George

Fawna flineched when he pulled away, prepared herself for him to ask her to leave — was he angry that she hadn’t been the one to tell him? He had every right to be, if the roles were reversed she couldn’t imagine how blindsided and probably betrayed she would feel. She had never kept any of it from him with ill intentions. She just didn’t know how to bring it up. She didn’t want to be the one to hurt him. “No. Stop it.” Her expression hardened, voice changing from a soft, fragile tone to something more stern. “No, you’re not. We wouldn’t be here if we couldn’t change it, we wouldn’t remember.” She had to believe that. If she didn’t believe that, if she allowed herself to imagine their group of friends had taken a slingshot to the past simply to rewatch their loved ones die… what would be the point of it all?

“I can’t do it again, George,” Fawna repeated herself, “I will lay down and die in front of you if that’s what it takes, because I can’t. I can’t renovate my whole life and not have you be a part of it. I can’t come to a gravestone to introduce my fiance to my best friend. I can’t stand in front empty chairs at my wedding searching the crowd for your face, knowing good and damn well you’re not going to be there.” She wasn’t trying to make this about her, she wasn’t trying to be the same self absorbed, selfish young girl he had known his whole life, but he had to understand. He had to understand that it wasn’t just him that needed a different outcome, the people who loved him did too. “I can’t land my dream job and have no one to tell about it, no one to come to New York to laugh at silly broadway plays with. Do you know how much I’ve missed you?” Her voice cracked near the end of her sentence, hands reaching out on their own. She couldn’t stop them from grabbing his hands in hers. “You have no idea. I had to keep living without you, George. It didn’t stop for me. I had to keep going. I had to wake up nearly every night screaming, watching you burn away to ashes in front of me, and hope I’d have the same dream when I managed to sleep again just so I could see your face.”

Squeezing his hands, she let her tears fall freely now. There was no use in trying to stop them. She only hoped he didn’t pull away from her grip again. She didn’t have an excuse to hold on for too long before, now he knew what caused the sudden clinginess. “When everyone else left me, I still had you. You were never supposed to leave me, and I will not let you again.”

.

George felt a need to curl into himself to forget it all. What more was there for him when cheating death wasn't a part of the plan. What if somehow his death sentence became somebody else's if he tried? There was no way he could live life knowing all he did was take away somebody else's life. He wondered why they had all been sent back in time but even though he understood it could mean something he wouldn't risk it.

"Fawna," he whispered, eyes watering. It'd be a lie if he said he'd thought of everything she'd said. Of course he hadn't thought about how everyone else had felt going on in a world were he was no more. He'd been stuck on what would happen to him that he had forgotten about everything else. But would that change things? No, they couldn't. They wouldn't. Breathing was getting harder and harder with the passing of time, the pressure of tomorrow swallowing him whole. "I love you. I love you, but what can be done?"

"If it happened there was a reason to it. A cause." Georgie said, shrugging. "An the fact that they are unsure as to why it happened is even worst. Because out there someone or something is preparing to happen. I am just collateral damage of a tragedy." 

Looking down at her hands grasping his he couldn't help all the tears that began pouring out. "I don't want to leave you. I don't want to die."

"You have to get it, though. There isn't more for me out there? I died for a reason. I had to have died for a reason." And maybe that was the truth the hurt the most to swallow. That his death could be the catalyst to something bigger that he couldn't understand, and would never find out. Because if his death was for nothing. No, he wouldn't be able to stomach such a reality.

Her heart dropped at his reaction to seeing her; as he fell back, she took a step forward, but she didn’t need him to speak what was on his mind. The moment he’d uttered ‘you’, she knew. He knew. Somehow, he’d found out. She had been foolish to think he could go on forever not knowing. She had been foolish to think she could spare him of that pain. How could she explain why she had kept it from him? The only thing over their lifetime together she had ever kept from him. How could she make him understand how hard it had been to not let it slip out, to deal with the guilt and the fear without being able to turn to him? She didn’t want to burst the bubble. She didn’t want to mess it all up somehow. She didn’t want him to hurt the way he was hurting now.

