𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦. | 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

16

Clay, George, Karl, and Alex all spent the rest of the night together before they all eventually broke up to go home for the night. They had spent the remainder of the night laughing like there was no tomorrow, almost as if they had all been friends for eons.

Karl and Alex exchanged numbers with George, eager to talk to him again. They even went as far to invite George to the lunch table after hearing about where he usually sat- just as Clay had the other day before.

Even after all of them had parted, Clay's car was still bustling with life on the way home. "God, my ribs hurt so bad from laughing." George smiled, casting a look over to Clay in the drivers seat. The blonde kept his eyes on the road but nodded.

"Same here." He grinned, glancing over to George. "I'm really glad you had a good time." Clay nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. George let out a small hum. "You were right, I got along with them well." George fondly smiled.

"I- I haven't had a good laugh with anyone else besides you like that in ages." George commented, his voice slightly shrinking as he spoke. "I'm glad you had fun, George. They really liked you." The blonde chuckled.

The slow hum on the car took over the rest of their conversation- both boys falling into a comfortable silence. "I'm really glad you had fun though. A smile looks really good on you." Clay warmly smiled, feeling a small flush come over his cheeks.

George quietly chuckled, looking down at his lap. "Say, you said you haven't laughed like that in a while besides with me. You don't- laugh with your parents at all?" The words slipped from Clay's mouth before he really thought about what he said.

George slightly tensed, thankful the darkness from the night sky his his emotions from the blonde. "I uh." He began searching for the right words, bringing up a hand to push his goggles back. "H- they just work a lot so they're not around in the daytime." George dismissed, looking out his passenger seat window.

Clay nodded, still uneasy if he should continue to ask questions. "I've been by your house pretty late, are you sure?" Clay asked, mindlessly drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.

George hummed in confirmation, still keeping his eyes away from Clay. The blonde bit the inside of his cheek, already noticing the festering tension in the car. Clay swallowed back any of his other questions before pulling into George's subdivision.

-

Clay stood with George at the doorway to the lunchroom. The brunette remained motionless despite the crowing student body around him, almost as if he was frozen in time. Clay nudged his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.

"Come on. There's an open spot right next to Alex and Karl, or you can squeeze in right next to me." Clay encouraged, hanging his head so he could make eye contact with George's goggles.

"Are you sure?" George muttered, his eyebrows furrowing into a worry. The blonde groaned, still keeping a lopsided grin on his face. "Yes, George. Relax a bit!" Clay chuckled, slightly pushing on George's arm.

The brunette blew out a puff of air, shaking his hands. Clay mindlessly reached his own hand down and held it near George's, expecting him to pull away. When he didn't, Clay interlocked their fingers and lightly gripped his hand.

"I promise you'll be fine. I'm right here." The blonde's tone softened, George already calming down. Clay gave his hand a gentle squeeze, the other doing the same back to him after a few seconds. Clay's grin only grew wider after seeing George's cheeks flush pink.

The two began walking forward, hand in hand. Clay pushed the doorway open with his free hand, immediately feeling his own spirits life as he saw Alex and Karl already at the lunch table.

Much to his surprise, George quickly let go of his hand. Clay immediately looked down at George, confused when he saw a scared look on his face. Clay looked back up towards what the brunette was fixated on, only then realizing his fear.

Nick was at the table too. He completely forgot about  his best friend.

Clay took a deep breath, beginning to walk forward. As much as his hand lingered and longed towards its previous position, he swatted those thoughts away. "Clay! George! About time!" Alex yelled from the table, causing a few heads to turn- those belonging to Nick and Luke.

Luke's face morphed between a look of surprise and shock, but then quickly went back to neutral as he looked at his lesser-pleased partner in crime. Nick's face first displayed shock, then confusion, but then contorted into a mixture pure anger and jealousy.

Clay ignored the nasty looks on both of their faces and continued to grin, and patting the small of George's back for reassurance once more before sitting down in his respective seat. George awkwardly squeezed between Nick and Clay, causing the ravenette to shoot daggers at Clay.

"George! I'm glad Clay convinced you to come." Karl spoke up, earning a confused and hurt look from Nick. George merely smiled, dipping his head into a quiet nod.

An awkward silence took over the table, the group all eating quietly. Nick's looks of seething rage were completely undeniable, nearly everyone around them giving Clay or George somewhat looks of sympathy.

"Clay, who's this?" Sapnap finally spoke up, his words completely laced with venom. George seemed to shrink back into his seat between the two, his eyes trained on the table in front of them.

"This is George." Clay offered, looking straight over at Sapnap. "We're partners for a project and he's been really nice, thought I'd invite him the the table." Clay shrugged, pretending to be completely clueless. Sapnap's eyes flashed with some recognition before returning back to anger.

He nodded. "That's cool." Sapnap bit back his tongue, taking a large bite of his food. "So you've been hanging with him a bunch huh?" Sapnap spat, the entirety of the table around them immediately noticing the harshness in his tone.

Clay quickly nodded, gently clasping a hand on George's back. "Yep." He blew off, not wanting the conversation to get any more heated with George around. The brunette seemed to lean into Clay's touch, still not looking up from the table.

"So, did you guys do the work from math?" Karl attempted to bring out the dying conversation, sensing the undeniable tension. Clay let out a small sigh, feeling relieved. "God no, I barely understood it." Alex rolled his eyes, leaning into Karl's side.

"I can't say I didn't try but I barely understood." The blonde chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "You guys didn't understand it either?" Luke spoke up from alongside Clay, taking everyone by surprise.

"Yeah!" Karl exclaimed, seemingly exited to include Luke into the conversation. "It wasn't too hard, I-I can help you guys if you'd like." George muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, but still somehow extremely quiet.

This earned a smile from almost everyone, excluding Sapnap. "Dude, you'd totally save my grade if you did. I'm sure i'm speaking for everyone here though." Alex chuckled, earning a few nods- including one from Clay.

"We totally have to hang out again so you can teach us." Karl continued, a hurt and confused look from Sapnap immediately causing him to loose his grin and quiet down. Luke payed no mind to the ravenette. "If you guys wouldn't mind, would I be able to tag along?"

The group hesitated for a moment. "I don't see why not." Clay spoke up, Luke immediately beginning to smile. "Math is the one subject i'm absolute dogshit at, I literally owe you." Clay shook his head. "Don't thank me, George is the one saving all of our asses."

George looked up and flashed a half-hearted smile, appreciating the compliment from Clay and recognition from his new-found friends.

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written on: 6/1/21
published on: 7/3/21

1356 words

thank you for 600+ reads, you guys are insane :]

<3