Chapter Text
-Georgie-
It was a sunny day in Texas. As usual.
Georgie was just trying to enjoy his morning and avoid Sheldon like the plague, Mary however had other ideas. "Come on Georgie it will be fun" she exclaimed in excitement, "plus I heard they have a son who's like a year older than you!" she was grinning face to face now. "Uh huh" Georgie mumbled, very uninterested in his mothers prospect of bonding him with this kid.
“Sheldon, Missy- the neighbours will be here soon!” His mother called out over the house. It only took a couple of minutes before Sheldon came out wearing a helmet, gloves, kneepads and in his hand a baseball bat. Missy smirked widely. Georgie didn’t care.
A look of disbelief crossed his mothers face as she exclaimed “What are you wearing?!”
“Protection” Sheldon stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Mary sighed worriedly "protection against what?!!.
"Well I don't know what the new neighbours are like, they could have a dog." Sheldon paused "or even worse a cold"
Mary sighed yet again "I'm sure they don't, now go change"
"but what if they do!!"-
"NOW" She hollered
.
As Sheldon went to change, Missy thudded down next to Georgie at the breakfast table, her pompous smile still present. "What do you think the new neighbours are gonna be like?" Georgie looks up from his Coco Puffs and shrugs "Dunno". She grins "I heard that they have a son who's a few years older than me" her eyes lit up with excitement "ooh I wonder if he's hot"-"MISSY COOPER!" Mary scolds.
Georgie happily munches on his Coco Puffs. He'd learned that if he daydreamed about hot girls on motorcycles, it was, in fact, possible to drown his family out. Unfortunately his moment of bliss was interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door.
From his spot at the table, he could hear the usual cooing and overly excited greetings from his mother as she welcomed her guests. It was funny how she turned into a mushy mess of sickly sweet politeness as soon as there was new people.
George Sr comes trundling past with a coffee mug in his hand "who brought a puppy?" he quipped. Georgie looks up "mum invited the new neighbours round." he stated. "Course she did," His father rolled his eyes. At that moment, his mother comes striding in, behind her the new neighbours.
Georgie spent time inspecting them in turn. Susan Heffley, who seemed to match his mother in vibes, although unlike his mother (who was currently wearing her prized pink floral dress), Susan went for a more practical approach with jeans and a knitted cardigan. Paired with that, a pair of glasses framed her face,her dark reddish brown hair was done half up and in her arms a squirming toddler. Georgie wasn't a fan of young children. His gaze flickered to Frank Heffley. He was a stock standard man, a bit more well built than his own father (a lot more actually) but otherwise not too interesting.
A young boy around the same age as Missy stood by his side. From the corner of Georgie's eye, he could see Missy's disappointment. Not hot then. Good, Georgie wasn't comfortable with his sister dating so young anyway.
It was the eldest son who stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing the same basic checkered shirt as the rest of his family, but given the eyeliner that framed his eyes, Georgie could tell it wasn’t his usual style. The boy was around the same height as him, maybe a bit taller and had chopped brown hair that stuck up in all different directions. On his face he sported a bored expression that told him he didn't want to be here. Good, that made two of them.
His mother ushered the family into the kitchen, smiling in what he could only describe as pleasantly, which was funny because he only learned that word a few weeks ago. They all sat around the dining table, his mother had laid out a various array of biscuits. He wished she’d bake more often. “So what do you do for work?” His father asked Frank, trying to diffuse the silence between them. “Oh y’know work at an office job” He said with a glum smile.
The room was basked in an uncomfortable silent tension, and his mother gave him a pained smile “Georgie why don’t you and Missy take these boys outside”. Great, now he was supposed to entertain them like some chimps in a circus.
The four of them, (Sheldon had diverted to the garage to play with his trains) all gathered awkwardly round the old swingset. Georgie felt he should say something before they all died from awkwardness “I think there's an old radio in the garage we could blow up”. They all sprang up and Missy grinned, sprinting off to the garage “I'll get it!”
15 minutes later they had set up a mini explosive set. Turns out the emo was actually pretty good at it, but then again he wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t his first time. The radio let out a loud bang, exploding into a million pieces, and as if summoned, Mary stormed out, followed close by Susan “GEORGIE AND MISSY COPPER!”. Crap, he forgot this wasn’t the first time he had blown up an old electronic.
Thankfully he didn’t have to face her scolds today, as the oldest son of the Heffley's, in a rash minute decision, hurdled over the fence and began to bolt down the pavement. “RODRICK!” Susan gasped after him. Well he had a decision “Hey wait for me!” Georgie whined, and before his mother could protest, leapt after him, leaving the sounds of their parents bellowing a far away call.
