this love ☼ dreamnotfound

{ 14 }

( cw // minor / vague nsfw )

george had become seriously concerned about how clay was acting. even after reassuring him multiple times, he still seemed incredibly stressed out. to avoid running into jace, george suggested that they just spend the day out on the pool deck instead of going out.

despite his best efforts to hide it, clay was paranoid. he honestly didn't even know why; he knew george was loyal and had no plans of actually being friends with jace. it wasn't hard for clay to worry about george.

"talk to me," george demanded. the two had been lying on sun chairs while the others messed around in the pool. they seemed to be having a canon-ball competition, and they were definitely not paying attention to clay and george in the slightest.

clay had zoned out. "what?"

george sat up, pushing his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose so clay could see his eyes. "you're still upset, i can tell," george pointed out. "i promise you, you have nothing to worry about with jace. is there something else going on?"

"no, everything else is okay," clay disclosed, "i just have a bad feeling about that guy. i know you're not gonna do anything, but i don't trust that he won't."

"i mean, he can't do anything to me if i don't make an effort to see him," george stated the obvious. he was a little frustrated; he didn't know how to make clay feel better.

clay had always been super sensitive to the energy of other people, so when someone seemed off, it really affected him. it was almost like an empathic sense, in a way. it was just one of those annoying things that his brain did that he couldn't control. it didn't help that all of his families prescriptions got messed up when his dad was arrested, so he hadn't been on medication in months.

"things have just been weird," clay confessed.

george reached for the blond's hand, holding it firmly. "i wanna help," george told him, "i'll do whatever you need."

"thanks, george," clay started. the truth was that there wasn't really anything that george could do, but clay knew his boyfriend well; he wouldn't believe that. george would pull a star out of the sky for clay if he could.

"how about this," george began with a smile on his face. "i'll find a way to get those morons out of the house tonight," he planned, looking over at whatever shenanigans were occurring in the pool. george continued, "and it'll just be you and me for as long as i can get them to keep themselves entertained. deal?"

"deal."

------

"so..." clay dragged out, looking at sapnap, alex, and karl. "where are you guys going?"

holding up a plastic bucket, karl answered, "the beach, duh."

"it's dark though," george observed. "the water is gonna be freezing," he warned.

"we're night swimming," sapnap explained.

alex spoke up, his voice muffled, "that's why we have these sick ass goggles." he had on those goggles that cover your nose, making his voice sound muffled and stupid. attached to the side of the goggles was one of those breathing tube things as well, but it probably wouldn't do them any good with the aggressive waves.

"and the bucket?" clay asked.

"to collect critters," karl revealed. "if i find any."

"please don't bring anything in here," george begged.

sapnap assured, "don't worry, i won't let him. i really don't want a crab pinching my balls while i'm trying to sleep or something."

karl had a disappointed look on his face. "what if it's not a crab? what about a slug? or a clam?"