Chapter Text
It’s another three years before Clay’s summers change. He’s playing with Pandas at their usual spot in front of their campsite when a large, black car passes by them, windows tinted so dark Clay wonders if someone famous is visiting and his parents forgot to tell him.
He can’t keep his eyes off it as it turns and goes further down the road to the cabins.
“Did you see that car Pandas? It looks like those security cars that famous people use.”
“In Florida? No shot.” Pandas said with a frown.
“I’m serious, look how fancy it looks,” Clay repeats and points off in the direction of the car, “They’re even going to the cabins, not the camp plots.”
“No offence Clay, but I don’t think famous people are going to come here, famous people will go to Disney World or Universal.”
“Yeah, but what if,” Clay insists, and before he knows it, he’s walking away from Pandas and following the path the car went down.
“Clay!” Pandas called, but Clay ignored him.
Clay isn’t walking for long until he finds the car parked at plot 404, he hears Pandas heavy footsteps behind him and holds out an arm to stop him before they get too close, leading them both to the corner of another cabin.
“So? Are they famous? Or are you being an idiot again?” Pandas asks in a teasing tone.
“Shut up, I’m waiting.”
Pandas rolls his eyes, but he lets Clay push him into a bush, closer to the black car, so they spy and also remain hidden.
The door opens and a lady and a man step out, dressed in clothes a lot fancier than what Clay is used to seeing at Smile. They’re not even beach clothes, and it brings a frown to Clay’s face.
“Only famous people wear clothes like that to a beach.”
“Well-”
“Shush, shush, I think they have kids!” Clay said and tried to press his hands over Pandas’ mouth.
“You’re the one talking loud,” Pandas huffed and pushed Clay away before crossing his arms over his chest.
The two watched as the back doors opened and two girls stepped out, one several years older than the boys, maybe even older than Clay’s sister who was 12, and another who had to be younger than them, maybe around 6, the same age that Pandas and Clay had met.
Clay’s shoulders began to slump, disappointed that there wasn’t another boy they could play with when Pandas gripped his arm and pointed.
“Look!” He hissed, and sure enough, one of the doors remained open, and a boy, shorter than the boys that were watching him, jumped out, still reading a book as he pushed the door closed.
Clay and Pandas looked at each other in excitement.
Though there had been other boys at the campsite, there wasn’t anyone that had been fun enough, or close enough in age to them. None that had stayed for the entire summer. And definitely, none that had come back, not the way Pandas had come back, year after year, after year.
They’d been on the lookout for another friend for some time now, and Clay had a good feeling about this boy, even if he could barely see his face past the book cover.
“Should we go up to him?” Pandas asked, suddenly looking shy.
Clay shook his head, “Mom said it’s rude to annoy new customers when they first arrive, we can annoy them after dinner. Come on, race you back.”
Pandas laughed and took off after Clay, leaving dust in their tracks. The boy that had just arrived looked up briefly, positive that he had just heard something, when he didn’t see anything but two rough silhouettes in the distance, he shrugged his shoulders and went back to his book, sitting on the front porch as his parents and sisters unpacked around him.
~
“There’s a new kid on plot 404, one boy and two girls,” Clay says through a mouthful of a homemade burger. His mom gives him a look and he smiles sheepishly, before swallowing his food and continuing.
“Can we go ask them to play later?”
“It’s up to the parent’s sweetie, you know that you can’t force someone to play with you if they don’t want to, or if they’re not allowed, remember what I said?”
“No means no,” Clay murmured and nodded.
“You too sweetheart,” his mom says to Pandas, who nods obediently.
“Yes ma’am.”
When dinner is finished, and the plates have been cleared from the campsite table, the two families begin to part. Yet Pandas and Clay stay together. Pandas’ family heads off to their tent and caravan to get ready for the night, while Clay’s family walk to the office to make sure everything is ready for the night shift workers and security.
Clay grabs his scooter, and Pandas his skateboard, and without saying a word they ride off into the camp, both knowing exactly where to go.
