AT LEAST IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU // Dream X Reader

17

The next day, you arrived in Nick's hometown and stopped for the day. Normally, you wouldn't have, but it was Nick's hometown and the fourth of July. It was hard to think that it had already been three weeks of touring, but here you were, hundreds of miles from home getting ready to light off firecrackers in the middle of a field. 

Nick lit off another one, laughing when the loud pop made George jump. The buses were parked a few hundred feet away, by the highway. Every now and again a car would whizz by, but for the most part, you were alone, watching as Clay knelt down to press his lighter to the end of a string of firecrackers, leaping away as they started to pop and spark. 

"I really don't get American's obsession with lighting things on fire." George said, watching the string of firecrackers go off. 

"It's tradition, c'mon." Clay said. "And you have to admit it's at least a little fun." He handed him the lighter. "Here, you light off the next one."

George rolled his eyes, but took the lighter anyway. Clay turned to you then, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth. Under the night sky, his eyes looked brown, but when they caught the flashes of fire, they looked blue.

"Hi." You said, smiling. 

"Hi." Clay repeated, grinning as well. "So, fourth of July, huh?"

"Yeah." You said, watching as Myra took one of Nick's arms and wrapped it around her shoulders, holding him there. Nick grinned, pressing his face to the top of her head with a smile. "A bit different than I'm used to, but I'm liking it so far."

"Well, it's kind of hard to have a traditional backyard barbecue when you're living out of a bus." Clay joked. 

"Yeah." You laughed, agreeing. 

The conversation drifted off there, and you watched Clay tip his head backwards, looking up into the sky. It was a lot clearer out here than it had been in any of the cities - probably because there was no light pollution in the middle of a field in nowhere Texas - and the stars splayed out against the sky like a backdrop, silhouetting Clay as one of them. You took a mental picture, cataloging how the moonlight fell across his face - you would have to add to your note later on when you had a spare moment.

"Yo! Clay where's your lighter?" Nick called.

"George has it." Clay said. 

"George, give." Nick said, reaching into the pocket of his hoodie and pulling out a bundle of moon travellers. He ripped open the packaging and took the empty bottle of beer he'd been holding onto sliding one of the rockets into the glass and setting it on the ground. 

George handed over the lighter as Myra came to stand beside you, smiling. "Having fun?" You asked, nudging her shoulder gently. 

"Yeah." She said, watching as Nick lit the rocket and stepped back. "You?"

"Me too." You said, watching as the rocket went off with a squeal, shooting up into the sky until it exploded with a large crack, a spark of flame lighting up and then quickly extinguishing as the pieces fell back to the ground.

Clay laughed - loud and joyous - and darted forward, taking the lighter from Nick's hands and slipping another rocket into the bottle. You watched him light it off with a smile - it was clear just from his body language that he was having fun. 

"I don't get what's so exciting about this." George said, taking Myra's other side. 

"British people." Myra said, rolling her eyes. "It's not that complicated Gogy, don't you have an innate sense to burn things?"

"No!" George said. "You're all pyromaniacs-"

You grinned, looking at Myra. "He's probably just cranky because it's past his bedtime."

George spluttered laughing. "Wow... wow. Of all people... Y/N, I can't believe this."

Myra fist bumped you. "Good one."

"Y/N, come here!"

You turned to see Clay, sliding another rocket into the bottle, beckoning you over. You slipped away from George and Myra (not before you saw Myra's wink) and headed over, kneeling down beside him. "What's up?"

"You haven't lit one yet." Clay said, handing you the lighter excitedly. 

"Oh. Sure." You said, flicking the lighter open and pressing the flame to the bottom of the strong that stuck out from the rocket. As soon as it caught, you and Clay were scrambling backwards, and a few seconds later, the rocket went off with a squeal, Clay's eyes tracking it through the sky as it made it's ascent.

Your eyes found Clay, watching the grin spread across his face as the rocket burst in the sky, and the flash of light reflected in his eyes. 

As the burnt pieces of rocket began to fall, you tore your eyes away, looking back up to the sky instead. You could see just a sliver of moon, like a fingernail, breaking up the spattering of stars. A breeze blew by, smelling of firework smoke and dry summer air. It was a perfect night to be setting off fireworks with friends. Friends. No matter what obscure Instagram captions might lead you to think.

"Hey."

You glanced down to see Clay looking at you. "Yeah?"

He reached down, grabbing one of your hands and pressing the lighter into it, curling your fingers around the smooth plastic. "Hold this for me? I'm going to go steal another one off Nick."

"Sure." You said, using the sheer force of will to stop your face from heating up. He was just touching your hand and you were already overthinking it, jesus.

Clay grinned, bright and excited and darted away towards Nick, who was standing with Myra again, still holding all the fireworks in the pocket of his hoodie. You watched him go, thinking back to the comparison you had made a while ago - he really was a golden retriever, full of boundless enthusiasm and energy.

It was so easy to have a crush on him when there were so many good things to be appreciated about him.