A Little Slice of Heaven by Shea K.

6: Maximum capacity

"This school needs a professional fund raiser or something. How many times do they want to have a bake sale? I feel like they're asking for stuff every other week. I mean, seriously, how many times can you have a bake sale?" Gina huffed, pulling up a chair in Georgia's immaculate kitchen. She figured if she kept an eye on her friend, she could keep Georgia from going overboard again.

"Every time they want to do a little production, it seems. They do need to buy costumes and things like that. I'm glad I can do something to help, especially something that I love doing anyway," Georgia replied with a smile as she went through her cabinets, pulling out ingredients that she would need for cakes.

Gina smiled a little and nodded slightly. "The girls appreciate it. They adore you so much."

"Gina, I'm already making the cakes. No need to sweet talk me," Georgia remarked with a small smile.

Laughter shook Gina's shoulders slightly and caused her auburn curls to bounce. "I'm not sweet talking you, my friend. But, speaking of sweet talk, who is this gentleman that's been able to sweet talk his way into your house every night when Allen isn't here?" she inquired with a teasing smirk.

Georgia blinked hard and arched an ebony eyebrow. Gina blinked too when she noticed the wrinkled forehead and perplexed chocolate eyes. She wondered if she had gone too far or made some mistake. Georgia did not look like she had a clue what Gina was talking about, after all.

"Gentleman? You've seen a gentleman come into this house when Allen wasn't around? What are you talking about? I hope you don't spread that drivel around," Georgia commented, giving her friend a stern look. She had done nothing to deserve such slander and she did not want such lies to get back to her husband. Although, she doubted that he would believe such garbage.

"I know my eye sight isn't that bad. A tall gentleman in a very small car. He visits you on nights that Allen is not here," Gina insisted, green eyes daring Georgia to call her on that.

Georgia's expression did not clear up. "Tall gentleman in a small car?" She scratched her head and then her eyes widened. "Oh, that's no gentleman! That's Jaz!"

"Excuse me?" Gina inquired with an arched eyebrow of her own.

The pale woman laughed as she put her hand high above her head and went on to explain her newest friend. "Jaz. She's very tall, but she's definitely no man. She's a friend of mine."

Her friend nodded almost tediously, as if the information meant nothing to her. "I figured maybe it was a business friend of Allen's or something, coming over to check on you. It wouldn't surprise me if he did something like that." Her somewhat disgusted tone was ignored.

Georgia shook her head. "No one needs to check on me. I'm quite fine on my own. You forget that even before marrying Allen, I was an only child with parents that were away on business frequently too."

Gina nodded again and sighed. "I guess I was just trying to imagine some excitement into your life. A secret liaison seemed perfect, but I guess I'll have to keep that one in my mind and continue to imagine excitement into your life." She then let loose a dramatic, long sigh; Georgia could see where her daughters got their acting talent from. Gina continued on after that. "It also explains why I thought 'he' looked so thin." She laughed at this.

Georgia chuckled too. "If she was a man, yes, she would be thin. She's trim, but not skinny. She likes keeping me company when Allen isn't here, making sure I don't get lonely."

"Well, that's sweet of her. I wish you would've called me if you needed company, though. I would come over any time." There was a small pout on Gina's face and Georgia took it quite seriously. Although her friend could be somewhat flighty and snobbish, she was still a good friend.

"And then you'll have to bring the girls over here and then they'll want to make cupcakes or pies or just about anything and then I'll go overboard and they'll be full of sugar and up for the next fifty years," Georgia pointed out.

There was a nod for the sage words. "You are absolutely correct. Thank you for never calling me."

"I don't really call Jaz much either. She just shows up on days that she doesn't have work or she doesn't have to work late. I think I'm a pet project or something," Georgia remarked with a happy smile. I don't even mind if that's all I am. She knew that their friendship was much more than that, though.

An auburn eyebrow raised. "Sounds intriguing. What sort of work does she do?"

Georgia opened her mouth and almost blurted out "pizza delivery." Mouth closed quickly and then she tried to fix her lips to say, "graphic design." Her mouth refused the lie; she was no liar. She would also not apologize for her friend, who was not ashamed of having to work.

"Remember you used to make fun of me for always ordering junk food when Allen was away or went to hang out with his friends?" Georgia asked and received a nod. "Jaz is the one who delivered pizza here. She noticed I ordered the same thing every week." A small, shy smile graced Georgia's face.

"And now she just comes over and keeps you company?" It sounded a bit peculiar, especially the way Gina asked it and the way her eyebrows were all knitted together now, but Georgia did not think anything of it.

"Yes. She shares junk food with me and we watch television. Nothing too serious."

Gina nodded again. "That's just your speed," she commented with a smile. It was a disappointed smile.

Georgia did not say anything, even though she was getting the feeling that her friend would have liked to gossip about her having an affair. She wondered if Gina had said anything to either of their husbands about seeing a "tall gentleman" enter the house when Allen was away. If so, Allen had not said anything, but now she knew to watch for any change in his demeanor that might indicate he had been listening to anything coming out of Gina's mouth.

Of course, there was the fact that Allen never listened to what came out of Gina's mouth. He was not a fan of her friends. In return, they were not fans of his. So, she supposed that Gina would never say anything to Allen, but that did not mean that she would not say something to her own husband. He was one of Allen's friend, so it was plausible for him to pass the rumor along to Allen. Again, Allen had not shown any signs of hearing such a thing, though.

"Do you think the girls would mind a little extra?" Georgia inquired, taking the subject back to the reason Gina was in her kitchen in the first place.

"I would mind! They'll be buzzing around for hours if you give them any cake," Gina pointed out, looking almost offended that Georgia would ask such a thing.

Georgia laughed a little, knowing that was true. The horror of that thought got Gina away from talk of Georgia having someone visit her. While they talked about the girls, the thought of having an affair stayed in the back of Georgia's mind and secretly tickled her. The boldest thing she ever did in her life was make her own wedding cake and she would like to keep things that way.

-8-8-8-8-

Jaz was sitting on her bed, working in one of her many sketchbooks. She had her pencil in one hand and her phone in another. Her friends were squawking in her ear about something, but she was not really paying them any mind. She needed to get through with her assignment since it was due tomorrow. Yes, she knew that procrastination was a bad thing, but she was so good at it!

"So, anyway, since spring break is next week, we might as well figure out what we want to do," Rob said, being the organizer that she was.

"We need to start saving money so next year we can leave town like everybody else," Cocoa commented with a light laugh.

"Oh, please, if Jaz missed one day of work her ass would be fired so hard we'd see the scorch marks!" Peach remarked, earning some laughs. He thought it was odd that Jaz was silent, though. "Yo, Jasper, anybody home?" he called into the phone.

Silence was the response, so the others joined in. "Jaz? Jaz!"

"Huh?" the artist replied as she realized her friends were calling her name.

"Jaz, are you drawing while you're supposed to be listening to us and making plans?" Cocoa asked.

"She's probably face deep in Georgie-girl," Mitch scoffed.

"Hey!" Jaz snarled. "I told you it's not like that with her! She's happily married and I would sooner sleep with you than with her!"

"Whoa! Gross!" Peach hollered in complete shock. "I need my brain washed! That mental image will never go away!"

"He has to be the only straight male in existence that's disgusted by the idea of two girls getting it on," Rob commented.

"Mitch isn't a girl," Peach insisted.

"Jaz, are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Georgie? Be honest with us because it looks weird to us," Rob informed the artist.

"There's nothing to tell us. She's my friend just like all of you are my friends. She's married and I'm not trying to come between her and her husband. She seems to be very happy with him and that's good enough for me."

"How many times have you checked out my ass then?" Mitch demanded, earning laughs from the group.

"You have an ass?" Peach chimed in.

Jaz sighed, knowing this could go on forever. "Guys, I don't have time for this. I really need to finish this assignment. To settle the matter once and for all, I'm just friends with George. You guys know how I am. If I can help with something, I do, so I was helping her with bowling and mini-golf. I would do the same for you."

The silence let her know that she had won that round. She disconnected from the call before someone's brain finally kicked in. Turning her attention back to her work, she sighed and silently admitted that she might have looked at Georgia's ass once or twice.

"It's a nice ass and I'm only human," she muttered. Besides, just because she looked did not mean that she would ever consider touching. After all, Georgia was her friend, just like Rob and Mitch were her friends. She had never touched them… but, then again, she had never checked them out either.

Jaz quickly shook that thought away. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed a cigarette from her nearby nightstand and popped it in her mouth. She did not light it, but it helped her focus on her work, promising herself a treat as soon as she was finished with her task.

-8-8-8-8-

While climbing out of her car, Jaz took one last, long drag on her cigarette. She then put it out by crushing it between her fingers, using her right hand since to her it was her least important hand. The butt was placed in the ashtray in the car, figuring that if she threw it in the street, she would probably get a ticket for littering… and the police might want to search her car yet again.

"I hope they catch that damn cat burglar sometime soon or I might turn to crime just so the cops find something on me next time I get pulled over," Jaz muttered to herself as she trotted up the familiar walkway. "I hope they catch the guy too, so I don't have to keep worrying about Georgie being by herself out here with some nut creeping through the bushes."

Shaking those thoughts away, she raised her hand to knock, but she did not get the chance. The front door flew open and she was yanked inside. A surprising yelp escaped the young woman. Georgia could not help laughing.

"That's an odd noise for someone your size to make," the smaller female teased, a bright smile adorning her face. Jaz noted that lately, Georgia had been looking better, somehow healthier. She wondered why that was.

"So says you. I'd like to know what noise you'd make if I yanked you around," Jaz replied, putting on a deep pout.

"Stop pouting. It's very unbecoming," Georgia continued on as she took her guest's jacket.

Jaz continued to pout, just to be annoying. All of that changed when she sniffed the air and inhaled a hint of chocolate. The grin that spread across her face was a cross between childish and gluttonous.

"They're in the kitchen," Georgia informed the teen.

Jaz was off to the bounty of cupcakes while Georgia hung up the jacket that smelled of cigarette smoke. She shook her head as she went to join her friend. She was not surprised to see Jaz, cheeks full, sitting at the island in the kitchen in front of two pans of cupcakes. Judging by the crumbs around her mouth, she ate eaten a chocolate one first.

"You are just too much sometimes," Georgia commented, gently wiping away the mess around the artist's lips. "Do you want something to go with this, you greedy gopher?" she inquired and earned a happy nod. Moving to the refrigerator, she poured a glass of milk for her guest and set it in front of her.

Jaz swallowed everything in her mouth, took a healthy swig of milk to wash it all down, and then smiled like a happy toddler. "I can't help it. You make the best cupcakes ever! You should sell these! Have you sold these before?" she inquired curiously.

Georgia shook her head. "Cupcakes, no. I have sold a cake or two in my day, though."

Jaz's head tilted to the side like a curious puppy. Georgia could not help smiling; it was just too cute. Jaz did not think anything of the expression.

"You sell cakes?" the college student asked.

"Not often. Just to friends and things like that. I enjoy baking and I'm very good at it, so people come to me when they need a cake or something. As long as it's not too extravagant, I'll do it for free. But, when they want me to do wedding cakes and things like that is when I start charging," Georgia explained.

Jaz nodded. "Do you have a portfolio?" she inquired with great interest. The cupcakes were forgotten for the moment. Little did she know, but the attention was flattering to the shorter woman.

Georgia chuckled. "Sorry, no. I'm not really trying to drum up any business or anything."

Again with adorable head tilt. "You should. It's better than sitting in here most of the time, right?"

Sorrow swept through deep brown eyes for a moment, but was gone just as quickly. "I am quite fine with this. If I didn't sit around here, I never would've met you," Georgia pointed out.

Jaz shrugged because she could not argue that. Instead of trying to say anything, she reached for another cupcake. As she shoved the whole thing in her mouth, Georgia groaned and shook her head. She reached over and wiped Jaz's mouth for a second time that night.

"You know, you really should take bites," Georgia cautioned the teen.

A tan hand waved the advice off, but Jaz did not try to talk until she had swallowed half of the cake. "I know what I'm doing. I'm like a professional eater. I've been eating all my life, after all."

"Yeah, all ninety minutes of it, huh?" Georgia teased, complete with a smart-aleck smirk on her face.

Jaz grinned, realizing that was the first time that Georgia taunted her about her age. She hoped that meant her friend was getting used to hanging out with someone younger than she was. To her, that meant that they had a long friendship ahead of them and that thought made her eyes light up.

"A penny for your thoughts," Georgia said as she noticed the sparkle in those light blue eyes.

"I was just hoping that we stay friends forever," Jaz replied honestly.

Georgia smiled. "It's a deal."

That statement made Jaz's face light up even brighter than before. She swallowed the rest of the cupcake in her mouth and reached for another treat, a strawberry one that time. They were about to get into a conversation, but a surprising sound paused any words that were going to come out of their mouths.

The front door opened and closed. Brown met blue in questioning gazes. Jaz leaned back, trying to see out to the front door from the hallway outside the kitchen. She was not very successful in that because of the angle that she was at, so she stood up. Georgia put her hand up, silently requesting that Jaz remain where she was.

"I'll go look. You wait here," Georgia said.

The older woman did not wait for Jaz to respond and got out of her seat. Jaz was up just as quickly, walking behind Georgia, and forgetting that she had her cheeks full of cupcake. She doubted that she was being very sneaky since it was hard for one not to notice six feet worth of person behind one, but Georgia was kind enough to not say anything about how Jaz did not know how to listen.

In the foyer, they saw why they heard the door open and close. A man was standing there, just tossing a travel bag to the side. He looked up as he heard them approach and a curious look twisted his features almost immediately. Jaz noticed, but she did not say anything because she did not know what was going on just yet. The way that his face set as he stared at them did not sit well with her, though.

"Allen, you're home early," Georgia said, a warm smile on her face that did not reach her eyes, but still looked very sincere. Her forehead then wrinkled. "Did something go wrong?" she inquired with concern.

He shook his head. "This was actually one of the easiest deals I've ever made, which is why I'm home early," he explained and then he cast a glance beyond his wife. "And who do we have back there?" He nodded toward the six feet shadow his wife was sporting.

Georgia glanced back, as if she did not know that Jaz was back there. "Oh, Allen, this is my good friend Jaz. Jaz, this is my husband Allen," she introduced the two, motioning between them with both of her hands.

Jaz rubbed her hands on her jeans to make sure that she did not have cake crumbs on it and then stepped forward, offering her hand to Allen. He looked ready to take a step back, not prepared for her to be so much taller than he was. He recovered before he moved and reached out for her hand. The handshake was quick, Allen pulling his hand back almost as soon as it touched Jaz's hand. The smile on Jaz's face did not falter, even though she thought it odd for him to retreat so fast.

"I've heard a lot about you, Allen," Jaz informed him. He was shorter than she expected, only a couple of inches taller than Georgia. He seemed more glamorous in real life than in the photos around the house; hell, even in those shots, he looked like he was posing for a magazine cover. He had a charming, boyish look to him with tussled, short brown hair and dark blue eyes. His dark blue suit was pristine and screamed successful. But, there was something in his eyes that she did not like; she shook it off, dismissing it as nothing for several reasons.

"Funny, I haven't heard a thing about you, from Georgia anyway," Allen commented, his tone slightly biting and his eyes were sharp. He even cut a glare to his wife, who found the floor suddenly very interesting.

Jaz wondered for a moment if he was trying to get to her or Georgia. If he was trying to get to her, it did not matter. She was not bothered by it, but if he was trying to bother Georgia in someway, well, she would not stand for that.

"I doubt you tell Georgie everything that's going on in your life, so I don't see why she should yammer away about everything in hers," Jaz retorted with a shrug as she shoved her hands in her pockets. She stared down at him, attempting to gauge just what level of asshole she wanted to assign him.

"You don't worry about what I do with my wife. Thank you for keeping her company and everything, but I think it's time you went home," Allen ordered. He barely tried to make it sound like a suggestion.

Jaz shrugged. "I don't think I like the vibes around this place anymore anyway. Check you later, Georgie," she said, even though she did not take her eyes off of Allen. Silently, she decided right away that she did not like this man.

"I'll walk you out," Georgia said in a rush, moving over to her guest quickly.

Jaz did not argue and the pair walked out of the house. Georgia shut the door behind them, obviously wanting some privacy. She then regarded Jaz with those brown eyes that Jaz was sure could convince her to walk off a bridge and smile all the way down. Georgia opened her mouth, but Jaz put her hand up.

"You don't have to apologize for him," Jaz said.

"But, I really am sorry. He's not usually like that. He might just be overtired. He was across the country only a few hours ago," Georgia explained.

Blonde and brown locks swayed as Jaz shook her head slightly. "Georgie, don't apologize for him, but don't try to make excuses for him too. I think he genuinely doesn't like me."

Thin, ebony eyebrows furrowed together and full lips set into a frown. "That doesn't make any sense. How could someone not like you?" she asked quite seriously.

Jaz grinned. "I'm glad you think so highly of me, but it's been known to happen. It's okay. I'm not friends with him, after all. I'm friends with you."

A shy smile crept onto Georgia's face. "So, we're still friends?"

"Of course!" Jaz wrapped Georgia into a tight hug. "We'll always be friends."

Georgia smiled, happy to hear that. She walked the tall girl to her car and watched the tail lights disappear down the street. She sighed and then turned her attention back to the house. She scratched her forehead a bit before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. She then marched back to the door and into the house. She was not surprised that Allen had moved on from standing in the foyer. She found him in the den, mixing himself a drink.

"Did you have to be rude to her?" Georgia inquired, tone remaining civil and eyes almost apologetic. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip out to the side; Jaz would have wondered who this woman was and what she had done with her shy, polite friend.

"And where did you meet her? I know she's not from anywhere around our neighborhood," Allen snapped, glaring at Georgia as if she had done something truly offensive.

"I'm sure Gina, or should I say Rick, already told you where I met her from," Georgia answered calmly.

"Why in the world are you hanging out with a pizza delivery girl? Not to mention one like that. For all you know, she could be in league with that prowler that's been wandering around here!" he pointed out with a huff, throwing his arm out in the direction of the window.