There aren’t that many lights around the campsite, but leading up to the cabins, some families have chosen to keep their porch lights on. Old families that have been coming here for years wave at the boys in recognition, and Clay greets them each by name, grinning widely as he whizzes by on his scooter. The speed kind of scares him, he doesn’t like the adrenaline, but it feels good at the same time.
They finally end up back at the bush that they were previously watching the family from, except the cabin is completely dark. There isn’t a car in the driveway and disappointment sinks in Clay’s stomach.
“They must’ve gone out for dinner,” Pandas says softly, clearly disappointed as well.
“Guess we’ll have to wait till tomorrow.”
Clay turns and kicks off his scooter without looking, heading back in the direction.
He’s watching his feet as he rides, contemplating if he should ask his mom to buy him new shoes because the ones he’s wearing are falling apart from years of getting them wet and dragging them through the dirt.
He’s watching his feet and not the path that he shares with cars so he doesn’t notice the lights. His body reacts quicker than his brain can, and he throws himself to the side.
Distantly he hears Pandas voice call for him in a panic.
Clay tries to get up from the ground, but his body is shaking so hard he can barely hold himself up.
A door slams shut and cold hands are grabbing at him, checking his face, pushing his hair back.
“Love, are you alright? Good heavens, Harry you nearly hit him.” A lady is speaking at him but the headlights are shining in his eyes and he can’t see anything.
“Son...son can you look up at me? Are you hurt?” Clay squints as he looks up, and manages to shake his head. No, he’s not hurt, but he can’t move. His legs are frozen beneath him.
“Clay!” Pandas is beside him now, and his arms are around his shoulders. He grips at the familiarity of him in desperation and shudders a breath.
“Call my mom,” he says to him.
Pandas nods, and looks up nervously at the couple.
“Uh, I need to call his Mom, she owns the Campsite, and she does first aid, can I use your phone? Or your cabin phone?”
The man, Harry, nods and hands over his phone with ease, he also begins to lead Pandas away, but Clay calls for him.
“Don’t leave me,” he cries out.
“Shh, love it’s okay, our cabin is this one right here, he’s not going far, you’ll be able to see him still, okay?” The lady says and rubs Clay’s shoulders in comfort, but he’s still shaking like he’s freezing even though the night is warm, and the humidity would usually leave him sticky and hot. “George, girls, come out and go to the cabin, please, go get ready for bed.”
It takes a moment for Clay to realise that this is the family that Pandas and he was waiting for.
One by one the couple’s kids come out of the car, wide eyes as they look at Clay who is on the ground, knees curled up to his chin.
They all share the same dark hair, pale skin, and dark eyes, but it’s the boy who has the darkest eyes. Clay is struck at how dark they are, he looks like he belongs in a movie.
“George? Can you keep him company while I get the car out of the way, I can’t leave it there. Olivia, cabin now please, and watch your sister for a bit.” The lady says and gets up, brushing her skirt. She looks down at Clay for a moment, and then their car.
“I’m okay,” he whispers, unable to put any volume to his voice.
“You stay right where you are love, my son George will keep you company.”
He nods, but he’s watching the cabin, waiting for Pandas to come back out.
Footsteps shuffle towards him, and he turns his head to look at the boy who is standing over him.
“I’m George,” the boy says and Clay is taken aback by the odd accent that he’s only ever heard of in movies and in tv shows. He realises that George’s parents had sounded odd too.
“You sound weird.”
George’s face scrunches up into a frown of disbelief.
“Did you hit your head? Is that why you’re mean?”
Clay shook his head. “Why do you sound like that?”
“Why do you sound like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like-”
Pandas comes running down from the cabin and sits back down. “Clay, your mom said she'll wait by the office, oh- hello,” he says, noticing George’s presence.
“George.” He says, giving a small wave.
“Pandas.”
George scoffs. “What kind of name is Pandas?”
Pandas crosses his arms in defence, “It’s special. What kind of name is George?”
