No Longer Silent Around You

9

Warnings:
-Mentions abuse/bullying

Clay's POV

I hung out with George for another hour and he went home after that. Reman was in his room and I crawled next to my mother on the couch.

'That i-i-is George,' I whispered. 'He's v-very s-sweet.'

'I understand why you want to be friends with him, he's a very polite and sweet boy.'

I nodded happily and smiled. 'I think we a-are b-becoming f-friends,' I whispered. 'I w-want to g-g-give more n-notes to h-him.'

'That's really sweet of you, honey,' my mother said as she kissed my cheek. 'Can you tell me what Reman did to you?'

'Mean,' I whispered as I hugged her. 'I h-h-had to h-hide.'

'You don't have to hide, honey. You're beautiful and really sweet, Reman is in the wrong here.'

'A-a-annoying?' I muttered as I pouted.

'You're not annoying at all, sweetie. I love you a lot the way you are and I'm sure George does too! He didn't seem too happy with what Reman did to you.'

'W-would h-h-he ever be m-my friend?' I mumbled as I closed my eyes and held my ear against my mother's chest.

'Who knows, I definitely think he wants to.'

I smiled and ended up falling asleep.

The rest of the weekend was kind of boring. I was excited to go back to George since I had been writing notes for him all weekend.

On Monday morning, I went to school really early with my notes and looked at them.

I reali I want to be you're freind :)

Your verry sweet to me and I apriciat you

I like you <3 :D

I'm to shy to sow you who I am, but I wil some day :)

I squeezed my hands happily again and ran to his locker, sliding the notes in it with a big smile on my face. I quickly ran away and sat in the distance, looking at George's locker until he arrived at school.

He walked to his locker and opened it, seeing the notes. A smile immediately filled his face and he read all notes multiple times, having his cheeks heat up a tiny bit.

I giggled and moved my legs out of excitement. I got very happy when I saw George happy, because I knew he wasn't always as happy since he had a mood disorder.

George put the notes in his bag again and started walking to his class as he saw me sit down. 'Hi, Clay!'

I smiled and lifted my shoulders shyly as I giggled softly.

'Are you happy today?'

I nodded slightly and hid my face behind my hands. George grinned and ruffled my hair up with a smile. 'How did your homework go?'

I put my thumb down and pouted slightly to show him it didn't go well.

'Do you want to look at it together?'

I nodded slightly and smiled as George sat next to me. George reached out to grab my bag and laid his hand on my leg to get a grip.

My cheeks heated up and I looked at his hand with a smile. I really liked him being close to me, it made me feel loved and safe when someone showed physical affection. That's why I always wanted to cuddle with my parents too.

George grabbed my book and notebook and started reading through it as he kept his hand on my leg. I got very shy and looked away as I still tried to take a step too.

I looked at my feet and placed my hand on top of George's. George looked up and glanced down at our hands, turning his hand around to hold mine. We intertwined our fingers together and George scooted even closer to me, putting my notebook on both mine and his lap.

'Look,' George said as he pointed with his free hand. 'You did very well, just a small number.'

He started explaining it to me and I smiled shyly, being very happy that he was this sweet to me. George noticed me being excited and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

'You look really happy today.'

I got so happy that I hid my face in his hoodie and George ran his hand through my hair. 'Do you like hugs?'

I nodded softly and George pulled me in for a hug, suddenly turning quiet. I looked up at him staring and grabbed his hand. He was startled and looked at me.

'I'm sorry,' he muttered. 'Just a sudden mood swing again.'

I gave him a tight hug and couldn't stop smiling since he was hugging me back. Maybe I would make a friend once who also like cuddling. His hoodie was touching my shirt and his hands were around my shoulders, I really loved hugs.

We sat like this for a little while as George suddenly started crying. I pouted and grabbed his hand tightly.

'You didn't do anything, Clay. I'm sorry, I sometimes just suddenly cry without a reason.'

I hugged him again and we kept cuddling for a long time. We broke the hug when George was feeling better and I giggled shyly to show him I liked being with him.

'Clay, can you promise me one thing?'

I nodded softly and he grabbed my hand.

'Please, don't listen to your brother. You're perfect enough and I don't want you to be scared to show yourself. I also don't think you're annoying and even if you would ever talk to me, I would never make fun of your stutter.'

I smiled shyly and gave him another hug.

'I bet your voice is beautiful,' George giggled.

I had my face turn red and I couldn't stop smiling anymore.

'Is your arm okay?' he asked me a second later, lifting my arm carefully.

I nodded and lifted my sleeve to show him a bruise.

'Does it hurt a lot?'

I shook my head and George smiled, leaning in. He pressed a very short kiss on my arm and smiled. 'You're perfect the way you are. Let's go to class now.'

I had the darkest cheeks ever. I didn't feel this much happiness in years so I let out a squealing sound. George giggled and grabbed my hand. 'Let's go.'

1050 words