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Rain.
George grew up enjoying how much it rained in Brighton, though it had become such a constant in his life that he stopped paying much attention to it as he grew older. He didn’t go outside much, so the rain never bothered him- it was just a nice background sound to have.
But as soon as he moved to Orlando to live with his boyfriend, Dream, he found himself enjoying the rain like he was a child again.
It rained a whole lot less there than George had been used to, and he didn’t mind it- he never really focused on it. Most days were spent with the sun beating down on them, but the few times it would end up raining, George would find himself smiling and looking out the window to watch the droplets run down the glass in a slow race that meant nothing.
And tonight was no different.
George had woken up in the middle of the night, drowsy and unsure of why he was even awake at whatever insane time it was. All he knew was that it was dark out, and he was warm, cuddled into Dream’s side.
He had closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep again almost immediately after opening them, only to hear the soft sound of rain hitting the windows. And just like that, his eyes were open again as a tired smile forced its way onto his face.
Carefully, George unwrapped himself from Dream and crawled out of bed, a slight shiver running down his spine at the cold that enveloped him.
It was so quiet that George could hear the rain hitting the concrete outside, and it pounding against the roof of his home. He could hear the occasional car driving by, over the thin layer of rain that covered the ground.
He brought himself to the window and pulled back the curtain a bit to watch the raindrops hit the window, rather than just listen. He really couldn’t help but watch the rain rather than just listen to it- it was so beautiful in a way that George couldn’t begin to describe.
George felt calm from the soft noises of the rain, the sleepiness he felt moments ago fading as he watched two raindrops on the window merge, sliding down faster than they had been before.
From what George could see of the sky, it was all pitch black- the stars and moon covered in clouds. It made the world look a little bit darker, but George found himself enjoying it.
He felt the urge to sit in the living room and curl into a blanket with Dream, enjoy listening to the sounds of the rain while drinking hot chocolate. George could pretty much feel the warmth of the drink running down his throat as he thought about it.
But, this was enough. Sitting there in front of the window with a smile on his face, his boyfriend sleeping peacefully in the bed beside him as rain fell. It was more than enough- and George was honestly not even sure if he would be able to drag himself away from the sight of the rain, afraid that if he looked away for even a moment, the rain would be gone again, leaving him in silence.
“George…?” George’s smile widened a little at the sound of Dream’s sleepy voice calling to him, hearing the shuffle of fabric as he watched Dream out of the corner of his eye. He had sat up a bit, looking over at George. “What’re you doin’? Come back to bed…”
“Dream, it’s raining,” He whispered, not taking his eyes off the sight of puddles forming on the ground.
“It’s three in the morning,” Before Dream had responded to him, he saw a small flash of light come from one of their phones- Dream had turned it on to check the time. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” George giggled softly, finally tearing his eyes away from the rain. He made eye contact with Dream in the dark. “I promise. I just woke up and heard it was raining.”
“Why not come back to bed? It’s too early to be up, love.” Despite how often Dream called him that, George felt his face flush- just like every other time.
“I want to stay up longer and listen, please?” Dream let out a soft sigh, and George watched as he sat up completely, his legs hanging over the bed as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. “You can go back to bed, Dream. I just want to listen for a little while longer.”
“Come on, it’ll be easier, and more comfortable, to do this in the living room.” God, George was happy that Dream knew him so well.
Without another word spoken between them, George stood up and let the curtain fall from his fingers, falling back into place. He followed closely after Dream, who had grabbed one of their many blankets before walking over to the door, and they made their way to the living room.
“Can-”
“I can make some hot chocolates.” Dream interrupted, knowing exactly what George was about to ask. George giggled again as Dream handed him the blanket before heading to the kitchen. “Open up the curtains and get comfy, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.” It wasn’t often that they got to do this- not only because of the rain, but because the times that they did do this was often when one of them- more commonly George- was upset in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep.
So, George was happy to finally have a calm moment between them, listening to the rain and drinking hot chocolate while they cuddled together without something being wrong, or something bothering either of them.
