y/n: your name

tws: swearing

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clay's pov *

y/n and i peeked down the hundreds and hundreds of aisles that created the maze of the ikea store. nick and george had told us where they were, but even still, there was so much space to cover, i thought we might never find them.

sooner that later though, we thankfully ran into each other. they were towing around a huge cart with boxes of furniture on it. george was sitting at the end directing him where to go while nick pushed. i expected nothing less from the two.

y/n's hand slipped out of mine so she could wave enthusiastically at our friends even though they were right in front of us. it was cute.

"hi guys!" she jumped onto the cart next to george.

he laughed. "push us!"

"no, you guys are too fat together! get off!" nick yelled, but leaned his body into the cart to keep them going forward anyway.

"wait you forgot a passenger," i said, and gently sat on top of one of the furniture boxes, my legs hanging between my two friends.

"oh my god. i hate you all, i actually hate you all," nick threw his head back, giggling hard.

"oh, guys look! i'm really out here doing god's work, just saying," she lifted up my foot to show off the brand new shoes she had insisted i left the store wearing.

"popping off popping off!" george repeated.

"clay owns more than one pair of shoes now? i feel like a proud dad," nick said.

"can i call you daddy th—" i started to joke, but wheezed too hard and cut myself off.

"nevermind, i take that back. i am no longer a proud father. i am no longer a father. i'm un-having my kid." he pushed me off the box, and i laughed.

"okay..." george rolled his eyes, smiling at our childishness, "nick and i already picked out the furniture for most of the house but you guys still have to get your bedroom sets so..." he shooed us with his hand.

"you're just going to abandon us in this scary ikea? gogy..." y/n pouted her bottom lip.

"yes, it's payback for leaving us here forever! now go get your furniture, we're going to get icecream."

"hell yes!" nick exclaimed.

"bring us some?" i asked.

"mm... no."

i flipped nick off and he mirrored the gesture back at me, pushing the cart and george to the location of the icecream area.

y/n grabbed a cart and turned to me with a very serious look on her face. "it's time to get furniture."

we spent the next forty-five minutes navigating the aisles of ikea and picking up all the things we needed for our rooms.

double-checking our cart, y/n scrolled down a list on her phone and made sure we had gotten everything. "your bed, my bed, your nightstand, my nightstand, your desk— oh! duh, i still need my desk!" she exclaimed, pulling up the store website on her phone. "i already know what i want. it's... here." she pointed at a spot on the map and started walking in that direction.

i chuckled as i tailed behind her. when she was on a mission, she did not stop for distractions.

we made it to the spot where the desk was supposed to be and stared straight up at the highest shelf in the aisle.

"can you reach that big foot?" she asked.

i snorted. "i'm not eleven feet tall y/n."

"could've fooled me. crouch."

"what?"

"crouch. i'm gonna get on your back."

"the fuck you are! can't we just ring for an employee?"

"and wait for them to walk five hundred miles to find us? no. this is a speedrun clay. now crouch."

laughing, i crouched down, and she jumped on my back and looped her legs through my arms. "if you fall your death is not on my hands," i said.

"hell yeah it is! if you drop me i will haunt you until you reach the grave, and then i'll just annoy the shit out of you in the afterlife," she ranted, and grabbed for the box, teetering as she held it above her head. "catch!"

"what the fuck, no!"

"kidding. crouch down though. i need to dismount dumbass."

i kneeled, and she dropped the box a considerable distance to the cart before jumping to the floor. i snorted. "i hope that didn't break anything."

"time will tell." she high-fived me, a little breathless. "good work team."

"good work." as we collided, i slipped my hand into hers again.

"what's with you?" she chuckled holding up our laced fingers, "are you actually afraid i'm gonna get lost in the store?"

"maybe, or maybe i just wanna hold your hand," i shot back.

she quirked an eyebrow at me and snorted. "whatever the reason, i guess i don't mind." she twirled herself under my arm absentmindedly. "i— what the fuck is that?"

i traced her line of sight to what was possibly the largest teddy bear i had ever seen in my life. "oh my god."

she dragged me towards it. "djung... djungelskog," she attempted to pronounce. "i feel like i need this in my life but i should probably resist."

"you should get it," i suggested against her better judgement.

she stared at the stuffed animal for a moment longer before tearing her eyes away. "no. it'll just clutter the house. hey, since we're done, i'm gonna use the bathroom real quick. you check out in the meantime, yeah?"

"okay, have fun! meet me up front!"

she tossed two thumbs up over her shoulder and headed off in the direction of the bathrooms.

a few seconds later, nick and george appeared at the end of the aisle. i waved to them as they drew closer. "how was your hour long ice cream break?" i smirked.

"amazing. we went exploring too," nick said enthusiastically, brushing past my sarcasm. his eyes spotted the giant teddy bear and his mouthed gaped open. "that is the fattest stuffed animal i have ever seen."

george ran towards it and flopped on top of it, giving it a big hug.

"i know, that's what i thought. i'm gonna get it for y/n," i said, picking up one of the teddy bears and dropping it on the cart.

"aw, clay! is this your confession of love to her?" george asked, still hugging a djungelskog.

"what? no! it's... it's... she looked like she wanted it."

"whatever, whatever. when are you gonna ask her out dude?" nick chimed in, plucking a piece of lint off the bear's head and rolling it between his fingers.

"what? we're just friends!" i defended, looking around to make sure y/n wasn't nearby to hear any of this.

"and what would you give to be more than that?" nick countered, smashing the lint ball between his thumb and forefinger.

my face reddened. i pointed at him accusingly. "you are bad. both of you. we're checking out."

"only cause you don't want y/n to see you blushing!" george laughed.

i rolled my eyes, smiling, and pushed the cart with all our furniture and djungelskog to the check out.

when y/n paid for her furniture and met up with us, her eyes immediately widened at the sight of djungelskog on my cart. "you didn't..." she pat his head with her hand, a smile growing on her face.

"i did," i replied excitedly.

after a second of fluffing the teddy bear's fur, unexpectedly, she hugged me. "jesus, i can't even joke on you for being mushy and buying it for me. seriously, thanks."

i laughed and hesitantly wrapped my arms around her waist. "you're welcome. you should've seen your puppy dog eyes when you were looking at it. you practically asked me to buy it for you," i laughed.

"just because i was in my moment didn't mean you had to get it for me!" she giggled, "i'm glad you did though, but people are actually gonna start thinking you're my sugar daddy if you keep this up."

we broke apart from our hug laughing. "please, we can't let that be a rumor," i wheezed. we kept going back and forth on our walk to the car while nick and george shook their heads and observed our conversation.

"stupid simp," george whispered to me.

i elbowed him, and he laughed.