#cashette

He woke up that morning with pins and needles in one arm, a strand of her hair in his mouth, and sluggish thoughts of things that needed to be done before class strolling casually through his head. There was a moment of stretching limbs and flexing muscles before he groaned and completely gave up on all thoughts of going to work out before his first class of the day. He rolled heavily onto his side and pulled his companion into his chest burying his face into the soft skin of her shoulder. Sleep didn't return to him and he hovered along that fine line between sleep and awareness until he felt the vibration of his alarm somewhere to the left of his head. There was a moment of blind fumbling before he found it and turned it off. Only then did he disentangle himself from George and force himself out of the bed.

It didn't take long for him to get ready. A quick shower and a few moments to find pants that weren't swats and he was prepared to start the day. He lowered himself to the edge of the bed so he could stuff his feet into his shoes but paused mid action to glance at her over his shoulder.

It had been poking at him since he'd seen her on the dash. Georgie Bellafonte was on this island. It shouldn't really have upset him one way or the other. She had been the one to end it. She'd been the one to let him walk out... He repeated himself over and over in the back of his head. It was easy to leave out the fact that he'd walked out when he couldn't take it anymore and that he was just as fault in the whole mess as the redhead was.  Truth was, it'd been his own stupid pride that had really tripped him up. It hadn't been the letters. It hadn't been Dixie. It hadn't been Georgette. He was really the only one to blame and every time he touched on the stark reality of the situation, he felt himself pull back like he'd leaned up against a hot stove. 

He tried to shake it off, bouncing around the hotel room as he prepared to get ready to begin his day. It was a minor slip up, nothing that he couldn't shake. She was here and if he didn't want to see her... Well, it was a big island and he was sure he could avoid her if he wanted to... Which he did... He thought. 

He found himself at the boardwalk. The hustle and bustle of people around him made him smile. All though a few people knew who he was and stopped to talk to him, something he welcomed, he more or less had time to himself. He watched people, the couples that wandered hand in hand in search of food or entertainment, old couples that bickered and squawked like sea birds. Emos that had their music up so loud it vibrated from their earbuds loud enough for him to hear it over the murmur of the crowd and the crash of the waves against the sand. 

He was just about to boost himself off the railing when he saw a flash of red hair. For a bit over a year, he had taught himself not to jump at every little thing that reminded him of the pageant champion, but this time he found himself up on his feet in a heartbeat, weaving his way through the crowd for a chance to get closer to this person. The stubborn feeling inside his chest grew because he new the chances of her ever saying yes to a coffee date were slim to none, fickle little thing. His grin widened slightly when he saw that little strut in her walk. It was her all right. He reached out, gingerly touching her shoulder before speaking up. "Hey stranger. Long time no see."