"Sit anywhere!" Ellie chirps, pointing at the couch where me and Clay are still wrapped up in each other, totally frozen.
"This is my roommate—" Ellie points at me, then pauses before saying my name, like she almost forgot it.
"—and this is her man Cl—"
"DRÉ!" I yelp as a knee-jerk reaction, shouting over her. "His name is Dré." I say, staring at Ellie with the burn of a thousand suns.
Her entire face scrunches up in confusion, mouth parting, likely to ask what the fuck I'm doing.
I shoot up before she can speak, grabbing her arm. "Oh my God Ellie! I need your help with something really quick—" I say, too loud, and drag her off.
Clay makes a noise of protest from where he's still sitting. I feel bad for abandoning him, but decide he can handle it, he's a big boy. I push Ellie into her room and close the door behind us.
"What the fuck?" Ellie asks, brow drawn, hands raised in an expression of disbelief. "Dré? What—"
I grimace.
"So like— I don't— how do I say this—" I start, floundering for my words. "Are you familiar with Twitch?" I settle for.
She purses her lips. "I mean... kinda. I've heard you use it. Sometimes the people I hang with talk about it."
I grimace, searching for the words. "So like, Clay's lowkey kinda famous." I eventually sputter out.
Ellie lifts her brows. "What? Like on Twitch?" She asks.
I nod, feeling sheepish. "He's arguably the biggest name in Minecraft speedrunning—" I start, and Ellie barks a laugh.
"Not Minecraft— wait. Why— what— why does this matter?" She asks, grinning at me.
I worry my lip. "Your friends are dressed up as him and his friends. The— green one. That's Clay, or, Dream I guess. The blue is his friend George, the dude with the accent you talked to. And the guy is dressed as Sapnap, um, he was the other guy on that call." I explain.
Ellie laughs for a minute, staring at me. But, I stay serious, and she slowly melts into serious as well. "You're not messing with me?" She asks.
I groan, shaking my head. "I fucking— I wish I was." I say.
Ellie flounders for a moment. "What— why. Okay. I guess." She starts, then purses her lips. "I was wondering— honestly! He drives that nice ass car, I just thought maybe he was a sugar daddy accountant or—" She continues and I yelp, slapping her shoulder.
"So... call him Dré. For now." I say, shifting nervously.
Ellie raises a hand in salute. "Scouts honor!" She chirps, then turns toward the door. "We left him alone out there." She says.
My breath hitches. "Yeah... we sure did." I say, then scramble to open the door.
I walk out, looking as casual as I can, hearing laughter from the living room. All three of Ellie's friends having squeezed onto the couch with Clay, the one dressed as Dream pressed into his side.
I barely don't laugh. Clay looks up at me wide eyed, raising his brows in an expression of disbelief.
I stride back out into the living room, releasing as casual of a laugh as I can. "Sorry! Needed help with my bra." I say, plopping back down in Clay's lap like a shield.
Ellie follows me out, looking somewhat stiff. "Wow— cool costumes! What are they of?" She immediately asks, and I grimace.
The girl dressed as Dream lights up. "It's this super cool streamer— he plays..." I tune it out, turning to look at Clay wide-eyed myself.
I lean into him, whispering as quietly I can. "Collect your bag, damn daddy."
Clay snorts, tightening his hand on my waist, glaring as hard at me as he physically can despite his smile.
The Dream girl finishes, and Ellie nods. "Wow. That's cool. I've never heard of that. Um, y'all ready for Monster House?"
Sapnap guy interjects. "Sis— you've never even heard of it?"
Ellie shakes her head.
"Pass me the controller— let's watch one really quick. It's so fucking funny, I promise." He says, extending a hand.
I literally feel like I'm having a stroke. I don't even want to know what Clay's ego is going to look like after this thorough jacking off.
I turn to look at Clay's face, seeing the smug smile and embarrassed flush. I shake my head at him, and he glances over, fighting a massive grin, before looking back.
