Hello everyone,
I finished watching Hart of Dixie a couple weeks ago and after finding this site, I started thinking about writing my own story. I know most people prefer Zade fanfictions and George/Lemon are not really a popular ship, but this story just popped into my head. I also have to say that this is the first fanfiction I have ever written and English is not my first language (I hope grammer and writing style are understandable).
Please be nice.
I hope you read and enjoy the story anyway ;-)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie or any of its characters

When your world is burning

George was sitting in the Rammer Jammer with a glass of beer in front of him, as he did on many normal evenings, chatting with a few others when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned in irritation when he saw that it was the sheriff calling him.

"Hey Bill," he answered the call, "what's the matter?"

"George, I'm glad to reach you. I've got some bad news. There's a fire at Fancies."

"What!?" George jumped up from his chair. A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind. The proposal to AnnaBeth. Tonight Lemon had wanted to take the photos.

"The boys have already got the fire under control," Bill said, "but it's not looking too good for the store. Maybe you can see for yourself. I wanted to let you know in any case. After all, you own part of the business, don't you?"

George was barely listening "Is anyone hurt?" he asked, doing his best to keep the panic out of his voice.

"No, everyone made it out in time. Thank God. Just a bit of a shock"

George's heart dropped. He took a deep breath to calm his frantically beating heart. Then he said to Bill: "Thanks for calling. I'll be right over." With that, he ended the call and took his jacket from the back of his chair to make his way to Fancies.

When George arrived at the scene of the fire, he stopped for a moment in shock. The building was charred. Behind the windows, which were almost all cracked, he could still see scattered flames. A cloud of black smoke hovered in the twilight sky. George swallowed.

"A candle must have fallen over and set a curtain alight. There's a lot of wood so it happened pretty quickly."

Bill had come up beside him and now put a sympathetic hand on George's shoulder.

"Must be a lot of damage. It'll take you a while to rebuild," the sheriff said. "I'm really sorry"

"Thanks" mumbled George as he scanned the place with his eyes for the one person, he was most worried about at the moment. Just as Bill turned away to oversee the final extinguishing operations, he finally saw her.

She was standing there, wrapped in a red blanket, with her back to him, staring at the smoking remains of her dream. George hurried towards her with quick steps.

"Lemon."

As she turned to face him, George slowed down and finally stopped just short of her. Lemon had tears in her eyes and the make-up on her face was smudged. Her hair was wet and framed her face in messy waves. When she looked at him, George could see the pain in her gaze.

"I'm so sorry" Lemon whispered softly "all your money..." she lowered her eyes, and her voice broke.

"Hey," George said cautiously, "I don't care about the money right now. The main thing is that nothing has happened to you."

Lemon pressed her lips together as she fought back tears. George took another step towards her and gently took her into his arms. Lemon leaned against him and rested her head on his chest. Then she began to sob quietly.

"It just caught fire," she squeezed out in a choked voice. "I couldn't do anything. And then everything burned..." Lemon fell silent. George could feel her shuddering in his arms. He stroked her back and wished he could do more. Anything to make her feel better. Seeing her like this was killing him.

"It's all right now, okay? You're safe." he murmured reassuringly, even though he knew it wasn't true. It was anything but all right. Still, he continued, "Come on I'll take you home."

Lemon nodded and released herself from his arms. George's shirt was wet with her tears where her head had been. Lemon looked at him with glittering eyes, "Thank you".

George wanted to pull her close to him again. As she stood there shivering with the blanket around her shoulders, she looked so lost that it broke George's heart. He put an arm around her shoulder and gently led her away from the scene of the accident.

At the exit of the grounds, Lemon stopped and turned to face her restaurant. George watched her breath catch briefly as she could see the extent of the fire from a distance. Quietly, and more to herself, Lemon whispered, "The Fancies was all I had left."

George didn't know what to say to that. When Lemon turned back to him, he bowed his head. How much he wanted to tell Lemon that she had him. That he was there for her. But he couldn't say that, so he kept silent as they made their way home.

Finally, they stood in front of Lemon's apartment. Her hands were still shaking so much that she only managed to unlock the door with difficulty. When she turned back to George in the hallway, he couldn't help but ask her.

"I'd understand if you don't want to be alone after all this. If you want, I can...well...stay for a bit." George said uncertainly.

Lemon looked at him in surprise, "Really?"

"Well, it's not like I had much else planned for tonight, so?" George shrugged his shoulders.

Lemon smiled slightly, for the first time that evening. "It would be nice not to be alone"

"Good" George returned her smile and followed Lemon into the apartment.

George stepped into the living room holding a cup of hot tea. Lemon was sitting on the sofa. She had changed into dry clothes, but her hair was still a little damp. Nevertheless, she looked lonely and vulnerable as she sat there, a blanket wrapped around her, staring straight ahead into space.

"Here," George stopped in front of Lemon and handed her the cup of tea.

Lemon broke free from her stupor and took the drink from him. She drank a few sips carefully, then placed the cup on the table in front of her. George had sat down next to Lemon on the sofa a little unsteadily and now watched as she pulled the blanket tighter around her and shivered slightly.

"Are you cold?"

"A little," Lemon admitted.

George took the blanket and spread it out so that he was also covered. Then he carefully pulled Lemon closer to him under the blanket so that she could warm up against him.

"Thank you," Lemon said for the second time that evening and leaned her head against George's shoulder. "I don't know what I would do without you" Lemon breathed, and George could hear the desperation and sadness in her voice. He had to swallow. He gently put his arm around Lemon and held her tight. Hoping that he could somehow take away some of her pain.

They remained in this position and after a while, George realized from Lemon's steady breathing that she had fallen asleep. Slowly, he wanted to detach himself from Lemon so that he could lay her down properly.

Lemon woke up again. Half asleep, she reached for his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. George faltered. Lemon blinked at him. "Stay" she whispered "Please"

George leaned back again "Of course I'll stay" he said. He thought of all the times he hadn't stayed with her. All the times he had let her down. All the broken promises. He bit his lips. In his mind, he added, "I'll stay this time, I promise you"

Lemon was unaware of his thoughts. She just nodded and put her head back on his shoulder.

George leaned his head back. It was going to be a long night. But there was no place he would rather be than here, with Lemon in his arms as she had been countless times before. George wished he could hold her like this again in the future.

For now, though, he would simply enjoy holding her so close, smelling the scent of her hair and feeling the warmth of her skin.

"I love you," George whispered affectionately.

Lemon didn't respond. She had already fallen asleep again.

Her hand was still clasped tightly in his.