Title: Wildflower

Author: RichelleBrinkley

Word Count: 1,990

Rating: T, for language

AN: The only real not-angsty chapter of this story. Enjoy the absence of Gee's tears while you can.

Warnings: Language (just one word though)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, they belong to the lovely and fabulously funny Louise Rennison.

Wildflower

PART II: TO KISS

Rollo wakes to inky midnight skies, a full moon overhead, and a damp, shivering girl lying in his arms.

At first, he wonders why Jools' clothes are soaked through and why her hair seems longer than usual – but then he remembers the whole lake-rescue incident.

CPR is not something he's ever done before (and if his panicked, clumsy attempts at forcing some oxygen into Georgia's lungs after yanking her none-too-gently out of the water were anything to go by… he'd wager that he needs some more practice before ever attempting it again).

Nevertheless, it had somehow worked – after a few agonising minutes, Georgia had spluttered and coughed up about half the lake's water before giving him a weak hug and passing out again, this time thankfully breathing.

Rollo doesn't think he's ever felt more relieved in his life.

•••••

Dave makes such a fuss over her, wrapping her up in what she is sure to be every single blanket he can get his hands on within a ten mile radius, and bringing her hot soup despite her protests. At first she quite enjoys it, the waiting on her hand and foot, but after a while it becomes nothing more than annoying. By her third day bedridden at Dave's insistence, Georgia is ready to club him over the head with the closest heavy object (Jas' unnervingly large jar of frogspawn).

But she doesn't, instead gritting her teeth as he asks her for the nth time whether she is okay. She doesn't even bother to answer.

Rollo, she's heard, is also still "resting" from the lake encounter. He, however, is doing it on his own terms, not forced to stay in bed all day at the insistence of an overly-concerned girlfriend. Georgia highly suspects that he is avoiding leaving his bed just to get out of the accursed trip to the humanitarian museum that Jas and Tom had insisted on. Not that she particularly wants to go either, but it would be nice to at least be out of the confines of her bedroom for a little while before Dave inevitably dragged her back there for more "rest".

Luckily, Dave along with the rest of the Ace Gang and Barmy Army (excluding Rollo of course) leave by mid-morning, although not before Dave tucks yet another blanket snugly around her and promises to bring back more soup.

She doesn't want more soup. She just wants him to leave so she can finally get out of bed and outside into the fresh air.

The minute Georgia hears the sound of their two rental cars driving off she leaps out of bed, stretches her limbs to loosen her stiff muscles and dresses hurriedly in baggy sweatpants and a hoodie.

Craning her head into the boys' room, she can see the shape of Rollo's body sprawled across the double bed, his eyes staring aimlessly into space. She debates thanking him for rescuing her, but backs out of the room quickly; she will do that later.

Right now, she just wants to go outside and clear her mind.

•••••

Georgia ends up sitting on an upturned canoe under the shelter of a small, open shed used primarily for storing fishing equipment and the such. The air is slightly damp, but she likes being as far away from the lake house as possible after having spent the last three days in there, and the shed is on the opposite side of the lake. She sits well under shelter after seeing the ominous grey rain clouds in the sky, threatening to pour on her any minute.

Georgia doesn't know how long she sits there, watching the trees sway in the wind and the small ripples that occasionally form on the lake's surface, but her attention is suddenly drawn to Rollo, who has seemingly decided to emerge from the house.

Waving to him, she smiles slightly as he jogs his way over to her, neglecting to follow the path around the lake and instead crashing his way through the mud-slicked grass and trees, catching leaves in his hair and smearing dirt on his shoes.

She is still smiling when he skids to a halt in front of her, grinning in a surprisingly mischievous and boyish manner. He clears his throat almost nervously before gesturing to something beneath her.

"How 'bout we take this baby for a ride?" It takes her a moment to realise that Rollo is talking about the canoe she is sitting on. Laughing, she shakes her head incredulously.

"Don't you think it's a bit too soon for me to be falling into the lake again?"

Rollo's eyes are bright with laughter, and he grins naughtily at her.

She frowns slightly. He reminds her of Dave.

"Maybe," his lips quirk upwards into a teasing smirk, "But I'll be right here to rescue you if you do."

Ignoring the blush that forms on her cheeks and her weak protests, he proceeds to pull her off the canoe (he is surprisingly strong) and flip it over, pushing it onto the lake.

"Come on, Gee. Don't be a spoilsport."

Before she knows it, they are sitting on opposite ends of the – rather shabby – wooden structure, oars in hand. Georgia is absolutely hopeless at rowing, but Rollo doesn't seem to mind, paddling them both to the centre of the lake before letting go of the oars and letting them drift.

It is kind of awkward then, as they sit together in the suddenly very noticeable silence, the water having stilled around them and the wind having quietened down. Georgia feels shy – she has never really known Rollo very well at all; he has always just been the guy who was going out with her friend.

Suddenly, she remembers that she has yet to thank him for rescuing her.

