𝘾𝙄𝙉𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙊𝙉 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙎 , dreamwastaken

vi.

AFTER ALL OF HER family's christmas traditions were done, jade was starting to get tired, so she decided to head home. it was around five o' clock, and she wanted to get home before it got too cold.

she started her car, and in the meantime she gathered all of the things she was bringing home with her in a tote bag, and put them by the front door. she said her goodbyes to her family, and talked to them for a little bit about how she was doing before she grabbed her things and left. her dad had yelled after her on the way out to stop by soon, and she agreed, being careful not to drop anything. it didn't really snow in florida, but it got damn cold at night.

jade drove home with christmas music playing in the background, quietly humming to herself. when she got home, she struggled to walk upstairs to her apartment because of all the things in her hands. she quietly cursed herself for not choosing an apartment that had an elevator. finally after a few minutes, she made home.

she threw everything down in her entry hallway, not bothered to find a place to put it. she walked around her apartment for a moment before realizing she was starving. she didn't have much food around her house since she worked right across the street from a taco bell and many other fast food restaurants, so she normally just picked things up from there. she found a box of mac and cheese in her cupboard, and sighed in relief. she made her food and ate it in silence.

she then took a seat on her couch, exhausted from waking up so early, and turned on some shitty christmas movie she hadn't seen before. soon enough, she ended up falling asleep.

a little while later, she was suddenly awoken by her cat jumping up onto her stomach. she was startled for a moment, before realizing it was just cinnamon, and immediately picked him up and pulled him into a hug. of course, him being the way he was, he quickly meowed and jumped out of her arms. she sat there for a moment just watching him, before deciding to check the time.

it was about 8 o' clock, to which she groaned, knowing she had to go to work the next day. since she has taken a nap, she knew she would have a hard time falling asleep, but figured she could use the time to read or something. she scrolled through her notifications, seeing a text from clay while she was asleep.

clay

hi jade

jade

hi clay

clay

i thought u died

jade

i was sleeping zzz

clay

did you sleep well?

jade

i did

my head hurts now tho

clay

:(

are you home from your parents now?

jade

mhmm

clay

when you feel better do you wanna ft?

you can sleep or ignore me if you wanna if you just want company

jade

give me a minute to put myself together

clay

okay :D

jade went into her bathroom, wiping off the makeup that was smeared and brushing her hair out with her fingers. she went into the living room and grabbed her phone, before going into her room and laying on her bed. she didn't feel nervous calling him this time, unlike last time. the two had gotten closer over the past few days, the both of them feeling a mutual connection. she went into their messages, and pressed the call button with no hesitation.

"hi," jade said quietly after he picked up. her room was dark, apart from her lamp on her nightstand.

"how's your head?" clay asked her. his phone was propped up on his desk, so jade could see his entire torso. it seemed that he had green led's in his room so he was lit up, and the keyboard sitting in front of him was shining the same color.

"it's better now, i took an ibuprofen. those green lights are nauseating though," she laughed.

"i can change them if you want?" he asked, wanting to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. she shook her head and giggled at him.

"you're a simp," she said to him after a moment. he pouted back at her and crossed his arms. "okay okay i'm just kidding i'm sorry!" he continued to pout and do something on his computer.

"i guess i can accept your apology," he replied, still paying extreme attention to his moniter.

"are you playing a game?" she questioned. he just nodded in response. "what one?"

"minecraft, please don't bully me," he said, finally looking at her. he had a small glint in his eye, signaling he was embarrassed.

"i used to play that on my ipad when i was little, i didn't know they made it on the computer. i won't bully you i promise," she could see him visibly relax. "are you good?"

"i mean i guess so," he shrugged. "i kinda play with my friends and do challenges and stuff. you should watch me play sometime." he suggested.

"can that go with me meeting patches?" she questioned, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"absolutely," he replied, turning off his computer and picking up his phone. "did you wanna come over tomorrow or something?"

"i have to work, but i can after?"

"i can pick you up if you want,"

there was then a moment of silence, and clay immediately went to take back what he said.

"i mean if that's not weird. no that's totally weird. never mind ignore-" he said quickly.

"clay, calm down. i can drive myself, but if you really want to you can pick me up. i trust you enough." she responded, calming him down immensely.

"okay, you can text me when you get off of work and i can pick you up from your apartment if you want?" he asked. this time, the glint in his eye was of excitement, not embarrassment.

"for sure. i get off about three so you can pick me up at 3:15 or so." jade was unable to keep the smile off her face.

"okay, well i wanna make sure i actually wake up, so i'm gonna sleep. goodnight, jade." he smiled at her.

"goodnight, clay. sweet dreams."