Seeing Stars - DreamNotFound

Chapter 9

George's eyes fluttered open to a mostly pitch-black room. He was disappointed and startled at the lack of Clay's presence in the bed; seeing his roman statue resembling boyfriend lay peacefully asleep was his favorite part of waking up anyway. They had fallen unconscious together around mid-day, typical unhealthy streamer sleep schedule, and George could see that it was now much darker outside. He assumed it was around 3 or 4 AM, and his notion was confirmed after he glanced at the digital clock on Clay's bedside table. 4:30.

George got out from under the heavy sheets awkwardly, as he was still naked, and scurried off into his own bedroom to throw on some clothes. He realized just how little he'd actually utilized this room during his stay so far, the bed was practically untouched and the interior itself felt dormant, depressing, and, overall, bland. It eerily mirrored a sort of compound, lacking warmth or humanity, completely isolated from the rest of the house, including Clay. This eeriness was amplified while the room was only being illuminated by small amounts of moonlight shining in through a skylight. The room's only purpose, to house a human, was left meaningless. Apparently, George's thoughts were quite philosophical in the middle of the night. This was just a regular guestroom, nothing special about it, but it left the brit with a pit in his stomach for some reason.

Maybe that was because this room represented a distance from Clay. If he was sleeping in it, not with his boyfriend, that would mean he and the Floridian were just friends, like how they'd been for years. These last couple of days had been idyllic, exactly what George had hoped for when he first booked his flight to Florida. But, what if when he came, Clay didn't love him back? It was a lonely thought. In that situation, George's room wouldn't feel so empty. He was grateful to not be sleeping in the compound.

George chuckled at himself for overthinking the contents of a simple room. He left and entered Clay's living area, grabbing out his phone and dialing Clay's number. It rang twice before-

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's George, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I, um, just had to do something. Sorry!"

"That's okay, I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, of course," George heard the hum of an engine in the background, "I love you." Holy shit, that was crazy to hear casually from him.

"Love you too, bye." George wasn't a jealous type who needed to know where his boyfriend was at all times, but curiosity lingered in his brain. He decided to do something productive with his time and set up all of his gaming and streaming equipment. There was a designated office kind of area already located in a spare room for him, it was all of Clay's backup supplies so all he really had to do was sign into accounts and make sure everything was performing in tip-top shape, which it was!

To celebrate officially settling into Clay's home and ensuring the opportunity of a long stay, George ordered some pizza and switched on some low-budget, poorly made movie on the living room TV. He was already missing his partner and hoped Clay would get home before the food arrived. Wow, these past few days had really changed him. Before, back in the UK, he could go weeks without needing to see anyone in person. Now, he was getting antsy being Clay-less for just an hour or so.

As if the universe was on his side, a minute later George heard the creaking of the front door. The brit glanced over his shoulder to see his tired-looking boyfriend walk through the door.

"Hey," Clay came up to George and engulfed him in a tight hug, "I missed you."

"I-I missed you, too..." George leaned back to look at him, puzzled, "Everything okay?"

Clay's eyes were red and puffy as if he'd been crying. George's eyebrows furrowed at the sight.

"George, I..." The blonde sat beside him and put his head in his hands, George hated seeing him like this, different from his normal witty, confident self. Clay shook his head, feigning a smile and looking into George's unconvinced eyes, "I'm alright, just, uh, needed to think."

"Clay, you can talk to me..."

Tears welled up in the younger's eyes as he looked at the floor. George put his hand on top of Clay's and squeezed lightly. The Floridian looked defeated.

"I woke up and was just thinking about how fucking great it feels to be with you, George, and how awful it was before..." Clay looked into George's eyes with sadness and passion, "I spent years making stupid fucking jokes and flirting and pretending like the distance didn't bother me, but it did. So fucking much. The whole time, all those years, all I wanted was you, but I was too fucking scared to confess.

And now, I'm so terrified that I'm gonna mess this up or you're gonna leave and it's all gonna go back to us just being friends but wishing that we were more and..." He sighed, slowing himself down, "I don't know what I'll do if that happens. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, George, and I've never felt like this before, with anyone. And, god, I love you. And I know all of that probably sounded like a lot but," Clay rolled his eyes at himself, "I just need you here. For as long as you'll stay. I-I really don't want you to leave, I can't go back to the way it was before."

George was now feeling himself tear up, "Clay, I've been wanting to come and see you for so long and now that I'm here, I don't know how the fuck I'm going to be able to go back. I've fallen, y'know, in love or whatever," he threw his head back, embarrassed, "and I don't want to leave either." The blonde breathily chuckled in relief.

Clay reached his hands up to George's face and brought their lips together. He disconnected and leaned his forehead against George's for a couple of moments before sitting back onto the couch once again.

"I know you haven't even bought your ticket to go back yet, but I don't think you should. Not for now at least."

George giggled and tilted his head to rest on Clay's shoulder, "Yeah, I like that idea."