"Jaz is nothing like that. She's a very sweet person and she's been a very good friend to me. She's not a criminal and I'm insulted that you would even suggest that," Georgia stated in a firm tone. Chocolate eyes were now glaring right back at Allen. She could not believe he would imply that her friend was a criminal and he did not know anything about her.

A loud, practically mocking snort came before his response. "She's sweet until she robs us blind! I know how her kind is!"

Georgia blinked hard, not wanting to consider what he might mean by that. "Her kind? What's that supposed to mean?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"They're all thieves! God, have you checked around the house since you so casually let her in our home on the regular basis!"

Brown eyes narrowed. "Jaz isn't anything like that and I'd like to know just who it is you are referring to in such general terms."

He shook his index finger at her before pointing it at her. "Listen, Georgia, this is my house and I don't want that girl in here ever again. You have friends. If you get lonely, go and spend time with them, not that I want them in the house either, but you can go out with them. You don't need to be around that type of person and I don't want her in here."

"You don't even know her!"

"Like I said, I know how her kind is. You don't let her back in my house and you stop hanging out with her," he commanded and then stormed out of the room, leaving her standing there in shock.

Georgia's face was twisted, mouth turned up, eyebrows bent inward, and forehead wrinkled. She could not believe what just happened. She always had a feeling that Allen would not like Jaz, even though she believed that Jaz was just about the most likable person that she had ever met, but it seemed utterly bizarre to have that suspicion confirmed so quickly. She had not expected him to blow up the way that he did either.

"What the hell did he mean about 'her kind'?" Georgia sighed and shook her head.

-8-8-8-8-

"Wow, I never thought Allen would be such a jackass. I mean, I thought he might be a jerk from always leaving George like that, but he was a total jackass!" Jaz muttered to the smoke-filled air in her car. A cigarette hung from her frowning lips.

She was already planning to call Georgia, but she was not sure if she should do it immediately. She could already tell that she probably caused an argument between the couple and she really did not want to make matters worse. So, she figured that giving it a little time would be all right.

She put her cigarette out as she pulled up to her house. After parking the car in the cracked driveway, she went into the house, smelling dinner. That brought a smile to her face and she marched into the small kitchen.

"Hey, Ma," Jaz said, coming up behind the taller woman, hoping to sneak a peek at what she was making.

"What're you doing back so early, my little gem?" Maggie asked curiously, cutting up chicken cutlets.

"A surprise guest showed up."

"Meaning?"

"Her husband came in early."

Maggie turned to face her daughter. "God, Jaz, nothing happened, right? He didn't catch you two doing anything, right?" she begged, blue eyes laced with worry.

"Mom! I told you we're just friends! Why the hell does everyone think I'm doing something with George?" Jaz huffed, backing up to throw her hands up and not hit her mother in the process.

"Maybe because you spend every waking moment with her and you talk about her all the time. Then there was the time that she sent you home with handfuls of cupcakes just because she felt like it," the older woman answered as if it was all the evidence she needed.

"Well, I'll have you know I'm not doing anything with Georgie! She's just my friend," Jaz insisted.

Maggie nodded. "All right, fine. I just have to run a check with you because you spend a lot more time with her than your other friends, friends that you have known since junior high. Hell, you spend more time with her than you did with your girlfriends too. Now, her husband came in early and what happened?"

Jaz rubbed the bridge of her nose with her index finger. "Nothing really. He was rude as hell! I don't think he likes me much."

Maggie nodded again and frowned a little. "He doesn't think you're doing something with his wife, right?"

"I doubt it…" Jaz glanced away. "They don't know I'm gay."

Maggie's frown deepened. "You've been hanging out with this woman for almost three months and haven't bothered to tell her you're a lesbian? Jasper." The sigh that escaped her pretty much cut her daughter in half.

"I know, Ma! I should tell her!" Jaz sighed and rubbed her nose a little harder. "I just… I'm scared she might not take it well."

"Baby girl, you know better than that," Maggie said, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "If she judges you because you're a lesbian, it's better for you to not associate with her. The sooner you do it, the better. You don't want to get anymore attached to her than you are and then you find out that she can't handle that you're a lesbian. Do you really think that she's not going to take it well?"

Jaz ducked her head for a moment, looking like a bobble-head doll. "I really don't know right now. George is cool and everything, but I get the feeling that she's not used to people too different from those around her. I mean, she was bugged about being older than me and everything. We worked past it, but I get the feeling that me being a big lesbian would take a lot more work. Besides, now her husband hates me, so I have to deal with that. I can only deal with one thing at a time, Ma."

Maggie sighed and she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her index and middle fingers. "Little gem, it's your life and I'm not going to tell you how to live it. But, we both know that when you make new friends, it's better for you to just tell them up front who you are. I hate going through you being in tears and angry as hell because a new friend that you really liked called you a fucking dyke or something even worse. Because then they have to find out how crazy your family is and you always hate it when people find that out."

The last comment got a giant grin out of Jaz. "Mom, the whole neighborhood already knows we're all crazy. Now, when do we eat?" she asked, purposely changing the subject because to her there was nothing left to talk about. Maggie smiled and just let the topic go, answering the question about dinner.

-8-8-8-8-

7: Clubbing

Jaz sat at her desk, trying to get her work done early since spring break was just around the corner. Between her English papers, a history paper, and an art project, she was not sure how much she would actually make it through, but she needed to get through most of it while she had the time. Her friends were going to be bugging her to spend everyday out. She would like to be able to hang out all hours of the night. Well, all hours if Georgia was there anyway.

Georgia had been on her mind quite a bit. Most of it was just wanting to hang out with her, thinking about things that they had done or could do, or reminiscing on conversations that they had. Memories with Georgia always brought a smile to her face, but underneath those were troubled thoughts.

Her mother had scolded her for not telling Georgia that she was a lesbian. Now, Jaz was far from ashamed of her sexuality. She rarely made a big deal about it, not broadcasting it or going on and on about it for whatever reason. Being a lesbian was just a part of who she was. Her family took it as normal. They looked at her dating women just as natural as her brother dating women. It was that support that helped her keep it together whenever she found out that the rest of the world did not take her lesbianism with such an easygoing nature.

Through out the years, she had lost plenty of friends when they found out that she was a lesbian. It was such reactions that taught her to tell potential friends early on about herself. That way, if they had a problem with homosexuality, they would not be in her life long enough for her to get attached to them. It worked out well… until Georgia anyway.

She had not expected to become such good friends with Georgia so quickly. She was attached to Georgia as much as she was to her crew of friends. The problem was that she doubted that Georgia would take the news of her being a lesbian the way her other friends took it; they had all laughed and pointed out that they knew that already… when they were twelve. Okay, to be fair, Mitch had punched her in the stomach, but eventually she laughed about it and commented on how "obvious" it was. She was certain that Georgia would not say that and she would not laugh when she found out.

Jaz sighed. "I might as well not worry about it now. I mean, it's already been three months. I'm sure at some point I'll be able to bring it up without it seeming weird and we can go from there."

That made sense to her. So, she decided to let it go and focus on her work. She had a paper to finish and some sketching to do. After that, she figured that she would leave everything else until after spring break. Of course, she had to hope something did not come up after spring break.

"Whatever. Something always comes up. Let's just get through this," Jaz told herself again. Nodding, as if that made everything solid, she renewed her focus and continued on with her schoolwork.

-8-8-8-8-

Georgia was sitting at home on her own in the kitchen. She was contemplating baking something because she desired something to occupy her time and her mind. Right now her brain was being bombarded with thoughts regarding her husband and his meeting with Jaz. His behavior had been extremely troubling.

He kept using the words "her kind" and placed rather negative implications on them when he spoke. He made it seem like Jaz was the worst kind of person, even though he did not know her. Georgia was trying to figure out what he meant when he said "her kind" because his rant went all over the place… for several hours.

It seemed like Allen was actually… prejudiced. Or possibly racist. She never would have thought it possible since he seemed to get along very well with her father, who was very Chinese in both appearance and culture. Allen never said one bigoted thing about her or her father, but when he saw Jaz, it seemed like when he said "her kind" he was talking about African Americans.

She did not understand why he would be, though. They knew African Americans and Allen did not seem to have a problem with them. Well, not a problem that she noticed, but she promised to be more observant when they were out with friends. The weird thing was that his judgment seemed to go even beyond Jaz's race; not that Jaz considered herself African American since she always made it clear that her mother was Swedish.

As he rambled after meeting Jaz, it seemed like "her kind" could also mean teenagers, or young people since he did not know her specific age. He seemed to think that because she was young, Jaz was going to cause problems for Georgia, like inviting friends to the house and having a wild party. Georgia did not know where he got those thoughts from since she knew from experience that not all young people did that. Besides, Jaz so far had proven to like her company alone rather than with large masses of people.

Lastly, he seemed to have some problem with Jaz's economic status, so that could be what he meant when saying "her kind." Now, he did not know for a fact if Jaz was poor, but he seemed to think she was and that was enough for him. He had continuously implied that she was going to walk out of the house with something because she "obviously did not have nice things." He had actually said obviously! As if he knew Jaz at all.

Allen apparently thought that Jaz was going to rob them when the opportunity presented itself. Now, she was not sure if his beliefs stemmed from the fact that Jaz was black, young, or less fortunate money-wise than they were, but it seemed like a combination of the three. She supposed as soon as she figured out what he meant by "her kind," she would know why he thought that Jaz was going to burglarize their home.

Of course, his accusations led to an argument. She was used to arguing with him, but not about her friends. Yes, he might argue about her friends being in their house and how as a group they were gossipy, but never about them individually as people. He had the nerve to try to forbid her to see Jaz again. She had never blown up on him before like she had when he dared to try that. His face had registered such shock as if he was trying to figure out who she was and what she had done with his wife. The argument had heated up immensely after that, but did not get them anywhere… except for sick of each other anyway. She was so happy that he was gone for the weekend.

Yes, he was gone for the weekend. A sudden business trip… or so was the explanation as he ran out of the door. Not having the chance to ask any questions, she did not think much of it. It was not the first time that he left without much notice. At first, she found it curious the way he would speed out of the house, as if he forgot that he even had a meeting to get to. It seemed like a routine now, though.

"Now, I just need something to do and something to take my frustration out on. What to make?" Georgia asked herself.

Originally, she had planned to call Jaz and find out if they could spend some time together, but Jaz had schoolwork to do. She would leave Jaz to that, especially since Jaz claimed that once she got her work done, she would be free for a couple of weeks to just hang out. That sounded promising.

"I'll do some baking to clear my head," she told herself for the umpteenth time. She just did not know what to bake.

Instead of sitting there for another hour, letting her thoughts get the better of her while she pretended to figure out what to make, she got up. Checking the cabinets, she saw what she had ingredients for.

"I wonder what kind of cake Jaz likes?" Georgia asked herself as she began pulling out items. She recalled that Jaz said she was not a very picky eater, but she was sure that the tall girl had favorites. She decided to do a trial-by-error test starting now. She would bake cakes for Jaz until she found out which ones were her favorites. The very thought made her giddy and she bounced around the kitchen.

Georgia worked like a woman possessed until the ringing of her cell phone interrupted her. She was going to ignore it at first, thinking that it might be Allen. There was a long shot that he would call to apologize for his behavior…a very long shot. But, she checked caller id and was happy to find out that Jaz was calling her.

"Hey, you," Georgia greeted the college student with a happy chirp.

"Hey, I was just calling to check up on you. I know things have been a little… sketchy since our three's company meeting," Jaz remarked.

Georgia forced out a laugh. "Nothing sketchy at all. I don't know what Allen's problem is, but you and I are fine. Right?" Her voice jumped a bit at the end.

"Of course we are. I'm not judging you by what he's like. You're my friend, after all, not him. But, is everything cool between you and him?"

"Don't worry about it. He and I argue a lot. I'm starting to think it's the basis for our marriage. So, how's the schoolwork going?" Georgia inquired, wanting to change the subject to more pleasant matters.

"Going good. I needed a break. I am so not cut out for even the most remedial of English classes. But, I'm halfway through the paper and just had to give my little brain a rest," Jaz explained, which sort of explained why she called too.

"How long of a rest?" Georgia asked curiously.

"I'm not too sure. Do you have something in mind?" Jaz countered, doing her best to keep a purr out of her voice. She mentally insisted that she would have only purred to tease Georgia, but she did not want to chance freaking her shy friend out.

"Well, I baked you a cake…" was the response. Georgia felt a little weird admitting that. Was it strange to make a cake for a friend? No, she did it all the time. Of course, it was usually upon request and not because she was thinking of the person as she had done with Jaz.

"Cake? Can I come over and eat it now?" Jaz requested, grinning at the thought of the moist treat waiting for her. Of course, thinking of it along those lines almost made her mind stray. She blamed that on all of the reprimands she had gotten for not informing Georgia that she was a lesbian and now that was just stuck on her brain. She was able to stay focused though.

"I was hoping you would ask that."

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

Georgia laughed. "Don't kill yourself getting over here. The cake isn't going anywhere and neither am I."

"That's good to know. I'll still be there in about thirty minutes. See you then."

"Bye."

Jaz disconnected the call and moved quickly to find some clothes; she had been in her pajamas all day. Easily finding what she needed, she then grabbed her wallet and car keys. She charged downstairs, only to be stop at the door.

"Where you going, Jaz?" her mother called from the living room.

"To George's house," Jaz answered with a groan. She wondered how many other nineteen-year-olds had to explain their whereabouts to their mother every time they stepped next to the door.

"You be careful around her."

"She's just my friend, Ma!" Jaz whined.

"Yeah, like a volcano is just a fire pit."

"Spare me the geology lesson, Mom. Nothing is going on. Georgie is just my friend, like all my other friends. Okay?"

"If that's what you say, little gem."

Jaz rolled her eyes, but decided against arguing with her mother. Georgia was just her friend, like the rest of her crew. Yes, there were differences, but none of them had to do with the notion that she was attracted to or doing anything with Georgia. It was completely innocent.

The drive to Georgia's house was mostly uneventful. She was pulled over by the police, but they were regular patrol officers who recognized Jaz as "the pizza girl." They did question her as to what she was doing in the neighborhood since she was obviously not working and she kindly explained that she was visiting a friend. The two men then took a couple of minutes to tease her, earning quite a few laughs from her before sending her on her way.

Jaz pulled up in front of Georgia's house and almost forgot to put the car in park before exiting the vehicle. Once the car was secure, she trotted up to the door and was pleasantly surprised that it opened before she could knock. Georgia stood before her smiling and Jaz felt like it had been ages since they last saw each other. In fact, a relieved expression appeared on Jaz's face, causing Georgia to blink in confusion.

"Jaz, are you all right?" Georgia asked.

"Of course. Why?" the tall woman replied.

"I don't know. You looked so… happy, I guess."

"I am happy. I'm very happy to be standing here. Four days seems like an eternity without you," Jaz stated without thinking. As soon as she realized what she said, she hoped that Georgia would not think that she was weird for saying such a thing.

Georgia nodded and smiled. "I know what you mean. I missed you too. I hope you got a lot of your schoolwork done."

Jaz nodded and Georgia motioned for her to come in. Once she was in the house, Jaz went more into depth with her response. "I finished whatever papers I had left, except for this one English paper. I'll get to it eventually, but I really needed a break."

"So you said. Well, your cake is waiting and I picked out a couple of movies to watch if you could spare the time." Georgia hoped that Jaz could spare the time since she really did miss the taller woman and it would be nice to be with some company that would not argue with her over everything.

"I think I can spare the time for movies and cake with you," Jaz replied with a teasing grin.

Georgia laughed a little and led Jaz into the kitchen where the cake was waiting. It was nothing fancy as far as size, just two layers. More than presentation, Georgia was looking to find out what cake flavor and frosting Jaz liked the best. She started out with the basics, a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Jaz devoured three large slices, declaring them all delicious, but Georgia could immediately tell she had not hit upon an absolute favorite.

Jaz just did not make the right faces and sounds for the plain cake to be a favorite. That was fine, though, since Georgia was certain that she would have a wonderful time discovering Jaz's favorite things. For now, she was just happy to be praised for her baking skills and for someone to appreciate her hard work.

"Now, for those movies?" Jaz asked with a begging smile.

"Sounds good. You can see what I managed to find," Georgia replied.

The friends went into the living room and Jaz saw a small stack of movies waiting for them. Jaz quickly went through them, seeing that Georgia had chosen a bunch of Marx brothers' comedies. Jaz chuckled just from the sight.

"I've never seen any of them before!" Georgia squealed, delighted in experiencing something new with Jaz.

"Hey, I haven't seen plenty of these either. Then we'll have to remedy that!" the college student proclaimed.

Georgia nodded and they made themselves comfortable after they picked out the first movie to watch. Time seemed to fly by and before they knew it, they had watched three movies and Georgia was nodding off. Jaz smiled a little as the smaller woman cuddled up against her side, trying to get comfortable enough to go to sleep.

"Hey, Georgie," Jaz whispered as those deep brown eyes drifted shut once again.

"Hmm?" Georgia answered, not opening her eyes and leaning more into the firm body next to her. Oh, this is comfortable. Almost perfect if I could just find the right spot to settle into.

"I think it's bedtime for you, Georgie-porgie," Jaz remarked with a sweet laugh.

"No," Georgia whined, curling into Jaz even more. "I want to stay up and watch movies with you before you go back to studying. I missed you so much."

"I know, Georgie. I missed you too, but you're obviously tired, so you should go to bed. We'll hang out again soon, I promise. Right now, I want to get you in bed," Jaz said and internally she scolded herself for that choice of words. But, Georgia did not seem to notice it, so she let it slide.

"But, I don't wanna. If I go to sleep, I'll wake up and you'll be gone and Allen will be back and we'll just fight some more."

"I'm sorry things are like that for you, George, but you're falling asleep. Maybe you could try talking things out with Allen. If you don't argue, maybe he won't either."

Georgia nodded, but she looked reluctant to agree to that. "I suppose. Do you promise we'll hang out again soon?"

