Best Friend ~Dreamnotfound

23

When George awoke the next morning, he wanted so desperately to see Clay. He could just FaceTime him, but since it was seven in the morning, he assumed Clay wasn't awake. He didn't even want to FaceTime Clay. He wanted to see him in person. George knew that it was still too early to fly out to Nevada, but the thought never left him. Although George would tell Clay everything, he could never mention what he was about to find out.

George climbed out of his bed and walked to his bathroom. He took his usual morning shower, not bothered to shut the door. When he got out, he dried off and brushed his teeth, making sure to get dressed in the process. Now that George was ready, he headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, George." He was greeted by his mom. She didn't have her usual cheery voice, but George ignored it.

"Good morning. Do we have anything for breakfast?" George asks his mom.

"You can just heat up some waffles, if you'd like. I didn't make anything today."

"Ok, thank you."

"Yep. Please come find me when you're done eating. We need to talk." She walked away.

"Um, ok?"

George had no clue what his mom would want to talk about. He pushed his thought aside when his stomach growled. He walked over to his freezer and grabbled a box of waffles. After he put them in the toaster, he put the box back, then grabbed some apple juice out of the fridge. 

Not long after, George finished his breakfast. He didn't put anything special on his waffles, just butter and syrup. He was honestly scared to talk to his mom. She sounded very serious when she said they needed to talk. At first, George's mind went to the thought of them moving, too. It didn't make sense, though. So what was so serious that his mom had to talk to him about it? 

George let his thoughts wander as he went to find his mom. As he assumed, she was sitting in the back garden area with a cup of tea. She looked at peace, making George not want to disturb her. But he knew he had to. His mom sees him when he goes outside, so she sets her cup down and turns to the side. 

"Hi, George. Come sit." His mom pats the seat next to her. 

George did as he was told. He walked over to his mom, staying silent, then sat down next to her. She had a look of concern on her face, almost as if what she was going to tell George would ruin him. She knew that George would want to share the information he was about to receive with Clay. She also knew that he couldn't. If Clay found out this new info, it would do more harm than good to their relationship. 

"What's up?" George broke the silence. 

"We need to talk about Clay." With the tone of voice, concerned look on her face, and how she was speaking earlier, George thought something bad happened to him. 

His mom saw Georges face drop, so she reassured him. "Nothing bad has happened to Clay, not yet at least." 

"What does that mean?" George started to grow even more confused. 

"Do you know why Clay actually moved?" Just have to ease into it. 

"No. Clay never told me. He doesn't even know." 

"Well, his parents bought and own a company in Las Vegas, so they're making even more money than before." 

"Ok, that's good." 

"I agree, Honey. But that's not all." 

"Ok?" 

"You have to promise me you will not tell Clay this. If he finds out, this will break your relationship. I don't want that to happen, and I'm sure you don't, either." 

"Mum, you're scaring me."

"Please, George?"

"Fine. I promise I won't tell Clay." 

"His parents didn't need to buy that company. They were already making a lot of money. They had the idea to move down to Las Vegas to gamble. With this company, they don't have to do any actual work, they just make the money. Therefore, they're going to use that extra money to gamble at the casinos." 

"I don't think I understand. Over half of your trip with them was to Las Vegas to gamble. They just made it so they don't have to fly there." 

"George, Honey. Here's where I need you to listen. His parents aren't there to gamble three times a month or so. They are there to do it almost EVERYDAY." She emphasizes. 

"That's a little much." George mumbles. 

"They don't want to hire a nanny for Clay's younger siblings, so he's going to be stuck at home pretty much all day, everyday watching them. He's going to get depressed, George. He's a healthy teenager. He won't be able to go out and make friends. He's gonna be alone all summer."

"Maybe I can spend the month of August out there? It gives them plenty of time to settle into their home. I could help Clay watch his siblings, and I would be there for his birthday." 

"That's a good idea. But George. I need you to watch out for him as best as you can from 34 hours away. Why do you think Clay's mom would barely let him over here? She didn't want me to tell Clay because of how opposed to the idea I was. I tried to convince them to not do that to their kids, they're going to ruin their family. There's nothing I can do, but you can try your best to help Clay." 

"Why would they do that?" 

"I don't know, Sweetie. Don't say anything about it." 

"I won't. Thank you for telling me." 

"Of course. Now go have fun and do whatever." 

George got up and went straight to his bedroom. How was he supposed to have fun after finding that out? What Clay's parents are doing is not fair to their family. Clay is their brother, not their parent. He shouldn't have to take care of them 24/7. The least he could do is babysit them every once in a while, but everyday? Little did anyone know, Clay would find the worst way to cope, hurting George in the process. 

a/n~ i feel bad for this unsaid coping mechanism. MORE CHAPTERS COMING HOPFULLY EVERYDAY AS I AM WRITING ON A COMPUTER INSTEAD OF MY PHONE! the paragraphs will probably start getting longer since the computer screen is wider, but i'll try my best to make sure they aren't too long :) i have so many ideas and im excited that i can actually use a computer to write them instead of my phoneeeee