The moonlight lit up the parking lot as they walked through the sliding doors and into the store. He looked at Clay's maskless face and admired all of his prominent features: his eyes, curly hair, his jawline, everything. All of him just seemed perfect to George. He felt a little flutter in his chest, but brushed it off.
Probably nothing.. he thought to himself.
He forwarded his gaze back to the objects in front of him.
***
Clay was scared to go out in public. He didn't like the attention, after all. He was nervous that someone would recognize him. But this is the first time that he has been out in public without a mask on after the overhyped face reveal.
***
George pulled his phone out of his back pocket hoping to see some sort of notification pop up on his screen. It read:
Snapchat: dream - 15 min ago.
Somehow, Clay noticed that he had his phone in his hands and blurted out,
"Nononono, do not open that yet...Not here at least,"
George's anxiety levels rose.
"What? Why? And what do you mean by 'not here'?"
His soft British accent made Clay smile.
"Because i want to be there when you open it,"
The anxiety was in full blast for George, almost to the point where he was shaking. He checked his friends' instagram and snapchat stories and replied to them. Then, he slid his phone back into his pocket.
"I swear if I get memed with that dumb rooster picture-"
"It's actually a chicken." Clay cut in.
"Whatever it is, I don't care! I'm going to be mad, rooster or chicken!"
They both laughed it off and continued walking through the aisles.
They passed through one and George was staring. Again. This time, though, the flutter was much more prominent than before. He looked at Clay up and down and up again. He watched and admired the way he walked and even admired the way he fidgeted with his hands. The thought of holding Clay's hand caused a lump in his throat. He would still be staring when Clay spoke,
"George," He snapped out of it and looked to his left. "You're staring."
"Oh, uh, sorry I, uhm, I must've zoned out or something." His face was redder than the jacket he was wearing. He looked a little longer then started walking again. He knew the real reason George was staring, but he wouldn't talk to him about it because, in fact, he felt the same way. He has joked about 'being in love with your best friend' before,hence the "Are you in love with your best friend?" quiz that they took on a discord podcast together. He always said he was joking, but deep down he knew the truth.
***
When they got back to the house, the time was 10:05 pm. It was only them as Nick was out with some of his old friends.
"Where's Nick?" George asked.
"Oh, He and his old high school football friends or teammates or whatever they are invited him to go out and get some drinks with them. He left like an hour ago so, knowing him, he probably won't be back until sunrise so...it is what it is, I guess."
George just nodded his head, pulled out his phone, and sat down on the couch. The snap form dream reminded him, it read:
Snapchat: dream 9:56 pm.
"I'm opening this snap from you," he hesitated before opening it. Half of him saying 'don't open it, its that dumb chicken meme,' ad the curious half of him genuinely wanting to know what it is. He opened the notification and a mirror pic of Clay's shirtless body sitting down in a chair with the LED's red showed up. He stared at it for a second then spoke:
"I-...Woah-" Clay chuckled and then got up to the fridge to go get a beer. "This is- I don't even know what to say. Well, first, why?"
George didn't mind it, maybe even liked the picture. He told himself that he would go to great lengths to make sure that Clay didn't find out he was in love with him. In fact, he didn't have to because the feeling is mutual.
"I was going to send it while you were streaming the other day, but Nick convinced me not to. Do you want to see another one I took?" He took a sip of the bottle and pulled out his phone. Another snap was received from 'dream'.
His heart was beating a little faster than normal. He really needed George to like these pictures. The other snap was similar with a similar concept but this one with him standing with wet hair. He looked like he just got out of the shower. He particularly liked the picture of him with wet hair because he swooned over his wet hair. Everything about Clay was just the perfect boyfriend. Little did he know, he was staring at the pictures.
"George?" He was still staring and he tried getting his attention. "George!"
"Huh, What? Sorry- I-uhm..." Clay chuckled and jokingly said,
'Wow. Am I just that attractive?" He started laughing.
"I mean- I guess? Is it attractive? Yes. Is it sexy? Absolutely not..." He closed the app and put his phone down while he went to the fridge to get some water, then sat back down.
Clay had a very low tolerance for alcohol so he would get buzzed off of three or four bottles.
"Ya know, your fucking disgusting for drinking beer. If you drink, at least drink something that doesn't taste like absolute shit,"
George sat there for a second displaying the image in his head. He made up scenarios, fantasizing you could say, about the two of them being alone doing 'terrible' things.
Clay smiled a bit while also deep in thought closely about the same thing, and scooted closer to George. At that moment, he thought George was so pretty. The way his hair fell down into his face just above his eyes. George's eyes were his favorite thing about him.
"Uhm, hello?" Both their eyes met and their hearts skipped multiple beats. "You're uhm—, You're staring." His face was tinted pink. "Stop looking at me, idiot," He chuckled a bit. He took another sip of his bottle then set it down on the floor by his feet. George began to play with his hair, twisting and twirling it around in his fingers. The scenario of them being alone together made him smile, again. Clay took his hands and placed them on Georges chin, pulling his head to face him.
Phase one of Clay's mastermind plan was in motion.
"Clay-" He managed to stutter out. Their eyes met once more.
Kiss me already, idiot.