"Of course! You know I like spending time with you. My friends'll probably be calling me later, so if they invite me somewhere, do you want to come?"

There was a slow nod. "I have fun with you," the older woman admitted in a tired voice.

"I know. C'mon, bedtime for you."

Georgia nodded again, but she did not move. Jaz glanced down and saw that Georgia must have assumed "bedtime" meant fall asleep right there. Jaz chuckled a bit and slowly rose to her feet, making sure not to disturb Georgia's sleep. Gathering the ebony-haired woman in her arms, the teen noted that Georgia was much lighter than she appeared. Holding onto Georgia bridal style, Jaz moved toward the stairs and ascended to the second floor. On her way there, she took in the rich décor that she was used to seeing in Georgia's home.

Finding the master bedroom was not very difficult because most of the rooms upstairs looked like offices or libraries. The master bedroom was beyond decadent; she could tell that much even in the dark. She did not look around much and she did not know where to begin looking for a light switch. Her arms were starting to burn, so she just wanted to put Georgia down on the bed.

"You look down right adorable sleeping," Jaz commented with a smile. "Like a little princess," she added and then shook that away. "I need to really stop whatever the hell this is I'm doing. I was fine until Mom had to go and make it sound like I was having an affair with Georgie here." Jaz turned her attention back to Georgie's sleeping form. "Goodnight, buddy. I'll see you later."

Georgia turned and curled into the pillow and Jaz took her leave on that note. She made sure that the door was locked, but she could not work the security system. Making a note to herself, she would call Georgia and wake her up if necessary to make sure she was safe and that the security system was set.

She was actually tempted to just stay until Georgia woke up. She did not like the idea of her friend being alone, especially since a prowler was still plaguing the neighborhood. And now that she knew Georgia weighed practically nothing, she worried even more. She doubted that Georgia could defend herself at all if the prowler decided to attack her.

Those thoughts plagued her as she drove home. A couple of times, while sitting at red lights, she actually made a U-turn, heading back to Georgia's house. Only when she was sitting at another red light did she realize how crazy and what a worrywart she was being, so she turned around again to head home.

"Damn it, how can Allen just leave her alone so much when it's so dangerous around here? I'm a nervous wreck over it and she's just my friend!" Jaz thought aloud as she pulled up to her house. She had fretted all the way home over leaving Georgia.

"Jaz, is that you?" Maggie called from her bedroom. The house was dark and everyone was down for the night.

"Yeah, Ma."

"There's food in the kitchen if you want to eat."

"I ate at George's. I've got homework to get back to."

"Okay. Don't stay up too late and don't smoke anymore tonight. It keeps us up," Maggie told the younger woman.

"I know. I know."

Jaz charged upstairs to her bedroom. She thought it was pretty funny that she and her brother smoked mostly thanks to their father, but he could not stand the smell of smoke when he was trying to sleep. Her mother hated it altogether, but put up with it because she loved her husband. She just wished their offspring had not picked up the habit.

Jaz sat down at her desk, ready to get back to work. She dived back into her paper, wanting to get things out of the way. She knew that her friends were going to call her soon enough, throwing out ideas to do. They would be insulted if she blew them off, even for schoolwork. Before the night was over, her thoughts proved correct. Her phone rang at a crazy hour in the morning.

"Yeah, Robbie?" Jaz inquired, answering her phone, knowing it could only be Robin because of the hour. Robin was beyond a night owl and tended to bother her friends, even if she knew they were asleep. But, Jaz was just as much of an owl, so she was never bothered by the phone calls.

"Hey, Cocoa was tossing around the idea of going clubbing on Friday. What do you think?" Robin proposed.

"Sounds cool. I could do for some beautiful women pressing up against me on the dance floor," Jaz remarked, smiling at the thought.

"Yeah, would these beautiful women all happen to have deep brown eyes and be called Georgie-girl?" Robin teased.

"Georgie is just my friend, Rob. I told you guys that."

"Okay, she's your friend and you need to bring her to the club with us. This way, you won't back out at the last minute because Georgia needs company. Sounds good?"

Jaz pondered it for a moment, scratching the bridge of her nose. "I can't see Georgie-porgie at a club."

"Could you see her at a bowling alley or playing mini-golf?"

"You make a point. I'll throw the idea at her the next time I see her. I think it would do her some good to get out with people. It might help her overcome her bashfulness," Jaz reasoned.

"And it might get her to press that cute butt into you," Robin teased.

"Oh, fuck you, Robbie."

"I'm sure you'd try if I were Georgia."

Jaz rolled her eyes. "You missed your calling. You should have been a movie star in the 40's considering how you always have a line for me. Now, I need to finish this paper, so I can be free to hang out with you guys. Okay?"

"Okay. See ya later."

Jaz ended the call and turned her attention back to her work. In the back of her mind, she thought about Georgia on the dance floor. She bet that Georgia moved like an angel. Just imagining those hips swaying made Jaz groan and she shifted in her seat a little. She then shook the thought away, needing to stay focused on the matter at hand in order to get everything done.

"I bet her ass would fit pretty good against me, though," Jaz muttered with a smile. And she shook her head again, doing her best to get rid of that thought. Georgie is my friend and I shouldn't be thinking like this!

-8-8-8-8-

Georgia could not believe that she agreed to go to a club, but for some reason when Jaz asked her, she jumped at the chance. She had never been to a club before and she was not sure what to wear or anything. But, Jaz promised to help her out. She was going to have to wait for the tall teen to show up.

While waiting, she wondered why she had agreed to go to the club. She had never desired to go to one before, but she thought it might have something to do with the fact that Jaz had been the one to ask her. Oddly enough, when she was younger, she had plenty of friends who asked the same thing, but she turned them down. Even when Allen used to ask her to go, she would refuse; often, he would go without her. She just did not feel comfortable with the idea, especially the thought of a bunch of people in a small area around her. But, something about going with Jaz made it seem like it would be all right.

A knock at the door drew her out of her thoughts and she bolted upright to let Jaz in. The tall teen smiled as soon as the door opened, but that quickly gave way to a more puzzled expression. Georgia backed up to let Jaz in and wondered why the college student regarded her in such a manner.

"You're not dressed," Jaz stated the obvious.

"Oh!" Georgia chuckled, feeling a little embarrassed. "I wasn't sure what I should wear."

"Something nice, but not too formal. Like me," Jaz replied, motioning down to herself.

Georgia took a moment to take in what Jaz was wearing and actually had to swallow a bit for some reason. Jaz was not dressed in anything fancy; she was actually wearing regular blue jeans, but the way they hugged her hips was very different from the way her jeans generally fit her. Then there was a plain, white polo shirt, which was covered by a sleek, black suit-jacket. Her hair was done differently too.

"I like your hair like this," Georgia commented without thinking.

Jaz smiled. "Thanks. I just got it done today. A lot of people never seem to notice the difference," she replied.

"Really? It's very nice. How is it done?" Georgia asked, touching Jaz's newly done locks.

"In the front it's flat twisted. I am not sure how that works. I don't do hair for a reason. In the back it's braided. I'm glad you like it. Now we need to worry about you," Jaz declared, motioning to the smaller woman.

"I still don't know what to wear. I don't have any jeans or anything."

"You don't need jeans. I wore these because I can. Most of the time, the club we're going to doesn't let you in if you have on jeans anyway, no matter what kind. But, we're pretty well known there, so I can get away with it. I'm sure you have great clothes, though. Do you have a dress or a skirt or something?" Jaz inquired.

"I think so."

"Do you want me to help you find something?"

Georgia nodded. "Yes, please," she answered in a smaller voice than usual.

"Then lead the way."

Georgia nodded again and started for the stairs with Jaz right behind her. As they ascended the stairs, Jaz realized that she was probably going to see the inside of Georgia's bedroom. She wondered what it looked like. She had not gotten the chance to see it when she carried Georgia up there before because she had been focused making sure Georgia was in bed and the room had been dark.

She was certain that the room would be decorated tastefully, like the rest of the house, but a bedroom was such a personal area that she believed it would be something to it that there was not in the rest of the house. Before her mind could come up with all sorts of possibilities, she remembered that Georgia was not alone in that bedroom. Allen was there too.

"Hey, where is Allen?" Jaz asked curiously as they got to the top of the stairs.

"Business trip," Georgia simply answered.

"He's gone most of the week, huh? How long has he been like this?"

"For about a year. I told you, he's chasing clients. He has to do a lot of the legwork if he wants his business to survive," Georgia explained plainly.

"You ever worry that he's out doing more than legwork while you're left here alone?" Jaz inquired, her mouth getting ahead of her brain on that one. Georgia suddenly stopped in front of her and she then realized what she just asked. "Sorry, Georgie, none of my business," she apologized.

Georgia sighed. "His business is important to him. Come on, this way." She motioned down the hall before walking off.

Jaz followed behind like a sad puppy, ashamed of what she dared to ask. It was just something that crossed her mind, though. Allen was gone a lot and he did not seem interested in Georgia when he was away. She knew that he did not call his wife whenever she was around and she doubted that changed when she was not around since she felt it was safe to assume he did not know when she would be around. Georgia's companionship did not seem to mean much to him, so Jaz could not help wondering if he got his companionship from someone else, or someones else while he was out there "doing the legwork."

The teen's thoughts were interrupted as they entered the bedroom. With clear lighting, Jaz was quickly left in awe of the room. It was everything that the house was and more. There was a massive, black four-post bed in the center of the room that looked like something an emperor would rest on. Fluffy pillows lined the head of the bed and a hint of satin sheets poked out from underneath the black comforter. Just the thought of the sheets made Jaz's skin warm until she remembered who slept on those sheets with Georgia. Turning away, she noticed a huge fireplace facing the bed. Before she could become even more awed by the room, Georgia opened up the closet and Jaz's jaw hit the floor.

"This whole thing is your closet?" Jaz asked in disbelief as she stepped over to the huge walk-in closet. "It's like the size of my bedroom!"

"Well, we have to be able to fit both his things and my things in here," Georgia pointed out, as if every couple had a monster-sized closet because they needed the space for both of them.

"Uh… yeah," Jaz agreed for lack of a better thing. She went into the closet with Georgia and twisted and turned to take in all of the clothing, accessories, shoes, jewelry, and other items one might need during a night out.

"What do you think of this dress? Is it too much?" Georgia asked, pulling out what appeared to be an evening gown.

"Yeah, that's way too much. Let's look for something a little more low-key," Jaz commented, moving to look through what seemed to be Georgia's half of the closet. She quickly spotted something that she felt would be more suitable for the place they were going. She yanked it out and presented it to Georgia.

An ebony eyebrow arched and its owner leaned back a little. "That one? Are you sure?"

A nod and a smile were the response. "Trust me, Georgie. This one is just fine and I'm sure everyone will agree with me."

The shorter woman still appeared a little skeptical, but she accepted the dress. Exiting the closet, she marched over to the adjacent bathroom and closed the door. Jaz waited patiently for what seemed like an eternity, mostly because she was anticipating Georgia coming back into the bedroom. When the moment happened, Jaz almost whistled, but held it in. But, her eyes did seem like they were ready to fall out of her skull.

"Do I look okay?" Georgia inquired, glancing down at herself bashfully. She was not too sure if the navy blue knee-length dress looked right on her. "Do you think I'm showing off too much cleavage? Allen usually doesn't like me wearing stuff like this," she stated.

Pale blue eyes rolled as a scoff echoed through the room. "I can bet why," the younger woman mumbled. Everybody in the club was going to be looking at Georgia! "You look gorgeous and you're not showing off too much cleavage. It's actually more of a tease than anything else. Are you comfortable like that?"

Georgia glanced around. "I think I should take a jacket or something."

"That's fine. We can pick out a jacket and some shoes. How did you do your hair that fast?" Jaz asked curiously as they went back into the closet.

"My hair isn't that hard to manage. All I had to do was pin it," Georgia answered. She put her hair up with two strands in the front framing her face. It was a very simple hairstyle, but Jaz thought she pulled it off rather elegantly. Added to the hairstyle, she had thrown on a light splash of makeup.

"I always tell people, my hair is easy because even when it's messed up, most people don't know it," Jaz remarked, chuckling at her own joke. She would have ruffled her locks, but her hair was definitely not messed up right now for her to do that.

Georgia looked curious. "Well, I can tell when it's done and it's done very nicely today. What do you think of these shoes?" She pulled a pair of stylish black heels from a shelf.

"Oh, perfect. Now, your jacket, so you're not too self-conscious."

Georgia found a jacket for herself and wrapped it around her shoulders. The pair departed after that and Jaz drove them to club. Her friends were already outside waiting on line, so she and Georgia joined them. Pleasant greetings were exchanged and everyone went on about how fancy the others looked. When they got to Jaz, they reversed it and commented that she looked far too plain going anywhere with them, especially with Georgia on her arm.

"Now, you know you ought to be ashamed of yourself, taking a fine lady out looking like that," Robin scolded the amazon, waving her hand in Jaz's general direction.

Jaz rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her friend. "I didn't get any complaints."

"I think she looks…" Georgia searched for the right word. "Dashing."

"Yeah, like she needs to dash her ass back to her closet," Mitch chimed in.

Pale blue eyes rolled again. "You guys are just jealous that you don't look as good as I do," she countered with a playfully smug smirk.

"Good and ugly, right?" Peach quipped.

"Don't make me come down there, little man. You know I'll grind your bones to make my bread," she teased.

The group laughed at that one. The joking actually helped set Georgia at ease because it made her forget about her nervousness with going into a club for the first time. But, as they waited on line, her anxiety returned. She could not believe that she was going into a club with a group of teenagers and without her husband. Without her husband's knowledge even. She began to fidget with the clutch purse that she brought with her until a large hand wrapped itself around her hand. She looked up and noticed Jaz smiling down at her.

"It'll be fine," Jaz assured her, speaking in a low voice so the others would not hear.

"I feel like I should have told Allen I was going to a club," Georgia replied.

"Maybe. Does he tell you about when he's going out?" Jaz asked.

"Not anymore. Not really." Her forehead wrinkled a bit as she thought about how little Allen did tell her.

Jaz frowned a little. "Well, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Besides, you're not doing anything bad. It's not like this is topless dancing place or anything," she remarked.

The words got an immediate blush from Georgia. "I hope not!" she squeaked.

"It's not. I promise. We save those outings for the summer," the youngster teased.

Georgia smiled, but continued blushing. Jaz figured the crisis was averted and turned her attention to seeing if they were close to the front yet. Only catching a glimpse of the line moving, she figured they would be in shortly, but Georgia said something that completely pulled her attention away from the club.

"He goes to those, you know," Georgia whispered.

"Where? Who?" Jaz asked.

"Allen. He goes to those sorts of plans. He says that it's good to conduct business there," the older woman explained.

"Really?" Jaz was a bit skeptical, but kept that to herself. She knew that she would not be able to get much business handled in a topless bar. "I never would've guessed that."

"I didn't ask too many questions when he told me about it. Really, the only reason I know about it is because he ran into people we both know. They were also doing business deals there. I was tempted to ask my father if he conducted business in them because it seemed like plenty of men do."

Jaz continued to keep her opinion to herself, but she seriously doubted any business was going on. Maybe there was networking and cajoling, but not business. She was saved from saying anything because they made it up to the front. The group said their usual long greetings to the bouncer, who Jaz challenged to an arm wrestling match…but later; it was a later that never ever came. The bouncer laughed and let them in without checking their Ids, Georgia noticed.

The inside of the club was beyond what Georgia imagined. Yes, there was loud music and people all over, but there were also lights everywhere in the dim settling. There were even people with glow sticks, attracting attention to themselves in the dark atmosphere. A large dance floor that seemed to be sunken in was set up on the right side from the entrance and there were bodies out there moving to the music, many in ways that brought a blush to Georgia's face. The other side held tables, booths, and some couches to relax on. The group quickly went to claim a couple of couches.

"Man, this place is packed! You'd think it was the spot or something!" Jaz remarked, flinging her long arms behind the sofa.

"It needs to be the spot with the cover they charge!" Mitch huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Yes, Mitch, because it's so difficult for you to drum up even the smallest amount of chump change," Robin chimed in, throwing a wink in for good measure.

"Fuck you. At least I don't still get an allowance," Mitch countered with a sneer.

"Hey, I need all the money I can get," Rob admitted with a shrug. "Speaking of that, excuse me while I go hustle the shit out of whoever is on my favorite pool table."

The others waved as Robin got up and walked off toward the back of the club. After giving it a moment of obvious contemplation, Peach got up and followed Robin. Mitch got up to go get something to drink and before anyone realized it, a group of women were pulling Cocoa off. He glanced back at Jaz, who only waved to him to send him on his way. Usually, she would have been yanked off with him, but for some reason, she did not get the typical treatment and she was glad for it.

"Wow, I guess you guys do know this place pretty well," Georgia commented when she noticed how quickly the friends split up.

"Yeah, we're pretty comfortable around here. You want something to drink?" Jaz motioned to the bar on the far side of the room.

"No, not yet."

"How about dancing? You want to go dance?" Jaz pointed out to the busy dance floor, spotting Cocoa immediately. He was sandwiched between two beautiful women that he practically eclipsed because they were so much smaller than he was.

Georgia giggled when she saw Cocoa with the young women, but she shook her head to Jaz's question. "I don't think I would be comfortable dancing with someone like that," she stated.

"Why not?"

"Could you imagine having a stranger pressed up against you like that?"

Jaz glanced over at her friend. "It's just dancing. Come on, come out there with me."

"With you?" Georgia echoed, as if she did not know what those words meant.

"Yes, with me," Jaz insisted and she hoped that did not sound too weird to Georgia. She just did not want her friend to play the wallflower for the rest of the night, especially since they were going to be there for a while.

Georgia gnawed on the corner of her bottom lip for a moment and cast her eyes to the dance floor. Jaz climbed to her feet and put her hand out for Georgia. Deep brown eyes turned to look at the offered hand and then up at the person making the offer. Jaz smiled down at her and Georgia could not believe the level of tenderness and compassion that she saw in those ice blue orbs. Georgia smiled.

