― the artist on my wall

. fair .

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| chapter 4 | fair                                                  |
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When George's phone pinged with a notification, George leaped to grab it. It had been a week since he had done anything fun. The bright side was he had written enough articles to not only break his fingers but to last him a month or so.

Scrambling to upright the device in his hand, he was grinning at the notification.

Clay
theres a fair in town wanna go?
its like got ferris wheels and shit

George
pls omg can we
im already out the door where are we meeting

George tossed a hoodie on over a t-shirt and raced outside, relishing the blast of cool air against his face. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he answered it.

"I guess we're going then," Clay scoffed, and George heard the faint whistle of the wind behind his voice.

"Uh, yea, we are." George stated obviously, before they both broke into chaotic and contagious laughter. George had to bend over to stop himself from falling.

"You're so stupid. I'm walking over right now."

"You literally invited me to a fair. And you expected me to decline? Who do you think I am, Clay. I'm disappointed." George sat down on the steps in front of his apartment, containing his chuckles for the time being.

They droned off into comfortable conversation until George saw Clay walking down the street. He bounced to his feet and ended the call, quickly meeting the blond halfway. "Hi."

"Hi."

George noticed how close they were standing, with only inches between Clay's lips and his. Undeniable static buzzed in his ears and he teetered backwards, dragging his gaze to the ground. He noticed Clay also shifted uncomfortably, and he felt a pang of hurt.

"Where is it?" He tried to change the conversation, ignoring the burning stare of Clay's jade hues.

"Um... It's at the grove fairgrounds."

"Aha." As they started off walking side by side, George felt more awkward than usual. Why did he run so happily up to Clay? Why did he look at Clay's lips?

Why did his heart beat faster?

"You alright?" Clay asked nonchalantly, barely sparing him another look.

"Of course!" George brightened at once, focusing on the fact he was going to a fair with his best friend. His phone buzzed idly, and he answered the phone.

"Hey George!"

"Hello Darryl. What's up?" George drifted away from Clay a foot or so, so avidly trying to forget about him for a second.

"Me and Zak are going to this fair at the Grove. You wanna join us?"

"Oh, I'm actually going there right now with a... friend." He cringed, the corner of his eye catching Clay's shoulders drop. "Best friend." He corrected, and a sliver of a smile returned when Clay sent him a playful look.

"Friend?" Darryl leaned away from the phone, and shouted. "ZAK! He's got a girlfriend!"

"WHAT!" was the screeched reply of Zak, and the thumping of footsteps were near indistinguishable to the phone. "Spill! Spill!"

"They aren't even a girl." George lowered his voice enough that Clay wouldn't hear him. "Please just drop it."

Zak opened his mouth to intervene but Darryl hurriedly shushed him. "Okay. Well, can we meet you there? Can hang out for a bit."