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George rubs his eyes in frustration as he pushes his way through the doors of the sports center. He was having a shit day, he got a very disgruntled call from his mother first thing in the morning complaining about him choosing a college so far from home. Sure that's annoying but that plus falling out of his lofted bed, losing 4 out of 5 of his lighters, failing a paper and having to ration his dining hall swipes he was in a pretty bad mood. All he had was his school's shitty basketball team to keep him going, and tonight was game night.
The crowd was fairly light, they were more of a party school then a sports school so the fact that anyone showed up at all was a miracle in itself. George had actually tried out for the team for shits and giggles freshman year but he just ended up making a fool of himself, so he sticks to the bleachers. He sits in the top corner purposely, which was just close enough to see the whole court perfectly without turning his head. He was slouched in his seat as he watched the boys play, he knew most of the players on the team from different frats and parties and let's just say they weren't huge fans of him. That was half the fun for him though, knowing people he hated were forced to perform for him.
The game was fairly uneventful, as most college basketball games were and George rolled his eyes when the final buzzer sounded. They had lost 68-54 which actually made George smile a bit for the first time that day. As he’s following the flow of people leaving the building he checks his phone to see a text from his roommate.
dream 👎: i know you’re having a bad day but i need the room for like 4 hours
dream 👎: that cute guy from alpha tau showed up again don’t wanna miss this
He had sent that message an hour ago. He would kick Dream's ass about this right now but if he even saw a glimpse of him and his mystery guy going at it he would debate drinking draino.
Once outside George steps to the side of the large doors and lit up a cigarette. What the hell was he going to do for 3 hours in the cold? He debates going to the library and studying for the first time since his fall freshman semester.
He watches the basketball team leave one by one, some of them giving him dirty glances as they walk past. George barely gave them a glance as he grovels over his cigarette.
“Pretty bad place to smoke” a boy his height said as he exited the doors of the gym. George rolls his eyes at the comment.
“I’d argue most places are bad places to smoke.”
“I guess I really can’t argue with that” he smiled awkwardly at George, his hair obviously wet and a gym bag slung over his shoulder. George cocks his head at the other boy as he gives him a good glance. He has a scruffy little beard and green eyes that pair well with his box dyed dark brown hair.
“You’re #68, right?” George questions curiously.
“Yeah that’s me, they wouldn’t let me have 69.” he clears his throat awkwardly “I’m Sapnap.”
“George” he introduces himself dryly. Sapnap is looking around nervously which peaks George's interest.
“No ones gonna care if I’m smoking if that's what you're worried about.” Soft eyes meet Georges, and his heart skips a beat at how nice Sapnap was to look at. He tore his eyes away from Georges after a long stretch of silence.
“No, no yeah I know” he blushes as he looks at the ground and George smirks at how shy he became in front of him.
“I don’t know if you’ve got plans right now but, I was gonna head down to D hall and get some dinner before the drunks get there if you’d want to join me?” Sapnap asks, “I-it’s cool if you don’t, I uh, just wanted to extend the offer.” George smiles wildly at how easy it was for him to fluster the boy.
“You know what actually, I would.” George puts his cigarette out on the wall and steps closer to the other, “After you” he breathes out, leaning into his personal space. Sapnap's face goes completely red, frozen as he stares at George wide eyed.
“U-o-uh oh yeah um” he stutters as he takes a small step backwards towards the building. George walks close to Sapnap, letting the quietness of the walk comfort him.
George doesn’t quite understand why Sapnap has invited him to dinner, he knew it took a lot of gusto from him based on how nervous he was when he asked.
George opens the dining hall door, letting Sapnap walk in before him, mostly so he could check out his ass. My god this guy was good looking and on the basketball team, what the hell was he doing inviting George out to dinner?
They swipe themselves into the dining area, picking out their dinners. Sapnap goes through first, waiting for George at the end of the line like a lost puppy, and it only intrigued George more.
“I’ve got to ask if your real name is Sapnap” George asks, breaking the silence as they sit at a table furthest from the entrance.
“No it’s not, it started as a mean nickname.”
“You let people call you that?”
“‘m not really a fighter.”
“I can tell,” George smiles, forcing himself to look into Sapnap's eyes, enjoying how his cheeks heated up the more George talks. Sapnap plays with his pasta as he thinks of what to say next.
“I’ve uhh, seen you in the crowd of our last couple of games,” George's head perks up.
“Oh yeah?”
“Didn’t know if it was actually you, I’ve only heard stories.”
Oh right, the stories. Everyone loves to point at and whisper about the British kid who sometimes crashes Greek parties.
“Oh so you invited me here so I could entertain you with stories during your meal like the king's jester? Is that it?” George got angrier the more he spoke, and he unconsciously grips his fork harder.
“No! No definitely not, I didn’t want anyone on the team approaching you about it first.” Sapnap looks a little afraid with George's tone, there’s a pregnant pause between the both of them as he waits for Sapnap to continue talking. “They uh, don’t exactly make good first impressions.”
“To be fair, apparently I didn’t.” George’s tone begins to even out as he realizes Sapnap meant no harm from the comment, though he still doesn’t have a good read on exactly why he wanted to make a good first impression on George.
“You’re-“ Sapnap stops, swirls his food around before stabbing a clump of noodles.
“Go on, you can say what's on your mind, I'm not gonna blow up again.”
“You’re an asshole, but not like the guys on the team.” George smirks at the comment.