“George,” she whispered, falling to her knees in front of him. Her vision blurred with her own tears as he cried. Fawna was supposed to make it better. He always made everything better for her and now, here it was, the one time he needed her, and there was nothing he could do. She tried to say she was sorry, but the words got caught in her throat — what was she sorry for? There were too many things. “You’re not. You’re not going to die.” She was trying to convince herself just as much as him as she put her hands on his face, thumbed away his tears and gently turned his head to look at her. “I will do whatever it takes to make sure of that, I promise Georgie. I won’t live without you again. I can’t.”

.

"No," he gasped pulling away. Touch felt too real. Too close. A part of him wanted to seperate himself from everything that had survived.

How could he taint those he loved with the death that seemed to plague him with every breath he took. There was something so surreal in the way the town continued to move around him, lived even with the knowledge of what could happen. People knew. People had lived through a series of events that weren't a part of him or could of ever been shared with him. His loved ones would go on with their life without him in it one day, and that seemed strange. So, when he pulled away from her he hoped she didn't take it as anything else but him trying to save her from himself. A part of him would always hold onto some sort of emotion for the way his people had acted around him. Wishing that they could of told him from the start instead of acting weird around him, and then choosing to act as normal as they could.

Or maybe he wished they hadn't told him at all. George wished he could continue living in a world were he knew not of what was to come. Would of rather ended his life without knowing there was no other way of changing it. "But i am," he whispered. "I will die. How can you think otherwise?" He grasped onto his own shirt, trying to hold himself steady offering some sort of comfort to himself. "Don't you see, Fawna? It is coming for me and there is nothing we can do. Nothing we can say to change it."

.

he’d never pictured a conversation like this. his expectations, george’s hopes, george’s dreams… they were a heavy burden. he had wanted to rip off the band aid and reveal the truth so they could work together but there were so many aspects of truth that were hidden behind panes of glass. there were a million things mx would not say or admit, that he couldn’t even say because it would make things so much more splintered and distorted. if george really wanted to know then he was done with the fucking hiding, he would spit out the truth no matter how much pain it would cause in the long run…

“a fire.” the words are so blunt and empty, “you die in a fire. you and nina, you just burn. i always imagined what you must of been thinking…” mx gulps, the memory sharper than he expected. never once after it happened had he discussed that day, never had he even spoken to rachel about the day that had claimed the love of her life and her eyes. he had told her over and over that they would move forwards; mx never had. “they didn’t get to you in time… you or nina. that was it.”

what more could he say about a death that was yet to happen? the truth about their missing memories even more complex than their death. standing there he felt like he could smell it, his chest constricting with the invisible smoke that he’d been swallowing with real smoke for years. 

he was tired and deflated, empty but desperate, devoid of all the passion he had for changing the future every day until then. he was thinking of dean and august, he was thinking of all the empty years they had all trogged through trying to make things better and failing. he was thinking about a drink or a pill or picking up a prescription that he hadn’t refilled in years. he was thinking about anything that took him away from here, “i’m sorry,” he breathes, a million unsaid things incorporated. he was sorry for giving up. he was sorry for telling him. he was sorry for the pain he would cause no matter what. “you know that, don’t you?”

.

georgie looked down as a hand raised up to touch behind his ear. the memory of the holy cannoli fire and the sharp pain that nina and him had felt. it had been almost alike the sharp pain of a burn followed by a mark. they had been close enough for something to have landed on them, but the explosion hadn't happened after the pain he had felt. of that he was sure, and for her to have felt it in the same spot as he had? it hadn't made sense at the time, and knowing what he knew now it complicated everything more. there was more to this fire and the events that had happened, there had to be. why was he suddenly alive? why was everybody living through it again?

something had to have changed in the future that had brought them back to the past, to a lifetime where he was still alive if only briefly. george wanted to know. george needed to know.

