Life Goes On... | DreamNotFound

Chapter 14

It took George's injury a week to heal properly. It didn't blister which was relieving but Clay was still not letting George do anything around the house. George was struggling with simple everyday tasks like brushing his teeth and putting clothes on.

The pain had also subsided a lot but it still hurt if any pressure was added to the wound. His skin had an ugly scar now which George hated, maybe because it was caused due to his stupidity.

Clay had fed George everyday until today, when his thumb could finally move without hurting much. If Clay were to be honest, he liked feeding George and he'd definitely miss feeding him.

Clay always found happiness in doing one's work for them, it was his love language, so it made him happy to feed George when the brunette was unable to eat on his own.

Clay had also been really observant of George, especially after he talked about his mental state. He always found a way to distract him even if he didn't give him any work.

Clay had also observed his behaviour around George. From how he got flustered when George complimented him to how his heart warmed when he heard the brunette's laugh, which was music to his ears.

How his stomach flips and a fluttery feeling rises when him and George make physical contact of any sorts, be it holding hands or sitting close to each other or just George being clingy.

He was really not sure what it meant until now, when he figured out that he's in love with George. Half of him told him to forget his feelings, or that this wasn't love and something else instead, but the other half wanted to accept those feelings.

But he didn't have it in him to accept it.

George has been through a lot in the span of barely a month. He had lost his husband, the one he called the love of his life, his lifeline. The one he was so blindly in love with, and he's trying to recover now, slowly but he's trying.

Clay knows it's hard for him. George is an emotional person and he's not letting those emotions out anymore. Other than the days George would cry to him about how much he missed Kyle, he always kept his emotions hidden behind an unseeable wall.

Clay often tells him to talk his emotions out but George can never do that without breaking down and eventually falling asleep. It's like he's trying to change his personality, his bubbly and expressing self turning into a self-centered one.

Clay has seen George silently crying on the bed with Kyle's picture frame in his hands. George wasn't aware of Clay's presence but Clay saw how the silent tears trickled down his face, falling on the glass of the picture frame.

It broke Clay to see the one he loved crying like this, and then acting like he's fine. George was atleast speaking unlike before, when he first found out what happened to Kyle.

The two were eating cereal that morning, sitting silently on the couch as the tv played a random tv show for background noises.

"I'm washing the dishes today." George said out of nowhere.

"No you're not, I know your hand still hurts." Clay said.

"No it doesn't! I'm fine now!" George said enthusiastically.

"Really? Let me see then." Clay said as he grabbed George's hand, not with enough force to actually hurt him but with enough force to make him shut his eyes tightly and wait for the pain which never came.

George slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Clay who was smiling at him, an egoistic smile that said 'I was right'. George retracted his hand and continued eating his cereal, not saying a word after that.

"Fine, but you're not stopping me from tomorrow." George said eventually.

"Depends. If your hand hurts tomorrow then oh no no, you're not doing any of the work." Clay said. "I can't see you hurt George, I care for you."

When they were done eating, Clay quickly washed the dishes, leaving to go to work.

"The front door key is right there, the leftovers from yesterday are in the fridge if you get hungry, but try and wait for me so I can heat it up for you. Patches has eaten and will probably sleep for the rest of the day. Take care of both of you and the house, and uh-" Clay said, repeating most of the stuff he says daily. He stepped towards George slowly.

"Clay I'm not a child. You say that to me everyd-... Clay?" George suddenly stopped talking as Clay wrapped his arms around him, engulfing him in a big, warm hug. George hugged back but was confused, Clay never really hugged him before leaving for work earlier.

"What's wrong?" George asked, rubbing a hand on Clay's back. Clay sighed and put his head on George's shoulder.

"Just felt like I needed a hug." Clay said, smiling against George's shoulder. He just wanted to give George a hug but it felt nice when George asked him what was wrong. No one cared about Clay like this.

"Okay... I should leave now, bye! Have a good day!" Clay said, pulling away and stepping out the door, waving his hands as a goodbye which George mimicked, a smile resting on both their faces.

The door closed behind Clay and he checked if George had locked it, just like he did everyday. Clay started his walk to his office, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach since he'd hugged George.

He was working on a huge program that, if approved by his boss, can promote Clay to a better and higher-paying position. It was a huge project for them, and Clay was determined to get a promotion.

While he was working, he received a phone call from Nick. Clay couldn't decline the call from his best friend. What if he was in need of something? So he accepted, informing Nick he was busy and couldn't talk for long.

"I'm visiting Florida tomorrow! I just wanted to inform you. I have something to do there, so I'll be staying for three days and uh- I wanted to ask if I could stay over those three days?" Nick asked.

"Of course! You're coming over after so long and you are gonna be thinking about staying somewhere else? Hell nah, man. You're staying at mine." Clay said. After everything Nick had done for Clay, he felt in debt even when Nick said that there's no debt among brothers.

"Will George be okay with it?" Nick asked, and Clay had to think about it for a while. Will he be alright? Or will be want Nick to go away?
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