"George, are you up?" I ask keeping my voice soft. After sitting here for the past few hours, I have grown pretty tired. But I decided it was probably best to not leave him alone after experiencing something like that. I've been sitting on his couch in his room which faces his bed, scrolling through tik tok. A couple seconds ago I saw him stirring and groaning so I assume he's awake.

He pulls the covers over his head and remains silent. I let out a concerned sigh. I have never been in a situation like this so I'm not sure what to do. All I know is I want to do my best to make him feel better, and be a shoulder to cry on. Our dumb rivalry can wait for now.

I walk over and sit on the corner of his bed, deciding not to get too close to him considering he probably wants space right now. "He's gone, George" I say again, cursing myself at the idiotic comment. No shit he's gone? I mentally face palm myself. I'm at a loss for words and I don't want to say the wrong thing to trigger him right now. But, yet again I am met with silence.

"Look George, I promise you you're safe now okay? I'll make sure of it myself. He will never step foot near you again" I continue, trying my best to comfort him. I see his hand rise to the top of his blanket and pull it back under his chin, where I can see his face.

"You've said that before Clay" he mumbles so lowly I barely caught it.

"But you're free now, he no longer has those disturbing videos or pictures anymore." I pause and keep my gaze on him, "he no longer has you anymore"

He refuses to return my stare and it looks like he is in deep thought about something. "How are you feeling?" I ask knowing George isn't one for talking about his feelings, and he might even be stubborn enough to keep it to himself during a time like this.

I see him shrug from under the covers. "I'm fine" he replies, keeping his answers short.

"You're so stubborn" I say lightheartedly rolling my eyes. I guess I called it. "It's okay to not be okay" I give him a soft smile and lift his chin up so he makes eye contact with me as the words spew out of my mouth. His face remains neutral as expected and he sighs, "thanks for the help Clay, you can leave now." He pushes my hand away from his face and rolls over, facing the opposing wall, still cocooned in his blankets.

"If you think I'm leaving you're more of an idiot than I thought." I push myself up from his bed and I make my way to his bedroom door. "I'm ordering pizza, any preferences?" I pull out my phone from my pocket and scroll through my uber eats app. Quietness fills the room. "Alright hope you like mushrooms on your pizza!" I shout before exiting, closing the door behind me. I make my way to his living room knowing the house pretty well since he has thrown plenty of parties here in the past. I throw myself on the couch and wait for the pizza to arrive as I put on my favourite show, Prison Break.

As the show goes on I find myself losing concentration. All that is filling my mind is vivid memories of what had just occurred. George's screams I heard when running down the hall, the way he had fallen not being able to keep himself up.

And to the way Braden was standing there, with that wicked grin he carries. When I saw him all I could see was blood. In the moment I genuinely thought I was gonna kill him. It felt like something had taken over me.

Alas, I didn't but I feel like I'm being put in a weird position. Of course I won't go around telling the school, its not my place. And I would have saved anyone in that moment, it just so happened to be George.

I take a deep breath and try to shake away my thoughts.

An hour passes and the pizza finally arrives. I shoot George a quick text letting him know. I pay and thank the Pizza guy. As I set up the dinning room table, I listen for footsteps that never come. Maybe he's still sleeping? He's been sleeping for awfully long and definitely needs to eat. I sigh and start walking up his stairs to his room. I hear movement before opening the door, so I decide to knock in case he is getting changed, even though I had to change him earlier, I didn't really see anything.

*Knock Knock*

"Hey George the uh pizza's here, I don't know if you saw my text. Can I come in?" I ramble on, scratching the back of my neck. Again, stillness is all I'm met with. "Okay well I'm coming in, consider this a warning" I press on, knowing he's awake and hasn't eaten since last night. It is now 3:00 pm the next day, and yes we should be at school but I think this is far more important.

I push the door open slowly and my eyes adjust to the dark room. All the lights are off and his blinds are closed. If I was him I would most likely think its night time at the moment. When I turn the light on I see him sitting up straight in his bed, legs hanging off the side. He squints his eyes in my direction and groans out, I assume his eyes are also adjusting to the light but in a different way. "Did you get my text?" I ask curiously. He looks like he was about to get out of bed, but I had sent the text 15 minutes ago, so I'm not too sure.

He nods slowly, keeping his head low as he fidgets with his fingers in his lap. I notice the bruise on his eye starting to form and feel my hand clench beside me. "Okay well come on, its going to get cold" I say softly, still standing in the door way.

He nods again but remains unmoving. "You okay?" I ask concerned, confused to why he still hasn't gotten up. "I'm fine" he finally answers softly.

"Okay so lets go" I urge him on.

"I can't" he admits in a hushed tone.

"George you have to eat you have been-"

"No" he interrupts, "It hurts." He says seeming embarrassed by his confession.

I still in my place. Fuck I'm such an idiot, I should have known that he was in pain. I feel horrible that I had made him have to admit that. Within a few stripes I'm standing directly in front of him. I stick my hand out for him to take. His eyes meet my hand and he reluctantly takes it. I feel butterflies swarm my stomach for some weird reason.

Not the fucking time.

He slowly stands up wincing a bit, back hunched over and he holds on tightly to my arm. We take a few steps forward and he starts limping, his legs shaking underneath him. "Maybe I could just carry you" I suggest, trying to find the best possible solution.

"I'm not a baby Clay" he snaps back. I guess he's right, it does seem like I'm babying him right now and I'm sure he isn't happy about it. Especially since its me. I nod back in agreement, "I know" I let fall softly passed my lips.

