You're Okay, I Guess.

Phone Call

A.N. — How is everyone today? This chapter is a tad more on the serious side, but I hope you still enjoy it :)

*Back to the story*

"So I was thinking we should film a video for both of our channels today, just to get ahead,"

George spoke up while they ate breakfast.

Clay stabbed a piece of pancake with his fork, nodding.

"Yeah, that's a good plan. I'll need to set up my laptop and mic first though."

He stood up, taking both of their plates and heading to the kitchen to wash them. He was just starting to scrub when he felt a hand on his arm.

"I can do that, go set up your stuff." George smiled at him.

They both looked down at his hand. George quickly withdrew it, blushing.

Clay smiled back. "Sure, thanks."

He walked into the spare room and over to his suitcase, taking his portable, limited gaming setup out and putting it on the desk. Five minutes later, he had everything plugged in and was logging on to Minecraft. He texted George (too lazy to get up) saying "Whenever you're ready :)".

OHHH GEORGE 😈:

Yup. already on the server, slowpoke

Clay called Sapnap, and soon the three of them were filming a new Dream Team video: "Beating Minecraft but Everything's Cursed". They had only been recording for a couple minutes, but already he was wheezing from laughter.

"DREAM! WHY ARE THE COWS HITTING ME? THE COWS ARE KILLING ME!" George screamed into his mic while Clay mined iron with a shovel, giggling.

Thanks to the plug-in they coded, it began to rain lava. Sapnap, meanwhile, had found a donkey.

"Guys, I got some iron for us. GEORGE HANDS OFF MY DONKEY"

"Give me the iron-"

"Get OFF my donkey!"

"NO!"

GeorgeNotFound was slain by Sapnap using 'MEGA SHLONG'.

* * *

It was already evening by the time Clay finished editing the new video. He quickly re-watched the footage to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

"In this video, we coded it so that..."

 his own voice played through his laptop speakers. Satisfied with the result, he hit "Upload" then left his room.

As he opened the door, his nose was met with a pleasant smell coming from the kitchen. George was by the stove, stirring a sauce.

"Linguini, is that you?"

George jumped at the sound of Clay's voice behind him.

"Hey, I'm just making us some dinner. And what was that about a linguini?"

Clay sighed dramatically. "You've never seen Ratatouille?"

"No..."

Clay pretended to clutch his heart in agony.

"I take offense to that."

"Well...why don't we watch it tonight?" George grinned at him.

"HELL yes." he returned the grin.

George drained the pasta water and then began mixing the sauce in. Clay took out two plates and some cutlery, setting them next to each other on the kitchen bar.

They sat down and began to eat in comfortable silence.

"This is really good, George."

George's cheeks flushed pink.

"Thanks."

Suddenly, Clay's phone began to buzz.

"Wow, you're so popular Dweam. All these calls." George smirked.

Clay rolled his eyes, smiling, then checked the screen. 'Incoming call' from-'

Clay's face fell. 

His heart stopped.

POV George

"...Clay?"

His friend didn't answer. His smile long gone, he had gotten up and was now frozen, staring at the screen of his iPhone.

"I....I'll be back." Clay muttered, before running to his room with the phone.

The image of his best friend's horrified face as he saw who was calling him was left burned into George's head as he sat there, confused and worried.

Who was that? Is he okay? What is going on?

No longer able to eat, he got up quietly, clearing their plates. Then, he tiptoed over to Clay's room and pressed his ear to the door. He had to know what was going on.

"...don't know how you got my new number, but please delete it. I - no. I said I don't want to speak to you. No, as in never. Leave me alone, Danny." 

A click, as George heard Clay turn his phone off. He braced himself, ready to quickly step away as soon as the door opened. But...it didn't. He waited there for a minute, unsure of what to do, when he heard a sort of strangled gasp from inside the room. Then sniffling. 

Is he...crying??

George knocked on the door softly.

"Clay?"

The sniffling stopped. Silence.

George put his hand on the door knob, slowly turning it. He opened the door gently.

Clay was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. He seemed to hunch over even more as George entered the room.

George's heart broke at the sight of his friend. He ran over to him and wrapped both arms around him, engulfing him in a hug. He had the sudden urge to protect Clay from the world, and to beat up whoever it was that made him so upset. Clay's shoulders began to shake heavily as he melted into the hug. George felt a section of his own hoodie dampen as his friend's tears soaked through the material. He wrapped his arms tighter around him.

"Shhh... it's okay, Clay. it's okay."

he didn't know what to say; he didn't know what had just happened to his friend, but he wanted more than anything to be able to make him feel better.

"Everything's gonna be okay."