Losing You by Bennight30

[JRK Archiver]

You can find this fic, as well as many other GQ fics at The Source.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 1


The sudden beam of light fell across the bed. Shocked, Dillon lifted his head from Sage’s and looked towards the doorway. There, standing in the threshold, stood Georgie. Her eyes were wide and bright with unshed tears, and a hand was clamped over her mouth.

“Georgie” he whispered in disbelief. He shook his head and closed his eyes, hoping against hope that this was all just some terrible nightmare. He opened them again in time to see her flee from the room.

Georgie turned and fled down the hallway, roughly pushing Tracy aside. Her feet fairly flew down the massive curving staircase while tears filled her eyes. She would never know how she made down those stairs without falling. She had just gotten to the door when it suddenly opened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“No, no, no, no…” It was a litany playing itself over and over in Dillon’s head as frantically searched for his clothes.

“Dillon come back to bed.” Sage beckoned. Dillon ignored her and grabbed his shirt, thrusting his arms in its sleeves as he raced out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Georgie, what’s wrong?” Ned asked concerned. He could see that she had been crying.
“Nothing, please excuse me, I have to get out of here.” She whispered brokenly and dashed out the door. Seconds later, he saw Dillon come running down the stairs, buttoning a tan button-down shirt.

Dillon glanced around the foyer and spied Ned standing by the door removing his dark coat.
“Ned, did you just see Georgie?” he asked anxiously.
“Yes, she just left. Dillon, what happened? Why was she crying?”
Dillon didn’t answer him; he had raced out the doors before Ned had finished his question.

Hearing more footsteps coming down the stairs, Ned saw his mother coming down with a smug smile on her face; right behind her was a young girl that Ned had never seen before. Glancing back at Tracy he sighed audibly.

“Okay, mother, now what have you done?”


Chapter 2


“Now darling,” Tracy said walking up to her son “what makes you think that I’ve done anything?” She looked the picture of innocence. Ned didn’t believe it for a minute.

“Well, let’s see. I come home to find Georgie running out of here, like she couldn’t get away fast enough. Then Dillon comes flying down the stairs, asks me if I’ve seen Georgie and leaves almost as quickly as she did. And then I see you, mother, calmly walking down the stairs, smiling like the cat that just ate the canary. Gee, now I wonder what would make me think that you have been up to something.” Ned mocked. He turned his head and glanced at Sage. Tapping his finger against his lips he asked her “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Surprised, Sage answered “No I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Are you related to anyone named Cyndi?” Ned asked.
Before she could answer, Tracy stepped in. “Don’t be silly, Ned. This is Sage. Lorenzo Alkaczar’s niece. And,” she added triumphantly, “your brother’s new girlfriend.”

“Over my dead body!” Ned snarled. The pieces were starting to fall together. He turned and grabbed his coat from the chair where he had recently placed it. “I just remembered an errand that I have to run.” With the doorknob turned in his hand, he said to Tracy, “Make sure she’s gone by the time I get back.”
**********************************************
The sounds of a foghorn and the gentle pinging of the buoy filled the night as Georgie slowly walked down the steps to the pier. She had finally managed to lose Dillon and had come to the here to think. The tide was down, lowering the level of the water, so she sat on the edge of the docks and wrapped an arm around one of the wooden posts. A gentle breeze tugged playfully at her hair, and the cold from the wooden planks seeped into her body. She felt none of it as she fought against the memories that had taken hold of her mind during her walk.

Well, do you think about it?

Georgie, all guys everywhere think about it all the time, no matter what they say. But, you know, it has to be right and you have to be ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woman is nuts. She goes around kissing high school students every chance she gets.
Yeah, when the guy lets her, I mean, why not?
I didn't let her. And I'll tell you another thing - I'm not going to let it happen again, I promise.
I want to believe you.
You can. I love you. Flat out, I love you. That means making promises and keeping them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why now?
I'm ready.
I'm not.
Because of Sage, right?
Right.
Sage is my job. You are my love.
Promise?
I promise.

She sniffed against the tears that threatened to fall and gave a small rueful laugh. “Pfft. Yeah right. Obviously the time was right for them and his promises were for someone else,” she whispered into the darkness.
**********************************************
“Chloe Lane did not break your opera glasses, Luke.” Skye informed him again as she and Luke made their way along the pier.

“Yes, she did,” he insisted.

“When?” she countered. Turning she stopped in front of him, causing him to come to a standstill.

“Right when she hit that high note.”

“Luke, there are a lot of high notes in La Boheme.”

“Well, it was during that one, um, hey what are you doing?” he asked surprised as Skye grabbed the edge of his tuxedo jacket and pulled out the small transistor radio that he had hidden in the inside pocket.

“Could of it been when the Giants missed the field goal?” she asked as she turned the radio on. The announcers where still giving the play by play of the Giants and Jets game which was now tied 21-21.

“Now I wonder how that could have got it in there,” Luke hedged with a smile. He looked so adorable that Skye gave a small laugh. “Okay,” he conceded. “How did you know that I had that?”

“Well, it was pretty obvious when the guy missed, cause you jumped up out of your chair and started screaming ‘It’s good, you fool!’ Lucky for us, it was at the end of the second scene and nobody noticed.”

“I still say it was that girls fault. No one can hit that high of a note on purpose.”

“Contrary to popular belief, Luke, the human voice cannot break glass. You broke your glasses when you plopped back down in your seat.”

“Well, as luck would have it, the smartest person I know is sitting right over there. We’ll go ask her.” Luke pointed to Georgie. Turning, Skye saw her and knew immediately that something was wrong. “Remind me to tell you about the day she was born…” Luke started, but Skye was already heading towards Georgie.

“Georgie?” Concerned, Skye gathered the skirt of her dark blue gown and sat down beside her. She pulled the corners of her coat tighter across her, as the cold off the waters hit her full force. She couldn’t understand how the young girl could just sit here and not move.

“Yeah?” Georgie asked, wiping the tears from her face. Looking up at the other woman, she tried to smile.

“What’s wrong? You look like you just lost your best friend.” It was the concern on the other woman’s face that had her in tears again. Sobbing, she told Skye about Sage, the deal she had made with Tracy and finding Dillon with Sage.

Knowing that nothing she could say would make the younger girl feel any better, Skye place a sympathetic arm around her shoulders and let the girl cry. Unbeknownst to them Luke had snuck up behind them and had heard the whole story. Anger filled him as he stood there staring down at the girl.

All three heads snapped up as they heard Dillon yelling Georgie’s name. “I’ll kill him,” Luke snarled and headed towards the stairs, just as Dillon had started to come down them.

Not knowing if Luke really meant it, Georgie looked pleadingly at Skye. “Skye, please..”
Wanting nothing better than to help Luke herself, Skye nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Luke.”

