The Nearness of You - Chapter One
"I can't believe that you've never seen American Graffiti!"
Dillon Quartermaine was appalled.
"Are you telling me that in all this time, I've never shown you what is undoubtedly one of the quintessential post-graduate films of this or any generation?"
Georgie Jones scoffed at her best friend, hugging herself to guard against the wintry cold as they walked through the park.
"Suck it up, Siskel," she teased him.
"But how is it possible-" Dillon, film geek that he was, couldn't fathom how his closest friend could have missed out. "It's on the AFI list," he protested.
"Um, because some of us actually pick up a book every now and again," Georgie reminded him. "You know books, pages, the written word, non-celluloid. Remember those?"
"Ah, you suck," Dillon teased.
Georgie stuck her tongue out at him.
He laughed, and they walked along in silence, the snow falling down and their shoes making deep prints on the white ground.
Dillon snuck a look at his best friend. Georgie was bundled up in a red coat, a red and white scarf around her neck. Her light brown hair and eyelashes were speckled with snow. She was so pretty. Dillon let his eyes drift to her lips, they were soft and purple-pink from the snow. Dillon's mind wandered and he found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss her.
"Get it together, man!" he scolded himself. "She's your best friend. She doesn't look at you that way!"
Meanwhile, Georgie thought about Dillon. He had always had this quality, this je ne sais quoi that no other guy had. And he was, she realized, blushing, definitely cute.
"But he'll never see you as a girl," she told herself sadly. "You'll always just be Georgie - the gal pal." Georgie smiled sadly to herself and looked down, guarding her eyes against the falling snow.
WHACK! A snowball hit the side of Georgie's head. She snapped her head up to see Dillon smirking at her.
"You jerk!" she yelled at him, but she was laughing.
Georgie bent down to gather up some snow, as Dillon ran to duck behind a tree. He was too slow, however, and Georgie beaned him on the back of the head.
"Hey!" Dillon protested. Georgie mock-pouted at him.
"Oh poor baby," she teased. "Did I mess up your hair?"
"Don't even start," he warned her, leering in her direction.
She smirked and they regarded each other warily.
Georgie was about to let her guard down when Dillon swooped down and in one motion, scooped up a handful of snow and hurled it in Georgie's direction, hitting her in the shoulder, an explosion of white against the red of her coat.
"Oh, you think you're bad..." Georgie teased, whipping her own snowball. Dillon dodged quickly, and the white sphere barely brushed his arm.
"Baby, I know I'm bad," Dillon shot back saucily.
"Oooh - someone's got a big head," Georgie replied, her eyebrows raised.
"Hey, I rock," said Dillon, mock matter-of-fact. "Come on, you know you want it." He wiggled his eyebrows at Georgie, suggestively, overdoing it.
She laughed exaggeratedly and arched her eyebrow. "Not from the likes of you, Quartermaine."
He chucked another snowball at Georgie. This time she ducked in time, the ball flying over her head.
"Ha!" she cried triumphantly, standing up. "Who's bad now?" She shook her hips in a little victory dance. "Why I rule and you suck," she shouted, "oh yeah-"
Georgie was silenced as a snowball hit her square in the face, almost knocking her off her feet.
"Oh my god," she screamed, trying desperately to hide her laughter. "You're gonna die, Quartermaine!"
"Only if you can catch me, Jones!" Dillon took off running.
Georgie gave chase, running after him. She had almost caught up and was about to shove him from behind, when Dillon whirled around and grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides. They were both out of breath.
"Truce?" he asked, stepping back and holding out his hand.
Georgie extended her hand as if to shake, keeping the other one behind her back.
"Truce," she agreed.
As their hands joined, Georgie let out a scream of laughter and whipped her hand out from behind her back to shove a handful of snow down the front of Dillon's coat.
"Argh!" he yelled in shock.
Georgie whirled away to take off running, but Dillon's reflexes were quick and he grabbed her, turning her around to face him. His arms wrapped tightly around her body, restraining her.
"Not a-" he started to shout, and then froze, realizing how close she was, how their breaths mingled, how her body pressed against his, how he was practically going cross-eyed, trying to unlock his gaze from hers. It was simply impossible. "-chance," he finished, whispering.
The mischievious glint was gone from Georgie's eyes. Her pupils were wide, her irises darting back and forth as she tried to read both of his eyes at once.
His eyes drifted down from her eyes and trained on her lips. Without realizing it, Dillon licked his own lips in subconscious anticipation. His gaze traveled back up her face, finding her looking as wide-eyed and terrified as he felt. Dillon's heart was pounding so hard he could have sworn Georgie could feel it.
"Dillon..." Georgie whispered, her voice feeling strange and foreign.
"Shhhh..." he heard himself whisper.
Slowly, he felt his head incline. He barely realized that he was moving.
And then suddenly, somehow, some way, they were kissing.
Just a soft brush at first, then another, then Dillon pushed his head forward to capture her bottom lip between his. He loosened his grasp, moving his arms around her waist as her arms crept up to wrap around his neck.
They kissed softly at first, feeling drunk with euphoria, their lips gently caressing each other, getting accustomed to the feeling of being in each others arms this way.
Dillon slowly opened his mouth against Georgie's, coaxing his tongue between her lips, deepening the kiss. Georgie gasped softly against his lips, but opened her mouth, granting him access. She gasped again as their tongues brushed one another, softly.
Dillon pulled her closer so that there was no space between their bodies, and she wrapped her arms even tighter around his neck. They explored each other's warm mouths, frenzied tongues twirling around one another, cold lips dancing as if to music that existed only for them, the two best friends stood beneath the falling snow, kissing each other with a passion that neither had known they possessed.
Gradually, the kisses slowed down and they finally pulled apart, letting their eyes drift open.
They still clasped in one another's arms.
Dillon blinked furiously, feeling dazed.
Georgie's eyelids fluttered, her lips swollen from cold and kisses.
"Oh my..." she whispered, dazed. A lock of hair hung in her face.
Automatically, Dillon moved his hand up. "Georgie..." he murmured, staring at her. He pushed the piece of hair behind her ear, his fingertips gently brushing her skin.
The snow fell softly all around them.