"Please, let me in"
He pleaded sobbing and Jean reeled back letting him inside, what would cause George to break down so hard? They sat on the couch until George could regain himself again.
"I'm begging you to let me stay" His voice crackled.
"The guest room's taken, Aunt Etta lives here remember?"
"Where is she, where are your family?"
"She's working late night and Scott has this major shift today"
It seemed like his whole life and existence was a lie, it did not make him feel better when they told him, it didn't explain why his dad hurt him and why his mom deprived him of the compassion he deserved, the shame in her eyes whenever dad did something to him only made sense.
she wasn't ashamed of how he acted, how he was, it was how he came to be, he was all a mistake, a consequence of one act of two-timing.
"I need you, Jean, I could use a girl right now"
Jean's head reeled watching him sit up and clutching his hands, he grinned and laughed, tears spilt, his face was red with veins on his temple, she couldn't imagine the pain he was feeling but she couldn't bear it taking his hand. She knew he had a hard time opening up to anyone.
"You can't imagine what she said to me"
He was still angry, angrier than he had ever been at his parents, shaking his head, his head just hurt thinking of his priorities, his exams, his future, it hurt so much overwhelming him. It took him time to recuperate from the trance before he even knew Jean was there with him.
Jean had her studies to catch up on before he just whiffed in here, she hadn't envisaged what he was going through, taking his head on her shoulder.
"She says I can't judge her...what I don't understand is why I look like him"
He was speaking in riddles but she caused herself to listen, Scott had taken much of her time and she had nothing left to pitch in and her head hurt, she tried to focus on what he was saying and forgot her preoccupations. He was in a bad shape, there were dust and leaves on his hair, she pats his head.
"Shhh, we'll talk tomorrow if you don't feel good about it now. I'll call my dad to see if we can adjust to fit you in"
He nodded moving uneasily "Th_Thanks" He blurted then watched her pace up and about talking to Martin and apologizing for interrupting a night out then called Scott and of course, his phone was on voice mail, she winced at the female voice she heard.
"Wait, who is this? Hello!?" She groaned ringing Etta who proposed that she figured it out herself, Jean's thoughts exactly. She cut the phone and let him have Scott's room.
He shuffled her books aside to walk over, realizing his clothes had streaks of dust on them and his jeans had been torn, he pulled out a stick from his pocket and she took it.
"I'll prepare the showers, I suppose Scott has a fresh pair of clothes to spare, he nodded when she locked the door and got to do what she said getting an old shirt and pants that was his least favourite with a print of Caitlyn Monroe on it.
He scrubbed his hair in the tub with the water running staring blankly at the other end behind the curtain where she sat on the toilet seat passing thread repeatedly with a needle.
He watched when she stood up from the seat and her shadow blanked out and he swallowed when the door closed.
He shrugged on the clothes and wandered to the toilet seat where she was previously and found the jeans folded, he lifted it to see a design of a field with red crowns for tulips and the sun, it was almost as if the tear was never there.
He ambled to the living room, backing up when he saw her in the kitchen biting down on a biscuit and pulling out a jar of milk.
It baffled him that he stopped caring, his feelings resurfaced after so long being buried under his fixations with drumming and the past.
His lips parted and he took fixed steps toward her, his heart palpitated wildly and that raised Jean's eyes at the kiss on her neck, she held up the jar as if to protect herself but he persisted kissing her cheek, she bit down and pushed away, the jar wobbled and she put it down coughing then wiped her lip.
"We shouldn't"
"I won't apologise for that, you're the only thing that feels real to me right now"
She swallowed the biscuit still parched and upset, her cheeks turned red knowing he would come back refusing to look up.
"I think you're a little too late"
He stirred pacing about, it wasn't hard to work out, he wiped his face at the news flash of reality, it splashed on him like a bucket of ice, how had he let her slip away so easily?
"You're letting Bradshaw tie you down?"
"I'm not being tied down by anyone" She persisted frowning rounding the counter to perch by the doorway.
His pulse raced staring at her complexion, her face reddened and she put a hand to her head stumbling a little.
"I love Dylan"
"Was gratitude ever enough?" He stepped forward shocked and she kept her distance, deep down he refused to accept she would be tripping over him in such a short time. It was a hard pass for him and she would know that.
"Can you not put me in that position right now?" Her voice quivered, folding her hands to hide her shaking hands from holding the jar for too long. "Let's not go there"
"I don't intend to, because you love me and you still do" He moved closer and took her hand, she yanked it off.
"Dylan confessed to me"