After Fire - Dreamnotfound

Seventeen|uneven hoodie strings

Quick A/N: i found the pic at the top on instagram while i was writing this and just threw it in to hint at what's to come lol
Alright, read on B)
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The park was vast and wide with a playground that opened up into an expansive grass field. Trees lined the square with the red and orange leaves scattering the darkened sidewalk. Every few steps, a leaf would crunch beneath George's feet. He pulled at his sweater strings and wrapped them around his index fingers as he approached an upcoming bench. A tall boy took up the entirety of the bench with his legs hanging off one of the armrests. His hood covered his eyes as George hovered over him.

"If you just stayed at the hotel, you wouldn't have to be sleeping on a wet bench," He said, and Clay stirred.

"I could have been long gone if you just came here on time." The younger boy sat up, his hood slipping off to reveal his messy dirty blond hair.

"I was at the store. Anyway, give me my notebook."

Clay stretched back before reaching under the bench for a black backpack. "All your belongings are in here." Unzipping the backpack, he revealed the blue notebook with the blue pen attached to the cover. With a mental list of what he had packed, George gathered that all of his belongings were inside and took the bag from the younger boy's hand.

"Thank you." He zipped the bag back up and trailed his gaze up to Clay's green eyes. It appeared that he had a rough night. The circles under his eyes had darkened, he didn't bother to brush his hair out from his face. Not a hint of his smile for miles. "You look like a mess."

"Gee, thanks, George. It's almost like I spent my night in a phone booth. Can I have my bag?"

"Yeah." He slipped the backpack off from over his shoulders. As he handed the bag back by the hook, he combed out Clay's hair from out of his face before ruffling it up. When he was done, Clay shook his head and ruffled it up again himself. Unzipping his backpack, he recounted the items inside.

"I don't want you to go," George blurted out before he could think of a reason not to and sat down next to the boy.

"I don't want to go either, Blue." Zipping up his backpack, he looked George in the eye. "But I don't want to go home either. I'm stuck in this weird limbo, and after weighing the pros and cons, I think this is the better decision."

"I don't. You're leaving your entire life behind."

"I'm tired of never feeling right, George. Sometimes I just want to exist without feeling like there's this gaping hole in my chest that everyone can see."

"You really think running away is going to fix that?"

The younger boy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Look, I don't belong there. No one accepts me. Maybe I'll find someone here."

"I accept you."

"You don't live here. You're going to leave me." He frowned before dropping his gaze to the sidewalk before them. A group of ants ran about by their feet.

"You're leaving me right now. It seems like no matter what happens, one of us is going to leave."

"Don't say that." He laughed, though it came out disconnected as his faint smile dropped. "Don't say that."

"It's not too late to go home. And it's not too late to fix everything."

"What if that doesn't work? I got so close to the edge over there, Blue. I don't want to be there again." He drew quiet for a moment before shaking his head as he leaned back. "No. I'm not going back."