the lengths we go through

[Georgia Duffy]

Julian had been reluctant to let her go - she could tell. Georgia didn’t want to go either, since her last run-in with Jeff Monier during school left her with a burning sensation at her hips where his hands had held so tightly. The only person she’d told - not to the extent of what had happened last time, was Nathaniel. After that experience, she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell anyone. She knew, though, that Julian would be softer about it. At least to her - he wouldn’t explode like a thrown grenade like Nathaniel had. At least, not in front of her. It would have been appreciated. Georgia wasn’t fragile by any means, but the events of the previous year had lent a hand in her skin becoming thinner, her emotions being affected more by the people around her. She wasn’t the same old Georgia that she was.

“What’s your name?”

Georgia had only half-heard Jeff as he spoke, the two of them snaking out of the party hopefully unseen by anyone other than Julian. It kind of… annoyed her that Jeff didn’t realize who she was, but at the same time, she was thankful. It made sense either way. Jeff only cared about himself and she wondered how he was able to keep his own head on his shoulders. Willie did a good job of keeping him in check now, but who knew what kind of a mess he would be after she and Julian revealed his actual motive. But the point was, he seemed to not recognize who she was, despite having been at Willie’s multiple times during the summer while he was there. It didn’t matter, though - it was going to make her job a little easier, which was appreciated given how uneasy she was feeling. ”Lucy,” she said, flashing him a smile that twinkled through her eyes. She always had been a good distraction.

“Must not be too serious if mister dark and handsome was so willing to let you go.” Georgia flashed green eyes up at Jeff. He was so casual, so smug. It made her feel sick, if she were being honest. Julian had been hesitant to let her go and he wasn’t even her boyfriend… and she didn’t want to go, to be honest - but knowing he was there to take care of her if things went awry made it… made it a little more tolerable. She had this. ”It’s important,” was all she offered with a small shrug, her hand finding its way to Jeff’s bicep as they walked, the brunette glancing behind her slightly to see if she could catch Jules in her peripherals, but Jeff noticed and looked back himself. “He’s not following us…?” ”No,” she said quickly. ”Just us, yeah?” she winked again. Ugh.

Jeff led her into a bedroom - Georgia had stayed there before, so at least it was a spare bedroom and not Willie’s. That would have made this even worse. The brunette waited expectantly, Jeff patting her hand before he moved away from her. “Sit,” he offered, gesturing toward the bed. She wondered why she hadn’t scoped out the room before - although - before now she really didn’t have any reason to dig through Willie’s stuff. The brunette had nothing to hide from her friend; Jeff, on the other hand… She watched as the blonde opened the bottom drawer on one of the dressers, and pulled out a small pouch of… what was that? Dust? Georgie arched her neck to see if there was anything else in the drawer, but it looked… empty. Perhaps he put a disguising charm on it, but she never pegged Jeff to really be that smart.

Jeff smirked as he turned around, waggling the bag in front of her like teasing a dog with a treat. Georgia reciprocated with a smile, and he sat down next to her. Georgia reached for it, but he held it back. “No can do, darling,” he charmed, and Georgia leaned back on the bed, her palms down. “You have to do something for me, first,” he suggested, and Georgia’s skin pricked at the thought of what he… what he wanted. Half tempted to get up and go back to find Julian, now knowing where he kept at least some of the stash, she stayed put, almost frozen as he closed in on her, lips against her neck. She swallowed, hoping this would distract him enough to snatch the pouch from his hand, but he pulled back then, opening the pouch and offering a pinch to her. “For… ease,” he said, a snarky smirk on his lips. This guy was… this guy was a…

Georgia stuck out her tongue, and he dropped the sugary powder onto it. Oddly sweet - Georgia hadn’t ever had pixie dust before, so it surprised her some as he leaned back in. It didn’t get… too far before a loud thunk against the door caused her, and Jeff, to jump. Eyes wide, and while he was distracted, she snatched the pouch from him and got herself out from underneath him. She fluffed her hair, and her shirt, hoping like hell that it was Julian on the other side of the door, helping get her out of an absolute jam. “Wait, you haven’t paid -” but Georgie was already out the door, half tempted to find the nearest bathroom and vomit up her entire stomach contents. But first, Julian.

It didn’t take her long to find him, and she slammed the pouch against his chest for him to take. ”First spare bedroom, second floor. Bottom drawer. Revelio.” and with that, she was off.