Chapter Text
“Trick or treat!”
Karl burst out into contagious giggles from the fireplace as Quackity bound down the wooden stairs into George’s second living room, present hidden behind his back as the others averted their eyes.
That’s right, second. That’s what happens when both your parents are surgeons.
The “living” room had been barely lived in before the five boys infiltrated it and deemed it their hideout. The family of three hadn’t touched it, and let the boys deck it out when they were about 13. The band posters and fraying cushions were outdated, but none of them would change it for the world.
The room was currently decked out in tinsel and fairy lights, it smelt of gingerbread and chocolate courtesy of George’s mum, who had kindly bought the boys fresh biscuits and hot cocoa, much to George’s embarrassment.
They all thanked her kindly and had left Quackity’s by his designated spot around the fire, who had now found it and graciously shoved the whole thing in his mouth.
It was the night before Christmas Eve and the 23rd of December marks their yearly tradition of Secret Santa. It was something they had done since freshman year of high-school, when they all had their first jobs and could afford to spend a little on one another. Every year the presents got more expensive, going from $10 Pokemon card packs at thirteen to $60 Pizza Hut gift cards.
Quackity argues it’s the thought that counts.
Dream has been lucky enough to been given a gift from each one of his friends and knows both how they give, and what they want in return. He, as anyone would guess, is a thoughtful gift giver. He knows his friends like the back of his hand, and wants to make them feel special, loves Christmas for giving him an excuse to do so. In return appreciates a bit of thought put into his gifts, although knowing his friends, he’s learned to not expect it.
Unless it’s from Karl. Who puts thought and affection into everything he does, so it’s no surprise that his gifts are always well thought out and generous. The pricey keyboard Dream had been eyeing longingly for months in 10th grade now sits on desk proudly, courtesy of Karl Jacobs.
Sapnap’s gift-giving style was personal. His gifts never had much thought put into them, but they were special in the way that they were meant and designed for the person who received them. Dream eyed the green fabric band he kept on his wrist, frayed from the years that had gone by. He felt his heart warm when he saw his best friend's wrist resting over Quackity’s shoulder, clad in a matching worn orange band.
Speaking of, Quackity was definitely the most, interesting, gift giver. Novelty was his middle name, he liked to give joke presents almost as much as he liked receiving them. He still swears his favourite present was the full Minecraft Steve morph suit, complete with a full set of foam diamond tools, but the neon pink popcorn maker that get’s used almost every movie night begs to differ.
George was a random gift giver, usually, a compilation of little things, some with considerable amounts of thought put into them, others looked like they came from shitty arcade prizes. But George’s presents always consisted of something special and earned him a fond laugh and a massive hug every year.
This year, Dream had drawn out Sapnap’s name to buy for, and secretly he was extremely happy about it. He swore to himself that he didn’t have favourites in his friendship group, par George (sorry guys), but his bond with Sapnap was almost as thick as blood.
He’d known immediately what to get the younger as well, which took away the stress of buying, unlike whoever had to buy for George, who was unjustifiably picky. A week or so ago had consisted of a quick trip to the mall near their school, and 2 hours later Dream walked out with what he considered a pretty decent present.
A $40 piercing gift card, enough to kickstart the piercings Sapnap wanted to get when they graduated in a few months. Dream slipped the gift card inside of a new, rather expensive, black leather wallet, lined with signature orange stitching. One to replace the bright red one that Karl had accidentally torn in a drive-thru one afternoon. The present didn’t look like much, so Dream chucked his favourite chocolates in the red gift bag alongside the wallet, stuffing it with silver tissue paper before he left the house earlier.
He eyed the red bag that was sitting under the small Christmas tree next to the fireplace and silently prayed Sapnap would love it as much as he did.
George broke his train of thought as he stood up in his place, holding his hot cocoa in both of his hands. The sleeves of his ugly Christmas sweater pooled around his wrists, pale skin being swallowed by green, red and white knitted fabric.
That was another unspoken tradition. Secret Santa meant ugly Christmas sweaters.
“Okay. Now that we’re all here,” He eyed Quackity accusingly. “I think we start with the presents?”
