As Robert laid sobbing on his bed, he felt completely broken, with his life crumbling around him. How could this have happened? He didn't want Georgie to love him. He'd never wanted that. It didn't make any sense to him she'd want that for herself. And now he was trapped in this hellish place – with her loving him.

He desperately tried to stop crying. He needed to think of what he could do to fix this because now they were both in terrible danger. It was only a matter of time before the bastard found out, and then he'd probably make Robert watch whatever it was he was going to do to her. There was no way either one of them would survive.

He heard a knock on his door.

Fuck! He thought about refusing to answer, but he'd played that game already a long time ago. He wasn't about to go back to the beginning.

He willed himself to pull it together. "What is it, Georgie?" he managed to choke out.

"Robert, I want to talk to you. Please open your door." He was surprised by her composure. No tears yet. He wished he could say the same for himself.

There was no way he could talk to her without breaking down completely again. Alone, he was safe in his bedroom. If he let her in, where could he possibly go to escape?

"I don't know, Georgie. I can't talk right now." He prayed she would leave, prayed she would take it all back and tell him she was just joking.

Then she said loudly and firmly, "Robert, I have things I have to say to you! I promise you I only want to talk! Now please open this door!"

Fuck! She was serious. Robert felt despair wash over him as he wiped his face with the sleeves of his t-shirt. He got up and slowly went to the door keeping his eyes on the floor. He wouldn't look at her. That would keep him from losing it. When he opened the door, he saw her ugly shoes. He felt so sad seeing them.

She said gently, "Do you want to come in here and sit down?" and he saw her hand gesture behind her.

God no, not the sitting room. He shook his head. They both stood there for a moment, then he said, "Come in here," and turned to go sit on his bed, keeping his eyes on the floor.

She went to sit in the one chair in his room. It was the chair she'd been sleeping in when he woke up and saw her for the first time. Seeing her trying not to put pressure on him by sitting too close to him, got through to him and it suddenly seemed ridiculous for her to sit so far away.

He said quietly, "It's alright, Georgie. You can sit on the bed with me."

She sat on his bed as far from him as possible, and said gently, "Thank you, Robert. I'm so sorry. I never wanted it to be like this."

Like what, he wondered. Like she'd fallen in love with him? He kept his eyes on his hands in his lap.

He heard her say quietly, "I want to tell you something I've never told anyone," and he couldn't help pushing his hair out of his eyes and looking at her. She'd been crying after all. Judging by the expression on her face, he did not want to hear what was coming.

"When my family died, I had a really hard time dealing with it," she started. He was shocked she was talking about her past. He wasn't expecting that at all. She looked down at her hands and he could tell she was fighting not to cry.

"Even though I was so young, I felt like my life was over. I didn't think I wanted to live anymore. I felt like I didn't have any future. I – I did try to kill myself – a few times. I wasn't able to do much because I didn't know what I was doing. No one ever figured it out – then I got scared and stopped." He imagined an eleven year old Georgie suffering from grief so much she tried to kill herself. It was too tragic.

"Every day since then, I've asked myself the same question before I go to sleep. Do I wish I'd been in the car with them or am I glad I wasn't in the car? Maybe the whole first year after the accident, I wished I'd been in the car. Then, I started to feel better and there were more days when I was glad I wasn't in the car. It took a few years, but I was able to make a new life and I was happy again. Then – I came here and –." She stopped and he saw tears run down her cheeks.

Robert moved closer to her so he could take one of her hands and hold it in his, saying gently, "I know." He still had no idea how she hadn't gone completely mental and thrown herself off the balcony.

She wiped her tears away with her sleeve and looked up at him sadly, saying, "When you came here, it broke my heart to see how scared you were. I wanted so much to help you so you wouldn't feel so bad."

He didn't know how he felt hearing her describe him as scared. All he remembered feeling those first few days was the rage that never seemed to go away. But when he thought about it, he realized he had been scared underneath all that rage. He felt intense shame again, remembering how he'd treated her back then.