"mx. what started the fire? why were we the only people to die? were we inside alone?" he had so many questions, so many unsolved thoughts. his mind was a broken pattern of inevitability that he wished he could escape, but had no energy to overcome. except he didn't want to be selfish. he'd been selfish for so long that he wanted to at least figure out what he could for them, for his loves. wanted to give them the peace to continue with the knowledge that he knew. he understood. he accepted it.

pressing a hand gently against mx's face he cupped it in his palm, just looking at his eyes. it was funny to realize that as angry as george was with mx for telling him the truth he was a lot more angry at himself for giving up. then there was that part of him that had promised devotion and love to his friend. the one that knew that at the end of the day all george wanted was to see him happy once more. to see the light of his eyes light up once more. "i know. i know," he whispered, leaning his head against his. "you? what happens to you once i'm gone?"

She was so very relieved when George was the one to open the door — things with Penny were currently still awkward at best, and as much love as she would never be able to lose for the other girl, seeing her was a little more nerve wracking than anything. She’d showed up, out of the blue, to hang out with her best friend, hoping he had nothing else to do. School was kicking her ass this time around, she felt like she was drowning in homework and she still had two essays due (had it always been this hard?) but she’d put them aside in hopes George would be free.

Of course, seeing him brought a sense of guilt on too. She felt like she should tell him, she would want to know if roles were reversed, but how do you inform your best friend they’ve already kicked the bucket and everyone they knew was just hoping it didn’t happen again? The words wouldn’t come out even if she tried, and maybe he was better off just not knowing. This was a lot to take in for anyone, much less someone that had actually died years ago. “You’re spending the day with me,” Fawna informed the boy before he could say a word, “and frankly, I don’t care if you already have plans, because they can’t be better than me, so I’m sitting right here and pouting on this doorstep until you cancel them.”

@gxorgx​

.

George tried to hold onto whatever strength he had left. Seeing her right there standing in front of him every single action from the moment she threw herself at him whispering his name began to flash before his eyes. He had wondered why she had seemed so emotional that moment. He remembered the tears in her eyes when she spoke to him and suddenly his eyes widened. Breath caught in his throat as he took a stumbled step back into his house, falling onto the floor in his knees on the foyer. Tears beginning to well on his eyes in anger and desperation knowing that if Fawna knew, then so did everybody else. How had fallen on that fire but him? Who else had died at the hands of flames other than himself?

"You. You knew? You knew didn't you? You knew that i died," he sobbed out. Every tear. Every emotion he had held onto when Mx had told him what had happened suddenly began rolling off of him in waves. Tears just flowing down his face in anger, sadness and impotency for what tomorrow will bring him. "Why did nobody say something? Why would you let me live like this when you knew I'm dying soon. I'm dying. I'm going to die."

x

nobody wanted anything from mx. they didn’t ask for anything, they had never had the opportunity to expect much from him at all. whether it was his sister, george, rachel or a total stranger… he would always come up short in the game of life. george didn’t understand. george didn’t know. despite the radioactive bomb that mx had dropped on his head, he had left out the details of the upcoming explosions… realities and timelines that george had never lived to see. there were some that mx hadn’t seen either. 

there’s something fragmented about the situation, a heart still beating in his ribcage that has been still for quite some years… the fragility of a body that belongs to an addiction yet to be harboured. all the accusations about what he had taken long overdue and yet arriving too early all at once… george was here, in front of him but his grief lived on. his grief lived when george didn’t. his grief lived even when george did too. nothing was erased. 

how could he explain to the person in front of him that everything had changed without them knowing it? he had changed. they had all changed but george and nina never had the chance… who could they have been? the pride, the glory... what would be their downfall?

he takes a breath, fingers raking through dark hair that’s firmly planted atop his head. at least that feels real. all the words that george speaks are so distant, belonging to someone else in his mind. he doesn’t want to admit that he finds them almost… disconnected from what he’s facing. george had always been one type of person… mx another. they had always been so close but now he felt they were worlds apart… he swallows again, “what are you saying?”

it might be frustration, maybe it’s confusion… or bittersweet realisation. his expression almost empty, a form of newly found exasperation at their fate, “this fucking sucks… but you don’t just get to give up. not now.”

