Is This True Love? (DNF)

Chapter 5: The Drink

George trauma dumps on a guy he just met.
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George POV

When I returned from the bathroom I tried my best to avoid Fundy, not being in the mood for any of his elegant antics. Thankfully despite all of his stupid choices such as the ice cream stall and the bouncy castle, he was smart enough to make sure there was a bar. I had seen it from the bedroom and made my way towards it when I was outside.

A couple people were chatting with one another. They didn’t seem to care about the fact that I was there, however the bartender did notice me and stepped over. “Hey there George.” He grinned. I don’t know how he knew what my name was, but perhaps it was because Fundy had told the bartender about me when he had hired him.

“Hi…” I responded. “Can you get me something? I don’t really care what, just something that tastes nice and has a lot of alcohol in it.”
The man’s brows furrowed but then he nodded at me. “We have one that is named after you.” He commented. “It’s for your birthday. Your boyfriend designed it.”

I let out a ‘huh’ noise, although honestly I did not care. Fundy and I rarely drank with one another, nor did we ever even talk about alcohol. I had no clue as to what it was that he was basing the drink off of. “Sure, I guess I could have that.” I muttered, watching as the man turned around and began looking for the ingredients he needed.

While I waited I pulled my phone from my pocket, deciding to pass the time using that instead of just sitting around awkwardly. I mean, there wasn’t much that I could do. Despite how advanced the phones were, the only things you could rarely do was message your friends on Mess8, play mobile games, or search up information on the SmartWeb.

Before I got into coding programs on the computer I had considered pitching apps and websites for phones. One idea that I had was one where you got to watch videos, all sorts of videos, and switching between them was as easy as swiping up and down. You could watch gameplay, clips of TV shows, dances, videos of families and pets.

Unfortunately every person who I pitched this idea to, regardless of whether it was Fundy, or my parents, or my coworkers, or any of my friends, they all ignored me or complained that my idea was stupid. It was disheartening but I trusted them and so I had dropped all of my ideas.

“Here.” The man said as he slid me a drink. I was prepared to pull out my wallet and pay but he waved me off. “No need for money. Everything is on the house for tonight.” He then paused for a moment and then he added on again.

“Honestly the drink your boyfriend named after you is incredible. It’s called the Davidson drink. Soon it will be available in every bar across America.” He smiled strangely at me, but I ignored him as I took a sip of the drink, which was admittedly delicious. I kept my gaze down though, just quietly sipping while keeping to myself.

I ordered a second and a third round, ignoring the crowd that kept moving around me. Eventually I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye and heard him muttering with the bartender as he ordered a ‘Davidson Drink’. My gaze flickered over to see Niki’s cousin again, he noticed me looking and flashed me a smile.

“Hey George.” His voice was soft, and I felt guilty since I could not remember his name but he remembered mine. “How’s the party going?”
“It’s fine.” I responded, a monotone voice that didn’t have a single care in the world.
“I’m pretty sure your boyfriend is looking for you.” The blond added as he was passed his drink.

“Oh.” I replied, honestly I did not care about Fundy, he had not cared about any of my beliefs for this party, he had not even talked to me once about it. The only thing that stopped me from breaking up with him right now was the fact that I could not be bothered looking for him, and I didn’t want the hate that would come with breaking up with him at my own birthday party.

As the blond studied me I motioned for the bartender to bring me another drink. I gave him a half-drunk smile. “Is there something wrong?” I asked him, and he quickly shook his head.
“I believe he wants to do birthday cake and presents. You have a mountain of those so it’ll take a while to get through.”

“I’m not in the mood. I’d much rather forget this entire night than open presents in front of people I barely know…” I stopped to glance at him. “...no offence.”
“Don’t worry.” Clay said, reassuring my nerves. “We met earlier today, I honestly don’t believe you’ve met everyone here.” He accurately guessed.

Then his brows furrowed and he stared forward. I didn’t say anything as I watched his strange movements. After a moment he looked back towards me, giving a smile as though the weird moment hadn’t just happened.

Before he could ask me anything I spoke up. “So why are you staying in town with Niki anyway?” I asked him, tilting my head towards him as I sipped at the drink that had been put in front of me. Was it narcissistic of me to love a drink that was named after me?
“Just visiting a family member.” He shrugged. “Plus I heard L’manburg was beautiful.”

“Nah.” I scoffed. “It’s kinda boring really. Pretty much anywhere that I learned about in Geography looks prettier or more fun than here.”
“Then why don’t you leave?” Clay asked. “Why not travel and see the world.” Once again he paused and let out a small noise of shock. “Not that there’s anything wrong with L’manburg.”

“I can’t.” I muttered, getting awkward. “It sounds stupid but… but I had lost one of my best friends in a boating accident. I was with him… I should have been dead, I’m not actually sure how I survived. I’ve just been scared of water ever since.” It was probably unfair to tell him that. He was a random stranger asking a question and now I was telling him my traumas.

“You’re scared of water?” He asked, seeming sympathetic, to which I nodded. The short story was enough to have me drowning my fourth drink, or perhaps my fifth. It was also good motivation to order another one. A grin appeared on his face. “So like a glass of water? Or a shower?”

It was kind of a weird fear so I brought myself to laugh with a blush. “It’s um… not that.” I told him as I was handed yet another glass. For a moment I took a few breaths as the world around me was starting to spin. “Like pools and stuff. Water I can’ can’t see the bottm of.” My words began to slur.

Clay let out an ‘oh’ sound as I downed half of the glass at once. “Um… maybe we should get you to your house.” He offered, standing up and walking over to me. “You seem kinda drunk.”
“ ‘m fine.” I tried to reassure him before feeling my body begin to go limp.
“No you aren’t.” He responded. “I’ll take you to your room.”
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1265 words