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“You’ve really never seen snow?”
“Not in person.”
George had raised his eyebrows at Sapnap’s response, but stayed quiet. When Sapnap asked what he was typing, he’d told him not to worry about it. He’d planned to wait at least a few days before sending his gift to Sapnap, but he couldn’t help himself.
Sapnap spluttered helplessly as he stared at the plane tickets, and George couldn’t stop himself from grinning ear to ear. He hoped he wasn’t blushing - but he supposed if he really wanted to keep his feelings hidden he shouldn’t have forked out hundreds of pounds on plane tickets just because Sapnap hadn’t seen snow.
# # #
Aberdeen airport was freezing - Sapnap had felt the chill when stepping off the plane - but he was soon in the air conditioned terminal and warming back up as he waited for his bag to show up from the carousel. He was beginning to think that the warm clothes he’d packed weren’t going to be anywhere near enough to protect him from a Scottish winter, but George had reassured him they’d be fine. He still couldn’t wrap his head around how he’d gotten to this point - he’d offhandedly mentioned to George he’d never seen snow and before he knew it, the Brit had booked plane tickets and a week in a cottage in the Scottish mountains. He was guaranteed to see snow.
Thinking about how enormous of a gesture this was made his heart flutter, and Sapnap forced himself to calm down. For now, it was easy to put that down to the nerves of meeting one of his best friends in person for the first time. It was, however, harder to associate the warmth that came with the thoughts of George with friendship. But that’s all they were, friends. George had given him an extravagant gift, but that meant nothing really.
With his bag finally in his hands he was able to send a quick text to George to confirm that he would be making his way to the arrivals lounge in a few minutes, and he started to walk. The complicated corridors at least helped him to forget about the butterflies that churned in his stomach, and before too long he’d managed to walk through the maze into a large hall. His eyes scanned the crowd, trying to pick out the face he was looking for from the sea of burly men in skirts (kilts, George had told him, but it was all the same in his eyes) and families reuniting. George spotted him first, starting to wave to capture his attention, and the moment Sapnap met his gaze he felt himself melting.
George was pretty online, but in person he was downright beautiful.
He waved back with his free hand, adjusting the strap of his bag so it wouldn’t fall from his shoulder as he broke into a run. Sapnap couldn’t help his arms splaying out widely, only to retract sharply and pull the older into a tight hug the moment they met. The impact of their chests might have been a little harsh, and Sapnap definitely felt winded, but he didn’t care. George was there, he was with George, and they were about to spend a week together in the snowy Scottish Highlands.
“Are you ever gonna let me go?”
George’s voice broke the silence and Sapnap immediately panicked, thinking he’d gone too far, so he loosened his grip and let George step away. He would’ve continued to worry if it hadn’t been for the broad smile on George’s lips and he cleared his own throat, standing up straight before he realised exactly what George was looking at him like that for.
“Oh, come on now!” Sapnap laughed, trying to mimic Dream’s famous phrase as he pushed himself up onto his tiptoes. “You are not taller than me.”
“I am.” George burst out laughing. “Now give me your bag, we’ve got a bus to catch.”
“A bus?!” Sapnap scoffed, but he didn’t think twice about giving George his bag. He’d been on a plane for the past twelve hours, he was more than happy to just focus on following George without letting jet lag consume him.
The moment they stepped outside, Sapnap remembered the bitter cold he’d felt before, and a shiver ran straight down his spine. His arms came to wrap around his torso tightly and he saw George shoot him a glance over his shoulder - judging him for showing up to Scotland in the middle of winter in jeans and a t-shirt.
“I’m from Texas, I didn’t realise it’d be this cold!”
George rolled his eyes, stopping in his tracks and shrugging Sapnap’s bag from his shoulder, placing it alongside his own on the ground. Sapnap was about to ask why he’d stopped when he pulled his hoodie over his head and the Texan found himself silent. He didn’t want to be caught ogling George - certainly not so soon into his trip - so he allowed himself one guilty glance at his frame while the fabric covered his head. He committed George’s slender figure to memory, and made a mental note of the small amount of skin that had shown just above his belt when his arms were above him.
“We don’t have time to unpack your bag here, take my hoodie.” George said, helping Sapnap to pull his focus back to his face. Rather than say anything, Sapnap just smiled and nodded, pulling it over his own head as George checked his phone. Even with George standing beside him, he would’ve been quite happy to stand and take a moment to smell the hoodie - the way it smelled more of George than whatever laundry detergent he used - but his thoughts were once again shattered by George’s voice.