George looks like he’s going to say something else but his parents reappear, and a hand comes to rest on George’s shoulder.
“George, get ready for bed now, I’m gonna take Clay back to his parents.”
George is still frowning but he doesn’t say anything else and instead follows his parent's instructions, leaving them, but not before giving Clay an odd look with his head tilted to the side.
“Come on Clay, your parents are waiting by the office, can you stand? We’ll drive you back.”
Clay moves with the help of Harry and Pandas, but his limbs still feel a bit like jelly.
“Clay? Are you sure nothing hurts?”
He nods and stretches out his arms a bit to test it.
“Nothing hurts, heads a bit fuzzy.”
“Did you hit it?”
“No.”
“Hmm, you might be in shock, that’s okay, take it easy, can you walk to our car, or do you want us to carry you?”
“I can walk,” he said softly, but he still leaned on Pandas with shaking legs.
Clay’s mom was biting her nails and pacing when Harry arrives with the two boys.
She throws her arms around Clay and begins inspecting his body for any harm. Seeing his Mom unlocks a part of Clay’s heart and he gives into her arms, tearing up and clutching her close.
Once she’s assured that he isn’t hurt, she thanks Harry for dropping him off, and says that they’ll look into more lighting in that area to avoid future situations like this. Pandas heads back to his family, but not before promising to be back early tomorrow morning to check up on Clay. When she’s tucking Clay into bed that night, she pushes his hair back and makes a small comment about cutting it soon, when he doesn’t respond she sits by his side and holds his hand.
“Are you sure you’re okay honey? We can take you to the doctors just in case.”
“I’m okay Mom, that was just scary.”
“Let me know if anything hurts, okay?” Clay nods but he doesn’t want her to leave him just yet so she holds on tighter before she lets go. She looks at him and readjusts herself so she’s half-tucked in with him.
“They’re the new family with the son,” he says. "The one on 404."
“Oh yeah? Were you able to meet him?”
“Sort of, his name’s George. He sounds funny though.” His mom laughs softly.
“Funny how? Because of his accent? His parents sounded British, is that what you’re talking about?”
“Yeah, he sounded weird. Then he said Pandas had a weird name.”
“Well that’s not nice…did he apologise?”
“No.”
“Well maybe tomorrow if you’re feeling up to it, you and Pandas should go to him and see if he apologises.”
“Hmmm.” Clay’s mom laughs again and presses a kiss to his forehead.
“How about you think about that, and let me know in the morning. Harry and Alice are going to come by tomorrow to check on you too, is that alright with you? If you don’t feel okay about it, let me know.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
She gives him a smile and presses another kiss to his cheek.
“I’m proud of you Clay, you were really brave today, but it’s okay to be scared sometimes. Even superheroes get scared. Sweet dreams, my dream boy.”
~
The next day Clay learns the names of the rest of George’s family. It’s hard to ignore them when they’re all in the campsite kitchen, two families spread over two tables with all the kids on one and adults on the other. Harry and Alice are George’s parents. Olivia is his older sister, and his little one is Charlotte. Pandas is at the table too, having skipped breakfast with his family to stay with Clay, and he fills the silence of the table by recounting a story about some animal looking through their rubbish in the middle of the night. Clay is thankful because it means he doesn't have to think about last night.
George is eating his breakfast with one hand and has another hand keeping his book open. Clay wants to ask him about the book because he thinks the cover is familiar but George hasn’t made any move to talk to him, so he’s not going to give in either. George’s sisters are nice enough though, asking about Pandas’ story, and George's older sister is trying to get Clay and George to talk but neither of them is letting up.
Turns out Pandas is just as impatient as Clay and he leans over and pokes George lightly in the hand. George looks up with a frown and a borderline glare. It shocks Clay at how different his face looks since he seems so harmless, but the glare seems to shoot daggers.
“What are you reading?”
George lifts the book to show the cover and then hides his face again.
Clay can’t stop the excited gasp that leaves his lungs.
“Is that Percy Jackson?”
