International Relation(ship)s

Chapter 11

It took Clay 3 days to even start to mentally deal with the events of New Year's. The first day was spent battling a grand old hangover, brain fuzzy on far too many paracetamols and protesting every thought that ran through it. The second, he did his usual busying himself with far too much to even stop and think why, he just passed it off as concern about his role in the election. It was only on the third day when he caught himself checking his phone for the seventh time in the past half an hour that he came to terms with the fact that he wasn't just looking at the time.

"Hey- um Floris, can I talk to you for a second about- like about something private?"

Clay had decided that the best way to deal with these feelings would be to talk about them. He wasn't gonna say what happened of course, that would be too much, but Floris had always been so open about his bisexuality so he seemed the perfect person to come to.

"Oh yeah of course! Come on, shall we go to your room then?" He responded, a little concerned but just as welcoming as usual. He jumped up, grabbed Clay's hand and pulled them all the way until they both were sat down on Dream's bed, leaning haphazardly against the wall and propped up pillows. "What's up?"

"I- well..." Clay stuttered and stammered, trying to gather the right words to form a coherent sentence.

"No rush! You know you can tell me anything, right?" he reached for Clay's hand, squeezing it gently.

"Thanks, Flo... How do I say this- how did you know you were bisexual?" Clay shuffled in his seat as he asked earnestly. He wasn't used to being this open, this vulnerable, and it felt strange. It wasn't that he kept things to himself; he would take any opportunity to talk about himself! It was just rare for him to reach this level of emotion, to be this raw.

"Oh-" Floris started, brushing a few white-flecked brown strands out of where they were laying dangerously close to his eyes as his concern dropped, "Oh! So I'm guessing you've been doing some thinking lately, huh." he grinned, turning to face Dream fully, legs crossed.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Dream smiled nervously, visibly releasing some of the tension he had been holding. He cracked each knuckle methodically; something he often used to keep him grounded, to keep him sane and found comfort in the encouragement of Floris's expression.

Floris's eyes lit up, and he leant forward like gossiping teenagers at a sleepover might do "Did something happen then? Oh, I bet something happened didn't it-"

"Yes okay something happened." Clay sighed playfully, but he wouldn't meet Floris's brown eyes. He knew if he did he would say too much.

"Are you gonna say what?" He laughed but Dream's eyes stayed fixated in his lap.

"No, I don't think I can."

"That's okay, don't worry about it. So how did I know? Honestly, I'm not that sure. It wasn't that I just woke up one day and knew it was more a... long term thing I guess? It took a while for me to process my feelings, realise that I did like both guys and girls and - you know - come to terms with it and settle on the label so... yeah."

"Yeah?" Dream mumbled, looking up to see a rather deep in thought Floris.

"Yeah... although I guess the fact that you're asking means that you're probably not straight!" He laughed, shuffling a little closer and resting his head on Clay's shoulder. The contact was slightly surprising but not unwelcome, and Clay rested his head atop, enjoying the comfort it brought with it.

"Probably." Clay was surprised at how honest he was being with himself.

"Didn't you date Nick back in highschool though?" Floris sat up, turning to face him after he spoke.