He sat himself down on the couch after he pulled back the curtains, and since the only light was coming from the kitchen, they could actually see outside without the glare. He pulled the blanket over himself and sighed in contentment, closing his eyes.
The rain was such a relaxing sound- he didn’t realize how much he missed it until now.
“Here,” George opened his eyes again to Dream holding a mug out to him, a soft smile on his face that George could just barely make out in the darkness. The light in the kitchen was turned off now. George took the mug with both hands, carefully blowing the drink to cool it down a little.
Dream sat down beside him and got under the blanket, immediately wrapping an arm around George’s shoulders as soon as he did. George scooted a bit closer to his boyfriend, cuddling into his side.
George watched the marshmallows in his mug slowly dance on the surface of the drink.
“Why’d you wake up so early, love?” George leaned his head against Dream’s shoulder, letting the mug warm his hands for a while.
“Not sure,” He answered honestly, smiling when he felt Dream rub his hand up and down his arm, making it tingle a little. It was a welcomed feeling. “Just kinda… woke up, and stayed up for the rain.” Dream hummed softly in response, and the two fell into silence.
George lifted his head for just a moment, to take a sip of his drink- Dream really made the perfect hot chocolates. His heart fluttered a little with happiness as he felt the warmth from the drink spread through his body.
“This is nice.” George muttered after a while, leaning his head back against Dream’s shoulder. He looked out the window, just barely able to make out the raindrops- they were farther away from the window than George had been before.
“Yeah?” He felt Dream rest his chin on the top of his head.
“Yeah.” George took another sip, being careful not to spill. He knew he probably wouldn’t- the way he was laying wasn’t all that difficult to drink from-, but he would rather be safe than sorry. “We should do this more often.”
“Sit and listen to the rain at three am?” George rolled his eyes fondly.
“Just… sit and relax together like this. We don’t do this much.”
“We really don’t,” Dream agreed. “We don’t have much time to do stuff like this.”
“We can make time.” George muttered, feeling the sleepiness he had felt before starting to come back. “We really aren’t as busy as you make it out to be, Dream.”
“I know, but you’re not often like this,” That was true. “Only at night.”
“What can I say? I like the night. It’s the best time.”
“My little night owl.” George scoffed quietly at that, though another smile tugged at his lips. “You really are a cat.”
“I never said I wasn’t.”
“I know, but, really-” Dream chuckled. “You’re almost exactly like Patches.”
“Mrrp?” Came Patches’ surprised noise at her name being called, her head lifting up from her place on her cat tree. Both Dream and George laughed.
“You stay up all night, sleep all day- you sleep so many hours in a day. You want to cuddle one minute, and the next you want to be as far from me as possible.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know- but it’s close to true. You like your space, like a cat. You’re small, too.”
“Oh, shut up.” George would have elbowed him in the side, but he didn’t have the energy for it. “I hate you.”
“I love you too, Georgie.” George felt Dream press a kiss to the top of his head. “Are you done with your hot chocolate?”
“Mhm,” George hummed, only to whine quietly as Dream tried to get up.
“George, I’m just gonna put our cups in the sink,” He laughed- not his wheezy laugh, but his softer, more fond laugh. It made George’s heart swell, as it always did. He let Dream take his cup and bring it to the kitchen, the soft clinks of him putting them in the sink coming moments before Dream came back. “There, that wasn’t so hard. Do you want to go back to our room, love?”
“Can we stay out here?” George asked softly. The rain was already starting to come to a stop, but he was comfortable and didn’t want to move all the way back to their room. “I’m comfy.”
“Of course. Here, get up.” Though he really, really didn’t want to, George listened to his boyfriend, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. As soon as he stood up, Dream laid down on his back on the couch, holding his arms out for George. “Come here.”
Dream didn’t have to tell him twice.
George immediately crawled on top of him, smiling as Dream wrapped both of his arms around him. George did the same, laying his head down on his chest. He could hear Dream’s heart beating calmly in his chest, a steady rhythm.
“Goodnight, love.”
“G’night.” George hesitated for a moment. “...I love you.” He whispered.
“I love you too.”