Chapter Text
"All jokes aside… I think that- I don't know. I think that like, there are people that you're just bound to like, if you meet them. You're just bound to fall in love with them."
Nick sat in the background of the stream, on Clay’s bean bag chair, just listening. His mind had been stuck on a Derivakat song all day — “4AM” — but now his attention was drawn to Clay’s suave, melodious voice, which seemed relaxed now. Not necessarily apathetic, he genuinely believed everything he was saying. Nick took in the sight of Clay’s shy smile, the messy mop of blonde hair atop his head, the way his headphones were simply too large for his ears, and found himself staring fervently, analyzing every curve and line of Clay’s figure. He sat in the office chair, but despite having an audience and a Discord call, he was always slightly turned to face his childhood friend. To think this all started on a single, small PVP server. Hopping in that first Skype call, he’d been so nervous. They were both awkward teenage boys, but they became close swiftly and in such a short time. After that, all that was left was to endure the next seven years together. They celebrated learning to drive together, celebrated turning eighteen together, celebrated each milestone in their career side by side. And of course, Nick couldn’t forget about George. He had the pleasure of meeting him first, getting to know him first, introducing him to his lifelong friend. They didn’t really care much for each other, actually. Clay was so jealous and possessive, and it was sort of crazy that when George started treating him with equal amounts of disdain, that’s when the former started to take an interest in the latter. Nick loved watching their friendship develop, deepen just as much as his and Clay’s, and his and George’s.
George listened to Dream’s words through his headphones, in the Discord call, and his breath stopped short. It was very blatant, who Dream was talking about with those honey-covered words. But he slowly smiled. He was glad, warm, blissful, to say the least. Maybe ecstatic worked best. He remembered how, when Sapnap had to clean his room, he never left the call, didn’t even bother to mute, instead cleaned with bluetooth headphones and serenaded Dream and George into a riot. A frenzy, Dream called it. They both adored Sapnap to pieces, but he wasn’t the best singer. But he was having fun, so that was all that mattered. And then of course, there was Dream, with his great voice and the sly smirk that could be heard in it every time he succeeded. He was enthusiastic, intelligent, and hilarious. Everything about him, from the faceless online persona he kept with George — only having shown Sapnap because he wasn’t faceless back in their childhood, plus they were living together — to the unpredictability in his game strategies, was mysterious and yet enticing. George sat back in his desk chair, the backrest leaning towards the floor, as he rubbed the lower half of his face with a contemplative look. It was going to be a long personal journey to prepare himself to meet him.
Dream and George finished up the stream and Nick soon leaned over Dream’s chair with a grin. “So, takeout again?"
.
.
.
Sunny, sunny Florida. It was scorching heat in the middle of winter. Nothing compared to Brighton, which was dreary and sometimes chilly all year. Was this really what the dark-haired individual was signing up for? He promised his best friends he’d travel here for Christmas, down to the day, which meant flaking on his own kin. And now he was expected to move in by the millions of fans. It was ridiculous.
But he wasn’t really complaining, not truly. He was giddy, excited, and a bit overzealous. The pep in his step was palpable amidst the humid Florida air. The visit today was a surprise, unbeknownst to the two living in this large neighborhood. They knew he was coming, but he was very vague about the date. December 12th. Plenty of weeks of adventure and fun this Christmas holiday. Funnily enough, both his friends found it abysmally unfair that his visitation date would be an unannounced surprise, considering they wouldn’t be able to pick him up from the airport and be proper hosts. This individual, however, was a grown man. He could get an Über and get driven to the place himself. Traffic was a bitch, though.
He clambered out of the backseat, almost tripping over the threshold and scraping his pale knees, but caught himself on the door. God, he usually wasn’t such a klutz. What was he thinking earlier? Something to do with being a grown man? He shook his head with a disappointed huff and pulled his feet up and over the step that led into his vehicle. Feet firmly planted on the concrete drive, he shut the metal door behind him and went to nab his luggage from the trunk. The Über driver rushed to help him, clicking open the trunk and pulling out the suitcase and duffel bag. George thanked him and tipped him, with a polite smile. He soon left the driveway, parking on the side of the road, quite possibly waiting for his next job. George let out a soft whistle and stared up at the two-story house. It was modern, pretty big, and nice. Knowing Dream's income, and Sapnap's, it was most likely that Dream paid most of the bills. He also knew Dream cooked for them a lot. And Sapnap would probably help clean, but Dream was a bit of a neat freak, so he also probably helped. The man was an ideal housemate, George had to admit.
