4:30

Chapter 10

Christmas is always the one holiday Dream actually enjoys. His parents have made it a priority since they were kids that Clay and Drista have good memories of the time. The flight back home is lonely, he thinks of George next to him the whole way. How they would hold hands and look out the window and the clouds below them.

The blonde fiddles with his fingers, the hour passing fairly fast. Clay's mind is elsewhere as he greets his mom outside the airport. They don't talk much on the way home, Dream instead daydreams of George being with him on Christmas, having a snowball fight after they open presents. He doesn't realize there's a tear rolling down his face as they pull into their family's driveway.

"Clay," Drista draws out the "y" in his name, giving him a hug as she walks out the front door. The two head upstairs after the boy says hi to his dad, Drista excited to show the blonde boy her early Christmas present.

"Some of the parts came in so mom and dad have just been giving them to me," Drista explains as her brother looks at the boxes of PC parts in front of the, "I wanted you to help me set it up before you go to Texas."

He just nods, smiling to his sister.

The days leading up until Christmas pass at a drudging pace. The blonde spends most of the time on the phone with Sapnap or George. He hates being home for several reasons, his PC not being there being the main one right now.

Clay's eyes flutter open on Christmas morning, being shaken awake by his sister.

"It's like ten, get up, I want my fucking presents," Drista says before leaving, Clay just groaning and sitting up. He has several missed calls from George and one from Sapnap.

The phone rings a few times before George's voice comes through the speaker.

"Merry Christmas Georgie," Clay's morning voice croaks out.

"Merry Christmas to you too, did you just now wake up? It's like four for me," George laughs, reminding Clay of the torturous time zones.

"Yeah, Drista yelled at me to get up," he stretches out his back, climbing out of bed, "Hey, I'm gonna put you on speaker, don't say anything too stupid."

George doesn't respond. Clay sets his phone down, grabs the nearest t-shirt off the ground and puts it on.

"Okay, you're off speaker now," Clay informs the boy, picking his phone back up and walking out his room, "but I have to get going. I'm sorry, Drista will rip my head off if I don't."

"It's all good, call me later?" George asks, knowing the answer will be yes.

"Of course, the second I'm away from my family," Clay can tell George is blushing from the way he says goodbye to the blonde.

Clay slowly makes his way into his living room, his parents drinking coffee on their couch, Drista on her phone on the floor.

"Hey, sorry, didn't mean to sleep that late," Clay mutters to the family, his mom just giving him a warm smile.

"All good, there's pancakes on the table," she gestures to their kitchen, the blonde making his way over to grab some. He hears someone walking to the kitchen, seeing his sister approaching him.

"Hey, what's up?" he asks her.

"I was just wondering if you can help me build my PC this afternoon?" his sister responds, a smile on her face. He just nods, turning back to grab his plate of pancakes.

Making their way back to their parents, his dad turns to say hi to the boy. The two had barely spoken since Clay's arrival, not unusual for the men.