.

"don't you get it?" george's voice grew as he spoke. tired. tired and unsure. he'd been so tired for so long. tired of hiding behind a smile that never dimmed.

his facade of a happy guy slowly draining from his face and body, ready to give into whatever may happen. mx seemed so sure of what he spoke that it began to feel inevitable. there was nothing that made him hold onto some hope for a brighter future. his sunsets weren't promised anymore. nothing was promised. he could make happy with his parents, sister and friends. settle whatever differences exist and had existed. maybe he could try to absolve any possible guiltiness they may possibly feel after his death. fuck maybe george could find a way to change his own future. to cheat death from taking his life away from him. but for what? fight for what?

he knew nothing about his own future or lack there after. george was living in a limbo of his own creation crafted by the expectations of a young boys idea of a bright future. his parents had whispered words of greatness in his ear since he was born. sheltered him from an outside world they feared would take him away. home was the only choice for a legacy and death.

escaping. living. living outside in a world that may bring him life seemed impossible to him in that moment. everything he knew was in that little town that he had called home for so long. even having escaped it for a while during university hadn't been enough to untangle the hold that place had. he was from the earth that had forged the town and he will once more become apart of it in death.

"how do i die? if i am to die then i suppose i'd rather know exactly how it happens. you've said so much that now it is time for you to say it all." georgie disregarded everything mx had said. fighting was not an option.

"have you ever known someone that could never betray you? even from yourself? his honesty is my greatest lover and my biggest enemy. i love him. i love him even in anger and because of anger. my dearest friend. my biggest downfall."

"had you asked me that yesterday i would say my resilience. had you asked me that in another lifetime i would say my ability to look at life in a happier manner. today? today what i like most about myself is the air in my lungs, and what i like least about myself is knowing. knowing."

x

trying not to focus on the world spinning off it’s axis or how george’s words would of been great for some shitty john green novel he swore he’d never have read, he just looks on. he’s pleading something, words that say that george understands and accepts the truth. maybe he was lying when he told rachel that he was keeping the truth for selfish reasons because telling it seemed to be equally as selfish when he had already posed the hypothetical and subsequently been shot down. in the end, there was no grey area, there was no right or wrong and ever misstep that mx had made in his short life had led him to a moment that he had never asked for. 

when george grabbed him he didn’t even have a chance to respond, not that he had many words left to say. you see, mx was shit at saying the right things. he had barely said a word about anything that was wrong and now all the things he had left to speak were unwelcome and unpleasant, that’s why he’d never told rachel or august or even dean a damn thing.

there was no chance for a recoil when george’s lips met like him, like hot iron presses the feeling was intense and made him feel branded for life. the oxygen was sucked straight from his lungs because maybe when he stumbled slightly, taken aback. was he really surprised? it was the words that made his stomach churn. george would never understand how much he had belonged to mx, all the years of carrying the memory of a ghost and talking to a delusion behind closed doors. george had became his. now the words repelled him, repulsed him, made him sick to his stomach with the mere thought.

he blinks. he’s trying to find something to say to the boy he has torn open and will tear open again. maybe there was a time, an unspoken memory in another lifetime where he had gravitated towards george but in this lifetime everything was hard. everything was different, every feeling that he had was strained and dipped in sadness. all he wanted was a drink to drown the memories away, all he wanted was that numbness. once george had been a person that took away his pain but now he was just another CAUSE. 

“i don’t want to take anything,” the words come out flat in the air, his eyes slowly close as he swallows his own saliva, “but i’ve got nothing to give you either. not anymore.”