“It’s just that Luke has been in jail so much this year already..” Georgie began but Skye had already stood up and was heading towards Luke.
**********************************************
Dillon came running down the stairs of the pier. It was the last place he could think of where she might have gone. He had tried everywhere else. As he got to the bottom of the steps he spied Luke walking towards him.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the young mighty Mr. Quartermaine!” So saying Luke grabbed Dillon by the lapels of his jacket and shoved him roughly against the wall.

“You’ve got to the count of ten, to convince me not to pulverize you and throw your worthless hide into that water!”

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 3


“One,”

Dillon stood there with his mouth agape. He couldn’t believe that Luke was serious about pulverizing him.

“Two,”

“I, uh, umm,” he stuttered still at lose as to what to say. He had never seen Luke look so mad. Not even at Stephan’s ‘trial’.

“Ten!” Luke punched Dillon in the stomach hard, causing Dillon to double over with a loud “OOF!” Grabbing him once again by the lapels of his coat, Luke shoved him up against the wall once more. He brought his hand back and was about to lay into him again when he heard Skye walk up behind him.

“Luke, wait!” Skye rushed up to him and grabbed a hold of his arm.

“Aww c’mon Red,” Luke complained. “I was just getting warmed up.”

“Yes, well, I promised that I wouldn’t let you kill him. Besides, I would like to hear what he has to say. Knowing Dillon, this should be good.” Glancing at the boy, Skye let her disgust shine through.

“There is no ‘story’,” he croaked.

“Really? That’s not the way I heard it.” Skye told him. “So tell me Dillon. How long did you wait to crawl in bed with another girl after you and Georgie got into a fight? Five minutes? Ten? Or were you ‘man’ enough and waited an whole hour?” An old pain brought a biting bitterness to her sarcasm. Ignoring the look that Luke shot her, she looked expectantly at Dillon.
“It didn’t happen like that!” Dillon insisted. “Look, I did something really, really stupid and I hurt the only person that I love more than life itself. So if you want to pulverize me and throw me in the river then go ahead! Cause, nothing you say or do, will be any worse than what I think of myself right at this moment.”

Luke had been watching Dillon through his short, impassioned speech. The fact that the boy had looked him square in the eye, made him realize that he was speaking the truth. Still he wasn’t going to give him an inch. He looked over and saw Skye shiver and pull her black coat more tightly about her slim waist.

“C’mon Red, let’s get you home so you can thaw. Right now I need to get away from the stench on these docks.” Giving Dillon a disgusted look of his own, he wrapped an arm about her shoulders and together they headed home.
**********************************************
Georgie looked up to find herself standing in front of the Port Charles High School. Shivering, she walked around remembering something about one of the basement windows having a broken latch. She found it a few minutes later; it was towards the back of the school in an area that was shaded by a small group of trees. Kneeling down, she slipped two fingers in the opening and tugged. Nothing. Freeing her fingers, she cupped her hands around her mouth and blew to warm them up and tried again. This time she was successful. The window opened wide enough for her to slip through. Turning on her belly, she slowly lowered herself into the school.
**********************************************
Dillon walked up to the school and looked around. Not seeing her, he frowned as he started walking around looking for her again. She had to be here. He had just caught the back of her head, when Luke had pushed up against that wall. Not certain where she had gone, Dillon had wandered around for a bit, when it occurred to him that she would probably try to find some place peaceful and quiet. For Georgie, school was that place. He had just past the small grove of trees when he remembered the window. Looking down he saw, sure enough, the window was open.
**********************************************
Georgie wandered down the empty halls of the school and came to the gym. Walking inside, she saw that the student counsel had been hard at work taking down the set of “A Christmas Carol”. Both tables and chairs had been folded up and placed against the walls, waiting to be taken back to storage. She walked up on the stage and looked around. Spying a tape player in a corner, she walked over to turn it on. It was an instrumental piece and after a few seconds, she recognized the song as one of her favorites. Shedding her plum-colored denim jacket, she walked over to a stool and sat down and started to sing along with the music.

Turn down the lights
Turn down the bed
Turn down these voices
Inside my head
Lay down with me
Tell me no lies
Just hold me close,
Don’t patronize
Don’t patronize

Cause I can’t make you love me
If you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel
Something it won’t
Here in the dark
In these final hours
I will lay down my heart
And I feel the power
But you don’t
No, you don’t
Cause I can’t make you love me
If you don’t

I’ll close my eyes
Then I won’t see
The love you don’t feel
When you’re holding me

Morning will come
And I’ll do what’s right
Just give me till then
To give up this fight

And I will give up this fight

Cause I can’t make you love me
If you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel
Something it won’t
Here in the dark
In these final hours
I will lay down my heart
And I feel the power
But you don’t
No, you don’t
Cause I can’t make you love me
If you don’t

“Is that what you really think?” Dillon asked her sadly. “That I don’t love you?” She gave a small start and looked up at him.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” she said, going over to switch off the tape player.

“Yes, it does, Georgie,” he insisted. He had been wandering the halls himself when he had heard the music. Following the sound he had made his way to the gym. He had stood there mesmerized by her voice and the song. She was just sitting there in a mauve sweater and dark jeans, staring sightlessly out onto the gym floor, obviously lost in the song. A soft light had added an ethereal feel to the picture she made.

“Since when?” Georgie asked.

“Since always. I’ve always valued your thoughts and opinions.” He told her.

“No, you haven’t. If you had, you would have never gone back to work for Alcaczar, Dillon.”

“You know, the only reason I went back to him was so that I could afford to get a place of my own, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting shipped off to military school. I did it for us.”

“No, Dillon, you did it for you. You wanted the excitement, the danger, and the allure of the unknown. You could have sucked it up and went to work for Kelly’s or for one of stores in the mall. But, no, you had to pretend that you were a character in one of those mafia movies that you love so much!” she snapped.

“I wasn’t pretending anything!” he yelled.

Suddenly she exploded. She slammed down a bunch of papers that she had been holding in her hands. “No! It was me! I did everything for us. I sacrificed everything! I begged you not to go to work for Alcaczar, but you did. I fought with Mac over you and your job. I lived in constant fear every time I volunteered, scared that one day, they were going to wheel you in, all shot up, which by the way they did. I agreed to hold onto those antique playing cards for you, while you tried to figure out who to give them to. I fought for us and wound up making the biggest sacrifice of all. I went to your mother to see if she would help me get you away from Lorenzo Alcaczar. What a mistake that was! And what did I get? I got to see my boyfriend in bed with another girl,” she was crying again. “Do you have any idea how much I wanted to die, when I opened that door?”

