Chapter Text
Sunday
idiot :)
Friday, 8:19 pm
thanks for coming georgie :)
yeah
George hadn’t meant to reply so dryly, really, but Wilbur demanded his attention to plan their trip.
Yesterday, 11:31 am
wanna hang with me karl n sap?
sorry i’m busy
In his defense, he was! Him and Wilbur were at the store stocking up on snacks and other necessities for the road.
Yesterday, 10:45 pm
how was ur day?
i’m abt to pass out gn
talk tomorrow?
At the time of those messages, George was loading his things into Wilbur’s van. He fell asleep in the passenger’s seat almost immediately after they started driving. Now, he wakes up at the crack ass of dawn on the open road in the middle of nowhere. With nothing better to do, he pulls out his phone.
Today, 7:57 am
sorry i was asleep lmao
Message not delivered.
oh cute i don’t have service
Message not delivered.
He didn’t know why he bothered telling Dream he didn’t have connection considering he didn’t have connection. George huffed and turned off his phone, looking at the rising sun they were driving toward.
“Good morning,” George yawned.
“Good morning to you too.” Wilbur flicked on his turn signal and switched lanes.
George groaned. “My ass hurts.”
“At least you don’t have to drive the whole time.”
“You’re the one who planned a road trip with someone who can’t drive. That’s your fault.” George unwrapped one of the breakfast sandwiches they packed and took a bite.
“Touche. But you can’t blame me for wanting to spend some quality time with my dear old pal before I head off to New York again.”
Wilbur had come back to Orlando to visit and decided to spend half of his trip not actually in Orlando, but on the road instead. Currently, they were headed to Houston, which was only six long hours away.
“I’m out of data so I can’t even entertain myself with my phone.” George frowned.
Wilbur laughed at his pain. “Who were you trying to text anyway?”
“Dream.”
“Ah the infamous Dream, I see. Shame I didn’t get to meet him.”
“Yeah, maybe next visit.” George chuckled. “I feel bad though, with all your planning recently I’ve kinda avoided him. Not on purpose or anything you’re just very needy.”
Wilbur sent him a quick glare. “I will crash the car right now. How will you ever text your boyfriend back then? Hmm? Don’t test me Gogy.”
George rolled his eyes at the nickname. “He’s not my boyfriend. Not yet, at least.”
“Ooooh! Gogy gettin some dic-”
“I’m gonna have to cut you off right there, mister.”
“You know I’m just messing with you. But for real, you like this kid?” Wilbur cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I do. I think you’d like him too.”
“Well since I can’t meet him, tell me about him. Give me all the deets.”
George laughed. “What are we? Teenage girls?”
“Yes. Yes we are. Now come on. Spill. Does he like you back?”
“Oh definitely.” George took another bite of his momentarily forgotten sandwich.
“Confident, are we?”
“Well for one, I’m hot as shit how could he not? For another, he’s a total simp. Like top tier.”
“Points were made.” Wilbur nods as he speaks. “The evidence is irrefutable.”
“Wow, Wilbur, that’s a big word. I’m surprised it’s even in your vocabulary.” George pokes at his arm.
“I’m not a dumbass, dumbass. Tell me more about this simp.”
George snickered. He always enjoyed gossiping with Wilbur. Yes, Sapnap is his best friend, but they never talked about things like this, so he began describing Dream. His appearance, his personality, his hobbies, and so on. Eventually, George started describing interactions and conversations they shared, which he and Wilbur dissected mercilessly for different meanings or undertones in Dream’s actions and words. They kept going at it for a good hour before the conversation died down and they simply listened to the radio and ate their breakfast.
~
“-orge. Wake up. We’re here.” Wilbur violently shook George’s shoulder.
He forced himself to sit up. “I’m up. I’m up. Cut it out.”
George pulled himself from the passenger’s seat, blinking away the midday sun and looking around. They were parked outside of a shitty motel, nothing but desert surrounding them. Wilbur suddenly slapped him over his head.
“Let’s get inside. I need a nap.”
Wilbur led them into the lobby. Check in only took a few minutes, and soon enough they had their room key in their hands as they trudged off to their room. Wilbur immediately flopped down onto the bed with a sigh.
