Dove and Grenade

About an hour later, there was another knock on my bedroom door. I glanced angrily up at the doorway, but my nerves were calmed when I saw George standing there with his hands in his pockets. I waved him in, and he looked around my bare room.

"How goes it, Kara?" he asked.

"Jorel hates me," I said, "I'm moving two hours away from my friends, and Matt hasn't given any indication where our future lies. I'm fucking fantastic."

"If you feel like shit, why are you leaving?" said George.

"This job is something I've wanted my whole life," I replied. "Traveling the world and absorbing new cultures- I could have that. I can't have it here in LA."

"You know," George sighed, "with Hollywood Undead and all-"

"Don't you start," I snapped. "If I'm gonna travel, I'm gonna do it on my own terms."

George put his hands up and said, "Alright. I'm not gonna press it."

He helped put a shirt in my suitcase. I sat down on my bed, the photo of Matt and me in my hand. I avoided looking at it. Jordan had put it away for a reason, but it had found it's way back into my hands.

George sat down next to me, his hands folded in his lap. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed.

"When did life get so hard?" I asked.

"I wish I knew," George said.

He took the picture from my hands and looked at it. He smiled, and he handed it back to me."

"George, I still love him," I whispered.

"Of course you do," sighed George sarcastically.

"I'm fucking serious, okay?" I said. "I can't live without him."

"Then why are you?"

I looked up at him. I began shaking again, and he put his arm around me.

"You'll be alright," said George. "I know you. You'll get this figured out. You always do."

"What if I can't?" I said, my voice quivering. "What if I've fucked it up too much? What if it's too late?"

"If you really love him," said George, "then it's never too late."

"I don't know," I said. "He seemed pretty pissed off."

"I was just talking to him," said George. "He didn't seem pissed off to me."

"That's because it's you," I said.

"Your necklace is still on the counter," he said in a low voice. "He set it down right after you left, and he hasn't touched it since."

I wiped my cheek off and said, "What, does he think I'm gonna come back for it?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. He just won't come give it back to you because he wants you to come to him on your own time."

"I don't know if I can do it," I whimpered. "I can't spend all the time fighting with him about work and touring and-"

"I'm not here to lecture you," said George. "I know when the time comes, you'll do the right thing. You always - well, almost always - do."

I put my arms around George's middle and said, "I'm glad I've got you, Georgey."

George patted my head and said, "I know."