Obsession From the Shadows

Dinner

Clay's living room was nice and tidy, not a single thing misplaced and not a spec of dust in sight. The two of us sat beside each other and chipped away at homework. The environment calmed me down enough to be able to push the thoughts about Tiffany away. It was pleasantly peaceful, the smell of warm food wafting from the kitchen and having one of my dearest friends right next to me. Closing my textbook, I sighed in relief. Glad that I had finally finished all my homework. I turned to Clay to see what he was working on. He seemed to be struggling on a history question so I asked him, "need some help?"

Clay shook his head, still deep in thought. "Nah, I've got it. Just give me two more seconds..." his thoughtful face turned into one expressing great satisfaction, "I figured it out! Told you I'd get it." He exclaimed, scribbling down his answer.

"How much longer do you have with your homework?" Y/n asked, then said, "I finished mine."

"That was actually my last question." Clay laughed. "Hmh, what to do now. How 'bout I show you my room? It's pretty cool."

I accepted Clay's offer and he led me upstairs and down a hall. Stopping at the third door on the left. He opened the door and let me walk through first. His room was painted a navy blue color, quite a contrast to the rest of the mostly white house. There were a few posters from different bands scattered around, but other than that it was a pretty simple room. Clay made his way over to the bed and sat down, then patted to the spot next to him. I carefully seated myself down to his left.

The boy looked over at Y/n and asked, "what do you think?"

Y/n took another moment to scan his bedroom. "It's pretty cool." She replied. If she had the energy to, she would've been completely freaking out. Of course, she was still excited to even be near Clay but her mind was stuck on other things.

Clay noticed how Y/n wasn't her usual self. A concerned look etched on his face, he gently reached over and squeezed her hand. "I'm not gonna force you to tell me what's wrong, but I want you to know that I'm always gonna be there for you, Y/n."

After hearing those words I looked down at my hand being held by his, then up into his sincere eyes. I couldn't help but let the tears well up as he pulled me into a soft hug. He slowly rubbed my back in a circular motion, soothing me. Eventually I shifted away from him, feeling better. "Thank you, Clay." I murmured as I let go of him.

"Anytime." He said, a soft smile on his face. "Don't hold your emotions in like that again or it will eventually explode, okay? The bathroom is the door right next to mine, you should go run some cold water on your face." I nodded, grateful for how kind he was to me.

While turning on the sink, Y/n began to blush from remembering Clay's gentle actions. She loved how he didn't try force her to open up and it reminded her why she had a crush on him in the first place. It was like he was the perfect guy or something. Splashing her face, she felt the puffiness from her tears fade away. Feeling better, she walked back to his room and sat down where she was before. They continued to chat about nothing of much importance until they heard someone calling

"Clay, Y/n! Come down for dinner please." Mrs. Barlowe shouted up. The two of us went out of Clay's room and down the stairs, into the kitchen.

Ma appeared, holding some cutlery. "Clay can you set the table?" With a nod, Clay took the cutlery from his mom and got to work

Wanting to be helpful, I asked, "what can I help with, ma?"

"Oh sweetie, you're our guest. You don't need to feel like you have to do anything, hun." Ma cooed, then headed back into the kitchen.

Soon, there was delicious food in front of Y/n. She thanked the women for doing such an amazing job. It was a white fettuccine pasta, paired with cut up chicken. She took a bite and her eyes widened in shock. After swallowing, she exclaimed, "this is really good!"

"I'm so glad you like it." Mrs. Barlowe spoke up, "I used to help my father cook in his restaurant when I was a teen."

Y/n began devouring the food in front of her, finding it delicious. Clay chatted about what he and Y/n did today among other random topics, "oh yeah! Y/n I told you about Turtle Lake, right?"

"Mhm, I believe you did. It sounds pretty fun!" Y/n said, then continued eating.

Clay's moms gave him reassuring looks. He asked, "my family was thinking that maybe you could come with us?"

My whole body froze. Spending a whole week of summer with my crush and getting to hang out with nobody but his kind mothers and him. She jumped on the offer, "I'd love to! If my parents allow it, that is."

Ma smiled sweetly, "it would be amazing if you joined us. You're such a great girl for our Clay." Her statement made heat go straight to Y/n's cheeks and she started to blush. Little did she know, Clay got equally as flustered.

"Think of how fun that would be, Y/n! There's a ledge at the deep part of the lake where we can jump off and do cannonballs." Clay said enthusiastically

Y/n's eyes widened, "that sounds like so much fun! How big is the lake?" She asked.

"It's fairly large." Mrs. Barlowe told her. "Majority of it is a swimming area, but there's a section where fishing is allowed. If you do come with us, then I could take you and Clay there and teach you how to fish."

Y/n took the last bite of food off her plate, then said, "That's really kind of you, Mrs. Barlowe." She turned to face all of them, "I thank all of you guys to how nice you've been to me today. You're all so sweet and I appreciate it very much."

"Aw, Hun. You can come over anytime, you're such a good guest and it's been great to have you." Ma said, a comforting smile on her face.

I saw Y/n to the door. Just as she stepped outside, I asked her, "Wanna hang out sometime this weekend?" Her eyes lit up in joy and she quickly agreed. We settled on a time and where to meet, she then waved goodbye and started walking down the street. He watched her from the doorway as she set off to home. Still watching her go, the young boy leaned on the doorframe. Clay waited, making sure Y/n was safe until she rounded the corner and was out of his sight. Shutting and locking the door with a sigh, he turned around and headed up to his room. Clay felt as if he could deny it no longer. He had a full blown crush on Y/n and he planned to finally confess sometime soon. Clay had told his moms about his growing feelings towards the girl and they were in full support of it. The only thing holding him back now was the immense fear of the girl of his dreams rejecting him. But there wasn't really anything to do except pray for the best.

[Hey you guys. Just to let all of you know, the updates are going to become less frequent as school is starting back up again. My schedule is going to be packed but I'll try to update as much as I can. That might be once everyday or every week, I'm not too sure.]
-Fuzzsoda