Chapter Text
The heat from the spotlights seemed to stick to Dream’s skin, anxiety rippling through his being as the event coordinator finished introducing them. No matter how many times he performed, he could never get over the jitters. His hands clutched his drumsticks, slick with palm sweat.
“Welcome to The Court, the Dream Team!”
The lights pulled up to the stage and the tension between the band steadied as Karl started strumming. George joined in, followed by Dream doing his best to focus on the drum set in front of him and not the crowd watching his every move.
At last Quackity removed the mic from its stand and began to sing. His singing was a lot courser than his speaking voice but that was expected for a rock singer.
Sometimes right before a show Dream would ask himself why he even started a rock band because his stage fright was awful. The role of drummer offered him a bit of cover but he had found other things to focus on to keep him from freaking out.
Sure...other things, he thought to himself, grinning as his sight slid to George in front of him. He managed to make his simple t-shirt and jeans look like something you’d see on a runway with lots of rich people along the sidelines. The way the short sleeves sheathed the soft muscles of his arms as he strummed his guitar furiously. The way his sweat soaked through his shirt, the lines of his back standing out through the damp fabric. The way his black jeans cupped his perfect ass-
Dream’s train of thought was cut off by the song ending. George turned to give him a smirk and Dream gave a nervous smile in response. Sometimes Dream got nervous that George could actually read his mind whenever he was thinking about him.
No, surely if he knew he would say something. Wouldn’t he?
The two had been in some weird game of chicken ever since their band, the Dream Team, had started getting more successful a few months prior. At this point Dream had accepted that either George was not interested, happy to keep him on the hook, or most likely, was just so incredibly oblivious that he hadn’t even noticed when Dream crossed the line between joking and flirting.
The rest of the show was a blur. Between George and the blinding stage lights, Dream was able to survive the set. And thank god he did because nothing felt better than the cheering at the end. The adrenaline began to fade as the four made their way backstage to find Sapnap waiting for them, immediately diving into a hug with Karl.
“That was so cool!” He said, his eyes lighting up at the sight of his boyfriend. “You’re so sweaty though. No more hugs until you dry off.”
“What the honk?” Karl said feigning disappointment. “If you can’t even hug me when I’m sweaty how are we supposed to make this relationship work?” Karl immediately began chasing Sapnap around the backstage area with open arms as Sapnap dodged and weaved trying to avoid him.
Dream felt a hand in his hair and turned to see a very cute, very disheveled George further messing up his damp blond hair. Dream grabbed both of George’s hands in one of his and ruffled his hair furiously.
“Hey, hey! Stop-” George said giggling and trying to escape Dream’s grip. Dream chuckled and let him go, earning a huff from Quackity who had just finished a hushed conversation with the event manager.
“Can you four please get a room?” Quackity begged. He was getting awfully tired of being the third and fifth wheel of the group.
“All four of us together?” Karl asked, coming back with his arm wrapped around Sapnap. “That’s pretty freaky Q, I don’t know about that.”
“At that point you might as well join,” Dream chuckled and Quackity shot them both an over dramatic look of disgust.
“How dare you try to take advantage of me,” The 19 year old squeaked. “I’m calling so many police.” Sapnap batted at the back of Quackity’s head, trying to grab at his beanie. “I’m being attacked!” Quackity ran away tugging his beanie down over his eyes and promptly slamming into a wall.
The other four laughed as Quackity stumbled to his feet, a crazy grin on his face. Dream could tell everyone was riding the high of the performance. He turned to Karl.
“Is the green room ready? I was hoping to have a few drinks before Quackity finds some way to kill himself.” Obviously Quackity wasn’t his real name, it was a nickname that Dream and Sapnap had given him a while back. The three of them had started the band, with Sapnap eventually working on the more technical side, arranging events and whatnot. George and Karl had joined a bit more recently, filling in for Sapnap.
Karl checked his watch and shrugged.
“I mean they said it would be ready about now but when are these places ever on time?” He said earnestly. “We could start heading over but I can’t promise the drinks will be there yet.” Dream leaned his elbow on George’s head which he could do surprisingly easily because of the height difference. Quackity was even shorter than George, but Dream only ever leaned on the latter. His eyes were bit and his dark brown hair was beautifully tousled.
“Works for me,” George said, trying to push Dream off. “I wanna get this idiot wasted so he’ll leave me alone.” Dream raised a brow.
“Trying to get me drunk, George?” The blond said in a suggestive tone. “Well, you did buy the drinks so I guess I’m happy to be yours for the night.” George’s face went pink and his gaze quickly shifted to the floor.
“That’s not what I meant,” He stammered, stepping away from Dream and leading the way to the green room. Dream tried not to let his disappointment show. Sometimes he worried that he might be going too far and making George uncomfortable. On the other hand, he looked so pretty when he blushed.
All five of them made their way to the green room, Karl and Sapnap still joined at the hip, whispering to each other and giggling. Dream noticed the sour expression on Quackity’s face and started to wonder if he wasn’t 100% joking when he had complained earlier. He knew Quackity had had a crush on Sapnap a long while back but he assumed he had gotten over it because he seemed over the moon when Sapnap started dating Karl. But Dream had never been able to read Quackity as well as he read everyone else.
Dream gave Quackity a little nudge and cracked a joke trying to distract him. If he couldn’t fix it, at the very least he could try to cheer the boy up. Quackity chuckled but it was clearly forced.
They entered the green room to find George carrying a few packs of beer and what appeared to be straight vodka. He set down the drinks on a low table and waved excitedly, making Dream’s heart melt.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Karl finally detached himself from Sapnap. “Who are our designated drivers?”
