. " I pointed to the book in his hand. "The other I picked up at a thrift store while I was waiting for my books to arrive to my new address during one of my moves. "
