Chasing Snowflakes

2

When Clay woke up in the morning, he was alone in a blue room with a stifling quiet throughout the house. There wasn't any talking or yelling from the twins, no pots and pans banging together, no TV sound- just quiet.

Clay stretches and climbs out of George's bed, tugging on the green hoodie he left behind the door and starts the long trek down the stairs with the floorboards creaking and cold. God, was he tired though. He's been up for two minutes and he already feels like he should go curl up on the bed and sleep for another five hours, and apparently so could George.

When Clay walked into the kitchen, he found his friend face down on the island counter with his head tucked in his arms. His brown hair was messy, greasy, and dangerously close to the empty cereal bowl still filled with milk. Careful not to wake him, Clay slowly slides the bowl away from his friend and takes a seat next to him on the island. They've been in England for two days now and it's been pretty good so far, considering they have throw pick up lines at each other every once and a while to keep up the act. Yesterday, the boys took a walk around George's neighborhood and his friend talked about the dumb things he used to do as a kid.

"One time," George started with a chuckle and pointing to a small stream off to the side of the road. "Me and my friends thought it would be a great idea to make our own ice during the winter, so we would go in there in rain boots and bare hands and scoop up water in buckets. We would leave them there overnight and go home with purple hands and feet. My mum was so pissed when I kept doing it,"

Clay wheezed. "Nice to know you were born an idiot,"

This had earned Clay a shove and a chuckle, but the two kept walking and talking until the sun dipped behind the city skyline and the temperature dropped.

But here they were, not even half a week into this scheme, and his family is eating this up. Clay mimics his friends pose on the counter, his eyes studying his still sleeping friend. Who wakes up to eat a bowl of cereal just to fall asleep again? How did he even fall asleep while eating? His friend was weird but Clay learned how to put up with it for four years now, so hearing that he needed a fake boyfriend for Christmas didn't surprise him. To Clay, he wanted to come because he didn't have anyone to go back to for Christmas and he would've been bored out of his mind without George.

George stirs and stretches his arms out, gripping the other side of the counter and sits up. He blinks and looks down at Clay, who was still sitting in the hunched position.

The boys stare at each other for a second.

"What the hell, were you watching me sleep?" George asks with a teasing smile. He had dark bags under his eyes and his lips were chapped.

"How could I not? You look rough, dude," Clay teases back then gestures to his friend's eyes. "Seriously, bag check for George."

George rolls his eyes and stands up. "Is this how you're treating your boyfriend? This sounds kinda toxic to me,"

"Aw, it looks like we have to break up. Wonder what your family will think?" Clay deadpans and George giggles.

"What do you want to do today?" George asks with a small yawn. Hopefully, it won't be something that required a lot of energy, they're both still recovering from the jet lag and walking around yesterday did not help.

"Definitely something low-key," Clay replies. George racks his brain and then snaps his fingers and points excitedly at his friend.

"Minecraft! Duh," and he could see Clay's eyes brighten at the mention of the game and earns George a smile that makes his eyes scrunch up.

"You read my mind," Clay said, and the two walk into the living room where his mom sat in the far corner reading a book. He could see the twins outside playing the swingset outback and George's dad was nowhere to be found. The duo flops on the sofa and George hands Clay an Xbox controller.