I feel like I'm descending into insanity as 'if i pick up an item, this video ends... Minecraft' starts playing on our T.V. Clay's voice bright over the speaker. I have to close my eyes.
"Hey guys, it's Dream here..."
Thankfully it's loud enough Clay can let a laugh slip where he's buried in my shoulder.
Ellie shoots me an apologetic look as soon as she hears his voice. The final nail in the coffin. What I told her now very much confirmed.
The video continues, Clay's hands gripped impossibly tight to hold me in place as we sit and listen to his voice. I'm thanking God they picked the shortest one to show.
"You're jo—" He says in the video, cut to the gag music. Ellie's three friends laugh, as does Ellie, though, I don't think she's laughing at the video.
Clay audibly groans as the video finishes, and gets elbowed by the girl in the Dream costume. "What? You don't think that's funny!?" She asks.
Clay laughs, then speaks before thinking too much about it. "Nah, his other videos are better." He says.
The girl's eyebrows furrow. "Woah— dude. You have a really similar voice to him."
Clay you dumbfuck—
"Really? Hm, I don't hear it." He says back.
The girl fully tilts her head, face scrunched in confusion as she looks him over. "No I— dude you sound just like Dream. You even kinda look—"
Clay shrugs, squeezing me with his hands. "Nah. That's crazy." He says back.
I back him up. "Yeah I don't really hear it. Like there are similarities but, y'know." I say.
The girl looks like she's starting to doubt herself, though she's also looking at us like we're fucking crazy.
The George girl saves our asses, leaning in toward her. "Ally, stop harassing the crocodile hunter. Besides, Dream's name is Clay. Homeboy's named Dré or whatever."
Clay immediately wheezes a very telltale laugh before he can stop himself and hide himself back in my shoulder. A laugh that looks like it gets the George girl to doubt herself for a second as well before shaking it.
Ellie, thank God, tries to save us. "Well that was very enlightening—" She starts, but the Sapnap guy clicks 'Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters' and we're right back in it.
I want... I would like... I want to perish.
For some reason Clay's doing better than I am, seemingly, at handling himself in this situation. Though, maybe it's making me feel weirder to hear him talking because I'm looking at him.
I need something to make it through this.
"Want a drink?" I ask Clay, privately. He nods and I'm up, off to get just that.
While in the kitchen I hear Ellie speak. "Wow, 36 minutes? That's like a third of a movie! Like... Monster House for example." She says, then chirps an awkward laugh.
I mix our drinks, taking a shot for myself as I pour the liquor. I hesitate, but take another shot before leaving the kitchen, holding it in my mouth.
I wander back into the living room, clinking two fat glasses of jack and coke, and plant myself right back into Clay's lap. He makes grabby hands for it, but I shake my head, lifting up to my knees, tapping his chin with mine.
He's confused for just a moment until I press my lips to his and dribble whiskey onto his lip. He gets it at that point, opening his mouth for me. I let the liquor go from mouth to his, then chase it with my tongue, momentarily forgetting there are strangers sitting next to us.
I start to tune them out.
"This is why I hate straggots—" Ellie chastises us and we immediately break apart.
Everyone laughs, including us, me lifting an arm to wipe the liquor from my lip as I settle back into Clay's lap, nursing my drink. I look up at his face, feeling flushed and embarrassed. He catches me, and winks, before lifting his drink and nursing it as well.
This is gonna be a long night.
We watch for a minute, before Ellie speaks. "I'm not gonna lie I have no fucking clue whats going on." She says, eyes locked to the screen, brow knit.
The Dream girl— Ally, apparently, starts to explain it. The things that make it impressive, the things that make it difficult. On screen, Clay clutches, and the Sapnap guy yelps.
"God— he's such a daddy!" He says, and Clay chokes on his drink.
"Eric—" George-girl chastises, slapping him with her sword.