“I have an alarm set, so don’t wake me up unless you’re dead.” Wilbur’s voice was muted by the bed under him.
“How the fuck am I gonna wake you up if I’m dead? That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Shut up, loser.” He yawned. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Wilby.”
Wilbur seemed to pass out after that, so out of the kindness of George’s heart, he carefully slid off his shoes and laid a spare blanket out over him. With nothing better to do, he sat on the chair in the corner and glanced at his phone again, pulling his knees to his chest. 1:25 pm. He was still out of data, and this motel didn’t have any wifi (what motel doesn’t have wifi?!), so he scanned the app store for any offline games to keep himself busy.
After two hours, his brain became foggy from all the bright flashing colors coming from his screen. The headache behind his eyes yelled at him for a break. George put his phone down and plugged it in so he had enough power to play on the road. His back ached from his uncomfortable position on the chair, and his shirt stuck to him because of the sweat the hot weather brought. A shower might do him so good.
George headed into the bathroom, and after checking there was actually stuff to wash himself with in the shower, he turned on the water and stripped himself of his clothes. Once steam began pouring from over the curtain, he pulled it open and stepped inside. The water felt nice. It was warm, but still cooler than the air outside, so it provided relief. He lathered his hair with cheap shampoo that would surely dry out his hair and enjoyed the water cascading down his back. George watched the suds swirl down the drain when he rinsed his hair clear. After realizing there wasn’t any conditioner (I guess he didn’t take that close of a look at the supplies in the shower) he scrubbed his body with the bar of soap and sat in the water for longer than necessary.
He and Wilbur didn’t bring in any of their bags, so George had no choice but change back into his sweaty clothes. He cringed at the slight dampness of his shirt as he pulled it over his head. Luckily the motel provided some deodorant, so he generously applied it after putting his pants on. He exited the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him to air out the room, and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 3:49 pm, huh. He shrugged and fell beside Wilbur, he could get a few extra minutes of sleep in.
~
George was awoken by a loud blaring from across the room. He scrunched his face as he sat up and scanned the room for the source of the sound, discovering it was coming from Wilbur’s phone. Must be the alarm he set.
George shook the sleeping man beside him. “Wilbur, wake up. Your alarm is going off.”
He groaned. “Five more minutes.”
George rolled his eyes, getting up and ripping the blanket off of the bed. “Wilbur I’m dead. Wake up.”
He finally looked up at George. “How the fuck are you waking me up if you’re dead?”
George laughed and finally shut off the alarm that had been going off this whole time.
Wilbur rubbed his face as he sat up. “I thought you said you were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint. Just had to get you up.”
“I think it’s in my best interest to keep you alive this trip. If Sapnap found out you died while in my care I would be the next to go. That man already dislikes me enough.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I’m glad you want me to stay alive to save your own ass rather than because you enjoy my company.”
Wilbur rolled his eyes as he slid his shoes back on, “You know that’s not true, right?”
George and Wilbur’s relationship was very sarcastic, they both knew this, but sometimes they broke that barrier with some sincerity to make sure they don’t cross any lines.
“I know, Wilbur.” George smiled for a moment then unplugged his phone.
“Are we ready to go?”
With a nod from Wilbur, they were out the door and returning their room key. And by 6 pm, they were on the road again. This time they were headed to Albuquerque. As they left Houston, George couldn’t help but think of Sapnap, who was from Texas. It was then when George decided they would visit together someday.
He felt a little guilty. Sapnap didn’t like Wilbur, everyone knew this. His opinion on Wilbur wasn’t too unjustified; trouble seemed to follow him everywhere he went. The difference between George and Sapnap seemed to be the fact that George didn’t mind the trouble. He didn’t even mind the trouble when they almost got arrested for breaking into the school in the middle of the night last year. And here George was, going on a surprise road trip with his best friend’s least favorite person. To make matters worse, he didn’t even inform Sapnap of these plans. He just hoped he wasn’t too worried.
Monday
It was around 3 am when Wilbur pulled to the side of the dirt road they had been driving down for hours.
“Why’d we stop?” George watched the other boy unbuckle and climb out of the car.
“Do you trust me?”
George’s response was immediate. “Of course I do.”
“Come on then.” Wilbur closed his car door. George blindly followed and got out of the car.