"I'll give it a try," Georgia said, taking the offered hand. Jaz grinned and led the smaller woman out into the crowd on the dance floor.

-8-8-8-8-

8: Party on

Peach should have been focusing on playing pool. He had money on the game, after all, but something much more interesting caught his eye-Jaz out on the dance floor. It was hard to miss Jaz, not just because of her height, but she had a distinct aura that drew attention to her. He would not have cared about that, but when he spotted her out on the dance floor, he noticed that she was dancing with Georgia and he was not sure what to make of that.

"Yo, Robbie, look at that and tell me what you see," Peach requested, pointing out to where he was staring. He knew that Robin would catch on, so he did not have to be very specific.

Robin turned her attention away from her pool game and immediately noticed what Peach meant when her eyes landed on the dance floor. Jaz was pressed up very close to Georgia with her hands on slim hips, swaying to the beat. Robin rolled her eyes.

"Just friends my ass," she declared with a scoff.

"You think the teen-titan is lying to us about nothing going on between her and Georgie?" Peach asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I think she's enjoying having that round ass pressed against her more than she'll care to admit," Robbie replied.

"What are you two talking about?" Peach's opponent asked, peering out into the crowd. What had their attention was easy enough to spot. "Whoa, is that Stretch's new girlfriend?"

"Not according to her, they're just friends," Robin informed him.

"I'd like to be just friends with her like that," the woman that Robin was playing pool against commented with a wolfish grin.

"You and half of the female population in this club," Peach remarked with a teasing grin.

"Which says something because this isn't even a gay club," Robin commented, shaking her head a little.

The woman shrugged. "Hey, she knows how to treat a girl," she said with a smirk.

"I've heard far too many stories to be bothered by that, you know," Robin said dryly, figuring that the woman was trying to rile her up.

"But, obviously not enough stories to go find out for yourself."

Robbie and Peach rolled their eyes, but Peach spoke up. "That would be borderline incestuous for them. Besides, Rob is straight and she's not going to compromise herself just to use Jaz and find out if she's good in bed. Or even the greatest date of all time," he informed anyone who was listening.

"Oh, she is great at both, let me assure," the woman remarked. "You can tell by the way she moves out there."

And eyes rolled again, but they did go back to Jaz and Georgia. Robin and Peach were not sure what to make of the scene. Yes, Jaz danced with all types. Hell, she could talk Mitch into dancing with the proper motivation, but there just seemed to be something more than dancing when she was with Georgia.

-8-8-8-8-

Jaz grinned as she felt Georgia move against her. The movement was still a little stiff, but it was vast improvement to when they went out there ten minutes ago. For almost thirty seconds, Georgia had actually just stood there, staring at Jaz as she lightly rolled her hips to the music. Jaz had rightfully assumed that Georgia was self-conscious, especially about dancing with another woman. Only after pointing out plenty of other women dancing with each other was Jaz able to coax Georgia into moving, but even then, it was very wooden. Jaz had almost been depressed when she put her hands on Georgia's waist to try to get her to move and Georgia had damn near jumped out of her skin. But, she had allowed Jaz's hands to stay there. She then relaxed and tried to move how the hands were directing her, which was what they were still doing for the most part. Georgia was comfortable enough to lean against Jaz, but Jaz was aware that she had a lot of work ahead of her. She was not sure if she would survive that work, though.

"Georgie," Jaz whispered into Georgia's ear. At that level, Jaz was struck by the thought that Georgia's ears looked almost elf-like. She could imagine kissing the tips of those ears since her mouth was so close, but she quickly banished those thoughts from her mind.

"Yes?" Georgia inquired, pushing herself a little closer to her friend to make sure she was heard… and to keep away any of the strangers from trying to dance with her.

"Relax and could you stop stepping so much into me or we're going to fall over," Jaz informed her friend. They were not going to fall over because Georgia was practically walking through her, but because her legs were going to give out from having such a sweet ass pressed into her thighs. It was torture!

"Oh, sorry." Georgia eased up a little, but still seemed like she was fleeing into Jaz.

"Georgie, why so nervous? It's just me. You know I'm not going to let anything happen to you, right?" Jaz asked.

"I know," Georgia agreed. "But… I'm just not used to dancing. I'm not very good at it," she added, sounding quite ashamed of herself. It did not help matters that she blushed slightly.

There was a small, but reassuring smile. "You're doing fine. Just relax and follow me, okay?"

Georgia nodded and tried her best to do as Jaz said, but it was hard because it felt like half of the club was watching her dance. She moved a bit more, looser than before. Jaz moved her hands from Georgia's hips to her sides, trying to direct her a little more. Georgia started getting the idea and Jaz moved one hand to her back, kneading the small of her back, which helped her relax. For some reason that she could not figure out, having Jaz's hand on her back made her feel safe and protected. Jaz would make sure nothing happened to her.

"Okay, that's good. Now, dip a little bit with me," Jaz told her.

Georgia went a little lower and sashayed to the beat a little more. A smile worked its way onto her face and Jaz knew that she had her friend now. She stopped directing Georgia for the most part and just moved where Georgia could follow her. Georgia stayed pressed up against her, twisting and turning, smiling all the way through. Jaz had to grin too.

After long minutes of dancing, Jaz dragged Georgia over to the bar, so that they could get some "expensive ass" water; that was how Jaz described it. Of course, Georgia had to laugh at that. Jaz purchased water for both of them.

"You didn't have to pay for me," Georgia objected as her friend twisted the cap off of the bottled water and handed it to her.

"Don't worry about it." Jaz waved it off and took a swig of her own water. "It's my job to make sure you have a good time and I take my job very seriously. So, get some water in you, catch your breath, and get your legs ready to go back out there and swing with me!" she declared with a grin.

"You're going to be the death of me," Georgia said, smiling all the way through the words. She then took a sip of her water.

"Not so soon into the night, my friend! We still have a lot to do!" Jaz proclaimed, still smiling up a storm. Right after she said that a new song came on and she let out a hoot as her hips started twisting and turning. "Oh, this is my song! Come on, Georgie, back out there!"

"But, I haven't finished my water yet," Georgia pointed out.

"Me neither, but that doesn't matter. Come on, I move real good to this type of music!" Jaz declared. Anything with a hip-hop beat called to her to start gyrating.

"But-" Georgia did not get to object as her friend grabbed her by the hand and yanked her back out onto the dance floor.

Jaz took the bottle of water from Georgia, making sure to put the cap back on it and then slid the water into her jacket pocket. She then took control of Georgia's hips and forced the smaller woman to start moving with her. In no time, Georgia was dancing on her own, pressing herself against Jaz and smiling up a storm. Jaz grinned back, making sure to keep up with her dancing companion.

"This is fun!" Georgia giggled.

Jaz nodded, thoroughly enjoying herself. Suddenly, she felt someone pressed against her back, so she glanced back to see what was going on. A woman that Jaz was familiar with was dancing against her, which did not bother her. She smiled down at the shorter woman, who smiled back at her. Things were fine, even when another woman came out of nowhere to dance against her side.

Jaz noticed Georgia's body language changed a bit, getting stiffer, even though she was trying to hide it. She pulled Georgia a little closer to her, hoping that reassured her that everything was all right. The bashful woman did calm down somewhat and tried to concentrate on dancing.

Georgia's calm did not last for long as a body suddenly pressed against her back. She yelped and jumped up against Jaz's lean form, as if she was seeking protection. Jaz put her arms around Georgia and glared at the woman that was standing behind her friend. The woman had the nerve to smirk at her.

"C'mon, let's go catch our breath," Jaz said loudly, not just for Georgia, but for her unwanted dance partner to hear and figure out that Georgia was "taken."

Georgia nodded to the suggestion and let Jaz lead her back over to the couch that they had been sitting on. Mitch was over there, lounging with a beer in her hand and slightly swaying to the loud music while remaining in her seat. Georgia and Jaz sat down, Georgia pressing herself closer to Jaz, seemingly still seeking protection. Mitch glanced over at them, but did not say anything.

"Sorry about that, Georgie. I didn't expect us to attract a group like that," Jaz commented, looking a little sheepish over what happened.

"It's all right. I just wasn't expecting it…" Georgia replied, trying her best to sound okay with everything. She did not want to ruin Jaz's fun just because she had a problem with people.

"Yeah, girls see Jaz on the dance floor and it might as well be the Bat signal," Mitch remarked, chuckling.

"You don't mind dancing with a bunch of strangers?" Georgia asked, looking up at Jaz.

Jaz shrugged and shook her head. "I don't mind. I like dancing. I get that you don't like strangers pressed up against you. A lot of people feel that way. Not many people like some random person rubbing up against them."

"But, you don't care?"

"Nope."

"Why don't you go back out there, Jaz?" Mitch suggested. "I can watch Georgie for you," she added.

Jaz eyed her blonde friend, noting that she was trying her best to look rather innocent, and then she looked at Georgia. Glancing back at Mitch, she knew not to trust the blonde alone with Georgia. Something was going to come up if she left, something that she did not want to come up.

"Nah, I'm good," Jaz replied, going into her pocket and pulling out Georgia's water. She handed the bottle to the shorter woman.

"Thank you," Georgia said, taking the water.

"God, you two are drinking water? Jaz, be a half-decent date and spring for some fucking booze! Come on, you're supposed to be showing her a night on the town!" Mitch pointed out.

"I don't need any…" Georgia objected softly, eyes drifting down to her shoes.

"Nah, you know what, Mitch has a point. I'm supposed to be showing you a night on the town, Georgie. I want you to have a good time," Jaz declared.

"I am!" the older woman insisted. She was having a great time until that unknown female started grinding against her ass and touching her thighs without permission.

"Still, I think a drink might help loosen you up a bit. Don't worry, I'm not going to get you drunk or let anyone take advantage of you if you decide to get drunk. You trust me, right?" Jaz inquired.

"Of course I do," Georgia replied and she knew that was the truth. She completely trusted Jaz.

"Okay then. So, what do you drink?" Jaz asked.

"You should get her some Sex on the Beach," Mitch remarked with a smirk and Georgia immediately blushed at that. Blue eyes just glared at Mitch and her smart-aleck "jokes."

"What do you drink, Georgie? Ignore anything Mitch might bother to say," the amazon commented, waving her blonde friend off.

"Um… I'll take a bay breeze, please," Georgia decided. Usually, she did not drink, but one should be fine, she figured.

Jaz nodded and was up to get Georgia a drink. She hoped for the couple of minutes that she was gone Mitch could be trusted to keep her mouth shut. Or she hoped that Georgia just did not believe anything Mitch said to her.

"Yo, Jaz," the bartender said as the tall woman stepped up to the bar.

"Hey, let me get a bay breeze," she requested.

"No problem. I'm thinking a drink this fruity isn't for you, even though it's fruity like you," he teased with a smile. "It's for that cute little thing you trying to merge with on the dance floor?" he inquired as he moved to make the cocktail.

"Yeah, and I wasn't trying to merge with her. I was just dancing, like I do with everyone else," Jaz argued.

The bartender chuckled. "Whatever you say, Jaz. She is cute. She seems different from your usual girls, though."

"The hell, man? She's just my friend. It's not like that."

"No?" he sounded skeptical, but he kept his thoughts to himself. "Well, since she's just a friend…" His eyes strayed over to where Georgia was sitting.

"She wouldn't like you and she's married. Don't bother her if we make our way back over here," she commanded, pointing a threatening finger at him. Her glare might have been believable and intimidating if only he did not know her as well as he did.

The bartender smiled and chuckled again while finishing up with the drink. Jaz returned to her friends, finding Mitch chatting up a handsome young man and Georgia staring at her feet. Jaz shook her head; Mitch was a horrible friend, she thought. Ignoring Georgia in order to string some guy along, she snorted mentally at the behavior.

"Here ya go, Georgie," Jaz said as she handed the cocktail over to her friend as she eased down onto the couch next to Georgia.

"Thank you," Georgia said in a low voice.

"You okay? Nothing happened while I was getting the drink, right?"

Georgia shook her head. "No, nothing happened. I'm sorry I'm so skittish. I'm just not used to this." Brown eyes remained on her feet and she was sort of hunched over, appearing quite sheepish and apologetic.

Jaz reached over and gently rubbed Georgia's knee, getting the ebony-haired woman to look up at her. "George, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. I know you're not used to it. I just want you to relax and have a good time. No more apologizing to me, okay?"

A small smile spread across Georgia's face and she nodded. With that settled, she sipped her drink. "So, what now?" she asked curiously.

"I can show you around. There's more to this place than the great music and cool lounge area. There are pool tables in the back, some air hockey, a sports' section down the hall, and there's even an upstairs," Jaz informed her friend.

"An upstairs?"

"It's kinda like a restaurant area. The menu isn't too fancy, but it's a good place for you to get to know someone you might meet here. You want to check any of that out?"

Georgia shrugged. "I don't think I'm interested in any of that stuff. I can't play pool or air hockey. I'm not into sports really and I already know the person I met here," she said with a smile.

A light laugh escaped the taller woman. "That's cool. Lemme know if you change your mind. We can sit here and talk. Whenever you're comfortable, we can go back out to the dance floor."

Georgia nodded, smiling a bit to show that she liked that idea. They sat there and talked about nothing in general. At one point, Jaz got up and refilled Georgia's drink. The shorter woman thanked her for the drink again and then decided to share that she almost never had more than two drinks while out, especially since she had not eaten anything.

"You're worried about getting drunk around me?" Jaz inquired, throwing her arms up on the back of the sofa.

"Not you. I don't like getting drunk at all," Georgia answered.

"Why's that? Getting drunk every now and then isn't that bad."

"I don't know. I just… I got very drunk once and when I woke up I couldn't remember anything that happened."

Jaz nodded. "It happens sometimes. Hell, you didn't wake up in the bed with some stranger or something, right?"

Georgia shook her head. "No, I was in the bed with Allen, but still, I didn't like not remembering. And…" She glanced away, not sure if she wanted to share any further.

"Hey, Georgie," Jaz cooed, putting her arm around Georgia's shoulders. "You can tell me. What happened?"

Taking a deep breath, the pale woman glanced away for a moment. "Well… it's just… It bothered me how he looked at me the next morning."

Jaz's eyebrows curled up. "What do you mean? How did he look at you?"

Georgia shook her head. "Nothing, never mind. It's silly."

"No, it's not. Tell me, Georgie. This obviously bothered you. How did he look? What happened?" the artist gently urged her friend on, rubbing Georgia's shoulder with the hope that it would get her to open up.

"He just had this weird smile on his face and he kept thanking me for the night. I couldn't remember what he was talking about, but I was a little… sore… so I could guess," Georgia replied, voice lowering along with her eyes.

"Okay, you had drunken sex with your husband. Why does that bother you so much?" Jaz asked, although she was now a little bothered by it. Allen should not have done something to Georgia if he knew it would make her uncomfortable, including having sex with her when she was drunk. She would never sleep with someone if that person was drunk and she was sober, but Allen might have been drunk too.

"I told you it's silly."

"It's not silly, George. I want to know. Maybe putting it into words will help you get over it or help you confront him on it if it was something really bad," the college student pointed out.

Georgia nodded. "Like I said, I don't like not remembering what happened. But, I do remember that Allen was not drunk that night. I feel… I feel like he took advantage of me. I know it's crazy because he's my husband and everything, but still…" Georgia actually curled into Jaz's body and then wrapped her arms around herself. Jaz put her arm around her friend, ignoring the fact that Mitch was watching them all of a sudden.

"Hey, it's okay, George. I'm sure he didn't think about it that way," Jaz tried to assure her, speaking in a low, comforting tone.

"I'm sure he didn't either and my friends said the same thing, but that doesn't change the way I feel."

It was Jaz's turn to nod and she stroked Georgia's shoulder. "You are quite right. Well, look at it this way, I promise not to take advantage of you. It's safe for you to get drunk if you want to. I just want you to have a good time."

Georgia was quiet for a moment. "Dance with me again?"

The younger woman grinned and quickly led Georgia back out to the dance floor. Jaz made sure to keep away any people that tried to come up on Georgia, giving a nod to anyone as a signal to go away and glaring at them if they did not get the first message. It worked out and Jaz also got Georgia another drink. The older woman sipped the cocktail and loosened up more, but Jaz still made sure to keep strangers away from her friend. She was quite happy to see Georgia having a good time, laughing and moving with confidence that Jaz felt she should always have.

"How you doing, Georgie?" Jaz inquired as they continued dancing.

"I'm doing good," Georgia crooned, leaning closer to her friend while making sure to keep moving.

"Should we get some food in you? You look like you're starting to feel those drinks," Jaz commented. She could see those beautiful brown eyes started to droop a little.

"I'm doing good," Georgia repeated, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, you look like you're doing good," the younger woman remarked, smiling too.

Jaz let Georgia go, even getting her another drink when she emptied her second cocktail. Another came not too long after that. Jaz was quite happy that Georgia was comfortable enough to have multiple drinks while in her care. Georgia did not even seem aware of what she was doing, focusing more on dancing than anything else.

By the time Georgia finished her fourth drink, Jaz had to hold her up and decided it was time to get her friend off of the dance floor. They went back to the couch, where Mitch was conversing with three young men. The men cast glances over to Jaz and Georgia, but focused back on Mitch as Georgia curled into Jaz's body.

"I think this one is ready to go," Jaz commented, talking to Mitch, but referring to Georgia.

"It certainly does look that way," Mitch concurred, giving Georgia a long look. The older woman was awake, but obviously intoxicated, barely able to keep her eyes open and smiling at absolutely nothing. "Garrison must be mixing the drinks extra-strong tonight for her to be like that."

"I think I'm going to take her home," Jaz stated, rubbing Georgia's shoulder.

"Whose home?" Mitch inquired with a teasing smirk.

"Fuck you, Mitch," Jaz replied, smiling as she spoke.

"I don't think it's me you want to do that to," the blonde continued on. "I think it might be that little pixie in your arms you want."

Jaz flipped her friend off while glancing down at Georgia, wanting to see if she was paying attention to what was going on. Georgia was cuddled up against her and appeared to be on the brink of sleep more than anything else. Jaz considered that it might have been a bit wrong of her to give Georgia three drinks without giving her water or something to eat in between, but she seemed like she was having so much fun.