The group nodded and Karl giggled with glee, batting his jumper sleeves against Dreams shoulder from where they sat next to each other. As he does every year, George looked to where Sapnap sat on the floor, left of the fireplace. They had their spots on the pillow-clad, carpeted floor, consistently sitting Sapnap, Karl, Dream, Quackity and then George from left to right in a semi circle.
Sapnap reached behind him and grabbed an obscenely long red box with a horrendously tied golden bow on the top, the bad wrapping a dead giveaway that the present was from him.
“I already know that my present is the best out of all of them. You’re all about to have your fucking socks blown off.”
He handed the gift to the now wide-eyed boy on his left with a cheery smile.
“Merry Christmas, Karl.”
Karl looked overjoyed being the first to open his present, and everyone else watched on in eagerness, all of them liked seeing what everyone got almost as much as seeing what they got themselves.
The red wrapping paper was peeled away to reveal a brown box, with nothing other than a skateboard inside. A little confused at first, Karl continued to rip the paper away, which revealed a white sticky note stuck to the top of the skateboard.
look at my butt :D
Karl lifted the skateboard out of the box with a laugh and turned it over, revealing an obviously hand-painted, but incredibly well-done work of street-style graffiti surrounding Karl’s signature swirl that he drew everywhere. Colours of purple, blue, orange, yellow and pink stood out against the black wheels on the bottom.
“I know it’s not perfect, but I thought you deserved a cool board, and they’re so expensive so I just-“
Karl cut him off with a hug so forceful it nearly knocked Sapnap over, muttering something about how much he loved it and how perfect it was.
George and Quackity were still admiring the art on the bottom of the skateboard when Dream cast his eyes up just in time to catch the moment Karl pecked a kiss to Sapnap’s cheek. It wouldn’t have seemed abnormal if it wasn’t for the way Sapnap’s cheeks burned bright red after it.
That was new. It was a conversation for later.
Right now, they bought their attention back to Karl, who held his neatly wrapped, blue and silver wrapped present out to Quackity, who took it with excited grabby hands.
The boys basked in the warmth of Quackity’s giggles as he pulled out a boxed set of very expensive-looking noise-canceling headphones, immediately shooting an appreciative, but shocked look to Karl, who raised his hands in self defense.
“For college next year, in case you get an insanely annoying roommate. It’s basically a necessity!” Karl chirped from where he sat, practically bouncing where he sat in anticipation.
Dream felt his mood sour slightly with the mention of college, but it quickly subsided when Quackity squealed and lifted a pair of gold plastic glasses to his eyes and draped a matching bedazzled gold chain around his neck. He turned to look dramatically to the group, and they could barely see his eyes through the “PARRA SEXY” glasses and the tears clouding their respective visions.
“Where did you even get these?!”
“Some corner store? Everything was in Spanish, I don’t even know what the glasses say!”
Quackity may have well been screaming in laughter at this point, and he had the whole room laughing with him. Dream loved that about Quackity, his ability to pull everyone out of their bad mood and laugh with them soo effortlessly was arguably one of his favorite things about his friend.
Eventually, Dream sensed the laughter dying down to sniffles and small giggles and busied himself with turning around to grab his present. The movement diverted all the eyes that were previously on Quackity to him and the red gift bag in his lap.
He handed it to Sapnap with a small, warm smile. Dream felt his heart glow with fondness as the boy pulled out the wallet from the tissue paper, turning it over in his hand and tracing the orange stitching with a soft look in his eyes. Karl pushed him lightly on the shoulder, muttering about how he didn’t have to buy Sapnap a new one anymore when Sapnap caught Dreams gaze. He looked down and pointed at the bracelet on his wrist, then back to the wallet, and back up to him, a mutual understanding of the matching fabrics.
Dream nodded his head with a smile that was reserved for only the two of them.
“There’s something inside as well.”
Sapnap flipped open the wallet and pulled out the cardboard sleeve that had the gift card hidden in it. The front of the sleeve had a neat scrawl of ‘to start your badass-ery off’. And when he revealed the gift card he laughed brightly and excitedly.
“You motherfucker, I thought you were against me getting piercings?”
“Nah, I reckon you’d suit ‘em.”
