Everyone's a Winner with a Heart That Small

As she was changing her clothes, she heard the doorbell ring. She put her necklace on then trudged down the stairs to where Ezra was standing with John in the doorway. John's eyes were glued to her as she brushed her hair with her fingers.

"You look nice, Georgie"

"Just because you're my cousin doesn't mean I won't kill you"

He laughed as she followed John out the door.

"You kids have fun!"

Gigi raised her arm into the air and stuck up her middle finger as she followed John out to his car. They got into the car and headed toward town.

"I hope we're not going anywhere really nice"

"What if we are?"

"I'd remind you that this is not a date and that a nice place isn't necessary"

"Well, what did you have in mind then?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I would be perfectly fine with ihop"

"You want to go to ihop?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Alright, I guess. If you're sure"

They didn't say anything else until they were seated at a booth inside ihop.

"So, Georgie, huh?"

"Ezra knows I hate being called that. He does it just to annoy me"

"Well, what about 'Anna'?"

"No"

He raised his eyebrows curiously at her.

"I'm sorry. I just don't-....." she trailed off, looking away from him.

He cleared his throat. "Alright then. Gigi it is"

The waitress approached to take their order and when she was gone, John started up with the small talk.

"So....are you still liking Arizona?"

"John?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we really making small talk?"

"Well....I-...."

"Just because I'm sitting in front of you doesn't mean we can't talk like we did on the phone, you know"

"I guess I'm just....I don't know, intimidated by you"

"Why?"

"Because. You're so damn beautiful"

She shook her head. "Remember our talks when I was trying to convince you I looked like a troll? Just go back to that. I like that John"

"You do?" he asked, eyes widened.

"Yeah. I do"

She scolded herself for her particular choice of words and the fact that he seemed to be very pleased with them.

"So what have we not talked about?"

"I'd probably say nothing"

John knew one thing in particular that they hadn't talked about- past relationships. But he already knew that Gigi wouldn't be willing to talk about that. He'd tried before but she would just change the subject quickly.

John heard his name called, closely followed by Gigi's. Her eyes immediately landed on Tim, Pat, and Garrett, who had just come in the door. Other customers gave them mean looks for disturbing their meals and John gave them a particularly mean one. Tim slid into the booth next to Gigi, forcing her to slide over to the middle. Pat and Garrett sat down as well.

"Hey kids. What's going on?" Tim asked, casually throwing his arm behind Gigi. John gave him a hard glare but he seemed not to notice it. "We tried to get Ezra out with us but he's like unreachable"

Gigi shrugged. "He was at home when I left, doing absolutely nothing"

"He's probably talking up some girl"

Gigi highly doubted that. He hadn't been in a relationship since Cora and he didn't seem like he wanted to be. She made a mental note to ask him about it later. Suddenly, Garrett looked between Gigi and John. "Are you guys on a date?"

John frowned and looked down but when Gigi replied with a "Yes," he perked right up. Tim's eyes widened and Pat grinned widely at Gigi. "Oh sorry, bro. We didn't know"

John gave him a 'yeah, right' look and Gigi looked at him slightly smiling.

"Well then we're gonna go," Pat said, standing up from the table. Garrett and Tim got out behind him.

"Bye, kids. Have fun!....But not too much fun," Tim added, giving John an obvious wink. John rolled his eyes while Gigi shook her head. They waited to make sure they were gone before turning back.

"Sorry about them," they both said.

"What are you sorry for?" they once again asked simultaneously.

John couldn't hold back the smile that crept onto his face. "They can be....obnoxious"

"I'm already used to it so they don't bother me"

"Probably not with a cousin like Ezra"

"Exactly"

"Hey, why exactly didn't you tell me you were his cousin?"

"Because I didn't want you to know where to find me"

"Why not?"

"Don't you remember our first conversations? I had you pinned as kind of a douche"

"I'm sorry I gave that impression. It's not what I intended"

"I know"

"I'd like to hope I've made a better impression in person"

"You definitely have"

He gave her a crooked smile. "Good. And we know you've given great impressions in both"

"I try"

"No, you don't"

She fought back a grin. "Okay no, I really don't. I'm just myself and that's usually not good enough so I just say 'Fuck it' and if someone doesn't like me then oh well"

"How could they not like you?"

She shook her head and looked down from his eyes.

He grinned again. "Are you blushing?"

She put her arms up, resting her chin on them so that her hands were covering her cheeks. "You shut it"

"Don't worry. I think it's cute"

The pink tint of her cheeks became even brighter but she just shook her head, ignoring his last statement. Once their food was finally served, it didn't take very long for them to eat. Though John didn't want to leave her company quite yet, he didn't want to put too much on her in one night so he kept his mouth shut about asking her to go somewhere else.

He pulled into the Covingtons' driveway and shut off the car, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out to meet Gigi on the other side.

"You don't have to walk me to the door, you know"

"I want to"

"If you insist then"

Once they reached the front steps, she turned to him and smiled.

"I had a good time tonight"

"Really?"

She chuckled. "Don't sound so surprised"

He smiled, looking down at the ground. She put her hand on his chest and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before going inside. Before she shut the door, she poked her head out and smiled. "Night, John"

"Night, Gigi"

John went back out to his car, practically in a daze. He couldn't believe that the night had actually happened.

Gigi trudged upstairs to her bedroom, stopping in Ezra's room on the way. He of course was on the phone with someone but as soon as she opened the door, he told the person to hold on a second.

"Who are you talking to?"

"How was the date?" he asked, changing the subject.

She groaned. "It wasn't a date, Ezra"

"Go on and tell yourself that, G"

"Ugh. I'm going to bed"

"Niiight," he sang annoyingly. She shut the door back and went down the hallway to her room. She changed into some pajamas and brushed her teeth then fell back onto her bed to call Cora.

Cora didn't pick up until the fourth ring and when she finally answered, she told Gigi to hold on so she could say goodbye to the person on the other line.

"You're on the phone all the time lately"

"Uh huh"

"Who the fuck are you talking to that much?"

"Oh, different people, you know"

"I swear, you and Ezra both have been-....Wait. Have you been talking to Ezra?"

"Maybe?"

"Cora, what the fuck!"

"I'm sorry! I can't help it! I miss him, G"

"But you broke up with him for a good reason, remember?"

"God, I know! But I just really fucking miss him! He misses me too, you know"

"Apparently"

"Don't be mad, G"

"I'm not mad, Cora. I just don't want you to get into this if you know it's going to be hard as fuck to keep it going. We live on the other side of the country"

"I don't care"

"Alright then. I guess you have my blessing"

"Yes! I love you so fucking much"

"I know, I know. I love you too"

"Oh! So guess what I'm doing!"

"There's no way I could possibly guess what you are doing"

"I'M COMING TO VISIT!"

"What? When?"

"My flight may or may not be landing Thursday at 2"

"That's in two days! Why the fuck didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Because it's supposed to be a surprise, dumbass"

"Don't even. You know you're coming here for Ezra, not me"

"Can't I be coming for both of you?"

"I suppose so"

"Well now that I've thoroughly ruined the surprise, I need to go to bed. It's almost 1am and I have to get up early to do some shopping"

"Night, Cor"

"Night, G. I love you!"

"Love you too"

Gigi turned her phone off and got up to flip the light off then crawled under her blankets to go to sleep. It'd been a long day.