George was standing outside Clay's house, panicking.

Why did I agree to this? Maybe I can still back out.

NO it's fine it's just Dream. CLAY. Call him Clay oh my gosh I can't call him Dream. This is a mistake I shouldn't be here.

No a6d will be here so it's fine. It's not like it's just us. I just have to act natural.

Clay opened the door.

"Hi!" George's voice broke on the "i". He cringed.

Clay didn't seem to notice. "Hey, come in." He opened the door wider and stepped aside.

"Thanks." George suppressed the urge to run away and walked inside, taking off his backpack.

"I feel like I haven't seen you much lately," Clay said casually.

"Yeah I've been doing stuff." George braced against the wave of guilt.

"Where's a6d? Is he here yet?"

Clay shrugged and sat down on the couch. "He can't come. He got cancelled or grounded or something."

"Oh."

Shitshitshitshit-

"That sucks."

"Yeah." Clay smiled at him. "You're not leaving right?"

"Of course not."

Fuckfuckfuckfuck-

George smiled back in what he hoped was a convincing way.

Actually he didn't want to leave, he just didn't want to be awkward. Clay seemed fine though; he was acting friendly like usual.

"Oh hey wanna see something?"

"Yeah, sure." George hadn't been to Clay's house in like a month.

Clay disappeared for a minute and then called out. "Close your eyes."

George did as he was told and heard Clay come back in and sit right next to him.

"Okay now hold out your hands."

"What do you have, Clay?"

"Just do it."

George reached out his hands...

And he felt something soft and light being placed in them.

He opened his eyes.

"Ta-da!" Said Clay.

George was staring at a tiny kitten.

"Her name is Patches."

She peered at George with her big eyes and meowed. He cradled her gently.

"She's adorable."

The rest of the evening went by pretty fast as George got comfortable and really enjoyed catching up with Clay again. He still got butterflies when he smiled, but he could function without thinking of his crush. They just talked constantly as Patches wandered around. Eventually they went up to Clay's room, but didn't get ready for bed. They were just reminiscing about when they were kids together, chuckling at the stories.

"And do you remember that time we went to the arcade and I spent all my tickets on those sunglasses for you? That was so funny. Lowkey they actually looked good on you though."

"Yeah haha that was a great time." George laughed and pretended they weren't his most prized possession.

He changed the topic from the past to the present. "So you moved rooms, huh?" He hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings, but now he glanced around. "It looks good."

"Yeah," Clay shrugged, "I decorated it myself. My favorite thing about it is this skylight right here." He gestured for George to come to the bed with him.

George came over and looked up where Clay pointed. "Wow."

He took in the stars, but Clay stood up on the bed.

"Check this out." He said.

He propped it open and offered a hand to George.

"Showoff. You actually go out here?" George asked.

"Yeah it's totally safe. I'll boost you up, shortie."

George stepped on Clay's little hand-stool. "You better not get me killed," he warned him.

"Yeah yeah." Clay huffed as he lifted him up. "You're heavy for a short person."

"HEY! I will stomp on you." George pulled himself over the edge of the skylight and flopped onto the roof. It was pretty flat.

Clay pulled himself up next to him. George scowled at him. "Showoff."

"You're just jealous. Look up idiot."

George did and almost toppled backwards trying to take it in.

Clay reached over to steady him, but he hardly noticed.

The sky was endless. It looked so deep. Constellations were everywhere. They were higher than most of the other houses and trees so it really seemed like they were above everything. In the sky.

"It's beautiful."

"Right?" Clay leaned back on his hands. "It's like you're in the sky and it's really really deep, away from everything else. I haven't come up here in awhile. I should more often though."

"I'm jealous. You're so lucky."

"Wait, do you hear that?"

They listened. George heard it again.

"What that's- it sounds like a bird, but birds don't sing at night."

"Well, actually I've heard them before." Clay looked to the trees.

"What- really?"

"Yeah one of my friend's older brother, like, studies birds or something."

"Oh that's cool. I bet it'd be wicked to birdwatch for a living."

"You'd be bad at it." Clay nudged George with his shoulder and then did an impression of him. "Uhhh what color is that bird- is it green or yellow- help me I can't see colors."

"Oh shut up-" George shoved him and he almost tumbled off the roof. He reached out and pulled Clay farther from the edge. "Careful."

Clay made a face at him. "And you thought I'd kill you."

"Eh, doesn't look that far."

"Yeah I've fallen down when I was younger, good thing I always land on my feet like a parkour master or I'd be actually hurt."

"Well, in that case." George made to push him off.

"HEY! Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." Clay scrambled out of the way.

They both laughed and then settled into quiet listening to the bird again. There was more than one singing now.

It's so surreal. It almost tricks me into thinking it's day. But it's so dark, probably past midnight now. I don't feel very tired.

"So what's going on with you?" Clay's question startled George a little bit.

"Uhh not much, I made friends with two guys from school, Grian and Mumbo. They have a nice friend group."

"They seem nice."

...

"So what's up with you? How's soccer?"

"Oh it's great. I love it so much, you know? It's like my favorite thing. I can just focus on what I'm doing and all my stress goes away. I just move." He laughed softly.

"I could talk about it all day. Oh, we had a practice earlier today actually. Some guys from another school showed up, the one we're playing Friday. They seemed a little weird, but friendly I guess. Someone invited them to Techno's party after the game, Wilbur, I think."

"His Halloween party?"

"Yep, Halloween's Friday, it just lined up this year."

"Cool." George didn't really like parties; it wasn't like he was invited to them much anyway.

Clay looked at him, probably thinking the same thing.

"You should come." He smirked. "To support my glorious victory once we win."

George laughed. "Yeah, right."

Later on they went back down and finally got ready to sleep, but both felt like they could have talked all night.

George declined sleeping in Clay's bed and went for the futon on the floor. The birdsong echoed in his ears as he closed his eyes.

"Goodnight George."

"Goodnight Dream."

(1.2 words)