Why don’t we usually talk about the Georgie half of the JonGeorgie relationship?
Discussions of their dynamic always feel so Jon-centric. And like, yes, he is the protagonist, but it’s just… weird. I went on my rambling before about how she’s written off by the fandom as like. A segway to jmart and a plot device for Jon’s character but come on. She’s got her own thing going
It’s also the fact that any discussion I see of how their uni relationship ended 99% of the time blames Jon for how it fell apart. Did we forget that Georgie, at the time of meeting Jon, was only just getting most of her emotions back after like, a year of being numbed-out by the End? That she was probably grappling with fits of different bursts of emotion completely unrelated to Jon? Jon is a chronic under-communicator, and that likely wasn’t helped by the fact that a lot of her behavior at the time was probably unexplainable and impulsive as she relearned feeling
And this isn’t me pointing and going ‘it was all her fault boohoo’ because it wasn’t. But it also wasn’t all on Jon in the way a lot of people seem to frame it.
I could see their relationship being literally founded on a lack of clear communication. Georgie getting a rush of energy and dragging him out on some night of activities, Jon not knowing whether the intention is romantic or platonic when she’s holding his hand and laughing but not speaking up to clarify, and too many of those nights blurring together until neither of them truly knows when their first ‘official’ date was, only that at some point along the way cuddling on the couch and nitpicking the special effects in old horror movies became normal
It was never meant to be a serious commitment on either of their ends, and Jon didn’t realize he’d entered what she considered a proper relationship until suddenly she’s adopted a cat that’s supposedly theirs and is saying he should move in. And, well, he likes Georgie, has talked about wanting to own a cat, and was looking for a place for the next semester anyway, so yeah, might as well. That’s what people in relationships do, and they’re two people in a relationship. It doesn’t phase either of them too much when he spends most nights in what was supposedly their guest room.
Their relationship is casual. Easy love. She’s often the one initiating, and he’s happy to reciprocate. But from both of their ends, it lacks proper communication.
Georgie will find herself sobbing at random stupid things, or getting angry over trivial mistakes. Because she’s still not used to feeling so strongly. And it gets taken out on Jon, who, instead of trying to clarify what’s really wrong, assumes he must have done something if she’s this worked up, and shuts himself away until she calms down, because that’s the only way he’s really learned to deal with his issues. Which only makes her feel worse, because she didn’t really mean to get snippy with him, and then leads to frustration when she tries to clarify that later and he dodges around the subject
He never comes to her with problems. She wants him to, and struggles to understand why he won’t despite her repeated offers of help and reminders she won’t judge whatever’s going on. Because at this point, fear is lost to her, and despite knowing it has to be nervousness holding him back, and trying to be sympathetic to that, his constant unease is just a reminder of the part of herself she’ll never have again
She wants to be able to take his fear and soothe it. Help him work towards overcoming it. But when he won’t even take the first step in addressing it, it’s useless
I don’t think their breakup was anything dramatic. Jon wouldn’t want a confrontation, and potentially even just said a quick goodbye when the lease was up and ghosted her, thinking it a less painful end
For a while, she just sends him periodic cat photos, and he’d like them. But when he doesn’t return the effort of staying in contact, she eventually stops.
And when he shows up on her doorstep years later, a disheveled mess, for potentially the first time directly asking for her help, a favor, just a night, he swears- she isn’t about to tun him away
Of course, when he starts shutting off again, she knows fighting him on it won’t get her anywhere, so she stops
And when Melanie starts going through a similar strife, but where Jon shut away, she is actively pushing herself to open up, that’s where Georgie finds her genuine connection. In someone who she doesn’t have to push so hard with to talk to her, in someone who wants to let her help, even if she isn’t sure how
In the end, it’s why Georgie knows that despite all of Jon’s claims he’ll follow what they planned, she knows she has to have his lighter in hand as insurance. Because he’s always dealt with his conflicts internally, even with the people he cares for most. And Martin might have managed to get through more walls than her, but Jon is still Jon
She wishes she could be surprised when they find no evidence of either of them in the aftermath. Wishes she didn’t have to doubt him. But in the end, she knows him, and she was right
Her knowledge of him inadvertently was as crucial to ‘saving the world’ as Martin’s dedication to him. And that’s not talked about enough