"It wasn't long after you came here, I was surprised how I answered the question – night after night – it was always the same. I was glad I was alive because I was here for you – helping you. Even if all I could do for you was cook a meal with you, so there was at least one part of your day when you weren't all alone, I felt better." He had no idea she was feeling like that about him back then. It made him feel even worse, remembering those days when he had so much anger towards her and barely spoke to her.

"Then, when we spent more time together, I got to know you, and I saw what a good person you were. You were so kind to me and took care of me. It's been a long time since someone cared about me. I felt safe with you. You have no idea what that meant to me." It was starting to dawn on him how she fell in love with him.

She looked down at their hands and said, "I started to have feelings for you. I knew it was wrong but I couldn't help it. I knew you wouldn't want me to feel that way about you. I knew he wouldn't like it. But the way you made me feel – I've never felt like that before. I decided I wanted to know what it was like to love a boy as special as you. And – I wanted to know what it was like to be in love – just once."

Robert had no idea how she could be strong enough to say that without crying because he lost it completely. He leaned over and cried in his arms while he continued to hold her hand, overcome with despair. He had done this. He was responsible for this. He had made this poor girl fall in love with him. He should've known she was so emotionally starved she would've fallen for him the moment he was kind to her, the moment he showed her any compassion. But what the hell other option did he have, he wondered bitterly, treat her like the fucking bastard?

He shouldn't be doing this, he thought, and he struggled to pull himself together. She deserved to have her say without him falling apart. And he needed to get control over himself so he could figure out how to fix this disaster he'd created.

She'd been holding his hands, rubbing his knuckles with her thumbs and he pulled his hands out of hers so he could wipe his face with his shirt sleeves. Then he took her hands in his and looked at them, waiting for her to continue. He'd never noticed how beautiful her hands were before. They were slender, just like the rest of her, and her fingers were long.

"I never intended for you to know I loved you. It was already so hard for you to be here, and I didn't want to make things worse. It was enough for me just to love you in my heart. That's all I wanted. I feel terrible you found out like this. I'm so sorry, Robert." She'd been protecting him, he thought suddenly. All along she'd been protecting him from her feelings.

She took a deep breath and said, "I understand why you don't want to be with me. I don't want you to either. I would never want you to do anything you don't want to. I would never want to hurt you like that. It's just that –," then she started crying and he felt a terrible pain in his heart knowing she'd just spoken from personal experience.

She managed to recover a little and continued through her tears, "It's just been really hard for me. I know you want me to pretend like things are like they were before. I'm sorry, Robert. I can't do it. What happened that night was so wonderful – so special for me. I mean – to find out that while I was hiding my love for you – maybe the whole time I was hiding my love for you – you were hiding your love for me." He looked up at her suddenly.

"And then when we – when we –. I never knew that when two people love each other it would be like that. It was so – perfect. That's why I can't pretend. Because I don't know – if I'll ever get to have that again – and it just hurts too much." She finally broke down and leaned over, sobbing into his blankets while he held her hands and looked at her, too stunned to say anything.

He wanted to deny it. He wanted to tell her she was dead wrong. But the words wouldn't come out. She was right. He did love her – a lot. He'd loved her for a long time. How could he have not known it before she said it? And she'd just put into words exactly how he felt that night when he laid on the rug in front of the dying fire while she slept in his arms. He'd never experienced anything that meaningful with a girl before. It had been perfect.

He looked at Georgie sobbing on his bed, her heart broken because of him, and he felt guilt and shame burn through him. How could he have let her suffer like this when he loved her so much? He gently pulled her to him so he could hold her. She put her arms around him, crying on his shoulder and he held her tightly, rocking her a little and shushing her, wanting desperately to make her feel better.

When she stopped crying and let go of him, she surprised him by moving back to where she'd been sitting, putting a space between them. She held his hands in hers again and looked like she was steeling herself before she spoke. He felt wary of what was coming next.