Sapnap cooed at him sarcastically and crawled over Karl to throw his arms around Dreams neck in a tight embrace. Dream, despite rolling his eyes, snaked his arm around Sapnap’s back and held him in place. After a few moments, he felt Sapnap’s hair tickle his neck as the other turned his head and uttered, quiet in a way that only Dream could hear;
“Thank you, brother”.
Dream felt fondness course through his bloodstream like wildfire as he jokingly pushed the other off him, telling him to go enjoy his chocolates.
The moment was cut by Quackity’s menacing giggles as he picked up a green and white gift bag from under the tree, and showed it into George’s lap.
“Great.” George blanched. “How did I get so lucky.”
“Shut the fuck up and open it, or I will.”
George balled up the white tissue paper that was sticking out of the bag and threw it at the raven haired boy, who simply laughed brightly, swatting it away and bouncing on his legs, waiting eagerly for the brit to open his present.
Rustling through the paper, George eventually plucked out a plastic toy in plastic wrapping. Holding it up to his face, his nose scrunched slightly as he squinted and Dream felt something fond pull at his heart.
“Is this from a Happy Meal?”
Quackity just smiled.
George looked abashed and tipped the bag upside down, where tissue paper, a long box and a grand total of nineteen other Happy Meal toys fell out.
“How did you even-“
George was cut off by the bright laughter of Karl and small giggles from both Dream and Sapnap, the sound brightening him impossibly more.
“I’ve been saving them for months!”
Dream basked in the warm glow of the combination that was rolled eyes and a honey laugh as he picked up the long box. Toying with the clasp on the box, he eventually opened it and pulled out what looked to be expensive, thin wire-framed glasses.
“Quackity those are, those are nice.”
Quackity just shrugged Karl’s comment off, an uncharacteristic redness coated his cheeks as he insisted George try them on. The boy refused, but no one was having any of that, evident in the way Quackity reached over, grabbed the glasses, and shoved them on George’s nose himself.
Dream could’ve kissed Big Q right then and there.
The glasses made him somehow look more proper, more English, they made his freckles stand out and the swoop of his nose more prominent. Brown eyes shone like honey behind the gold wire and Dream was so, so whipped. He selfishly wished George would never wear them out. Fearing that someone might see him and wrap him up and take him away due to his cute button nose.
“So you can look like a proper nerd in your comp-sci course. Nerd.”
George rolled his eyes beneath the gold frames, delicate, nimble fingers put them back into the box and closed the clasp. A few beats of silence fell on the group, before George himself broke it with a bashful voice,
“Thanks, Big Q.”
Quackity gave George a small smile, and that was that.
“Karl, would you pass me that box?”
Karl reached behind him and grabbed the dark green box, laced with a gold bow on the top, and handed it to George, leaning across the semi circle. George took it with careful hands before looking over to send a cheesy smile to Dream.
“I wonder who it’s for.” Karl whispered loudly and dramatically in Sapnap’s ear.
George shuffled on his knees to place the box in front of Dreams crossed legs, then shuffled back to his rightful spot, plonking himself down next to Quackity. Dream picked up the box and held it up to his ear, shaking it softly to hear the contents inside.
Bringing it down to his lap again, he undid the bow, gold sliding off emerald green, and lifted the lid of the box. Scattered amongst Dream’s favourite wrapped-up caramels were four different items.
Dream lifted the biggest one out first, a plastic sleeve with a long black cord in it. A note on the back read,
about time you got one that worked.
Dream laughed and showed it to Sapnap, knowing he would appreciate it.
“Oh thank god, thank you, for all of us Georgie.”
George smiled knowingly and urged Dream to keep going.
A black pouch revealed the gloves, now washed, that he had given to George a few weeks back, and Dream wheezed at the confusion lacing his friends faces.
“This is a cop-out George! You can’t gift someone something that’s already theirs.”
George’s smile only grew as he waved Dream off, again, urging for him to keep going.
A cardboard sleeve, similar to the one Dream gave Sapnap had pineapples drawn messily on the back, and contained a $20 pizza voucher. That was four movie nights that he could get his own pizza for free.
Winning.