"Jade—" Eric mocks back, slapping her with his.
My eyes go wide, a grin splitting my face. "Dream's so fucking smart, yeah. It's hot." I say back.
"Finally someone else who sees what I've been speaking and preaching and praying and saying—" Eric continues as Ally and Jade make noises of disgust.
Ellie looks... beyond lost. Different dimension lost. Still, she seems entertained, privy as to why what I'm saying is so goofy.
Clay sucks in a sharp breath, holding himself back from laughing. "Nah—" He starts, "I bet he fakes his shit. There's no way." He says, lips twitching.
I turn on him, biting my lip. "You're just jealous of him aren't you, Dré? You wish you could play like that—" I say.
Clay rolls his eyes for the performance. "No. I could beat him on a real game any day." He says.
"And what would that real game be?" Ally asks as she leans back into Jade, who wraps her arms around her.
Clay pauses before he speaks, looking incredibly smug. "Fortnite."
I have to close my eyes to keep from screaming in laughter.
Eric screams for me. "Okay daddy Dré! Bald." He says, making Clay laugh. Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you, Eric.
Ally leans in, looking genuinely curious. "Anyways... you really think Dream fakes them?"
Clay hums. "Oh yeah, for sure. He seems like a dick. A no grip getting mother fucker. I bet I have more Reddit karma than—" he's cut off by more shouting.
I'm honestly a little embarrassed. Everyone thinks it's funny, but not for the reason it's actually funny.
I play my part. "Oh my God, daddy... of course! I bet you do. He's such a brainlet compared to your massive, throbbing IQ. I know he fakes those runs."
Clay can't hold back his laugh this time, slapping my ass as punishment. It makes me jump.
Ally grimaces at us. "Not the redditor with a daddy-kink thinking he's allowed to have opinions."
"Fuckin'... right. Kitten, log on Discord for me..." Jade says, also side-eyeing us.
He's successfully made Ellie's friends... kinda hate us. I can feel the bristling distaste coming off of them. At least the two girls. It's... fair though. We're acting like freaks. Still, it's enough that they no longer seem suspicious of Clay.
Ellie interrupts. "So how about that Monster House!" She chirps, and forcibly turns the Youtube video off.
"Sounds good to me!" I say back to her. She takes it as permission enough and gets up, flipping the lights off. The movie starts, and I get invested. Everyone stays relatively quiet, a spare joke here or there.
As the movie comes to a climax, I actually fucking cry, though, that might have something to do with the alcohol giving me the slightest of a buzz.
I bury in Clay's neck, wiping my tears there and nuzzling in, curling up in a ball. He holds me tighter, soothing me with small motions up and down my back, then presses a kiss to my forehead. Sap.
The movie finishes, and I pout. Ellie's up quick.
"Okay— it's late enough. Time for the real show." She says, standing.
I sit up for that, wiping my eyes. I've been waiting for this one. I hop out of Clay's lap.
"Wha—" Clay starts, but I ignore him, following Ellie to the kitchen.
We giggle, looking at each other, and load our arms up with liquor bottles, stomping back out to the living room.
"Drinking game!" I chirp.
"Bet!" Ellie tags on.
Clay sits up, shaking his head. We sprung this one on him before, during Spring break, but Ellie's new friends don't look like they're familiar.
"Counter clockwise, dare on the room as a whole. Accept by saying bet. Do the dare, everyone else drinks. No one accepts, darer drinks."
It's... just an easy way to get fucked up fast.
We drop all the liquor to the coffee table and I kneel on the floor. Everyone else follows us down to the floor, looking excited, pensive.
I feel a hand on my back, massive, steadying, warm, and nearly moan. Oops. I might be a little more ushy gushy than expected.
I turn to look at Clay as he keeps scooting in closer, oblivious to what his hand just did to me. I have to lean in, pressing my lips to his jaw. He startles for a moment, but holds me tighter, until I'm satisfied and settle with my head on his shoulder.
