this love ☼ dreamnotfound

{ 37 }

"george," clay realized. his eyes were wide and he was nearly speechless. "i was looking for you," he told.

"really?" george sarcastically responded. obviously clay was looking for him.

clay cracked a smile at george's familiar attitude. he asked, "what are we supposed to do at this party? i just talked to your dad and some other random guys and felt so stupid."

"i don't talk to anyone unless they talk to me," george advised, "i mainly hide in the bathroom the whole time- or the rose garden. the first time i sat out there was when i was trying to get a break from this dumb party."

god, clay was a sucker for sentimental things like that. the rose garden was basically a memorial for their relationship. "just let me know if you want to do something like that," clay requested. "i don't necessarily want to be here alone. these people are weirdly intimidating."

"yeah," george agreed with a sigh. he had been with clay for only a few minutes and he was already stressed out; the energy between them felt so different than it did before.

"you okay?" clay mindlessly blurted. now that they were face to face, it was hard for clay to not worry when george would sigh or have that certain look on his face. he scolded himself, "dumb question. sorry."

george responded, "it's okay. i just hate this stupid party." he excused himself, "i'm gonna go find my mom and ask her what time i need to be ready for the speech."

"what speech?" clay wondered, tilting his head. he felt a few pieces of his hair falling out of place and he reached up to fix them.

"my dad's speech," george elaborated, "i don't actually have to do anything, i just stand on stage while my dad talks."

clay understood, "oh."

george noticed clay messing with his hair and he couldn't help but assist him. he brought a gentle hand up to clay's face and brushed a few strands of hair back in place. he took a step back, dropping his hand to his side. "i'll only be gone for a few minutes," george dismissed himself. "text me if you get lost," he half-joked.

a soft laugh rose from clay's chest as george turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. he had butterflies in his stomach the moment he looked george in the eyes, but feeling his touch had officially driven him crazy. it was as if he was falling in love all over again.

he didn't want to get too ahead of himself.

clay had been standing around on his phone for at least twenty minutes with no sign of george. he changed locations a few times to try to spot him, but he couldn't. george said to text him if he was lost, so he did.

where did you go??? clay typed out in a rush, surprised that he didn't make a typo. he was sure he looked like a weirdo by himself on his phone at a fancy event.

as he waited for a response, he found a table of snacks and some coolers. he was thirsty; it was getting hot inside with how many people were in there. he accidentally opened a cooler full of alcoholic drinks and he immediately shut it, making a guilty face even though nobody saw him. he found a cooler of sodas and grabbed one. he pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked for an answer from george, but there was nothing.

he needed to get away and be alone for a moment; he was overstimulated by the noise and people in general, and he had nobody to talk to. clay wandered to the nearest exit and found himself out in the rose garden.

clay leaned against the brick exterior wall of the courthouse and opened his soda, taking a few sips and just letting himself calm down. he even closed his eyes. when he opened them again, he could see a head of brunet hair poking over one of the rose bushes.