"You might as well take her home. She looks like she's done and we're going to be for another couple of hours. The pool sharks seem to be making quite a bit back there, so they're not going to want to leave," Mitch pointed out.

"All right. We'll catch you guys later," Jaz said.

"I'll tell everybody else you left. They're probably gonna wanna do this again soon if they leave with enough money and Cocoa has enough phone numbers," Mitch informed her.

"I know. I'm good, though. I got most of my work done and everything. How about you?"

"I'm good. We're probably gonna have to break out whips and chains for Peach, though. He still thinks one of us is going to write that fucking history paper for him."

Light blue eyes rolled and Jaz snorted. "That little bastard must be out of his mind. I've seen enough papers for this year. Crazy ass English professor."

"I know. I'm taking the other class that nut job is teaching."

"We're just two idiots, then," Jaz said and then her attention was turned back to Georgia as she felt the older woman moving against her. From what she could tell, Georgia was now asleep. "Okay, I think I really need to get Cinder-Georgie home now."

Mitch nodded in agreement and farewells were said. Jaz helped Georgia to her feet, which also woke her up. Georgia leaned into Jaz, as if she needed the support to stay on her feet.

"What's going on?" Georgia inquired in a sleepy tone.

"Time for you to go home, little princess," Jaz informed her. "So, say bye-bye to Mitch."

"Go home? Already? But, I thought we were having fun," Georgia stated.

"We are having fun, but I think you have hit your fun limit. You were just asleep," Jaz reported.

"Was I? Then I suppose you're right that it is time to go. Bye-bye, Mitch," Georgia said, giving the blonde a little wave. Well, really waving in the blonde's general direction, but since Georgia was hiding her face against Jaz's side it was hard to say that she was waving to anyone at all.

"Later, Mitch," Jaz said.

"Later, you two. Keep the party going if you can," Mitch commented with a lewd smirk and a wink, which the amazon chose to ignore.

Jaz and Georgia then took their leave, walking back out to Jaz's car. The tall woman secured her friend in the passenger seat, even though Georgia insisted that she could do it herself. For all of her insisting, she had not moved an inch to do it on her own. Once Jaz was certain Georgia was buckled in right, she got in and started for her friend's house.

"Jazzy, this certainly was a fun night," Georgia commented in a groggy tone.

"Jazzy?" Jaz echoed, smiling at the nickname.

"You gave me a nickname. I wanna give you one too," the older woman pointed out.

"I have no problem with that. You can call me that all you want."

"Just me?" Georgia requested.

"Sure, if that'll make you happy. You are the only person allowed to call me 'Jazzy.' Okay?"

Georgia smiled brightly, like a delighted child. "Okay."

"George, Allen isn't going to be home by any chance, is he?" Jaz asked curiously. She kind of wanted him to be home because she was not too comfortable with leaving Georgia alone in the house in her current state, but she also did not want him to be there. After all, he took advantage of Georgia the last time she was drunk and Jaz also did not want him to assume that she went out and got Georgia drunk all of the time or something just as insane.

"No, Allen is gone for the next few days. Thank God for small favors!" Georgia declared with a giggle.

Jaz smiled a bit too. "George, why'd you marry him if you guys don't get along too well?" she asked before she could catch herself. "You don't have to answer that!" she squeaked, thinking that was inappropriate, especially to ask an intoxicated person.

Georgia smiled a little as if caught in a happy memory. "We used to get along very well in college. We were both very determined and driven for our degrees. We had a lot of study dates and he also helped me relax at a few social events. He seemed so interested in me back then and we talked a lot more. Really talked, I mean. It wasn't until we got out into the real world that we started disagreeing on almost everything."

Jaz nodded. "Ah, the real world, screwing up your childhood since childhood was invented," she remarked.

Georgia nodded and continued to smile. "Should've waited to go into the real world longer before we got married. We pretty much married right out of college. I think if we waited just a little longer, I wouldn't have married him."

"So, why stay married?" Jaz inquired before she could stop herself.

"I've seen us at our best and I think we can get back there once Allen gets his business established. When he gets everything together, I'm sure he'll have more time for me and we can work on us. He just needs to get his business settled first."

"Is that the cause for most of your disagreements?"

Georgia yawned, but she did not respond. Jaz glanced over at her and noticed that her friend was asleep. Jaz smiled again and then sighed. She was glad that Georgia was sleeping or she knew that she would have continued to fish for information. She was not entirely comfortable with doing that, but she could not stop herself.

The drive to Georgia's home was quiet; Jaz did not bother to turn on the radio, knowing that she would disturb Georgia if she did. Once they made it to the front of the dark house, Jaz helped Georgia into the house and carried her upstairs. She laid Georgia down on the bed, on top of the spread.

"Jazzy?" Georgia said, reaching out for her friend.

"I'm still here, George. I'm going to take your shoes off and then get something to wash your makeup off, okay?" Jaz informed the older woman.

"I can do it," Georgia mumbled, but just like in the car, she made no moves to do it.

"I know you can, but I think you're too tired to do it."

"I do feel tired. Why am I so tired?" Georgia wondered aloud, yawning at the end of that question.

"Because you had a good time and you wore yourself out."

"I did have a good time."

Jaz smiled softly. "I know you did."

"You made sure I had a good time. You're the best, Jazzy. My best friend."

"You're my best friend too, Georgie. Now, I need to take your shoes off and wash your face, okay?"

"Uh-huh."

Georgia fell right back to sleep after that. Jaz made sure to take her shoes off and wash her face. She was tempted to search for pajamas, but decided against that. She did not want Georgia to feel like she had taken advantage of the shorter woman at any point. She wanted Georgia to remain comfortable enough around her to drink since she believed every now and then a person should be able to cut loose. Georgia had a good time, cut loose, and she should feel safe enough to do that again when they went clubbing.

Jaz did stick around for a little while, nervous about letting Georgia stay in the house alone. When she figured it was time for her to get out of there, she ended up going back upstairs and waking Georgia. She wanted to know the code for arming the security alarm. It would make her feel a hell of a lot better knowing that it was on while Georgia was passed out. Georgia was disoriented, but rattled the numbers off to Jaz without a problem. Jaz then searched the house to make sure it was clear before alarming the security system and disappearing for the night.

When Jaz got to her house, she did not expect anyone to be awake. It was almost five in the morning and it was the weekend. But, the light in the living room was on, letting her know that her father was probably awake. She was tempted to try to sneak to her room to avoid him, but it was very hard for someone her size to sneak anywhere and she had learned that the hard way. She just hated when her father caught her coming in at all hours of the morning. He always had weird questions.

"Jaz, that you?" her father called.

"Yeah, Dad. Flint out too?" she asked as she went to stand in the doorway of the living room. Her father was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in front of him on their messy coffee table.

"Yeah, he's out with those knuckleheads he calls his friends," her father replied with a shrug of his broad shoulders. His warm brown eyes locked with her blue ones, shining a little in her opinion.

Jaz smiled a bit, chuckling under her breath. Her father, Jeremy Hall, regarded her with an amused smile of his own. He was a rather short man and looked even shorter when he was sitting down. It did not help that he was stocky, so he seemed even shorter still. Sometimes, she thought that his height might have actually helped attract her mother to him because Maggie seemed to enjoy being about nine inches taller than her husband. Growing up, Jaz often never noticed the height difference because her father was the disciplining parent in the house. Something about being the guy in charge made him seem larger than life much of the time.

Most people never would guess that her father was the strict parent since most of the time he actually seemed to egg her and her brother on while their mother worried over every little thing. But, when the siblings did something wrong, it was their father that stepped in and put them in their places. He was all jokes and smiles until they stepped out of line.

She stepped closer to him, trying to gauge if he was going to be weird with her for being out so late or he was just upset that he was up at the ungodly hour of five in the morning. He was good at keeping a neutral expression, so it was hard to tell.

"Mom snoring again?" she asked as a joke.

Jeremy laughed, the brown skin around his eyes wrinkling. Jaz smiled again, feeling some confidence that he might let her get by without trying to scar her for life. Sometimes she felt that her father was just a little too comfortable with her being a lesbian. She knew if she were into males, he would probably keep a lot of his comments geared toward her brother.

"So, you out on the prowl? Left any girls un-fingered?" Jeremy remarked, teasing her.

"Dad!" Jaz squeaked. He always caught her by surprise with stuff like that!

"I guess that's a no," he said with a laugh.

"C'mon, Dad. You know most fathers are creeped out about their daughters' sex lives. In fact, they actually treat the subject as somewhat of a taboo," she pointed out, as she often did. Her father got way too much fun out of teasing her about women, just like he did with her brother.

"Most fathers don't have a lesbian Casanova living with them. I have to live through you and Flint now since I'm tied to your mother until she gets fed up with me and kills me. Just so you know, she's going to feed the body to you and your brother," Jeremy joked, chuckling for a few seconds.

"I know. She's already told us. I plan to have you with ketchup and Flint has a special hot sauce," she played along.

"Just as long as you put salt on me. You know how that woman rides me about salt."

"She's just looking out for you, Dad. It's bad enough she's a woman and she already knows she's going to out live you, but making things worse, you're a black man. You might as well pick out a second husband for her," she taunted him.

Jeremy grunted and then scratched his trimmed goatee. "I shoulda looked up if Swedes live long before I shackled her to me. Anyway, don't try to distract me. I'm up waiting for you because I wanted to talk to you alone."

Jaz made a curious face. "Why?"

"Because of you and this woman you're seeing."

"Dad, I'm not seeing anybody, you know that. You know whenever I have a girlfriend I can't shut up about her and she'd be calling here every second of the day to find out what I got planned next for her," she reminded him.

He nodded. "I know that, but I also know that you been spending a lot of time with this Georgia woman and your mom's worried about you. Apparently, you talk about her enough for your mom to be worried."

"Dad, you name me a thing that we do that Mom doesn't worry about. Hell, I remember when I hit six feet, she freaked out. She worries over everything," Jaz pointed out.

He nodded again. "Your mom is the worrier of our little tribe, but she never worries without cause. I didn't have a job when you shot through the roof and she was worried about putting clothes on your back. She had cause to worry. You might remember for those first few months with your new found height, you and your mom shared clothes."

"Okay, but this one isn't that bad. I just like Georgie. She's fun and she needed company. Her husband leaves her-" Jaz said and that was all she got out.

"Baby girl, she has a husband. A husband," he sighed.

"She's just my friend, Dad! We hang out. We hung out today, just like all the time. Dad, we went clubbing with my whole gang! The whole nutty gang!" she insisted.

"Okay, you and she went clubbing. Did her husband know?"

"Her husband's off on business. He's always off on business. She's always so lonely-" Jaz stated, but she was cut off again.

"Jasper, my once-little-girl, you don't mess around with marriage. You got me? I don't give two shits how bad this woman's marriage is. You don't mess around with it, okay?" he informed her in a stern tone with a look to match.

"Dad! I'm not! Why is it that no one believes she's my friend? She's just my friend," she asserted.

"Right, and I'm just the man of the house, which we all know doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this place. But, the point is, you don't mess with marriage. In fact, you don't mess with relationships. You let those go, like a wounded wild animal. Now, it might get pounced by a lion, but you don't help by kicking it in the knee," he ordered her.

Jaz scratched her forehead. "Dad, you suck at metaphors… or similes or whatever the hell that was. I'm not doing so hot at English," she muttered, shaking her head.

"You wasting my money at that fancy school of yours?" he teased her, arching a thick eyebrow. Obviously, he had said what he felt needed to be said and now was going to go back to playing with her. She could not leave it at that, though.

"Look, Dad, I promise you, I'm not doing anything with Georgie. I'm just being her friend. We're good friends, like I am with Robbie."

"Robbie? The woman you blew off a bunch of times to hang out with Georgia. Are you sure you're not doing anything with her?"

Jaz nodded. "I'm sure. Dad, you and Mom can rest assured, I'm not doing anything. I'm not trying to break up a marriage or even kick it in the leg. I just want to be her friend. She needs a friend."

Jeremy shrugged and sipped his tea. "I believe you, baby girl. I'll tell your mom what you said, so she can stop worrying. But, I do want you to realize that if Georgia's husband ever suspects she's more than just your friend, even if she's just your friend, he might hurt you. I think that thought scares your mother even more."

"I'm fine, Dad. Nothing is going on and I won't let it seem like something is going on. It'll be fine," she tried to assure him, waving nonchalantly as if to dismiss the whole matter.

"You're too late in making it seem like something's going on from what your mother tells me. But, I haven't seen it much thanks to you zipping in and out of here. I just want you to be careful. I don't want to have to go kick this guy's ass. Is he taller than me?" Jeremy inquired, joking a bit.

"Of course, Dad. Who ain't taller than you?" she jibbed him. "I think I'd kick his ass if necessary. But, you know, I know you'll beat his ass if necessary. I'll be careful. So, now can we both go to bed?"

"You can. I gotta wait up for your brother. Last time I left him to his own devices, he sneaked a girl in here."

"Yeah? I don't remember that," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she tried to recall such an event.

"I doubt you do. You slept through all of the fireworks. You were dead to the world til noon," he told her.

"I take Mom didn't serve her breakfast," Jaz commented with a laugh.

"If she caught her in here, you know she would've. That'd probably teach your brother better than me waiting up for him. I think I will go to bed. In the morning, I'll send your mom to wake him up. If he's got a girl this time, I bet he'll never bring one here again."

Jaz nodded in agreement with that and snickered as she pictured her mother bursting into Flint's room while he was with a girl. Their mother would act like everything was fine and she and the girl were old friends. That was just the kind of person she was.

The artist went and took a shower before falling into bed. She was taken from her sleep by the cell phone buzzing in her ear. She groaned, wondering what the hell was the point of vibrate if it was so loud!

"What?" she grunted.

"Where are you? Sleeping next to some fine Asian lady named Georgia!" Peach howled into the phone.

"Shut up. Why would I be sleeping next to Georgia?" she mumbled.

"Considering the way she was grinding against you, rubbing her ass all in your crotch all last night?" Cocoa countered.

"She wasn't rubbing anything into my crotch," Jaz said. If she was a little more awake she would have realized that she was having what she considered a very stupid argument.

"She was totally in your crotch, so we figured you'd be in her by now," Mitch commented.

"Screw you guys," Jaz muttered. I hate conference calls!

"We're just trying to find out if you did that to Georgia. She was all over you and you were taking such good care of her," Robbie reported, practically cooing in that smug way that she tended to when she thought she was right.

"I didn't do anything with Georgie. We had fun, she had fun, I dropped her off at home like I would do with anyone of you guys. Now, can we all go to bed and get some sleep?" Jaz suggested.

"I dunno. I'm pretty wired. We all went out and got those designer coffees that you hate," Peach said.

"You mean the coffees we all hate? Why the hell are you guys drinking coffee?" Jaz wondered.

"We're drunk off power… and alcohol. Being drunk makes you do stupid stuff. Coffee is nasty," Mitch announced.

"I know. We all found that out when we were like thirteen. I'm hanging up now," Jaz informed them.

"Tell Georgie we say hi," Cocoa said.

"I'm not sleeping with her."

"Like we believe that! You know you got some!" Peach hooted.

Jaz snorted and hung up, not wanting to be bothered with her friends' nonsense. Hiding the phone under her pillow, she turned onto her stomach and went back to sleep. Her last thought was wondering how Georgia was holding up.

-8-8-8-8-

9: Party over

Jaz flopped down into a chair at the table and then leaned down to rest her head on the smooth, cool surface. She felt an affectionate rub to her head, which got a wave from her. She wanted to lift her head and properly greet her mother, but the idea of doing so seemed like too much work.

"Want pancakes from breakfast, my little party animal?" Maggie inquired, sounding more cheerful than Jaz liked after getting only five hours of sleep. Yes, she could have stayed in the bed longer, but she really wanted breakfast and her mother would only make breakfast in the morning.

Jaz held her thumb up, showing that she was in favor of that meal. She figured it was now safe to go back to sleep and her mother would just put the plate in front of her when the food was ready. She would wake up and feast as soon as that happened or that had been her plan anyway.

"What time did you get in?" Maggie inquired. Oh joy, Jaz thought with a slight frown. Her mom wanted to cook and talk.

"Bout five," Jaz crooked out, not bothering to pick her head up. Kill me now… No, wait, kill me after the pancakes.

"That's not bad for you. Usually, you fall in the door at like seven and try to act like you've been here all night. What made you come in so early?" Maggie asked curiously.

"Had to take George home."

"Oh, so Georgia went with you? How did she like it?"

"She had a good time. It was her first time at a club," Jaz reported.

Maggie made a curious noise. "Dare I ask why that is?"

The noise caused the teen to peek up, wanting to gauge her mother's thoughts through her face. Maggie's back was to her, so she put her head down. "Georgie is really shy, so I guess she never saw the club as her type of scene. She didn't seem comfortable with the crowd at first, but she adjusted after a while. She had a good time."

"Most people have a good time with you, especially when you consider it your mission to make sure they do have a good time. Did you have a good time?"

"Totally."

"What did you do?"

"The usual. Dance."

Maggie chuckled. "Does Georgia dance?"

"Very well."

"Did you dance with her?"

"Yes."

"Jaz," Maggie sighed.

The sound made the teen groan and look up again, seeing her mother was facing her and disappointed blue eyes were on her. "It's just dancing, Mom. I dance with my friends and strangers all the time," she pointed out.

Maggie was quiet for a moment. "Did her husband know she was going out with you to dance?"

"I dunno. I didn't ask. She didn't mention him beyond the fact that he was out on business, as usual."

"Jaz, this is… worrisome," Maggie commented with a familiar troubled expression. Her chin tensed a bit with her bottom lip going over her top slightly and her eyebrows bent somewhat without furrowing her brow. The tell-tale sign came from the way her eyes seemed directed toward her feet, but it was clear that she was staring at her child.

