DNF Oneshots (Dreamnotfound)

The Store Guy (PT 5)

The present

Calm... Secure... Love.

Three words that best explain the moment that I sit (or lay) in right now. The gentle breeze that comes from the window, cools Clay's and I's bodies. Bringing a calming and comforting aesthetic into the room. Clay's arms wrapped around me and his legs entangled with mine, bring me great security. As if it gives me some kind of control in my experimental life. I can feel every breath Clay releases against my neck and each exhale feels so delicately placed. He tightens his grasp on me when he hears my heartrate quicken and this instantly brings me back down from the stary skies. He does all this with love and care.

It's deathly hard to stay awake now. Almost being up for forty hours only causes my body to ache and become lame. Clay isn't helping, his hand still peacefully dragging through my hair and untangling any messy or out of place hair. His warm breath on my neck tries to lull me to sleep. I can feel my breathing deepen and slow, almost painful to be awake to or experience. I pull my tired and sore eyes upward to look at his small black alarm clock on his nightstand by the bed. 8:47pm, it reads. I inhale deeply and let out a tired sigh which turns into a yawn.

I feel Clay's arms unravel from mine as he sits up and grabs the covers quietly. I follow his movements with my eyes curiously. He pulls at the covers, slowly bringing them up to our shoulders and allowing our combined body heat overwhelm the cold which came from the window. Once he is situated, he rewrapped his arms around me, taking me into his chest tightly.

"I don't know how you're still awake, George." he yawns, relaxing his hold. I also yawn unknowingly and shrug carefully.

"I'm not... Entirely sure either..." I mumble into the comforter and sink deeper into the bed. I can feel Clay's hand reach back to my hair, as if he's trying to lull me to sleep like a child with nightmares. I can't say it doesn't work, though. "Goodnight, Clay... And thank you." Finally, my eyes droop closed and my body lets out one last, long exhale.

"Goodnight, Georgie." Clay hums back, still keeping the gentle twist of his fingers in my hair.

Almost immediately am I asleep as the feeling of Clay's hand disappears in the distance and his arms wrapped around me dissolve into nothingness. My mind empties buckets of thoughts and, soon to be, memories into the ever-burning world surrounding me and that too turns completely black. I barely can hear the looping words of Clay as I finally drift into a dream land, "I like you George... I like 'like' you."

I'm suddenly awakened to a bright shine of light coming through the blinds. I glare at it, not quite realizing my surroundings or where I am. I almost think everything that had happened the previous night was a dream. Maybe everything was. Meeting Clay. Becoming friends with Clay. Clay saying, he likes me. Clay and I cuddling late into the night... But I am reminded that it's all true and that it all did happen when I begin to look around at the pale green room that surrounds me. The vivid image of fancy monitors and a PC takes to my vision and so does the bed I lay in. Everything I saw last night, is all still here. Everything is still here. All except from Clay. Where is Clay?

I slowly get up, my body sore and aching from the amount of sleep I got after being awake for so long. My legs wobble and nearly collapse under me as I get up and stand, but I gather up my balance and walk out the bedroom door. The house is well lit with natural lighting, no lamps needed anymore with the skylights bright and the window's curtains pulled up. I squint and rub my eyes before lazily continuing on through the house. I feel like a child at a sleep over, being the only one up before your friend or their parents are.

Gradually, I reach the bathroom door which I push it open and step through. The bathroom is very clean and tidy. I, myself, am not. I look up at myself in the mirror and see my shaggy brown hair, scattered about and a drool mark running down my cheek. I must have fallen asleep pretty hard in order to look like this at this hour. Wait, what even is the time. I rub down my pant legs, only to find that I don't have my phone on me. Meaning I didn't know what my work was like. Sudden panic builds into my chest as I wash my face with cold water and brush through my hair with my hand until it looks decent.