But We're Not Normal

Forced

After waking up still on call with George, George humming quietly to himself and looking adorably sleep soft, Clay was sure nothing could ruin his day.

He was wrong. So very, absolutely and completely wrong.

"I can't just date a girl because it will get us media coverage, are you insane?" Clay shouted, incredulous. He shouldn't speak to management like that, even over the phone, but Clay didn't care. Vincent watched as Clay paced the length of their kitchen, one hand holding his phone to his ear and the other was up to his mouth, nails between his teeth. He felt vaguely like he was intruding but didn't have the energy to go someplace else. Clay was yelling loud enough that Vin would probably hear him no matter which room he moved to.

"Celebrities do it all the time, Clayton, stop overreacting." The gruff voice down the line responded and, though Clay couldn't see them, he could feel the eye roll that accompanied the words. Clay's skin crawled with the words and the name.

"Are you forgetting that she is a human being too?" Anger was bubbling hotly under Clay's skin and Vincent briefly wondered whether he should leave for his own safety rather than for fear of eavesdropping.

"They're called contracted relationships, she would be aware that none of it is real." Management shot back, disinterestedly. Almost all of Clay's being wanted to yell down the phone that he had a boyfriend that he was very happy with, thank you and then hang up. The only thing that was stopping him was the possibility of management attempting to use their relationship for publicity and risking hurting George. He'd talk to George first before mentioning anything.

"Telling her won't make it any better! So, what, we're just going to lie to our fans? To earn a bit more money? To get clout? There's other ways!" Clay removed his nails from between his teeth and settled into scratching at his forearm instead. Vincent watched the change astutely, concerned. It had been a while since the last time Clay had scratched to relieve his building emotions.

"It's not lying, Clayton. Think about the benefit to the band and to Miss Hexx's career here, you're being selfish and infantile and I won't deal with it." Clay could hear the annoyance growing in the voice. If they called him Clayton one more time, he may snap.

"I'm not- it's not selfish to not want to lie to our fans!" Vincent saw the way Clay's fingernails dug into his forearm and he reached forward to catch him, circling his fingers around Clay's wrist. Clay's eyes soften as he looked between the half-crescent dents in his arm and Vincent's stern but concerned face. He took a deep breath and then nodded once and Vincent let go. Clay tucked the hand into his pocket instead.

"As I said, if you had been listening, it wouldn't be lying. For the duration of the contract, the two of you would be in a relationship. Anything the fans assume from that relationship is simply speculation. Really, you're acting like a child, I thought you were better than that." Clay decided he had had enough of this bullshit and made a quick decision which, in hindsight, he really shouldn't have made while angry.

"Okay, fine. I'm not going to fake a relationship but... I'm not going to do anything to deny one if people speculate. That's all you're getting." And, with that, Clay hung up. He ran his fingers over his face and into his hair, tugging it harshly before leaving his fingers there, clenched around the dirty blond strands.

He knew he'd receive some strong words for having back talked and hung up like that but, frankly, he couldn't care less. If he was on that phone for even a moment more, he'd risk doing something stupid.