"I know, Mom, which is why you got Dad on me last night, but it's nothing like that. I don't know why everyone thinks it is something like that. Do I think Georgie's attractive? Yes, I'd have to be blind to think otherwise. Do I like spending time with her? Yes, she's very fun to be around once you get her out of that shell and I had fun helping get her out of that shell. Am I going to make a play for her? No, I just think she's my friend. A very good friend."

"All right, Jaz. At least you recognize and admitted that you're attracted to her. I think I'm worried that you're just getting too attached to her. And it all happened so quickly," Maggie pointed out, speaking in a low tone.

Jaz was silent for a moment, just listening to her mother move around the kitchen as she tried to collect her thoughts. "We did bond quickly, but I think it's in my nature to do so. You know how I am."

While Maggie nodded, her slightly troubled expression remained. "And is it in her nature?"

"I think for her the bond came so quickly because she knows she can trust me. I've been there for her, listened to her, and let her lean on me whenever she needed to. She's very shy and I doubt she trusts a lot of people, but because I sort of forced my way into her life and tried to make sure she's comfortable while trying out new things, she trusts me. So, I think that's why we bonded so quickly."

"I suppose that's reasonable," Maggie said, but she did not sound very convinced.

"Mom, what exactly are you worried about? Do you think I have feelings for George that she won't return? Do you think she's using me to have an affair, which we aren't having? Do you think her husband is going to kill me? What exactly is eating away at you?" Jaz inquired, lifting her head up high to stare at the woman she so heavily favored.

"I think it might be all of the above," Maggie admitted.

The teen snorted. "Mom, you really don't have to worry. None of those things are going to happen. I like Georgie-girl, as a friend. I promise you, I do."

Maggie sighed and nodded, but her light blue eyes did not appear convinced. She did let the subject drop, though. "So, what do you want with your pancakes?" she asked with a small smile.

"Bacon!" Jaz grinned.

"Okay, but you have to promise not to sneak any to your father when he comes out here," Maggie stated sternly.

"Scout's honor," Jaz vowed, going so far as to mimic the scout salute.

"That might mean something if you were a scout," her mother remarked. "I hope you and your brother find women that'll cook for you."

Jaz continued grinning. "Me too! Lord knows I burn everything I touch in the kitchen!" She had a knack for putting the flame too high, leaving things in too long, or plain forgetting about stuff. Flint was better in the kitchen than she was, but he was much lazier in there too. Without their mom, the siblings were certain they would starve to death within a month or gain twenty pounds from fast food.

Maggie agreed with that and continued on making breakfast. Jaz watched her mother and wondered why she seemed to believe that there was more to her friendship with Georgia. Why did everyone think that? She did not have an answer for that. Reviewing her behavior with Georgia, she did not see what made it any difference than what she did with her other friends, so she decided to dismiss it. Everyone else was obviously just trying to make things out to be more than they were because they were not sure what to make of her being friends with someone new.

"So, you danced with Georgia," Maggie suddenly said after several minutes of silence. She was now stacking pancakes onto a plate and checking on the bacon.

"Yes, ma'am," Jaz answered, wondering where her mother was going with things now.

"Have you told her yet?" Maggie asked, putting three slices of bacon onto the plate.

"No," Jaz groaned, knowing exactly what her mother was talking about.

"Well, when are you going to tell her, little gem?" Maggie inquired. "I know you're worried that she's not going to want to be your friend anymore, but seriously, would you want to hang around someone that didn't like you just because you're a lesbian?"

A loud snort escaped through the teen's nose. "You know I wouldn't. It's not so much that I think George wouldn't want to be my friend anymore, but I think it would make her nervous and stuff. She was already jumpy about our ages. She thought that she was a loser just because she's hanging out with someone younger. She has these notions in her head that she might not agree with, but they're there and they made her react to stuff badly."

"You think she'll react badly to you being a lesbian?"

Jaz nodded. "I do. She might even feel like I lied to her. Remember Mitch thought I was lying to her by omission because I didn't tell her first? I don't wanna go through that again."

"Well, you're going to have to go through something. Eventually, she will have to know. Knowing you, by the summer, you'll have a girlfriend that you'll need to tell her about."

Jaz nodded, again her mother made a point. "I'll tell her. Eventually."

Maggie did not say anything and set Jaz's breakfast down in front of her. The younger woman grinned up at her mother, which earned her another head rub. Jaz attacked the short stack of pancakes with vigor.

"When did you go and get your hair done?" Maggie asked, wanting to make conversation.

"Yesterday afternoon. I ran into Dad outside and he gave me the money to get it done. I hope this lasts for a while because I know there are going to be all sorts of parties to be had this Spring Break," Jaz said.

"Sorry we couldn't send you anywhere."

A tan hand waved the apology off. "Mom, you have sent me some place. It's called college and I appreciate that more than any trip you could ever send me on."

"The scholarship money did that," Maggie gently corrected her daughter.

"The scholarship doesn't cover everything, so like I said, I appreciate that way more than any trip. Besides, I have a job, so I need to save my money and send myself somewhere. I'm a very big girl now."

Maggie laughed at that. "You'll never become too big for me."

Jaz nodded, knowing that good and well. She finished up her breakfast just as her father was making his way into the kitchen for breakfast. He looked like he had stayed up later than he let on, but Jaz did not comment. She knew that sometimes her mother's "motherly-ness" rubbed off on her father, so she was willing to bet that he stayed up until he heard Flint come in. And judging from the fact that Flint did not make it to breakfast, Jaz was willing to bet that he came in well after the sun was up.

Jaz went back up to her room, determined to get a couple more hours of sleep and then she figured she would find out what her merry band of misfits were up to for the day. Just as she did a few hours ago, she fell asleep wondering why everyone seemed to think there was something going on between her and Georgia.

And just like before Jaz was taken from her sleep by her phone. She groaned and grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Jaz?" Georgia's voice sounded bewildered, as if she thought she dialed the wrong number.

"Georgie?"

"Am I disturbing your sleep?" Georgia asked.

"No, no," Jaz lied. "What's up?"

"Um… I'm calling because I'm a little confused and I was hoping you would clear some things up for me."

"I'll do what I can, Georgie-girl. Shoot."

Georgia made a curious noise before continuing. "Um… Did I drink last night?"

"Yes, you did. You enjoyed a few bay breezes, I believe they were called."

There was a tiny yelp. "I didn't do anything silly, did I? If I did, I am so sorry, Jaz. I didn't mean to get drunk."

"George, it's fine. I wanted you to have a good time and it was clear that you did. You didn't do anything silly beyond dance with me, which I requested and enjoyed. You're surprisingly a calm and collected drunk. Next time we go out, we just have to make sure you eat something before you start drinking, okay?"

"You didn't mind?" Georgia sounded quite surprised by that.

"Georgie, I was the one getting you the drinks, so no, I don't mind. I wanted you to have fun and that includes drinking. You didn't get out of hand and you don't do it to excess, so it's fine. I wanted you to have fun. Did you have fun?" Jaz countered.

"I did," the older woman admitted in a low tone. She sounded embarrassed to confess that.

"Then that's all that matters. Don't worry about letting loose around me, George. If you want to have something to drink, you can. I'll watch your back. You're safe with me," Jaz stated.

The line was silent for a moment and then there was a small, "I know."

"Good. So, how you feeling? Got a bit of a hangover?" Jaz asked, more concern than anything else in her tone.

"Yes. My head hurts a little, but I don't have anything to do today, so I made myself some tea and stayed in bed."

"Good plan," Jaz said with a smile.

"What about you?"

"Well, I don't have a hangover since I didn't do any drinking. Someone had to drive home, after all," the tall woman pointed out with a light laugh.

"Are you sure you didn't mind?"

"Positive. No matter what I would've had to drive home. You can't drive, remember?" Jaz teased a little.

"Yes, a point about me that you seemed to think was quite ridiculous," Georgia commented and the smile could be heard in her voice. "Um… Jaz…?"

"Yes?"

"Are you the one who put me in the bed?" Georgia asked curiously.

Jaz almost gasped, but she caught herself. She shifted in bed and tried to make out if Georgia sounded suspicious. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and tried to prepare for Georgia possibly freaking out.

"Yeah, I did," the younger woman confirmed.

"Thank you," Georgia said and that shocked her friend into silence. A few seconds went by without the college student saying anything. "Jaz, you still there?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. Uh… it was no problem."

"I was a little confused when I woke up fully dressed, but I figured you probably helped me to bed and took my shoes off for me since I couldn't remember even coming in the door. Thank you for washing my makeup off."

"It was no problem, Georgie-girl. I'm the one that took you out, so I have to make sure you get home in one piece and you end up in a relatively good position by the end of the night. I take my job very seriously," Jaz declared.

"You're very good to me, Jaz, and I'm happy you came into my life," the bashful woman stated in a low tone.

"You sound like you're blushing. Are you blushing?" Jaz teased and the silence on the end told her that she was correct. She laughed, picturing her friend's cute little blush.

Georgia cleared her throat. "Never mind that. I was just calling to check on you to find out if you had a headache like I did."

"I don't. But, I do want to let you know that whenever we go hang out, if you want to drink, you can."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you for trusting me. Now, you get some rest, so your headache will go away."

"It's not that bad."

Jaz could tell from those simple words that Georgia wanted to stay on the phone. She had no problems with that, even though she really wanted to get some sleep. Still, she stayed up and talked with Georgia for hours.

-8-8-8-8-

Jaz was sketching in one of her many sketch pads, half-listening to her friends yammer on. They were lounging in a diner and Jaz had practically inhaled her basket of chicken fingers and fries. Her friends were still talking between eating, having most of their food left.

"So, Jaz, Georgie seemed mighty friendly when you guys left the club the other night and you slept yesterday away. She wore you out that much?" Mitch remarked, licking her fingers to get rid of ketchup and salt from her fries.

Jaz stuck her tongue out at her friend. "I keep telling you idiots that George and I aren't like that. I'd sooner fuck you than her," she replied.

"Gross! I'm eating here!" Peach complained and shuddered in disgust at the mental picture.

"Your mouth says one thing, but your body was certainly saying another when she was grinding against you the other night," Rob chimed in, giving the amazon a smug look.

"She wasn't grinding against me. She was fleeing in terror and I happened to be in the way. Weren't you supposed to be doing your own things? Why were you clocking me?" Jaz asked, even though she knew why. They were looking for proof for their ridiculous theory that she wanted something more than friendship from Georgia.

"Because you stand out and with Georgia, you stand out even more," Cocoa informed her, showing that even he had had his eye on her at the club.

"It doesn't even matter. I'm tired of hearing this bullshit about me and Georgie. There's nothing going on and nothing will be going on. She's my friend, like you four idiots, even though you're trying damn hard to change that," Jaz declared with a taunting smirk.

Eyes rolled and skeptical snorts were made, but the group let the subject drop. Everyone went back to their meals and Jaz went back to her drawing. After a few moments of silence, another topic of conversation was brought up.

"So, there's supposed to be this big party tomorrow. You guys wanna hit that?" Mitch proposed.

"Sounds good. Not like we have anything better to do with our time off," Robbie pointed out.

"Well, Jaz might," Peach remarked, a teasing smirk on his face.

Ice blue eyes looked up from the sketch. "Sounds like someone wants me to step on him," the giantess commented, causing the skateboarder to gulp.

"Peach has a point. You don't have any Georgie appointments, do you?" Cocoa inquired.

"I will if you guys keep getting on my nerves," Jaz informed them with a bit of an edge in her voice.

"Stop being so snippy. We're just kidding with you like always," Robbie said, waving off Jaz's indignation.

"You going to this party or not? You know how you are with Georgia. Some nights you don't mind bringing her along and other nights you need to hole up in her house, not fucking apparently," Mitch stated, speaking to Jaz.

"We're not," Jaz insisted.

"We got it," Mitch snapped, annoyed beyond belief if the look on her face meant anything. There was a flare in her eyes that let everyone know she was truly pissed off with the artist. "Now, are you coming to the fucking party or not? Cuz we're gonna go and we'd like to know if our friend is coming."

"I'll come. I'll bring George, though, if I think she's lonely," Jaz told them.

"You make it sound like we're offended that you're going to bring her. Bring her," Peach huffed. "It's better than you hiding away in her house acting like we don't exist."

"Could you guys sound any more like spoiled brats?" Jaz wondered aloud.

"Excuse the hell out of us for enjoying your company, not that it's happening at the moment," Robbie commented.

"Oh, really? Then how about you not have to suffer my presence any longer?" Jaz got up and had plans to leave, but it was a little difficult to do that when Cocoa was blocking her in.

"Sit the hell down. Why are you so snippy today?" Cocoa ordered. Usually, he would never speak to Jaz like that, but obviously she was working their last nerves. It was nice to know that she was returning the favor, though.

"You guys have me so snippy. I'm tired of hearing bullshit about me and George. Every day I have to put up with this crap. You can't just let me have a friend that's not in this little crazy circle of ours?" Jaz huffed, flopping back down into her chair, not thinking that someone of her size might actually break it.

"Jaz, we're just fucking with you, like we do all the time. Why's this so different?" Peach inquired.

"Maybe because you guys actually believe it. You seriously think there's something going on with me and Georgia, which also means you seriously think I'm a liar. Excuse me for being a little offended," Jaz replied with a snort.

"Suck it up, butch-girl. You're the one acting like she's your girlfriend," Mitch countered.

"How do you figure that?" Jaz demanded.

"Let's see, you spend every waking moment with her, you rushed to her side to show her how to bowl and play mini-golf, you stare at her ass whenever the chance strikes you, you fetch her drinks, you hold her purse, and you blow us off for her whenever possible. Need I say more?" the blonde stated smugly, ticking each point off of her finger as she went down the list.

"Jaz, you know better than to argue with the lawyer among us. Sorry, we didn't know you would take this so personally, but as Mitch has implied, we've taken your absence a little personally. Maybe we're taking it out on you," Robbie reasoned.

"Or maybe we do believe she's with Georgia and just doesn't want to tell us, like when she couldn't bother to fill some of us in that she's a lesbian. Like she doesn't trust us," Mitch said.

"Mitch, it was one thing and it was four years ago. Let it go already. I didn't not tell you because I don't trust you. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to fly off the handle, which you did anyway," Jaz argued. She suspected that her withholding her sexuality from Mitch would forever be a sore point for them. She started to think it might be the same when she told Georgia… if she ever got around to that.

"I always fly off the handle! It's what makes me lovable, so that's not a valid excuse!" Mitch growled.

"She's got you there," Peach agreed, going so far as to nod.

"Are you really backing up this psychopath?" Jaz motioned to the blonde across from her while giving Peach an incredulous look.

Peach shrugged. "Every so often this dude-in-chick's-clothing makes sense," he remarked, also motioning to the blonde.

"You know what, fuck both of you," Mitch said.

"EW!" Jaz and Peach shuddered simultaneously.

From that point, the conversation shifted back to more friendly remarks. By the end of the little gathering, everything seemed normal, but Jaz knew that was just on the surface. She was certain that her friends still thought that there was something going on between her and Georgia. She was not sure what she could do that would make them see the truth, so she decided to let it drop for now. She had more important things to worry about anyway, like getting Georgia to agree to go to a party full of college kids.

"Well, it'll probably be a non-issue if Allen is in town. But, what are the odds of that? The man seems to be out on business eight days out of the week," Jaz remarked to herself as she climbed the stairs at home. The whole house was quiet, which let her know her brother was out again and her parents were asleep.

"Jaz, is that you?" her mother called from the master bedroom, which was located on the ground floor. Her parents always left their bedroom door open, wanting to hear if someone came into the house. She suspected it had to do with their overprotective nature, listening out for their outgoing offspring to return home.

"Yeah, Ma, it's me!" Jaz answered.

"Okay."

Jaz went to her room after that and went back to wondering if Georgia would come to the party with her. She was already prepared for Georgia to decline if Allen was home, which she thought he should be since the party was going to be on a Tuesday. But, then again, he never seemed to be home any night. He was either out on business or playing cards with his friends. She wondered if he was really doing those things or if that was what he told Georgia.

"He's probably the type of asshole that would cheat on Georgie. The idiot probably doesn't know how good he has it," Jaz grumbled to herself. Well, she would find out when she called Georgia and proposed going to the party.

It was not as hard as she assumed it would be to talk Georgia into going to the party. Allen was still off on his business trip and Georgia wanted to find out if going to the party would be just as good as going to the club. Jaz vowed to herself to make sure that Georgia had just as a good a time out and hopefully it would help her shy friend come out of her shell a little more.

-8-8-8-8-

"Are you sure this is all right for a party?" Georgia inquired, looking down at her outfit that consisted of the only pair of jeans she owned and a plum-colored shirt with a plunging neckline and three-quarter sleeves.

"George, it's a house party. Just a bunch of drunken nuts in a house, drinking, listening to loud music, and waiting for the cops to show up," Jaz remarked with a reassuring grin. She had been pleased when Georgia said she would join her for the party, but she was a little bothered that Allen was still away. It was troubling her more and more that he would leave Georgia alone in that house for so long, especially when that prowler was still out there somewhere.

Georgia nodded, but she was still quite nervous and it showed in the way that she fidgeted with her hands in the passenger seat of Jaz's car. Jaz glanced over at her and took one of her hands, clutching it gently. Georgia breathed a sigh of relief and gripped the larger hand back.

"It'll be fine. You see what I'm wearing, right?" Jaz pointed out. She was dressed like she usually was, jeans and a plain dark blue tee-shirt with a wolf print on it. Georgia nodded again and Jaz flashed her most winsome smile. "Then what you have on is fine. It'll be fine," she promised.

"If you say so…" Georgia said and she was not being flippant. She meant that. If Jaz said it, it must be so to her.

Jaz grinned, enjoying all of the trust that Georgia put in her. They arrived at the party and it was in full swing. Georgia hung close to Jaz as soon as she saw how many people were at the party. Jaz smiled and put her arm around Georgia's shoulders, keeping the older woman close to her. The contact kept Georgia from panicking and she was able to relax as much as she could around a house full of rowdy, drunken strangers.

"Want me to introduce you?" Jaz inquired, even though she had plans to do that anyway.

