Comfort (Dream X GeorgeNotFound)

The Search

The first thing George did the next morning was look up Rose's account on social media. It wasn't too hard, just time consuming. He had forgotten to remove Stephen from his friends' list after their break up a year ago, so all he had to do was look through all of the Roses he had in his.

He had his fingers crossed that Rose was stupid enough to put her address in her bio. He scrolled through the abundant list of information she was basically handing out to strangers - her phone number, place of work, birthday... And address. Bingo.

George jotted down the street name and the building number, quickly throwing on a change of clothes and running to the apartment.

It probably would've taken him ages to get the right door if he hadn't spotted the tenant information leaflet by the front desk in the building lobby. He started from the bottom up, regretting the decision when he found out that Rose lived at the very top of the building. He called the elevator, pressing the button for the 8th floor once inside.

He knocked on the apartment with the same number that was written in the leaflet. A few moments passed before a familiar face opened the door. He was hoping it'd be Clay, but Rose was a good start. Even if he wanted her grimy hands off his best friend.

"...George?" She seemed puzzled. She had no make up on and was wearing baggy sweatpants. So her and Clay were at that relationship stage. Even further in than he'd thought.

"Hi, yeah, uh, Rose." George realized he hadn't actually thought about how weird his request was going to sound. "I need to speak to Clay."

She narrowed her eyes. "Uh, okay?" But she stayed in the same spot, not moving.

George cleared his throat. If she was going to be passive aggressive, then so be it. "I said I need to talk to Clay. Please. It's urgent."

"I thought he was staying with you." She raised her eyebrow.

"So he's not here?" Desperation set in as Rose shook her head. "Any idea where he might be?"

The panic must have been apparent in his voice, since Rose pitifully shook her head again. She apologized before closing the door, but George didn't really notice or hear anything. He was frozen in place, with no new leads to follow.

He pulled up his phone, opting to text Clay to ask him to meet up. It would be risky, sure, but he had no other choice but to try his luck and hope for the best.

________

George

Hey Clay please answer
!!!!!!!
I'M SORRY
Can we meet please I wanna apologize

________

He sat down on the stairs right in front of Rose's apartment as he waited, not finding much use in doing anything else.

He breathlessly waited for that little ding, or a call, or anything that let him know that Clay had received his message and wanted to talk. He stared at the screen as a little 'Read' popped up below his messages, alongside with bubbles indicating that Clay was typing.

It went away as fast as it appeared, though, and George was left to stare at the texting app once more. He ran his thumb over the contact name, softly, longingly, like the way he wished he had the courage to do to with Clay.

He waited ten minutes. Then another ten. He sat there, doing absolutely nothing, minutes blurring together. After half an hour had passed, he stood up and headed down to the lobby again.

He felt defeated. Disappointment had been such a prominent feeling in his life lately that he wished he could just erase it from existence.

He didn't even realize how he entered the empty apartment and threw himself onto the couch. Maybe Clay just needed some time, and he'd come back soon. George had nothing but blind hope to rely on that, though.
He pulled out his phone, staring at his friend's contact name.