Walking around to the back, he saw Wilbur climbing onto the bumper. He then heaved himself up onto the roof. Confused as ever, George did the same.
“So why are we up here exactly?” The only car they’d seen in a while zoomed past them.
“Watching the stars. You don’t see them like this in the city.” Wilbur’s voice was quiet as he laid down.
“I guess you’re right.” George stayed sitting up, craning his neck to look up at the sky. As always, Wilbur was right. The sky was dotted with millions upon millions of little dots. Because of the area’s lack of light pollution, each and every one shone through. George had never seen the sky like this, it was beautiful.
After a few minutes of quiet, Wilbur spoke up. “Whatchya thinkin about?”
“The stars remind me of his freckles.” The words came spilling from his mouth before he realized it.
Wilbur hummed. “Really?”
George nodded. “They don’t fully do him justice, though.”
Wilbur only hummed again, looking back up to the night.
George felt at peace. Sitting on the roof of his friend’s old minivan, watching the stars, and counting them imagining they were dusted across tanned cheeks.
~
They arrived at their next motel a little less than four hours later. George admired the distant mountains as Wilbur checked them in. Albuquerque was very different from Florida. Florida was boringly flat and sickly humid. New Mexico had beautiful peaks and dry air that didn’t make your clothes stick to your skin.
“Alright, you know the drill. Alarm set. No no wakey Wilbur.” The beanie boy yawned as he pushed the room door open, lying down the second his shoes were off. George hadn’t slept in the car, so he passed out soon after his friend.
Wilbur’s alarm woke them at 11:30 am. Wilbur took a quick shower after waking up and they exited the motel by noon. They wouldn’t arrive in Los Angeles until midnight, so George found mundane activities to distract them for the next twelve hours.
Tuesday
George was relieved to finally be out of a car, and his body was too as he stretched all the tension from his muscles. Looking at the building they would be staying at (it was a hotel this time) George wondered how Wilbur got his aunt to fund this trip. George looked up to the blank sky, he was glad they got to see the stars before, because California seemed to lack any stars at all.
The hotel was fancier than George expected. He questioned if he had died and ended up in heaven for a moment when he entered the bright white room, tall marble pillars extending to the high ceiling. That was just the lobby, George didn’t know what to expect for the room.
“Can I help you?” The lady at the desk asked with a look. Clearly she wasn’t expecting two teenage boys (who most definitely looked like hell) to be staying here.
“Yes.” Wilbur confidently approached the desk. “There should be a suite under Soot.”
She blinked at the accent. “ID?”
Wilbur handed her his license and she verified the information. Still skeptical, she handed him two room keys. “Enjoy your stay.”
The boys quickly thanked her before heading to the elevator, bags in hand. They rode up to the fourth floor, then walked lazily down the hall to room 404. When Wilbur swung the door open, George’s jaw dropped. That was not what he was expecting.
They walked into a large, spacious living room. The exterior wall was just one large window, expensive looking curtains framing it. The ceiling was high enough to have a small chandelier hang from it and still not be even slightly low enough to hit anyone’s head. There was a large flatscreen tv facing a long, gray couch that looked more comfortable than any couch George has ever and will ever sit on. To his right was a kitchen, sleek and modern. He didn’t pay much attention to it, he figured they wouldn’t use it much if it all. On either side of the living room was a bedroom (George would soon find out they had their own bathrooms attached to them), he didn’t even need to enter the rooms to know they were nice.
When he stepped into his bedroom (Wilbur chose the one to the right), he plopped down onto the plush comforter, the extremely nice mattress already dipping to accommodate his weight. George skimmed through the bag he had discarded onto the floor and pulled out a new set of clothes that he could finally change into. He walked into the bathroom and, as expected, it looked incredibly rich. It had the same look as the kitchen, he didn’t doubt that the marble countertops matched.
After the most heavenly shower in his life, George got into a pair of pajamas and settled into his bed. The warm comforter immediately dragged him to sleep.
~
“George, wake up. We have a busy schedule today.” Wilbur hit George over the head with one of the spare pillows on his bed.
George grunted, sitting up and hitting Wilbur back with the one that was underneath his head.
“What time is it?” George squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light suddenly pouring into the room (Wilbur had opened the blinds).
