you led my heart {dreamnotfound}

fourteen.

Okay, so it's currently two in the morning? How lovely. By the way, the Alex in this story is not Quackity, I should have chosen a different name but yk
Alright let's get started :)

So without further adieu...
I present to you,
Infatuated.

~~

I still smell the blood. It doesn't matter how many times I shower. How many times I wash my hands. It's still there. Warm and sticky. The smell caught in the back of my throat. I didn't think it would happen again. I didn't want it to happen again. I looked right into those ice cold and dark eyes. Something took over. I stopped feeling. I stopped seeing. I disappeared.
I woke up.

~~

"Sorry, what was that?" He asked, cheeks burning with embarrassment,

"Do you never listen, for the love of god, Clay." Nick started, "I was asking where you wanted to go, we all agreed to Emerald Diner but it's up to you to make the final decision."

"I don't really care." He shrugged, before bringing his focus back to the ground that he had been tumbling over for the last few minutes, tracking his footsteps, attempting to sync the beat up with his boyfriend's, boyfriend noticing and squeezing the intertwined hand, tighter, in a joking manner.

"Alright, the diner it is." Nick spoke once more, before grabbing Karl's hand, skipping ahead of the group, like children capering through rain puddles on their ways to school. Wilbur followed along moments later, leaving Clay and George to reminisce in a rather awkward silence.

"Hey, are you okay?" They asked, giving the man another reassuring squeeze of the firm hand.

"Hm?" He had zoned out again, "Oh yeah, sorry, I'm good, sor-" Clay started, entirely getting cut off moments later by the one beside him,

"Don't be sorry," They spoke, "When we get home we should head back to sleep, alright?" They looked into the green eyes, something was different, it was barely fathomable, but you could tell if you looked close enough. A part of that man was missing. Numbed possibly. But overall, missing. George noticed almost immediately. It scared them. That was the same look they had seen when viewing their own reflection, all those months back.

"Yeah, okay." Clay softly smiled, returning the favor by constricting the already compressed hand.

Emerald Diner sat at the corner of First Avenue and Fortsite, right in the heart of downtown, but it was nothing fancy, nothing that hadn't attracted more attention than needed. It was right out of the city, where the group had lived, they could have just as easily headed to a more public area, but sometimes change of scenery was nice. Moss and grime had dulled the lime green paint, turning it into more of a sage, and the neon open sign hadn't lit anymore.

Since tourism had been down the past few years, they were lucky to still be open. Tourists had implied it was an eyesore every time they had stopped to eat. It didn't match the utopia they had read about on the papers. Decorative crosswalks and sunshine coloured flower beds on Fortsite Street. A fountain on Second. New paint slapped onto already decayed buildings.

Grease had thickened the already hot air inside of the diner, but there were also hints of cinnamon, sugar, apples, and blueberry pancakes — George's favourite. Only about a quarter of the green booths had actually been occupied, teens looking for an escape from their home lives, older couples who hadn't much to do on a Sunday morning besides head to church, they always claimed it was best to believe in something larger than yourself, others thought different.