“We’re gonna miss the bus, hurry up!”
Sapnap did as he was told, the two breaking out into a run to make it to the bus stop in time to jump aboard. George paid for both of their tickets and Sapnap found a seat at the rear of the bus, catching his breath as George squeezed down the aisle to sit beside him. It wasn’t too crowded, but as George slumped into the seat equally breathless their legs knocked together and Sapnap was reminded of the butterflies that he’d felt before.
“How long are we on the bus?”
“Forty minutes.”
Sapnap hummed to himself: that wasn’t too bad.
“Then about three hours on a train.”
“You’re joking.” Sapnap deadpanned.
“A little? Two hours on one train, then we have to change.”
George giggled at Sapnap’s expression and he had to fight to keep the look of exhaustion and displeasure on his face. It was impossible to be actually grumpy when George looked at him like that.
“Fine. But I’m having a nap.”
“I’ll consider waking you up.”
# # #
George had, thankfully, woken Sapnap up when they arrived in Aberdeen city centre. They’d walked straight to the train station and climbed aboard, finding a table to spread out on. At Inverness, they left the station to find some lunch. They only had forty minutes in the city before their next train left so they didn’t sit down for a meal, but they did find a local sandwich shop selling hot haggis rolls. George had never tried one, Sapnap had no idea what they were, so they both got one.
Sapnap wasn’t best pleased when he found out that the delicious lunch he’d had was the insides of a sheep, stuffed back into the sheep and boiled. George laughed so hard he had to sit on the pavement until he calmed down.
The last stretch on the train was magical. Sapnap hadn’t stopped looking out the window since the train had left Inverness and he didn’t think he would anytime soon. The mountains came quickly into view (the Cairngorms, George had told him) and they were covered in snow. He could feel George’s gaze on him as he stared out with utter fascination in his eyes, and he wondered if the man thought he was overreacting. Maybe he looked silly, staring at snow like it was some kind of alien thing, but he didn’t really care. The butterflies did, but he didn’t.
They alighted the train in a town called Aviemore, with George pulling up walking directions from the train station to the cottage they’d be staying in. He led the way once more, and Sapnap trudged along behind him. The town had been spared the blanket of snow that covered the mountains, and the paths had been covered in grit so he needn’t worry about slipping on ice as he dragged his feet along the ground. The nap earlier had helped, but tiredness was starting to truly take hold, and as soon as they arrived at their cottage Sapnap made a beeline for the sofa.
“Don’t you wanna sleep in a bed?”
“Nu-uh.” Sapnap muttered in return. His eyes were already shut, head resting on his arms. “Too tired.”
If he had been looking, he would’ve seen the endearing gaze in George’s eyes. But he didn’t, he just heard a quiet laugh.
“I’m going to go and buy some firewood and food then. What do you want for dinner?”
“Surprise me.”
“Alright.” George said. “See you in a bit. Sleep well.”
“Mhm, love you.”
If Sapnap had been a little more awake, he might’ve realised what he’d said. But he wasn’t, and he didn’t. He just drifted off to sleep as the door to the cottage clicked shut.
# # #
He awoke a few hours later to the gentle crackle of an open fire. Upon opening his eyes, Sapnap realised that a thick blanket had been placed over his body and his shoes had been slipped from his feet. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself at first, watching the flames dance in the fireplace, before his mind caught up with him and he remembered where he was.
Sapnap sat upright, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. It was dark outside now - though according to George that seemed to be the case after 4pm in the winter - but the lights were still on. He supposed that meant it was at least early evening, and that George would still be awake.
“Georgie?” He asked, his voice laced with sleep as he looked around. “You here?”
When he received no reply, Sapnap simply got to his feet and started to pad around the cottage. He kept the blanket wrapped around him, like a cape, not quite ready to let go of its warmth, and he peeked around the old wooden door frames until he lay eyes on the man in question.
“Hey.” He smiled. George was sitting on his phone in one of the bedrooms, now wearing a soft woolen jumper. The material was thick and the garment looked almost as if it drowned George, but Sapnap thought it looked adorable.
“Hi.” George turned his phone off, placing it on the bedside table, and smiled back. “Do you mind if I take this room?”
