out of the blue | george clarkey

25; the L word

elena's pov

christmas has been and gone and tomorrow is new year's, so today i'm heading to bristol to celebrate with george's family. i gave george one last call before i left.

"are you SURE i don't need to bring anything?" i ask george for the tenth time. "i promise you, mum has it all under control. i think she'd be more annoyed if you tried to help and bring something. she likes to be in control" george explains. "okay if you're really sure but i just want to make sure i make a good first impression" i say, nerves setting in that in a matter of hours i will be meeting george's parents. "el, i promise you my mum thinks the world of you already and that's only going to be heightened when she meets you, you can relax. plus, i've already told her how annoying you are to lower her expectations" he adds. i just roll my eyes. "okay, my train leaves in like 40 minutes i need to set off. i'll see you soon" i grin widely, struggling to hide my excitement. "see you soonnn" george tailed off as we ended the call. i grabbed my suitcase and out the door i went.

the train was long but thankfully i had downloaded the last couple episodes of 'the useless hotline' to catch up on and hearing george and max was a nice way to pass the time, i was so proud of them for the launch of the podcast and i was trying so hard not to laugh on the train.

after nearly three hours, i had made it to bristol. i texted george:

george <3

just arrived xxxx

parked in the white car outside the side exit xxxx

i make it out the massive station and find the side exit, i see george's car and he's stood beside it. i drop my bags and run straight into his arms. an old lady watches on and smiles as we recreate something out of those 'my husband returning from war' videos acting like we didn't see each other 3 weeks ago. however, those 3 weeks felt like forever. "i missed you!" i say and george replies, "i missed you too" we pull apart and kiss briefly before george interrupts "you're gonna be missing your bags as well soon, go grab them" he jokes and i remember "oh shit yeah" i run backwards to grab them. george helps me load them into the boot of his car and we set off back to his.
there was something so attractive about watching him drive and i don't know why. "are you alright?" george asks laughing, hinting at my intense staring. "sorry yeah" i laugh back not even noticing it. "just checking me out?" he smirks and readjusts in his seat. "absolutely not" i smack his arm jokingly. he reaches out and grabs one of my hands, i look up and smile at him but his eyes are on the road. we stay like this and sing along to frank ocean the rest of the way home.

we pull on george's driveway and i am instantly met with nerves again. "george im scared" i say, making both of us laugh. "i promise you, you will be fine." george says, pushing me towards the door to go first thinking it's funny. "not a chance" i laugh trying to push him up the steps to go first. suddenly the door unlocks and george's mum is stood staring at us, play fighting on her door step near enough and i can feel my cheeks going red. "elena? it's so lovely to meet you" george's mum pulls me into a hug. "it's so lovely to meet you too!" i say. she pulls away and i turn back to face george with wide eyes of embarrassment of our previous behaviour but he is just laughing. "oh george, take elena's bags up and i'll show her into the kitchen" george's mum says and i follow her. "jesus, what did he last slave die of" george calls out. "behave!" george's mum calls back. i just laugh and follow his mum into the kitchen. i am soon met with who i assume is his dad and i of course remember emily from the podcast launch party. they both stand up to hug me and i was correct, the man was george's dad. "i knew you guys would get together eventually" emily teases. "only took him 3 months" i laugh back. "take a seat, can i get you a drink or anything?" george's mum said ushering me to sit down. i sat down, "im okay for now thank you honestly, i had a drink just before i got here" i smile and shortly after george arrives. "did you do it?" his mum asks, with her back to him continuing to stir something she was cooking on the stove. "yes mum i did" he says, rolling his eyes jokingly. "so who's actually coming tomorrow?" emily asks her mum and dad. "so, it's us, nan and grandad, auntie and the kids, probably some of the neighbours too and some of mine and dad's work friends" their mum explains and the panic sets in that i'm meeting all of george's family in one go. i look at george across the table with wide eyes and he just laughs once again, i'm glad someone finds this funny.

we spend the rest of the evening, talking and george's mum and dad had loads of questions for me but it was nice that they had an interest in me and what i had to say. a few glasses of wine in, the baby photos were out and george spent most of the evening with his head in his hands and i would explain each photo to him just to wind him up. "okay we've had enough now, it's 12am" george says closing the book. "oh goodness, i've got to be up at 9am to start preparing the meat" his mum says now in slightly panic. "mum the party doesn't start until 7, you can chill out" george explains laughing. "george, there's too much to be done to chill out" his mum explains.

we all eventually head to bed and i am welcomed into george's room. "welcome to mtv cribs" george says as he opens the door for me. "there's my bed, there's my lamp and there's my desk. tour over, piss off now" he closes the door on me sarcastically and i burst my way back in. "nice choice of paint, green" i inspect his walls jokingly. "yeah, i had a bit of a ben 10 phase. it's a dark time i'd prefer not to relive actually" i look around his room to try find my bag and see it tucked away under the bed. "i'm just gonna get changed" i say whilst grabbing my bag. "where are you going?" george laughs. "toilet?" i say as if it's not obvious. "i've seen you naked before, you don't need to go to the bathroom. unless you really want to" he says, backtracking slightly. "no it's fine, just no being weird. we're in your parents house!" i whisper the last part. "no promises" george says in his mock voice, holding his hands up. he does end up turning around and getting on with something else in his room as i get changed. "i can't believe i'm meeting your whole bloodline in one go" i say to him, breaking the silence. "well not exactly, only missing prince andrew, i mean uncle andrew" george jokes and i roll my eyes. "okay but seriously, what do you have to be nervous about, look how well today went, my parents love you! so why wouldn't the others?" he says walking over to me. he puts his arms on top of my shoulders. "just stop stressing, i promise you if i love you, so will they" he says and both of our eyes go wide. he said it. he said the L word.