“Probably as much as I wanted to die, when you accused me of sleeping with Sage when we were on that island, and then telling me that we were a joke. I love you Georgie, I know we can work through this.” When she said nothing, he tried again. “Georgie?”

“I can’t,” she whispered softly.

“Are you saying that you don’t love me anymore?” he asked with tears filling in his own eyes. When she remained silent, he knew what he had to do. He cupped her face with his hands and lowered his head, till his forehead rested against her own. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me,” he demanded.

She closed her eyes, knowing what he was doing. “Dillon, please,” she had to struggle against the knot in her throat to get the words out. “If you ever loved me please just leave.”

“I can’t. You know I can’t. Remember, we tried that at the beginning of the school year and it didn’t last a day. Besides, how can I know that that is what you really want? I mean if I go, are you really going to want me stay? I don’t want to make this any worse. I don’t know what to do now Georgie?”

She finally opened her eyes and looked at him for a long time. She took in the desperation and confusion in his eyes and the sincerity on his face. Finally she gave him a sad smile. “Okay,”

“Okay, what?” Dillon asked cautiously

“I’ll make one more sacrifice for you,” she said, wiping away her tears.

He had just felt a tiny flutter of hope when she turned and left the building.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 4


Georgie opened the door to her house and went inside. “I’m going to go upstairs and take a long hot bath and go to bed,” she told herself. She surprised herself instead by going to Maxie’s room.

“Georgie?” came the reply to her soft knock.

“Yeah, Max, it’s me,” she answered. She waited a minute while her sister unlocked her door. Swinging the door open, Maxie stood aside as Georgie came into the room.

“Do you know what time it is?” Maxie demanded. She stood there in a pair of midnight blue satin pajamas and book in her hand. Frowning slightly, Georgie looked at the book. Maxie only read when she waiting up for Georgie.

“What’s wrong?” she asked concerned.

“Well, I was hoping you could tell me that. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing for the last three hours. First it was Skye, then Luke, Dillon called after him, and I just now got off the phone with Ned.”

Georgie threw her coat and purse on a chair and sat down on the corner of the bed and waited as Maxie came over to sit beside her. “Dillon and I are through,” she said answering the unspoken question in her sister’s eyes.

“I know. I heard about what happened at the hospital. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” she asked, knowing that her sister was anything but okay.

“No, that’s not it.” At her sister’s confused look, Georgie went on. “The scene at the hospital was just that; a scene. I had gone to Tracy to ask her to help get Dillon away from Alcaczar and she told me she would do it if I agreed to break up with Dillon, so I did.”

“What? Wait a minute. You went to Tracy, the woman that Dillon has told you time and again is the world’s biggest liar, for help?” Disbelief stole over the look of confusion in Maxie’s face.

“I know. I know. I just thought that since she was his mother, she wouldn’t want him involved with that family. I thought it was the one thing that we could agree on. Boy was I mistaken!”

“What makes you think that?” Maxie asked as she got up to turn up the heat in the room.

“I got to thinking how Dillon and I have always been honest with each other, and I wasn’t feeling comfortable with this scheme of hers, so I went over to the Quartermaine’s to talk to him. I ran into Tracy and she basically told me that Dillon was locked up in his room, pining away for me. She encouraged me to go up to his room and see if I couldn’t get him to come out.”

“Why am I not liking the sound of this?” Maxie asked to no one in particular.

“Because when I got to his room I found him in bed.” Georgie answered. “With Sage.”
**********************************************
After following Georgie home, Dillon went into his own house. He knew he had been right in thinking that as upset as Georgie was, she wouldn’t be paying attention to her surroundings. She hadn’t. He knew cause he had followed her every step of the way. All she would have had to do was turn around and she would have seen him. Hearing his mother’s voice in the library, Dillon headed that way to say goodnight. His hand froze on the knob as he heard her from inside.

“That’ll teach her to try to make nice with me. I’m telling you Sage, you should have seen the look on her face as she ran from that room.” Tracy gloated.

“But how did you know that she would catch us?”

“Because, I knew she wouldn’t hold up her end of our deal. I knew she would chicken out and tell Dillon that that whole hospital scene was a farce. So, when she came here--like I knew she would, I told her all the things she wanted to hear. How he was locked up in his room, pining away for her. Then I suggested that she go upstairs and try to talk to him. That I thought she could get to him better than even I could. Maybe now, she’ll get it through that thick head of hers, that my son is too good for her.”

Dillon’s miserable mood was soon shifted to one of outright fury. Georgie had told him that she had gone to Tracy, but she hadn’t said anything about this deal. He realized right then, exactly how much she had worried about him doing his job. He leaned his head against the door and closed his eyes against the pain of knowing that she had cared more about him than his own mother. Taking a deep breath, he straightened up and opened the doors walking into the room.

“You need to leave now,” he said looking directly to Sage who was sitting in one of the wingchairs. “I need to talk to Tracy alone. I’ll have Reginald show you to a phone.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Ned said walking into the room. “Since our mother didn’t take me seriously the first time, I’ll take Cyndi home.”

“It’s Sage.” Sage corrected as she followed him out to his car.

“Whatever,” he muttered under his breath.

“I want you gone. You’ve got two hours, starting now, to get out of this house, before I go upstairs and tell Grandmother what it is you’ve done.” Dillon icily informed Tracy as soon as they were alone.

“What?! I’m your mother! You can’t throw me out?” she gasped out in shock. What was this? Where did this angry young man come from and where was her sweet little boy?

“You are not my mother. My mother used to care about what made me happy. She used to think that I was the only really important thing in her world. She would have never just abandon me with a bunch of strangers and then just take off without even a simple goodbye. She would have been thrilled that I had found love. She would have never become the evil snake that you are.” Dillon told her quietly, his voice taut with emotion. Looking over at the clock on the mantel he coldly informed her “You now have and hour and fifty-five minutes.”

“And just where am I supposed to go?” she demanded angrily.

“That’s not my problem,” he said as he left the room brushing past a stunned Emily and a proud Edward.

“What’s going on?” Ned asked Emily as he came back inside. She was standing stock still in the doorway of the library. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slack with surprise.

“I’m not sure,” she whispered “but I think Dillon just disowned your mother.”

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 5


Dillon stormed into his room, slamming the door behind him. Shaking with a mixture of what he had just done and the anger he still felt, he paced the room. Suddenly, the room felt too warm, he walked over to open a window. Pacing again, his gaze fell on the bed. Before he realized what he was doing, he had the bedding, covers and all, gathered in a big pile and was heading for the window. Roughly shoving the pile out onto the snow had taken some of the edge off of his anger. Reveling in the feeling, he went around the room. Soon pencils, books and anything else he could get his hands on, found themselves being hurled through the window, to land next to the bedding. Without conscious thought, his fingers curled around her picture. Her smiling face caught his attention at the last possible moment.