The book cover lowers slightly and George nods slowly, eyes suspicious.
“I’m on the third book now.”
“I love that series. It’s my favourite. The fourth one came out this year.”
Like a dam that's been broken down, Clay starts talking. He doesn’t even care right now that he was upset with George before. Pandas doesn’t read the same type of books he reads, he likes manga, and they can never come to an agreement about which is better.
Clay continues to stuff food in his mouth as he and George talk, and he notices George lay the book down and properly turn to Clay so they can talk.
At some point their parents leave, along with George’s sisters, leaving the three boys at the table, still talking about the different books they’ve read. Clay doesn’t realise he’s left Pandas out until he sees him get up.
“Where are you going?”
“My mom wants to go on a hike today, I have to go, I’ll play with you after dinner?”
“Yeah okay, bye.”
Clay turns to George, weirdly nervous now that they’re completely alone.
“Do you have to go back to your family?” He asks.
George shakes his head.
“My Dad has a business meeting so everyone has quiet time in the cabin or they go outside. Mum said she’s going to the beach but uh- she said I could stay with you if I wanted and your Mom said I could but if you don’t-”
Clay shakes his head quickly before he finishes his sentence. “No it’s okay, you can stay with me. I know my way around Smile, I can give you a tour.”
“Sure, can I put my book away?”
Clay eyes the pristine cover, with its barely broken spine, then shakes his head again, “Keep it with you, you might need it, do you have a bag and a bike? A tour is better if we can have snacks along the way.”
George nods.
“Okay, go pack your stuff, I’ll go down to the office and grab my stuff, and I’ll meet you back here.”
When Clay comes back to the campsite kitchen, rolling his bike, and an old backpack on his shoulders full of books he needs to return and snacks he convinced his mom to let him have, George is waiting patiently at the steps of his cabin porch, a shiny bike waiting next to him. There’s also a blue backpack by his side.
“My Dad asked me where we’re going.”
“Oh, do you have some paper? I can write the address and a number on it, in case he needs you to come back. It’s not that far.”
George nods and leads him inside, miming with his hands to be quiet. He hands Clay what he needs and Clay scribbles the address of the local library, as well as their number, and his Mom’s phone number, just in case.
“I’ll get you back in one piece. Scout’s honour.” Clay says with a grin and leaves the paper, putting a cup on the corner so it doesn’t fly away.
The bike ride isn’t very far, but Clay takes them down the scenic route, pointing out his favourite restaurants, and the shops that have the best ice cream. George doesn’t talk a lot, but he nods enthusiastically and laughs at Clay’s jokes. The sun is nearly at its peak when they finally arrive, and Clay shows George how to lock their bikes up properly.
“I come here so a lot, so we can eat inside, but we have to be quiet. I’ll show you my secret reading spot.”
George nods and wipes the sweat from his brow.
Clay greets the head librarian and heads straight to the back of the library where the kids books are, but right as he’s about to turn into the aisle, he pulls George to the side between two pillars is a little reading nook, complete with an old beanbag and a window overlooking the entrance to the library.
It’s easy to miss when walking past, but Clay has been coming here for years, and when he isn’t down by the beach or at Smile, he’s here, curled up with a book, and taking advantage of the air conditioning. It’s quiet and never busy, and the old ladies at the front know him and his family by name, and on special occasions, they let him have a biscuit and juice.
“Do you know all the secret places here?”
“I think so, I’m still exploring. I have a bike now so it’s easier. Every summer I explore with Pandas, and on the weekend during the school year I go on my own.”
“Your parents just let you?”
“Everyone here kind of knows each other. A lot of the places here have been owned by the same people for ages. So they’re not worried, I know my way around. Trust me.”
Without saying anything else Clay sits down and opens his backpack, offering the snacks to George, and pulling out one of his books.
George stares at him for a moment, before he takes a bag of chips and opens it, leaving it between the two of them, and takes out his book, settling on the other side of the beanbag.
