all for a dare

23

-george pov-
(suggestion from skittleinnit :] )

i stayed in the same position for half an hour clearing out my thoughts. i didn't want to leave. it was a nice, calming place to be.

on the other side of the lake was another small grass area. trees were scattered everywhere, as well as some flowers.

the other side of the lake was a lot more clean. the side i was on was mainly overgrown plants. the only way you could get to the other side was is if you walked along a thin path between the woods and the lake. it was about two feet wide and was covered in leaves.

i looked around at all the flowers that were over there. most of them sat a couple feet away from the trees.

i looked away from the trees and looked at the lake. after minutes of looking at the water i looked back over at the trees.

i noticed someone leaning up against the tree on the other side of the lake. they were facing away from me, with their knees pulled up to their chest.

the more i looked at the them the more familiar they looked. i could only see their hair, seeing there face was tucked into their knees.

i continued to stare at them for a couple more minutes. i wasn't too worried about them seeing me, seeing they had their head down.

they lifted their head up and leaned it backwards against the tree. it looked like they were mad, frustrated.

i stared at them a little longer until i finally figured out who it was. it was clay.

he was the one who was sitting down at a lake by himself, crying, while leaning against a tree.

i felt bad if i'm being honest. he was probably crying over what he did to me. how i kept avoiding him, and how i said 'i wasn't mad' yet i kept running away from him.

i saw him put his head back down. i quickly sat up from the dock and began walking away. i walked across the short grass field then over to the path.

once i made it down the path i started walking towards clay, who was still crying into his knees.
i sat down next to him. both of us now leaning against the tree.

he lifted his head up and looked over at me. he then quietly muffled out to me. "what are you doing here?"

"i was sitting down at the dock, and saw you crying. figured i'd come over and see you," i explained.

"why do you still care about me? i fucked everything up," he cried out. "i never thought of your feelings when we hung out. not once! even when i would always kiss you. i don't know why, but i thought it meant nothing to you. i don't know what's wrong with me, i'm selfish."

"i don't hate you, you know."

"but why? didn't i fuck with your emotions?"

"yeah, you did. but i cant hate you. you've been beating yourself up for these past couple of days. i feel bad. i know you're sorry, i can tell.

clay didn't respond. i lifted myself off the ground and moved closer to clay. i wrapped an arm around him, trying to hold him for comfort.

we stayed like this for awhile. it was silent, a comfortable silence. clays breathing got slower and slower by the minute as he finally calmed down.

"clay, i want you to know that i don't hate you. i was confused and mad when i found out. i may have avoided you for awhile, but that's because i needed some time alone. i never hated you, so i'm sorry if it seemed like that. i'm sorry for avoiding you these past couple of days."

"it's fine, george," he said putting his arm around me, us now basically hugging each other. "if i were you i wouldn't talk to me ever again."

"i'd never to that."

i probably shouldn't, but i felt bad for clay. obviously what he did was wrong. and it obviously hurt me, but i could tell he was sorry. he was always continuously apologizing, and beating himself up. he made the situation worse for himself.

"thank you, for everything," clay said tightening his grip around my waist.

"there's no need to thank me."

"and i'm sorry, again. i was selfish and wasn't thinking of how you felt. i don't know why i did it. i really don't. and i'm sorry for using the 'drunk' excuse. the dare sounded like a fun thing to do while i was drunk. so i stuck with it. obviously when i started talking to you i wasn't drunk. i don't know what i was thinking. and i'm sorry for taking things so far. you came out to your parents, for me. i know that's a hard thing to do. especially with the fear of not feeling accepted. i'm sorry i made you do that if you weren't ready."

my dream. it seemed like my dream was happening in real life except a different setting. i brushed it off and continued talking to clay.

-
edit: to clarify the paragraph above. he's being reminded of the dream he had. (the dream where clay came over and apologized) so it seems like the dream is happening in real life, just in a different setting.
-

"clay, if anything you did me a favor. it's been a secret from the for almost three years now," i replied.

"what about everything else?"

"don't worry about it. just know i don't hate you, i never truly did. i just needed some time, okay?"

"thank you," he quickly responded.

"anytime, clay"