. a low chuckle could be heard from deep in his throat, low and tired with a smile at the end. "who said i wanted anything from you," he whispered.

an maybe he was just as selfish as his friend for taking that kiss from his lips. maybe had the world and circumstances been different george could of dreamed about a happier moment.

nothing could have prepared him for the anger that suddenly became a part of him. it was a loss of emotions that had become dear friends of his. loneliness had never felt so lonely than in that moment. for the pain he saw in his person's eyes only spoke about a world he did not know, and a timeline he did not belong in. his life had been stripped from him through the burning embers of a fallen building, and now he burnt from the inside even in life...even alive.

what more was there to be said that could bring something other than pain upon the empty space between them. for the hurt lay bare before him, and he knew only words that could hurt. was he better for keeping them quiet? or was he worst for not expressing everything that had suddenly become a part of him. like a phoenix his rebirth was bittersweet, and suddenly he knew that death would be welcomed even with a chance of survival. fear...george knew it well. he knew the fear of not knotwing his future. a fear that stuck him in place and made him focus in his past. george understood that tomorrow was never sure, but he had never realized how uncertain his right now could become.

"all that i am is yours, but i want nothing of you for me. tomorrow i might be dead so keep everything, because i have no need for it. not anymore."

x

sobriety was cold and rocky. every other place he had been had the warm fuzziness of being a blur, he would never remember the pain he had inflicted. he would remember bits and pieces and all the disappointment he caused but standing there it was all too clear that there was a lifetime between them that was creating this rift. 

he waited for george to deny or react to the truth but instead there was silence; hadn’t there been enough of that when he was finally gone for good? his DEATH was silent, unexpected, there would never be an answer, the phone line was retired. death had taken george away, it had taken nina but in a sense it had more than taken mx. he had died long before the day his existence finally drained away and even the strange episodes he was having lately meant little to nothing in terms of his existence. 

“say something, george,” the words are spoken. a demand? a plea? he doesn’t know. his dark eyes are barely containing the never ending story. he’s looking at george and he’s begging him to say something as if that will make the news he’s broken better. in a way he wonders if george even understands anything at all. the disconnect grows and they are night and day, a radiance he was once drawn too just too bright for his eyes when he tries to look directly at it, “you have to say something.”

silence had never been comfortable for him, he could talk and talk until there were no words left in the world. even in his latter days he had stuck by that. even when his sentences barely strung together and he was completely strung out, the things that left his mouth would of still entertained. he rakes a hand through his dark hair and bites down on his lip, a feeling like the one that overcame him while talking to august overcoming him. he had lived so many years without george that george was just the ghost inside his head now and not somebody he had once loved. what happened when you outgrew your memory? how did you face up to it again?

“you died george,” he says it again, the realism, the passion that he hasn’t felt in a long time flowing through his veins. some sense of urgency. “you died and you left me. you went away forever. i loved you more than anyone and i knew you were never coming back. and then you fucking did,” it’s an exasperated story. it’s one that he never wanted. he leaves out all the facts about his own demise. he leaves out his own death like it’s a party favour, a surprise at the bottom of their primary school goodie bag for another occasion. mx doesn’t give a shit about his own death, he doesn’t even care that he’s alive right now but for this conversation, “you were here again and none of us wanted to tell you the truth. none of us wanted to ruin our perfect moment, our perfect ending, one last perfect good bye. but, i don’t want a perfect anything, i just want you to live. that would be perfect.”

.

words. what were words but things that betrayed him? words had stopped his world in its axis stealing his voice with them. who was george but a carcass of who he used to be. his mind had locked and with it most of his emotions. nothing made sense but the truth had been said with no choice but to accept it. why would the soft eyes of his companion lie to him when they had been his faithful lover for so many years. he had known heartbreak in those eyes. he had known love, joy and pain in them.

what reaction could he give him that would satisfy the emotions behind mx's voice. nothing he could say would do anything to sooth what he was feeling in that moment. further more he wasn't in the right mindset to say anything that wouldn't be hurtful to his friend. he knew that the burning of his eyes threatening to drown themselves in tears would only unleash his anger.

a part of him hoped for an escape. an escape from the circumstances and the inevitable. hoped for mx to exclaim that it was a prank, one of bad taste but a prank none the less. he hoped to see the face of ashton kutcher just screaming at him in laughter saying how he had gotten him. empty wishes and dreams that would never come true because he knew. he knew.

an so the anger spread across his body as he remembered telling mx he'd rather not know about his death. he would of rather lived in eternal bliss oblivious to the future and anything that would come from him. how he yearned for the time when he knew noting. when nothing but the easter bunny ordeal worried him. such child like innocence gone with the hit of reality. his reality.