"I go first! My birthday is closest!" I say, excited.
"Yeah? When." Eric quips back.
"November 12th!" I say right back.
He pouts. "You beat me by a day..."
I grin, pleased with myself. "Okay— I'll start with something simple just as an example. Swap hats with me."
Clay leans in, already swiping my bunny ears. "Bet." He says, then plops his cowboy hat on me and the ears on himself.
I smile, bright. "Now, everyone else takes a drink!"
All three of them nod, seemingly understanding, nursing their way-too strong drinks. Ellie gives me a thumbs up. I turn toward Clay, and look up at his face.
"Your turn."
Clay hums, looking back down at me. "Swap hats with me." He says.
I bite my lip, laughing. "Bet." I say back, doing just that.
Ally protests. "That's so— boring. I feel like Dré should have to drink for that." Jade hums along in agreement.
Clay just shrugs and does it. I roll my eyes.
"Onto you, Allycat." Ellie says.
Ally grimaces. "Ew. Don't call me that." She pauses for a second, thinking, then: "Show toes."
Eric perks up immediately. "Bet." He slaps a bare foot onto our coffee table and I make a mental note to clean that later.
"Put it away—" Ellie says, laughing, slapping at his leg.
Clay and I make awkward eye-contact, two fish out of water, and take our drinks. The burn is nice, distracting, promising. I would like very much to get to the point just before drunk where everything is warm and loose and perfect.
Onto Jade. She barely thinks before grinning and speaking. "Shake some ass."
I nearly shoot up to occasion, but Eric is quicker.
"Music." Is all he says.
I giggle. "Dibs on DJ." I say, then immediately put on No Hands.
I don't expect the way Eric drops his ass like it's the Times Square ball drop. I purse my lips and whistle, low, taking my drink.
"Daddy chill—" Clay mumbles out, and I choke on my drink.
"Damn, you shit with that ass?" Ellie asks, and I choke again.
Eric grins as he sits back down and takes his turn. I end up being part of the group that drinks, again.
Finally, at the end of the rotation. Ellie.
"Give me a smoochie." She says, then puckers her lips, waiting.
Silence. Crickets. Breathing.
"What? No one?" Ellie says, pouting.
I laugh, pouting with her. "I got a man, otherwise I would." I say.
Ellie looks right at me. "Not even my wittle cheek?" She asks.
I shrug for that. "Okay. Bet." I say.
Clay squeezes me once, then I'm up. I dart over to Ellie, holding her face with both of my hands and smack wet kisses to both of her cheeks while she giggles.
Eric gags.
I sit down next to Clay, beaming. The next few rounds stay tame, until we get to a point where there's a considerable fuzz in our brains. That's... that's when things start to stray.
"Let me take a body shot off of you." Ally says, and Jade's up.
"Bet." She says, lifting her dress up to her ribs.
I immediately shift awkwardly, looking over at Clay who's gone wide-eyed. He turns in toward me, meeting my shocked gaze as that happens.
It's not the two girls tonguing each other on my coffee table for me, no. It's the fact that it's two girls dressed as Clay and George tonguing each other.
"This is no different from how Dream and George just act normally—" I say, teasing, staring right at Clay.
He smacks my ass as punishment, as he does.
"Yeah!" Jade chirps, agreeing to my joke in earnest. "That's why we chose them and put Eric on Sapnap. It's secretly a couple's costume." She says,
I feel like I'm losing my fucking mind.
"You're so right!" I say back, finally able to look at them now that Jade has put her dress back. "I actually have these two friends that love DreamNotFound and would go crazy for your costume. Can I get a pic?" I ask.
They agree, and pose for me.
It goes straight to George and Sap.
1 Attachment
'george is a bottom confirmed???? 🤭' 10:05 pm
Once it gets back to Clay, he has games in mind. "I'm feeling inspired." He starts, "Let me take a body shot off—"
"No. Drink." I say, immediately shaking my head.
