Chapter 5

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 "Oh-um... hello?" Clay stumbled over his words in his surprised (and sleep-deprived) state. There in the doorway stood a half-awake, rather dishevelled-looking Prince. He wasn't wearing the perfectly ironed, creaseless suit that Clay was used to seeing him in, rather a long-sleeved navy t-shirt, sleeves just a little too long and so covering his hands, and a pair of blue and white plaid flannel pyjama bottoms. The Prince yawned, blissfully unaware of another person's presence, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes only to meet Clay's when he removed them and very quickly matching his stunned expression. He had earbuds in, his dark hair was a mess, his feet bare. Rather shockingly, he actually looked properly human for once, rather than some Disney Prince. He almost liked it, if he could go as far as to say he liked anything about the Prince, which he wouldn't dream of doing.

"Oh- hello, Clayton." He spoke softly, his voice a little hoarse as he stood up a little straighter at the sight of the American. "Sorry- I- umm.. I wasn't expecting to see you here... uhh- Krave?"

"What?"

"Oh..." He paused before padding over to the kitchenette and retrieving a bright red cereal box donning the word 'KRAVE' in bold white letters. "I'm sorry I- there was none by me and I thought they might have got some for you."

"Oh... okay. Do you normally raid your guest's kitchens?" Clay asked. He was irritated that the peace and quiet had been so rudely broken, but, also rather amused at the sight of the rumpled man in front of him. He then realised that the Prince was hesitating before opening the box. He gave a quick nod, considering saying 'no' just for the sheer thrill of denying him, the Prince, something so trivial, but he hadn't really been thinking.

"I'm sorry I just... only when I can't sleep." He responded, his expression rather unreadable.

"Is that often?"

The prince only nodded in response, having to jump a little to grab a mug from the top shelf (which didn't go unnoticed by Clay, but he was too tired to think of witty torments at this time of night).

"Me too." The American answered after a brief, but deliberate, pause.

George froze in his actions, turning to properly look at Clay, his face a little startled for a second before returning to pouring milk in the delicate china mug."Nice to know I'm not the only one, I guess. I just assumed you'd be asleep by now." He said as he placed the mug in the microwave for a few seconds, before pouring it over the bowl of cereal.


"Well, unfortunately, I'm not." Clay heaved himself up from where he was sprawled to amble over to the kitchenette. "So what is it then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Insomniac? Overthinker? Nightmares? Overachiever? Why is it that you can't sleep?" Clay asked, trying his best to sound unbothered but for some reason something within him was genuinely curious.

"One of them, I guess. Probably a mix, to be honest. I've never been that great at sleeping." The Prince admitted earnestly.

"Me neither."

"Do you- do you want some? I've got some milk left." Prince George offered hesitantly to break the awkwardly deafening silence, closely watching Clay's reaction to the offering of sorts.

"Why are you using warm milk for cereal, that's so gross." Clay's face wrinkled in disgust, getting an eye roll from the Prince.

"Just trust me on this one. It's good, I promise."

"Okay then, I guess." And with that, the Prince grabbed another bowl, filling it with the cereal before pouring over steaming milk and pushing it towards him, grabbing another spoon. They started to eat in silence, the only sound being their munching and the clinks of the spoons hitting the bowls. "You were right," Clay mumbled reluctantly through a mouthful, "this is really good." The cereal was little wheat pockets filled with chocolate, and the warm milk caused the chocolate to melt but the outside remained crispy and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, it was delicious. George shot him a slight smile, surprisingly genuine, before seemingly musing for a second.

"Have you thought about tomorrow?" He asked tentatively, quickly turning his gaze down to fixate on the cereal bowl.

"What about it?"

"What you're gonna say, how you're gonna act, what-"

"Hey, watch." Clay interrupted his ramblings as he took a few steps closer to the Prince whipping out his phone and taking a quick photo of the cereal bowls, the blurry outline of the prince just visible in the background.

"Nothing quite like late-night cereal with @HRHPrinceGeorge." He read out monotonously before pressing tweet. "See, stop overthinking it. It's gonna be fine. All we have to do is act friendly enough in the interview, get some photos taken with kittens and then I can fly back to America and pretend none of this ever happened, 'k?" The pair finished eating in a lulled quiet, both not really sure what to say. The Prince (rather surprisingly to Clay) picked up both bowls when they were done, putting them in the dishwasher. Only the buzz of Clay's phone drew them out of the awkward silence which had formed.

"I should-I should get back to Floris and Niki- we were on a call when you came in, they're wondering where I went." He said as he saw another 20 notifications asking him what happened.

"Okay-um yes, of course! I'm sorry for interrupting you!"

"It's alright." Clay stifled a yawn, scrolling through his phone.

"Goodnight, Clayton." The Prince called as he turned to leave.

"Clay."

"Huh?" The prince turned to face Clay again with a slightly perplexed look.

"Please call me Clay. No-one who knows me calls me Clayton."

"Fine, but only if you agree to never call me His Royal Highness, or Prince George or anything of that sort. I much prefer just George."

"Good night, just George." Clay laughed, genuinely this time, slightly taken aback by how little he wanted to punt George for the first time ever.

"Oh for god's sake you know what I meant." He shot back with a sleepy smile. "Night Clay." And with that, he padded off.

Clay sent a quick text to the others explaining what happened, before heading off to his room, throwing himself onto the bed and passing out, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Sorry this one is a little shorter, but the next one is pretty damn long!

Arti <3

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