i accidentally met dream

twenty

"Ya know, this is the kind of thing that makes Dani think we're dating, let alone, the majority of the people here." I say, quietly, looking at the modern art in front of me and admiring the people in the painting. A couple sitting on the bench, looking off into the sunset, the grass and trees look like they're slightly flowing as if a breeze picked up.

Clay comes up behind me. "Stop thinking about it. Is this literally on your mind 24/7? Just breathe and have some fun." He mumbled, loud enough for me to hear, looking at the art I was also looking at. "She's pretty and the guy next to her is a really lucky guy." He points to his hand holding the girl's on the bench, something I hadn't noticed. "They're close, but like a first date kind of close. His hand is on top of her's which means he probably put it there, like slid his hand over." He steps back and walks over to something else across the room. I was about ready to just grab his hand and hold it, but he left too quickly.

I whisper, "I wish that were us."

"Did you see this one? It's quite cool. It's like balancing without anything to support it, but it's not." He says, watching me approach him. "Look." His smile is wide. He looks at it with the same look I had on the previous painting. "It's amazing that people can do art like this. Keep it up for so long without it falling, ya know?"

I smile, zoning out and listening to him talk about this piece.

"Don't you think?" He asks.

"Huh? Sorry. I zoned out." I nervously chuckled, trying not to make eye contact.

"Don't you think this is a nice piece of art?" He asked.

"Uh- yeah. It's alright. I prefer paintings, but all art is magnificent." I commented, hoping it didn't seem like I wasn't paying attention.

+++

Clay slammed the wheel in frustration. "Why is no one moving? This traffic is shit!"

"I think there's a concert right now." I mumbled, pulling out my phone to see the concerts for tonight. Some famous person is in town and performing so streets and highways are backed up. "Why don't we go to the park or get some ice cream or something to wait out the traffic?"

"That sounds- that sounds like a great idea." He turns his turn signal on and merges over to the nearest exit. He drives for a short bit before stopping and parallel parking next to a pay thing. We got out of the car and he paid the toll. "It's a little bit of a walk, but there's no parking that's close due to the concert."

"That's alright. A little walking won't hurt." I say, beginning a walk down the sidewalk. We both pass many little shops, food and clothing wise, crossing the street a couple times as well. Our conversation during this time was minimal. We talked about the ice cream we planned on getting briefly, then went silent.

It wasn't uncomfortable, thank god. It was a silence that felt like safety.

"This is it." He breaks the silence, opening the door and allowing me to enter first. He comes in behind me and we get in line. Looking at the menu, I go for a [ice cream] bowl while Clay decides on something simple and easy with no toppings in a bowl. Their waffle cone maker was currently broken, which was upsetting, but it was alright considering the bowls held more for the price we were paying.

I pulled out my card to pay, but Clay, once again, shakes his head and hands the person at the counter his card, pushing mine out of the way. He doesn't say anything between that and waiting for our ice cream.

"Just let me pay next time." I roll my eyes, mumbling and walking out the door, ice cream in hand. "I still owe you for the other ice cream trip."

"Don't worry about it. You don't owe me anything." He says, following out the door after me.

We make our way towards the little park on the corner. There's not much of it, just some benches, trees, and other plants with a fountain in the middle. Not a big park for kids, just a small park. We take a seat on one of the benches and eat away at our ice cream, once again in silence.

+++

We had finished eating our ice cream at least an hour ago, making small talk along the way and waiting for the traffic to die down, knowing that during the show, no one is going to be out and about. Clay has cracked a few jokes, but mostly we just talked about whatever came to mind. Stories from memories. Between the most embarrassing to some of the stupidest things we've done.

I learned that Clay was eating at a Denny's once when he was younger and it got robbed. I was really surprised at first but quickly remembered that this is Florida and some of the craziest shit happens here. He learned more about how my parents were then, when I was pretty much left to fend for myself while they were getting drunk and high.

We were now, currently, sitting in silence, admiring the.... environment? Without kids running around, it's peaceful and nice. No one is really around, just the two of us. I glanced over at Clay playing with his sleeve, staring deeply ahead of us, probably at a bird or squirrel. "Did.. you enjoy today?"

"Yeah it was fun. I haven't gone to the art museum in a while." I said, resting my head on my shoulder and looking away. "I enjoyed it very much, but I still owe you for the ice cream. You bought it both times."

"I ain't letting you pay for a measly bit of ice cream. It's fine, don't worry about it." He said, watching the sun go down. We've stayed out all day today, waiting for the traffic to die down, and now all we're doing is watching the sun set on a bench in a park.

"Ok, sure. Dream." I said, with a yawn following quickly after.

"Tired?" He stands up and stretches.

"Yeah. And cold, but it's alright-"

In front of me, he holds out his hoodie. "I'm warm blooded anyways." He looked away, waiting for me to take it.

"You know it's fine, but if you insist."

"Better that you don't get a cold. We're barely into the winter, even though we're still like October, but ya know." He said.

I grab the hoodie from him and slip it on, feeling the warmth he had previously in the hoodie. I melted into it, getting up as well. We both walked back to the car.

+++

"I'm pretty tired, I think I'm going to call Dani and then head off to bed." I say, taking the hoodie that Clay lent me and laid it on the couch, lazily walking up the stairs.

"Alright. I'll be in a call with some people, they want to play among us? Texted me like a few moments ago. I'll be quiet." He smiled, waving me off. "Good night (Y/n)."

"Good night Clay, have fun playing." I said, quickly making my way up the stairs. I get ready for bed and climb in, sending a text to Dani that I was going to discord with her.

We caught up for the little while that we didn't get to talk. Dani moved out, finally, and got a job working at a bookstore. She even fancies a dude she works with? So much has happened in the last few days to a week we actually spoke. I updated her on my day, the feelings I have on Clay, as well as the conversation I've had with Sapnap and George just so she was in the loop.

We said good night to each other, since it's been a good hour or two of talking and just hanging out, and hung up. I sighed, laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. How the fuck am I going to confront my parents when I visit them during Thanksgiving? I wanted to visit them during December, but I thought Thanksgiving was more fitting.

Also Halloween? How's that going to be? I don't even feel like dressing up. I'll solve this stuff in the morning, I'm exhausted.