9 Years Ago

GG's hand flew through the wind as the convertible drove through the hills. She dipped it up and down with the rhythm of the song playing on the radio. Her sister was in the front seat singing along to the words and Arthur was driving, his fist holding up his tired head from the driver's door.

GG had asked Arthur to turn the song down so that she could hear her sister's voice. Evelyn had such a deep and powerful voice, even at GG's age (though she was 20 now and her singing had only gotten better). GG was jealous; she couldn't sing as well as her, though Evelyn always gave her little sister praise anyway. It made GG feel better about it.

The song was over and Evelyn did not know the next one, so instead she turned back to her sister and smiled. "Have you spoken to that boy recently?" She asked bluntly. GG's face turned red. Of course, Evelyn said no specific names, but she knew exactly who she'd meant. The younger sister violently shook her head.

"No! And why would I? That boy is nothing but trouble."

"So mum says." Evelyn turned back around in her seat.

"So, I says!"

"So you says because mum says!" She retorted back. Evelyn smiled at her sister's reflection in the front mirror. "When are you going to quit worrying what mum will think, GG? You have to make yourself happy too, sometimes."

GG scoffed. She didn't like when her sister got this way. It was a never ending battle between their mother and Evelyn when it came to GG. She was 16 now, for goodness sake! She was more than capable of making her own decisions.

"Either way, you like Ianto. And you can't tell me you do not. I know you." That was the last Evelyn had to say about it. GG said nothing more either. She knew her sister was right. And she hated it!

Ianto Anston was the most stubborn, persistent, and idealist young man GG had ever met. He was constantly offering to take her from the village to go to far off places, like Rome or Spain or the Americas! She would not have it. He called her pet names and told his friends that they were an item. He would be 18 soon, she would tell him, and he could not be telling people his girlfriend (though they were NOT together) was a minor. Ianto seemed to care little. And it aggravated GG.

It aggravated her because deep down she loved his attention. He was always kind. He brought her gifts and offered her rides home on his bike, though GG would never be caught dead on that thing! During lunch at school, he'd sneak into the old maths room where Mr. Holland left his grand piano and watched her play. He didnt know, but she knew he was always there (sometimes she'd play Mozart or Beethoven to be a show off). Once, Ianto told GG that they would get married and have a family someday. At first it had made her nervous, but at this stage in his story telling, she was use to it.

Thinking about Ianto Anston more made GG's face flush deeper and she hid her expressions underneath her wide-brimed sunhat.

Her face shot up again when Arthur suddenly snapped out of his tired state. "Here it is!" He exclaimed and turned the dial on the radio up. GG smiled at the song. It was Adele's new song Chasing Pavements. GG had heard it a few days ago and instantly fell in love; her and Arthur were huge Adele fans.

"Turn it all the way up, Art!" GG exclaimed and unbuckled her seatbelt. When Evelyn saw what her little sister was doing, she tugged hard on the new dress their mother had bought her to pull her back to the seat.

"Georgiana Jane, don't you dare!"

"Ah, c'mon, Ev. Let her have a bit o' fun." Arthur said, slowing the car down.

"One of these days, GG, you'll fall and break your neck, and then where will you be?" Evelyn's grasp loosened, but she still held on a bit, and GG stood up on her seat, tucking her feet in between the cushions to hold her still.

When GG had stood up all the way, her hand holding down her hat, she smiled and raised her arm in the air. "If that happened, Evie, I'd die happy!" She weewed as loud as she could over the wind and the song playing in the car.

This was something GG did all the time. She loved to feel dangerous. She would never accept a ride on Ianto's motor bike, but this she enjoyed.

The sun was starting to set. The golden rays spread out across the sky, mingling with the dark space above, looking as if it were bleeding over the hills far off into the horizon. GG loved the summer. Especially in England. She could go off with Ianto to all those other places he had mentioned, but GG was convinced that no matter where she was in the world, the sunset would never be as beautiful as it was over the rolling hills of the United Kingdom. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting the wind and the music take her. This moment was perfect.

There was another convertible in the opposite lane about to pass Arthur's car. He slowed his speed even more, just in case. But the speed of the opposite car created a gust of wind as it wizzed past, which caught GG off guard. She stumbled just slightly, waving her hands about to keep balance.

The wind caught her hat and roughly forced it off of her head several kilometers backwards into the street. GG fell to her knees and jumped for the headwear, but she was too slow.

"Stop the car, Arthur!" GG yelled. "I lost mum's hat!"

Arthur slowed to a stop and GG immediately hoped over the door and ran down the street to retrieve her lost apparel. As she did, she noticed the car that had pasted also stopped and one of the gentlemen within stepped out to catch GG's hat as it rolled past him. GG came to a full stop and watched the man lightly brush off the headwear. He was staring down at it as he approached her. GG was staring at him.

He was tall. Much taller than GG, at least 1 and a half meters. He had dark hair, but it stuck up in places. He looked like he had just come out of bed. When he approached GG, his round lips curled into a wide smile. His face stretched handsomely around his smile. His dark blue eyes met the young girls as he stretched out his arm, offering the hat he'd acquired for her. GG had forgotten that hat even existed. She had fallen in love.

"Miss?" His deep, raspy voice jerked GG back to reality. She suddenly felt so silly for staring. What a rude thing to do, she thought. She smiled and snatched her mother's headwear from its rescuer.

"Thank you so much." GG stuck the hat back atop her head.

"You know, you shouldn't stand up in a moving vehicle," His accent was American. She wasn't expecting that, "...It's dangerous." The man told her.

GG was annoyed suddenly. "You sound like my sister."

The man laughed. He had a cute laugh. "Your sister sounds like an intelligent person."

GG scoffed. "Not as intelligent as she thinks she is. 'Course she thinks she's a genius." He laughed again. The way the lines in his face stretched when he laughed caused a stir in GG. She smiled longingly at him, not even aware she was doing so.

GG looked back at Arthur's car when her sister called after her, waving her back. They didn't have much daylight left; their mother was expecting them back from town soon and she would be furious if they kept her waiting.

GG's attention swerved back to the man when he spoke. "Interesting name. Is it short for something?"

The young woman gave him a scrutinizing, but playful look. "You expect me to give my name to a complete stranger?"

He smiled again at her and GG was just falling more and more in love with him. In that moment, she would have given him everything, if only he'd asked. Something told her that he knew it, too. God's sake, GG, pull yourself together! She sighed, giving away none of the feelings that were desperately clawing their way out from her throat. "It's Georgiana. Georgiana Jane," She said.

His smile stretched wider, revealing pearly white teeth aligned in perfect formation. He nodded, looking almost appreciative. "It was nice to meet you Georgiana. Try to be more careful, alright." He turned and walked back to his car.

GG watched him, slightly disappointed. But then, she didnt know what she had been expecting. The tall, beautiful man walking away from her looked twice her age. He also seemed to be in a hurry. Which reminded her how much of a hurry she was also in. Still, she felt unsatisfied by this fateful encounter. There was something missing...

"Beg you pardon, Sir!" GG called after him right before he hopped back in the car. He stopped and gave her his full attention. She smiled. "Shouldn't you tell me your name, as well? I might write this song one day." GG could hear the man chuckle from where she stood in the road several meters away.

"It's . . . Cas." He hopped in the car then and the driver went on down the road.

GG snickered. Cas? She thought. What a silly name.