flowers and crowns-dnf

fourteen-dance

George POV

"Pretty," I said, staring into the night sky.

We were next to each other, lying on our backs, staring into the starry atmosphere. A gentle breeze brushed past us, ruffling Clay's wavy blonde hair. I stared at him, observing his tender smile.

"You're staring," he said, laughing. He switched his gaze on me, the moonlight making his eyes an even more honey color.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Are your eyes green, or yellow?" I asked, changing the topic. "I'm colorblind," I stated.

He chuckled. "Green, you should get colorblind glasses," he whispered.

"Too expensive," I breathed.

I didn't know why we were whispering, but it felt right somehow. We sat there in utter silence, watching the sky together.

"Do you wanna dance?" He asked suddenly, his voice had returned to its normal volume. I turned to him, shocked at the random suggestion.

"That was a little random."

"Is that a yes then?"

I laughed, shrugging a little. "I guess." He pulled me up to my two feet. "I can't dance, by the way," I cautioned reluctantly. "I guess you'll have to teach me," I smirk back.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled at me. "Never too late to learn." He noticed my skeptic look, then laughed once more. "C'mon, I'll teach you ."

"I don't know if I can trust your teaching skills, but okay," I said pointedly.

He groaned playfully. "Well, trust me on this one," his eyes met with mine. "Okay, here. Put your hands on my shoulder, yeah, like that!" he said as I followed his instructions.

His hand brushed mine as he guided where to put them, staring back with an excited glance.

I had to tiptoe to meet his shoulder. "Ugh, it's not my fault your built like a giant," I complained when he laughed at me.

He scoffed. "Not my fault you're short!" he said, amused.

"I'm literally average height, your insulting everyone now," I point out, still laughing.

We were swaying softly in the garden. The silence around us creating a peaceful enviornment. The stars were still bright above us, providing enough light so we could see each other's faces.

"Is this... dancing?" I asked skeptically.

He nodded in agreement. "Yep."

After a few minutes of mindlessy "dancing," we walked over to the hut that we had our first converstion in.

"It's prettier in the nighttime," I said. The roses and flowers around us were a deeper shade, more mysterious too. The moonlight gave a ominous glow to the whole scenery, making the place three times prettier.

"Yeah." We sat there for a moment, basking in the comfortable quietness. "George? Can you tell me a story?" he asked quietly.

I smiled into the darkness. "Sure," I responded. I sorted through my memories, trying my best to find on that Clay would enjoy. In the end, I just settled with an ordinary story. But this story was different, and more personal.

"There was a boy in my town. He was quite nice, very funny. We became friends. But after a little while, I realized that I had started to develop feelings for him. And I guess he did too," I said with a sigh.

Clay stared at me, eyes filled with something that I couldn't quite put a finger on. He nodded, encouraging me to go on.

"Well, we dated for a while. Like two weeks, only. Hardly anything. He started changing. He was angry much more often, hated my friends. He told me that if I wanted to stay with him, I'd have to leave my friends. I left the relationship, called him a loser and got better I guess. He never apologized once," I said with a shrug. "But after I left, I still felt that tiny bit of love I still had. For him. That is partially the reason why I came to the castle. I just wanted to run away from my problems I guess. And after a came here, I felt entirely better. Met new people, made new friends, learned new things. And that... well, that really changed me as a person," I said with a laugh.

"I'm... really sorry about that, George," Clay said, his voice tinted with concern.

"Why? It wasn't your fault," I comforted.

Clay smiled weakly. "I just wanted to give you the apology that you needed. You deserve the world, George."

time skip, oop:

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Clay's words haunted me in the back of my brain.

"You deserve the world, George."

The words kept repeating like a broken record.

"You deserve the world, George."

What did he mean? That I deserved the world?

I guess it remained a mystery.

For tonight.

But for now, one thing was clear.

The one thing that I was fearing my whole life.

Love.

God, I Ioved Clay.