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It didn’t occur to George that there was a possibility that Dream might never have seen snow before. To him, snow was an average part of every winter season- nothing remarkable, maybe tied with thunderstorms as his favorite type of weather. At some point, the brit managed to forget that there were places on Earth for which snow was a rare or even nonexistent occurrence, and that Florida was probably one of them.
That was why he looked confusedly at Dream when the younger started getting giddy at his offhanded mention that it would be snowing that night.
“Why are you so excited idiot, it’s just snow.” He’d laughed with an eye roll. Dream continued his little happy dance, bouncing around George’s small apartment livingroom on the balls of his feet, a giant smile on his lips.
“It’s not just snow George. It’s destiny .” He replied. The Christmas tree behind him left mottled glowing splotches of light on Dream’s yellow hoodie. “The first time I see snow is gonna be on my first Christmas with my dickhead of a boyfriend.” George paused as he was coming up with a witty reply, the weight of what Dream had just revealed hitting him like a brick.
“You’ve never seen snow before?” Dream picked up one of the pillows laying on the couch and launched it at George, who hit it out of the way with ease.
“It doesn’t exactly snow in Orlando.” The blonde replied sarcastically. George sat down, feigning overreacctance.
“Dream, I’m shocked. I’m heartbroken; I just don’t understand!” He brought the back of his hand to his forehead in a fake swoon, eyes closing gently and the ghost of a smile on his lips despite his attempt to keep up the act.
“You say that like I chose to not see it.” Dream chuckled. “Anyway it doesn’t even matter cuz I’m gonna see it tonight not matter what.” He sat down beside his boyfriend, throwing an arm over his shoulders so that the shorter could cuddle into his sweater-covered chest.
The past few months had been a whirlwind: from George seeing Dream’s face for the first time, to him, Sapnap, and Dream meeting up in Florida, to Dream and George finally getting together. The pair was happy, ecstatic even, to be spending the holidays together. Originally, the plan had been for the two of them to go to George’s family’s home in the country, but they decided last minute to just visit the few days after the initial holiday so that they could have some time to themselves.
George wasn’t keen on the idea of sharing a wall with his younger brother when it had been two months since he’d seen his boyfriend: he didn’t want to scar the kid.
So there they were, cuddled up together on George’s plush leather couch, clouds rolling in out the window. Dream insisted on decorating the apartment as festively as possible, and because the brunette loved him so much he stood by and watched as colorful lights were pinned to his walls and garlands were attached to the mantlepiece of his gas fireplace. Even though he couldn’t fully appreciate the color, George could appreciate how happy the color made Dream. His eyes were bright with wonder whilst hanging them, and the shorter couldn’t help but pull him into a tight hug.
There was a fake tree in the corner that Dream had put pine scented car air fresheners on, hidden in the plastic boughs. “ If we can’t get a real tree, we’re going to roleplay that we have one. I’m just making it more realistic .” He’d said. From the kitchen wafted the scent of ham, soon to be followed by Dream’s pumpkin pie. Christmas Eve was no joke, especially not that year.
George sighed contentedly, leaning his head on Dream’s shoulder.
“How much time till dinner?” He asked, sleepiness edging into his voice. He was so warm and comfortable and happy that he saw no need to stay awake- well, except he knew that there were mashed potatoes on the table at that very moment. Dream took his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen.
“It’s almost 6, if the ham is done we can probably go for it.” At those words George shot to his feet, leaving a wheezing blonde Floridian in his wake at his mad dash to the kitchen. “Don’t burn yourself!” He called, but George was already on it.
Socked feet padded into the kitchen, Dream stretching widely while watching the love of his life carefully take the small ham out of the oven. George’s face was beaming, obviously proud of his work.
The blonde pet Cat, who was perched on the countertop curiously watching his owner announce that the ham was done and if he didn’t eat in the next thirty seconds he would start consuming himself from the inside out.
So they ate. They ate and talked and laughed and enjoyed just being with each other, because togetherness wasn’t a luxury they often could share. From the kitchen they went to the couch, and from the couch they finally landed in George’s queen sized bed.
