An Alternate Flame (Dreamnotfound)

Addiction

Previously, George lost a bet and the two went clubbing which ended in a not-so-great night.

A week had gone by since the clubbing incident and nothing seemed to change. George was stressed over getting his visa and Dream- Dream was distant.

The two hardly crossed paths, for Clay's sleeping schedule changed entirely since that night. Clay often found himself sleeping when George was wide awake and vice-versa.

Little did George know, his worst nightmare had started coming true. Each night since the clubbing event, Clay had been drowning himself in alcohol, telling himself he could stop at any time. However, that wasn't the case.

Alcohol had taken over Clay's life for the past week. The boy hardly noticed when another week had gone by, no sign of his addiction coming to an end and soon enough, an entire month had passed.

Towards the beginning, it was likely that Clay would have been able to stop but after an entire month of constant drinking, he started to love the feeling.

The feeling he got as the burning alcohol passed down his throat, the feeling he got when he realized he didn't have to take responsibility for his actions, the feeling he got when he was blackout drunk.

He stumbled through the door of his home, glass bottle held securely in his hand. He chucked it into the garbage can, hardly able to carry himself into the guest bedroom.

Each and every night, he hadn't slept in the same bed as George. Not for an entire month. The boy felt too ashamed of his actions to risk waking the brunette who, somehow, hadn't figured it out. Or so that's what Clay had hoped.

In reality, George was hyper aware of every action that took place. He knew exactly what Clay did at night, exactly why his boyfriend hadn't been sleeping in the same bed with him, and exactly why Clay slept for such an abnormally long time.

George knew far before Clay had that the taller boy did, indeed, have a severe addiction to alcohol. This terrified George and he knew it would continue to worsen, however, he had dealt with addiction before. He knew exactly what would happen if he were to confront his boyfriend about his recent decisions.

So instead of facing the truth, he buried it. He buried it deep down, never to surface again.

The British boy's streams had been lacking and the viewers could tell. He always pushed their worries to the side knowing all too well that his eye bags were prominent and that his sadness was obvious.

"I'm fine, chat. I promise." His words were filled with emptiness and he, himself hadn't even believed it. "I was up all night editing."

Lie.

"That's the only reason I'm so tired."

Another lie.

George was in the middle of denying the chat once again when his words had been cut short when the door to the room had opened and a tired looking Clay had walked in. He widened his eyes, immediately muting himself and turning off his webcam.

"Y-yes, Clay?" The British boy stuttered, not immediately being able to tell whether Clay was drunk or not.

"I have a problem, George." The brunette looked at Clay who looked as though he hadn't slept for weeks.

"I know." George replied, standing himself up from the chair and walking towards his partner. "God, Clay. You look awful." The green eyed boy nodded, instinctively wrapping his arms around George's frail body.

"I know. That's what I get for nearly drinking myself to death." Clay said, his voice lacking emotion. "Help me, please." Clay's voice broke as he spoke, tears welling up in his eyes.