Clay pouts. "Babe—"
"Nope. No shot." I say, firm, laughing in his face.
Eric backs me up. "Lay down the fucking law."
I grin, staring Clay down. "Take your drink, bitch boy." I say.
I don't expect the way Clay's hand tightens on my back like a threat, his jaw briefly ticking.
"Oh, come on." He says, low, and I melt.
I see Ally's head snap toward Clay in the corner of my eye, a flash of recognition passing through the doubt we've seeded.
Before I can push further, Clay rolls his eyes and takes his drink.
We make it another round before the girls go crazy again.
It's Jade's turn. "Kiss me." Is all she says before Ally pounces her and they start mashing against each other.
I stare, jaw dropped open, absolutely fascinated. The way the Dream cosplayer pushes back the George cosplayer and—
I'm pulled from my focus by a squeeze on my hip and startle, seeing Clay is averting his eyes. Oh right, this is probably a little more awkward for him. I'll give him an out. I need an out anyways, I think I'm at the sweet spot of tipsy right before being totally loss-of-control drunk.
"Wow. Um— I sure am hungry. Cl— er— Dré, you wanna come to the gas station with me to get some snacks?" I say, aloud.
"Say less." Clay says, and shoots up to his feet, headed for the door.
I follow, waving Ellie goodbye. "Text me any snack requests. We'll be back!" I chirp, then mouth 'sorry' at her.
The silence as we exit my apartment and get to the sidewalk is thick. We bump shoulders, look at each other one more time, and it's all it takes to break.
"What— the— fuck?" I wheeze out as Clay folds, laughing hard enough he starts coughing.
"Top— top ten— Dream and— and George— gay moments—" Clay sputters out, just barely, through his wheezing, looping an arm around my waist to reel me in. "Number one— fucking— that—"
"Please—" I choke back through my laughter. "I thought I was going to fucking shit myself when you said Fortnite—"
Clay squeezes me impossibly tight, burying his head in my hair as he laughs hard enough to shake. "I thought— I almost—" He tries, but forfeits.
The second I'm collected enough to pull back I go right back in on it.
"God. I can't believe you have b-beef with Dream. Didn't know you hated him so much—" I say, barely forcing out the last word before I wheeze and start laughing again.
"Yeah— well. He fakes all of his runs so—" Clay follows, back to laughing with me.
I bite my lip, dabbing at my tears. "Yeah? Well I heard he let his girlfriend put him in a maid dress and whimpered while she jerked him— AH!"
I shout as Clay grunts, lifting me and swinging me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I slap at his back, yelping, still laughing.
"Let me down you jackass!" I yell out, then knock his hat to the ground.
Clay lowers me back to standing, though he rolls his eyes, and bends over to swipe up his hat. "Where the fuck are we even going?" He asks, between short laughs.
I bite my lip, grinning. "To get snacks at the 7/11 I got assaulted at, idiot." I say.
Clay's face goes lax in surprise, hand on the small of my back pulling me close. Oops, that might've been too far.
"I— yeah. Okay. Christ baby, what?" He asks, looking worried.
I shift in toward his chest, nervous. "Sorry. Bad humor coping mechanism."
Clay hums, lifting his second arm to wrap it around me, holding me impossibly tight.
"It's all good. I've got you." He says with a laugh that's soft and small as he kisses my forehead.
"I know." I mumble back. Even if it's brief, I know he does, with certainty.
I pull back after a minute and wrap my arm around his, holding his hand with both of mine as I walk at his side. Clay takes a protective positioning, just slightly behind me so that I can lead him.
It's nice to be out in public, seeing other people in costumes, breathing the night air, taking a second to collect ourselves from the insanity that just happened. I relax momentarily, letting the fuzz of alcohol fade in.
It doesn't last long.
