The Hyenas {Dreamnotfound AU}

9. Both of us

Clay's POV

"What do you think is beyond the wall?"

I open my eyes and see Nick stare off into the distance. He's sitting with his back against the pole of the swing set, his legs bended so his knees meet the height of his face, and his arms are lodged between them. I lay in the opposite direction, my hands behind my head. The orange glow of the sunset illuminates his face.

"Beyond the wall?"

"Yeah, outside the Safe Border," he clarifies, looking down at my face.

"I dunno, like, nature?" I guess. "Why are you asking?"

"Do you think we'll find out one day?" he asks, ignoring my question completely. He does that sometimes. Not on purpose, though, his mind occasionally just goes too fast to register that I'm even asking him anything. 

"Well, maybe, if it's safe again," I respond.

"Hmm."

---

"Clay?" I hear the overly awake and enthusiastic voice of Nick come through my phone.

"Nick, it's four in the morning, this better be an emergency," I croak out, falling back onto my pillow and closing my eyes again.

"Let's run away." Never mind those closed eyes.

"What do you mean?" 

"Exactly as I said dude, let's run away, let's find out what's outside the wall," he says. I can almost imagine him jumping up and down at the excitement of his own statement. 

I remain silent.

"Did you do drugs or something? Go to sleep Nick, we'll talk tomorrow," I groan, ready to end the call.

"I'm serious, Clay," he says, a sudden severity in his voice.

"Alright, so we'll talk about it tomorrow after class, okay? I really need to sleep now," I sigh, rubbing my forehead with my thumb and pointing finger.

"Okay. Goodnight, Clay."

"Goodnight, Nick," I tell him in a yawn, clicking away the conversation.

Run away, what an idea he's gotten into his head again.

---

"Just, listen! It's a good plan, if only you would hear me out on it!" Nick exclaims, following me out of the school's hallway. Outside I turn around to face him.

"It's a ridiculous idea, you can't possibly be serious about this! You should know better!" I yell back at him. His eyes turn to fire as he looks at me. 

"Just let me explain it all the way through and then you can tell me if it's a bad idea, and if you truly think it's a bad idea, then fine, I'll leave it, but just give it a chance!" Nick is now shouting full force at me, having me turn to stone.

Nick gets so passionate about things. He can never have a middle way of something. Either he likes something, or he extremely dislikes it. If he wants something, he'll make sure he gets it. Sometimes his determination gets the best of him, and he needs to be calmed down, before he does something stupid, or dangerous, or both. I am one of the few people he listens to, whose opinion he actually values. We're like brothers to each other. We disagree, we fight, but that's all because we love and care about each other.

"First you collect yourself, and if you can tell me in a calm manner, I'll listen," I tell him, my voice drastically lowered from before.

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