1 am || dreamnotfound

twenty - three

for the first time, he was genuinely happy, genuinely excited for what was to come.

on the walk home, he had forgotten why he had to george's house in the first place until he saw it come into view. both of his parents were home, because the garage was open and both cars were parked inside.

he chewed on his lip as he slowed his pace up the front steps and entered the house. it was quiet. he couldn't see anybody--except for patches, who rolled lazily on the rug, toy mouse in between her little paws.

placing his feet down on the floor quietly, he headed upstairs, but before he could even get the stairs. there was a stern voice the clay wished he didn't hear at this moment.

"clay alexander. where the hell were you last night?" his mom asked as he turned around slowly, leaning against the wall next to the stair case.

"i was-- i was with my friends, watching a mo--movie." he stuttered, cursing himself silently for making it sound suspicious because of his nervous stuttering.

his mom raised a brow. "really?"

clay nodded. "yes. can i please go upstairs?"

"absolutely not! you shouldv'e told us! we were so--" clay cut her off.

"shut up with the 'oh we were so worried' shit, mom," clay snapped, mocking her. "i know damn well you weren't and you just want to find some stupid shit to yell at me for."

his mom gasped. "do not speak to me like that, i'm you're mother!"

clay rolled his eyes. "i don't care because you only seem to act like it when you're yelling at me!"

before his mom could say anything, there were rapid steps on the stairs and clay looked to see his dad coming down the stairs to stand beside his mom, looking at both of them. "what the hell is happening here?"

"mom's yelling at me because i went out with my friends last night," clay said, much quieter then before.

his dad looked at him. "you were gone all night without telling us."

clay resisted the urge to yell again about how they really gave no shit at all, but since his dad was calmer, he said, "i know, i'm sorry."

no, he really wasn't.

"well, sorry or not, you're grounded. no friends coming over, no going out," his mom snapped.

"what?!" clay exclaimed. "that's bullshit. i'm grounded because i went out with my friends?"

"because you didn't tell us!" his mom said, raising her voice.

clay flinched at the sudden rise of tone level.

"leave him alone, will you?" ally's voice came from above and clay saw her leaning over the railing. looking down from above. "he know and he's sorry. honestly, you should be happy that he goes out with friends and not isolate himself in his room."

his dad sighed, "we're going to work. we'll be back."

his mom gasped, "you're not going to do anything?"

his dad sighed. "you heard him, he's sorry, and ally's right."

his mom threw her hands up. "fine! let's go."

this time, clay flinched, hard. he even brought his hands in front of his face slightly before they dropped. but his parents never noticed as they stormed away.

ally rushed down the stairs and hugged clay. clay went stiff.

"mom and dad are stupid sometimes. if you wanna go out or have friends over, i'll distract them," ally mumbled into his shirt before pulling away.

clay smiled and ruffled her hair. "thanks."

ally grinned back. "do you wanna make dinner?"

"but what?"

"burgers!"

clay laughed, "okay, okay, we can do that."