Day Twenty-Six
Prompt: "I chose you"
"Holey?"
"You've used that one already."
"Lopsided?"
"Hmm, I think you've used that one too."
"Well, Fred, what do you suggest then?"
"I don't know George. It's your ear, or was your ear, you think of the jokes." Fred crossed his arms over his chest. "At least Mum will be able to tell us apart now."
"Ear ear!" George replied.
"Good one!" Fred laughed.
Capella rolled her eyes and finished helping Molly with supper. It was tough listening to the twins joke about what had happened. She knew it was their way of handling things but she had very nearly died when Lupin had shown up with George, both of them covered in blood. The realization that she could have lost him was always at the back of her mind.
Molly called everyone to the table and there was a mad dash for seats. George pulled out a seat for Capella and then sat down on her right side. Capella frowned. She noticed that he never sat on her left side anymore. He kept his left side to her at all times. She hadn't even seen the bandages covering the place where his right ear would have been. And, every time they hugged or kissed, he let her caress the left side of his face, but never his right.
George had told her that he was okay. He joked about the accident when he was around other people. But when they were alone, he was sullen and quiet.
After they had eaten, Capella whispered for George to follow her. She grasped his hand and led him into the garden. Dusk was falling and they stood in the shadows of a large tree. She turned to face him and he turned his head slightly to the side. "Look at me George," she said.
"I am," George replied.
Capella shook her head. She reached up and took his face in her hands. Gently, she turned his head so he was looking at her straight on. "Now you are." When she let go, George turned his head again, slightly away from her. "George, please. Why won't you look at me?"
"I am looking at you Pell," he said, a tinge of anger in his voice. "I'm looking at how perfect you are. How beautiful, how whole you are."
"Why are you angry with me?"
George's face softened and he took her hand in his. "Oh, Pell, I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with myself." Capella opened her mouth to question him but he shook his head. "You're perfect Pell, and I'm…not. I'm less, incomplete, broken." He let go of her hand and buried his face in his hands. "You shouldn't be with me. You should be with someone who isn't a freak. You should be with Fred, he's more, complete, whole."
"You're being ridiculous," Capella said. George looked up at her in surprise. "It's an ear, George." She took his face in her hands again. She gently turned his head so she could see the bandages. "I don't want Fred." She rolled her eyes. Standing on her toes, she kissed his cheek. She kissed him several times, slowly getting closer to the stark white coverings. "I chose you George. I love you." George smiled and turned towards her, this time to kiss her fiercely.
"I love you Pell. I'm glad you chose me," George whispered and nuzzled into her neck.