003 !! MOON

"Kie, where does your mom think you are?", JJ grins, a playful glint in his eyes.

Kiara rolls her eyes leaning back against the boat deck.

Curfew being at nine every night makes Kiara's current presence a questionable event which is suffice to say that she's probably conned her parents into thinking she's doing something 'acceptable'.

"At Courtney's house. Researching Ivy League Schools", she plasters a fake smile on her face.

JJ whistles cackling and shaking his head in disbelief.

"Wow. You've outdone yourself this time, Carrera", he claps his hands together in admiration.

"Hmm I know", she shrugs, a proud smile on her lips.

Georgie stares out into the distance, the dark of the night enveloping the entire sky.

Stars twinkle in the July heat, a light breeze blowing over the dock.

The smell of the ocean captivates her, it's essence embedding itself into every single atom of her body. Her skin cherishes the bare cold of the night and the slight warmth of the summer moon.

It's times like these that make her feel truly at peace.

Nights have always been Georgie's favourite time of the day. Nights have a certain mysterious vibe to them, the moon pretending to be a silver coin suspended high up in the sky shining in all it's glory to show off the beauty it possesses.

Georgie admires the moon for it's confidence, for it's natural aura that holds the power to stun a person into place.

She wishes she had the kind of privilege the moon harbours.

She wishes she could be just like the moon someday.

Calm, beautiful, peaceful, all knowing and loved.

Loved by every single person that walks this earth and appreciated for not being a source of light for the world but for it's complacent beauty.

The moon inspires her, it's light acts like the catalyst that awakens the need to try.

The loud sounds of Lana Del Rey's comforting voice fills the air and Georgie jumps in her place realising that it's her phone ringing.

She takes it out of her pocket and frowns at the caller id.

Mrs. Carrera, it says.

Not thinking twice, she picks up the call.

"Hello?".

"Oh, thank god, Georgie. I wasn't sure you were gonna pick up. Okay, so I need to meet Wally regarding that parcel mishap that happened last week and only Tony's at The Wreck so could you please come and mind the restaurant for like an hour? I promise I'll be back soon".

She sounds desperate, the tone of her voice being hurried and tired.

Georgie bites her lip glancing down at her nails.

No night shifts, that's what she had been promised when Anna hired her.

Night shifts are pretty exhausting in itself but having to deal with snobs when all you really wanna do is hide in your bed? No, thanks.

But Georgie's not used to saying no.

She's just too nice.

She thinks too much about people and their feelings, her own usually taking a backseat when it comes down to it.

"Okay, I will".

Anna exhales a sigh of relief, an endless string of 'thank-yous' and 'you're the best' whirling against the blonde's eardrums.

"I will pay you for this extra shift", Anna reassures her and Georgie finds herself holding back a little smile.

I can finally buy that sketch book I saw at the store that day.

"That's very much appreciated, Mrs. Carrera", she responds.

When Georgie hangs up, she has all four of them giving her curious glances.

She sighs.

"Anna just asked me to look after the restaurant for a while until she sorts one of our employees' mess".

"What, right now?", JJ scowls.

She purses her lips already knowing his reaction.

"Yes".

"No. Absolutely not", he shakes his head, "you're not going. Call her and say no, or Kie, you call her and tell her that Georgie can't", he looks pointedly at Kiara who's too busy frowning to listen to him.

"JJ—".

"Georgie, no. You think I'm gonna let you roam around Kooks this late? No fucking way, I'm not blind, alright? I've seen the way some of them look at you and I'll be damned if I let you step foot on Figure Eight at this hour".

Georgie groans, "Can you stop with this overprotective bullshit? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You are not my dad".

Her glare makes him huff.

"Well, in case you forgot, your real dad wouldn't bat an eye even if you were found lying in a ditch somewhere so yeah, I'm not your dad. I'm your older brother".

"By only two minutes, Anna's my boss and she's gonna pay me extra for this shift. And Tony's there too? I'll be fine".

"I don't care, I'm not—".

"Well, I'm not asking you. I don't need your permission", she scoffs getting up to her feet and grabbing the boat rail to get back on the dock.

"Georgina, don't you dare walk away from me", JJ glares at her from his position.

"Cut the drama already", she rolls her eyes without turning back.

Sound of loud protests — a lot of JJ yelling, Kiara yelling back, Pope trying to calm them down, John B hushing — is heard as she walks back towards land, arms crossed and an irritated expression fixed over her features.

Footsteps — sounds of sprinting — on the wooden dock reach her ears and she gets ready to turn back and shout at JJ when a familiar hand clasps around her arm.

Her throat goes dry at the touch, heart racing at the feeling.

She stops glancing to her left and finding him there, heavy breaths — product of running after her down the dock — leaving his lips.

He stares down at her, his hazel eyes shining under the moonlight.

Georgie quietly gulps looking up at him, her mind struggling to comprehend what's going on.

"Let me drive you".

Four words.

Those four words alone are enough to make Georgie's heart melt, butterflies conveniently returning and freely flying around her body leaving pleasant surprises behind.

Georgie nods struggling to hide the smile already forming on her face.

***
it's so weird romanticising john b's gestures even tho he's cute as hell because i'm just so used to doing that with rafe ???

anyways look at these gifs miss stef the incredible made for me a while back but i forgot to include it in here because i'm just so 💅

^ captures the entire theme so well