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The dreaded day came.
George’s family had requested he return to the UK for a visit, more specifically for the week of his mum’s birthday. Of course, nobody was going to say no, so a booked flight later, he was off. The boys had reassured him they’d be okay for the week, they were used to Karl and Sapnap leaving together for longer than that.
And it started that way, things moved… mostly normal. There was one less body in bed, but they could manage. Punz promised to stay over that whole week to make up for it, so that worked out slightly better for everyone.
Then the third day it started to shift.
Punz had a slip that day, which would’ve been fine if George wasn't their favorite person. But the blonde cried, Georgie wasn't there and he wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
The boys did their best to console him. They would have called George, but he was on UK time and currently sleeping, nobody wanted to bug him. Instead, they promised the little he could call George in the morning, it seemed to satisfy him for the time being.
In the morning they did call George, even if Punz wasn’t little. It was almost bittersweet, the weight of unspoken words that definitely were begging to whisper “I miss you” into the morning breeze.
***
The whole “George is gone” thing seemed to hit Dream the most.
For him, it was okay for maybe the first thirty minutes. But something didn’t sit right… George isn't there. The entire flight Dream checked his phone every thirty minutes, anxious about sudden news alerts that might have to do with planes. His leg bounced obnoxiously while he tried to distract himself with coding, but nothing did it justice. He only messed up two lines before giving up. When the “landed” text came in, it was an instant relief. But… not enough?
George still wasn’t home.
Then as the days started to pass it got harder. There was no George to pull him away from his monitor when he was working for too long. No George to urge him to make dinner, no George to bring him a cup of water.
It started to hurt the boys, they didn’t have George and they were losing Dream.
On the fifth night, Dream even slept alone. It didn’t matter that the three were snuggled in Dream’s bed, he slept in George’s.
That’s when they had to step in.
Normally with George there he always was able to pull Dream from depressive episodes, usually avoiding them before they even started. And it’s not like the boys didn’t check on him or do any of that, but they weren’t on top of it like him. They were used to George doing it anyway.
That morning, Dream didn’t even get up early. Patches weren't fed until nine or so when Punz woke up, no breakfast was made. Which isn’t the end of the world… but that meant Dream hadn’t eaten.
Once the other two had woken up, they gave it just a little more time. They just barely missed when Dream had snuck back into his room to his setup to drown himself in more work.
Eventually, they got him when they realized. Sapnap had to go in there and give him that talk.
“Dream?” The blonde simply hummed, barely acknowledging his boyfriend’s existence. Normally, he would give any of his boys all of his attention, no matter who and no matter what headspace. Sapnap wouldn’t admit how it stung just a little bit. “Okay, no. We’re done here.”
The younger boy switched off Dream’s monitor, putting the pc into sleep mode for the time being. Dream almost snapped— almost. Anger quickly dissipated a second later.
“Why’d you do that?” He croaked. Sapnap’s frown deepened.
“Dude, have you even drank water? Jesus fuck.” He shook his head in distaste.
Not that he was mad at Dream, it was just his way of deflecting how painful it was to watch the boy lose himself.
“You haven’t taken your meds… you’re usually on top of that.” Sapnap surveyed the bottle on the desk, he knew Dream had his prescription refilled the other day and it was still untouched.
“George usually reminds me…” Dream muttered.
“Dream.” Sapnap pulled the blonde to stand, who did not almost fall over with a rush of dizziness. “You’re destroying yourself… you know he’ll be back in two days, right?”
“I know…”
“And he’d be really disappointed you haven’t been taking care of yourself in that time. We miss you… we know you love George as much as us, but seeing you fall into a depressive episode from it is where I draw the line. You’re not gonna suffer like this alone at least, okay?”
“I’m sorry,” Dream sniffled. “It’s just… so weird. I should be fine without him but it’s been so long, he hasn’t left since he got here Sap.” The shorter boy almost cried seeing those pretty green eyes well up with tears. Even more so when they spilled and painted rosy cheeks with salty pain. “Even worse not having my baby. I mean— you’re all my babies, I love you all so much. I’ve never been without George, big or little. It makes me scared somethings gonna happen to him and I’ll never have my baby again… you know?”
Sapnap gently guided them to sit on the bed, not interrupting Dream’s ramble. He knew by now the blonde just needed to talk until he figured it out.
“It’s so dumb because you and Karl leave all the time. I don’t like it but, like— I guess it’s not a whole ocean away either. I know I can get up there in a nine-hour drive or hour flight if I need to, and then the same with Punz. They don’t live here, but I know and I already have rushed over in five minutes when something happens. I guess I just can’t stand not having George within reach, it pushed me into some dumb headspace and I let it consume me.” Sapnap nodded sympathetically. He didn’t like George being so far again either, none of them did.