Two photos covered whatever the last item in the box was, and when Dream picked them up to inspect them, he felt a blush graze his cheeks. The first was the photo George had taken of them all that night of the drive, they were all smiling and red-nosed. Dream thought he would frame it. The second was one of just him, the same night, but it was a candid shot. He had his hands in his pockets and his chin angled upward, a small smile playing at his lips as he looked up to the stars. “I think we’d find our way back to each other.” Played in his head like a record on repeat, and he knew he’d never show anyone that photo. It was only meant for him.
The last item in the box was a plastic sleeve with a CD tucked inside it. Black sharpie painted words on the back of the sleeve, and as Dream read them, his heart bled warmth and gold.
Dream,
This is a backup incase the AUX cord I bought is faulty. It better not be though. That would be annoying. Why are they so expensive?
On here is a collection of songs that I know you love, or that I love and I think you would too.
And some that just remind me of you when I hear them.
This is cheesy, and cliche, but you’re a simp and I know you love this stuff. So listen to it, and when you do, I hope you think of me.
I hope you love it.
- G
Dream looked up to meet brown eyes staring at him over dusted pink cheeks. He let the fondness in his blood seep into the look he cast George in that moment. The whole world seemed to zero in on George as his lips pulled into a smile Dream had only seen a few times.
Precious moments after George’s first breakup when Dream came and sat with him until the ache subsided. Vulnerability when Dream had told George he might like guys in the way he liked girls. Tender touches when Dream would ruffle snowflakes from brown curls.
A smile alight only for him.
Dream melted and worried he might burn under the heat of it it.
A loud, tiny ringing noise pulled their moment apart, and Dream thanked Karl’s mother for saving him from the blaze that was his best friend. Karl scrambled to his feet and left the room to speak to his mother.
Dream noticed the time, 11:06pm, and guessed that Karl’s mother was on her way to pick him up. He figured if that was the case, he better consider heading off soon also. But the present in front of him seemed to protest in anger.
Thank George first.
Breaking Dream’s train of thought, the brunette dragged his feet back into the living room, and the look plastered across the boys face was a dead giveaway that Dream’s theory was right. Only further proven when Karl muttered solemnly that he and Sapnap only had 15 minutes or so before their ride arrived.
The next fifteen minutes were spent drinking the last of what was once hot cocoa, now closer to chocolate milk after being cooled by the icy breeze George had let in, and handing around each others presents. Karl was chasing Quackity and George, who were each taking turns in pushing each other around the room on the skateboard Sapnap designed.
Speak of the devil, Dream felt a warm weight slide down next to him where he sat on the floor, back pressed against the couch and legs tucked in to avoid being run over by his two friends. Hearing a gross slurping sound in his ear, he shot a disgusted look in Sapnap’s direction, being met with a laugh muffled by the mug he held up to his lips.
The other boy hummed softly, and Dream patiently waited for whatever the other was going to say. The tantalizing hum left him with an unsettling feeling that whatever it was, wasn’t going to be good.
A few beats of silence passed between the two, and then,
“When’re you gonna tell George?
Dream cocked his head to the side to look at Sapnap, feeling the warmth provided by the fire completely drain away. It left him cold and vulnerable, similar to that night on the porch.
Play it cool.
“Tell him what?”
Sapnap didn’t even look at the boy as he scoffed into his mug.
“You think I don’t see it?”
Dream stayed silent.
“Dude, I’m your best friend.”
Dream stayed silent, this time Sapnap reciprocated it.
They sat there for a few minutes, both silent, waiting for the other to say something.
Nothing.
Until Sapnap reached over and pushed his hand into Dream’s, giving it a small, comforting squeeze.
“I mean it, you’re my best friend man. You can tell me anything. Whenever you’re ready, I’m here.”
Dream squeezed his hand back, his throat suddenly too tight to convey anything verbally, but he hoped Sapnap got the message.
I love you brother.
The way Sapnap scoffed and shook Dreams handoff playfully indicated that he did. It was that easy between them, always had been, always would be.