Minutes turn to hours, and George ends up finishing his book. Without needing prompting he takes Clay’s bag and pulls out the books inside so that he can look at the different titles Clay has on loan. He chooses a new book and starts immediately, uttering only a small thanks.
Clay likes the silence. It’s different to how he hangs out with Pandas, they’re usually running around and screaming and throwing themselves at each other. This is equally as nice. And it hurts his bones a lot less.
“Knock knock, anyone in there?” A head pops into the entrance of the reading nook and Clay slightly startles at the sudden noise in their prolonged silence.
“Oh, hey Mrs Howard, this is George, first summer at Smile.”
“Can always count on you to give a tour of the best place, hmm? A certain Mr Davidson is asking to speak to his son, I’m assuming that’s your George?”
“Yeah that’s me,” George says and he stands up abruptly. Mrs Howard smiles.
“You’re not in trouble darling, he just wants to check up on you, Clay are you going to stay or come? I can check if we’ve got some biscuits.”
Clay nods enthusiastically and rushes to pack their stuff while Mrs Howard and George walk ahead.
When he reaches the office, George is already on the phone with his dad, swinging his legs from the chair he’s sitting on. He hangs up shortly after, just as Mrs Howard places a plate of treats down.
“Is this your first time in Florida, George?”
George nods. “We drove down from New York.”
“That where you live?” Clay asks, trying to speak around the chocolate chip cookie in his mouth.
George nods again, “I’ve lived there for two years, but I’m from London. We moved for Dad’s work.”
“Thoughts on it so far?” Mrs Howard asks as she pours two cups of apple juice for them.
“Hot…and sticky,” George says, scrunching his nose.
“What about the beaches?” Clay interjects, feeling defensive of his home.
“I don’t know how to swim.”
Clay dramatically gasps. “You came to Florida for a holiday and you don’t know how to swim?”
George shrugs.
“Tomorrow I’m going to teach you how to swim. You can learn in our pool.” Clay stuffs another cookie into his mouth and slings his bag over his shoulder while throwing George’s bag to him, “Come on, let’s go ask your parents. Bye Mrs Howard.”
She laughs as they leave in a haste but waves goodbye. Clay is half running back to their bikes with George calling for him to slow down.
“Pandas will be coming back soon anyway, we can play in the playground for a bit before dinner.”
“You’re going too fast,” George complains.
“You’re going too slow,” Clay responds with a smile as he turns to look at George. He responds with an eye roll, and it makes Clay laugh.
They ride up the hill to The Smile Campsite, out of breath from laughing, and from trying to race each other. Clay leads the way to the playground, and they are both careful to watch the road as cars go past. At one point George is about to cross when Clay’s arm shoots out and pulls him back even though the car is nowhere near them. Watching the car go past makes Clay’s breath shorten and he doesn't let go of George’s arm for a moment.
“I’m okay,” George says softly, and carefully pulls Clay’s hand off, “I’m okay,” he repeats.
“Sorry,” Clay says and starts walking again.
When they get to the playground, they’re the only one’s there, most of the families have started dinner already, and Clay knows that he’ll be expected back soon as well.
“My Dad invited you to dinner, if you want to come over…he said he can call your Mom if you say yes.”
Clay thinks for a bit before nodding, and he lets George lead the way back to their cabin. When Clay first came into the cabin earlier today, he didn’t get a chance to look around, not that he needs to, since he knows this site like the back of his hand. But the Davidsons have been here for a short time and there’s already evidence of them everywhere, but not in a messy way.
Five different coloured water bottles are lined up by the sink, and there are shoes lined outside, but everything seems to have its own place.
Clay calls his Mom through the cabin phone and reassures her that he’ll be polite and on his best behaviour with the Davidsons. When he takes a seat next to George at the dinner table, he realises that George is as quiet around his family as he is around Clay, if not more.
He pokes George’s leg softly under the table and tilts his head at him. Are you okay? He mouths.
George gives him a small smile and nods.
Clay does most of the talking during dinner and recounts their day, telling George’s family about the local restaurants they should visit and the best times to visit the beach.