"I would like that," Georgia answered. She was certain that seeing how many of these people Jaz knew would help her remain calm. If Jaz knew the people, then they were not really strangers, she silently reasoned.

Jaz made quick work of introducing Georgia around to pretty much everyone that they ran into. Georgia was both surprised and not surprised with the amount of people that Jaz knew. Jaz was the very definition of gregarious and everyone that she knew seemed to love her and she seemed to like everyone. Still, to someone like Georgia, it seemed impossible to know so many people.

"Yo, Jaz," a woman called as she trotted up to Jaz.

"What's up?" Jaz replied, shaking her hand and they pulled into a tight, but short hug.

"Long time no see. Who's this hot little thing by your side?" the woman inquired with a leer that made Georgia squirm a little.

"Stop licking your chops. This is my friend, Georgia. Georgie, this is Canter. No one knows if that's her first or last name. She's on the school volleyball team," Jaz explained.

"Still trying to get you to join. You'd be able to look at some very nice asses if you showed up," Canter remarked, patting Jaz on the shoulder.

"She's also quite the perv," Jaz added, speaking to Georgia, who laughed uncomfortably.

"I just take my cues from you, my friend. I get all my pervy-ness from your friend here," Canter commented, also speaking to Georgia. She wiggled her eyebrows.

"I am not a pervert," Jaz declared, glancing off to the side.

"Right, and you're not going to get drunk and grope some ladies by the end of the night," Canter teased.

Jaz balked, but quickly recovered. Discreetly, she glanced down at Georgia to see if she reacted to the words, but it seemed like Canter mostly confused the older woman more than anything else. Jaz figured it would be in her best interest to get away from Canter before she said anything more direct and basically outed her… not that she was closeted or anything.

"I'm not getting drunk, so everyone's safe from my overly friendly nature," Jaz said. Typically, when she drank a little too much, she did get more friendly than usual. Of course, it was not with "everyone" as she claimed. She only got friendlier if the person had a generous amount of cleavage. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I want to introduce Georgia around to everyone," Jaz added, so they could make an expeditious getaway.

Jaz waved and took Georgia away from Canter. For the rest of the night, Jaz made sure to stay glued to Georgia's side and had to do damage control. It never occurred to her that everyone that saw her would want to talk about women, but that seemed to be the topic of the night. Aren't there other things in life aside from boning beautiful women or trying to bone them at least? Jaz wondered with a growl.

It was not that Jaz was ashamed of her sexuality. After all, everyone that knew her was aware of her lifestyle… except for Georgia. She was not sure how to approach the subject, but she damn sure did not want an intoxicated stranger to be the one to tell Georgia. She knew that would not go over well at all.

"You don't look like you're having fun," Peach noted, walking over to Jaz, who was leaning against a wall.

"I'm just trying to catch my breath. I've been introducing Georgie-girl to the whole freaking party," Jaz replied.

"Where is George?" Peach inquired curiously, looking around.

"Uh…" Jaz looked down and around her, as if she was searching for a lost item. "Shit, I dunno where she went. I gotta go find her," she declared, somewhat in a panic. God, what if some drunkard gropes her?! She'll never want to go anywhere with me again!

"Calm down, she's a grown woman."

"Peach, you know how skittish she can be and she's around a bunch of drunk college students that she doesn't know. Do you think this could possibly end well if I don't find her?" Jaz inquired.

"Yeah, she could learn to take care of herself. You're not going to be there to protect her all the time, Jaz. You gotta let her handle some things herself. This is a good place to start small," he pointed out.

Jaz was not really paying attention to him. She was too busy scanning the crowd, looking for some sign of Georgia. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Georgia near the back door, speaking with Cocoa. Her relief was short-lived when she noticed Cocoa take a gulp from a plastic cup in his hand.

"Peach, is Cocoa drunk by any chance?" Jaz asked, terror in her eyes.

"When I last saw him, I would go with yes. You know how he is, he swears at his size he can drink a gallon of vodka and not slur a word when we all know a thimble of tequila would put him on his ass," Peach remarked.

Jaz chuckled, even though it was somewhat true. Cocoa thought that he had a super-tolerance to alcohol due to his massive size. He was quite wrong, but because of his assumption he drank a lot. He tended to end up more tipsy than anyone else in their clique too because of his false confidence in his size.

The artist would not have cared, but Cocoa had a way of running his mouth when he was drunk. In fact, he almost never shut up. He rarely allowed a person get a word in edgewise, not that they wanted to if he was dishing. Cocoa would give away the secrets of the universe if he knew them when he was intoxicated.

"Let me go save Georgie before he talks her ear off," Jaz commented.

"Be careful before he ends up with two captive audience members instead of one. You know he's been dying to tell people about that stupid agriculture class he took," Peach cautioned her.

Jaz hoped he was going on and on about agriculture, but by the time she got over there, she knew that was not the case. As she was coming up, a couple of girls were walking away. She knew the girls pretty well, one was an old girlfriend and one had been trying to be her girlfriend. And Georgia looked like she was in complete and total shock.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Jaz asked in a cheerful tone that she did not quite feel. She especially did not like the fact that Georgia stepped away from her.

"I was just telling George here about how much she should plow you!" Cocoa announced and then he turned his eyes down to Georgia. "It would definitely improve her temper lately. Jaz has been flying off the handle at every little thing and it's because she really needs to get laid!"

"Cocoa, that's enough!" Jaz barked, glaring daggers at her large friend.

He laughed and pointed at the irate amazon. "See? She's all out of sorts cuz she wants you so badly, but she's too stupid to know that. You gotta help her, Georgie!" he begged.

"Damn it, George, don't listen to him. He's drunk!" Jaz pointed out, turning her own pleading blue eyes to Georgia, who seemed to be getting further and further away.

"Is that what this is all about, Jaz? I mean, have you been being my friend just to…" Georgia could not even say it. Tearing her eyes away from the pair, she focused on the floor, glaring at it.

"Of course not, Georgie! You know me, you know I'm not like that," Jaz replied and she hated how that sounded. It was like she was denying that she was gay when in fact she was denying that she was trying to be Georgia's friend to get something out of her.

"No, I don't know you, Jaz. Everyone else seems to, but I don't know you at all," Georgia realized in a small voice and she turned, bolting as quickly as she could.

"Georgie, wait! I can explain!" Jaz shouted, wanting to chase after Georgia, but finding for once her size was a liability. Georgia was able to slip through small cracks between people and continue fleeing while she had to be careful not to bowl people over. She was upset, but she did not want to hurt anyone… save Cocoa anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

Georgia moved until she got outside, only then did she remember that Jaz was the one that drove and she needed Jaz to get home. Coming to her rescue was Robbie, who just happened to be outside, sipping what Georgia hoped was a non-alcoholic drink. She approached the younger woman.

"Robin, do you think you could please do me a favor?" Georgia begged, sniffling a little before putting her hand over her mouth.

"Uh… sure," Robin answered when she noticed how desperate Georgia looked. "What happened with Jaz, though?"

Georgia glanced back, as if nervous that Jaz was coming. "I just… I can't… I mean…"

"It's all right. You can explain it to me later if you want to. I have no problem with driving you home," Robbie answered, starting the trek to her car. Georgia followed behind her.

They came to Robbie's small, beat up car. Georgia got into the passenger seat while Robbie hopped into the driver's seat. The drive was silent with Georgia giving most of the details on how to get to her house from the start. Robbie did not say anything, watching out of the corner of her eye as Georgia's hands fidgeted. It was clear that something was bothering the older woman.

"Did you know…?" Georgia asked quietly.

"Know what?" Rob countered.

"She's… gay…" Georgia choked out.

Robin was silent, but her eyes went to Georgia in surprise. The look seemed to say "yes, everyone knows that!" Georgia sighed and shook her head.

"So, I was the only one. I knew she was too good to be true. I'm such a fool," Georgia muttered and that was the end of all conversation in the car.

Robbie wanted to say something, especially when she noticed a tear slide down Georgia's cheek. But, she knew it was not her place to say anything. Jaz had to fix this, so she continued driving until they came to Georgia's home.

"Thank you for bringing me home," Georgia said in the quietest voice Robbie had ever heard as she exited the car. If Robbie responded to that, Georgia did not hear, quickly walking up to her door. She disappeared into the large, dark mansion, shutting the door behind her as if to shut out the world.

-8-8-8-8-

10: Breathless

Georgia sat in her dark house with a glass of wine, ignoring her phone. She knew it was Jaz calling and right now she had no desire to speak with the teenager. She could not believe the things that Cocoa told her not even two hours ago at that party. Beyond that, she could not believe what those two girls had rambled on about. She felt like such a fool.

"Why would anyone actually be interested in me, after all?" Georgia questioned the dark, sniffling a bit.

She had spent her life finding out that people seemed to only be interested in her based on things that she could do for them rather than the fact that she was actually fascinating or worthwhile. Back when she was in school, grade school onward, her classmates had been interested in her intelligence and befriended her often, so that she would do some assignment for them or so that she would allow them copy work from her. As her father's restaurant business grew, people then wanted to be friends with her because she was wealthy. Even her friends now always wanted her to bake goods or help with their gardens or whatever else she could provide. Hell, some even asked her for business advice, knowing that she had a business degree. And it seemed like everyone just expected her to snap to it with a smile on her face all of the time, like she was never allowed to be upset with being used.

"No one ever wants to just talk to me because they like me," she grumbled sorrowfully. "So, what the hell made me think that Jazzy was any different? She seemed so different, like she truly liked me, but she was just like everyone else. She just wanted to use me. I had something she wanted, just like everyone else. She put on a good mask, but she just wanted to use me. Probably worse than other person has wanted to use me." Her voice was bitter and a frown twisted her features.

A shudder ran through her as she considered what Jaz possibly desired from her. She wanted to believe that Jaz was not like that. Jaz was upfront and wholesome, but obviously that could not have been the case since Jaz had practically lied to her. It hurt so much that Georgia clutched her heart as tearing agony shot through her entire torso.

"Why did you lie to me, Jazzy? I thought we were friends!" Georgia lamented, tears gathering in her eyes. Sniffling again, she tried to blink the tears away. She lightly rubbed her eyes when blinking did not work. "Why does it hurt so much? She's just a friend. Or was just a friend. Maybe not even that. Maybe just a liar."

The whole point was that she thought Jaz was her friend. She enjoyed having Jaz as a friend. It was very different from her other friends… or so she had believed. It was obvious now that Jaz had not viewed their friendship the same. A scowl cut across her face, hardening her eyes, at the thought.

"To hell with Jaz," Georgia proclaimed and she felt a little bit better. So, of course, she decided to repeat. "To hell with Jaz!" she shouted, figuring the louder, the better. She did feel better. Hopefully, it would hold her long enough for her to move on.

-8-8-8-8-

Jaz growled, the sound directed toward her phone, which she had just tossed against her bed. Georgia was not answering her calls and had not been doing so for a couple of days. She did not know what to do. She wanted to ask her mother's advice, but she was scared that doing such would add to her mother's crazy theory that she thought of Georgia as more than a friend.

She had lost plenty of so-called friends in her lifetime due to her sexuality, even before she realized that she was gay. It never usually bothered her. She tended to tell people early on before she got attached to them. Or she would just look at it as she could make more friends. Making friends was never a problem with her, but things would not be that easy with Georgia. She was not sure what to do and decided to ask her friends for advice… not that she trusted what they thought on the situation.

"Still, insane opinions are better than none," she figured.

She met up with them in the afternoon at a diner that they frequented. Everyone ordered food and sat quietly for a moment. Robin stared at Jaz while Jaz glared at Cocoa, who seemed none the wiser.

"It's surprising that you called us, Jaz. Usually, we have to drag you out from under Georgia," Robbie remarked, a teasing smile on her face.

"Yeah, well, Georgie isn't talking to me anymore," Jaz replied in a grumble, seeming to shrink in her seat. It was rare for her to hunch over or curl into herself, so her posture caught her friends' attention.

"What? Why?" Cocoa inquired, eyes wide from shock.

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe one of us telling her that I was so grumpy all the time because she needed to plow me might have something to do with it," Jaz answered, cutting him a side glance.

"Who said that?" Cocoa asked, looking around the table in total confusion.

"You, Doctor Drunken-stein! You got wasted and not only told Georgie that she needs to lay me, but you introduced her to one of my former girlfriends and a girl that was trying to get with me," Jaz huffed.

Cocoa scratched his head. "I did that?" It did not ring a bell.

"Yes!" Jaz stated with a look that declared her fellow giant an idiot.

"Even if he did do that, what's so bad about that? It's not like she is your girlfriend and even if she is, she had to know you were with other women before," Peach reasoned.

"She didn't know I was gay," Jaz groused, looking down like a scolded child with her cheeks puffed out and her bottom lip poking out.

"Well, who's fault is that?" Robbie pointed out, sounding quite bland and indifferent to Jaz's dilemma.

"I was waiting for the right time!" Jaz argued, hitting the table with her index finger as if that made her point more valid. "Not at some loud house-party!"

"Waiting for the right time? You mean like you were doing with me?" Mitch inquired, frowning deeply.

"Mitch, it's not the same thing. I didn't tell you because I knew there would never be a right time. You were going to feel insulted no matter what, unless I told you the moment I figured it out," Jaz countered.

"I was insulted. How could you tell me last! This idiot knew before I did!" Mitch pointed to Peach, who rightfully appeared to take offense to those words.

"Because I knew he wouldn't be upset. But then again, you get upset over every little thing. I was also pretty sure he wouldn't punch me in the stomach," Jaz retorted.

"You deserved it! You don't just keep secrets like that without getting your ass kicked," Mitch stated.

"It wasn't a secret. I just wasn't sure how to approach it with you without getting punched in the stomach," Jaz replied.

"You still haven't figured that one, have you?" Robbie teased.

"No, I'm pretty sure that no matter what when Mitch is at least the second person to know anything, I get punched in the stomach," Jaz replied.

"Lucky she can't reach higher," Peach mumbled, subconsciously rubbing his cheek.

"But, you know, after the punch in the stomach, you and Mitch are always squared after that," Robin pointed out.

"Is your suggestion that I let George punch me in the stomach?" Jaz asked with a raised eyebrow. The mental image was enough to get a laugh out of her. She could see Georgia "punching" her and then Georgia would be the one to fall over.

"Uh, no. That only works with Mitch," Robbie informed her.

"Why not just let that shit be? If she's not talking to you, she's obviously offended by your lesbian cooties," Mitch commented, waving the whole discussion off.

Jaz shook her head. "Nah, I don't think that's it. I'm usually pretty good at telling if someone looks repulsed by me when they find out I'm gay. I'm not sure Georgie gave me that look. I'm not too sure what her look was."

"It might have been confused. She also seemed a little offended that no one told her when I drove her home. I'm sure to her, it did seem like a big secret," Robbie reported.

"I saw the confusion. I did get a little 'why the hell didn't you tell me' vibe from her too, like I got when Mitch tried to kill me. But, there was a lot of other stuff there, which could probably be blamed on Captain Motor-mouth here." Blue eyes cut a glance at the other giant to her right. "I just think there might be more to her silence than the fact that 'oh my god I was friends with an evil lesbian!' going on," Jaz replied.

"Well, that's hopeful then," Peach supplied, hoping to lift Jaz's spirits.

"Can't be too hopeful if she's not taking my calls," Jaz pointed out.

"She probably needs time to deal with the fact that you lied to her, you liar," Mitch stated bluntly.

Jaz glared at the blonde. "Fuck you, Mitch. I'm not a liar. I just wanted to approach this at the best time in the best way. I never guessed that one of my best friends was going to run off at the mouth," she huffed.

"Are you sure I did that?" Cocoa inquired, pointing to himself with a bewildered and troubled expression. The way his face scrunched up, it was like he was trying to see something off on the horizon.

"Unless there's another six-and-a-half-foot blabbermouth, then yes, I'm sure you did that," Jaz answered.

"Hey, stop getting mad at Cocoa. You wouldn't be in this situation if you had just man-upped and told her like you were supposed to," Robbie reprimanded Jaz.

"Oh, so now it's all my fault?" the titan demanded, hitting herself in the chest with her palm. "You know what, screw you guys. You probably don't even care that George isn't talking to me anymore."

"Hey!" Peach objected.

"That's entirely unfair to say, Jaz," Cocoa objected.

"Unfair? You throw my business out into the street and blame me when it happens. Not to mention, you guys probably only pretended to like Georgie in the first place since you swear to God I'd rather hang out with her than with you and you just can't stand it," Jaz argued.

"We do like Georgie, okay? Sure we think you spend too much time with her, but that's not enough for us to dislike her. She's a nice woman and seems to know how to have a good time. Not to mention, she makes you happy. And, no, Cocoa shouldn't have put you on blast, but you should've told Georgie about your sexuality long ago because you knew it could end badly. You knew she could end up calling off your friendship and you got scared," Robbie stated calmly.

Jaz was too upset to look properly chastised. "And how is any of this helping?" she demanded to know.

"Why the hell don't you just talk to her?" Peach inquired.

Mitch palmed her face for a second before slapping Peach hard in the back of the head. He lurched forward and winced before turning glaring eyes on her. She looked as angry as ever.

"Are you a fucking idiot or what? She just said Georgie isn't taking her calls. How the fuck do you talk to someone that won't answer the fucking phone?" Mitch asked him.

"You go to their house," Cocoa suggested, turning to Jaz. "Go to her house. Talk to her in person. Scream through the door if you have to. Let her know you mean it," he offered, praying that redeemed him from his social faux pas.

"Scream through the door? So the cops can arrest my ass? I'm especially screwed if I start screaming and her husband is home. He'll take great delight in seeing my tall ass stuffed in the back of a police car," Jaz snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Stop being such a damn defeatist. Try it first before you deem it a failure, you fucking mook," Robbie huffed.

"Ouch, harsh, Robs," Peach commented, flinching as he spoke.

"She needs the push. You're always acting like a big baby, Jaz. We're not going to spoil you like your mom, man. Take his advice first and then come back whining when it doesn't work," Mitch ordered, pointing a threatening finger at the taller student.

