I took a long, relaxing shower when I got home. I had so many things to think about, and standing under the water somehow boosted my thought process.

I had a lot to do. And the first thing on the list was talk to George cause I barely slept the whole night, wondering what he had to say.

The scariest option was him liking me, to which I honestly didn't know how to react. I can't afford losing our friendship, I can't afford ruining his friendship with Clay and I just can't get myself to act like nothing happened and keep talking to him as a friend. I just won't be able to look at him with the same eyes.

But nothing was certain yet, all I needed to do was get in touch with him and see what was the deal. Maybe I'm overreacting afterall.

I'm home :)

George read my message immediately. It was almost unnatural how fast he saw it. And it was more weird how he didn't reply or call after that.

uhh hey?🙃

And again. He read it, but no response. Did he fall asleep with my chat open?

I didn't have to scroll too much to find his contact. I took a deep breath and called him.

It took him a while to pick up. And by a while I mean I had to try 3 times. He picked up sounding completely clueless of what was going on - probably just waking up.

"Don't tell me you slept in my chat." I laughed, not knowing how to feel about this.

"What?" His accent was very strong on that one.

"Did you fall asleep with your dms open?" I made myself clearer.

"I did what?" Still, he had no clue, "I've been asleep for the past.." there was a pause. He was probably checking the time, "for the past 9 hours."

"Huh.. I texted you and you read immediately." I explained, thinking that he was just joking.

"What? My screen's been locked, what are you talking about?" He sounded so genuinely confused. What is going on.

I went silent for a second, then spoke again.

"Might be a glitch then."

And he went silent too.

"Anyways."

And we both went silent.

"Soo... what were you gonna say?" I continued, intrigued yet scared of what was coming.

"Oh, yeah.." he spoke again, seeming off after the whole glitching thing, "it's gonna be kind of unexpected, but don't overreact."

My heart dropped. I took a deep breath, sitting upright and closing my eyes for a second to stay collected. I promised myself to not say a single thing until he finishes. If I speak early, the chances of me making a fool out of myself get so much higher than they already are.

"Okay..?" I encouraged him to speak.

"Lizzy.." the anticipation was already killing me, "I'm.. ugh." He groaned, "I'm applying for a green card. Don't freak out, please."

I almost passed out.

I can't deny the fact that the feeling of relief was stronger than the feeling of happiness at the first few seconds. I didn't know how to react tho. I was really happy, but also very confused.

"I'm- oh my god.." I finally spoke, "you fucking scared me!"

"Wait why!? I thought it'd make you happy!?" At this point we were just yelling at each other.

"I am happy, but also, you'd been fucking with us for the past 10 days! I didn't know what to expect- fuck it, nevermind." I realized that if I keep going he'll ask more questions. But it was George, he didn't need me to keep going to ask more questions.

"What did you think I was gonna say?" And there we go.

I groaned, trying to avoid what was about to come, "Doesn't matter."

"No, wait- tell me." He was going to force the words out of my mouth.

"I don't want to, and it's none of your business."

"It involves me, how is it none of my business?"

Fuck.

I was really between two rocks. Why did I even bring it up in the first place?

"You have to tell me, I won't leave you alone if you don't." I knew George meant what he said. I had no other choice.

Maybe telling him wasn't a bad idea in the first place, it would clear some of the air up between us.

"I thought.. oh my god, this is so stupid," the words refused to leave my mouth, "I thought you liked me-"

"Eww, what the actual fuck!?" He didn't wait for me to finish.

"Did you just say ew? You fucking tasteless bitch-"

"No, no, I don't mean it like you're ew. It's like- you're like a little sister to me-"

"EWWW!" And this is where I don't let him finish, "We literally kissed, that's so disgusting!"

"If you put it like that, yes, but you get what I mean!" George started to explain himself.

"No, I don't get it, never say that again, that's disgusting, just stop." Maybe I shouldn't be as traumatized as I am.

There was a brief silence again before George spoke.

"Wait a minute.." the silence came back again, "Is that why Clay was being annoying to me? Oh my fucking god, he's such a child!"

I can't believe it's just hitting him now. I thought Clay was dumb for thinking George liked me and getting jealous over it, but turns out George's even dumber for not realizing what was going on.

"No shit, George." I facepalmed, hearing him rant about how stupid we were for thinking such a thing.

We spent another hour just making fun of each other. I could've used that time to get the details about his plans, but I guess I'll text him, cause our emotions were too intense to have a meaningful conversation over the phone.

We finally hung up, but I had a few more questions I forgot to ask.

does Nick know?

Again, he read immediately but answered after a few minutes.

nope

when's Clay going to know? I can't hide it for long

He read momentarily again. I was already getting pissed at how fast he read and how long it took for him to answer.

This time he didn't even answer for more than 10 minutes. I gave up and tried to put my phone aside when it dinged again.

I was about to yell at George over text for leaving me on read, I didn't even believe that it was a glitch anymore.

But it wasn't George..

Lizzy? :)

can't hide what? :)