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Dream had been living alone with George for almost a year now. A whole year since they graduated together and moved out of their shared appartment they had with Sapnap.
It’s a hot and humid week in July when Dream’s parents call.
“Clay honey. How are you?” His mum’s gentle voice drifts through the phone.
“Hey Mum. I’m good. What’s up?”
“Well your fathers’ friend has invited us to his ranch in Texas for a long weekend getaway. 5 days just us adults.” His mum sounds excited as she explains and his own excitement grows as she keeps talking.
George walks into the living room hearing Dream saying a quick goodbye.
“Was that your mum?” George asks.
“Yeah. Her and dad are going to their friends’ ranch in Texas next week and she asked if Drista could come stay with us instead of getting dropped off at our grandparents. Figured it would be fun. Haven’t been able to go down and see her in ages.”
Dream glances around their apartment, noticing the messy pile of shoes at the front door, the mess George made in the kitchen last weekend that he hadn’t gotten around to cleaning up and the wires, cords and cardboard boxes stacked haphazardly next to George’s desk. With eyes scanning every inch of the living room, he misses the uneasy look on George’s face.
“What so your parents are coming here? How long will they be staying for? How long is Drista staying with us for?”
“Oh my god. We need to clean.” Dream panics, unintentionally ignoring George and talking over the top of him. “They’re gonna be coming in like two days.”
“Okay. Do you want me to go shopping? We shouldn’t feed your sister takeaway every night like we’ve been having lately.”
“Oh my god yes. We should do that.” After agreeing they both set to their tasks and George tries to hide his anxiousness at the impending visit from Dream’s parents.
Drista had been staying with her brother and George for 3 days now and things were weird, at first. Her brother seemed stiff, on edge when her and their parents first arrived in the morning.
He only seemed to relax when they left that night. She couldn’t really gauge George’s mood. She had only met him a few times. He had moved in with her brother and Sapnap before the beginning of their final year of college, so when her and her parents came down to visit Dream that last summer before graduation, she never had any time to get to know him as he was busy studying for his final exams.
So even though Dream seemed anxious there were moments, like yesterday morning, where her brother seemed very happy.
She had just woken up on the pullout bed in the lounge room, gentle sunlight was streaming through the window and she could hear Dream’s wheezing laugh coming from the kitchen. The soft pillow case snuggled against her cheek and she stared at the turned off TV across from her as whispers and loud hushes drifted along the floorboards towards her. She was glad to hear him laughing so hard.
Then last night, George had mentioned he felt like sushi and Dream said he’d go to Walmart to get him some. Drista felt like she was missing out on something as she witnessed the death glare on George’s face.
Another wheezing laugh came from Dream as he turned to her asking if she wanted to come with him to get sushi.
She agreed but definitely didn’t expect her brother to drive almost 30 mins to get to the sushi restaurant George liked best.
Still it was fun driving with Dream, with the windows down, the warm night air blowing through her hair as the radio blasted their eardrums with music in the best way possible.
Today had been the best day yet. George suggested to Dream at breakfast that they should take her to ‘the arcade’. Turns out the arcade was at the mall 5 mins away and she got to play all the different arcade games with both of them.
There was one game that George was ‘absolutely cracked at’ according to Dream and he really hadn’t been exaggerating.
George stood in front of the first person shooter game. He settled the headset over his dark fluffy hair and picked up the gun, which she discovered after was surprisingly heavy. Then she watched the large screen, enraptured as he killed everyone in the game. His face completely blank as he concentrated, his arms swinging the gun back and forth.
When he won Dream had shouted in celebration. Grabbing George’s shoulders and shaking him, flipping him around to shout a ‘lets goooo’ in his face. Their excitement was infectious.
There was a quick moment where their faces were too close, Dream leaning a bit too forward for George’s comfort but it only lasted a second before George turned away, grabbing the tickets and handing them to her because she was the ticket keeper. The excitement of George winning was the best moment out of that really fun day though, and she had to admit that George was actually pretty damn cool after that.
When they left the arcade and got in the car to drive home they discovered dark clouds had covered the wide sky above.
Florida storms had a way of coming quickly and staying violently, stealing the last bit of light from the afternoon.
It was night time now, dinner eaten and cleared away and everyone settled into their respective rooms to slumber. Unfortunately the Florida storm tearing its way across the night sky outside had unsettled her more than she’d like to admit.
Drista laid on the pull out bed in the living room, watching flashes of bright light illuminate the sharp edges of the room.
Seconds after the last flash, the room vibrates with the deep boom of thunder.
She slips from out under her sheets, the cool floorboards flat underneath her feet as she slowly pads towards Dream’s room.
She remembers years ago before he moved out when she would sneak into his room during storms and he would talk to her until she fell asleep.
She slowly walks down the hallway, the light coming from under the bathroom door illuminating her way. She treads carefully past George’s room, making sure not to creak the boards too loud in case he’s a light sleeper.
Dream’s door was open, curtains wide apart letting in a soft glow from the streetlights outside. Silver raindrops pelt against the window. Quietly padding over to the side of his bed, she sees the sheets already messy and flipped over to the side.
She isn’t quiet when she collapses onto the mattress.
“Dream.” She tries to speak loud enough for him to hear.
She’s glad she doesn’t have to speak any louder when he immediately rolls over, mumbling out a sleepy ‘Hey’.
She lays there, taking in her brother’s profile in the low light. She’s just about to ask him to talk to her, tell her a story like he used to when he shifts closer. She tenses, not expecting him to fling his arm over her stomach and drag her across the mattress closer to him.
