Chapter Text
George sits at his desk, staring at the discord conversation he had had with Wilbur earlier. his knees are pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around them as support. The messages between him and his friend stared back at him, tauntingly. George knew he would have to tell Wil eventually, but he wished he could wait a little longer, at least until he was more confident in himself.
Thoughts ran across his mind, crossing paths and intertwining with one another until it all sounded like static. A moment later, George realized his eyes were beginning to water, and his computer screen blurred behind tears. He stood up quickly, balance wavering, and removed his headphones before walking into his bathroom. He sat on the floor for a moment, the cool tile beneath him a stark contrast to the growing warmth in his chest. After a few minutes, his breathing slowed and he stood again to wash his face clear of the tears. Pulling the towel from his face, he caught a glimpse in the mirror. For all intents and purposes, George was fairly average. Short brown hair and plain brown eyes, a sparse sprinkling of freckles around his face, nothing much stood out, and George was grateful for this fact. He always felt so different from "normal" people, he was glad he could at least appear typical. His large gray hoodie hung loosely on his lanky build, hiding most of what was underneath from the world.
He raised a hand to his chest, right beside his heart. His chest was still pounding from the scene moments ago, and his tight binder wasn't helping much to calm his breathing. Taking a deep breath, George set the towel down and walked back to his desk. He had a plan and had to carry it out before he lost the momentum to. He closed his conversation with Wilbur and hovered his mouse over Eret's name. Before he could take a second to think, he clicked, and the call rang through his ears. George hadn't quite registered what had happened until he heard Eret's deep voice fill his attention.
"Hello? George?"
"Oh, hey Eret, how's it going?" George's voice wavered slightly, and he coughed into his hand to clear it.
"I'm doing alright, are you okay, George?" Eret could hear the uncertainty in his friend's voice and mimicked it in their own worried tone.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, I just... I need help with something." He paused, not sure exactly how to continue, hoping that Eret would fill the silence so he wouldn't have to.
After a moment, Eret's voice cut through the call and brought George back to the present.
"George, you still there?"
"Oh sorry yeah, I'm here. sorry." George took another deep breath and decided to get to the point. "So you know how I'm supposed to be meeting Wilbur tomorrow?" Eret hummed in agreement, not wanting to interrupt.
"Well I'm going to be staying with him and I... figured I should tell him before we meet." George brings his legs back up into his chair, holding them tightly out of anxiety.
"Tell him? About what." Eret's reply sounded unsure and was still laced with worry for her friend.
"About me, and.... y'know," After a moment it clicked in Eret's mind of what George was referring to.
"Oh, well just try the same things you said when you came out to me. I know Wilbur will be understanding, so you don't have to worry about it." Eret smiled as he spoke, glad that George could trust Eret with this.
"I- I know he'll understand, I'm not worried about that. I'm just scared that something will change, y'know? like he'll see me differently." George began to stutter over his words, not wanting to explain his thoughts to Eret.
"George, listen to me. You know Wilbur, and you know that there is almost nothing you could tell him that would make him change how he thinks about you, okay? Trust me on this one, everything will be fine." George smiled as he rested his head on his knees. He pulled his mic closer to be sure that Eret could hear him.
"Thank you, Eret, for everything." He says, voice lowered slightly.
"Of course, George, anytime. And don't hesitate to ask if you need anything while talking to Wil."
"I will. Wish me luck?" George can feel his mind slowing, thoughts filled with Eret's encouraging words.
"You got this, George, and good luck!" Eret says happily before George ends the call, breathing a sigh of relief as he sat up in his chair. Before he has time to overthink it again, he clicks on Wilbur's name and begins typing.
GeorgeNotFound: hey wil, you busy now? i got something i wanna talk to you about
Soon after the message was sent, the small message with the words "WilburSoot is typing..." appeared below George's message. George watched the little circles beside Wil's name do their dance before they were replaced with Wilbur's message
WilburSoot: no im free, what's up?
GeorgeNotFound: can i call you? that would be easier
WilburSoot: sure that works for me
George clicks the call button quickly after reading the message, urgent to get this over with.
"Hello, gogy! How are you today?" Wilbur speaks in a fairly upbeat tone, one that brought a smile back to George's face.
"I'm doing great Wil, excited to meet up tomorrow!" George spoke with slightly more enthusiasm than he actually had, but not by much.
"Yeah, definitely exciting! so what did you want to talk about?"
George laughed a little under his breath, finding it a little funny that he was actually doing this
"Uh yeah, it's actually about us meeting up. I- uh- wanted to let you know something about me before we met in person." George paused for a moment, considering his options in how to explain this to Wilbur. He spoke quickly, deciding that just saying it outright would be best.
"I'm trans. I wasn't born male. And I figured you should know that before I stay at your place." George lightly laughed again, considering the odd circumstance he was in.
After a beat of silence, Wilbur responded
"That's cool! I mean, I- fuck- I'm glad you could tell me that." Both boys laughed at this, understanding the slight awkwardness George's statement had caused.
"So, it's good?" George asked a minute later, not sure how to continue the conversation.
"Yeah, of course!" George finally breathed out the sigh he didn't know he was holding in.
"Good, I was worried for some reason." He laughed again, hoping Wil wouldn't ask any more questions.
"Well, why wouldn't it be okay?" Wilbur asked, and George stopped. This was definitely one question he did not want to answer. George had no reason to believe that Wil wouldn't support him, and therefore no good answer to the question, but also he of course had to assume the worst.
Without a pre-thought out answer, George began to just dump all his thoughts out in a confusing, jumbled, stuttering mess
"Well, you know, we've, uh, never talked about anything like this and I- I didn't know how you'd take it and, uh, even though I had no reason to I thought that-" Wilbur stopped George mid-ramble, and only then did George realized that the tears from earlier had started again.
"George! Hey, it's ok, alright? Just breathe." George wiped his face with the sleeve of his hoodie and whispered to Wilbur that he was ok.
"I was actually going to tell you tomorrow, but now seems appropriate." Wil laughed again, "Um, I realized recently that I'm bi, so I've been doing research about all of this. So, uh, don't worry about it. I get it."
"Oh. That-" George was genuinely speechless. Of course Wil would be understanding. He'd always been cool when some of their other friends had come out.
"Thank you, Wil. Seriously." George said, resting his head on his knees once again.
"Thanks to you too, George. You coming out made mine so much easier." They both laughed again at this, but not the same soft, awkward chuckle from before. This was a wholehearted laugh, full of joy and understanding.
The two talked for a while longer, about everything. George answered all the slightly uncomfortable questions about binders, hormones, and his identity, while the two shared stories from their own journeys of self-discovery. George had messaged Eret while him and Wil were still talking, telling them that it had gone well and again thanking her for the help. Eret had responded with a simple "<3", which meant more to George than it should. He knew now that it would be okay. Over time, he would hopefully come out to the rest of his friends, certain that they would react similarly to both Eret and Wilbur. Eret's words rang through his head again, reminding him that everything would be okay.