Hello,
here is the next chapter.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, or whatever else you celebrate. Enjoy the holidays!

Chapter 9

"Damn it!" Lemon hissed quietly to herself as she placed the next outfit on the already rather large mountain on her bed. This simply couldn't be true! She had no idea what to wear. However, it wasn't every day that you had a date with your ex-fiancé.

Lemon had given up trying to convince herself that it didn't matter what she would wear a few hours ago. And since then, she had been standing in front of her closet, pulling out one item of clothing after another without finding anything suitable. The fact that Lemon didn't know where they were going didn't make the choice any easier.

"It's just George!" Lemon said out loud to herself. Although maybe that was what made it so hard. George had seen her in every condition and every outfit. From ugly sweaters when she had been in bed with a cold, to every conceivable everyday outfit, to...well, to wedding dress.

Frustrated, she discarded the next dress. George would pick her up soon. She should finally make up her mind.

Two hours later, George was at her door. Lemon had finally put on a simple dark blue dress that wasn't too flashy but was still something special.

"You look great." George remarked as she opened the door for him.

"You have to say that." Replied Lemon before turning around to get her coat, but also so George wouldn't see her silent smile.

"So where are we going?" she wanted to know as she sat in the car a moment later.

"It's a small bar, a bit better than the Rammer Jammer but not too fancy. Besides, I thought after the last date that was more of a... well..."

"You can call it a disaster. It fits." Lemon stated curtly.

"So after the last disaster, I thought it would be good to not necessarily go out to dinner."

Lemon laughed. "Might actually be a good idea."

George grinned a little too. "I'm sure it'll be better this time." He said confidently, to which Lemon added: "Only because it could hardly be worse."

Crazy. Simply crazy. George's head didn't want to stop sending him this information in a continuous loop. It is crazy. He had just returned to the table where Lemon was waiting for him with two glasses in his hand. And he couldn't stop wondering how it could be that he was so lucky. What's more, he actually had the feeling that Lemon didn't seem to find the time with him all that bad.

The bar wasn't particularly full, with a few small groups standing and sitting around the room. A band was playing at the back and the small dance floor in front was empty except for two people. He arrived by Lemon, put the drinks down and sat down next to her.

"How did Lavon take it yesterday?" George asked, making every effort to ask the question as casually and neutrally as possible.

Lemon grimaced unhappily. "About as expected." She dropped her head into her hands and mumbled through her palms. "It hit him pretty hard."

George wondered for the thousandth time since yesterday morning why Lemon had wanted to go out with him just after her visit to Lavon. However, he decided not to ask, but to change the subject instead.

"Did you know about Zoe and Wade before?"

Lemon lifted her head again and straightened up. "Wade wouldn't have told me voluntarily but..."

"But you already knew," George finished her sentence with a grin. Lemon had always been amazingly good at noticing such things. She nodded in response.

"Even people's reactions were okay, I guess." Lemon added.

"I know, Zoe told me that yesterday too."

"You were talking to Zoe!?"

When George heard the sharpness in Lemon's voice, he wanted to smack his hand against his forehead. Great idea to talk about Zoe on a date with Lemon! They had also talked about Lavon, but George had brought up this topic himself. When he looked at Lemon, she had averted her eyes and was biting her lip.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... We were just talking."

"I didn't say anything." Lemon muttered, seemingly wishing, like George, that she had kept her mouth shut. "You can talk to whoever you want."

"Except you don't like hearing about me talking to Zoe." George added.

"Zoe's no different than anyone else." Lemon said weakly. Even she didn't seem particularly convinced. George raised an eyebrow.

"I left you at the wedding because of Zoe." He stated tersely.

Lemon shook her head. "That's not true. Zoe alone would never have managed to ruin our relationship. We had far more problems. Just too many in the end. And even though Zoe is definitely not innocent, the fact that our wedding failed wasn't just down to her."

George exhaled heavily. "You're right. Of course not. Only that if I were you... It would be understandable if you put all the blame on Zoe."

"Maybe. Believe me, that's what I did at first. But I know it's not true." After a short pause, she continued. "Besides, you only recently told me you had feelings for me. So why would you want something from Zoe at the same time? That's stupid. I know you two are friends. There's nothing wrong with you talking to her."

"And still you don't like it."

Lemon looked silently down at her hands. "No." She then simply confessed.

George smiled slightly. It was a good sign if Lemon didn't like seeing him with Zoe, he supposed.

"You can still talk to Zoe though. Or to anyone else. You shouldn't limit yourself because of me. After all, that's perfectly normal. I should be able to deal with it." Lemon said seriously.

George wasn't sure why, but it seemed important to her, and it made sense anyway, so he nodded in agreement.