“No.” Sapnap replied, yawning again and bringing one hand to rub sleep from his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Eight. I would’ve woken you earlier but you looked comfy.”
Sapnap was still too tired to pick up on the blush that covered George’s pale cheeks, so he moved on from the topic quickly.
“Have you eaten?”
George shook his head.
“I was waiting for you. I figured we could order in pizza?”
“I like pizza.” Sapnap smiled. “Do you want to watch a film?”
“I’ve got my macbook in my bag, I can find something on Netflix if you want to order for us?”
“Sure. What kind?”
“Just cheese.” George said, and Sapnap looked at him expectantly. There was a moment of silence before George burst out laughing. “What?”
“You’re so boring and vanilla.” He complained, rolling his eyes. “I’m gonna get the spiciest pizza they have.”
“Alright, don’t come crying to me when it’s too spicy then.”
They bantered back and forth a little while longer, Sapnap sitting back on the sofa and pulling his phone from his pocket to order a delivery whilst George placed an extra log on the fire. When he made his way to sit on the sofa, Sapnap lifted up one corner of the blanket and draped it over his shoulder. He thought nothing of it until he saw George looking at him with raised eyebrows, and he cleared his throat.
“Like the fanarts of movie nights.” He explained, cursing the butterflies in his stomach for reappearing. It seemed to appease George, though, and he watched silently as the Brit scrolled through Netflix. He didn’t particularly care what they watched, though he let himself smile when George put on a rom-com. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought he was sending a signal. His butterflies certainly didn’t know better.
The pizza arrived in thirty minutes, by which point Sapnap was itching to move from George’s side. The tension between the characters on screen had, for Sapnap at least, seemed to eek into reality. It was becoming impossible to ignore his churning stomach when he could only see himself pining after George in the protagonist.
He paid for the pizza with cash, tipped the delivery driver, and returned to the sofa with the two boxes. He handed George his, before sitting himself back down and pulling his open. The movie was entirely forgotten by Sapnap as he grabbed one slice and placed a finger in the middle of the crust to fold it in on itself, allowing him to eat much faster. He’d eaten half a slice before George had even picked up one of his own, and the older man just laughed a little.
“Isn’t that spicy?”
“Yeah?” Sapnap said, mouthful of pizza. “Just cuz it’s spicy doesn’t mean I can’t eat fast.”
“Huh.”
George’s gaze lingered, before he too eventually tucked into his dinner.
“I thought you were about to go get a knife and fork.”
“It’s pizza, why would I do that?”
“I dunno, just seems like the sort of thing you’d do. You’re a neat person.”
“Thank you?” George questioned, taking a bite of his slice and as Sapnap was quick to cover his tracks.
“No no no, hang on.” His voice squeaked just a little. “I meant that as a good thing! Like, you care about how things are.”
“I mean, yeah… I kinda figured.” George said, looking away from Sapnap. “I just didn’t know why you said it.”
As George took another bite of pizza, Sapnap felt his heart sinking into his stomach. Had he screwed up already? He didn’t want to make things awkward, but it was hard to keep the butterflies in check now that he was face to face with George, and a compliment had already slipped out. It hadn’t even been a good compliment. At least if he’d called George pretty, that would’ve been a decent compliment. But no, he had to say he was neat. Who wanted to be complimented about their attention to the cleanliness of their surroundings?
“You’re pretty.” He blurted out, and George practically inhaled his pizza. As he coughed, Sapnap turned a deep shade of red. That was not what he meant to do when he’d thought about calling George pretty.
“Are you okay?”
George nodded, reaching for a glass of water to help soothe his throat as he managed to dislodge the cheese he’d almost breathed in, and Sapnap brought his hands to his face.
“That wasn’t supposed to-”
“I should think you think I’m pretty.” George cut him off, his voice a little strained. After coughing again to clear his throat, he began to speak once more. “Considering you said you love me.”
“...What?” Sapnap breathed, eyes widening as he stared at his friend.
“Oh, I thought you realised you said it…” George’s voice was a lot quieter now, his eyes looking away from Sapnap and instead back to his food. “I guess… Sorry, I think I’m just-”
“No, when did I say that George?”
“You were falling asleep on the sofa earlier, it just slipped out. I guess you were overtired, probably thought you were talking to your mum or something, I shouldn’t presume. Sorry.”