The morning sun beared down on them as Georgie's head buzzed with adrenaline and a rush of excitement. His shoes slapped against cold concrete and his thighs burned with pressure. He wondered how long this boy could keep it up. He himself was a football player, so he could run for hours, this guy however, looked like the type to skip PE to smoke mariona. It wasn’t until they passed the laundromat the boy started to slow down, flinging himself into the front seat of a trashed up white van. Georgie followed him, collapsing into the passenger seat next to him. The boy breathed out a sigh of exhaustion, his face red and puffy. “Im Rodrick” was the first thing he said.
“Georgie”.
“So you decided to follow me. You gonna bully me or something?”
“Nah that’s not really my style”
“Go figures. You look like a bully. Respectfully of course”
He laughed, not because what he said was funny, just because he could. Rodrick stripped off his plaid shirt, tossing it wordlessly into the back of the van, which seemed to be full of old clothes and half eaten food. Georgie almost found it attractive, (in a straight way of course) how unbothered by this whole ordeal he was, in fact he seemed indifferent. He wondered if that's how he actually felt however. Rodrick replaced his previous formal wear with a ripped band tee before turning back to him “How pissed do you think your parents are going to be”.
Georgie grimaced, the thought of facing his parents after this made him nauseous “My dads gonna kill me” he said, running his hands through his chestnut brown hair. He wasn’t even sure what provoked him to follow him. There was something about this boy which was alluring to him, even with his unnatural appearances.
He could practically feel the punishment coming with this stunt. Grounded for a month, no music, maybe a little manual labor to spice things up. And the biggest scolding of his life. Well maybe not the biggest, but it was sure to be up there.
The van was blanketed in silence. It seemed neither of them knew what to do now. “So.. what kind of music do you like?” Rodrick asked.
“I like rock, like Def Leppard and Bon Jovi y’know”
He sighed “Of course you do”. “Cheap rock sellouts” he added under his breath
“Hey at least their cool rock sellouts!” He protests.
“I thought you would have listened to country, cowboy?” Rodrick teased mockingly
“Big talk from a emo”
—––––––––––––––
-Rodrick-
“I'm not emo! i’m-” Rodrick trailed off. He wasn’t going to explain it to this boy who clearly had no taste. “Never mind”
“So what do we do ‘now?” The guy, Georgie, asked in a rough southern accent. Rodrick found it slightly irritating. He wasn’t even sure why he was letting him stick around. Probably because Georgie looked like the sort of person who could beat him up easily. Still he should just throw him out.
“I don’t know, I've only lived in this dump for barely a week”. He said, slightly bitterly. He had left everything he knew behind to come to Texas, and even though he didn’t complain as much as Greg, he wished they never moved. His band had promised to stay in touch with him, but he was doubtful. When Bill Walter took over his band, they didn’t say anything, and practically replaced him like old shoes. It was stupid, Loded Diper wouldn’t even be a thing without him.
“Theres a liquor store nearby. I reckon you could pass as an adult” Georgie stated. Rodrick had to give it to him, he didn’t think this Blue collar guy would be as rebellious as this. Actually screw that, he could definitely see him being this rebellious. Maybe he was like him, needing something to patch that hole in his life.
“Great. Now you're talking!” He grinned. He pressed on the accelerator, the van skidding and lurching them forward violently. He watched in amusement as Georgie gripped the seat tightly. Good, maybe he’ll scare him away.
He pressed the radio on and Duality by Slipknot began playing. Great, the most stereotypical band possible. This would definitely reinforce Georgie's perspective of him as an “emo”. Reluctantly he whacked the control on the car, switching the radio to a more Rock station. He didn’t really want to, but if he wanted something like a friend, he would have to play music that Georgie liked. Besides, it would be helpful if he had someone with such big muscles on his side, in case he somehow said the wrong thing and got shoved in a locker.
Beside him, Georgie nodded along to some Bon Jovi song on the radio. Rodrick had to admit, it was catchy.
“Ooh she's a little runaway.” The lyrics slipped out of mouth before he could stop them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Georgie smiling smugly, but he refused to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging that this song wasn’t half bad.
“Turn left ‘round about now”. Georgie said and Rodrick nodded, swerving and swinging the van into a little carpark in front of a dusty liquor store.
“So how are we gonna do this?” He asked, contemplating the store in front of them.
“Maybe one of us can go in first and if they get turned away the other can go”
Rodrick nodded. “Dibs not going first” He grinned toothly. He wanted alcohol, but he also didn’t want to be in more trouble than he already was.
Georgie groaned before heaving himself out of the car. “Fine. Got any money?”. Rodrick nodded, handing him a five dollar bill and watching as he disappeared into the store. He had finally made a friend in Texas.
Now he just had to hope that Georgie wouldn’t discard him like all his other old friends.
In a few minutes Georgie came back, holding two bottles of beer between his fingers. He passed one to Rodrick and then popped open the cap of his own. Rodrick mirrored him, the bottle letting out a satisfying fizz before he took a hearty sip, all his worries washing away with the familiar sting of alcohol.
