c h a p t e r   e i g h t

"So it goes,
He can't keep his wild eyes on the road
Takes me home
The lights are off, he's taking off his coat."

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
style by taylor swift

messages with
kangaroo & george of the jungle

george of the jungle
this is going to be really awkward if
you're not awake
but are you awake?

kangaroo
i was literally about to text you

george of the jungle
ayyy
hello

kangaroo
all of the roommates are asleep
so i can't even make someone
talk to me or anything

george of the jungle
well arthur is staying at a hotel
near the venue he played at
and chris is staying at will's

kangaroo
so you're all alone...
i hope no one murders you

george of the jungle
i was gonna ask if you wanted to 
come over
but not anymore

kangaroo
yes!
i mean, uh, yeah that's cool

george of the jungle
way to be nonchalant
okay, i'll come get you

kangaroo
i can uber

george of the jungle
too late i'm already in the car

LINDSEY SMILED AS SHE EXITED HER BUILDING. She walked over to the car, shaking her head at the man in the driver's seat as she climbed in. She said again, "You know, you really did not have to come get me."

"Well, I wasn't going to leave you to get kidnapped in the middle of the night in London," he replied, making sure she buckled her seatbelt before pulling out of the parking lot.

"What a gentleman." She rolled her eyes, but the grin on her face made it clear that she was not annoyed in the slightest. They drove in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, focusing on the road and the city around them.

After a bit, George questioned, "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I don't know. My brain was just moving too quickly," she answered with a shrug. She had gotten about a million video ideas in the span of five minutes. "I swear as soon as you get in bed, you get the best ideas you've ever had."

"That's so real. I break out the notes app at least ten times before bed," he responded, shaking his head. For some reason, your brain runs wild whenever you're trying to go to sleep.

"It's amazing, but it's so annoying," she chuckled before glancing over at him. She was very surprised that he had been up when she was and that he had texted her. "What about you? Why couldn't you sleep?"

He responded, "The apartment was too quiet without Arthur snoring and Chris working away at wrapping Christmas gifts."

"He's getting started early," she said, her eyebrows raised in shock.

It took her a second to get the joke, but when she did, a grin spread across her face. He chuckled, "The elf grind never stops."

"Are you hungry?" she asked after a bit, glancing over at George hopefully. Usually, their apartment was never low on snacks, but it was Nat's turn to get groceries. And she struggled with remembering until they were nearly out of food.

He took the hint and smiled before glancing around for somewhere they could stop and get something. "What do you want?"

LINDSEY WAS SHOVING ICE CREAM INTO HER MOUTH AS GEORGE OPENED HIS DOOR. They stepped inside, and George placed the food on the counter as she looked around. It was a pretty nice apartment for London, but his roommate was ChrisMD. "Your place is nice."

"You've been here before," he reminded her, shooting her a confused expression because she had attended a couple of parties at his flat. "Multiple times, in fact."

"Yeah, but the lights weren't on, and I was very drunk," she pointed out. She had never gotten a good look at it because there had always been 50 people inside it when she was there.

He leaned back against the counter, raising his eyebrows at her in question, wondering what their next move in their late night adventure was. He asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug before saying, "You're the one who texted me."

"MarioKart?" he suggested, gesturing over to the TV in front of the couch where there were controllers tucked neatly under and a row of games for various consoles.

Her face lit up, and she grinned. "Oh, hell yes."

He smiled, gesturing to the container and spoon in her hands and pulling out a chair for her at the counter. "You finish your McFlurry. I'll get it set up and find some snacks."

"Princess treatment, I like it," she responded, plopping down on the chair and grinning.

They sat on the floor, McDonald's and various flavors of crisps strewn around them. They got to playing, and they went through about five rounds before Lindsey leaned back against the foot of the couch and sighed, "Oh, this brings me back."

"To what?" he questioned curiously, looking over at her. He placed his controller in his lap and exhaled. They were both out of breath from shouting at each other for the past half an hour.

"One of the best foster homes I ever stayed in," she responded with a light smile. Lindsey had always been an open book, but she surprised herself when she opened up so easily to him like that. "They had MarioKart and awesome snacks, and me and the other kids just sat around and played all day, every day."

He hesitated for a moment, clearly trying to find the right words to respond with. "I didn't know you...stayed in foster homes."

"I'm an orphan. You can say it. Yeah, I did. That's kind of how me and Alice met. Her parents took me in when I was old, and no one wanted me," she explained, and George nodded along. She wasn't trying to make him feel bad for her. The way she said it was simply informative, and she smiled as she mentioned her kind-hearted best friend.

He answered, "That's really cool of them."

"Yeah, it was," she agreed, and she continued, "So, when Alice got into content creation, I started too. And we've just been on this journey together for a while."

"I'm glad you found a good family," he told her, and he had never felt more grateful to Alice Murphy for making it possible for him to meet Lindsey Harris.

She grinned back at him because he wasn't pitying her like most people did. He was genuine and kind. "Thanks. Now, are you ready to get your ass kicked again?"

"I'm pretty sure it was me who was doing the ass-kicking."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

ayy george has a girlfriend!! so happy for them, she seems really sweet from what i've heard. just a reminder that this is a hate-free zone, and any hate on the sweet girl will be reported! reminder that they are both real people with real feelings, and if you're one of those people who hates on girls who date your favorite celebrities, you're weird. 

love you all! thank you for all the support on the book <3