Sapnap was silent for a moment, mind racing as he desperately tried to think of a way to cover for himself. But a confession of love was much more difficult to hide than a simple compliment.
“Why are you saying sorry?” He eventually settled upon, and George’s shoulders fell.
“Because when you said it I let myself believe you meant it.”
Another beat of silence followed.
“Do you… Do you want me to mean it?”
George didn’t say anything this time, only nodding his head after a moment, and Sapnap held his breath.
“Georgie, I do mean it. I didn’t think I’d let it slip so soon, I wasn’t going to say anything. I didn’t think you’d like me too and I didn’t want to make this week awkward.”
“You love me?” George asked quietly.
“You… You like me?” Sapnap asked.
Both men stared at each other for a moment, processing the realisation they’d come to. Sapnap leaned over to place his pizza box on the wooden coffee table before them and George’s fingers fiddled with a loose thread at the bottom of his jumper. With their cards on the table, it was now a waiting game to see who would break first. Who was going to make the first move?
George started to lean in first. Sapnap wasn’t entirely sure how he’d expected this to go, but with George gradually closing the gap between them he started to move too. Slowly, painfully slowly, their faces grew incrementally closer to each other. George’s eyes fluttered shut first and he leaned his head to the left, and Sapnap took in a breath. Briefly, panic flashed through his mind - he’d never kissed anyone before and he wanted to do this right for George - but before he could second guess his actions he felt soft lips pressing against his and his own eyes closed. His heart melted in his chest, his hands moved to George’s shoulders to keep from trembling, and he tried his best to mimic George’s motions. If George pressed a little harder, then he would follow suit. When George’s lips parted a little, he did the same.
When George’s tongue pushed into Sapnap’s mouth, the kiss came to a very abrupt end.
“Fuck!” George said breathlessly as he pulled back, hand reaching out desperately for his water. “Fucking spicy pizza, you arse!”
Sapnap was giddy from the kiss, his heart beating too quickly and his breath too shallow to process why George was swearing. He just found himself laughing and reaching for another slice of pizza.
“That’s it, I’m not kissing you again until you brush your teeth.”
“So you’re saying you want to kiss me again?” Sapnap smirked, shifting his legs a little so he could nudge George with his foot. “Aww Georgie, you’re so sweet.”
“Says the man still wearing my hoodie.”
“Mine now.” Sapnap poked his tongue out, and George just smiled. That was enough of a yes for Sapnap.
# # #
The next day the sky was clear and blue, the air was crisp and cold, and the snow was fresh.
George had made sandwiches while Sapnap had cooked breakfast, and after eating the two men had left the warmth of their cottage to walk hand in hand to find some snow for Sapnap to experience. They were saving their trip to Cairn Gorm itself for later in the week to try their hand at skiing. Today, their walk would take them to Craigellachie, a beautiful nature reserve with stunning views of the mountains and the surrounding countryside. Neither man was a particularly experienced hillwalker, but the route was well signposted and they’d both filled their phones with screenshots of a map. Snow had been underfoot after the first hundred metres of ascent, and Sapnap hadn’t wiped the smile off his face since the first crunch underfoot.
The wind chill cut through their jackets as they stood at the summit cairn, but neither man complained. Sapnap reached out for George’s hand again (they’d had to let go while climbing due to a small rocky scramble near the top), and when their fingers entwined Sapnap let his smile widen.
“What do you think of snow?” George asked, still a little out of breath from the walk. “Worth coming all this way?”
Sapnap hummed for a moment before he squeezed George’s hand tightly.
“It’s pretty cool I guess.”
“Pretty cool?” George asked. “You’re the pun master today.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be a pun, I just mean I found something better than snow.”
“Yeah?” George raised an eyebrow. “I paid nearly two thousand dollars for you to say that there’s something better than snow?”
“You’re such an idiot.” Sapnap laughed, glad that they had the summit to themselves. “You’re the thing that’s better than snow.”
“Oh, now you’re calling me a thing? Am I just an object to you?” He smirked.
“Would you mind being an object for me?”
“I suppose I could let it slide this once…” George sighed dramatically, but his lips still betrayed him, curling into a smile.
“Good.” Sapnap grinned. George might have been taller than him, but he didn’t need to stand on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around his neck. “Oh, and I brushed my teeth.”
“I thought you were less stinky today.” George’s hands moved to rest on Sapnap’s waist, and Sapnap scoffed.
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
So he did.