They sat in silence, the only sounds being the gulping of liquid.
“You haven't really told me much about you y'know” Georgie says suddenly. Rodrick was surprised, why would he want to know about him? “Not really much to know.” He shrugged
“Oh come on there has to be something” Georgie prodded stubbornly. “Let's take turns asking each other questions.”
Great, now he was reduced to playing icebreaker games? “Ok…I guess I'll start simple. What's your family like? I mean apart from your freaky genius brother”
Georgie groaned “Don't get me started. My sister, Missy is alright but the rest of them are pains in my asses. Sheldon's always achieving something. My mother won't stop babying him, and my father thinks that I have no career path if I quit football, so I'm basically stuck on that for the rest of my life”.
Rodrick nodded in what he hoped was a sympathetic way. Don't get him wrong, it wasn't that he didn't care, it's just that the mid day glow was shining beautifully on Georgie's shiny hair and it was making him distracted. “That sucks. My father's the same way… except he just thinks I'm a disappointment” it hurt to say, but it wasn't untrue.
“Alright, my turn” Georgie said “Why did you run away?, I mean my family can’t be that bad.” Rodrick suddenly felt eyes bearing down on him. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure exactly why he ran away, it was a rash last minute decision fueled by a heat of the moment adrenaline and the need to get away from the situation.
All those eyes looking down on him, the new people who he had been forced to act so politely to. He knew it wouldn’t last. It had only been a matter of time before he snapped. He shrugged, fidgeting nervously “I don’t know, I guess I just wasn’t thinking straight.” He wasn’t going to tell Georgie the real reason.
Georgie shrugs “Ok”. Rodrick thoroughly enjoyed his laidback demeanour. If it was Greg, he would be pounding down on him with a million questions ‘Why did you hit me?’, ‘Why are you such a dick? ‘Rodrick, can you pass the salt?’.
At that minute there was a loud banging on the car door. His father was standing outside, looking absolutely furious. Even more mad then that time Greg and Rodrick threw a party when his parents were gone. Oh this was bad, very bad. When he looked over to Georgie, he could see he looked just as panicked.
His father continued knocking. He was shouting too, but the car door muffled most of it, so all he could hear was “Rodrick….Fuckin door”. Rodrick locked eyes with Georgie in terror.
“What are we going to do?” Georgie whispered. Rodrick took a deep breath “I'll talk to him” He hoped he sounded more calm then he felt.
Hesitantly he opened the door and his father instantly started berating him “WHAT THE HELL RODRICK…BLAH BLAH ... .RODRICK”. All Rodrick had to do was mirror a look of guilt and hope he’d shut up if he nodded enough. Frank paused mid rant, sniffing the air. “Wait a minute, is that alcohol?”. Rodrick gulped and whispered “No”.
Fuck, He was in trouble now. “It is… RODRICK YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING?!” His father practically exploded in rage. “GOD DAMNIT, YOUR BECOMING JUST LIKE THAT BILL GUY”. Rodrick winced. This was not going well. “I'm sorry” he muttered desperately.
“SORRY? YOUR SORRY? SORRY ISN”T GOING TO FIX THIS ONE BOY”. Frank bellowed and Rodrick gripped the seat anxiously. He hadn’t seen his father this angry since that time he had been caught smoking with his band member Drew. This was not a good look.
A lot of shouting later, his father dropped Georgie off at his house, and Rodrick spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Greg's taunting, his fathers screaming and his mothers silent condescension.
________________
-Georgie-
Georgie was in big trouble. Big ,big trouble.
“WHAT THE HELL GEORGIE!”.
Starting off strong then. His father had been drinking, he could smell it on his breath. That wasn’t good. Not that he’d ever admit it, but sometimes it scared him when his father drank too much. Not that he’d ever lay a finger on them, but it still.
He zoned out as his parents scolded him, his eyes taking that glazed form they always did when he listened to his parents argue. Except they weren’t arguing now. They were both on the same side, Georgie had done wrong.
To be honest it wasn’t his fathers shouting that scared him the most. It was his mothers disappoint,carefully crafted to deal the most pain from a single glance. They were a double edged sword, his parents, no matter what side you hold it from, you get stabbed in the hand. Unless you perched precisely in the middle. Georgie had become an expert at that, staying in the middle. Never taking sides.
It was his mother who dealt the final blow however. “YOU'RE GROUNDED FOR A MONTH, No music, and you’ll have to come to church every weekend.” She spat, her words like fire. Church? Great, a bunch of old ladies commenting on his “lovely hair” and being forced to sing mind dumbing hymns for a month. As if it couldn’t get worse his mother added sharply “And I damn don’t want you seeing that Rodrick boy anymore, he's a bad influence!” Georgie's heart sank, but he understood where his parents were coming from, and in a way he felt the same way.
Rodrick had only brought him trouble, and he didn’t want more of that…
Not really.
..Maybe a little.