“George tells me he doesn’t know how to swim, I’m the best swimmer in my class, I can teach him this weekend, my Dad will be at home so you don’t have to worry about adult supervision.”
Mrs Davidson’s eyebrows raise in surprise.
“You want to learn how to swim George?”
George shrugs and pokes at the vegetables on his plate. “Well if I’m going to be stuck here for 3 months, I might as well right?”
She smiles and nods.
“I’ll talk about it with your parents Clay.”
When dinner is finished, Clay makes sure to help put away the dishes, and he plays make-believe with George’s little sister Charlotte when George disappears to have a shower.
“Aren’t you the dream, Clay? Doing dishes and looking after Lottie. Do you have siblings Clay?”
He nods, “Older sister, younger brother and younger sister. You might have seen them around Smile, but they prefer spending summer at home with my grandma than playing here.” He spins the doll that he’s holding and pretends to make her dance as Charlotte laughs. “I like Smile because I can make friends. Everyone at school is boring.”
“I’m glad George met you, Clay, he was a bit nervous coming here because he was just getting used to New York. He’s usually so shy.”
“Mum!” George’s sharp voice cuts through the living room, and Mrs Davidson’s eyes glow as she realises she’s been caught. She winks at Clay and stands up from the couch, wrapping an arm around George and kissing him on the head.
“I’m just saying love, friends are good. I’m proud of you, and Clay seems like he’ll be very good for you. You two can head off now, just be careful when crossing okay? Look out for each other.”
“Yes ma’am,” Clay says as they exit the door.
“You can call me Alice,” she replies and waves at the two of them as they get back on their bikes, heading to the rendezvous point to meet with Pandas.
George and Clay sit at a table, George upright, while Clay is on his back and staring at the clouds, pointing out funny shapes.
He hears familiar heavy footsteps and lifts a hand to wave as Pandas approaches.
“Hey Pandas.” Clay greets with a smile, waving him towards George and him. Pandas takes a seat on the ground by their feet and flops onto his back, reaching to the sky and stretching his limbs out.
“I’m so tired I don’t think I want to ever walk in my life again.” He murmurs and drops his arms and legs down. Clay laughs a bit and kicks him lightly, moving him over so that he can lay down on the ground as well and look at the setting sun.
“What’s with the name Pandas?” George asks, still sitting on the table as he watches over the two of them.
“I told you it’s special,” Pandas says.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t special. I just wanna know.”
“Clay gave it to me because I didn’t wanna tell him my real name.”
“It’s because he didn’t trust me.” Clay cuts in, pretending to sound hurt, but he breaks character to laugh as Pandas elbows him.
“Well, it was stranger danger you know. I have to be careful.”
“Are pandas your favourite animal?” George asks, and stands up, grabbing a stick from the ground. Pandas nods.
“Yeah, they’re the best. The cutest ever. Have you seen their cubs?”
George hums in agreement and Clay sits up to watch what he’s doing and he realises he’s written something in the sand. Clay has to tilt his head upside down to read the word in George’s messy writing. Pandas .
“What about you Clay? Do you have a special name?”
Clay shrugs then shakes his head, still staring at the writing.
“I’m the coolest one, that’s why I get a cool name.”
“It’s not that cool,” George murmurs and pokes at the name in the sand a bit. Clay squints his eyes at it and holds his hand for the stick. George hands it over easily and moves over so Clay can sit down next to him.
Then he starts to write in the sand.
S. A. D. N. A. P. He frowns at the writing and tilts his head at it, scratching out the D, and replacing it with a P.
“What are you doing?” Pandas asks.
“A thing my Mom taught me. Anagrams. You make words out of words. I thought I could make one by spelling Pandas backwards but it doesn’t make sense.”
“What does it spell? Sad..nap?”
“Yeah, if the D was a P it would sound cooler. Sapnap. Sounds like a superhero or something.”
“Sapnap sounds cooler than Pandas.” George points out in agreement.