He stood there, staring in horror at her picture. He had come thisclose to tossing it out. With his anger drained out of him, Dillon felt the cold come in from the window. Walking back over, he shut it, and turned again to face his bed. He knew that he would not be able to sleep in it tonight. Going over to his closet, he pulled out a dark green blanket and settled into a nearby chair. Unable to stand the quiet, he found the remote and turned on his stereo.

“How fitting,” he thought as he caught the end of the new 3 Doors Down song. Glancing down at the picture, he ran his fingers gently over her face, singing along with the song.

I’m here without you baby
But you’re still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time
I’m here without you baby
But you’re still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl, there’s only you and me

Silent tears fell down on the picture. Hastily he wiped them dry, turned off the stereo and pulling the blanket up to his chin, he settled down into the chair. He fell asleep clutching her picture to his chest.

The next day:

Georgie walked into her History classroom and took her seat. After looking around, she sighed with relief, when she realized they weren’t there. She hadn’t wanted to come to school today, fearing that they would be here. But she would have had to explain to Mac why she wasn’t going. She shook her head knowing that there was no way she was ever going to tell him what had happened.

Not wanting to talk to anyone, she opened her book and sat there trying to ignore the whispers that went around the room. She knew how bad she looked. Her eyes were still red and swollen despite the heavy amount of make-up that Maxie had put on her this morning. They had tried to draw the attention away from her eyes, by clothing her in a navy blue sweater and a pair of khaki’s. Maxie had brushed her hair till it shone and left it down to fall about her face and shoulders. Despite their best efforts though, Georgie still looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

The other kids were talking about her. Since school had started, it was the first time they had ever seen her come in without Dillon. He would usually grab the seat right behind her and either stare at her or play with her hair throughout most of the class. It struck them as odd, that he had not followed her in today.

She nearly jumped a foot off her chair when someone from behind tapped her on the shoulder. “G, you’ve been looking at that same page for the last ten minutes. You’re usually half way through the book by now. What’s wrong?” Guy asked.

Georgie said nothing, but shook her head negatively. Guy could tell by the way she had looked coming into the classroom, that something was majorly wrong. “We’ll talk later,” he whispered before taking his own seat in the next row.

For the sake of appearances, Georgie turned a page in her book and tried to focus on the words in front of her. A flash of red caught her eye. Glancing up, she saw Sage walk into the room wearing a snug bright red sweater and black leather pants. The other girl walked to her seat, looking as refreshed as ever, giving Georgie yet another reason to hate her.
**********************************************
Sage sat down and pouted, as she couldn’t find Dillon anywhere. He hadn’t shown up that morning to pick her up for school, which was part of his job. ‘How is he supposed to protect me if he doesn’t even bother to show.’ She desperately wanted to know if Tracy had been able to convince Dillon, that she was better for him, than Georgie ever would be. She smiled smugly as she took in Georgie’s red, swollen eyes, and the heavily applied make-up.

She stretched like a lazy cat and announced, “I had the best night’s sleep last night. I slept just like a baby.” She looked over at Georgie and asked with a saccharine sweetness “How about you Georgie?”

Georgie ignored her and continued to flip through her book.

“Jealous?” Sage whispered mockingly

Georgie slowly closed her book and turned to Sage with an odd grin. In a voice loud enough for the entire classroom to hear, she answered. “Me? Jealous? Of you? Please. Don’t make me laugh. At least I don’t have to have a babysitter at the age of 16. What’s that like? Does he have to do those cute little “goo-goo” sounds or burp you after you eat?”

The whispering turned into snickers as the kids’ attention zeroed in on Sage. Georgie overheard the girl in front of her say, “Eww, she needs a babysitter. I think they placed her in the wrong class. Maybe she needs to be with Special Needs.”

“Dillon is not my babysitter, he’s my companion!” Sage shouted out to the class.

Guy turned around in his seat till he was facing Sage. “A companion? My grandmother has one of those. Do you play shuffleboard, also? I could give you her name and number. They’re looking for a new couple to play pairs with.”

Georgie placed a hand to her heart and widened her eyes in mock concern. “Companion? My goodness Sage! That’s a big word. Did you hurt yourself saying it?” she asked facetiously.

The classroom burst with laughter.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 6


“You…you…want to what?” Dillon stammered as sat in the rose colored chair, looking at Lila with a combination of shock and disbelief.

“It’s true, dear.” Lila smiled nodding her head. “Edward and I discussed it last night. Actually we have been tossing around the idea for the last couple of months. We realize that you will be eighteen soon, so the adoption would only be for a short while.”

Dillon’ mind continued to whirl about. He had been all set to go to school that morning, when there had been a knock at his door. He had opened it to find Reginald standing there.

“Your grandmother would like to see you,” the man had said.

“Now? I have to go to school and if I don’t leave in the next five minutes, then I’m going to late. Could you please tell Grandmother that I will stop in to see her after school?” Dillon had picked up his coat and backpack intent on leaving.

“I have already called the school and made your excuses. She’s waiting in her room for you.” Reginald responded before leaving to see to breakfast.


Leaning over, Lila patted his hand gently. “It can’t be that bad, could it?”

Dillon shook his head, trying to make sense of this. “No. I just can’t believe that you and Grandfather wish to adopt me. I mean Edward doesn’t even like me. Most of the time he either ignores me or he’s telling me to go do something.”

Lila laughed softly, amusement twinkling in here eyes. “I keep forgetting that most people don’t understand Edward like I do. Emily does, but I think she’s the only one. Believe me dear boy, Edward does like you. He loves his family; he just thinks that if he shows it, then everybody will do what A.J. did.”

“A.J. stole the Quartermaine fortune. I don’t think anyone will be trying to do that for a while.” Dillon lamented.

“It’s not the money. A.J. made Edward proud by taking over ELQ after Ned was fired. Before you ask,” she said, quickly intercepting his unspoken question. “I don’t know how or why. Nor do I think I want to. You have to understand; Edward only looks at the end result, not the way it got there. As you well know he is not a saintly man.”

Dillon looked at his grandmother, sitting there regally in her chair. She was wearing a turquoise blue dress with her white hair pulled back in its usual chignon. That was where the image of a frail old lady ended. Lila was indeed the queen in her castle. With her sharp, keen eyes and level-headedness, she knew how to tough, but fair. Deep down he knew that he had to turn them down. Tracy would never go for it and the last thing he wanted was for her to go after this lady that sat in front of him. While Lila would do anything for her family, Tracy would only do anything for Tracy.