She started hesitantly, "The last three days have been so – so –. I just can't live with you like this anymore, Robert. I know it's been hard for you too. And now –." She started crying again. "Maybe you – you don't want to be around me anymore now that you know the truth. I think we need to figure out a way – to stay away from each other – at least for a while. I think we need to work out a – a schedule or – something," and then she leaned over sobbing in his blankets again while he held her hands, feeling like a complete shit.

He'd broken her heart and she was returning the favor by protecting him from the fallout. He didn't know if it was possible for him to have fucked things up more with her. Over the past three days, he'd thought this was about sex, but for Georgie, it'd been about so much more. It was no wonder she'd been in so much pain. And it was entirely his fault she'd been suffering like this. Not only had he caused this mess, he'd been too much of an idiot to realize what he'd done and tried to force her to forget instead of coming up with a solution from the very beginning.

Hearing her suggestion for how to fix the disaster he'd made, brought his mind into sharp focus. It was obvious things had permanently changed between them. They were never going to be able to go back to the way it was before. And she was right about the situation they were in now. He couldn't live like this with her anymore either. They had to find a new way to live together and there were only two options left for him – be with her, or not.

As he considered being in a relationship with Georgie, he could feel the trapped, panicky feeling rising up inside him as he imagined what would happen if the bastard found out. Then he considered the alternative, living side by side with her, but entirely isolated from her and alone. He couldn't bear the thought of it. He realized he loved her too much to be separated from her. It was clear he had no other choice now. He had to choose her and pray the bastard never found out.

He gently pulled her to him so he could hold her, but she resisted, sobbing, "No, Robert! I don't think we should!"

"Georgie please let me hold you. I have something I need to say to you."

She looked at him, taking deep breaths, trying to stop herself from crying. He pulled her gently toward him again, saying quietly, "Please?" She gave in and reluctantly went to him. He held her, but she kept her body sideways to him while she wiped her tears with her sleeve. He could feel how tense she was.

He said quietly, "Georgie, I've been the biggest bloody idiot. I'm so sorry for what I've put you through these last three days. You didn't deserve this."

She immediately shifted in his arms so she could lean against him, saying, "I understand, Robert. You're afraid of what might happen to me." She was still apologizing for him, he thought. She never thinks she deserves better.

"I didn't trust you, and I should've. You know better than I do what the stakes are, and I should've listened to you." She became very still in his arms.

He struggled to find the words he needed to say. Everything he thought of sounded stupid in his head. He knew it was because he still had so many doubts this was a good idea.

Finally he said quietly, "I think we should do what you want. I love you and if you want to love me back then I think that's what we should do."

She struggled to get free of him so she could look at him, her eyes wide. "What are you saying?" she whispered.

"I think we should be together, if that's what you want," he said.

She looked at him with her intense gaze for a few minutes before she said quietly, "What do you want?"

"I won't be happy unless you're happy. And I don't think you'll be happy unless we're together. So that's what I want. I want us to be together." He was surprised how good he felt when he said the last sentence.

Her mouth opened in shock as she looked at him even more intensely. "You really mean it?" she whispered with tears coming to her eyes.

He said quietly, "I really mean it." She broke down crying and hugged him tight.

While he held her, he prayed for the strength he was going to need. It would be easy to love her, but everything that came with it would be far more difficult and dangerous than anything he'd dealt with before. Was he making a mistake, he wondered suddenly, as all the doubts surged forward. Was he being too weak to do the right thing? Then he thought about what they'd been through over the last three days, and pushed the doubts out of his mind. He'd made the best decision – and he was going to stick to it.

She pulled away from him so she could look at him, smiling through her tears and said, "Robert, you've made me so happy! I can't believe it!" He could see the happiness in her eyes, and she was glowing again. He was relieved to see her looking like she used to.

She wiped her tears away with her sleeve, saying, "Thank you so much!" He didn't like her thanking him, like he was doing her a favor.

