"Hey."

Clark was blind and deaf to the world around him as of right now, too loud thoughts taking tight hold of his senses. Jethro registered this rather quickly, entering the room fully and clicking the door closed behind him.

He approached the boy that was now curled ever small on the large bed with a slow sense of surety, careful not to startle him. "Ash?" He called gently, perching himself on the bed beside Clark. He waited ever patiently until Clark turned to him and reached out thin arms shakily.

Jethro wasted no time in gathering Clark up into his lap, settling them both comfortably against the headboard. "Take your time, Little Bee. Whenever you're ready." Clark nodded something small, burrowing and shuffling until he was settled sideways in Jethro's lap, forehead rested in the crook of Jethro's neck.

Jethro pulled a small, worn and thin slip of folded paper from his pocket and rested it in Clark's lap before looping his arms around the other's waist. Clark stared at it, breath baited, for much too long before tentatively tracing his fingers down the torn edge with a heart-wrenching care.

The paper was yellowed and almost grainy to the touch. Had he not known what is was, he may have made some quiet joke about a tea-stained treasure map he and Jethro had once made a thousand years ago. It was vaguely warm from where Geo had evidently kept it close and Clark felt a flare of fondness at the clear care his friends had taken - from the way that not a single one had peeked more than the hello and goodbye to the way Jethro had handled it as though it were the second most precious thing in the world.

He traced deft fingers down the crease, over the raw edge and around the two clean cut sides, over crinkle and crease, slowly. The soft thump of Jethro's pulse set the base for Clark to build his confidence.

Eyes already cloudy, Clark unfolded the note.

////:\\\\

Snapmap
GEORGE
6:34pm
GEORGE
6:34pm
GEORGE
6:34pm
GEORGE
6:34pm

Georg
WHAT
6:35pm

Snapmap
are you free?
6:35pm

Georg
you want to come over?
6:36pm

Snapmap
ye
6:36pm

Georg
then no.
6:36pm

Snapmap
Bitch.
6:37pm
I have something for you and Clay to try
6:37pm

Georg
you have your own boyfriend, make him try it
6:38pm

Snapmap
I already have, idiot
6:38pm
now I want my two other boyfriends to try it 🥰
6:38pm

Georg
ew
6:38pm

Snapmap
rude
6:39pm
I'm the best boyfriend
6:39pm

Georg
wrong but okay
6:39pm
are you coming over or not?
6:41pm

Snapmap
omw babe 🥰
6:41pm
Seen

////:\\\\

There was an odd juxtaposition in the George-and-Clay residence. The sitting room was warm with conversation, Geo, George and Clay happily providing each other company after Ophelia had gone home with Keres; Selene had been invited to stay with Mrs Bosko; the lawyer group had left to do whatever lawyers do to prepare and Darryl, Zak, Vincent and Nick had returned to their respective homes the night before.

George didn't understand why Nick and Vincent didn't just move in with him and Clay, seeing as Nick was already back within the span of likely less then ten hours.

"I am about to change your life." Nick announced as he burst into the room, plastic bag in hand. "Hi Geo." He tacked on the end, Geo waving with a smile.

"Where's Vin?" Clay asked, leaning on the doorframe between the sitting room and the kitchen with his shoulders, hands occupied with a dishcloth and a glass. George had to bite back his comment that Clay made a very pretty housemaid.

"He's calling his family to catch them up, figured I'd give him some privacy." Nick shrugged, dropping the plastic bag unceremoniously onto the coffee table.

"Oh, so he gets a break from you?" George quipped and Nick threw himself onto the couch much closer than necessary, slinging an arm around George's shoulders.

"You missed me when I moved." Nick reminded and George rolled his eyes but made no move to shift from Nick's grasp.

"I forgot how annoying you are." He returned and before they had the chance to bicker any further, Clay swatted at them both with the dishcloth and a laugh.

"What did you want to show us, Nick?" Clay asked. Nick moved to grab the plastic bag and George dropped his head to the back of the couch in order to look, upside down, at Clay. Clay gave him a fond smile, more than ready to press a soft kiss to George's forehead when George childishly stuck out his tongue and Clay found himself laughing instead.

"George," George tilted his head back up to look at Nick "I am about to show you the best thing you will ever taste." Nick stated confidently.

"Didn't know you had my dick in that bag." Clay commented nonchalantly and Nick choked on a laugh, George flushing from crown to toe-tip a crimson red.

"Clay!" George shrieked, the room crumbling into worse laughter and George couldn't bear anything above the sound of Clay's breathless wheezing.

