Action (DNF)

Chapter 57: Leaving

George POV.

“Well this has been amazing.” Clay smiled thankfully at the group sitting around the table. “But it would probably be best for us to get going, since we want to be back in London as soon as possible.”

At the blond’s words I nodded, wanting to get out of the repetitive awkward situations I seemed to find myself in with my family in the past eighteen hours. “Yeah.” I nodded in agreement. “It will take a few hours to get there, and we’ll want to see Sapnap as soon as possible.”
“Oh, of course.” My mother nodded, standing up and beginning to collect everyone’s plates.

I moved away from her so she could move without bumping into me. A few long moments passed with me watching her move, her stance seeming hostile towards me once again. “I’m going to go get my stuff from my room.” I reluctantly said after watching her, walking out of the room with Clay following after me.

We got to my bedroom, which was a gentle warmth after the sunlight has streamed in in the past hour. Our bags had been packed since early this morning, ready for us to leave as soon as we finished breakfast. Both of us grabbed our stuff quickly, with his free arm wrapping around my waist and pulling me into a side hug.

After a minute he let go of me and began walking towards the door. “I’ll go start up the car, you can come with me or sit down and wait for a while.” Clay explained while looking over his shoulder at me, and I quickly murmured about how I was going to be out in a minute. The blond gave a loving nod before turning and leaving.

When he was gone I looked around my room, after not having been here in years. Aside from a little bit of dust, it was identical to how I had left it before moving. I took a few minutes to survey it, since after how awkward I had been with my parents I didn’t know when I was going to be back here.

Last night Clay had made dozens of comments about how cute the old photos of me were, and about how funny it was with what kind of things I was into when I was younger. Since without having TV or video games or pop music, most of the posters lining my room were of old books that I had grown up reading such as the Hobbit, or the Handmaid's Tale.

Clay spent a while making fun of me for reading these types of things, but quickly dropped it when I handed him one of the books and had him read the first chapter. Now he has at least half a dozen of my old books in his suitcase to take back to London with him.

There wasn’t too much for me in this room anymore. I had thought about taking more stuff with me back to London after I had left it when I first moved down there, but as I stood here now I decided to change my mind. Back then I had wanted to become independent and so I didn’t want to return to my parents out of… fear I guess, for not wanting to lose that independence.

Now though, I was back and could grab anything that I wanted to take with me, since our plan to spend time with my family for a week has fallen apart, I could at the very least grab something to take with me so I didn’t have to say that this whole trip was for nothing. My eyes scoured the room as I looked for something to grab before eventually noticing a photo sitting on my old desk from back in high school.

It was nothing major, just one of me, my parents, and my sister from when I was a kid as we were riding on a train, a blissful expression on my youthful face as we rode to who knows where. As I looked over them I let out a sigh, wondering what could have happened between myself and my parents that caused me to act like this towards them.

For a few moments I considered taking it with me, before deciding against it. So I zipped up my suitcase before heading out of my bedroom. The entire family was gone, since as I looked into the living room while walking down the hallway I found it empty. Instead though, they were all standing outside, chatting with Clay for a final time while he warmed the car up.

The two children were both leaning on the bonnet, admiring the engine that Clay was showing them while my sister gave them a warning about not doing anything to damage or get the car dirty. My father and brother-in-law were talking to the blond about the vehicle. None of the other family members noticed me coming out of the house, except for Clay.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked as I approached him, avoiding my family’s gaze awkwardly as I did. “Cause the sooner we get going, the sooner we can see Sapnap.” I nodded at him, moving to put my stuff in the back of the car before going and hugging his side lovingly. The blond seemed surprised by this, but moved to hold me in response.

“It was good to see you guys.” I told my family as they gathered around. “Hopefully some point soon we will see you all again.”
“It was great to see you again baby brother!” Sarah beamed while pulling me into a hug. “Thank you for finally meeting Mike and the kids. We’ll have to come visit you in London at some point.”

“You will.” I agreed. “Maybe the next time we end up having a mini family reunion.” I didn’t want to see my family again, at least for a short while. It just felt so strange, but maybe I was just being paranoid. I’d have to ask Wilbur when I got back, since he was great for me to be able to rant about my issues.

“Hope you both have a safe trip home.” My father smiled, also pulling me into a hug. “I’ll see you both some other time, okay?” I nodded at him before moving away and climbing into the passenger seat while Clay climbed into the driver’s seat.

We rolled down the window to wave goodbye while the blond started driving off, and after a minute we were out of sight of the house as the blond turned a corner. Once we were far enough away from the home, Clay pulled over on the side of the road, with me leaning over onto his shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, studying me cautiously. “You said that you were on edge about your family and now we get a couple of days to just relax and do whatever it is that you want.”
“Thanks for doing this Clay.” I muttered. “I owe you so much.”

“You don’t owe me anything Georgie.” He responded. “I’d do anything to make you happy, even if it comes to strange family issues.”
“It means a lot.” I said while nuzzling into him. “But since you did so much, where would you like to go? And remember, no paparazzi or…”

“...crazy exes.” Clay finished off. “I know, I remember.” He quietened down as he started driving again before glancing over at me. “So, how do you fancy driving to Wales?” He asked.
I grinned at him. “Sounds fun.”
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1277 words