“For the record, I think you’ve got a real chance, I mean do you see the way he stares at you? Even tonight, just before? He’s almost as obvious as yo-“
Dream, once again, thanked his lucky stars for Mrs. Jacobs, who happened to choose the perfect moment to knock on the door. Dream turned to Sapnap and shrugged innocently, pushing himself up using Sapnap’s shoulder and making his way over to Karl to say his goodbye.
Two warm hugs and a lot of pushing Karl and Sapnap out the door later, three boys remained in the living room, two of which were very upset that their skateboard had been taken from them.
Quackity broke the silence by suggesting they start cleaning up before he left. They all knew he meant Dream and George should start cleaning up while he watched and made more mess, but they agreed anyway.
Ever the entertainer, Quackity grabbed his new top hat and began throwing torn-up pieces of wrapping paper on George and Dream every time as confetti to celebrate every deposit of gift wrapping in the large rubbish bag. Dream was laughing, used to the antics by now, but George looked about ready to kick Quackity’s knees in as he frustratedly shook paper from his hair, ruffling it up and making it fluffy.
Thank you Quackity.
George tied the garbage bag up as Dream moved over to hug his friend goodbye, and when Quackity turned to George, he was simply met with a middle finger to his face. The ear-splitting laughs carried him out the door brightly, and Dream swore he could hear them even after the boy had biked halfway down the street.
The garbage bag hit the side of the fireplace with a small thunk, and George sighed happily. Dream turned around from the door of the room and took a moment to stare at the sight in front of him.
George looked tired, but not in the way one would if they weren’t getting enough sleep. More in the way that he was content, the way you would be after spending quality time with your best friends, and are now fully relaxed. Content. Comfortable.
Dream felt the adrenaline from the night crash over him as a wave of tiredness followed it. He really didn’t want to, but he figured he should go. The drive home wasn’t fun when he was tired, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to stay without reason to, or-
“Dream?”
Dream diverted his eyes to George’s face, who’s contented aura had now dispersed into something more timid, nervous even.
Dream hated that look on George, so he offered a cheesy smile in hopes to lift his mood, and hummed questioningly.
“I, there’s a part of your present that I didn’t want to give to you in front of everyone. And I was just wondering if you’d like, let me, give it to you now?”
Dream felt his heart squeeze, both with the knowledge that this was the cause of George’s nervousness and the nervousness he felt crash over himself.
“Should I be worried? That does sound kind of ominous.” He used a light tone, knew it paid off when George chuckled quietly and shook his head, telling Dream to stay where he was, igniting nerves as he left the room quietly.
Moments passed, the only sound being the icy breeze from the window. Dream shivered under the wrath of it.
“Close your eyes!!”
Dream huffed at the boys antics, but closed his eyes and held out his hands, regardless of the way he felt like a small child. He felt velvet touch his palms, and when he moved his other hand to feel the top, he registered the object as a small box.
“You can open them now, idiot.”
Navy blue was stark in contrast against Dreams hands. He looked up to meet George’s gaze, which was heavy with anticipation, excitement and nervousness. Dream opened the soft, small box in the palm of his hand and bought it closer to his field of view.
Inside was a silver chain, fine enough to be considered thin, but not quite dainty. On a blue pillow in the box lay a small compass pendant, slithers of black making the arrows stand out on a silver backing. He hooked a finger under the chain and lifted it out of the box carefully, admiring the way it caught the warm light of the fire as it spun it the space between the two boys.
“I know you’re not really a jewelry kind of guy, so it’s okay if you don’t wear it, or like it, I can, like, get it exchanged and stuff, if you want something different, or-“
“George.”
The previous lack of silence from the blonde had only made George more nervous, the overthinking simmering and bubbling over the top of his composure.
“I love it.”
George exhaled shakily, the bubbles once overflowing slowing to a simmer.
Dream struggled with the clasp in his hand over and over again as he tried to get the chain undone in his hands. He let out a frustrated sigh at the fact being the chain was just too short to slip over his head. Although one more failed attempt and he was going to damn well try.
George giggled at his efforts and extended out his hand slowly, as if any fast movement would scare Dream away.
“Let me?”
Their fingers brushed as Dream placed the chain in George's smaller hands, trusting noble fingers to do the job. Seconds later and George had the chain undone, both ends in either one of his hands.
