Take Your Time

2. A beautiful stranger.

"Clay, honey? Can you come downstairs for a second? " Clay sighed and nodded, although he knew that his mom couldn't see it.

He slowly makes his way downstairs, places his hand on the door and slightly pushes it open. He stops immediately...

A voice.

An unknown voice...

"Clay? I know you're there." He heard the footsteps of his mother approach the door. She opened it and grabbed his hand, gently pulling him along with her. "I just want to introduce you to someone"

Dream's eyes met the deep brown ones in front of him. He quickly broke eye contact after a few seconds and gave his mother a 'what the hell are you doing to me' stare.

The stranger smiles, gets up and held his hand out. Clay froze, slowly dripping out of reality.

Who is this guy?

His breath quickened, an uneasy feeling creeping up his throat. It burns, a straight up sick-making feeling.

His mom squeezes his hand, "Come on honey, be nice"

A shaky hand reaches out for the unknown boy's.

"I'm George, nice to meet you."

Their hands touch, George's stone cold skin took away the warmth from Clay's hand, but even that wasn't enough to warm him up. He shot his mother a worried look and quickly pulled his hand away.

"What's wrong? " George had noticed the worried expression Clay gave her and immediately looked at the woman, trying to find an answer in her eyes.

"He thinks you're cold and wants to ask if you need a hoodie" She explains as George nodded in response.

"How did you know that? " George askes as soon as Clay left the room, impressed that she could translate everything her son didn't say.

"I can read his eyes, I'm sure you'll be able to do that in no time"

Clay ran back into the living room and handed George a lime green hoodie with a smiley face.

"Woah, you're fast. You really speed ran the stairs" George joked as he sees him slightly smile. His heart skipped a beat now their eyes lock, and he has the time to observe him. A slight amount of redness remains on his cheeks because of sprinting up the stairs, the emerald green eyes narrowed and he tugged his blonde hair behind his ear.

( AND NO- NO IT'S NOT DEBBY RYAN-)

The phone rang, interrupting the silence they had created. Clay's mother had to answer her phone and walked out, leaving the two boys alone in the living room.

"Thank you for the hoodie. You were right, I was freezing." George chuckled and sits down on the couch.

Clay nodded and accidentally locked eyes with him again. He scratched his neck nervously, standing across the room, shifting his body weight from side of side.

After a while, he sat down on the ground right in front of George.

"What's your name? " The brunet asked calmly, making Clay shrug. He didn't want to speak and had no plans to.

"Oh yeah right- don't worry, I've got a pen in my pocket. Don't ask, I just do" George handed Clay the pen.

He noticed Clay looking around to find a paper and was about to get up. George shook his head and gently pulled him down again.

"Just write it on my hand, it's fine"

Clay hesitates and stares at George's hand. It looks slim, muscular but yet, still feminine. His skin looks soft and his nails are painted purple and black. It's beautiful... It could be new drawing inspiration.

I don't even know this guy, why would I touch his hand to write my name. I hate this situation. It's not awkward, it just feels different.

"I mean, you don't have to. I can also just ask your mom for a paper. It's okay"

Clay shook his head and slowly reached out for George's hand. He runs the top of his fingers over the soft skin and gently presses the tip of the pen into it.

'Dream'

"Ohhh~ I like that name. Nice to meet you Dream." George says as he reads it out loud, eyes meeting the green ones in front of him.

I'm terrified of eye contact but for some reason... This is super comforting.

Clay also drew a smiley face next to it and pointed at the hoodie George is wearing. "Ohh, it's the same. Did you design this yourself? "

Dream nodded and lowered his eyes, suddenly feeling really awkward and uneasy, not because he felt unsafe but because he thought George would find it childish. He hates himself for this. Overthinking is exhausting.

"It's good, I would definitely buy this if I saw it in a store. " George noticed sudden the change of behavior and grabbed the pen out of Dream's hand.

"Can I draw something? " He askes, not even a small amount of pressure in his voice.

Clay nodded and places his hand on George's upper thigh so he could reach it, his right hand fidgeting with the sleeve of his own hoodie.

"I don't know if you want me to do this, but I'm just going to talk and tell you a bit about myself." George mumbled while drawing little goggles on Dream's hand.

"Here goes nothing. I'm 18, just moved here so I'm new in the city. I don't know anyone here, but luckily your momma introduced me to you, you seem like a lovely person" George chuckled, keeping his eyes focused on Dream's hand and trying his best to draw. "I'll be following the last semester of the local school and I'm renting a small apartment near by. "

Dream held his breath and just listened, he is surprised that someone is actually talking to him. If I ever meet a new person, which is very rare, but if I do, they would think I'm a creep and back away.

But George? Oh, George is actually treating me normally... He seems to accept the fact that I don't like to talk.

He's nice.
Almost too nice

"I'm going to get some pizza tonight... Maybe you would like to come with me? "

Public places? Nope. No. A big no. People make loud noises, talk and judge. I hate it. Everyone always stares at me, no words spoken but their eyes tell it all.

I hear some of their whispers, of course I do. It only makes me want to vanish even more, but no one seems to care enough to just shut up for once.

Dream shakes his head quickly, making George look at him in a comforting way. "Hey... It's fine. Can I write my phone number on your finger? so you can text me whenever you change your mind, or just want to message me"

George quickly writes his number down and feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. His eyes flutter over the screen, a moment of silence falling over them. and gets up. "I... I actually need to go now.''

Dream looks at him with a confused expression. The boys behavior has changed completely. He wasn't calm anymore and even though his desperate attempts to force a smile on his face and behave normal, Dream had already seen the horror in the dark brown eyes.

George seems to be... scared?