Smiling resignedly at her, he placed his hands over her own. “I’m sorry. I’m touched that you and Grandfather want to adopt me, but I can’t agree to this. I kicked Tracy out last night and if she were to ever find out about this, she wouldn’t be very happy. Believe me, when Tracy finds out something that doesn’t make her happy, there are no ends to what she will do to rectify it. No one is safe from her. Not even her own family,” he reflected sadly. Giving a deep breath he added, “In fact, I think it would be a good idea for me to leave.”
*************************************************
Later that afternoon...

Maxie turned the corner with only one thing on her mind; a tall vanilla latte with just a splash of cinnamon on top. She passed the window of Kelly’s and saw Dillon sitting inside with Sage. All thoughts of her latte quickly flew from her mind. She jerked the door open causing the bell to clang furiously.

“I’m telling you Dillon, it was awful. The whole class was laughing at me and it was all Georgie’s fault.” Sage pouted.

Dillon looked up from his laptop and was about say something when he felt a jarring slap on the back of his head.

“You snake! You disgusting, low-life, cheating slimeball. How could you do that to my sister?” Maxie asked angrily. “And with her of all people?”

Sage shot to her feet. “You have no right coming in here…” was as far as she got before Maxie backhanded her so hard she fell back down into her chair. Spinning around Maxie shot her a dirty look “Get out,” she demanded and turned her attention back to Dillon.

Sage straightened in her chair. “You can’t tell me what to do. My uncle…” she stopped there as Maxie slowly turned her direction once again. A feral gleam shone in the blonde’s eyes, as her lips pulled back in a small snarl her hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Sage by the arm. Forcibly Maxie dragged her to her feet and headed towards the door. Swinging the door open, Maxie shoved a protesting Sage into the arms of her uncle. Looking Lorenzo square in the eyes she warned him “Get her out of my sight, before I give new meaning to the phrase ‘bitch slap’.”
*************************************************
As the door shut Lorenzo looked down at his niece, seeing the red imprint of Maxie’s hand. Sighing deeply, he took Sage’s other arm. “Come along Sage,” he said leading her to the car. “On the way home you can tell me what it is that you supposedly ‘didn’t’ do this time.”
*************************************************
Maxie headed back to the table where Dillon still sat. Removing her blue coat, she set it down along with her purse, on one of the empty chairs. She stared at him for a long time, taking in the dark shadows under his eyes that matched the black hooded sweatshirt that he wore.

“I can’t believe you slept with her,” she said. “After everything she has said and done, not just to you, but to Georgie also. You know I thought you were going to be the exception to the rule. But no, you’re just like the rest. Why, Dillon, why? Why would you want to be that close to someone who is always criticizing and making fun of Georgie? You remember her don’t you? You know, the one you told me you liked, while we were sitting on the pier. The one that you just proclaimed your love to, what 5-6 months ago? What happened to that? You get into one fight and then it just what, goes “poof”, up in smoke?” She stopped to take a drink of water. “And then to top it all off, you go and meet her at Kelly’s the very next day without even once wondering how Georgie is doing.”

Dillon sat down his cup of coffee with a thud and looked Maxie directly in her eyes. “I’ve tried calling Georgie all day, but she has her phone turned off. I wasn’t at school today, because I had some business to take care of with my grandparents- not that that is any of your business.” Pushing away from the table he got up and looked down at her. “And as far as me meeting Sage here at Kelly’s, well I was waiting for her uncle to show up so I could tell them both that I was quitting. Now, thanks to you, I have to wait and try again.”

Stunned she could only gape at him. “Sorry,” she muttered under her breath. “I get really defensive when it comes to my sister.”

“Maxie, don’t you think that I haven’t wished every second of every day, that I had never slept with her. I wish to God that there were a time machine that I could get into and go back and undo this. But I can’t. I can only try to fix this the best way I know how.”

Smiling a little she looked over at him. “Sounds like you’ve got a plan. What is it?”

“Simple. To get her back.”

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 7


Georgie walked into class the following morning carrying a latte in one hand and her books in the other. Carefully she made her way to her desk and sat down after depositing her coffee and books on the desk. Resting her head in her hands, she closed her eyes attempting to relieve the sandpaper feeling.

“G. are you sick?” Guy asked looking at her in concern.

“Huh?” Georgie slowly opened her eyes and looked at her friend. “No, Maxie stepped off one of the stairs wrong last night and twisted her ankle. The hospital was short so I volunteered to cover her shift for her.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, we called Tony and he came over and looked at it. Said for her to stay off her feet for a couple of days.”

“Wait a minute, didn’t you have volunteer duty yesterday?” He asked after picking up a pencil that had fallen on the floor.

“Yeah. But it was okay. It was a pretty quite night.”

“So you wound up volunteering for what, 8 hours?”

She nodded in assent. “Looks like I will be again for the rest of the week.”

Just then Mr. Eimers came in and took roll. Mr. Eimers looked exactly like Albert Einstein, complete with the crazy white hair, and was one of Georgie’s favorite teachers. The fact that he taught Accelerated English made her like him even more.

“All right class, just a few reminders before we begin the day,” he announced, pushing his wire-framed glasses up on his nose, before reaching down to tug on the dark gray sweater that he wore every week. “Your poems are due by the end of next week. They may be free-lanced or you may copy one out of a book. Remember that if you decide to copy one, then you must break down each sentence and describe what it means to you. And if anyone decides to do the ‘roses are red, violets are blue.’ I will send you down to the office with a note instructing them to find you a new English class. Also due next week are your submissions along with a rough draft of your term paper. Any questions?” The class groaned but no one spoke up. “One other thing, one of our tutors has moved and we need someone to take her place. If anyone is interested please get with me after class.”
**************************************************
Dillon stood out in the hallway waiting for someone to answer the door. He started to knock again when the door opened.

“Dillon right on time,” Lorenzo said as he stepped aside to let Dillon in. “Did you and Maxie get things straightened out?”

“Uh, yeah, I um, at least I think so,” Dillon hedged.

“Good, now what can I do for you?” Lorenzo asked as he poured himself a drink. Looking over at Dillon he indicated to the pitcher of juice.

“No thank you," he said declining the juice. "I’m going to get right to the point. Do you remember that day when you told me that if this job ever got to be too much for me to let you know?”

“Yes, I recall that was the day you left my niece alone minutes after I left. Is that what you are trying to tell me? You can’t handle this job.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you.” Dillon said looking around.

“Does this have anything to do with Georgie catching you and my niece kissing?”

Surprised Dillon swung his gaze around and gulped. What exactly had Sage told him?
“How-how did you find out about that?”

“Well it’s not every day that I have my niece tossed out of a diner and into my arms with a warning attached. When I got her home I told her to tell me what happened and she told me that Georgie had walked in and saw you two kissing. Are you telling me that she lied?”

