Is This True Love? (DNF)

Chapter 7: Day off

So how are people feeling about everything so far?
______________________________________
George POV.

Arms were wrapped around my waist, drawing me out of the groggy haze that I had found myself in. I sat up, feeling the two hands falling away and I looked over to see that it was Fundy who had been spooning me. He was asleep as well and I could see the furrowed expression on his face.

It made me feel guilty about the fact that he had put so much effort into my party last night and I had gotten drunk and went to my room within an hour of arriving. To avoid the awkwardness of running into him I planned on going into the office. I would be showered, fed, and gone before he was awake, then say stay late.

After my shower though I was upset when I saw his side of the bed empty, wrinkled sheets being in the place where he had been laying. “Shit,” I murmured under my breath, furrowing my brows as I knew that I had to prepare myself for an interaction, where he may very likely still be hungover himself from last night.

He would have heard the water stop running and would know that I was out of the shower however he didn’t appear to be in any rush to talk to me as he left me to get ready. I went downstairs to see him in the kitchen, staring out of the window with a mug of possibly coffee in his hands.

“Hey George.” He greeted, his words quick and causing me to freeze. I hesitated to respond, not being able to read his emotion or know how he was feeling but eventually I responded with a ‘hey’ back to him.

My gaze fell away and I walked through the kitchen, beginning to grab myself some bread to cook up into toast. Now that I had been caught I was unmotivated, no longer wanting to rush since there was no point. But I didn’t say anything either, instead just waiting for the redhead to start a conversation if he wanted.

“You didn’t open any of your presents last night.” He observed sadly. “They are all sitting in the garage, it’ll probably take you all afternoon to open. Then we also have the cake. I made it have five tiers, one tier for every five years.” This shocked me. Alongside the party he had also decided to buy me a five tiered cake? And it had to have been big enough to feed everyone.

“Are you okay?” He asked me, tilting his head sadly. I looked away from the toaster that I had been watching to give a reassuring nod.
“Yes, sorry. I am just thinking about work. There is a big project coming up.” I explained.

The redhead sighed, setting down his glass and walking over to me for a hug. “You should stay home today.” He insisted. “Your company is overworking you. I mean you went to work for ten hours for your birthday. Now you are working today too.” Fundy sighed. “You deserve a break. To stay home with me, your boyfriend.”

Guilt ran through me and I couldn’t do anything other than look away out of shame. He stayed quiet, allowing me to think for a few moments. In all honesty I didn’t really think at all. All that I did was wait patiently for the toast to come up so that I had an actual excuse not to talk to him.

“So George…” Fundy eventually gave up on waiting. “...what do you think about just calling the boss and saying you are sick. The two of us can sit here and watch movies, open your presents, order food in.”
“That would be nice.” I lied, glancing away from him. “But…”

“George please.” He begged, cutting me off. “I want you to stay with me for the day…” He hesitated. “And… and I miss you. You are always busy at work, when you aren’t busy at work then you are always busy at home.” He told me. “I just want you to spend some time with me even once, on your birthday.”

“I can.” I sighed, giving in since it felt easier than continuing to argue. My hand clutched at the sides of the plate that I was carrying as I spoke to them. “I’ll call work after I have finished my breakfast.” I told him, something which made the redhead grin. He followed after me as I walked over to the table and sat down.

“Great.” He grinned, leaning in and kissing the side of my face multiple times. A bittersweet smile appeared as I watched him from the corner of my eyes. “I’m going to go and get everything set up. You eat and then call your work.” He turned away, basically bouncing off eagerly into the living room.

When he was gone I huffed. It was honestly difficult to be around him. Despite the fact that I was certain he was somehow still drunk, he was definitely being way too smiley. It made me feel guilty that he was so happy after I had slept through the party that he had dedicated so much time and money towards.

Clay POV.

“Good morning.” Niki smiled, grinning over at me as I walked down the stairs.”I hope that you enjoyed the food that I brought for you on Jimmy’s request.”
“Yeah, it was nice.” I answered half-heartedly.

She came home a half hour after I did. Somehow, she had gotten multiple containers and all of them were full of different things from the party. I had spent the chunk of my time there at the bar with George instead of trying the food or games or anything. It felt like so much, I probably would take a year to get it all, not that it would last that long before expiring.

One of her hands ran through her hair before going to hold the handle of the pan in front of her. The delicious smell of bacon filled my nose. “If you want I can cook for you.” She offered. “I have more bacon in the fridge.” She smiled sweetly as I accepted her offer, grabbing some bacon alongside plates for each of us.

While standing close to her I noticed that the earpiece in her ear. I couldn’t make out the words, only the static and murmur of someone talking. “Jimmy wants you to put your earpiece back in your ear, so that he can communicate with you.” She informed me, glancing over with a smile.
“Oh okay.” I responded.

I hadn’t put it back in my ear after last night, still feeling pissed about the idea that nobody on this show seemed to care about the fact that George had gotten drunk. Reluctantly I walked out of the kitchen and grabbed myself my ear piece. I set it in my ear, taking a few minutes while I wiggled it around to make it comfortable.

After it began the person on the other end spoke up. “Clay… you’ve put the headpiece back on.” He seemed to smile through the ear piece.
“Yeah…” I responded. “I’m back. Sorry about all the shit that went down last night.” I wasn’t sorry, but I didn’t bother to create more drama since I’d only be here for a few more weeks.

“Apology accepted.”
______________________________________
1243 words