“But you’ve always called me Pandas,” he says to Clay.
“I didn’t say change it, I just thought it’d be fun to see if I could make a new word.” He replies.
“What about your name George?” Pandas finally says after a moment of silence.
“Only thing I can come up with is Greg or Grog, but it doesn’t use all the letters.”
“Grog sounds funny,” Pandas says with a smile.
“Add a Y, it’ll sound funnier,” Clay adds, grinning, “Groggy. I think that’s a word actually, I read it once.”
“Groggy Gogy- wait hey Gogy, that’s a good one!” Pandas says and jumps up, laughing.
“Gogy, Gogy, Gogy,” he repeats, and jumps on top of the table, before launching himself at George, landing on his back and holding on for dear life. Somehow George manages to catch him, and Pandas half clings to George’s back before he starts to slip.
Clay laughs so hard at them that he nearly falls over.
“Get off me, you idiot.”
“I’ll do what I want Gogy,” Pandas said, with a wide smile, and turned to Clay, “Your name is too short to play around with, but if I’m Sapnap, and George is Gogy-”
“I am not Gogy. I’m George.”
“Shut up Grog, what can your name be Clay?”
Clay shrugs his shoulders. “Don’t know, I don’t need a name though..”
“Yes you do, we’re like the three musketeers and we all need like code names,” Sapnap argues.
“The three musketeers is so old we should have a new group name too, like the trio or-” Clay says.
“What about the Dream Team?” George interrupts softly, and Sapnap and Clay’s mouths shut immediately.
“Wait that’s kind of good,” Sapnap says.
“I like it,” Clay agrees with a smile.
“And you can be Dream,” George continues.
“What?” Clay and Sapnap ask in unison.
“My Mum called you that back at the cabin…don’t know, just thought of it, if it’s stupid don’t worry.”
Dream brushes himself off to walk up to him and throws an arm over his shoulder leaning down.
“Dream is cool. I like it, what do you think Pandas?”
“It’s Sapnap,” he corrects with a grin, “It sounds cooler than mine but that’s okay because I think mine’s more unique. You sure you don’t want to be Grog or Gogy, George?”
“Positive,” George says, and the three laugh as they sit back and watch the sun set.
~
That summer George learns how to swim in the pool in Dream’s backyard. He’s guided by Dream’s steady hands, and Sapnap’s encouraging voice, and by the end of summer he can hold his own in the pool, and his parents feel comfortable enough to let him into the water with the other boys on bonfire night.
The same sinking feeling that appears in Dream’s stomach at the end of each summer feels worse this year. He thinks it’s because of the boy on the other side of him.
George is talking animatedly about the newest book he read, and Dream is nodding along, trying to ignore the cramped feeling in his throat when he looks at his friends for too long.
“You alright Dream?” Sapnap asks.
Dream is still getting used to the new name from his friend’s lips, but it feels more his name than Clay ever has.
He nods his head and smiles.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just tired.”
“That’s what you get for watching a sunrise, can’t believe you would voluntarily wake up that early Dream,” George says with a laugh and falls back onto the blanket they have laid out. Dream follows his movements and shortly so does Sapnap, so the three of them are staring up at the sky. It’s when they’re like this does Dream feel safest.
“I’m gonna miss you guys,” he says in a soft voice.
“I’ll be back next year Dream, I always come back,” Sapnap reassures, but Dream’s head is turned towards George.
The other boy meets his gaze and studies him unblinkingly.
“This summer was fun. Probably my favourite summer in America so far.” George admits.
“Really?” Dream asks, a wide, genuine smile forming on his lips.
“Yeah, you two are cooler than anyone else back in New York, I wish I could pack you both in my luggage and take you with me back.”
“I’d come if I could.” Dream says honestly.
George smiles, “You’re an idiot. Come on, if I ask my parents if I can come back next summer with both of you with me they can’t say no. And if they do say no, you both have to burst into tears to convince them. Deal?”
“Deal.” They say in unison.