"I think that's my cue to leave." Geo said, a giggle in his tone, as he went to stand. Nick went to protest but couldn't squeeze anything much past his own laughter, leaning heavily on Geo's side instead.

Once he'd finally composed himself, Clay slouched over the back of the couch and George slumped with his arms crossed, he spoke again. "I want you to try it too."

"Uh," Geo glanced at Clay and then at George and Nick was tumbling into laughter all over again. God was this a train-wreck of a conversation.

"It's a drink." Nick managed in a much too high tone. "Don't you dare." He pointed an accusing finger at Clay once Clay had lifted his head, looking as though he was going to make another comment. Clay couldn't have if he tried anyways, heady with laughter. The glass he'd been cleaning laid forgotten on the couch beside George.

Finally, Nick managed to lift from Geo's shoulder and stand on his own, pulling a few cans from the plastic bag he'd brought. He handed them to each of the others, pointedly not looking at where Clay was still tripping over himself with bubbling giggles for fear that he'd lose it again.

"Melon milk?" George asked, voice thick with confusion.

"Carbonated melon milk." Nick corrected, plucking a can for himself and registering the one left in the bag. He cracked it open with a grin and happily took a large gulp.

Geo opened his with a little more apprehension, bringing it to his nose sniff first. George and Clay followed suit, exchanging a look. They waited for Geo's reaction first, not entirely trusting Nick's taste.

Geo made a soft noise of surprise, eyebrows lifting, as he took a sip. "Good right?" Nick asked smugly and Geo took another, a larger, sip.

"It's actually not that bad." He confirmed.

With that, George and Clay turned to one another and wordlessly pressed their cans together before closing their eyes and taking a sip.

"Huh, it really isn't that bad."

"You lot are insane."

////:\\\\

@KeresHexxOff
You guys should listen to girl in red!! @OhOphelia just introduced me to her music and it's amazing!!
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retweets likes
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@OhOphelia
i wanna be your girlfriend

slaps
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@fleepfloop
hello lgbtq+ community
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@DreamWasTaken
You should listen to Sweater Weather by the neighbourhood next
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@KeresHexxOff
Oooooo I'll listen to it!!!
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retweets likes

////:\\\\

It hurt.

It hurt a lot, Clark wasn't going to lie.

Not what she said, no. Not that she was sorry; that Clark had been the only thing that kept her holding on for a long while; not that she wished, to her last breath, that there was another way.

No, it hurt that this closure was kept from him for eleven long years. It hurt that Clark learnt through years of hidden counselling that it wasn't his fault and not from his mothers love-laced and apologetic explanation; that Clark spent eleven years believing his only biological family was the very man that loved him least when a few scribbled words revealed a home that had been waiting for him mere minutes away.

It hurt that Clark couldn't create excuse or reason for Damien's actions anymore.

It had been easier to deal with when Clark could tell himself that the reason Damien hated him was because he'd taken Abigail from him. It had been easier when Clark could make some kind of rhyme or reason to understand.

Even after all these years, it was hard to believe that Damien had never been the father that loved him. Had never been the father that cheered much too loud at the two lines Clark had in the school play, even though he'd gotten them wrong; the father that worked extra hours in the evening in order to save up to get Clark his first actual football kit rather than a second hand, mismatched one; the father that pretended to cuss out the street lamp for attacking his son when Clark had accidentally crashed his bike into it while learning to ride it.

It hurt to know that Clark had lost himself and his family for no reason.

But there was also a sense of relief, a weight off his shoulders, to have read Abigail's explanation. To know that, through it all, his mother had always and would always love him. To know that he had his mother's brother - his uncle - to find in England once this was all over.

"You okay?" Jethro's voice was rough with disuse but warm with care. He'd kept silent and still, simply there with Clark as he always was. A grounding weight in a whirlwind of upturning confusion. Clark let himself carefully refold the note and slip it onto the bedside table.

He twisted in Jethro's lap to slip his hand beneath Jethro's jacket to link around his waist. He buried his tear stained face into Jethro's warm shoulder, silently making a note to wash the poor guy's shirt for him. Jethro tightened the arms around Clark's waist and slowly brushed a large hand up and down his back.

"No." Clark answered honestly. He didn't need to pretend anymore. "But..." Jethro hummed when Clark paused, pressing his nose into Clark's hair and holding him close.

"I think I will be."

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Little bit happy, little bit sad :]

Thankfully, I tested negative and am on the mend. Thank you all for your kind messages <3

Feedback is welcome and appreciated!!

Yours, Dandelion