bad, are you alone right now?

GEORGE! You muffinhead! Yes, I'm alone, where are you?

I sighed in relief, and called him. He picked up immediately.

"GEORGE! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "You're completely alone?"

"I'm in my car, driving, looking for you. Everyone else is, too."

I felt my stomach drop. Oh god, I'm so stupid. I should've told them not to look for me, and now they're probably worried sick.

"Well, I'm okay now, but I don't really wanna face them.... can we meet up?"

"I'll pick you up," he replied. "Send me your address."

Soon I was in Bad's car, and he was listening intently. I told him about my nightmares, about Clay, about running and about my years before I'd found him, Karl and Alex.

"Oh, you muffin," he sighed. "We're always here for you, you don't need to feel bad for needing support. I'm sorry you had to go through all that alone."

"Sorry for going MIA," I mumbled. "I need to apologize to Clay, but I'm scared that his parents will put me in foster care again. They're lawyers."

"We can talk to him," Bad assured me. "For now, can we meet up with the others? They're wondering where we are."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, but without Clay."

We drove to Alex's house, where everyone was meeting up. I felt nervous as I walked in through the front door, even though I'd only been gone for a day.

Immediately, Karl hugged the life out of me. "George! You're okay, oh my god."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, sorry for the drama."

He shook his head, his fluffy hair flinging around. "Dont be sorry, I should've been there for you."

"Yeah, you were too busy smooching Nick," Alex laughed, and my eyes widened. I went over to him, hugging him too.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you for so long. It's just..I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said, hugging back. "I get it, it's not something that's easy to open up about."

Then Bad poked me, and pointed upstairs. I looked at him confused, and then realized he meant Clay was up there.

I took a deep breath, and walked up the stairs, leaving Bad to explain everything for me. I pushed open the door to Alex's room, which was a mess as usual.

Clay was sitting on the bed, and when he saw me, jumped up.

"George!!"