i accidentally met dream

twenty five

He stepped out, walking to the car beside me. He stepped into the car and started it, immediately telling me to get inside and out of the cold. Blasting the heat right away, the car began to warm up and our red cheeks started to return back to their normal color. I gave him the address and he drove out of the driveway after inputting it into his phone GPS.

The ride was comfortably silent, but I was still hurting somehow. There was a mutual agreement to not conversate until I deemed it okay to. I really didn't want to go, but it felt right to go. I felt like going to this funeral will fix some unsolved business even though they're not alive anymore. I just know I'll feel better about this. I'll be open to more things mentally and physically after this.

I'll take today and tomorrow at my own pace, but I don't want to spend my entire time here moping around. It's only today, tomorrow, the following two days, and the third day we fly back. The following two days... What am I going to do?

He pulled into this cemetery that they're holding the burying. I glance to see a small crowd of people. He parked and we headed out of the car towards the crowd. "You sure you can do this?" Clay spoke up.

"Yeah. I need to." I answered and we approached the crowd. A few family members were here, staring at the ground. We talked lightly, my family members let me know that I was late, but it was still great that I came. They knew this was hard for me, but no one felt really sorry for them. Everyone was aware of the situation, how they treated me and themselves. It wasn't anything new.

A few of my cousins were gawking over Clay, while he kept declining them. It was a highly inappropriate time, as we were at my parent's burial site. I grabbed his hand, which he seemed to be shocked by, and dragged him away from them, over to my parent's stone. I sighed and released his hand immediately, feeling my face heat up which wasn't from the cold or the snow, crouching down. "Sorry to drag you here." I mumbled. "I hated seeing my cousins do that though. They do that with everyone hot and attractive."

"You're fine, but thanks." He paused and looked down at me. It looked like he was about to say something, but he shut up pretty fast. I glanced away from him to the grave and stood up.

"Hey mom, and dad." I began. "I know there wasn't enough room in your heart to care for me, but I forgive you." I mumbled. "This is Clay." I wrapped my arm around his. "You guys would like him. He's one of my best friends," And probably more soon, "And he has taught me a lot without knowing he's taught me a lot." I felt his gaze. "I wish you were alive to meet him. His family is wonderful, his friends are some of the most amazing and talented people I'll ever know." I said.

"(Y/n)..." Clay whispered and I looked up at him, smiling. "You're crying."

"I am?" I laughed, "I didn't know." I touched my hand to my cheek and felt the wet tears. They continued. "I never noticed." I broke. I wobbled a bit, feeling my legs give out, but Clay didn't allow me to.

"Let's go back to the car and out of the cold. And the snow." He said, placing an arm around my back and helping me walk. I wiped my eyes, feeling dizzy from the sudden emotions. "We'll go back to Celestia's."

+++

It's been a couple days since, well, you know and honestly, it was great to take a break from everything that has happened. Clay and Celestia both helped me realize that my parents deserved it for all the shit they put me through. As much as I do think they deserved it, I do wish I could've forgave them face to face. Other than that, I had a couple days off and it snowed quite a lot which means, today has to be a vacation snow day. Plus, tomorrow is our last day here and I want to make today and tomorrow worth it before we have to fly back to Florida. While I do love the snow, I really miss the warmth of the sun, I realized.

So, I woke up at 10:00 am, I got dressed and headed back to the room, where Clay was peacefully sleeping. I do admit, we slept in the same bed last night, but I was just emotionally exhausted and basically let it all out last night. Everything. Anxieties, struggles, personal troubles. It just so happened to have him comforting me until I fell asleep, and him not wanting to wake me so we just slept together. Nothing wrong with a little cuddling and rule breaking. Rules are meant to be broken anyways.

I lightly sat down on my side of the bed, glancing every now and then at Clay, scared of disturbing his sleep, but also needing to because I want to do stuff today. I slightly pushed him, enough for him to make morning grunting sounds. His eyes fluttered open and I turned away to hide my cheeks before they turned red.

"Good morning." I mumbled.

"What time is it?"

"11:00 am." I turned back to look at him and I gave him a soft smile. "I want to go play in the snow."

"But you can do that alone-" He rolled onto his back, looking at the ceiling. "But let me guess, you have something planned for the day, there's more to today than just 'playing in the snow'." His eyes averted to mine and we locked for a few seconds before I turned away.

"Yes. Now please wake up and get ready, we're wasting the day." I said, standing up and turning to look at him. "I'm giving you 30 minutes."

"I only need 15." He grumbled, smiling at me.

I quickly turned around and walked out to meet Celestia. I closed the door behind me and walked to the kitchen with her.

"They're having a festival today downtown. Tonight, they're sending floating lanterns up into the skies, if you want to do that with Clay." She mentioned, beginning to make coffee for the morning.

"I was reading about that online. It's like a world culture festival, right? I bet it's going to be super pretty, since all the snow and stuff." I said, sitting on the couch, scrolling through notifications.

"Yes and the festival is extremely pretty during the snow as well." She paused. "Perfect for a date." She winked and I blushed so hard.

+++

"You ready? We're ubering. You also don't know what we're doing today, sorry. I will not tell you." I laughed a little, grabbing Clay's arm and dragging him outside where the uber was. She smiled and asked about our day so far. We made small conversation on the way there.

It wasn't very far or much longer until we got there. I gave the uber driver a tip and we exited the car and waited until she drove off. We crossed the road and there it was, the festival with music and shops and food.

Clay looked down at me. "A festival?"

"Yeah! It's a world culture festival." My face lit up. I was excited to get out of the house, of course. Anything to get out of the house and it just happened to be the same day this festival happened. I smiled at him and we walked around a bit, looking at the various things we could buy, learning about other cultures, craving their food, and a bunch of other things. It was lightly snowing, the sun shining, the people here were filled with joy, definitely a refresher from the past couple of days. "Can I... hold your hand?"

Clay looked at me as we walked past the booths of food, trying to decide on what to eat. His hand reached for mine and intertwined our fingers. "Is that an answer?" He mumbled, loud enough for me to hear. I blushed slightly and squeezed his hand tighter. I could feel the heat radiating off of his hand, even though we were both wearing gloves.

I was excited for tonight, with the lanterns, but for now, me and Clay wandered a bit, listening to music and trying out taste testers of different foods. Definitely my first time having fun in a while. I looked over at Clay as we walked and smiled. I look away before he has a chance to look at me, still hand in hand.