sanctuary // george joji miller

twenty one

An hour later, we were all ready to go out. Turns out, what Jane gave me was a nice blue dress that hugs the shape of my waist, with puffy cute sleeves. Literally the cutest dress I own at this moment.

I'm literally so thankful to have a second mom figure, and also a best friend. Jane may not be always around but she's so kind and all. I still wonder where she goes to but I just can't make myself ask.

It's none of my business, anyways.

Jane offered to drive on our way to the mall. She went out first, George held my hand when we got out of the house.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "If you're not sure we can back out-"

"Don't worry about me, I can do this." He said, giving my hand a squeeze. "Chill out, I got this." He chuckled, initiating and leading the way to the car. I gave him a surprised look.

"Okay mister confident," I laughed. "You better not be shaking your ass in fear later."

"Tch, I'm not an asswipe." He defended. We laughed.

We got inside the car and sat comfortably, I rolled down the window and let the fresh breeze hit my skin. I looked at him, holding his hand a little tighter. He glanced from the window to me, then to our intertwined hands.

He lifted up our hands and gave my hand a kiss. I blushed at the sudden gesture and looked out to the window again. I heard him giggle but I pretended I did not hear it.

Dumb ass, anyways,

It's going to be a wonderful day.

"Where do you guys want to go today?" Jane asked, starting the car. "Maybe the mall would be boring."

"No, let's go." George insisted. "I want to go."

Jane started driving, tranquility wrapped the car ride. It was a comfortable silence though, not awkward in a way. We're all just want to be silent at times, just kind of who we are. We enjoy silence and I think that's pretty cute.

George is just looking out of the window, probably enjoying the view that both Jane and I normally see when we commute or drive. I wonder how he feels being outside after a long time. I'm always curious of what he thinks about, he's a pretty silent dude.

I wonder what goes inside his head.

After a few more minutes, we finally got to our destination. Jane found a spot in the parking lot that's close to the entrance so that's great.

"Damn, kinda looks like nothing changed." He said but looks like he was talking to himself.

"Let's go?" I whispered to him, he slightly jolted in his seat to his surprise, so I was right, he's probably talking to himself. He just nodded and we got out of the car.

We just stood there, waiting for Jane to get some of her stuff on the car. George looked up to the sky, closing his eyes. The sunlight hitting his face, giving his skin a slight glimmer. His lips formed into a smile. I didn't bother him, I was just looking at him.

Just pure happiness, for him.

We just followed Jane as we go inside the mall, he squeezes my hand every once in a while, like for him to grab my attention. I automatically give my full focus on him when he does.

"Do you want to eat anything? We can grab some Mcdonald's." I suggested, pointing to a Mcdonald's nearby.

"Oh yeah that would be cool," he agreed, nodding his head and scanning the place already.

"Alright, let's meet at the food court, I want some pizza." Jane said and waved to us before we went on our separate ways.

We welcomed ourselves inside, and to my surprise, Sanctuary is playing. We both recognized the song immediately and abruptly glanced to each other, wide eyed.

"Bitch, that's your song playing!" I whisper shouted excitedly to him and he just shook his head.

"The song I made for you, that is." He said and I remembered some flashbacks from that night.

Sometimes it's still unreal to me, that he's my boyfriend. It really feels like a dream.

"Oh my god, Joji?" The girl from the counter squealed, quite loud that caught some of the other employees and customers attention.

George didn't know how to react, he froze for a moment then he just bowed. I looked at him then to the girl, which looks like a fan.

"I'm a fan of your music!" She said enthusiastically. George let out a nervous chuckle, and a few people were getting invested to the situation.

"I, uh, thank you, man." He said, tense clear in his voice and gestures. "That's dope."

"Can I get your autograph?" She continued and George really looked uncomfortable that time but maybe he was just a little shy.

"Me too!"

"Can I get your autograph too?"

"Love your music!"

A few people also approached.

I helped the girl by lending the paper to George for him to sign.

"Hello, you must be his girlfriend?" She said to me and I nodded with a smile. "You guys look so cute together!" She complimented and I'm just blushing at this point.

The autograph process took for at least 5 minutes before we finally got to order. Thankfully, the people in the mall that day ain't that much and they know when to leave us alone.

Sometimes I forget that George is a famous musician now, since he can come out now, I wonder if he's willing to sign into a label. I heard a lot were trying to get him after he rose up the charts.

"What's wrong?" He asked me, probably noticing that I'm thinking about something. George casually took a sip on his drink.

"Nothing, really," I shrugged. "Are you okay though? Damn, you got fans now." I said and laughed. He just shrugged.

"No, I'm not famous." He denied, "But I'm happy that people appreciates the music I make."

"Yeah, I'm one of them too."

"Yeah, especially you." He grinned. "I really love making music, it's like, my purpose in this world."

"I know." I replied. "Oh, maybe Jane is waiting for us, let's go to her now?"

"Yeah sure."

We stood up and walked out of Mcdonald's, I forgot how big this mall was, I rarely go to the mall too, sometimes I also get lost here. That's how rare I go out.

The foodcourt was on the second floor of the mall so we got on the escalator. George is just enjoying his drink, looking around the place.

"Yo, there's an arcade, wanna go later?" He said, pointing down.

"That would be nice, it's been a while since I went to one too."

Once we got to the second floor, I walked to the food court and looked for Jane. So she's wearing a grey dress, I guess that would be easy to look for-

"Let's go to the arcade now." George suddenly spoke up, his voice is cold.

"Wait, why, let's find Jane first-"

"I already found her." He said pointing to the left.

Jane was with someone, holding hands with the man and a kid.

"Who is that?"

"Her new husband, oh, and their kid." He said, almost casually, like he wasn't surprised at all.

Did he knew all along?

"Let's go." He said, turning his back on me and I just followed.

Is that why Jane is always gone?

So she has another home to come to.

I don't know how long he knew about that truth, but I can't even imagine the shock he must've felt after first knowing about it.

"Let's go to the arcade." He added, turning to me again, a smile on his face.

I automatically knew that that smile was fake.

But I went along with it anyway, I held his hand and returned the gesture.

"Let's go and have fun."