Hah. That’s kinda funny. He must’ve gotten clingy in his sleep since he moved out.
She’s almost tempted to push him off her but it’s kinda funny so she only pushes him back enough to put a bit of space between them.
“Dream, the thunder’s scaring me. Can you tell me a story?” She whispers.
Suddenly he stiffens, eyes flying open and he jerks back when he sees her in to low light.
“Drista! What the hell!?” He half yells.
She’s a bit startled at the loudness of his voice. He seems so surprised all of a sudden. Maybe he had only just woken up properly? But no surely he was awake when he said ‘hey’ to her.
“What the hell are you doing in my bed?” He asks, his voice only a little bit quieter than before.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t like the storm. It was scaring me.” Her fear of the storm is temporarily pushed aside and she has to try not to giggle at the startled and confused look on his face.
“Oh, right. No yeah that’s okay I just- yeah.”
They are both sitting up now, Dream running his hand over his face to rub the sleep away.
“You said ‘hey’ to me so I figured you were awake and knew it was me. I mean who else would be crawling into your bed in the middle of the night?” She says and now she can’t stop the giggle that comes out.
There’s silence from Dream as they both sit facing each other in his bed.
“Uhhh,” is quietly uttered and before he could continue his words they both hear the sound of the toilet flushing from down the hallway and the quiet sound of the tap running.
The gentle creak of the door quickly follows and the click of the light switching off drifts towards them. Gentle footsteps get louder as they come down the hallway, venturing past George’s room and then walking straight into Dream’s.
Realisation finally dawns on her but it’s the sight of George walking towards the bed in only his boxers that finally encourages her to quickly fling herself off the bed.
“Oh. Omg. I’m sorry. I didn’t realise.” Her words pour out too loudly. A hysterical giggle rises up and out of her too quickly to stifle in time.
A startled ‘Drista?’ comes from the doorway and a ‘Drista wait!’ comes from the bed but she ignores them both, firing back a ‘I’m fine, really it’s fine!’ And then a final ‘Goodnight guys!’ as she slips past a shocked George standing in the doorway.
She runs into the living room, flinging herself back onto her pullout bed. She buries herself into the blankets, completely stunned at what she just witnessed, muffling her shocked giggles into her pillow.
Thinking back at the past 3 days she’s stunned that she hadn’t realised sooner. Dream’s work computer and set up being in ‘George’s room’ for some reason. The bed in there looking old and unused. How George would always wait to go to sleep until she was ready to sleep and in her bed in the living room.
Also just the way that Dream acted around him. Making George breakfast, the soft smiles and the driving 30 mins to get the sushi that George wanted for dinner. He acted completely different towards George. He acted like ‘a simp’. A word Sapnap had taught her last year, providing Dream as his only example.
She’s laying there in the dark when she hears whispers down the hall and then eventually heavy footsteps coming towards her.
She sees Dream’s silhouette in the archway and he makes his way over, kneeling besides her bed as a flash of lightning lights up the room, followed by a clap of thunder. His light grey shirt stands out in the dim light.
His hand finds hers in the dark as his face lines up with hers.
“Dream you don’t have to say anything.” She quickly rushes out, wanting to make sure her brother understands.
“I kinda feel like I do. I’ve felt kinda shitty hiding and lying to you these past few days. Sneaking around with him. I always used to talk to you about my girlfriends. But I hadn’t said anything to you about George and-“
“Honestly Dream, I just feel bad that I didn’t notice before. Because now I do know, I’ve realised it was so obvious. It’s obvious how much you like him.”
She lets out a little laugh and is glad to hear Dream let out one himself. The tension that was previously there has evaporated, leaving only the sound of rain hitting the living room windows and the wind whooshing outside to fill the dark room.
“Do mum and dad know?”
“Nah, not yet.” He says, those words quieter than his previous.
She squeezes his hand and he squeezes back.
“I guess you thought i was George before huh?” She says, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah I did. And you scared the shit out of me when I realised it wasn’t him.”
A little wheezing laugh accompanies the confession.
“You full on tried to snuggle me too.” She teases, laughing.
“Alright. That’s it.” He laughs, pulling his hand away and lifting himself off his knees.
“You can sleep in our- my-. You can sleep with me if you’re scared. George can sleep in the other room.”
“I’d feel bad kicking George out of his bed.”
“It’s okay Drista, I don’t mind.” George says suddenly. The bedroom light from down the hall illuminates him standing in the archway of the living room. Dark blue pyjamas replacing the black boxers he was wearing before.
“Is your bed big enough for the three of us?” She asks, looking over to Dream who was busy watching George.
He turns back to look at her, an amused smile on his face.
“Yeah of course it is. Come on.“
Another flash of lightning lights up the room and the immediate rumbling bang of thunder makes her glad she chose to take up Dream’s offer.
The three of them make their way down the hallway back to the bedroom. Drista sliding into the bed first and then Dream right behind her. She curls up next to her brother, the pelting rain seemingly getting louder when George turns off the light and slips into bed on the other side of Dream.
“Goodnight Drista,” Dream whispers.
“Goodnight Dream. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“Goodnight George.” She says as well, not wanting to exclude him.
She hears a slight chuckle but then George says goodnight back and she can hear him smile around his words.
She closes her eyes, snuggling into the warmth of the sheets. Another clap of thunder vibrates through the house but hearing the reassuring breathing of her brother and his best friend beside him helps calm her. The rain still pelts against the windows and deep thunder still rumbles through the apartment but she drifts off into a deep sleep, unbothered by the natural fury unfurling outside.