“Just two more days, Dream. We got this, okay?” The blonde meekly smiled and nodded, leaning against Sapnap in a weird half-hug. The two sat like that for just a little longer until Karl knocked on the door.
“Food’s here! If you need time that’s okay, but it’s ready,” he called before walking out.
Silently, Sapnap stood and offered a hand, Dream took it with no resistance. The taller boy snagged his pills off the desk while they traveled downstairs.
He froze in awe when they reached the living room.
The space was turned into a makeshift pillow fort. No sheets overhead or anything, but tons of blankets and pillows were adjusted and set up to make a comfy floor and couch. The coffee table was left uncovered by the sheets, but instead contained fresh pizza boxes and plenty of sugary snacks.
“Let us take care of you tonight,” Sapnap whispered in the blonde’s ear. Dream simply nodded, doing his best to wipe away all of his tears.
It meant a lot to him that his boyfriends would go through so much to make him feel better when he was the one being selfish. He was the one who pushed away and acted biased towards George the past few days, he felt so undeserving.
But he also knew they wouldn’t let him say no to this.
So, completely pliant, he let Sapnap guide him into the fluffy wonderland and get comfortable in the middle of the blankets. They had all latched onto him, Punz taking his right side and Sapnap on the left. Karl contently laid his head in Sapnap’s lap while they all watched some god-awful romcom on Hulu.
They slept together in the living room that night.
***
The flight back was so much worse for Dream. He couldn’t even sit down for more than ten minutes, they all looked anxiously between one another while the blonde paced for the umpteenth time in that hour.
“Clay,” Karl sighed, “You still have—” He squinted at the clock. “—eight hours until he lands. You cannot pace the kitchen that whole time.”
“Sounds like you’re challenging me.”
“No!” All three jinxed. Dream rolled his eyes at them.
“I know I just, like, can’t do anything. I don’t know.”
Their solution ended up being to force Dream onto the couch with his weighted blanket and watch the worst movies they could find. It worked pretty well, the blonde ended up falling asleep, (probably since he hadn’t been sleeping well the entire week).
The time came for Sapnap to go get George, he as quietly as possible kissed each boy goodbye before he was off, (if Dream woke up, he probably would have begged to go with him).
Airport reunions were always awkward, the boys were both recognizable in public so any urges to have a cliche running start and hug in the middle of the walkways wasn’t an option. But the moment the two made it back to the car they shared a quick, gentle kiss.
Upon returning, Dream was still sleeping. Karl and Punz had their quiet reunion in the kitchen until they decided it was Dream’s time.
George has as gently as possible crawled up and over Dream, resting on top of him. It wasn’t enough to shake him awake, so they laid there together for the time being until Dream woke up on his own, pleasantly happy with the warmth and weight of snuggling with someone.
His eyes snapped open when he recognized the brunette hair in front of him.
“George!” Dream clung onto the smaller boy as if he’d slip away again if he wasn’t careful. George just fondly laughed, allowing Dream to hug him as much as he needed, (he’d been briefed on the whole debacle that happened while he was gone). “I missed you…” the blonde muttered.
“I missed you too,” George responded in a hush, snuggling into the familiarity that was Dream’s arms. As much as he loved his parents, he’d much rather be here with his own family.
“Hey, share gogy!” Punz pouted, although it was just a playful bite. Dream smiled but shook his head.
“He’s mine.” Punz rolled their eyes at the sickeningly loving gesture, but at least he wasn’t jealous. They understood the separation anxiety Dream experienced.
“Fine, I expect cuddles later then.” The shorter blonde left, leaving the duo alone again.
They enjoyed their silence for a bit longer before George moved. Dream whined, thinking he was leaving, but the brunette just sat up and made it so he could look at Dream.
“I heard about how things went while I was gone.” George frowned. Dream bowed his head in shame, fearing judgment. “I’m not mad, okay? I get it.” He forced Dream’s head back up to make eye contact, “I promise I won’t leave for that long again unless I have to. But next time, please just ask for help? You know you could call or text me.”
“But you’re with family George, I can’t interrupt that just because I didn’t take a pill.”
“You guys are my priority, always,” he smiled sadly, “If you need me, then I’m here. If Sap would’ve told me I would have flown back sooner, I didn’t need to be there that whole time.”
While Dream would feel selfish for something like that, making George feel guilty and sad was way more. So he promised the boy next time that something like that would happen they’d say something. George also made sure Dream took his medicine that day since he was back to be a personal alarm clock for the blonde.
The boys just spent the day hanging out like usual. Playing games (screaming at each other), watching movies, Dream even finally had the motivation to make dinner again.
They sat happy and content around the dinner table, praising the blonde for his cooking and happily enjoying each other’s presence. They were all home again.