Warnings:
-Smoking (addiction)
-Mentions self harm

Clay's POV

~ Three Weeks Later ~

I sat on my bed as I sighed softly. George was showering and I tapped my legs. I smiled softly as I thought about him because he was so sweet to me and waited for him to come back into my room. He walked in again, brushed his hand through his hair with a smile, sitting down.

'We should have showered together,' I scoffed. 'You're just homophobic.'

'Idiot,' he just grinned.

'Or I'm just too hot for you. My goodness, I'm actually so sexy. Why don't all the guys fall for me,' I sighed.

'Because you're a weirdo,' George giggled as he tickled the sides of my chest.

'DON'T!' I yelled as I laughed and rolled away from him. George chuckled as I sat up and tapped the sticker on my cheek. 'I need a new sticker.'

George smiled. 'We can colour one later. You've been doing a bit better, haven't you?' he asked.

I nodded. I hadn't thrown up in five days and ate small and healthy meals along with tube feeding.

'So have you,' I giggled.

He shrugged shyly. 'Do you think so?'

'You only smoke once in one or two days and you went to school with my parents to explain everything which made me really proud,' I admitted. 'Oh and you didn't self harm!'

'Thank you,' he mumbled shyly.

'Also, I have another pickup line,' I sighed dramatically.

George grinned. 'Is it your daily pickup line moment?'

'Yes. Here, this one. Excuse me, but does my tongue taste funny to you? You should help me taste it.'

George rolled his eyes as I grinned.

'I have romantic pickup lines too,' I smiled. 'If you stood in front of the mirror and held up eleven red roses you would see twelve of the most beautiful things you could ever see.'

'Aww,' George giggled. 'That's so cute and sweet.'

'And! I love you with all my circle, not my heart. Because hearts break, but circles go on forever!'

He just smiled and rolled his eyes. 'Those will work better than the others,' he teased me.

After George and I talked a bit more, I sat downstairs with him as I prepared a sandwich for myself. I cut it in multiple pieces and started eating slowly as I looked at George.

'Hold on, I need more pickup lines. What are you in the mood for? My amazing and hot ones or my romantic and beautiful ones,' I grinned.

'Surprise me,' he laughed as he grabbed a sandwich for himself.

'ALRIGHT! I'm like a Rubik's Cube, the more you play with me the harder I get.'

'My goodness, I really shouldn't have let you choose,' he grinned. 'I will have to deal with this forever, don't I?'

'Yep. I know a great way to burn off the calories in that sandwich,' I smirked.

'Mhm, but I'd like to keep those calories,' George giggled.

'Are you a supermarket sample? Because I wanna taste you again and again without any sense of shame.'

George didn't even answer anymore while he ate his sandwich and laughed.

'They say that kissing is a language of love, so would you mind starting a conversation with me?'

George grinned and rolled his eyes. 'Weirdo.'

'Your fault,' I sighed. 'Stop being this homophobic.'

'I'm so homophobic,' George scoffed. 'Anyway, I'm going to colour your sticker for your tube.'

'Fine, I'll switch to the cute pickup lines,' I grinned. 'There isn't a word in the dictionary for how beautiful you look.'

'You're sweet,' George whispered with a smile. I knew he liked compliments after what his mother did to him.

'Why would I want to look at the stars when I can look in your eyes?'

'Stop it, I'm melting,' he giggled. 'You're the sweetest guy ever.'

'Stop right there, I'm very manly, strong and sexy. I'm very gay too, but that doesn't matter in this story,' I sighed.

I lifted my arm and tried to flex my muscles. 'Shit, guess I don't have muscles.'

'I don't either if that helps,' George laughed.

'Stupid stomach, I could have been the world greatest body builder,' I sighed.

George smiled shortly and then showed me a sticker he made for me. I laughed at the cute drawing and let him stick it onto my face.

I finished the last piece of my sandwich and then cuddled up with George. 'But, George? Can I take you out one day? Not romantically, but just as friends. We can go to a restaurant and then I just won't eat as much. Maybe we can go bowling together? Maybe something else?'

George smiled. 'Everything is fine with me, but I want you to enjoy it too. I think you're not going to have a fun time when we are in a restaurant.'

'I think I would have fun, but I would probably have a difficult night.'

'I don't want you to feel sick,' George answered as he gave me a short hug.

'What if we go bowling and then go out for dinner?' I offered.

'If you insist,' he smiled. 'But don't feel obligated, because just eating here is totally fine with me too.'

I breathed out and nodded. 'I'm going to see if we can go bowling and then go out for dinner.'

'I uh... can I smoke?' George mumbled.

'George, I'm not stopping you. I do want to know if you think you can stop with this yourself or if you need professional help for it?'

He shrugged softly and looked very ashamed.

'Do you think you'd hurt yourself?' I asked as he didn't know the answer to my last question.

He shook his head. 'I don't think so.'

'Do you want me to sit outside with you to make sure?' I questioned.

He nodded slowly. 'But then you'll smell like smoke.'

'I'll wash my clothes,' I answered as we went outside. He lit his cigarette and started smoking it, exhaling the air away from me.

I grabbed my phone to see if we could go out today while he continued smoking and after a while he shook his head.

I looked up at him and saw his cigarette was halfway to being burnt up. He threw it on the floor and stamped his foot on it. 'I don't want to smoke anymore. I want to quit,' he stated as he stood up slowly. 'I actually don't want this anymore.'

'What makes you change your mind so suddenly?' I asked with a soft smile.

'You're my best friend and I know you don't like it that I smoke. I really want to be a good friend and make you happy, but I won't if I continue smoking.'

'It's fine,' I smiled as I hugged him. 'I know it's addictive and that it's hard to stop. I'm already happy that you went from... twenty cigarettes or something to just one a day.'

'But I still want to quit,' George confirmed. 'Can we throw them away together?'

'Of course, if you're sure.'

'Yes, I'm sure. I don't want to be a smoking addict at my sixteenth already, I will never be able to quit if I don't quit now. I've just started a month ago, I can turn it back.'

I smiled brightly and went inside, grabbing all his packages with cigarettes as I stood at the bin outside. 'Sure?'

'Yeah,' he answered as he looked at the packages. 'Completely sure.'

I threw all his cigarettes away and he smiled.

'I never expected that doing that would feel this relieving,' he whispered. 'It's going to be hard to stop smoking but it will get easier.'

'It will,' I smiled. I'm so proud of you and I will be here to help and support you every single day. You're really strong and you're going to beat this addiction.'

'Thank you,' he mumbled as he walked into my arms, resting his head against my chest.

'I love you,' I admitted.

A very quiet and barely noticeable: "I love you too" came from George's mouth which made me smile from ear to ear.

1351 words