Everyone's a Winner with a Heart That Small

Gigi and Cora were just sitting down to lunch at a cafe in town when her phone began to ring. Since she'd stolen Cora away before Ezra woke up, she was sure it was just him calling to whine. When she saw that it was her mom, she was confused since she knew her mom always waited for her to call.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, baby. I just-....."

"What?"

"Maybe you should come home for a few days"

"Are you sure everything's okay? You and Dad are-"

"We're fine, I promise"

"......Alright. Well, I guess I'll book a flight tonight and try to come home tomorrow"

"Let us know a time and I'll have Daddy come pick you up at the airport"

"Okay. Bye, Mom"

"Bye, sweetie. Love you"

"Love you too"

Once she hung up the phone, Gigi looked up at Cora utterly confused.

"What was that about? You're going home?"

"She said I should come home for a few days. She insists they're both fine but I don't know what else the reason could be"

"Maybe she just misses you"

Gigi shrugged. "Maybe"

"Hey, why don't you take John with you!"

"Cora, no"

"Why not? You met his parents. He should get to meet yours"

"We're not even in a relationship or anything"

"And whose fault is that?"

"Shut up"

"Seriously, G. Think about it"

"Whatever, Cora"

For the moment, she dropped the subject and they ate their lunch in peace. As soon as they returned to Ezra's house, Cora booked it up the stairs to media room where Ezra was watching some alien movie and Gigi rolled her eyes when she walked into the room, seeing her already cuddled up to his side.

Instead of joining them, she made her way back to her room, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she collapsed onto her bed. She sent a quick text to John inviting him over and only had to wait about ten seconds for his confirmation.

Once she went downstairs, she only had to wait about ten minutes before the doorbell rang. She stepped outside, shutting the door behind her and grabbed John's hand pulling him back to the truck.

"Where are we going?" he asked as he opened the passenger door for her.

She slid into the seat and shrugged as he got in the driver's seat. "I don't know. Anywhere"

"Anywhere," he repeated to himself. "Alright then"

He backed out of the driveway and pretty soon they were speeding down the highway. She had no idea where he was taking her but she didn't care. She was so busy watching the scenery pass by her that it felt like no time before they they pulled into an empty parking lot. She wondered what exactly the point was in coming to an empty parking lot but she didn't question him.

He parked in the shade and grabbed that same gray blanket as they got out of the car. He spread it out on the asphalt and sat down, grabbing her hand and pulling her down beside him.

"You like this blanket don't you?"

He chuckled. "Only when there's a pretty girl sitting on it"

She shook her head and leaned back on her arms, enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

"I have to go home tomorrow"

"What?"

She smiled at the obvious panic in his voice. "It's just for a few days. Don't worry, I'm coming back"

"Why are you going?"

"I don't really know. My mom just called and said I should, so I am"

"Is everything okay?"

"As far as I know"

He nodded, taking her hand and lacing his fingers with hers. Gigi's phone rang in her pocket and she laughed when she saw that it was Ezra. They must have just noticed that she wasn't there. "What do you want?"

"Where are you?"

"With John. Why?"

"Oh, really?"

She rolled her eyes, hearing the smirk in his voice. "Yes now what the fuck do you want?"

"Cora said you're going home tomorrow"

"Yep"

"So then why the hell aren't you spending today with us?"

"Because you two are disgustingly sweet and I'm going to get diabetes just sitting in the room with you"

He laughed. "Oh I see. So you left to go somewhere else and cuddle up to John? That's real cute, G"

"God, shut up"

"Am I embarrassing you? It's just so easy! You better stop blushing or John'll see it"

"I'm hanging up now"

"You know I love you, Georgie"

"I swear to God I'm coming home to kill you right now"

He laughed again. "Okay. Bye, now!"

She hung up the phone and looked over at John who was biting down on his lip trying to contain a smile. He'd obviously heard everything Ezra had said. "Shut up," she muttered.

"I'm not saying anything"

She sighed, laying back on the blanket to stare up at the clouds. "I hate him sometimes"

"You know, when he's talking to you he gets a little bit of that accent back"

She laughed. "You hate my accent, don't you?"

"Absolutely not. It's one of the many things I love about you"

Her eyebrows shot up at the word "love." She looked over at him but he either didn't catch what he said or was just trying to pretend like he didn't say it. For a moment, Cora's words came back to her and she almost asked him to go with her back home for the weekend. But then he turned his head, catching her eye, and grinned. The butterflies pterodactyls in her stomach quickly made her realise that she was feeling things that she said she was never going to let herself feel again.

She quickly stood up from the blanket and looked away from John, who was staring up at her curiously. "We should go find the happy couple"

He chuckled and stood up as well, grabbing the blanket from the ground. "As you wish, Buttercup"

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Wait a minute. Are you making fun of my favorite movie again?"

He laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Of course I'm not. As long as you don't make me watch it, I'm fine"

"Yeah well, I'm not making any promises"