He put his hand on her cheek, saying, "Don't thank me, Georgie. I should've done this from the very beginning. You were right all along." She put her hand on his hand, leaning into his caress, closing her eyes.

As the realization that they were a couple settled over him, Robert realized he didn't have any idea how they were going to keep it a secret from the bastard.

"Georgie?" She opened her eyes. "I know we need to be careful. I want you to decide how we do this. You know best what we should do. So just tell me, and that's what we'll do, yeah?" This had to be done on Georgie's terms. She knew what the risks were, she was the one who would pay the ultimate price, and she had to be the one in charge.

She looked at him intensely, saying fervently, "Don't worry, Robert! I'll make sure he never finds out! I'll protect us!"

He could see how seriously she meant it, and he desperately wanted to believe her. He pulled her head towards his and rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes. He didn't want her to see how much he doubted her, but he couldn't help sighing as he said, "I know, Georgie. I know." He hoped to God it all worked out – for both their sakes.

After a moment, she pulled away and said, "It's getting late. I have to go take my bath now. Don't worry about it, okay? I'm going to think about this really hard so I make sure we're safe."

"Alright, Georgie," he said, trying not to let her see how uneasy he was.

She hesitated for a moment, then got off the bed to leave. He couldn't bear to let her just walk away after what they'd been through and he reached out to take her hand, stopping her. She turned and looked at him like she was unsure. He got off the bed and pulled her to him for a hug. She smiled and went to him right away with relief, relaxing against him. That hug felt really good.

When she pulled away from him to leave, he was dismayed to see she was crying again. He pulled her back to him, saying quietly, "Don't cry, Georgie," and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

She pulled away from him a little more desperately and choked out, "I'm just so happy," before she ran out of his room. He understood how she felt, but he wanted to see her glowing with happiness again without the tears. He'd seen enough of her tears to last him a lifetime.

He sat on his bed, putting his head in his hands, while the enormity of the situation settled over him. He was now in a relationship with Georgie, and he could barely believe it. She was so beautiful and sweet. He'd be lucky to have a girl like her back home. But they weren't back home. Instead, they were living in an impossible situation, an incredibly dangerous environment with the constant threat of discovery. He didn't even want to think what would happen to them if the bastard found out.

And he was going to be leaving her, maybe soon. He'd already gotten a glimpse of how grief stricken she'd been when she thought she couldn't love him. What was going to happen after she'd become even more attached to him and he walked out the door? It was going to take time to find her, maybe weeks. How was she going to survive until he got to her? He had no idea. The only thing he knew for sure was that he'd made his decision, and he wasn't going back now.

Then he thought about Georgie's vow to keep their relationship a secret from the bastard. He knew why it bothered him so much. She was still so young in some ways, and he'd already seen how she didn't always make the smartest choices. If he was honest with himself, he was terrified she was the one responsible for keeping it a secret. But when he thought about it, she'd managed to survive with the bastard for years. She had to have developed skills to deal with him to make it this far. Robert certainly knew he had no idea how to deal with him. But then, it was probably all going to be on Georgie anyway since the bastard never came to the flat during the day. All Robert could do was trust her judgment, do whatever she said, and pray it worked.

He got his book and went into the sitting room to wait for Georgie. He decided to start a fire for her since she'd seemed worried she was running late with her bath. Then he sat and tried to read but it was impossible. His mind was still reeling from the decision he'd made, and he was struggling to keep from second guessing what he'd done.

When Georgie came into the sitting room, she was surprised and then happy when she saw the fire already going. She looked over at him and they smiled at each other before she looked away, blushing. Robert was still smiling as he looked down at his book. Seeing her beautiful face smiling at him made all the thoughts that'd been swirling around in his head suddenly settle down, and he knew he'd made the right decision. He felt happy – really happy – and it felt really good.

