Obstacles

12

Warnings:
-Mentions eating disorder (purging)
-Mentions abuse
(Past)

Clay's POV

We walked to George's room and I sat down with a sigh, clearing my throat.

'Are you actually not going to laugh at me?' I asked. 'Maybe it's not your style at all, but I worked hard on it.'

'I'm sure I'll like it. Don't worry about that.'

I sighed softly and stood up as I grabbed my phone and opened my notes to look for the text. 'I can't play instruments myself. My mother used to play the music, but I'll do it without it now.'

George nodded and I felt myself getting really nervous as I started singing the first lines. George didn't look at me which made me comfortable and just listened while I sang my song to him for the first time in ages.

I finished the song a while later and shyly sat down on George's bed.

'You're voice is beautiful and I absolutely love your song,' he whispered with a red face. 'You're going to make me jealous.'

'Well, and I like your voice,' I giggled. 'A lot.'

'Do you mean that?' George asked with a confused tone in his voice.

'Yeah,' I mumbled, looking away.

'Most people don't really like it,' George sighed. 'But I got two kind comments on my last video!'

'Two?'

'Yeah, it's something right?' George smiled.

'But you genuinely don't sing badly at all. I don't understand why everyone is so mean about it. You have an amazing voice,' I admitted, slightly hurt that he was already happy with two kind comments. 'You should get thousands of kind comments.'

George shrugged. 'It's fine. You should get someone to make the music for your song! It sounds great.'

'Yeah, who knows,' I answered.

'Do you want to go outside for a little? The sun is shining and I really like the sun. You can say no, don't worry!' George offered.

'Sounds good,' I smiled. 'I like the sun too.'

George stood up and I followed him downstairs, walking after him as we went outside. He sat down on a bench next to the street and smiled.

'I sit here sometimes when I'm stressed. It might be weird, but I calm down when I watch people or cars pass by,' he shrugged.

I smiled at him and scooted closer to him, laying my hand down on his leg. I saw his face fill with a smile. I felt pretty confident after this afternoon and wrapped my arm around his shoulders, making him face me.

He looked really shy and tried to look away from me. I lifted his face back up and smiled as I rubbed my thumb over his cheek. We both didn't say anything. He smiled shyly after that and breathed out.

'Obviously I remember you,' I whispered. 'Do you think I forgot that you were my best friend for years?'

He shrugged and sighed softly. 'I'm sorry for leaving you.'

'Why did you leave?' I asked as I pulled him closer. 'I miss you so much, we should talk about this.'

George nodded slowly. 'I left because I was embarrassed, scared and upset.'

'Why?'

'You know...' he whispered. 'I had an eating disorder and I guess you know that.'

I nodded. 'I do know that, I'm already glad you've been trying so hard to recover.'

'I've been trying very hard,' he answered. 'It's still there, but it's better than it used to be.'

'But why did you leave?' I mumbled quietly.

'I was at your place one day and your mother made pasta. I panicked and I went to the bathroom and well...'

'You threw it up?' I asked.

He nodded. 'Your dad walked in and he got really mad at me. He made me clean the whole bathroom, made me do a hundred push-ups and made fun of me when I couldn't do it. Eventually he pushed me and screamed at me. I was so embarrassed and scared that I left your house and thought it was better if we never spoke again.'

I shook my head and pulled him really close. 'I would have never made fun of you. My dad is sometimes just a bit harsh and I would have helped you if I knew.'

'I guess I didn't want you to know. I thought you'd find me disgusted for throwing up at your place too.'

'I wouldn't have, but I'm so happy you told me now. We lost contact, but I'm glad we are in the same class this year.'

George smiled and looked at his hands. I decided to keep my arm around his shoulders and grabbed his hand. We just sat in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable at all. We enjoyed holding each other while sitting in the sun.

George ended up resting his head on my shoulder. 'Can I ask you something?' he whispered.

I nodded. 'Of course.'

'Your song, right,' he started shyly. 'Uh- I can kind of uh- play the piano. Maybe I can help?'

'Really? How many talents do you keep hidden from me?' I asked with a smile.

'I'm not really good, but I think I'd be able to learn the song.'

'I would love you to do that!' I exclaimed as I pulled away from him. 'Can we try now? Or do you not have a piano?'

'I have a keyboard,' he smiled. 'I can get it if you want me too.'

I nodded and jumped up. We both went inside back to his room and he grabbed his keyboard from under his bed, putting it down on his desk. I sat next to him and grabbed the notes my mother wrote down for me.

He looked at them and glanced at the keyboard, starting to practise the song. I laid down on his bed while he practised it and scrolled through my phone, deciding to make George happy.

I went to his YouTube channel and clicked his most recent video.

Dream
You're so amazing <3

I heard George's phone buzz and he glanced at it, having his face getting filled with a smile. 'Look, someone said something sweet to me!'

It made me so happy that he got happy with such small things and I laid my phone down to look at the message, giggling as I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. 'I wonder who that would be,' I grinned.

'Do you know?' George asked as he turned around.

I shrugged. 'Maybe,' I teased him.

'Really? Who is it? You don't have to say, sorry.'

I smiled brightly and cleared my throat. 'It's me, dummy.'

'R-really?' George stuttered with a bright red face. 'That's so sweet.'

I giggled. 'Just like you are.'

George breathed out and got so happy that he couldn't stop smiling anymore. Even I got shy now and I sat back down next to him to finish the song. He did really well and I ended up singing with him. It sounded really good in my opinion and I got so excited that I recorded it so I could listen back whenever I wanted to.

I had to go home a little while later and had the biggest smile on my face ever. I was so happy I finally knew why he left.

1202 words