Home To You [Dnf]

Change of Plans

"No. That's not fair, Clay. Anyone else would've comforted you. I'm nothing special." George and Clay had been holding each other for minutes now, neither one of them wanting to let go. Clay was a mess. At this point, he wasn't crying because of Tommy, he was crying because of the way George was there for him. He truly believed George was too good for him; it was too good to be true.

"But, if anyone else came to comfort me.. it would feel different." George loosened his grip on Clay and pulled himself away, looking straight into Clay's puffy eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Clay's face was wet with tears, some still rolling down his cheeks. George lightly held Clay's face, wiping his tears away with his thumbs. Clay's face felt warm to the touch, getting warmer as George kept holding it.

"I don't know how to explain it, George. You just.. make me-"

"Guys? Why're you up?" When both boys heard Nick's voice, they immediately pulled away from each other, both of them left feeling lonely not holding the other. Nick was standing in his doorway, suitcases next to him and his phone flashlight in his hands.

"Where are you going?" Clay expected Nick to stay for at least 4 weeks, if not more. Seeing Nick with packed bags was a confusing sight.

"There's been a change of plans. My family needs me home by tomorrow. I was gonna leave a letter and be on my way; I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"What? No! No! You didn't- You didn't interrupt anything," Clay was very quick to respond. Nick let out a laugh as he picked up his luggage from the ground.

"Alright. Whatever you say."

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After talking with Nick some more, both boys said their goodbyes, reassuring Nick that they would hang out again soon. When Nick's uber had finally arrived leaving the other two boys alone, there was nothing but awkward silence in the apartment. George wanted nothing more than for Clay to finish his sentence from earlier, yet Clay stayed silent, glancing at the clock every so often.

"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," George mumbled, breaking the silence. Clay took his eyes off the clock, now peering at George.

"I wasn't uncomfortable. You were pretty warm." George looked away from Clay, trying his best to hide his now blushing face.

"So, it's just you and I for the next couple weeks." Clay was obviously disappointed that his friend had to leave, but somewhat excited to be alone with George. "It should be fun."

"Yeah. Should be." George, still hiding his face, got up from the couch and walked towards his room. He didn't know how he would get through these next weeks; it had barely been 4 days with Clay and he was already a disaster.

"Goodnight, George," Clay said with a smooth voice.

"Goodnight, Clay."

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When the afternoon struck and George had risen, all George saw out the window was pouring rain and high winds.

"Is Florida always like this?" George walked out of his bedroom, stretching, expecting to see Clay in the kitchen. To his surprise, the apartment seemed empty.

"Clay?" After checking the kitchen and living room to find no one, George decided to check Clay's room. There on the queen sized bed, lay Clay on his phone.

"Oh. Hey, George." Clay looked up from his phone and gave a small, but genuine smile to George.

"You're up late," George teased, smiling back at Clay.

"Actually, I've been up. I've just been waiting." There it was again; the blush spreading across George's face. Clay had to have known how he made George feel at this point, he was convinced he was making it so obvious.

"You were waiting for me to wake up?"

"Yeah. I was thinking we could go for a walk on the beach later when the weather clears up." Clay looked back at his phone, scrolling through people's tweets about him coming out.

"You know, you really shouldn't care about what other people think of you." George now walked from Clay's doorway to the end of his bed, sitting down gently.

"I don't." Clay scoffed, putting his phone down on the dresser next to him. "Well, I guess I do care a little."

"A little? Don't think I didn't see you scroll through twitter." George let out a laugh, making Clay laugh along with him.

"I try not to, but it's hard. You know what I mean? Like, there's certain people in my life that I really care about and I want them to think highly of me." Clay now sat against his headboard instead of laying down, meeting George's eyes as he sat up.

"Yeah, I'm starting to understand that myself."

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At around 6 pm, the weather had cleared completely, allowing the boys take a walk. Since it had just rained, no one was really on the beach, leaving just George and Clay alone, walking at a slow pace through the damp sand.

"You're always lost in thought, George. I've noticed." George had been looking at the ocean the entire walk, not realizing how quiet he was being.

"Yeah. I think about you." George covered his mouth, now taking his gaze off the ocean and onto Clay. "I- I didn't mean-"

"I think about you too, George. Probably not how you think about me, though." Clay looked down at George and let out a giggle. He didn't know what he was saying or why he was saying it, but something about it just felt right.

"What does that mean?" Clay stopped walking, sitting down on the sand. George followed his every move; he wasn't going to let this moment slip away like it had last night.

Clay let out a sigh. "I don't know. I guess I'm- just feeling things I haven't felt before." Both boys were staring at each other, trying to figure out how the other felt. Neither of them wanted to hurt the other, while not wanting to get hurt themselves.

"Describe your feelings, then. I can try and help you."

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there is NO WAY 300 people are reading and enjoying what i'm writing. that's insane! thank you all so much for all the love <3 i hope you enjoyed this chapter! sorry to leave u off on a cliffhanger ;(