Lean On You (DNF) Book 2

Innocent Fears

The light tone of the call ending felt a pit in Clay's stomach. He had a feeling this would happen, that George would resort back to his anxious and depressed self. Clay stared down the screen of his phone. The picture for George's contact was of the both of them holding each other. They looked so happy together. 
 
Clay sighed and put his phone away. He walked back down the hall of the house, returning to whatever he was doing before George called. He walked in on Sapnap holding up two different shirts. One was a button-up, the other was the usual Sapnap e-boy dress shirt. 
 
"Everything good with Gogy?" Sapnap asked. 
 
"Stressful first day is all," Clay grumbled. He was quite worried about his lover. "I'll call him later after he's done for the day and check-in."
 
"Text his roommate to keep an eye, we all know how George can be."
 
"True..." Clay sat back on his bed. "Damn, now I'm going to be stressing about this all day." He gave a heavy sigh of frustration. He allowed his body to flop back, he threw his arms out beside him and shut his eyes. "I should go see him."
 
"Would he be okay with that? Won't you be intruding?" Sapnap asked. 
 
Dream lifted his eyes and stared disappointingly at Nick. "Yeah, that was dumb." Nick laughed awkwardly. 
 
"I'll wait until the weekend. Let him decide if he needs me or not." Clay concluded.
 
"You know he's gonna need you." Nick placed the two shirts down on the desk chair to his right and then moved to sit next to Clay on the bed.
 
"Well... he's kind of weird like that." Clay huffed out. "Sometimes he'll force himself through a situation by himself. So really, it's a fifty-fifty chance."
 
"Oh." Nick pulled out his phone. "I think you should still plan on going just in case."
 
"I just want him to be okay..."
 
Nick looked up from his phone and drifted his eyes over to his childhood best friend. A solemn smile grazed his thin lips. Even though Clay and George were miles away right now, they both held each other closer than they knew.
 
"He will be," Nick said with a reassuring pat on Clay's arm. "He's stronger than you give him credit for."
 
Before Clay could respond, a loud song started playing from Sapnap's phone as he received a call. "Who is it?" Asked Clay.
 
"Oh fuck, it's Alex!" Nick scrambled to answer the call. But by the time he reached his phone, the call had timed out. The expression of pure panic creased Nick's tanned features.
 
"Dude, calm down. You still have an hour before the date with him and Karl." Clay finally sat up. He hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees. 
 
Sapnap completely ignored Clay as he began frantically typing on his phone. Clay watched the expression of fear melt off of Nick's features, only to be replaced with a warm smile. Clay couldn't help but smile at this friend. It had been a long time since both boys were this happy, this hopeful. 
 
Not long before Clay had gotten together with George, he had gone through a very draining breakup. It ruined both Clay and Sapnap. It hurt Nick so much seeing his best friend being a shell of who he used to be. Nick had gone through a series of messy breakups throughout their high school career, each one was more tragic than the last. 
 
It truly was a breath of fresh air. Clay was happily in love with George, and Nick was exploring new opportunities with both Alex and Karl. It was refreshing to see both boys beaming with newfound hope and warmth.