I feel my heart start as we approach the 7/11, and grip down on Clay's arm impossibly tight, nausea building in my stomach. I didn't realize I would have this reaction. But, standing at the doors, panic takes over and I step back.
"I can't." I mumble, tugging Clay back with me.
"Can't what?" He asks, voice soft and attentive.
"I—" I start, feeling my heart rabbit, taking a few rapid steps back. "I can't go in— can I— please—" I take a sharp breath and Clay's on me immediately, wrapping me tight and shushing me, backing me away from the doors.
"I've got you. It's okay. I've got you." He mumbles.
I lift my hands, digging them into his shoulders, nodding, dragging in steadying, gasped breaths. I have to take the moment, his hands soothing up and down my back until it feels like I'm on ground again.
I let my head fall forward, taking a shuddered breath. "Shit. I didn't— realize. I'm kinda fucked up over this." I mumble.
Clay hugs me tighter, swaying me in his arms. "It's okay. Let's just go home, yeah? No snacks." He says.
I laugh, shaking my head.
"No. Just— just go in. I'll wait out here. I'll be fine." I mutter out, not too sure of it myself, but feeling overwhelmingly guilty.
Clay pulls back, cupping my face and holding it up, searching my expression. "You're sure?" He asks.
I nod into his palm, then lift to my tip-toes to press a quick peck to the corner of his lips. "Go. Be fast about it." I smile briefly. "I want to see the 7/11 speedrun world record, yeah?" I say, and he smiles back, nodding and stepping away.
I curl in on myself as he disappears into the store, pulling my phone out to scroll social media. I can do just this much. Waiting.
Well, I could. If that's all I had to do.
"Hey, Bunny." An increasingly too-familiar voice starts, and I see Matt.
My head swims, legs going numb. I take a shaky step back, but it's too late, there's a hand planted on my arm holding tight enough I yelp in pain.
"I've been looking for you. You haven't been coming to class, and you hardly leave home—" He says.
I whine. "Please let go—" I say, tremble starting in both of my hands.
To my surprise he does, but I'm not free yet. He keeps close to me, keeping me crowded against the wall of the 7/11, talking at me.
"This fucking outfit— wow— you really knew what you were doing." He says, leaning in close enough I can smell the alcohol on his breath. "I know it's for me. Why don't we stop playing this fucking game and—"
I tune his voice out, curling in on myself, feeling like the worst fucking person alive, too fucking stupid and helpless to take care of myself for five fucking seconds and—
The door to the store opens, Clay coming out, turning toward me, split into a stupid grin holding up an Arizona. Just looking at him makes it so I can breathe again. He's safety. I'm safe.
There's a snap second where he sees what's happening and the smile drops off his face, setting into something terrifyingly harsh. He strides up fast, silent, pushing an arm out to shove Matt back before pulling me into his chest.
He looks— pissed, violent, yet controlled.
"Hey man— not tonight." Is all he says, and I realize he doesn't realize, this isn't a random guy that just approached me. This is something more. This is the guy.
How do I communicate that without putting us in danger—
I feel the chill of the tea in his hand, remember the safeword, and use it.
"I don't want an Arizona." I say, breathy, heavy, heavy influence on the Arizona.
Clay pauses, brow knitting together as he seems to think about the implications. I meet his eyes, barely not crying, and see the click.
The violence and anger melts into total, complete, calm. Clay nods, letting me know he's got it. Got me. Then turns toward Matt, walking out of my arms.
"Hey man." Clay starts, extending a hand. "I'm Dré. What's your name?" He asks.
Matt looks at him like he's insane, then looks at me again, addressing me. "You can't avoid me forever baby." He says.
Clay adjusts, blocking me off from Matt's vision with his body. "Your name?" Clay asks again.
Matt glares at him, then spits. "What the fuck do you care? It's Ma—"
In a fraction of a second, Clay reels back and clocks him hard enough in the fucking jaw I hear a snap.