~~ y/n's pov ~~

i woke up the next morning, tired and confused. i thought back to the rollercoaster of last night. the last thing i remembered was sitting in front of the oven with clay, watching the cookies baking.

"...there is no one i'd rather have. i cant take away all your worries, but i promise. we will never get sick of you."

those words lingered in my brain the whole night. i was probably just tired but it felt like there was more meaning to that. he kept switching from we to i. that mean anything?

i fell back in my bed with a thud. overthinking every little thing would be the death of me, i swear.

as i laid there, i realized how uncomfortable this bed really was. i had managed to sleep last night out of pure exhaustion but it wouldn't cut it tonight.

i sat up slowly and checked my phone for the time.

7:27

'so early...' i groaned and slid out of bed. i grabbed some socks and left my room to grab something to eat.

i rubbed my eyes as the light of the apartment flooded in the big windows. walking lightly, hoping to not wake anyone up, i grabbed a bagel from the cabinet.

i prepared my breakfast and tiptoed to the balcony door, sliding it open. the warm breeze mixed with the soft city sounds washed over me as i sat down on the concrete floor.

this moment of tranquility was much needed, it felt like my head was finally clear. i could finally figure out my thoughts in a less emotional way.

'okay, so we had a slight breakdown last night. that's natural and fine; it was a big change and that can be stressful. don't feel bad that you woke clay up, for all that we know it wasn't our fault. we didn't hold him there, he wanted to stay.

his statement was nothing more than as friends, if he liked us he would make it obvious. don't run yourself into the ground thinking about something that could never happen. we don't want to make it awkward, it's just a slight attraction. totally manageable.'

i sighed in relief and untensed my body. it was nice to have some clarity, everything always seemed to be emotional with me.

i stayed on the balcony for a while, just enjoying the peace and soft background noise from down below. when i finally went back in, everyone else was up and hanging out in the kitchen.

"good morning guys!" i said brightly, crossing my fingers that no one else knew about the events last night.

"hey y/n, how long have you been up?" george asked me while the others said their hellos quickly.

"ehh hour or so? the sun woke me up and i couldn't get back to sleep." i answered, placing my plate in the sink and leaning on the counter.

"god me either, at least you slept through the night. i woke up like every hour and just laid there." nick yawned in response.

'so maybe they didn't know?'

i sighed in relief and glanced behind me.

"oh! um i made some cookies last night if any of y'all want them, a nice welcome present?" i said, gesturing towards the container they were in.

"thanks y/n, they look great" clay said as he walked over and grabbed one, shooting me a wink.

i rolled my eyes and laughed quietly, but mouthed a quick 'thank you' to him. he grinned back and walked away, back to his room.

"oh also, i wanna get started on my room, does anyone wanna come shopping with me?" i asked, changing topics.

"yeah i'll come, couldnt hurt." clay answered casually and i nodded in agreement. i looked up and saw george and nick communicating silently about something.

"george and i are actually busy with.. something. but you two can still totally go!" nick answered a bit too quickly. i raised an eyebrow and heard what sounded like a facepalm from down the hallway.

"am i missing something here?" i asked, genuinely confused.

they laughed for a while and reassured me that nothing was wrong. i jokingly groaned in response, but also left to get ready for the day.

i put on a simple outfit and grabbed my wallet. I walked back out to see clay talking to the others somewhat harshly, and nick laughing at him.

"you guys need to shut up, youre not smooth! shes gonna-" i overheard him muttering to the others before they noticed me standing in the doorframe.

"you ready to go?" i twirled my thumbs together, hoping me coming in now wouldnt make things more awkward than it seemed like it was.

"oh god yes cmon." clay answered me and quickly walked out the apartment. i shot a glance to george and nick and they shrugged.

i caught up to him and he let out a sigh as we walked down to the car.

"what is going on today? why is everyone being so weird..." i asked him but trailed off.

"its nothing, theyre just being dumb. i promise, nothing to worry about."

"are you are they weren't trying to go on about.. last night?" i asked hesitantly, not wanting to bring it back up.

"they don't know about it, never will. nick was asleep the whole time and i never saw george. there's nothing to be embarrassed about or worried over; i totally get it."

i let out a sigh i didn't know i was holding, and picked up my pace.

"well in that case, we've got some shopping to do boy! let's get a move on." i said, and slid into the elevator.

-

we arrived at a local ikea and grabbed a cart. clay insisted on getting some ice cream before we started, so i waited behind and checked my phone.

george had texted me not too long after we had left,

george- have fun on ur shopping date with dream boy >:)))

ps can you guys cut out all the flirting, it makes nick 'sick'

i was taken aback by his messages. i didn't know we were flirting, and this was a... date? since when?

y/n- a) this is not a date!

b) even if i were flirting, it's not reciprocated :(

george- so you DO LIKE HIM?

y/n- i don't know?!?? it's confusing

george- i disagree y/n, i think you know very well. i cant wait until you guys have kids, they'll be so cute...

y/n- GEORGE?

i stood there gawking at my phone until clay came back with his ice cream.

"alright let's get this over with" he said with a grin and i gave him a fake pout.

"where's my ice cream?"

"not my fault, you didn't ask for one!" he threw up his hands as he turned away and started strolling towards the couches.

i let out a groan and pushed the cart to quickly catch up to him. he was eating his ice cream tauntingly, so i swiftly pressed my finger under the cone and towards his face.

he tried moving it away, but i was faster. it spread all over his face and i giggled as he searched for a napkin.

he glared at me as he wiped his face and i said the same words he used to me not too long ago,

"not my fault, you're just messy!"

"nice one y/n, reaaal nice." he tsked and threw away what was left of the cone, which was barely anything.

"anyways, we need some stuff?" i asked him as we arrived at the maze of isles and items.

-

we spent a couple hours wandering the massive ikea, testing out furniture and just joking around. everything felt so natural and comfortable around him.

as i got the last bedside table in my cart, i noticed he was lost in his phone. i started walking off and he lingered, not noticing i had left.

"clay? cmon we're done!" i called out to him, breaking his focus. the grin he had from his phone dropped for a second, but returned slightly as he caught up to me.

"who ya talking to?" i asked casually as we made our way to the checkout.

"oh what? um nobody, you don't know h- them." he flustered, clearly caught off guard. i thought for a second, but shrugged it off.

"oh yeah, no worries. here help me lift these?" i responded, nodding my head towards the pile of packages we had gotten.

we scanned them all and somehow managed to get them all in the car. right as we were getting ready to back out, clay saw something.

"IS THAT GEORGE?" clay whisper shouted at me, and pointed out the window.

indeed it was george, and nick came up not to far behind him. their eyes were scanning around quickly, but they weren't moving.

"yeah it is, but who's that other guy?" i asked back and clay stifled a laugh.

"i think that's youtuber paparazzi." clay answered and started to wheeze. "serves them right though, what are they doing here?" i burst into a fit of laughter as we watched them get awkwardly interrogated by the paparazzi.

"spying on us maybe? seems like they have nothing better to do." i responded with a grin and he laughed harder.

"ohhh i have no sympathy for them. every day i thank myself that i haven't done my face reveal." he said as we backed away and drove past george and nick.

i gave them a polite wave and stuck my tounge out as they started trying to catch up but couldnt. i turndown back around in my chair and laughed as we left them in the dust.