“No. Georgie did catch us. Look, it never should have happened and I told Sage that and I apologized for any misunderstanding.” Dillon hated lying to him, but given the odds, it was probably the safest way out. “Georgie broke up with me the other day and I’ve got to get her back. I love her and I miss her. You know she didn’t like me taking this job, but she tried to go along with it. I’ve lost her trust and I need to get it back, so I can get her back. I hope you can understand.”

Lorenzo nodded quietly. “Indeed I can. I don’t suppose you could stick around until the end of the week?”

Giving a small rueful chuckle Dillon declined. “Sorry, but I need to line up a new job and find a new place to live.”

“To live?” Surprise filled Lorenzo’s face as he took a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, I kicked Tracy out of the Quartermaine mansion the night Georgie broke up with me. Now I’m worried that if I stay she might try to retaliate against Ned or Lila or someone.”

“You kicked your mother out of her own house? I’m not sure if that’s gutsy or stupid.” The older man had look of combined shock and awe. “Why don’t you just stay at The Port Charles Hotel? Your family owns it, don’t they?”

A coldness came over Dillon’s face. “One -she’s not my mother. Two-she’s staying there. How, I don’t know. She probably went to Jasper Jacks and told him some sob story.”

A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. The guard, Tino, stuck his head in. “Your car’s ready to take you to your appointment Mr. Alkaczar.”

Lorenzo waved the guard away. “Thanks, tell them I’ll be down in a minute.” He walked over to his desk and pulled out his checkbook. Quickly filling out one of the checks, he handed it over to Dillon. “This should help get you started. Thank you for all of your help. I hope you know that if you need anything, just let me know.”

“Thank you sir.” Dillon said shaking his proffered hand. He looked down quickly at the check and did a double –take. “This is a months salary! I can’t accept this.” He tried to hand the check back over, but Lorenzo waved him away.

“It’s yours. You’ve earned it. I know what a handful my niece can be. Good luck, Dillon. I hope you and Georgie can work this out.”

Walking out the door, Dillon stopped to shake his hand once more. “Me too,” he said and headed off to Luke’s.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 8


Dillon walked through the doors of Luke’s and immediately ducked down to avoid the flying glass that crashed against the wall. Standing up he glanced over to see Luke picking up another glass. “Luke, please, I need to talk to you. Five minutes that all I ask. Please?” he asked earnestly.

“Why would I want to hear anything you have to say?” Luke asked hefting the glass in his hand.

“Because if you don’t like what I say then you get to get rid of me any way you see fit.” Dillon betted. Luke looked at him for a few minutes and then gestured for Dillon to walk to the bar.

“All right,” he said, “You have five minutes starting now.”

Having learned that he could never be sure of how much time Luke would actually give him, Dillon plunged in. “I need a job and a place to live. I was hoping you might know something.”

“What? Ms. Thing’s uncle find out about you and her? Is that it? Did he put a hit out on you? Threaten to string you up by your fingernails?”

“Yes. No. I mean she told him that Georgie caught us kissing and before you ask, no I didn’t correct him on what really happened.”

“ Well, that’s a shame.” Luke walked to one end of the bar and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Now that we’ve established why you need a job, why don’t you tell me why you need a place to live. Don’t tell me they don’t have room for you in that mausoleum.”

Dillon told him everything from overhearing Tracy to Lila and Edward wanting to adopt him. “I must say I’m impressed” Luke said with a touch of amazement after Dillon had finished. “Not many people have what it takes to stick it Tracy. Fewer still have escaped her wrath.”

“So you’ll help me?” Dillon asked hopefully.

“I don’t know. You’ve hurt someone that I care for very badly. It’s going to take more than a new boss and a new address for her to get over it.”

“I realize that. It’s going to take a lot. I want her back. I need to get her trust back at least. Luke you have no idea what these past few days have been like.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I don’t know. Why did you do it?” Dillon countered.

Surprise flickered across Luke’s face. “How did you know about me and Felicia?”

“You don’t live in that ‘mausoleum’ as you call it,” Dillon said crooking his fingers to indicate quotation marks, “and not hear about how who did what to whom and when they did it.”

“That’s probably true. But what happened between Felicia and myself is totally different. We were on the run from a madman.”

“And I got set up by a madwoman.”

“Dillon that’s not a reason. It’s what it is. An excuse. You can say you were on the run, your spouse cheated on you; you were lonely, sad, hurt. You can label it all you want, but in the end it’s just an excuse. And we’re all guilty of it.” Luke reached into a drawer and pulled out a set of keys. “This is what I can do. I can give you a job being caretaker here. You know put up the chairs, wipe down tables, etc., etc. It’s not a fancy job, but with the opening of the Haunted Star I just don’t have the time to take care of these trivial matters. As for a place to stay; follow me.”

Not sure what Luke meant by his last statement, Dillon followed him to a room that ran behind the bar. Opening the door, Luke walked into his old office. “It’s not much to look at, but this might do. You’ll have to furnish everything though.”

Dillon looked around already picturing were he would put his stuff. “It’s perfect,” he said trying to hide his excitement.

“Not so fast there, Costner. We have a few ground rules to go over first.”

“Okay.” Not the least bit fazed Dillon knew he would agree to whatever Luke came up with.

“First- no drinking anything from this bar. If you want a soda, coffee, or water, that’s fine. Anything else and I will throw you out on your rear. Second- you are not to serve anybody anything. During business hours you will be in your room or out somewhere. Third- you will keep up with your schoolwork. And last but not least- no parties. That’s all I have for now, if I come up with anything else I’ll let you know. Do you agree with these terms?”

Smiling hugely Dillon grabbed Luke’s hand and shook it vigorously. “You bet we do!”
*************************************************
The following Monday found Georgie walking to her locker to get some Advil for her migraine. It had snuck up on her during her science class. Blessedly it had been a film day and darkened room had helped until the lights had been turned back on.

“Georgie!” came the cry from behind her. Turning around she saw Mr. Eimers walking up to her.

“Mr. E! What can I do for you?” she asked trying not wince as someone slammed their locker behind her.

“You can agree to help one of my student’s get caught up with their assignments. I’m sure you know that Mr. Quartermaine missed all of last week and consequently is far behind. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”

Georgie had been concentrating on her migraine and had missed the last part of his request. “Um..yeah..sure I could do that. Just tell me when and where.”

“You can use my room after school. Say from 3:30 to 5:00?” Mr. Eimers looked at her closely. “Are you alright?”

Smiling slightly she said, “I’m fine, just a small headache. But could we make it 3:30 to 4:30? I volunteer at the hospital from 5:00 to 9:00.”

“That will be fine if you don’t mind spending all week with him.”

“Not at all.”

“Good. Now go get whatever it is that you take.” Needing no other encouragement, Georgie painfully hurried to her locker.
*************************************************
Feeling better after taking some Advil and getting some rest in the nurse’s office, Georgie walked into Room 203 and stopped to shut the door. Turning around she took two steps into the room and stopped. There sat Dillon looking at her with as much surprise as she was looking at him.