“Uh…I can take two of you. My car doesn’t have room for everyone,” Quackity said, picking up the lounge’s non-alcoholic menu. The perk of playing for bars was free drinks afterward. “George? Can you take Dream?” Dream noticed the subtle attempt at getting them alone together and gave Quackity an appreciative look, especially because that meant he would have to spend the rest of the night with Sapnap and Karl being all...mushy.
“I still don’t have a car,” George whined. “Plus, I drove last time. Can someone drive both of us?” Dream saw his chance and took it.
“I can splurge on an uber for the two of us,” Dream said quickly. “It’s really no problem for me.” George gave him a strange look.
“If you insist,” he replied, picking up a drink.
. . .
Dream loved tipsy George. George was usually pretty reserved but after a few drinks he really let loose and those walls he stubbornly kept up crumbled. The alcohol softened his features, a sort of dazed rosiness in his cheeks, and it drove Dream crazy.
With a flushed face and warm hands, George pulled Dream up from the couch and tried to get him to dance. Dream grumbled but George grabbed at his shirt a little and suddenly Dream couldn’t refuse him. George jumped a little excitedly and Dream couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
Such a pretty boy.
Dream watched George move to the music, some 70s stuff Quackity had put on. Speaking of Quackity, Dream could see him out of the corner of his eye, sulking in the corner bitterly drinking a virgin mojito.
Sure enough he was glaring at Sapnap who was all tangled in Karl’s arms on the couch. It briefly occurred to Dream that he should say something about it but he was more buzzed than he’d like to admit and his favorite person in the world was dancing in front of him.
George’s hair was ruffled, the loose curls tangled haphazardly. His voice was bright and rich, like a perfectly tuned instrument and Dream wanted to wade into that music and let it fill his lungs.
George stumbled into Dream’s chest, leaving him giggling hysterically. Dream couldn’t hold himself back so he grabbed George and swug him around as Tiny Dancer played in the background.
He wanted the moment to last so long, so much longer than it ever could. If only his eyes were a camera so he could capture in and frame it on his wall, he’d never feel sad again. Between the joy and the wooziness from the drinks he’d had, it felt like...a dream.
They stopped spinning and only then did Dream notice just how close they were. George’s lovely hazel eyes were looking directly into his, close enough to count the freckles that dappled Dream’s cheeks. A shiver went through Dream, something in-between bliss and dread that left him feeling as if there were flames licking at his skin.
At the last moment, George pulled away and Dream let loose a desperate sigh.
Always the tease.
Part of Dream was bitter because all he wanted to do was kiss this god damn rosy cheeked dazzling boy, but he could also appreciate the chase. He just hoped it would end soon because frankly he was getting sore.
In the corner, Quackity finished his mocktail and got up to try and pull Sapnap and Karl apart.
“Okay, lovebirds. As cute as it is to watch all my friends go loco for each other, it does get tiring.” He pulled Sapnap up and dusted him off. If George was drunk, Sapnap looked absolutely plastered, His eyes were bleary and it looked like Quackity was half holding him up. Karl didn’t look much better. Dream noticed that the bottle of vodka was completely empty.
Quackity tried to push the two out of the green room, leaving both of them leaning against the wall before turning back to Dream and George.
“You sure you’re okay with this,” Dream asked quietly. Quackity looked annoyed but unsurprised that Dream had noticed his mood.
“Yeah, whatever.” He rubbed his eyes. “I’m doing it for you man,” Quackity said nodding towards George. “But you owe me so big for this.”
Dream’s face went red and he nodded.
“Got it,” The blonde said. Quackity nodded tiredly and patted Dream absently on the shoulder.
“Rail him for me, mate,” Quackity said, mocking George’s accent. Dream tried to contain a wheeze and failed miserably, partially due to alcohol induced delirium. He laughed until two arms wrapped around him from the back.
“What’s so funny?” George muttered, his breath warm against Dream’s back. Chills rolled across Dream’s skin and he silently hoped that George didn’t notice the hairs on his neck standing up.
“Oh, nothing,” Dream replied giddily, trying to turn to see George’s face only to be frozen by those exquisite hazel eyes. He could feel his heart pounding as George let him go and Dream turned to face the boy. “Let’s get this place cleaned up and I can call an uber.”
. . .
Oh, how Dream wished he had a jacket that he could give to George to protect him from the brisk cold of the street in a lovely romantic gesture. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a jacket and so they were both cold in a very not romantic way.
The uber was a little late to show up but Dream had given some special instructions, just in case.
Finally, a black mini van pulled up on the curb and Dream was sure to hold the door open for George as he shuffled in. Sure enough, as Dream had quietly requested, a dark divider was set up between the front and back seats. George looked at him for an explanation and Dream shrugged as if he didn’t know.
Once they were settled in their seats, the driver’s voice came through a speaker and Dream gave his address, promising George he’d walk him home from there. As the car started rumbling down the road, the two boys sat in a comfortable silence, eventually interrupted by a yawn from George and a warm, heavy feeling on Dream’s arm.
Dream turned away from the window to find George lying against his shoulder, eyes half open, breathing softly. His body immediately went into panic mode as he tried to stay as still as possible, scared what he might disrupt if he moved.
“Dream?” George said quietly. Dream swore he could hear the alarms going off in his head, telling him that they were too sober to be this close.
“Y-yeah?” He stammered, hesitantly looking down at George through slightly cloudy vision. His nose and cheeks were pink from waiting on the street, thick eyelashes fluttering with fatigue. George let loose a long sigh and relaxed into Dream.
“I can’t get you out of my head.”