"i thought being in brozone meant getting chicks would be easy."

clay is sitting on a stone stair, throwing a hacky sack ball up in the air and catching it with one hand. beside him is his youngest brother and close confidant, branch, forced to listen as clay voiced his insecurities.

"it did," branch smirks, "i'm dating the queen."

clay furrows his brows at him. "well, good for you bro. i'm really, really happy for you!"

branch hisses laughter through clenched teeth before extending his arm to pat clay on the shoulder.

"sorry, clay."

"i just..." clay's eyes dart around before he averts his gaze up, down into the garden, down to where you stood, laughing with floyd. "i mean, come on! floyd?! what has he got that i haven't?!"

branch shrugs. "a killer backstory."

"you're right!" clay nods. "i mean... all he's gotta do is pull out the 'oh boohoo i was kidnapped oh woe is me' card and girls flock to him!"

"tad insensitive—"

"even so!"

the two ruminate their stair-sitting before clay outstretches his arms to crack his knuckles, hops to his feet, and brushes down his favourite sweater. his usual friendly smile is locked into an expression that was more serious. he is determined.

branch looks up at him from below. "where you goin'?"

"there." clay points at you and floyd in the distance. "i'm not gonna literally sit here and watch this happen!"

branch applauds, slightly sarcastically, but mostly in astonishment. "well, okay! clay finds his manliness! finally!"

ignoring branch's regular snark, clay hops down the steps onto the grass and begins his stride over to the two of you. viva waves him over, but instead of running away like he usually does, he continues past her, more determined than he'd ever been.

"floyd, you're so funny!"

"it's just the truth, i'm serious!"

"no way!"

clay clears his throat to make his presence known and the two of you turn to face him. his eyes land on you and suddenly his sweater seems inappropriate for the weather. everything, from the way your tuft of hair curls at the end, the way your eyes light up when you laugh, the way your nose crinkles when you smile, it all reminds him of why he likes you. he tugs at the neck of it as his cheeks flush, and seems to forget whatever it was that he was going to say.

"clay?" your voice breaks him out of his daydream.

clay clears his throat abruptly. "oh, uh... y/n! hey!"

you giggle at his flustered disposition. typical clay, getting his words muddled or stuck in his throat completely. he was a little awkward, but that was part of his charm.

"well hello to you to." says floyd, rolling his eyes and resting his hands in his pockets.

"right," clay scrambles, "hey floyd. what are you guys talking about?"

at the reminder of the previous conversation, you and floyd start laughing again.

"floyd was just telling me," you start, but cannot finish, bursting into hysterics instead. you grab his arm and start hitting it playfully. "oh floyd you tell him!"

floyd too is apparently laughing too much to share the conversation, keeling over with you still clinging to his arm. clay stands back, folding his arms and tapping his foot against the grass. he was trying his best to ignore it, but he can't. he can't ignore it when the person he likes is hugging his brother's arm and giggling sweetly at something he said.

the two regain composure, straightening themselves up when they notice clay's disillusioned expression. they begin trying to piece the story together again, but clay slides in with his own comment first.

"wow, floyd." he laughs, though his smile is not genuine, but malicious. "you two really make a cute couple."

floyd looks at him in confusion, while you look at your feet. you weren't sure what to say. you had never seen clay like this, and you didn't know why he was jumping to these crazy conclusions. you and floyd were friends, but you'd never thought of him as anything more than that.

"i mean, the way y/n is holding onto your arm!" he gestures over between you two, where you had still been clinging to him only semi-consciously. you drop his arm. "that is just... too adorable guys!"

"clay, stop." floyd walks closer to his brother, but clay just scoffs, and without thinking, pushes floyd back so that he topples to the floor.

floyd springs to his feet, rubbing the arm that hit the ground hardest. now, he is mad too. "jealous, much?"

you stood dumbly to the side, feeling like you were caught in the crossfire between your best friends. most of all, though, you felt guilty. you knew that this fight had something to do with you. and now, you'd caused conflict between two brothers.

the three of you haven't even noticed that your argument is drawing a crowd. john dory is front row, munching on some popcorn as if this were a movie. bruce, stood beside him, looks slightly more concerned, but still has his hand in the popcorn bucket.

clay plays dumb. "of what?"

"don't give me that." floyd scoffs. "we all know that you like y/n. literally everybody knows!"

clay lunges for his much shorter brother, fists curled. "watch your mouth, floyd."