He’d worn a nice outfit for this. Black jeans that conformed to his legs and was free of rips, blemishes, or abnormalities. Just plain black. They were cuffed twice, which made his white socks and sky blue trainers more visible. His t-shirt was a pastel blue, his brandless merch with the blank white and red logo in the middle, and his jean jacket over it was a deep denim color, much too large for his build. He had his circular, thin gold-framed glasses on, and his hair had been gelled and styled to stay curly in thin strands, especially around his front bangs.
He pulled up to the front door, and rang the doorbell. His hands shook, his heartbeat raced, and he had no clue he was holding his breath, at least not until he let it go, when someone opened the door. It was Sapnap. The first greeting between them was a hug, initiated by the man with a black Dream hoodie currently on. He wondered if Sapnap wore Dream merch a lot, but the thought ceased in his mind when he was held tight by him. The burly man gave amazing hugs, and George let out a huff of surprise, unable to stop himself from hugging back automatically. He melted into his, his chin resting on Sapnap’s shoulder, eyes slipping shut contentedly. This. After all the messaging, recording together, messing around, facetiming… This was what he’d wanted. Not that all the other stuff they’d done together beforehand meant nothing. It meant everything to him. But this was just… so incomparably great.
Sapnap let out an awkward chuckle. “Hey, George, you good?”
George snapped out of it and pulled away, smiling slightly. “Y-” he coughed, clearing his throat. “Yeah.” He wasn’t really embarrassed, so to speak, more wracked with indescribable nerves. “Hullo.”
“Hi.” Sapnap stared at George with mild intrigue in his expression, looking the man up and down. “Might I just say, your fit is awesome.” He grinned. Classic Sap. George rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help his own widening grin. “Come on in.” He waved for him to get inside the foyer, and George made a very deliberate step forward, crossing the frame of the door. “Clay—” Clay, Sapnap calls him Clay , “—isn’t home yet, but I’ll give you a tour, show you your room, introduce you to our beloved goddess.”
As George was walking into the living room, he turned to give his friend a quizzical expression, that was met with equal amounts of confusion. “Oh, right!” Sapnap, well, snapped his fingers, cliché as it was to do so when you had an epiphany. “Patches. We worship the ground she walks on.”
“Hm. Should I… take off my sandals?” George tilted his head, with a teasing tone of voice. Sapnap didn’t get it, as he’d never read a sacred text, such as the biblical one, in his life, despite being born in Texas. George let out a breathy laugh and shook his head. “Never mind. So, how about that tour?”
♡♡♡
Dream pulled into the drive and found nothing out of the ordinary about the front of his house, as expected. He checked the plants he’d planted in bricked off sections of the yard, and watered them, before pulling his house key out from under one of the clay pots containing a sprig of yellow narcissi. Nick didn’t really know about this addition to the house’s exterior, and would probably make fun of him for doing something so typical just so he wouldn’t lock himself out. Opening the front door, he stepped inside his warm, familiar home, only to sense something was off. Patches wasn’t rushing to greet him. She usually did, despite being an indifferent little shit most of the time.
That's when he heard affectionate, cooing voices coming from the couch. He headed in the direction of said voices, to find Nick… and George, cuddling Patches. She looked extremely uncomfortable, pupils wide and round, like large pools of beautiful black. He settled in beside Nick. "So… were you going to tell me George was here?"
"I literally texted you, dude. Keep your ringer on next time. How was grocery shopping, by the way?"
Dream paused to find a suitable word. "... Invigorating."
"How so?"
"Well, it's currently invigorating me to push your sorry ass off of the couch for torturing Patches." On that note, Patches escaped Nick’s warm wings and scampered off, probably to go hide in her owner’s room.
“I think the correct term is motivating.”
George was watching the scene in amusement, and Dream finally forced his attention on him. He was jaw-droppingly handsome. Every joke about pretty boy privilege was right. Of course, the faceless YouTuber knew this from all the facetime calls, and facecam videos. But in person it was so much more clear. Not even the highest quality tech could paint the picture that was George. His dark, almost black hair and bold, deep brown eyes that seemed to draw you in. It didn't help that his outfit was cool and suited to his buoyant character. And buoyant he was. He had a floaty aura to him, like he was stepping on clouds with every passing second. A slow smile drew to Dream’s pink-toned lips, and he smirked. “Oh, George~ Are you excited?”
“What? Do you have something specific planned?”
“A few things, but I just meant in general. You must be very excited to be here with the way you’re smiling nonstop.”
George rolled his eyes, but this didn’t besmirch his grin.
Nick held up his hands. “No, no , you guys are not flirting this whole visit; I am not a third wheel here. I will castrate you both,” he threatened, with a glower at the two.