Dream, as always, was the big spoon, (not that George minded it of course) as they settled down to sleep Christmas Eve into Christmas day. It was so homely and so comfortable just to be lying there with each other. George snuggled back into Dream’s chest with a satisfied sigh, feeling his boyfriend completely surrounding him on such a cold December night, the thoughts of snow completely forgotten as a kiss landed on the top of the brunette’s head.
“Merry Christmas, Gogy.” Dream said, his voice husky with his tiredness.
“Happy Christmas, Clayton.” The taller wheezed a laugh, pulling George closer.
“God, you’re so British.” A pause. “Did you call me Clayton?”
“Maybe.”
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too, stupid.”
Hours later, George woke up to a shiver wracking through his body. Eyes closed he tried to shuffle back, confused as to why Dream’s familiar weight wasn’t behind him. Had he just flipped over in his sleep or something?
The brunette’s eyes cracked open when he realized that Dream was not, in fact, in the bed at all. And on top of that, the room was far colder than usual, and kind of drafty.
George sat up slowly, pulling his sheets up along with him to conserve heat. As his eyesight adjusted to the darkness of his bedroom, he immediately noticed his window was open. A small spike of nerves shot through his body at the thought of a possible robber, but was quickly dismissed.
“Dream?” George called out, his voice clogged up from fatigue. A small gust of wind drifted through the window, the dim glow of the streetlights showing a few wayward snowflakes making their way onto the floor.
Oh.
He got to his feet, socks muffling the creak of the wood floors while he went to the desk chair and picked up Dream’s discarded sweatshirt, putting it on quickly to ward off the chill. As usual, the fact that it swallowed him whole just made him feel giddy, as if he were a teenager again. A blush crawled to his cheeks. He was so fucking in love.
George crossed his arms over his chest when he approached the window, leaning out over the fire escape.
“Hey.” He said softly. Dream jumped a bit, some of the powder flying from his hair and the blanket he’d wrapped himself in. He turned around, the shock on his face turning into a soft expression of happiness and calm.
“Hi there.” He greeted. George crawled out, his socks instantly soaked by an inch and a half of frozen water before he sat down and was pulled into Dream’s strong arms. “I’m sorry if the cold woke you up, I didn’t mean to stay out here this long.” He said, voice quieted by the thin layer of snowflakes.
“Don’t worry about it, I always wake up early on Christmas anyway.” George joked. Dream hummed in recognition, then allowed himself to fall back into his trance.
The street was serene below, the pair perched on a third story fire escape. Across the way through a window was a Christmas tree decorated with more of those multicolored lights that Dream loved so much. The snow was just beginning to stick to the road with no cars driving past to disrupt it. A perfect blanket of soft white- a white Christmas.
“What do you think?” George asked. Dream took a moment to answer, his arm tightening around his boyfriend’s shoulder. He smelled like cologne with a hint of chocolate and gingerbread from their dessert.
“It’s beautiful.” He decided. “I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life without experiencing it.” George grinned, leaning his head back against Dream’s shoulder.
“I mean you’ve seen it in movies, right?” He could feel Dream shaking his head.
“Yeah, but that’s not the same. Not even close.” More comfortable silence ensued, until a firm kiss was placed on George’s hair.
“What was that for?” George asked, a chuckle creeping into his voice amongst the sleepiness. Dream shrugged.
“For being my everything I guess.”
“Aw, come on-”
“No, don’t push it away, listen.” Dream turned so that he could look George in the eye, the soft light of the streetlamps reflecting in golden irises. “I could go on and on about how beautiful the snow is, but at the end of the day there is not a single thing on this planet that could top how gorgeous you are to me, George Davidson.” For once, the brunette was rendered speechless: he had no witty remark, no sass, just a blush decorating his cheeks that wasn’t from the cold. “And I love you so goddamn much- I can’t believe that I get to be here with you on Christmas morning sitting on a fire escape in the freezing cold.” He continued. George wrapped him in a tight hug, tears of joy pricking the corners of his eyes.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”