"why? it's true, isn't it? that's why you act like such a freak around her!"

you look over at clay with your big, soft eyes, the eyes that could melt his heart in an instant. "clay?"

without saying another word, he grabs you by the wrist, taking you by surprise. he leads you past the crowd in a hurry, cheeks flushed as he realises what he's doing. eventually, he finds a nook of trees and bushes without any other trolls around and stops, reluctantly releasing your hand and turning to face you.

for a moment, the two of you say nothing. instead, you let the sounds of nature fill your ears as you look at each other. strangely, in all the chaos, you feel relaxed, you feel at peace, simply because you are together.

"so..." you start, holding your hands behind your back and looking up at clay. "is it true?"

his cheeks flush a deep scarlet. "what?"

"do you like me?"

clay starts weighing out the pros and cons in his head of telling you the truth. he resolves that he can probably conjure up a pretty convincing lie and this stage, and maybe deflect it back onto floyd... leaving him with a twenty-seven percent chance that it backfires and you confess your feelings to floyd instead. all those years in finance and statistics really pay off in a crisis.

"yeah. i do." and yet, in the heat of the moment, he tells you the truth instead. he didn't mean to — he's not even sure how the words spilled from his lips — but he does know that there is now no going back. he twiddles his fingers waiting for a reply, and when one isn't immediate, his anxiety takes over once again.

he takes a short sharp breath. "it's fine, you know, if you don't, you know... yeah. it really isn't a big deal, i get it, floyd's a good guy—"

he is stopped short when you reach out and grab his hands that were gesturing rapidly as he spoke. you smile at him, making eye contact as he shifts uncomfortably.

"i like you." you say it confidently, making sure that there isn't any confusion in clay's mind. he stares back gob-smacked, so you reach a hand under his chin and push it closed. you move your hands to grip his sweater, yanking it down so that the extremely tall troll's head is level with yours, and you press your lips against his. he melts into the kiss, the anxiety and pent-up anger leaving his body instantly. breaking away, you smile at him sweetly, and he does the same.

"do you even know how crazy it made me to see you with floyd all the time?" clay laughs, running a hand through his hair. "i wanted to kill him. and he's my brother!"

giggling, you nudge him. "i didn't take you for the jealous type."

clay straightens up. "oh, i am. trust me. anybody will tell you that."

"really?"

"yeah. when i was younger i used to full on brawl my brother's if they played with my toys. or even touched them, to be honest."

the two of you start laughing, in a state of comfortable bliss. now the hard part, sharing your feelings, was over, and you'd never felt so happy in your life.

"do you wanna know what i was talking about with floyd?" you ask.

he shrugs, pretending to be nonchalant, before dropping the act. "i wanted to act all cool and be like 'it doesn't even matter girllll!' but yeah. i do. desperately."

again, you giggle at his antics. "we were talking about you."

"what?!"

you nod. "yeah. he was telling me about this time when a crazy obsessed fan was chasing after you, and how you had to hide in the trunk of john dory's car for two hours."

"oh, yeah." clay cringes at the memory. "it smelled like salmon in there, but she wanted to steal my funder-drawers, so... why were you talking about me?"

"because," you smile shyly, "i told floyd about how i like you, and so he was telling me what not to do, and we landed on that story."

"oh." he steps forward and wraps his arms around you, in a warm hug that sends your head spinning. "hey, i'm sorry. i didn't know."

you break away and place your hands in his. "hey, it's okay." scratching the back of your neck, you avoid eye contact. "to be honest... i get really jealous when you're with viva."

clay breaks into a grin. "hey, really?!"

"why. are. you. smiling?!" you say, embarrassed, hitting his arm lightly on every syllable.

"well, it's nice to not be the only jealous one." he shrugs, putting an arm around you. "and besides, it's kinda cute. you getting all worked up like that."

looking up at him, you smile. "well, you must be the cutest person in the world then, considering you just attacked your brother over me."

clay shudders. "don't remind me. i have to deal with that later."

the two of you chat for a little while longer, sharing stories, airing out your worries, and just enjoying each other's company. after a while, the sun goes down, and you slink back to the village in the night, one of his arms around your waist, and the other pointing out constellations in the sky.

[a.n]
well, that's the first one shot done! i hope you liked it! i'll write more, but also please dm me requests for scenarios and which character you'd like them with. bye!!