chemical bonds / 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ³

                                                             George's Pov 

              The next morning I woke up before anyone else. I lay there on the uncomfortable sofa for a moment before turning my head.

           Early light swarmed through the windows demanding to be seen, but was cut short by curtains. The rays that got through stopped just short of where Clay slept. I was thankful he was getting sleep after the long flight. Instinctively I patted around looking for my phone. 7:46, I went over to Instagram where I saw the photo Wilbur had posted last night had already been used in dozens of edits.

         It was hard not to laugh at the ridiculous pairings some people shipped, what did they see in us? After responding to a few people I stretched my stiff legs and pulled myself into a sitting position, giving Clay a final look before deciding to get up for good. 

         I made my way to the kitchen and checked the shelves for anything I could feed four people with. A lone box of pancake mix sat in the cabinet above the sink. Maybe buying Tommy that milk was worth something. I prepared the cheap mixture and went to turn on the stovetop.

       A thud rang from the other room, followed by a loud yawn. "When he cooks," Clay said with a smirk, wandering through the kitchen door. "Don't get your hopes up, I think the mix has expired," I said trying to lower his expectations. "Powder doesn't expire," he said as he opened the fridge door. He rumugged around for a moment before turning back to me, "nobody got bacon?" I shook my head at him as I attempted to make the pancakes into perfect circles on the pan. 

      The pancakes cooked quickly and by the time Tommy and Wilbur had come downstairs I had created a tall stack. "Careful, George," Tommy began, "you're starting to act like a woman!" he said, trying not to laugh at his own joke. "That's just blatant misogyny, are you even trying anymore?" Wilbur shot back, glaring at the boy. An unphased Tommy pulled three pancakes onto his plate and sat down at the table. 

      After a few silent moments of eating I decided to propose a plan. "So I was thinking we just stroll around today if that works for you all? I figured we should avoid tourist hotspots, chances are someone would get recognized and they would identify Clay by association." Clay nodded, swallowing his bite. "Yeah that sounds great. I have no expectations so-" he added before returning to his food.

                                                                                  9:12 AM:

          The four of us stood outside waiting for an uber to lift us closer to the center of London. We could roam from there. A small grey car made its way up the street and pulled over across from us. 

          Wilbur made a sprint for the passengers seat. The rest of us made confused eye contact before making our way to the car and cramming into the backseat. Inside, Wilbur made his case, "It's a leg space thing, I'm sorry" he said before turning back to the front. 

         It's funny, I usually considered myself of average height but around this group I was dwarfed. The middle seat always poses a unique issue as the bump in front of the seat gives even less leg space, leaving me to curl my legs practically up to my face. Clay gave me a playful grin and patted my knee before looking out his window as the buildings get taller and taller. 

       After a few more minutes we got out of the car and went about casually sightseeing. A few hours later Wilbur pulled up a takeaway place on his phone that he had found the other night on his phone and we set about walking there for lunch. It was abnormally warm for a mid-fall day and surprisingly sunny for England too. It was probably climate change, but I was still thankful for it. I wanted Clay to have the best stay possible.

       Another block later and we arrived at a crowded stand. Ever efficient, Wilbur suggested he take our orders and wait for the food with Tommy while Clay and I scoped out a spot to sit down at the nearby park. I quickly scanned the chalkboard menu and told Wilbur before getting on the sidewalk again.

       Clay's strides seemed to narrowly miss the abnormalities of the old cobblestone streets. He noticed my line of vision. "Dig the fit?" he said in a mock deep voice. I grinned up at him, "No, no- just zoning out a tad." We carried on for a few more yards before reaching a crossing. Clay put out his arm as to prevent me from walking into traffic.

       "I'm literally older than you, and there's no cars."

        "It's instinctive."

         "You got some alpha male complex or something?"

     "Yeah probably," he said sarcastically as the cars stopped for the red light and we were given the flashing walk sign. Now on the safety of the other side we entered through the park gates and headed over to a sunny patch near a small pond. If I had known we were eating here I would have brought a towel to sit on but thankfully the grass was dry and dense. I let myself fall back and fully absorb the sunlight. In my peripheral vision Clay struggled to lift his sweatshirt over his head.

      "You need some help there?"

      "I got it, I got it"

       He finally got the sweatshirt off, accidentally taking most of his t-shirt with it. I quickly looked away and instead turned to view the street, where I saw Wilbur and Tommy headed our way with boxes in their hands. I felt the need to fill our silence, even though it wasn't particularly awkward.

        "Is it this hot in Florida?"

        "Even hotter, and we have humidity too."

       "Why do you even live there?"

      He huffed a little, appearing somewhat offended why I would even ask that question. I could tell he wanted to defend himself but chose to keep our conversation light-hearted.

       "Why did your family never have the balls to leave England?"

        "Not sure, we must be pretty inbred though," I said chuckling to myself.

       A moment later Tommy and Wilbur spotted us and strolled over. We finished our food quickly but remained in the park a while longer, appreciating the day we had been given. We still had 6 days left of our visit, no need to crunch the museums and shops- yet.

         Thank you to everyone who has stuck around so far, or new readers! Big things coming next chapter!