While she combed her hair in front of the fire, she looked at him and smiled. As soon as he looked up from his book and smiled back at her, she turned away, shyly hiding her smile. She did it again and he couldn't help thinking she was being incredibly cute. She kept doing it and it was like they were playing a little game.

After she was done combing her hair and scooted closer to the fire, she was soon lost in her own thoughts. She shook her hair often, trying to get it to dry faster which distracted him enough that he was no longer able to read and mostly watched her. She looked so serious he thought she must be thinking about how they would keep their relationship a secret. He wondered when they were going to have the conversation about it. Would there be enough time tonight?

Then Georgie looked at him again smiling, and when he smiled at her she looked away, blushing heavily and hiding her face behind her hair in an adorable way. Then, a minute later, she did it again. She looked at him smiling, and the second he smiled back at her, she blushed like crazy and ducked her head down, making her hair fall in front of her face. He had to work hard not to laugh at the way she was acting.

Then she stood up and he wondered if she was going to talk to him, but when she saw him look at her, she quickly turned away from him and went to damp down the fire. While she had her back to him, she said softly, "I'm going to bed now."

It didn't sound like they were going to have their talk so he got up and went to her to tell her good night. When she turned and saw him standing so close to her, she still seemed shy, barely able to look at him and trying to hide her smile. He couldn't get over how funny she was acting.

He said quietly, "Goodnight, Georgie," trying not to laugh.

She still couldn't look at him and whispered shyly, "Goodnight, Robert," and then blushed again.

He asked quietly, "Can I have a goodnight hug?"

She nodded with a shy smile without looking at him, and hugged him tight. As soon as he held her, he felt how tense her body was, and it suddenly occurred to him she was nervous. She'd been nervous the whole time she'd been with him in the sitting room but he hadn't picked up on the signals. He wondered what it was about.

After a few minutes, she released him and he let go. She had her eyes on the floor, then looked at him, asking hesitantly, "You'll – you'll come tonight?"

He was shocked, and said, "Yes, I'll come! Don't worry about that, Georgie. I won't stop coming to you."

"I wasn't worried. I just wanted to be sure." Then she looked embarrassed and looked at the floor saying, "I mean, I just wanted to be sure you came tonight – especially," and then she blushed heavily.

He couldn't help feeling sorry for her because she was obviously so uncomfortable. He pulled her to him for another hug and felt the tension in her body as she hugged him back tightly. As what she'd said sunk in, it suddenly dawned on him why she was so nervous. She was worried about them having sex. It never occurred to him she'd be nervous about it since it'd already happened once. But then, knowing her history, maybe he shouldn't be assuming anything when it came to sex, he thought grimly.

He said quietly, "Georgie, we're going to take things slow, yeah? I don't want you to think you have to do things with me because you've already done them. It'll happen whenever it happens. Don't worry about it, alright?"

She immediately relaxed in his arms with a sigh, saying, "Okay, Robert," letting him know that was exactly what she was thinking.

He held her tight and after a moment, she let go of him. When he released her, he kissed her on the forehead. She kissed him quickly on his cheek and left for her bedroom, but not before he saw she was tearing up again.

He went to his room and got ready for bed filled with all sorts of emotions. Thankfully, the doubts seemed to have left him. He laid down with his book thinking he would have a hard time falling asleep, but he was so exhausted by what he'd been through, he was out within minutes.

****

Yeah!  They're in LOVE!  I'm not going to ask you if it was obvious that Robert loved Georgie because you've been in his head for 19 chapters now.  I think it was pretty obvious he was in love with her ever since - well for quite a while.  I will let you, dear reader, make the decision when it happened for yourselves!

In any case, don't worry.  This story isn't going to get all boring now that Robert and Georgie are finally a couple.  There's a lot more coming and I guarantee it's going to be anything BUT boring!  I can safely say it is a bit of a roller coaster ride to the end.

Thanks for reading!  Please vote if you liked this chapter!  Drop me a comment and let me know what you think!  It makes my day when I get comments.