“It’s just after nine. Now get up or I’ll hit you again.”
“You could’ve woken me up nicer. Bitch.” George set his pillow back down and ran a hand through his hair.
“Okay. Fine. Find your own way home. I’m abandoning you.” Wilbur shrugged and left George’s room.
“Love you too!” George yelled at him, getting up and closing his door to get dressed.
Digging through his bag, he decided on a pair of jeans, a cream tank top, and plain sneakers. Boring, but it works. After checking his hair wasn’t atrocious in the mirror and brushing his teeth, he joined Wilbur in the main area.
“Alright, what’s on our ‘busy schedule’ today?” George fell over the armrest onto the couch.
Wilbur looked at him over the kitchen island. “I figured somewhere around here sells breakfast, so, after hunting for food, our first stop is the Hollywood sign, baby!”
“Can we get going soon? I’m starving.”
“Whenever you’re ready, Gogy.”
George rolled off the couch. “Shut the fuck up.”
“You want food or not?” Wilbur jingled the car keys in the air and headed toward the door.
“I’m coming.” George scrambled to his feet and followed after him.
Wilbur closed the door behind them and they started walking down the hallway. “George, we’re in public.”
…
“What?!”
~
They ended up wandering until they found a nearby cafe. After ordering, they took the long way back to the hotel, just walking and enjoying their food. They were waiting at the crosswalk, basking in each other’s company.
“You know there’s wifi, like, everywhere here. You could finally text Dream back.” Wilbur sipped his coffee.
George smiled at the thought. “No, it’s okay. I feel like living in the moment today. Besides, I left my phone at the hotel and I don’t remember the last time I charged it.”
The light signaled it was safe for them and they started walking again. “Fair enough. Though, you should text him at some point. Does he even know you’re here?”
George shrugged. “Probably not.”
Wilbur scoffed. “Did you tell anyone you were leaving?”
“No…” He replied sheepishly.
“Dumbass.” Was all he said before the comfortable silence continued.
~
Turn left in 400 feet. The British lady coming through Wilbur’s phone instructed.
George stared out the window as they approached the viewpoint.
“Look!” Wilbur pointed out the windshield as the distant letters came into view.
They were both basically shaking with excitement as they entered the parking lot. It was relatively empty, so Wilbur easily found a spot and before they knew it they were walking away from the parked car towards the lookout.
“Holy shit, dude. It’s even better than I thought.” Wilbur beamed as they walked across the flattened dusty ground.
“It’s worth the two days of driving, that’s for sure.” George stopped in front of the railing once they approached it, resting his hands on the hot metal. He stared out at the large letters that stood on the mountain across from them. They were just letters, yeah, but for some reason they had this magical effect that made them seem cool.
“Let’s get a picture.” Wilbur said as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
The duo turned their backs to the sign and Wilbur positioned the camera so they were all properly in frame. “Ready?” George nodded and smiled brightly at the camera. “Ok. 3, 2, 1, cheese!” Wilbur flashed his own smile as he took the picture. Wilbur lowered his arm to look at the photo.
“Dude, we look hot.” Wilbur turned the camera to George so he could look. Their happy smiles were almost more noticeable than the giant bold letters in the back. The sun made their skin look great and turned George’s eyes honey gold.
“We totally do.” He agreed. “Send that to me.”
Wilbur nodded. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, it’s getting hot out here.”
With that, the boys headed back to the car and it wasn’t long until they were driving around, windows down, blasting Big Time Rush and screaming along. It reminded him of those nights with Dream. I guess he’ll just have to make Dream go on a drive with him when he gets back.
A few hours later, they stopped speeding through the streets and ended up at some gift shop not far from the hotel. George wasn’t getting anything; he didn’t have any money and he didn’t want Wilbur to have to pay, so he just followed him around the store. Wilbur swore he was shopping for himself, but George didn’t fail to notice him pick out a few items that looked too much like his brother, Tommy’s, taste and too little like Wilbur’s. George didn’t say anything, but it brought a smile to his face. No matter how Wilbur came across, he would always have a soft spot for his brother. Don’t tell anyone, though.
Scanning through the aisles, George found nothing too eye-catching. That was until he came across a pair of woven bracelets. They were blue and green, each with a charm. One had the outline of a star, the other had the star piece that fit inside. He immediately thought of getting them for him and Dream, but he was already set on sparing Wilbur from spending any more on him.