"Uhm. Thanks for... you know. The other day. When you rescued me." Inwardly, she cringes. She sounds awkward and almost indifferent.

Rollo seems to get this impression too, as a crease appears between his eyebrows and he responds with a cold, "No problem." It makes her feel bad, knowing that he is hurt by her seemingly insincere thank-you. She hates showing gratitude. It makes her uncomfortable, especially when Rollo has done something so altruistic for her.

They continue to sit in silence in the canoe, neither person daring to look at the other, before Rollo finally breaks the silence.

"So, how are you and Dave going?" Georgia is momentarily surprised by the question, but she pounces on the opportunity to talk, even about her unsteady relationship. Anything to break the tense silence.

She doesn't really know where to start though. Lately, she feels as though Dave has been insensitive and overbearing. She frequently gets annoyed with him in ways she never used to when they first got together.

She isn't sure if she wants to share this with Rollo though, and settles on shrugging her shoulders.

So much for talking.

•••••

Rollo is mentally kicking himself for asking her about Dave. They clearly don't know each other well enough to be discussing their relationships, if Georgia's indifferent shrug is anything to go by. Besides, her and Dave's relationship is none of his business anyway.

Which is why he mentally berates himself once more for his next question:

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Georgia's shrug may have been indifferent, but the fact that she was answering so vaguely gave him the impression that she and Dave were not all smooth sailing at the moment.

Rollo watches her as she bites her lower lip and fiddles with the drawstring of her hoodie, her eyes downcast in unease. He's always thought of Georgia as being rather superficial and far too immature, which is what makes her such a great match for Dave. Birds of a feather and all.

But right now she is sitting opposite him, plain-faced and in baggy clothes, and the immaturity he'd come to associate with her is nowhere to be found. It is strangely endearing, the way she seems to not care about her appearance at all, letting the light breeze toss loose strands of her hair around her face.

He doesn't remember that he'd asked her a question until she responds, grimacing slightly. It seems as though she doesn't really want to talk about her relationship, so he lets it go.

Instead, Rollo goes back to teasing her lightly.

"You know, you kinda owe me one for pulling you out of the lake." Georgia's mood lightens at his words, and she cocks her head to the side, looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. There is a slight smirk on her face. If he didn't know better, he'd go so far as to say that she was flirting with him.

"I guess I do. Will you be wanting that favour now?" Her tone is coy, slightly flirtatious. He doesn't miss the double meaning behind her words. God, he knows that he loves Jools, but Georgia smirking at him like that is really sexy.

"No, another time. Just remember you owe me one." She nods in agreement, smiling prettily up at him. Rollo doesn't know how she does it, going from sexy to innocent just like that.

Dave is a damn lucky guy, he thinks.

•••••

Georgia sits quietly as Rollo rows them back to the pier, trying not to watch the way his arms flex as he works the oars. She ignores his helping hand at first, but has to grab onto it hurriedly as she clumsily stumbles trying to clamber out of the canoe, glaring at him as he chuckles amusedly.

She starts walking back to the lake house, and doesn't realise that he is not following until a spray of icy cold water hits her from behind. Whipping around, Georgia finds Rollo laughing audaciously, eyes bright with amusement at her shocked expression. Marching over to where he stands at the edge of the lake, she gives him a forceful shove, sending him toppling into the murky green depths. It is Georgia's turn to laugh as he resurfaces spluttering, spitting water and god-knows-what-else out of his mouth.

Good-naturedly, she offers him a hand out of the water, but instead Rollo pulls at her wrist, dragging her into the lake with him. His arms wrap around her body tightly, preventing her head from going under the surface. Georgia gives a surprised shriek at the icy sting of the water, but laughs with him as he holds them both afloat. She splashes Rollo experimentally, giggling as he blinks the droplets furiously out of his eyes. He cannot splash her back as his arms are tightly wrapped around her waist.

The sun has come out, the ominous grey clouds having disappeared and leaving wispy white ones in their place. Rays of sunlight beam upon the surface of the lake, casting sparkling light around the pair of them. Georgia's skin has a sheen of water on it, and the sunlight sparkles off her almost incandescently.

Rollo watches as she laughs and splashes before hoisting her into a sitting position on the edge of the pier. Surprise stops her laughter, and before she can react, he braces his hands on either side of her body, using the momentum and buoyancy of the water to push himself up to eye level with her.

It is like a cheesy scene from romantic film the way he hovers; lips inches away from hers, water drops falling from his hair and shimmering an iridescent rainbow in the sunlight. Georgia feels giddy from laughter, and the way Rollo is looking at her makes her stomach swoop. He is so close that she can see each droplet that clings to his eyelashes.

And just like in cheesy romantic films, Georgia knows exactly what is going to happen next.

Placing both hands on the sides of his face, she gently brushes his wet hair out of his eyes.

Then she leans in and kisses him.

AN: Part III - To Cry will be posted on the 17th. I also have a Gee/Dave Christmas one-shot to be posted on the 21st.

Much love,

RichelleBrinkley