“Dillon! What are you doing here?” she asked although she suspected she already knew.

“I’m waiting for you. Only I didn’t know it was you.” Dillon couldn’t help but be thrilled. Not only would this give them some time alone, but also with her help, he might actually pass this class. “They didn’t tell me the name of the person who was coming in to help me. Didn’t they tell you who you were helping?”
Setting her backpack on an empty chair, Georgie began to pace. “Mr. E. told me, but I was having a migraine and wasn’t really paying any attention.”

“I didn’t know you had migraines. Are you okay? Do you need to go home?” he asked in concern.

“In a hurry to get back to Sage?” she snapped.

Flinching by the tone of her voice, Dillon answered, “No. It’s just that I’ve heard that they can be downright nasty. I don’t want you to be in pain when we can do this tomorrow. If you’re still willing to help.”

Flushing slightly with embarrassment and guilt, Georgie sat down at the desk that had pulled in front of his. Adverting her eyes she mumbled, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. What you do now is no longer any of my business.” Looking up at him, she gave a deep breath. "And to answer your question; yes, I'm still willing to help you with your work."

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 9


Wednesday afternoon found Georgie sitting across from Dillon glancing over the rough draft of his submission. ‘Famous Film Directors’ she shook her head slightly not at all surprised that he had chosen this as his topic. Glancing up at him she queried, “I thought you wanted to be an Independent Film Director.”

“I do.” Dillon said looking at her taking in the way the chocolate colored sweater darkened her eyes to where they were almost black and brought out the gold in her honey brown hair. He was always looking at her, trying to get her into some sort of conversation other than his schoolwork. But it was like trying to convince a mountain to move. She stubbornly refused to talk about anything but his homework. “Why do ask?”

“Well the three directors you’ve picked aren’t Independent. Peter Jackson, Frances Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg are all major motion picture directors. So why did you choose them?” she asked looking at him taking in the chambray shirt and faded jeans. She cursed herself silently as she felt her pulse quicken like it always did when she looked at him. Dropping her eyes to the to the top button of his shirt she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his necklace. She frowned wondering what had happened to it.

“I picked them knowing that none of the other kids in the class would know who Tim Sullivan or Fernando Meirelles is. And the only way they would know who Sophia Coppola is would be because of her father.”

“Well that makes sense, I guess. Truthfully I never thought about it.” She admitted before glancing back down at his paper. The seconds ticked by before Dillon remembered that he had something for her. Reaching into his backpack he pulled out the largest, juiciest, red apple he could find while he had been at the store getting some food and other necessities. Grinning slightly he put it on the edge of her desk.

“So far it looks good…” her voice trailed off as she saw the apple. “What’s this?” she asked.

“I thought it was traditional to give the pretty teacher an apple,” he quipped. He was rewarded with a small, but warm smile. “Actually it’s just a small way to say thanks.”

“Your welcome,” she said flushing a little. “Now what about your poetry assignment?” Georgie asked holding out her hand.

“I don’t have it with me. I think I must have left it in my room,” he hedged.

“Dillon it’s due in two days! I can’t help you with your work if you don’t bring it with you.”

Sighing deeply he realized that the small moment was gone. “I know. I’m sorry, but honestly I think I’m doing okay with it. I decided to copy one and it’s just about done.”

“Okay, well if you decide that you want me to look at it, bring it in tomorrow.”

“Do you know what I really want Georgie?” he asked looking at her. “I want to what happened between us.” He caught the flare of anger in her eyes and quickly added “Besides the obvious that is.”

Swallowing the snide comment that was on the tip of her tongue, Georgie looked at the clock and then back at Dillon. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “It’s 4:30 and I have to go or I’ll be late for volunteering.”

He sat back with a sigh, wondering how he was ever going to get the chance to make up for the pain that he had brought to them.

Georgie stood leaning against a wall, breathing deeply, trying to ignore the nagging voice in her head that insisted that she go back in that room and try to make things right.
*************************************************
Thursday found Sage standing out in the hall watching them as they worked on their assignments. Every now and then Dillon would say something and Georgie would answer him or look over a paper that he handed to her. That wasn’t the part that had her seeing red. It was the soft, yearning looks that he gave to Georgie when she wasn’t looking.

“He’s never going to look at you like that,” a voice whispered in her ear.

Giving a start she turned around to find Guy standing behind her. “What makes you think that he doesn’t already?!” Sage snapped. It rankled her knowing that he was right.

“I know, because I watch you watch him while he’s watching her. And when that isn’t happening I watch you watch her while she’s watching him. The only time I see him give you a look like that is when you step into his line of vision. Even then that look doesn’t last long, now does it?”

Turning on her heel, Sage swung back to looking at them through the narrow window in the door. “I don’t see what he sees in her,” she muttered. “She’s not that pretty.”

“No, she’s not.” Guy conceded softly.

Surprised Sage turned looked at the tall young man with a gleam of triumph in her eyes. His next comment had them narrowing sharply. “She’s beautiful. While you may be somewhat exotic looking on the outside, the inner you tarnishes it with the ugliness that filters through. Georgie is pretty, but her true beauty remains inside. She is smart, strong, funny, caring, forgiving, and so many things that you are not. She will grow up having everything that everyone wants- a house, husband, kids, and a career, friends that will stick with her. What will you have, Sage?” Guy gave her a pitying look before he turned and walked away, leaving Sage to mull over what he had just said.
*************************************************
Mr. Eimers stood in front of the class Friday taking the morning roll. Satisfied that everyone was there, he pushed his glasses back up on his nose and asked, “Does anyone wish to read what they have wrote?” Glancing around, he saw several students shift nervously in their chairs. Amused, he was fixing to pick one, when he saw Dillon raise his hand. Since Dillon never volunteered to do anything, Mr. Eimers snatched at the chance and called him to come up to the head of the room.

Seeing the boy’s nervous expression, he gestured to a stool. “Would you like to sit?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Grabbing the stool, Dillon sat it down in by the teacher’s desk.

“What kind of poem is it and what is the title?” Mr. E. asked.

“I’m not sure what kind of poem it is. Really, I’m not sure you could call it a poem, because it doesn’t rhyme. It’s called ‘Losing You’”.

“It’s called a blank verse poem. You may begin when you are ready.”

Taking a deep breath, Dillon looked down at his paper and began.