“Find something for you and loverboy?” Wilbur peeked over George’s shoulder at the jewelry in his hands.
“Nah.” George set the bracelets back on the shelf.
“I know you said you don’t want to get anything, but it really isn’t a problem. They really seemed to catch your attention.”
“It’s okay, really. Maybe I’ll just have to come back to get them with him.” George smiled as he looked at the bracelets a final time before walking off with Wilbur to the register.
The night ended on the living room couch. Random movies played on the tv until they were both too tired to keep their eyes open and they eventually went to their own rooms.
Wednesday
George was a little sad when they had to pack up and leave the next morning. Being in LA was nice; he didn’t have any responsibilities, nobody knew who he was. Plus, who knows when he’ll get to see Wilbur again? To his dismay, they were back on the road. The city slowly faded from view, and neither of the boys were looking forward to another few days on the road. Their next stop: Salt Lake City.
Somewhere in the middle of Nevada, Wilbur finally started a conversation.
“So are you gonna ask this idiot out or what?”
George gnawed on his gummy worm. “Huh?”
“Dream.” Wilbur made grabby hands for some of the candy. “You’re asking him out when you get back to Florida, right?”
“I probably should, shouldn’t I?” George sorted through the bag for the kind Wilbur likes.
“From what I’ve heard, he probably won’t do it himself.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” George laughed. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea, though.”
“Dude. Ask him out or I will.”
Knowing Wilbur, he probably would.
“Alright, fine, you’ve convinced me.” George threw his hands into the air with a shrug.
“That’s my boy! Let’s go!”
“We’re popping off!” George’s voice raised about 3 octaves.
After they finished celebrating, they went quiet and fell back into the comfort of each other’s company.
They arrived at their hotel in Salt Lake City just after 10 pm. This one was nothing compared to the one in LA, but it was nicer than some of the other ones they had stayed in. It felt very routine; tiredly checking in and passing out once in their room then waking up early in the morning to start driving again. Road trips weren’t as bad as George thought, especially with the right person.
Thursday
George gawked at the sun rising over the mountains as they sped down the freeway the next morning, window open to enjoy the morning air. The way the rays poked through the peaks and painted the city in light was mesmerizing. He made a note in his mental checklist to watch a sunrise like this with Dream.
Needing some sustenance, Wilbur exited the highway and they found their way to a nearby McDonald’s. Ah, shit, I still gotta pay Dream back. Oops. George’s eyes followed an airplane crossing the sky as Wilbur took their order. He hadn’t realized they were leaving the drive thru until Wilbur handed him the bag and asked him to check for all their food. He scanned through the bags as they pulled up to a stoplight when he heard music that only seemed to grow louder and louder. A few seconds later, a car pulled up next to them and he could tell it was coming from the vehicle. Curious to see who the hell could be blasting music this early in the morning, he glanced out the window to his right. George wasn’t too surprised to see two teenage girls in the car. The girl in the driver’s seat caught him staring, so she began aggressively rapping along to the Nicki Minaj song coming from her speakers at him. Before he could react, her friend in the passenger seat alerted her the light was green and they sped off, Wilbur turning left.
“They seemed fun.” Wilbur commented.
Knowing they wouldn’t arrive in Dallas until early morning, George strapped in for the long, boring drive.
Friday
The motel they stopped at was almost identical to the one in Houston. It could’ve been entirely different but it was one in the morning and George was tired so he couldn’t really tell. As they settled into bed, it hit him that this was the last day of their trip and in under 24 hours he would have to return to the real world. With a slightly heavy heart, he drifted off.
For the final time, Wilbur dragged George out of bed with the sun. George was crammed into the passenger’s seat for the final time. And for the first time, he wanted the car ride to last longer.
Realization only sunk further into George’s bones as they crossed the state line into Florida. Despite his urge to stay awake, he slept some of the remaining six hours with Wilbur away.
~
“Good morning, sunshine.”
George stretched against his seatbelt. “Good morning. How far are we from Orlando?”
“About an hour.” George pretended not to pick up on the slight sadness in Wilbur’s tone.
“It’s alright. We can make the most of it.” He smiled.
