Chapter Text
Joe’s heart had stopped momentarily. Not for the right reasons. Georgia watched the emotions as they came in waves. Shock, confusion, fear, then back to confusion. It was a while before he spoke.
“What the fuck?” He shook his head and threw his car door open.
Stepping out into the shower that was soon becoming a downpour, he ran his hands through his hair in shock. Georgia followed suit and felt the rain soaking her hair. Damn it.
“It wasn’t the best life decision, I’ll admit.” She shouted over the rain splashing onto the road. “He was touching Ginny. Pervin’ on her like a creep. He’d hit me, too. I wasn’t getting out of it alive if he was. I had to do it.”
It was the first time she’d said it out loud, and as soon as the words left her mouth she’d regretted them. It was Joe, she thought he’d understand.
He was starting to. He remembered the fear in her eyes at the rest stop and the utter surprise when he showed her kindness without wanting anything in return. She’d been taken advantage of her whole life. She was trying to protect Ginny. She needed to protect herself.
“Did you tell them that?” He probed.
“Who?”
“Them! The men in black that just hauled you in there. Did you tell them that you did it?”
“No, I-“
“Georgia this is so messed up.”
“I know, I just thought… I don’t know what I thought!”
Her voice was growing hoarse as she shouted over the downpour and the panic was rising in her chest. She didn’t want to lose Joe over this. The tiny piece of friendship she had from him was the glow in her life that she couldn’t lose. Ever.
“I don’t know what you thought either!”
“Well, what the fuck do we do now then?” She screeched.
Neither of them spoke. For a moment, neither of them had the answer. Georgia had sprung this on him and he didn’t know where their dynamic went from here. Where their friendship went. He couldn’t go on with his life as normal knowing that she was potentially going down for this. Desperately, he wanted to help her.
It wouldn’t be fair to Penny, though. The sneaking around behind her back to help Georgia. Keeping this secret from her that was going to ruin his life if the police found out that he knew what she did. Ruining his future with Penny.
As the sound of rainfall filled the silence between them, he realised that there was no future with Penny. No real one, anyway. No future that could make him happy. It was an overwhelming realisation, especially on top of everything he’d found out already.
“Does Paul know this?”
“No!” She shook her head, desperately. “Please, Joe. He can’t know.”
“He’s your boyfriend, Georgia. He should know!”
“He won’t get it! He doesn’t know me like that, it’s different.”
“And I do?” Joe shouted over the rainfall.
“You’ve seen me at my lowest point!” She yelled back. “At that rest stop, I was the most scared I’d ever been. I was hungry and I was lonely, the only people I could call my family were a biker gang. God damn it, I didn’t even have a home!”
He blinked through the rain and focused on her for a moment, remembering how vulnerable she’d been.
“Joe, that ten minutes with you back then gave me the closest feeling to home that I’d ever felt. I’ve felt nothing like it since. So, yes! You know me like that. You know you do.”
As cars rushed by them and they stood under the dimly lit street light in the layby, Joe and Georgia stood in silence. Joe was stunned. Not at Georgia’s words themselves, but how much they described what he’d felt too.
“Get in the car.” He urged.
Georgia didn’t have it in her to argue. She climbed into the passenger seat and somehow mustered up the courage to look at him. He started the engine and turned to her with a determined expression.
“You tell nobody about this, okay?”
“About…”
Georgia wasn’t sure which part he meant.
“Kenny. That you did it. I’ve got your back now. I can vouch for you.”
“Joe, we didn’t even know each other back then.” She scoffed, frowning at his paper thin plan.
“We’ve always known each other.” He retorted. “The day I met you and every day after that, I’ve known you.”
After sitting in silence, they finally passed the sign for Wellsbury and Georgia found herself feeling something akin to disappointment in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure why. She also wasn’t sure what the hell she was supposed to do now that Joe knew about this deep, dark part of her.
“Why are you helping me?”
He barely heard her.
“What?”
“Why are you helping me, Joe?”
He wasn’t sure but, after pausing for thought and pulling into her street, he finally replied.
“Because you’re a good person. Probably the best person I’ve ever met.”
He meant it, too.
~
Georgia Miller felt like a new woman with the weight that was off her shoulders. It was mid November and the cops hadn’t bothered her once since she got hauled to the interrogation room. It felt obvious to her that she was now off the hook, but she didn't want to be too careful. She’d been avoiding having to see Joe, just the odd visit for coffee or lunches for the office. Each time, he’d given her that look that gave her the idea that he wanted to talk more about what she’d told him.
Screw that.
She’d been vulnerable and opened up when she should have perhaps shut her damn trap. Part of her didn’t regret telling him, though. He now knew exactly who she was and if he didn’t like it, he could get the hell out.
As she sat across from Paul at his desk, she took a bite out of her tuna sub and pondered whether it was him she should have really told. She studied his face, how the creases in his forehead had gotten worse since Cynthia had been running against him. The next election was in March and he had only five months to work on his campaign. With Nick even more stressed out, Georgia seemed to be the only level headed person in the entire office.
“Honey, you’ve barely touched your salad.” She broke the silence.
As if he’d forgotten she was there, Paul’s head whipped up in surprise at the sound of her voice. He looked at the Caesar next to his stack of papers as if it was alien and grimaced.
“I’ll find some time for lunch later and, when I do, I’ll eat something worth it. Not rabbit food.”
She knew it was a poor attempt at a joke, but she felt herself struggling not to roll her eyes. Had he forgotten his words from back when he ran out on her on their first date? He’d been so full of regret after that. Now, he was back to putting his words first.
“I’m thinking of cooking Ginny’s favourite tonight, chicken parm.” She was trying desperately to start some sort of conversation. “Marcus is coming over for the first time and I wanna impress him, you see.”
Nothing.
“That’s if you’re still coming…”
Silence.
She sighed and shook her head. He was intensely typing away on his computer and she didn’t know what she was doing wasting her time. She’d have more fun with a brick wall.
Pausing on her way out, she looked over her shoulder. It was a shame, Paul’s blue eyes had lost their wistful glow and they were now dull and tired. What did she expect, really?
She was dating the mayor, after all.