laminated lavenders | dreamnotfound

4

4 - first 

~

the week was spent with george ignoring the underlying guilt of not telling clay about his departure and clay basking within the golden pool of ignorance. the brit wanted so bad to tell his best friend about him and his mother fleeing the country, but he doesn't want clay to be sad, or more specifically - he doesn't want to see clay sad. george doesn't want clay to be sad in their last week together. there's a possibility that they'll meet again together in the future, but the chances are slim. no matter what, george was going to return to clay, in one way or another.

it was george's final day in their home, and he got up early today to be with the blond. he didn't know what they were doing today, but clay always had the tendency to surprise him, and so george didn't question what and where they were going to. he was anxious, yes, but he knows he'll miss the way clay planned and surprised him. gosh, he'll miss clay so much it's not even funny.

george planted his feet on the ground, the floorboards were cold and the sunlight dripped down onto the floor, staining his legs. walking to his bathroom, the brit caught sight of his reflection, he looked tired, and george hoped to god clay doesn't notice the heavy weight george felt on his chest and shoulders. george prayed and hoped clay doesn't notice how tense his jaw was

brushing his teeth and washing his face, he looked a little better. george then hopped in the shower, feeling the prickling of the water drops on his back, covering him in warmth, the water getting rid of the tenseness george felt within his limbs. washing himself, gave him time to think about he and clay, about their friendship. george was about to ruin it, but clay was better off without him, the blond was a natural born artist and george didn't want to hold him back.

he got dressed in a blue crewneck, jeans and a pair of yellow converse. walking down the stairs, george saw his mum finish preparing breakfast.

"oh, george. are you going to stay for breakfast?" his mum asked, and george gave her a tight lipped smile - shaking his head. he wasn't mad at his mum, but he wasn't happy with her either.

"no, sorry. clay and i are going to hang out today." he responded, upon the mention of the blond's name, george's mum stared at him expectantly. "and no, i haven't told him that we're leaving. i probably won't tell him."

"but george," his mum tried to reason, and stops. sighing instead, "enjoy your day, stay safe george."

"thanks mum." george smiled sadly, "i'll get going now." 

the woman smiled and nodded, watching as george walked out of the house and to his best friend's house. george stopped in front of clay's door, knocking ever so silently. the blond opened the door, clad in an emerald green vest with a white undershirt and a pair of corduroy pants.

clay smiled upon the sight of george, giving the shorter boy a bear hug. "george!" clay greeted, he always seemed to be so excited whenever george was around, and the brit found it so endearing.

"hello, dream boy." george replied, smiling genuinely at his tall friend. "what are we up to today?"

"do you want to go to the lake?" clay asked, "i know it's nowhere new, but i don't know, i just feel like going there today."

"yeah! let's go!" george responded, "you don't need to worry about taking me somewhere new, i quite like going to the lake with you." he reassured, and the blond smiled softly at george, pure adoration within his eyes.

"okay then, the lake it is." clay confirmed, "do you want to buy stuff along the way or do you want to bake something with me?"

"clay, you have like seven left feet and three left hands - you can't bake shit. but, it'll be fun, so let's bake." george lightly laughed, clay laughing along with him. they entered the kitchen and george took the apron hanging on the chair, unknowingly leaving clay with the other apron.

george tied the ribbon around his waist, the white fabric hugging his figure. he then turned around to see clay wearing a pink, checkered apron with ruffles along the side.

"it fits you." george teased, and the blond faux modelled the apron. "so, i think we should bake choccy chip cookies, since i know the recipe by heart and i actually want to make something edible."

"okay then, just tell me what to do and i'll comply, head chef george." clay saluted, and george giggled, nudging clay's right hand away from his forehead, gently whispering a dork underneath his breath. "please, don't make health bars. i'll lose my mind." clay pleaded, making george laugh at the blond haired boy, this was the last time they were going to see each other in a while, so maybe - feeding into clay's love for sugar won't hurt.

the two baked silently, with george helping clay do some things properly. when they placed the cookies in the oven, clay took notice of flour staining george's cheek, he turned george to face him, wiping the flour from his cheek. clay's hand lingered, and george unashamedly leaned into the touch, making clay smile.

"thanks." george murmured, and clay smiled in return. after waiting for the cookies to bake and cool, they packed them up and went on their way.

when george got cold, clay held his hand and placed both his right hand and george's left hand in his pocket - effectively warming george up. after a while, they got there. sitting down on the grass, the two talked while snacking on their cookies.

clay stood up, and offered george his hand. "do you want to dance with me?" he asked, his voice was fragile and airy - george almost never heard it, but he did. clay's stance timid. and their surroundings looked like something right out of a fairytale, it looked as if the trees were lit by wisps, but george knew for a fact that they weren't.

"dance with you?" george pondered, looking up at clay. he stood up and moved his face closer to the blond's, george's eyes following clay's fingers as he gracefully tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. a habit clay had when he was nervous.

"yeah, who knows if we'll still be together tomorrow, georgie?" clay smiled, albeit small - george saw it, clay's smile was sincere, sweet and genuine, and his eyes were beautiful and bright. clay didn't know how his words affected george, how it made george's chest ache sadly. he already missed clay even if they weren't apart yet. george moved closer to clay, and the latter hugged him, they both swayed side to side to a music no one heard but them. george loves clay so much it hurts.

george loves clay?

george loves clay. the former was sure of it.

"clay," george muttered, getting a hum in response, "i love you."

"i love you, too." clay responded, smiling.

george's head rested on clay's chest, close to his heart. george drowned in clay's gaze as he drank in the brit's disheveled and flustered state - clay looked so breathtaking, yet george thinks the same couldn't be said to himself.

"i love you." george breathed, the words disappearing and melting into the air, as if they weren't there. the moon would probably think that this was just another one of george's declaration of his love and affection for the stars, but it was different - george was declaring his love for clay.

the blond laughed, a sweet and melodious sound, it was rare for george to say i love you two times in a row but clay would be lying if he said that his heart didn't just skip a beat at the mix up. clay looked down at george and tilted the brit's face toward him. "i love you too." clay murmured.

george captured clay's face in a kiss, being each other's first.

--

02/13/21 - first draft
03/09/21 - edited