"I never doubted us for a second." Wilbur smiled back.
And make the most of it they did.
Saturday
It was around 12:30 in the morning when Wilbur pulled over in front of a familiar house.
George glanced out the window then smiled sadly at Wilbur, “I guess this is it, huh?”
Wilbur put the car in park. “I guess so.”
“This was a lot of fun, I’m glad you took me with you.”
“Me too. There’s nobody else I would’ve rather done this with.”
George unbuckled and leaned over the center console to hug him. “I’m gonna miss you.”
Wilbur eagerly returned it. “I’m going to miss you too. New York is so boring. There’s not enough hot people.”
George laughed and pulled away. “And right as I was about to cry. Way to ruin the moment, Wil.”
“Aw Gogy Wogy gonna cry?” Wilbur laughed.
“I take it back. I never want to see you again.” George smiled as he got out of the car, leaning on the open window.
“Fine. I guess I’ll leave then.” Wilbur said but made no move to start moving the car again.
“Good. You’re scumming up the neighborhood.” They both took a moment to laugh before settling again. “Say hi to Tommy for me. I miss that kid.”
“You’ll have to come down and tell him yourself. Maybe you can bring Dream with you."
“It’s official! Me and Dream in our visiting Wilbur arc this summer. Well, if Sapnap lets him, that is. He’s gotten real protective over Dream these past few months.”
“You can be pretty convincing, you got this. Since when has he ever said no to you, anyway?”
“You have a good point.” George pushed himself off of the car door. “Well, I shouldn’t keep you any longer. Drive safe or whatever.”
Wilbur shifted the car into drive. “No promises. Till next time, my friend.” Wilbur saluted him as he pulled off. Even though he probably couldn’t see it, George returned the gesture.
George knew he couldn’t come home at his hour after being gone for a week, he knew his parents wouldn’t be mad at him for long, but waking them up in the middle of the night wasn’t the best idea. That left George stranded outside of the only place he thought he could go. Dream’s house.
He only just now realized his bags were still in Wilbur’s trunk. Oh well. Now let’s sneak into this house.
Sneaking into his backyard wasn’t very difficult, they left their gate unlocked. The hard part was getting to Dream’s window. Luckily, there was a lattice fence that climbed up the wall adjacent to the roof overhang him and Dream had watched the sunset from. George momentarily smiled as he thought back on that memory, interrupting his own thoughts to begin carefully climbing up the rickety wood. It seemed to be pretty firmly attached to the wall, other than a few shakes. Reaching the top, George carefully placed his foot on the slanted roof, making sure he had good grip before putting any weight on his foot. Once he was sure he wouldn’t slip, he quickly pushed himself off of the wall and landed not so gracefully on the shingles. He cursed lightly at the scrapes on his palms and stood on wobbly legs. He halted once he stood right next to the window and unlocked his phone. Because he was basically in Dream’s house, his phone automatically connected to the wifi, flooding his phone with messages from the past week.
He sorted through all the worried texts from his parents and Karl, skimming over the angry ones from Sapnap, and found his and Dream’s conversation. Once opened, he saw his texts from Sunday come through, including Dream’s own worried text from that morning. George typed out a message, but decided calling him would be more efficient. His lights were off, but Dream was usually awake at this time on the weekends, so he wasn’t worried about waking him up. George clicked the call button and held it to his ear as he listened to it ring out.
Leave a message at the tone. A robotic tone came through his speaker.
George clicked the try again button with a frown. He listened to it ring once more.
Leave a message at the tone.
Again.
Leave a message at-
Again.
Leave a messa-
George huffed and slid his phone back into his pocket. He was out of options, so he decided on lightly tapping on the window. The curtains were closed, so George had no idea if Dream was even in there, let alone awake. After a moment of silence, he tapped again.
He shivered slightly. “Dream, I know you’re awake. Open the window. It’s cold out here.”
George waited for a few moments, about to give up right as the curtains opened. He watched Dream stare up at him with wide eyes. The blonde looked disheveled and distraught. I wonder what has him so stressed. The color seemed to return to Dream’s pale face when they made eye contact.
Dream looked to be in a haze as he opened the window, looking at George with disbelief.
He smiled down at Dream, “Hi.”