Dream bursted out in mean-spirited laughter. “Castrate?! As if!” He had that tea kettle cackle going on, without really meaning too, but that was enough to send George into a fit of laughter. Nick, who was already used to witnessing Dream’s varying iconic laughs in real life, sat unfazed and bemused at the two.
“Forgetting this little hiccup, I’m pretty sure this month is going to be fun. And what do you think, Pa-” He leaned down with a mimicked mic to see that she was nowhere to be found on the living room floor. “Oh.” What, did he think she was just hanging around at his feet? Dream let out a little snort of laughter. No, she favorited her owner above all, and there was a scary newcomer.
But regardless, Nick was right… for once.
“What, am I staying here all month? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“We could just force you to move in,” Dream threatened, his voice low and husky, but joking.
December 3rd… the day he and his closest friends met each other for the first time. Dream would have to mark this date down on his calendar, which was currently tacked to his bedroom’s tawny-colored cork board, along with a billion other reminders, plans, video editing notes, etcetera. It was super messy and disorganized, and even if Dream bothered to rearrange everything, it would end up back to the cluttered state in a day, tops. His room was clean, though. It was just his desk area.
His mind wandered as Nick and George began bickering about who was taller. It was literally an inch difference, and the faceless man found their feud so pointless he tuned it out. Still, he got a feeling of familiarity from it. This was from all the calls. They quarreled every so often, on and off stream, just because they had their own viewpoints on immature things.
“Stand up, Gogy. ” Nick pulled the nimble England man up to his feet by his forearm, and George promptly stuck his tongue out at him, sullen and puerile. Sure enough, Nick was one inch taller. He whooped triumphantly and raised his hands in the air, a double high five meant for his childhood friend. Dream responded with a kick — albeit a gentle one — to his left shin.
“High five yourself, you baby.”
He did with zero hesitation and laughed. Then, he sat back down, clinging to Dream, both arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders and neck. He rested his head on his friend’s collarbone, despite its sharp, jutted-out structure. “Clay~?”
“Mm, yes?”
“Are you going to cook with all those groceries you just bought?”
He chuckled. Nick was such a sucker for his culinary skills. Understandably so. George perked up as well, eyes alight with fascination; he was all agog to eat his food, funnily enough.
Dream sighed and stood to go make the boys their lunch.
♡♡♡
Nick clung to Gogy, enduring the wait for his food, even as the smell of it was starting to waft into his nose. He noticed how clammy George’s hands were getting, which were holding his neck as the bearded man dug his face into the pretty boy’s abdomen. His t-shirt smelled unusually like lavender, and he chalked it up to what his fabric softener probably was. He laughed at how comfortable he was, arms wrapped securely around George’s medium-sized waist. The man in glasses seemed just as comfy, head resting on top of his.
“We’re certified homiesexuals.”
“Pft- Oh my god, shut up, Sapnap. Man, if I’d known you were going to lay all over me like a dog I would have never come.”
“S’not any worse than Clay.”
Nick didn’t really have to think about what Clay looked like, ever. He’d always known. So it meant a lot less to him as time went on, as the looks ebbed into what Nick was… just used to. But he knew George must have been reeling from the novelty of it all, and his suspicions were confirmed when he said something in a hushed whisper that he could only just make out, “Dammit, Sap, why didn’t you tell me Dream was so handsome?”
The man currently clinging to him like a baby guffawed. “Because he’s already arrogant enough. Last thing I need is another person rubbing his ego.”
“Oh, come on, you know I hate making him cocky.”
That made Nick laugh even harder. “I know you love making him cocky, Gogy~”
George’s surprised expression, with his thinned-out lips warping into a half-grimace, half-smile, that tacked to him all the jokes about him having a dirty mind, shined through. Nick had to cover the lower half of his face to stop his giggling fit.
Things still felt like they did when they talked before this. It was easy. Relaxing. Nick, surprisingly enough, had never been all that jealous about the DNF hype, never worried about being considered a third wheel. Because in reality, he wasn’t. Maybe in the Dream SMP canon, maybe in the eyes of millions of tweens and teens, but he flirted with the Dream Team as much as anyone else, and had been there with Dream much longer than anyone else, and got to know George first as well. He was as much a part of their laughter, their smiles, their fun as they were a part of his. Sooo… Nick didn’t mind cuddling close to his beloved best friends, and calling them by their nicknames, and annoying the shit out of them like he usually did.
“Ugh!” Aaaand, there it was, again. “Nick!!! You better come clean this up!”
Nick grumbled and stood, but regardless, there was a smug look plastered on his face. “Be right back, Gogs.” George tipped an invisible hat to him, smiling ever so slightly. Sapnap went to go face the consequences of his crimes in the kitchen.