"what do you want from me? " he whispered. "if what you say is true. if death is meant to come for me soon then what more is there left? everything i am is for naught for soon i'll be one with the ashes."  hands laying by his side tightly held together into fists trying to control himself from doing anything rash. there was a desire to run away from this place and everything it had given him. to escape into another country to never hear about it ever again. he lifted his hands to hold onto the collar of his friends shirts pulling him forward to press a bruising kiss against his lips.

"what more can you take from me that isn't yours already?"

.

She takes the egg between painted fingernails and brushed away the distant thought about why it was always the good that died young and never those that actually deserved it. If there was a God then maybe he had a plan or maybe it was all just like a random missile heading towards Earth and striking absolutely anyone that happened to be in the pathway. Strike me down, she was thinking, it’s not like it hadn’t happened a thousand times before. Yet her eyes never leave the egg and the pretty pink outside hoping that when she looks back maybe she’ll forget about all their expiration dates and the limited time she feels she has to make a difference this time.

“Thank you,” she says, a voice gentle and kind, reserved just for him. She doesn’t feel bad for him. What she said to Rachel was true, she thought sometimes that they had been the lucky ones not having to live with the disappointment of how everyone else turned out. Imagine that… being lucky to be the one who got to die and have their eyes closed as everyone else fell to pieces and became ghosts. The smile doesn’t falter because it’s just for him, “I love it… and I like snacks so I’m pretty happy with that. Why don’t you give me a hug? I’m a cripple so you have to come to me,” she warns, humour in her eyes as she opens her arms.

Maybe everything she has to hold onto leaves her in the end but she never stops trying to hold on all the same.

.

It was in the way she held the egg and looked at it that George found his happiness. With renewed energy he felt his body thrumming with the desire to jump. What more was there to life than making others happy? Nothing else could amount to the feeling pressing hard against his chest. Feeling the bag full of eggs pressing at his side allowed him a sense of accomplishment. There would be others that might express joy over the small token the Easter bunny would bring.

"A hug? From me?" he asked curiously. That was the first adult that had asked him for a hug after giving them their egg. From children it was expected, after all they truly believed he was the Easter bunny. "Yes. Of course." He swooped into the extended arms, costume and all. Georgie squeezed gently, swaying them from side to side while holding onto her. Even if the costume made it all feel slightly clunky and uncomfortable he did not care, because the joy it gave him made up for it.

x

sometimes it was the HAPPINESS on his friend’s face that brought reality crashing back down – mx had never liked reality. reality was about all the smiles that were stolen and all the years that were taken away, burning into the ground like a crop circle marking some alien form of life. the life he led now was alien to him but when he looked into george’s blue eyes then he wanted to believe it was reality. he wished that it could ever be REAL forever.

he was protecting himself as much as he was protecting george, for mx knew how close to the edge he truly was in a way that nobody else had ever understood. he swayed with the breeze, going with the wind in any direction with almost no control over himself. he had no grip, he had never had control over anything except the NUMBNESS. “okay,” he breathes, brown eyes unsure, “i told you i had a premonition. i told you that was why i thought you and nina would die but that wasn’t true,” he admits, feeling ever closer to the truth. “i know because it happened and i was HERE. i was here and you died, george. half the town seems to know it and the other half don’t seem to know that this is all happening again,” he trails off, trying to make it believable. there are so many things that do not make sense ; would i believe it if it were the other way around ?

“i know what you think…” he trails again, the words unspoken, a genuine desperate look in his eye. he isn’t the one that’s good with words unless those words lead to a party of a beer, he wants to rip the band aid off but at the same time, the wound is fresher for him. “that i’m high or fucked up but you haven’t even seen how fucked up i get. this is real. this is me. this is you. it’s real, all the people that have been acting weird and freaky. it’s because nobody knows how to tell you that you DIED.”

