Needless to say, George felt extremely embarrassed. And kind of disappointed, too. He finally got the chance to get rid of his "loneliness problem" and he blew it. On what? A fantasy involving his best friend of all people. Not to mention, a fantasy that would never come true.
He ducked into an alley and leaned against one of the walls to stay out of sight. He wasn't really sure what he was hiding from - it's not like Stephen would come after him after that "fantasizing about someone else" thing he pulled, but he couldn't stand to face people right now.
Taking a deep breath, he recollected himself. He felt the effects of the fancy alcoholic beverage slowly wearing off. "It's all gonna be fine," he thought. "Apart from Stephen's feelings." God, he felt like an ass. But there was nothing he could do right now. He had enough pride not to go back up to the apartment and beg for his ex's forgiveness.
Instead, he headed for his own. He felt like being in a private space. The whole "exploring the city" thing had gone terribly wrong.
Thankfully, the power had been turned back on in his apartment building. He threw himself onto the bed and buried his face in the pillows. It was gonna take a lot of time to recover from the awkwardness he experienced that day. At least no one else would know about it except for them two.
He rolled into his side and picked up the phone that was now fully charged. There was no major news - just a few new posts from his friends and fan tweets.
Well, there was also one more thing he really didn't want to face - a text from no other than Clay. He could read most of it from his notification bar without opening the app and letting the sender know he'd seen it.
The first message was from the morning.
__________
Dream 💚
georgieeeee help
im coding a plugin
__________
Then, after a few hours, he had sent another one.
_
_________
Dream 💚
george where u at?
it shows my messages a-
__________
Then again, an hour ago:
__________
Dream 💚
geeeeeeeorge answer m-
where are youuuu? slee-
__________
George would have probably been smiling at the needy messages if he wasn't so damn embarrassed. There wasn't any reason for it, since Clay didn't really know about his day, but he couldn't help feeling... guilty for some reason.
In the end, he decided to open the messages.
__________
Dream 💚
georgieeeee help
im coding a plugin
Dream 💚
george where u at?
it shows my messages arent being delivered :/ rip georgie
Dream 💚
geeeeeeeorge answer me you loser
where are youuuu? sleeping at 4?
__________
George decided telling the partial truth would be for the best. He'd leave out the part where he fantasized about him, of course.
__________
George
Hey Dream, missed me so soon? ;*
I ran into an ex and spent some time at his place
Still need help with the plugin?
__________
He hoped the reply was believable enough not to cause suspicion but not so vague that Clay would ask him questions. The typing bubbles instantly popped up at the bottom of the screen.
__________
-POV CHANGE-
Clay had been sitting at his computer for hours, editing a video. All the blinds were shut, leaving the room to be illuminated only by the cold white light coming from a lamp hanging from the ceiling. He was about to get up to take a snack break when his phone dinged. The only person who he didn't have muted was George, so he instantly picked up the phone and sent a text.
Clay
GEORGE
finally >:(
__________
He had been worried since George never left for more than a few hours at a time without saying anything. Even while moving, he always texted what he was up to and why he couldn't talk. Clay still missed him, but it was better than nothing.
He started to type out a message saying he was worried, but he stopped. He had been so excited to get a message from George, he'd forgotten to actually read what he said.
_________
georgie 💕
Hey Dream, missed me so soon? ;*
I ran into an ex and spent some time at his place
Still need help with the plugin?
_________
He stared at the messages for a long time. George was right, even if only joking. Clay hated to admit how attached he was getting to his best friend.
Also... he ran into an ex and spent some time at his place. It was funny how for all the time he knew George, he never found out he was into guys.
Wait... He ran into an ex and spent some time at his place... Clay knew what that meant. And he also knew that George was his best friend, so why did thinking about his Georgie with another guy make him feel so weird? Clay didn't even like guys to chalk the feeling up to jealousy.
He decided to call George instead of talking to him through text. It was strange to admit, but he really wanted to hear his voice.
_________
-POV CHANGE-
All George could think during the call was Clay's voice - how it would sound next to him in bed when he was groggy from having recently woken up, how it would sound whispering the things he wanted to do to him, or humming a rhymeless tune while cooking.
Luckily for him, Clay wasn't too big on showing his face, so they weren't talking on videochat. Even if George was extremely curious what his best friend and the man he was so madly yearning for looked like. However, that meant Clay couldn't see his blush when he was imagining random scenarios with them in love - everything from innocent hand holding to the stuff of his wildest fantasies.
The fact that George wasn't visible didn't stop Clay from realizing something was off about him, though. He was oddly spaced out and giving short answers, letting the other talk. George tried to convince him that he was just tired, but to no avail.
"Tired from what, paying a little visit to your ex?" George could practically see the smirk on Clay's face as he spoke.
"Yes, for your information," he decided what the best way of going about discussing the day was. Finally, he decided to just cut the conversation short before he blurted something out that he'd regret, "I'm gonna sleep now, Dream..."
George thought that if he referred to his friend with a nickname rather than his name, his feelings wouldn't flare up too much. Using actual names was... too intimate. It's why he squirmed when Clay made flirtatious jokes while addressing George with his real name.
"Sleeping at 4:30 PM?" Dream chuckled, "Jeez, you really are tired. Goodnight Georgie."
Even after he got changed and laid down in bed, he found himself repeating that phrase again and again in his head.
"Goodnight Georgie."
Something about it was so sweet and pure. He imagined Clay holding him to his chest in best, running his fingers through George's hair and telling him goodnight like that.
A head swirling with thoughts of Clay, he hugged a pillow tight and slowly drifted off. He hadn't had sleep that good for ages.