He looked up to meet Dream’s eyes, which were undeniably oozing fondness at this point, and lifted his hands with the chain, tilting his head as if to ask permission.
Dream could do nothing but nod, and George stepped into his space. Dream all but melted under the hands that brushed the hairs on the nape of his neck as George wrapped the chain around either side. He leaned his head in close to see the clasp of the chain, and Dream immediately angled his head to give the other more room.
George struggled a little with the clasp, and his frustrated little huffs were hot on Dreams neck.
Dream wouldn’t be surprised if they left burn marks in their wake.
Casting his eyes down for a moment, Dream noticed George was wobbling on his tiptoes in front of him. Almost subconsciously, he lifted an arm to wrap loosely around George’s back, offering a bit of support.
Just for support.
He thought to himself. Plus, if George was uncomfortable, he wouldn’t lean into the touch like he was right now.
A small click indicated that he had successfully secured the chain around Dreams neck, and he lowered himself back down onto his heels in front of Dream. But he didn’t step back, and Dreams hand remained in place on the small of his back.
George didn’t quite make eye contact with him yet, opting to lift his hand and fiddle with the compass on the end of the chain, resting his knuckles ever so lightly against Dream’s chest.
“It suits you.”
Dream hummed, and the sound rumbled through his chest, leaving tingles on the skin that covered small knuckles. He prayed George couldn’t feel the intense thrumming of his heartbeat through the soft jumper.
“You have good taste.”
George smiled at that, rolling his eyes at the compliment.
Dream took solace in the action, no matter how different this felt, how precious this moment might be, they were still them. Things were still so easy.
“It was an easy choice.”
Dream’s gaze was captured by George’s thumb pressing over the compass pendant, watching it disappear under pale skin and reappear, only to have left indents over his fingerprints.
He had wondered it before, but didn’t want to bring it up and ruin the moment. Although, Dream was never one to ignore his curiosities.
“Why a compass?”
George seemed to tense at the question a little bit.
“Do you not like it?”
“God no George-“ the thumb on the small of Georges back ran up and down comfortingly, draining the tenseness from his spine. “I do like it, a lot. I just wondered why a compass?”
They kept their tones soft, floating in the bubble they had created for each other in George’s second living room.
“You’ll say it’s stupid.”
“I would never.”
“Liar, you always call me stupid.”
“This is different.”
Silence prevailed again as Dream’s statement lay heavy in the air between them. The acknowledgment that this was different. Their closeness, the way they spoke to each other, were touching each other, was all uncharted territory. It was frightening, and it was precious, and Dream worried he ruined it with his selfishness, his cowardice.
He went to pull his hand away, create distance between the two, maybe even apologise, when George spoke up again.
“You remember that night, on the roof of your car, when we all talked about the stars?”
Dream nodded carefully.
“The way you talked about how they changed every night, how unpredictable they were, scared me a little.”
The hand on the compass tightened slightly, knuckles pressing heat on a racing heartbeat under an ugly Christmas sweater.
“I love how you love it. But it made me think about graduation, and how things will change, just like the stars. How we’re all together now, how we know what we’re made of, we’re just like a little cluster of stars. Everything is solid and certain. But one day, we’ll wake up, and it won’t be the same.”
George took a heavy breath, one to calm himself, and began again.
“It’s inevitable. I don’t know how far away we’ll all go, or for how long. But all I know is that I’m not ready for it just yet, and God, Dream, I’ll never be ready to miss you like I know I will when we get separated.”
Dream felt heat behind his eyes and he wanted nothing more than to interrupt and scream at George to come with him, follow him. But George continued,
“So the compass is a reminder, that no matter how far you go, no matter where you end up, no matter how long you’re gone, you’ll always know your way home, to your little cluster of stars.”
‘Home?”
“Back here, to your family,”
George looked up at him with a look that could be described as nothing short of loving and reached a small hand up to catch the tears welling on Dream’s eyelashes.
“To us, to Sapnap, to Karl, to Quackity-“
The hand that once held the compass pendant moved to push it flat against Dreams chest, and the other moved to the nape of Dreams neck, allowing George to guide his head down and rest their foreheads together.
“And to me.”
I think we’d end up finding our way back to each other anyway.