.

death was that companion nobody could escape. the chain link that connected everyone from the moment they were born. it was in everyone's first steps and last breaths. death could not be escaped. age nor health held it back. there were motions set that could not be controlled. george knew death would come for him the second it was meant to be. except, as his throat tightened, he hadn't thought death would come by the words of a friend.

an maybe it was unfair to look into the eyes that had once given him peace but only seeing death in them now. it felt unfair to look at the face that brought him smiles and only feel fear at it now. it felt like a prank he could not escape. his air had been lost. the only thing that told him he was alive was the loud noise of his heart beating against his eardrums. thump. thump. thump. nothing else could be heard. nothing else could be reasoned. the floor felt like clouds and at any moment they threatened to swallow him whole. a lie. it had to be a lie induced by countless of pills of unknown varieties. why else would his friend, his person, decide to approach him with such hurtful words. what purpose was behind being informed that death was near? that death had happened? 

george wanted to live like every day was the last one, but not when his life was forsaken. expectations and reality had threatened to eat him alive, but now it was death that had claimed him. betrayed. he felt betrayed by the one person he thought could do no wrong. how unfair was it that he could not help but blame one of his loves.

Before his resurrection, Zeki would have thrived during the town Easter celebrations. He loved going to church service with his dad, helping put out eggs for all the kids to find, and even coloring eggs with Andi (though he’d never admit to that). But this year felt different to him, less enjoyable. The town was still celebrating as normal, but a few of them carried around heavy hearts.

George, however, seemed normal. He couldn’t help but question if this boy still had no idea that he’d died. Zeki remembered his services so clearly. Rebuilding the town after their loss. He wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again. “Bunny suit’s a good look on you, George. Think you should be the mascot every year.”

.

A part of him was sure he looked weird with half of the bunny costume on holding the head loosely on his hand. Were any child to see him the illusion behind the  Easter bunny would loose its magic. That's why when he heard Zeke's word he pressed a finger to his lips, winking at him in thanks. Relishing in the compliment even though he knew he was a sweaty mess.

"Do you want your Easter present from the Bunny or from George?" he joked. George had been ready to put the costume into storage for the night, but he was willing to put it on again for the sake of the occasion. The joy shouldn't only be reserved for the children but for everyone else.

𝚂𝙸𝙻𝚅𝙴𝚁  𝙲𝚁𝙾𝚂𝚂  𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙰𝙽𝚃  𝙽𝙴𝙲𝙺𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴   𝙰𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳  𝙷𝙸𝚂  𝙽𝙴𝙲𝙺  ,  best  clothes  ironed  and  donned  ,   and   that  bright  ,  endearing  smile  proudly  worn  on  his  face  as  he  watched  the  citizens  of  darkwood  come  together   —   all  signs  led  to  the obvious  ,    IT  WAS  WITHOUT  A  DOUBT  THAT  REGGIE  LOVED  EASTER .  after  all  ,  it  was  an  important  holiday  for  his  faith  ;  a  celebration  of  christ’s  resurrection  ,   of  hope  for  salvation  .  and  with  everything  that  had  happened  lately  in  their  sleepy  little  town  ,  they  could  definitely use  some  hope  .  fortunately  ,  one  look  at  george  in  that  easter  bunny  costume  was  enough  to  instill  so  much  of  it  in  his  heart  —   amusement  had  always  came  easy  to  him  but  it  was  also  just  a  sight  to  behold  .   if  it  could  lift  his  spirits  up  then  ,  he  hoped  it  would  the  same  for  everyone  else  .  

