Life Goes On... | DreamNotFound

Chapter 16

George and Nick got along better than expected. They became friends in less than two hours and talked a lot. Clay was surprised to see them laughing together when he entered the house.

"Sup man?" Nick asked as Clay entered.

"I'm good! I was expecting like- awkward silence when I'd enter but you guys seem like you'd throw me out the room and continue talking." Clay said, chuckling.

"No no, we won't throw you out the room, you'll leave on your own when you get ignored by us." Nick said jokingly, chuckling along with George as Clay groaned. "I'm just kidding. We won't ignore you."

"You better not or I'm gonna be the one throwing you out." Clay said, chuckling along with the other two and taking a seat on the couch. They talked for a long time before Nick got a call and had to leave for whatever he came to Florida for.

"I'll be back by dinner time, see ya both!" Nick said, walking out of the house, waving at the other two who waved back.

"Let's just order something for lunch today, my hand hurts for some reason." Clay said, massaging his wrists and fingers.

"What happened to your hand?" George asked, worry and care lacing his voice.

"Nothing much, just had to type a lot today." Clay said, taking his phone out to order food. "What do you want for lunch?"

"Um, McDonald's?" George asked, Clay nodded. "I'll just have chicken nuggets and fries, not a big fan of burgers."

"You don't like burgers?" Clay asked as if George said something illegal.

"No, I don't." George chuckled.

"You're missing out." Clay said, placing his order on the app. The two chatted until their food arrived. They ate quickly and an excited Clay left to prepare dinner for the three of them, a grand feast as he said.

Clay was making steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and chicken wraps (as they're Nick's favourite). George was helping him, doing the work that didn't require any fires or knives.

George was in charge of the mashed potatoes. Clay had boiled the potatoes and given them to George to mash. George would say he did a good job considering it was his first time in the kitchen.

Clay was also proud of George's work and gave him another task, to put toppings over the three tortillas Clay placed. George put the toppings on the tortilla with Clay's guidance and let Clay wrap it.

"You did good! That's all the help I needed. You can... can you wash the empty bowls?" Clay asked. George nodded and got to work. He liked helping Clay.

When the two were finally done making the food, the doorbell echoed through the house. Clay ran to open the door, being greeted by Nick.

"You got here just in time! We just got done making dinner, c'mon in." Clay said. Nick stepped inside to be met with the mouth-watering smell of food.

"Bro it smells delicious in here! Hold on lemme change real quick and I'll be joining y'all in a minute." Nick said, running to the bathroom with spare clothes in hand to change into.

Clay served the food in three plates And took them to the coffee table with the help of George. The two sat next to each other, Nick soon joining them. They dug in, George and Nick immediately starting to compliment Clay's cooking.

George was happy how the mashed potatoes and gravy turned out. He was eating the tasty gravy when he heard a chuckle from beside him, looking over at Clay.

"You've got it all over your mouth, you idiot!" Clay chuckled, bringing his hand up to George's face and gently wiping the gravy off his face with his thumb.

"It's delicious! Not my fault!" George said when Clay retracted his hand. Soon they were done eating and George offered to do the dishes, quickly jogging away to the kitchen with all their plates before Clay could complain.

"Clay? Can I ask you something?" Nick said, scooting closer to Clay and lowering his voice, catching Clay's attention who was looking over at George washing dishes.

"Yeah sure, what's up?" Clay asked.

"You like him, don't you?" Nick asked, his voice a whisper so George couldn't hear them. Clay whipped his head to face Nick, staring at him with wide eyes.

"N-No! What made you think that?" Clay asked, cheeks tinted red.

"Clay I can read you like a book, I'm not dumb. I've seen the way you look at him." Nick said.

"... Fine, yeah, I do. I do like him. Don't tell him though." Clay said, face serious yet the blush on his cheeks increasing.

"Of course I'm not gonna tell him that. I'm not stupid." Nick said.

"What are you guys talking about?" George asked, appearing from the kitchen and drying his hands on the hem of his shirt. Nick and Clay scooted away from each other quickly and Clay cleared his throat.

"Nothing!" Nick said. George gave them a skeptical look. "I was just telling him that I was going to sleep soon, I'm so tired!"

"Well alright... where are you sleeping?" George asked.

"On the couch?" Nick said as if it was obvious. George and Clay shared a glance.

"Okay, I'm gonna go get you a blanket." Clay said, getting up and returning with a blanket. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" Nick said, laying down and falling asleep pretty quickly. He was tired after waking up so early. George went to bed as well, laying down with a sigh. Clay thought of sleeping on the floor, going to his bedroom to get some blankets and pillows.

"Clay?" George said, noticing Clay who made his way to the closet, pulling out a blanket and looked around for a pillow.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"What are you doing?" George asked.

"Making a bed." Clay said, smiling as he finally found an old pillow.

"You're not going to sleep on the floor, are you?" George asked.

"Well, yeah. Nick is asleep on the couch so I'll have to manage for a few days. It's alright, I don't mind." Clay said, laying a blanket down on the floor.

"I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. We can share the bed, come on up." George said, rolling over and snatching the pillow in Clay's hand.
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