I was going to start this poem
Off with something creative like
I found you on a day I wasn’t looking for you
But there’s this thought
That flutters through my mind
Like a leaf caught on a summer wind
It twists and turns and never settles

Determined, I focus on this task
And think of the cliché’s that others have used
You know the ones
Her laughter is music to my ears
Her touch warms me like the sun
Her smile chases away the darkness
Her eyes are warm, bottomless pools


The thought though, refuses to be ignored
I picture you when I think of those cliché’s
And I realize that they are not
They are statements of facts I know, cause
The music has gone silent
The sun hides behind the clouds
The pools have frozen over
And darkness has filled my being

As I discover this
The thought finally settles down
And then I realize it’s not a thought
But rather a question
To which I have no answer
So I ask you to answer it for me
How did I lose you,
When I was staring right at you?

Setting his paper on the desk Dillon headed back to take his own seat. Georgie watched him out of the corner of her eye, taking in the white t-shirt and blue jeans thinking he was still the handsomest guy she had ever known and wondered silently how she was ever going to make it through their last afternoon session.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 10


Maxie was worried about her sister. Not only was Georgie tutoring Dillon, but also she had taken on extra homework, and she was taking extra volunteer hours at the hospital. The few times she had seen her sister, Maxie had noticed the bags under her eyes and she was losing weight. Deciding something had to be done, she had decided to make Georgie her favorite dinner-- gumbo and grilled cheese, or as they liked to call it ‘g-squared’. Standing over the stove, she stirred the gumbo a couple more times, before setting the spoon on the spoon-rest and covering the pot with a lid. She had just set a pitcher of tea in the refrigerator when Georgie came through the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The smell of something spicy had hit Georgie the minute she had walked through the front door. Following her nose, she entered the kitchen to find Maxie hobbling around, putting away various spices and other ingredients.

“Is that what I think it is?” Georgie asked walking over to the pot to take an appreciative whiff.

“Yes it is.” Maxie replied taking the lid from Georgie and replacing it on the pot. “It’s not done yet, so you have time to go wash up and put your things away.”

Laughing slightly Georgie gave her a mock salute. “Yes Ma’am!”

Laughing along with her sister, Maxie began to set the table. Georgie came back down a few minutes later and sat down at the table.

“So, how did the last day of tutoring go?” Maxie asked unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

“Um. We didn’t have it. Mr. E cancelled it saying that Dillon had already caught up with the rest of the class.”

“Well, if it was cancelled, then where have you been?”

“At the library trying to get some of my homework done. Only I couldn’t.”

“Why not? I mean I don’t know why you took on extra homework, but you usually fly through it.” Maxie commented as she set a steaming bowl of gumbo before her sister.

Picking up a spoon, Georgie dipped it into the soup. “Because Dillon wrote a poem,” was all she said before taking a bite. Closing her eyes to savor the spicy concoction, she missed the look that crossed over her sister’s face.

“What does Dillon writing a poem have to do with you not being able to finish your homework?” Maxie asked.

“Here,” Georgie said pulling out a sheet of paper out of the back of her jeans. “Read it, then maybe you’ll understand.”

Maxie grabbed the paper that Georgie handed to her and read it silently to herself. The paper already showed signs of much use, as though it had been read hundreds of times. “This is great. How did you get this?” she asked, handing the paper back.

“Mr. E asked me to make copies of some of the poems to put in the paper. So I made an extra one of Dillon’s.”

“And have you been able to answer the question?”

Georgie shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I’ve tried, but there just doesn’t seem to be one defining moment. It’s like we went from this totally amazing dream to this horrid, terrible nightmare.”

“Can I tell you what I think happened?” Maxie asked.

“Sure.”

“I think…” Maxie began but was cut off as they heard Mac yelling Georgie’s name.

“There you are.” Mac said coming into the kitchen. “Georgie, why aren’t you ready yet?”

Georgie glanced up at the clock and let out a yelp as she realized she only had fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. Quickly spearing the last shrimp out of her gumbo she raced out of the room promising to be down in five minutes.

Mac smiled at her retreating back. It was good to see her back to being her normal, responsible self. Hearing a drawer slam, Mac turned around and the smile flew from his face as he met Maxie’s furious gaze. “What?” he asked giving her a puzzled look.

“The first time in three weeks, that I get to see my sister, you come in and rush her off. Do you realize that she is hardly home anymore? That she’s exhausted and she’s losing weight? When was the last time you saw her sit down and relax? She’s up before 5:00 in the morning and doesn’t go to bed until at least 11:00 at night.”

Sighing Mac ran a hand across his forehead. “No, “ he admitted, “I hadn’t noticed. Between Baldwin having us so wrapped up into trying to find something to nail on Sonny and Jason and I.A. asking questions about Capelli, I just hadn’t noticed.” A concerned look crossed his face, “You don’t think she’s…” he couldn’t finish the rest of the sentence.

“What? Starving herself?” Maxie finished. She walked to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of tea. “No, Georgie’s too smart for that.” Maxie gave him a level look, before adding “But you know, sometimes it would be nice if you would show the same amount of interest in our lives as you do in Sonny and Jason’s.”

Before Mac could respond, Georgie came flying down the stairs in her turquoise blue volunteer outfit and her book-bag. Rushing over she gave Maxie a quick hug good-bye. “We’ll finish our conversation later.” Maxie whispered in her sister’s ear before Georgie rushed out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Georgie stood behind the nurse’s desk and was rearranging some folders when she saw Tony walking towards the desk. Grabbing up a magazine that one of the nurses had left behind; she went over to place it on one of the small tables in the waiting area.

“Georgie, how is your sister’s ankle doing?” Tony asked.

“Oh she’s fine,” she said, before laughingly adding, “she’s back to being the bossy big sister.” She gave a small frown as she started hearing a soft buzzing sound. Dismissing it she added, “Though she did make some of her famous gumbo.”

“And how are you doing?” he asked.

“Oh! I’m fine,” she insisted.

Tony wasn’t fooled for a minute. He knew she was tired, he could tell by her pale features and the dark circles under eyes. He started to tell her to go find an empty room when she started to sway.

The soft buzzing had given way to a deafening roar. Georgie looked at Tony and knew he was trying to tell her something but she couldn’t make it out. She saw his mouth moving and thought she heard him say her name, but the blackness had taken over before she could think to answer him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guy had just stepped off the elevator when he saw Georgie standing in front of Tony talking to him. Maxie had called him, inviting him over for dinner. They had sat eating and discussing everything from the cute boys of P.C. High to the dreaded finals. Inevitably their conversation had turned to Dillon and Georgie. Guy had asked questions, but Maxie had stayed quiet, telling him that it wasn’t her place to tell him what had happened. Guy had assured her that he had understood and snatched the opportunity to ask Georgie herself what had happened, when Maxie had asked him to take some of the soup to General Hospital for Georgie.

Guy was approaching the desk, with a bag in hand when he heard Tony exclaim “Georgie!” He watched in horror as he saw his friend crumple to the ground.