Dream closed his eyes, feeling overwhelmed with emotion, George’s thoughtfulness having completely taken him by surprise as he managed out shaky words,
“To you.”
George nodded and the action caused their noses to bump together lightly.
“George, I…”
Dream couldn’t get the words out yet, and the way George closed his eyes and rubbed his thumb in comforting circles on Dreams nape, Dream knew he understood.
A push of his nose against Dreams told him to take his time.
They breathed together for a few seconds, until Dream’s exhales didn’t shake and his vision wasn’t blurred.
“I love it, George, I love it, God. I really, really wish I could, but words don’t come easy to me, and I can’t explain it. How happy I am, how everything feels so, much.”
Dream moved his other hand from his side to rest on Georges cheek, tracing the line of his cheekbones as he looked up to him.
“I can’t describe it, what it all means to me,”
He dropped the hand from George’s face to rest atop of the one on his own chest, squeezing lightly, but enough to mean something.
“What you mean to me.”
It was Georges turn to exhale shakily, and it set Dreams lips on fire. A hand moved into blonde locks at the same time as another grabbed the back of a jumper.
“Show me then.”
George pushed up and sideways in order to slot their noses together, and his cupids bow brushed Dream’s bottom lip as he repeated himself steadily despite a racing heart.
“Please, show me.”
Dream breathed one more time, and pushed down just enough to catch George’s lips on his own. A few seconds pass, nothing but a simple press of one mouth on another, and then George parts his lips.
Snowflakes halt, the stars align, and Dream is gone.
The parts of his brain that were screaming his insecurities of being selfish, cowardice, shame, all shut down the second George let’s Dream in fully. The warmth of George against his mouth seeped up into his brain, melting all the evil way.
Their lips melded together perfectly after finding a mutual pace, and Dream was never one to believe in fate, but the way George’s nose fit perfect against his own, the way his own hand was exactly the right size to fit against Georges neck, the way their heads naturally angled just the right way against one another.
George gave him hope.
Dream poured everything he had into the kiss, held George in a vice grip that was more comforting than bruising. Every time they separated to catch their breath, Dream found himself holding back a whimper, and when they reconnected, he felt George sigh with something akin to longing against his lips.
They kept it chaste, separating once their lips had started tingling and taking a breath became a conscious choice they had to make.
They stayed close, further than before, but close enough where George almost looked cross eyed trying to stare up at dream.
Dream felt a laugh bubble up in his chest at the sight below him, messy hair, brown eyes blown wide, crossed trying to look up at him, swollen lips shining with the remnants of a kiss, red cheeks and a stupid Christmas sweater.
George crossed his arms in defiance as the laughter begin to bubble over, and it only made Dream laugh more.
“What’s so funny, you idiot?”
Dream managed through soft laughter,
“You.”
“Me?!”
And the laughter increased, ringing throughout the room until George went to turn around and walk away, and Dream choked it all back behind a feigned look of sadness as he reached for George’s wrist.
The other reluctantly turned around and felt his heartbeat flutter when Dream laced their hands together for a moment, before dropping them and looking towards the door, this time with a real look of sadness.
“I should, I should probably get going, we can talk about all of this-
“Stay.”
Dream looked at him with wide eyes.
“You don’t have to, or anything, I just thought maybe you’d like to.”
“Oh, I mean yeah, yeah I’d like that. Do you, want me to? You don’t mind?”
“If I didn’t want you to I wouldn’t have asked.”
Dream’s cheeks were on fire as he agreed to stay, his words shaky from a racing heart for the second time that night.
George’s hand led him gently up the stairs to the bedroom he had spent countless nights in. It wasn’t even the first time he had slept in George’s bed, possibly a testament to the non-platonic nature of their friendship from the get-go.
But it was their first time navigating this new, untouched aspect of their friendship? Relationship? And it was evident in the way that Dream was hesitant to hold George too tightly, and George refrained from fully leaning against Dream’s chest for the first fifteen minutes after they lay down.
They had a long way to go, and a touchy talk to have.
But the hands intertwined together on George’s chest and the kiss pressed to Dreams cheek before the pair fell asleep was nothing but a start.