It takes us a few minutes to get down the stairs and to his dining room. I reheat the pizza since it has been sitting there for quite awhile. When I place it down in front of him he nods and flashes me a quick smile to which I reciprocate. I know he isn't feeling the best right now, so I'm happy with the simple gesture. I take a seat on the other side of the table so we are facing each other. I dig in almost immediately, my stomach growling from the lack of food I have consumed in the past 24 hours. After a few moments of silence, I decide to speak up. He had only taken one bite of his pizza.

"You should eat you know, its really good" I try and say to lighten up the mood and seize the tension. "Oh and you should ice that" I point to his face. He looks at me and shrugs.

"What time is it?" he asks, eyeing the pizza as if he just asked it the question.

"Its 3:30" I reply, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" he questions, raising his eyebrow and finally making eye contact with me.

I shrug, "school can wait"

He lets out a breath and slouches back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "Look Clay, I've been dealing with this for awhile now, so thank you for the help but you can go now" he nods his head towards the door and his gaze is now pulled back towards his plate in front of him. "George why can't you just let people help you for once?" I ask eyeing him curiously. This man thinks he never needs anyone's help and he thinks he's weak when he accepts it, however it makes you strong to be able to open up.

"Because I'm fine" he tries to convince me but fails. I think those are his new favourite words, 'I'm fine'. He finishes his only piece of pizza and pushes his plate in front of him. Maybe he's not only trying to convince me but himself.

"You're only lying to yourself George"

"I don't need your pity okay?" his jaw clenches, "I don't need the only guy in school that hates me to sit across from me and look at me like some fucking broken toy that needs to be fixed! You're only being nice to me because you pity me, so just leave please" His voice starts off firm and irritated, but falls quieter near the end of his sentence. I see a tear fall down his face. I'm not trying to pity him, he just seems lonely and needs the company. I know he's just trying to push me away so I brush off his harsh words. "I think we both know I don't actually hate you George" I say and push off from where I was sitting, taking a few steps before positioning myself in the seat beside him. "Look we bicker and are extremely competitive, but in the end I admire how you are the only person that challenges me" I explain with a small smile on my face.

His eyes flicker from one side to another still facing downward, fidgeting with his fingers under the table. "You're tolerable, sometimes" he mumbles under his breath.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you?" I jokingly ask back, wanting him to repeat himself.

"Alright I take it back, you're still an idiot" he playfully teases back to which I let out a soft chuckle.

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened?" I question hesitantly.

"Don't push your luck Clay, all I said was some of the time you aren't a total pain in the ass" he faces me finally with a small smile on his face. I give him a goofy grin back and nod showing I understand. I mean I didn't really expect him to just full on open up to me, Its George we are talking about. However, I did want him to at least have the option of knowing if he needs someone to talk to, I will happily listen.

I clean up my plate and hand him another slice of pizza, telling him how its rude to not eat something someone else bought for you, to which he unwillingly takes. I go into the kitchen and grab him an ice pack for his face, sitting back at my original spot at the table. We sit in a comfortable silence as he finishes eating. I help him to the couch and he sits down putting on Netflix.

I open my phone checking the time, seeing a few texts from the boys asking where I was. I quickly type back that I wasn't feeling well and decided to stay home. They are probably confused as to why George, myself and I assume Braden, aren't at school today. I brush it off, seeing I have no concerned text from my parents, which was expected but I still feel a slight ping in my heart when noticing.

The time reads 6:30, which I didn't realize I had stayed for this long.

I clear my throat and speak up, "well I would hate to over stay my welcome," I joke and push myself up from the couch, to which he laughs slightly making me smile, "I guess I'll leave you now, if you need anything, you have my number. I think, well you called me so I presume you have it even though you claimed you didn't the other day, so ha! I caught you! Anyways, um yeah call me if you need" I ramble on like this trying to stall time, for some reason it feels wrong leaving him here alone, but then again I don't want to be that annoying person who just won't leave. And I have stayed a long time, I bet he is relieved I am finally departing. I wave a goodbye and head for the front door until I hear his soft tone interrupt my intentions.

"Clay?"

I turn around to face him, now standing in the middle of the hallway, "yeah?" I inquire.

"Can you um, stay" he says shyly. I'm shocked he wants me to stay, earlier he was trying to kick me out. However, I'm happy he offered, I didn't really feel like going home to an empty house. When I don't answer right away he continues nervously, "I mean you don't have to, you can leave yeah Nevermind, you've done enough"

"Sure, I'll stay" I flash him a soft smile.

"Thought you wanted me gone" I smirk as I approach the couch once again, taking a seat beside him. He rolls his eyes in response, "Fine leave then I don't care"

"Sure you don't" I ruffle up his hair to which he pushes me off of him and punches me in the arm lightly. "Don't touch me asshole" he barks at me.

I chuckle and put my hands up innocently.

"What is this show?" I ask peculiarly. He snaps his neck in my direction, "You don't watch The Vampire Diaries? Its my favourite show of all time!"

"No...?" I say in a tone as if I was asking a question. He scoffs and pauses the episode.

"I've watched it so many times, here lets start from the beginning!" He excitedly scrolls back to the first episode.

"I prefer Prison Break" I say, not wanting to watch a show about things that don't even exist.

"Ew that show is stupid and unrealistic, its like impossible to break out of prison" he says sounding offended that I like the show.

"Oh yeah and its so possible for vampires to roam the streets" I sarcastically argue.

"Yes it is" he replies firmly.

"Fine but we are watching Prison Break after" I compromise.

"Sure after we get through eight seasons" he says nonchalantly.

"Eight seasons!? What the fuck how can you watch eight seasons of vampires killing people?" I utter confused. He shushes me and presses play, falling back against the cushions and cuddling into a blanket. I pull at it and shuffle closer, since its cold in his house. He shoots me a disgusted look.

"What I'm cold" I shrug. He rolls his eyes but lets me stay.

We sit there and watch the dumbest show ever.