like real people do | dreamnotfound

25

25 - epilogue ; the long awaited, real life, chill date.

~

it has been a month, and george was doing better. clay decided to drop out of college (he often played minecraft with nick and george, streaming from time to time - they were doing good, the number of their audience increasing.) to move back in the area with techno and phil (karl and nick often visited whenever they're free.), and also - to be closer to george. "be careful, sweets." clay coddled as george entered the blond's flat. the concern warmed george's heart, and instead of being annoyed - he smiled at clay, ruffling the blond's hair.

"i'm not going to just die on the spot, bubs, stop worrying." george laughed, clay sighed, assisting the brown haired boy. "i won't just bloop on you without a word."

"oh, really?" clay hummed, teasing the shorter boy, making the latter grumble and pout at the blond.

"come on now, clay. it was one time, i felt dizzy." george sighed, referring to when he almost slipped into unconsciousness again at the hospital when he met clay in real life for the first time.

"just kidding, sweets." clay smiled warmly, "i won't let you leave, well, unless you want to. just know i'll be very sad if you do." he continued.

"oh, hush." george stopped clay with a hug, burrying his face within the folds of clay's hoodie. "now, you've stocked up your fridge, correct?"

"yes sir!" clay faux saluted with two fingers, smiling at the way george peeked through his fringe. clay brushed the hair out of george's forehead, and pressed a kiss onto it. "there's my pretty boy."

"shut up, clay." george turned away, flustered. "do you want to bake, or not?" he mumbled.

"of course, i do." clay wheezed, leading george - who still had his arms around clay's torso - to the kitchen. they wordlessly made the pie crust, with clay messing with george here and there, and george protesting. somehow, the two ended up with a shit ton of flour on their clothes and hair. making the apple filling was easy, with clay in awe of george, and the latter very much focused on his work. "you're very pretty." clay muttered underneath his breath.

"really?" george teased light-heartedly. "i think you're quite ethereal as well, mr. clay." george smiled, poking a flour coated finger on the tip of clay's nose, the blond scrunched his nose, and looked at george as if the brit hung every single star in the sky for him. after baking the crust, putting the filling inside the crust, and returning it in the oven - clay and george both fell into easy conversations, laughing about stupid things while taking the pie out of the oven. they allowed the pastry to cool down, sitting in comfortable silence until clay stood up, offering george a hand.

"will you dance with me?" clay asked, making george smile and accept the taller boy's hand. george hugged clay's torso, and clay enveloped the brit in a hug, protecting him from the world outside. there, as clay's record player (a gift from techno on his 15th birthday) hummed old love songs, they swayed, basking in each other's warmth and listening to each other's heartbeat. they didn't know how long it lasted, but george looking up at clay with big, round eyes made the latter swoon and capture the brit's lips in a kiss. "you set my heart aflame, you know that, right?"

"well, i know now." george replied, pulling away from the embrace to go slice the pie. "but, do you know that you do the same for me? the dandelions that bloomed on my frozen heart are very much alive right now." the brit smiled, sitting on a chair in front of the dining table and motioning for clay to do the same. when the blond sat down, george slid over a plate with a slice of apple pie over to clay's side of the small, round table. "i feel very much alive, right now."

"you do? well, same." clay laughed lightly, before dissolving into wheezes, "i've felt like a can of surströmming for the past six years, i've been dead inside for months at least seven months."

the two laughed, eating george's apple pie while getting to know each other more and more. clay telling george stories of him, techno, wilbur and the twins' shenanigans and george just bent over laughing at that time techno told clay he was a bird hybrid and could fly, thus leading to him jumping off of a roof and falling onto a bush. they talked, over tea and coffee, until the sun went down.

the record player hummed gently, the music echoing within clay's walls as he and george sat down on the couch; with george on his phone, and clay also on his phone but has his hands on the brit's hair - fiddling with the chocolate strands. clay hummed, accompanying the record player and slowly lulling george to sleep, the brit's eyelids were half closed as he listened to clay's voice as well as clay's heartbeat.

"clay?" george called, the aforementioned boy looked down at george, raising an eyebrow in question. the brit traced the black markings and veins on clay's arm - from that one wither skeleton - and sighed, content. "you know i'd do anything for you, right?" george asked, making clay chuckle and ruffle the former's hair.

"of course," clay answered, smiling down at george. "and for you, george, i'll gladly forget about the sun for you shine just as bright."

'honey just put your sweet lips on my lips, we should just kiss like real people do.'

-

04/13/21 ; fin :)

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