"I think you might want to listen or bear being punched in the stomach again," Peach warned Jaz.

"That might be less painful," Jaz muttered, but thankfully no one heard her. Mitch certainly would have tried to prove her wrong had she heard Jaz.

The amazon decided to stop whining to her friends since it was obvious she was not going to get their sympathy. She figured that she would consider doing what Cocoa suggested, even though she was pretty sure it would end with her being arrested. It was worth a shot, though. She did not like going without Georgia and it especially bothered her that Georgia was upset with her and probably thought less of her now. She wanted to set things straight.

The conversation was dropped and the crew had their meals without any other deep discussions. They mostly made plans for what they would do for the rest of their vacation. Jaz left first because she had to go to work. As she sat in her car, delivering pizzas, she thought about making a turn and going to a certain house in a posh neighborhood. Eventually, the pizzas were gone and Jaz sat in her car, leaning against the steering wheel, staring out ahead of her. There was a street to go back to work and pick up more pizzas or to go to Georgia's house.

"She probably never wants to see me again. She probably thinks this whole time I was trying to get into her pants. But, I really like Georgie. I don't want this to be it. I don't want it to end like this, with her thinking badly of me," Jaz muttered to herself and before she realized it, she was driving toward a certain house instead of back to work like she should have been.

Before Jaz completely comprehended what she did, she pulled up to Georgia's house. She was relieved to see that there were no cars out front, so she assumed Allen was not home, but there was still a tightness in her chest.

"What am I doing?" Jaz asked herself, trying to calm down. "Being an idiot, as usual," she answered her own question as her chest tightened a little more.

Her breathing was starting to get a little faster, but she ignored that and exited the car since she was already at the house. She figured that she might try to talk to Georgia like Cocoa suggested. Walking up to the door, she hoped that Georgia was not home. She was not ready for this. Still, she rang the bell and waited for a response. As she stood there for what felt like an eternity, her chest got a little tighter and her breathing got a little deeper, sounding almost like a pant already.

-8-8-8-8-

Georgia marched to the door when she heard the bell, wondering who it was. She considered if might be one of her friends, asking her for something. Gina probably needed more baked goods. Glancing through the peephole, she saw it most certainly was not Gina waiting on her front step.

"What's Jaz doing here? Should I answer? I should just pretend to not be home. She'll go away eventually. She should have work today, so she has to go away eventually," Georgia mumbled to herself.

Georgia stood there, not sure what to do. She hoped that Jaz would just assume no one was there and go away, but she did not have that sort of luck. Jaz rang the bell again and then started knocking on the door. Georgia swallowed hard, wanting to take a step back and reach for the doorknob at the same time. Yet, she remained cemented to the floor.

"Georgie, I know you're in there!" Jaz hollered, coughing a little afterward. She rang the bell again and banged on the door a little harder than before. "C'mon, we can talk about this like two adults!" she added before inhaling deeply. She knocked loudly again.

"Jaz, just go away. I don't want to see you anymore," Georgia replied.

"I won't go away! We need to talk about this. I don't want to lose your friendship," Jaz stated, having to take another deep inhale. In the back of her mind, she was starting to realize that she might be in more trouble than she thought… and that went beyond what was going on with Georgia.

Georgia scoffed loudly. "My friendship? Like you ever wanted to be my friend! What did you want from me, Jaz? Just to have a good laugh or did you really want to sleep with me? Well, I'm straight and married, so just leave me alone!"

"That's not it and you know it! Let me in and we can talk!" Jaz begged and she took another deep inhale. She put her hand to her chest and breathed in deep again.

Georgia paused for a moment, hearing Jaz breathe heavy. Moving to the door, she looked through the peephole. Jaz was leaning against the door and she appeared to be panting. It seemed like something was wrong, but she was not sure what. Deciding to observe for a little longer, she stayed at the peephole.

"Please, Jaz, just go away," Georgia replied, imploring the teen to leave her be.

"I won't! I won't go away till we talk!" Jaz stated, coughing through her words. She took a few deep breaths and then leaned her forehead against the door. Her breathing seemed to be getting worse by the second.

"Jaz, are you all right?" Georgia inquired with concern.

"I wanna… I wanna… talk," Jaz answered, coughing some more. She turned away, needing to spit as her lungs began to burn. She was now certain that she was in big trouble.

"Jaz, are you okay?" Georgia begged to know.

"I… I… I…" Jaz had to take a very big deep breath, followed by more struggling deep breaths.

Georgia yanked the door open, wanting to see Jaz up close to tell if something was wrong. As the door opened, Jaz moved her hand from it and tried to stand up straight, but could not make it happen. She was breathing as if she had just sprinted up the block, but Georgia knew that was not the case since Jaz's car was parked right in front of the house.

"Jaz, are you okay?" Georgia repeated, putting her hand on Jaz's arm.

The taller woman nodded. "F… fine. Just… just… need…" She could not even get it out. She took a deep breath and started coughing again. She could not believe how quickly she went from feeling all right to feeling like she was drowning.

"You don't sound fine. Come in and sit down," Georgia ordered, motioning inside the house.

Jaz nodded, not up to arguing. She allowed Georgia to usher her in the house, the door closing behind them. She flopped down onto the sofa, putting her hands on her knees and bending down, putting her head between her legs. Georgia eyed Jaz, not sure what was going on. It looked like Jaz was battling just for a breath.

"Do you need anything?" Georgia asked, hands fidgeting in overtime now.

"Wa… water…" Jaz begged.

Georgia nodded and rushed off to get water for her guest. Jaz did her best to drink all of it, but mostly sat with her head between her legs. Georgia paced in front of her, waiting to hear whatever else Jaz might need. Jaz did not say anything, though.

"Jaz, what's wrong?" Georgia asked, kneeling down before the younger girl. Jaz did not answer, only taking a deep inhale. "Jazzy, please, tell me what's wrong. Tell me what I can do to help," she implored.

Jaz lifted her head and smiled. "Ca… called me… Jazzy…" she panted.

"Yes, yes, I did," Georgia replied, smiling too, but looking more concerned than anything. "Now, tell me what's wrong, Jazzy," she pled in a soft tone.

"As… asthma… attack…" Jaz answered, breathing in deeply again.

"Asthma attack? You're having an asthma attack?" Georgia inquired, eyes wide with shock and panic. Jaz nodded as a response. Georgia looked around, as if she would just find what to do. "Do you have an inhaler?"

Jaz nodded. "But… home…"

"Well, it doesn't do us any good there. Is there anything I can do? Anyone I should call?" Georgia was moving toward the phone before she even got an answer.

Jaz shook her head. "Calm down… might be… all right…"

"If I calm down or you calm down?"

"Both."

Georgia nodded and did her best to calm down. She sat down on the couch next to Jaz, who went back to breathing hard with her head between her legs. Georgia tapped her fingers together, watching Jaz out of the corner of her eye. Minutes passed that seemed like years and then Jaz sat up straight, her breathing not as bad as it had been when she first came in. Unfortunately, her breathing was not back to normal, though.

"Are you all right now?" Georgia asked.

"Better. I'll have to go home and get my inhaler, though," Jaz answered.

"Shouldn't you have an inhaler on you in case of times like this?"

"I usually do. I finished it a few weeks ago…" Jaz took a breath. "I forgot to get a refill."

"How could you forget to get a refill? This is obviously something important, Jaz! This is your life here," Georgia pointed out.

"Calm down, Georgie. Please," Jaz implored her friend. It would not do either of them to get worked up, but it especially would not do her any good.

Georgia looked down for a moment. "Sorry. You're right. Are you better? Should I get you more water?"

Jaz shook her head. "As long as I stay calm, I should be all right," she stated. She took a long breath. "I haven't had an attack in a while. Sometimes, when it feels like it's coming…" she trailed off for another breath. "… I use the inhaler."

"Maybe I should call your house for you. Someone could bring the inhaler," Georgia proposed.

"Everyone's at work, so nobody's home. Like I said, I stay calm and I should be all right."

Georgia nodded. "You sound better," she noted.

"Yeah, just gotta stay calm." Jaz took another breath. Her chest felt like it was relaxing again, but it was still tight. She was going to have to go home soon and use her inhaler or she would be in real trouble.

"Are you all right to drive? You really need your medicine, but can you make it home on your own?" Georgia asked.

"I can make it."

"Are you sure? I mean, maybe Robbie or someone can come get you."

Jaz shook her head. "S'cool. I can make it. But, before I leave, promise me something."

"What?"

"When I come back…" There was that deep inhale again. Blue eyes then locked with the sienna ones. "Please, talk to me…" The low voice was desperate.

"I will," Georgia vowed.

A smile lit up Jaz's face, even though she doubted that she was being fair. From the look of concern on Georgia's face, she could have asked Georgia for the moon and Georgia probably would have tried her best to go get it. But, that did not bother Jaz much. It was not like she planned on having an asthma attack at the front door.

"I'll be back soon," Jaz informed her friend before taking her leave.

"Call me later and let me know you're okay," Georgia requested.

Jaz gave her a nod before getting into her car and driving away. Georgia stood in her doorway and watched the younger woman go. She was not at ease until about an hour later when Jaz called, sounding much better and assuring her that she was all right. Georgia had no idea how worried she had been until she got the phone call.

Although the call was not very long, Georgia felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and as if her heart been released from a vice. It was in that moment that she knew she did have to speak with Jaz. She had to know the nature of their friendship and she had to try to keep Jaz as a friend. Jaz meant way too much to her to let her go so easily.

"I shouldn't make any decisions until I hear what she has to say, though. This could still be bad for me," Georgia told herself.

Georgia did her best to stay positive and not talk herself out of keeping her promise, but her mind offered up plenty of reasons to back out anyway. She certainly did not owe Jaz anything, especially since Jaz had not been honest with her. Then there was the fact that things with Allen might be a little smoother since he would not have to bother her about her hanging out with "that sort of person." But, both those excuses sounded and felt hollow to her.

"I can't just go around giving up friends for Allen. He would only find something new to fight about anyway if he didn't have Jaz to bark about. He might even start to think that he controls my life and has some sway over who I was friends with if I stop speaking to her. He might actually think I did that for him. I don't want him to think that he has power over me because he doesn't. I'm sure that would only lead to more fights too," she argued with herself. "I shouldn't bother thinking about him."

The big thing was the fact that Jaz had not been honest with her and she was not sure why that was. She was fairly certain now that Jaz had not lied by omission for something like a possible romp in bed. Jaz almost died coming to her house to try to fix things, after all. If things were as simple as a physical attraction Jaz would not have been so worked up about it. But, she was not sure what else it could mean. Right now, all she felt like was that Jaz did not trust her and that meant they were not truly friends, which continued to hurt.

-8-8-8-8-

Jaz checked her pocket for the umpteenth time, making sure her inhaler was in there. The last thing she wanted to do was have another asthma attack in front of Georgia and have to cut their discussion short to run home to avoid dying. Feeling the medicine made her sigh in relief as she knocked on the door. Seconds later, the door opened and revealed Georgia.

"Hey," Jaz said, waving a little to go along with her greeting.

"How are you?" Georgia asked in a small voice.

"Fine. I brought my inhaler just in case, though."

Georgia sighed and relief could be seen in her eyes. "That's good. Come on in," she said, stepping aside for Jaz to enter the house.

Jaz nodded and walked in. The pair ended up on the couch, sitting in silence. Jaz took a few breaths, surprised at how nervous she felt. She had never felt this way over a friend before, but then again, she figured it was because Georgia had so quickly become one of her best friends.

"First off, I would like to apologize to you, Georgie," Jaz began, turning to look Georgia in the eye. She was not surprised that Georgia had trouble maintaining eye contact.

"Apologize?" Georgia echoed, wondering what she was getting an apology for.

"Yes, apologize. I should've told you sooner about the fact that I'm gay. Usually, I tell new friends right away, but obviously not with you."

"And why not with me?" Georgia inquired, glancing up at the younger woman.

"I was planning to tell you, but I was waiting for the perfect time. I guess there wasn't a perfect time. I should've learned there's never a perfect time with stuff like this." Jaz sighed and shook her head.

"Why were you waiting for this perfect time? Do you not trust me?" Georgia asked, wanting to get that out of the way. She believed that it might take away some of her anxiety if that was confirmed or denied.

"Georgie, you know I trust you!" Jaz declared, reaching out to take her friend's hand. She clutched Georgia's hand tightly, desiring to be believed through her touch as well as her words.

Brown eyes glanced down at their joined hands. "Then why? … Why keep it a secret?"

Jaz sighed and then took a deep breath. "It wasn't that I was keeping it a secret. I was just… I was just scared," she admitted.

"Scared?"

Jaz nodded and maintained eye contact. "I was scared because I wasn't sure how you would react. Usually, I can read how someone's going to react, but with you, I couldn't figure it out. It wasn't so much that I didn't have faith in you or thought you would shun me…" she tried to explain.

"Then what were you scared of?"

"I suppose that you would shun me. I was really scared about that. I mean, Georgie, I really like hanging out with you and spending time with you. And I know that some people don't take the whole 'lesbian' thing well. I know sometimes you get nervous about new things and all," Jaz said, scratching her head and wondering why this was not going how she rehearsed it.

"I will be honest, I don't know any lesbians… to my knowledge and I don't know if I've ever known any. You're the first to come out to me. I don't want to shun you, though," Georgia asserted, squeezing Jaz's hand a little.

Jaz smiled a bit. "That's good to know. I didn't want to freak you out either. I don't know why, but I thought you would be all nervous around me if you knew I was a lesbian."

"Well, I suppose I'm a little nervous."

Jaz laughed a bit. "Well, you're generally nervous over everything, so that's actually normal. George, I promise you, at no point in time did I consider using this friendship as a means to have sex with you. Yes, you're a beautiful woman, but you're my friend. I value you as a friend. I'm not going to start hitting on you and I haven't been hitting on you. I just wanted to be your friend."

Georgia nodded. "Sorry that I assumed otherwise."

"Don't be sorry. You should be suspicious. I kept this huge secret from you and then you go find out from the idiot, drunken mountain, who I'm sure used the crudest language possible to tell you," Jaz pointed out.

There was another nod. "My face was on fire…"

Jaz chuckled. "I'm sure. Again, I'm sorry. I just wanted us to stay friends and I almost blew it. We're still friends, right?"

"Yes, we are. But, no more secrets like that, okay?"

"Well, I can't pull too many other secrets like this. You only get to come out once," Jaz remarked, laughing a bit to help the joke along.

Georgia smiled and some of the tension between them melted. "I suppose you're right. And I'm sorry for assuming you were trying to use me somehow…"

"Georgie, like I said, you should be suspicious. You're a beautiful woman and I'm attracted to beautiful woman, but I didn't tell you and then I spent all this time getting close to you. It has to look weird from your end. Plus, Cocoa bluntly told you that you should have sex with me," Jaz pointed out.

Georgia immediately started blushing. "Um… yes… well, it's over and done with. Shall we move on?" she requested, not wanting to remember some of the things that Cocoa said to her that night.

"If it's okay with you. Are you comfortable with the idea of hanging out with a lesbian that's six years younger than you, still lives at home, and is just a sophomore in college?" Jaz asked, wondering if she was asking too much of her friend.

Georgia inhaled deeply and blew out a long breath. "I'm willing to try. I do like being around you, Jaz. You've quickly become my best friend. I've missed you for the short time we've been apart and I didn't like the separation. I don't think I've ever felt like that before."

"I missed you too, Georgie-girl. You're my best friend too and I'm happy we get the chance to hang out again," Jaz stated with a smile.

Georgia smiled too, her eyes shining. It took Jaz a moment to realize that Georgia's sienna colored eyes were brimming with tears. As the tears ran down Georgia's cheek, Jaz gently brushed them away.

"Oh, my, this is quite embarrassing. I don't know why I'm crying," Georgia said and then she realized that she was not telling the truth. She knew exactly why she was crying. "I'm so relived that we're still friends…" she confessed. She could not believe she felt so much better knowing that Jaz was not going to disappear from her life.

"It's okay," Jaz said in a low tone, noting how soft Georgia's cheeks were. "I know how you feel."

"At least you're not crying, though."

Jaz flashed a large grin. "Should I?"

Georgia laughed and that helped stop her tears from flowing. They remained as they were for a few silent moments. It was then that Jaz realized that she was still caressing Georgia's face. She dropped her hand and cleared her throat, but could not think of anything to say. Luckily, the silence did not seem awkward, even after she dropped her hand.

"Jaz, can we talk about something else now?" Georgia inquired, eyes falling to the floor now as she was not sure if she should bring up what she desired to speak on.

"Hey," Jaz replied, moving Georgia's face so that they were looking each other in the eye again. "C'mon, don't get all shy on me now," she said, wanting to coax the words out of her friend.

"Well… it's just… you really worried me when you were here before, Jazzy. I got so scared because of how hard you were breathing and I didn't know what to do. I felt so helpless," Georgia confessed.

"It's okay. I'll make sure to carry my inhaler and everything. This was really just one time," Jaz informed her friend, hoping to comfort Georgia and set her at ease.

"There's more than that. I want you to quit smoking," Georgia stated, shocking herself that she was able to get it out.

"Quit smoking?"

"Yes, I want you to quit smoking. I'm grateful that you respect me enough not to do it around me, but now you need to respect your lungs enough to stop poisoning them. Will you do that?"

Jaz sighed and rubbed her forehead a bit. "Is this a condition to our friendship?" she asked, even though she doubted that was it.

"What? No, I'm sorry if it comes off like that!" Georgia squeaked. "I was just worried about you."

"I know. Is it all right for me to just think about it for now? I mean, if this was a condition for our friendship, I'd give up smoking right this second, but you're not like that," Jaz said.

"It's not a condition for our friendship. We're friends, no matter what, as long as we're both honest with each other."

Jaz nodded and they sealed that deal with a hug. They both managed to keep from sighing as they held each other, but noted that they felt much better than they had before. Now that the crisis was averted, they figured it was time to get back to what they did best-hanging out. They ended up watching movies until Jaz had to go to work.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Meet some of Georgia's friends and watch Jaz do something possibly very stupid.