Lemon closed her eyes briefly as she took a sip of her drink. Damn. She hadn't expected that. It wasn't the fact that George was talking to Zoe that bothered her so much. Rather, she was surprised by her own instinctive reaction to it. This burning jealousy that made her stomach clench. It was completely unexpected.

She wasn't with George. This, tonight, was their first date. And yet she was already jealous of Zoe just talking to George. That scared Lemon. She hadn't intended to get this deep into it. But apparently, she couldn't stop it now.

The only thing Lemon could do was try not to make the same mistake again. Trying to keep George away from women, especially Zoe, wasn't going to work. If anything, her excessive clinging had driven him even further away from her.

They spent the next few hours having conversations, which were much easier. Lemon relaxed more and more. The evening was no comparison to their last date. She enjoyed every minute. Again and again, a part of her brain kept telling her that what she was doing here was dangerous and irresponsible. Lemon ignored it. Some things are worth the risk. That's what Wade had said. Lemon agreed with him.

The band, whose music was still playing through the speakers, started the next song. The first notes rang out and Lemon froze, then smiled.

"Our song." Mumbled George softly, who had also recognized the song. He smiled too.

Yes, their song. The song they had planned their wedding dance to. The song they hadn't danced to in the end.

George stood up and held out his hand to Lemon. "Would you like to dance?"

Lemon stood up too. "Gladly."

She didn't tell him that she hadn't listened to that song once since the wedding fell through. If it came on the radio, she changed the station, if it was played at a party, she disappeared to the toilet for the next few minutes. Not because she couldn't stand it. She was simply afraid of the memories that would inevitably come up. But today was different. So instead, she reached for George's outstretched hand.

Together they walked to the dance floor. George put both hands on Lemon's waist and she put hers on his shoulders. Her eyes stayed on his chest because she wasn't sure if it would be good to look directly at him.

You could hardly call the thing they were doing dancing. It was more like swaying slightly on the spot to the music. Lemon's heart was beating faster than it should. She could feel George staring at her and that increased her nervousness, whether she wanted to or not. Slowly, she looked up at him.

"Would you like to kiss me now?"

Lemon couldn't say where she got the courage to ask. It was actually obligatory anyway; the answer was clear to see on George's face. That's probably why he didn't bother to answer. For a moment, she held his gaze. George leaned forward carefully. Lemon closed her eyes just as his lips touched hers.

Lemon had expected a lot. Sudden panic and thoughts running through her head. But not that the kiss would feel so familiar and good that she wouldn't even be able to think.

Lemon tightened her fingers in George's shoulders. Her lips seemed to be on fire and the fire spread throughout her body. The room around her disappeared. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her heart as George pulled her closer. Lemon wished he would never let her go again.

But unfortunately he did. His lips broke away from hers as he slowly moved back. He kept his hands on her hips, which Lemon was quite happy about, because the room spun around her when she opened her eyes again. George was staring at her. He seemed as breathless as Lemon felt. The last notes of their song faded.

"Oh God Lemon, it..." George faltered, obviously not knowing what to say.

Slowly, he then lifted a hand and tenderly wiped a tear from her cheek. Lemon hadn't even noticed that she was crying. George's hand remained on her cheek.

"I'm... I'm so..."

"Shhhh," Lemon interrupted him, "don't say it." George looked quite worried. "It was wonderful." She added quietly.

It was wonderful. The sentence echoed in George's head. Yes, it had been. The fear that had gripped him subsided. The moment he had seen the tears on Lemon's face, he had almost panicked. That he had gone too far. That Lemon couldn't do it. That today had been the first and last date. Wonderful.

And still, it seemed to take a lot out of her. And George definitely didn't want to do anything too fast. No matter what Lemon said; she was crying and George didn't want to overwhelm her emotions any more.

"We should go home." He said and finally forced himself to let her go.

I think you're right." Lemon replied. She sighed softly.

George turned and went to get her things before they made their way back.

A little later, they were at Lemon's front door. Lemon was already in the hallway and turned around to say goodbye.

"Thank you so much for the evening. I really enjoyed it." Lemon repeated what she had said before. She smiled uncertainly. George returned the smile, hoping he didn't look as insecure as he felt.

"I guess I'll see you?" It came out more as a question.

"Sure." Lemon replied. Then they stood indecisively in the open doorway. Neither of them really knew how to deal with the situation.

"Well then, good night." Lemon murmured quietly.

No matter how hard George tried, he wished he didn't have to go. He knew it would be wrong to stay. Lemon needed rest and, above all, time to think. That was pretty obvious. But it didn't mean that George found it easy to leave.

Without thinking twice, he intuitively leaned over and kissed Lemon lightly on the cheek. He couldn't bring himself to just go.

"Good night, Lemon." He breathed, a little surprised at himself.

Then he stepped backwards outside. The door closed between them with a soft click. George stared at it, paralyzed, for a few more seconds before he took a breath and finally left.