as  he  had  done  a  hundred  times  before  ,   he  approached  with  a  gentle  smile  ,  voice  deep  but  always  with  that  note  of  warmth  from   the  first  word  that  left  his  lips  ,  ❛  WOAH  ,   WOAH  ,   WOAH  ,   i  don’t  think  anyone  else  can  pull  off  this  look  as  good  as  you  do  .  ❜   and  although  it  was  a  half-joke  ,  it  was  free  of  any  ill-intent   —  evident  by  the  delighted  smile  tugging  at  his  lips  .   he  was  honestly  appreciative  of  how  george  carried  out  his  responsibilities  and  helped  keep  the  festive  spirit  and  traditions  of  easter  alive  and  well  .   ❛  but  seriously  ,  you’re  doing  great  .  i  know  how  hot  it  can  be  in  that  suit  and  how  tedious  it  is  to  be  walking  and  standing  all  day …  so —  how  about  free  milkshakes  ,  courtesy  of  reggie’s  ,   to  ease  your  pain  a bit  once  you’re  all  done  ?   ❜

.

Georgie brushed a hand across his flattened hair trying to look as presentable as he could. He knew he probably looked a mess from being inside the costume for so long. Desiring a shower and to get the smell from the costume off of him, but knowing he still had more to do. Quirking the corners of his lips in a smile at Reggie. Body exhausted but excited for the experience this gave him. It was words like Reggie's that gave him the motivation to continue with his day, to continue donning the bunny costume.

"oh, what? in this costume? don't i just look charming," he joked back. "only the finest wear for Easter. its even better than my Sunday best, wouldn't you agree?" he shook his head quickly at the offer with a smile on his face. "no no. honestly there is no need! i did this with no retribution in mind, really."

“You right love?” Penny chimed naturally as she approached her brother with a water bottle of her own in hand. Though there remained some tension between them, she couldn’t help but gravitate toward him as she had done, ever since they were small. She noticed the way her brother had managed to inhale the first one, so by the time she’d finished speaking, she was already unscrewing the lid of her own, ready to hand it over to him.

She smiled at the male, having spent the day relishing in the sight of his grin and the goofy, albeit adorable costume he’d worn all afternoon. “You’ve done so well today, you know” she complimented sincerely, with light enthusiasm. If he had any doubt that he hadn’t absolutely nailed the role of Easter Bunny that day, she’d have endless words to convince him otherwise.

.

In that moment water had been his salvation knowing half his body weight had been left behind inside the costume. Wondering if there was such a thing as sending a bunny costume to the dry cleaners because he wasn't sure he'd want to put on the costume without it being properly cleaned. Eyes beginning to grow heavy under the warmth sun that seemed to escape in between the clouds, body exhausted but ready to continue. It was as he finished his water bottle that he saw his sister coming towards him. There was no helping the smile that spread across his face at seeing her. Sure, he wasn't sure how to act around her anymore but there was always a certain warmth around being close to her.

She was the one person Georgie knew he could always count on. "You think so?" he asked in wonder. Sure if she thought he'd done a good job then it meant he had. There was no honesty more brutal than that of a sibling, and he was banking on that statement being true. "I wasn't sure I could do it, but I'm actually loving it. The smile on the little faces sure have made it worth the effort."

Rachel wasn’t really keen on Easter, or any holiday where half of the town gave her and her mother disapproving looks when they went for an early lunch instead of attending some sort of service. However, one thing that Rachel was a fan of, was the amount of deviled eggs that were readily available in Darkwood during Easter. Deviled eggs were worth braving the festivities alone, without Mx or Cyrelle or Nina as a buffer.

Taking a bite of one of said eggs while reading an article on her phone, the redhead notices movement out of the corner of her eye and turns to see…a giant rabbit. Which, of course, with the head off, is clearly George Carmichael. “Seems you’re taking this whole thing in stride, George,” she greets, before finishing off the snack in her hand.

.

George swiped one of the devil eggs from the table before going back to his hidden spot. Hoping no kid had managed to spot the truth about the Easter bunny.  Scrunching his nose up at Rachel waiting to be done chewing before he actually replied to her. Humming in approval about the amount of paprika in the little appetizers.

"Taking it in stride? Please I got thrown i to this and I decided to give it my all," he replied, throwing a big egg with goodies inside at her. "This town is about to wish that I'm the Easter Bunny every year for the rest of my life."