“Oh you think I’m a prick huh?” Sapnap opens his mouth at George's accusation and closes it before taking a bite of pasta.
“You’d be right of course, but you didn’t invite any of them out to dinner.”
“That’s true…” The blush persists on Sapnap's face as they continue to talk. George leaves the air open, knowing Sapnap had more to say.
“I don’t know, you just seem different. And I’ve been trying to make new friends.” Sapnap admits embarrassed, “Admittedly they’re a bunch of assholes too.” George laughs, mostly to help break Sapnap's tension.
“You surround yourself with assholes and then seek out another?” Sapnap looks up at George, sees the humorous smirk on his face and smiles too.
“I guess so.” George’s phone vibrates in his pocket, and he pulls it out nonchalantly to read the notification.
dream 👎: all good
He stares at the phone in his hands, he frowns a little as he puts his fork down.
“Hey uh sorry to cut this short but I have to go.” Sapnap looks sad, like a puppy dropped off at the pound and it sends George’s brain into a minor frenzy, “I'll see you around Sapnap.” He gets up quickly before Sapnap could say anything to make him stay. He takes his tray with him as he walks away, putting it on the rack as he speed walks out of the building.
He walks home in silence, trying and failing to think about anything other than the boy he left at the dining hall. What is it about the basketball player that occupies his thoughts? Was it the soft eyes that were almost always too nervous to meet his own? Was it how nice the blush he brought to his face framed his cheeks? Was it the thrill of talking to the only guy on the team who (probably) didn’t hate his guts? He didn’t even know why he jumped at the opportunity to get out of finishing dinner with the boy. It felt like everything was going too well for him, like Sapnap was sent to him to test his impulses and he doesn’t know what to make of that.
When he finally enters his dorm after an exhausting day he’s greeted by Dream shirtless on the floor, frantically typing away at his computer.
“Have fun?” George asks as he starts getting ready for bed. Dream's head drunkenly lifts from the computer to look at George.
“Oh yeah, so worth it.” His head goes back to the computer.
“Am I ever gonna meet this guy? Or know his name for that matter?”
“What’s it to you asshole, what are you a cop?” Dream points a wobbly finger at George's unamused face.
“Whatever, I don’t have the energy for this.”
“What the hell is up with you, did you see a box of abandoned kittens at the game? Why are you so down, you’re ruining my vibe.” George chooses to ignore how self centered Dreams half joking comment sounded.
“I had dinner with a guy.”
“How shitty could this date have gone. Seriously, you look like you just got the ending of your favorite TV show spoiled for you or something.”
“It wasn’t a date, I think.”
“You think?! God we’ve gotta get you laid, it's an emergency at this point.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore” George mumbles and Dream scoffs at him.
“Whatever, I’ve got a paper to write anyways.”
“You waited until you started drinking to start your paper?”
“It gets my creative juices flowing.”
“You’re unbelievable, truly.” George crawls up and into his bed as Dream continues to mumble profanities at him from the ground below. As the exhaustion finally takes over his body all he can think about is Sapnap.
The next day he still can’t shake the thoughts of the boy, his soft laugh echoes inside of his head as he bullshits his way through his assignments. Dream was gone before George woke up, rolling back into their room at 3pm with more hickeys then the night before.
“You’re joking, you’re not doing school work right now, this is a prank.”
“Some of us need to pass, unfortunately being a whore isn’t a class or you’d pass with flying colors” George shoots back defensively.
“I’m gonna ignore that comment cause I know you’re going through a dry spell, I’ll be back in a few hours with the boys. We’re getting you laid tonight.”
“And what if I don’t want to?”
“Then we respect your decision and move on.”
“Damn right!” he says to Dream as he’s walking out the door again. He sighs as he realizes he only has a few hours of freedom before he’s forced to endure the sweaty basement of Alpha Tau.
Dream fulfills his promise and 3 hours later he’s back with some of their mutual friends and various bottles of flavored liquor. George barely manages to save the work on his laptop before it's being pulled away from him and a sweet smelling shot is pushed into his hand.
He’s a few drinks in when he regrets not getting Sapnap's number at the hall yesterday, but what would he even say? ‘I’m tipsy thinking of you lol’ isn’t exactly a great impression especially with his record. Why does he even want to text him? He sees pretty faces all the time and they never haunt him like this. He puts his phone down defeatedly as he watches his friends take one last shot before heading down to the frat.
Dream knows the guy working the door, he lets all of them in with a nod and they walk into the basement.
It’s gross and loud and too dark and too bright all at once. He tails Dream for a while, drinking when he’s offered them and by the end of the hour he’s very drunk. He eventually loses Dream, somewhere in between the dancing and shooters.
Sorority girls are everywhere, a few approach him trying to convince him to dance, others trying to flirt miserably. He pushes each of them away, searching for anyone he knew in the basement.
He sticks himself to a wall, gauging how drunk he really is and planning his next move.
“George?” He hears someone beside him call his name and when he turns his head towards the sound he smiles excitedly.
“Sapnap? What are you doing here.” Sapnap's flushed face and dopey smile tells him that he’s also intoxicated.
“Frat mixer, and I think our sister sorority is here too? I don’t really know I got dragged here.” George keeps smiling stupidly at the other, his heart racing as he felt any annoyance in his head float away.
“I was gonna say, it doesn’t really feel like a you activity.” Sapnap is staring at both of their shoes, occasionally looking out at the crowd of people dancing.
“What would be a more me activity?”
“Not this,” he motions to the sticky floors and drunk college students, “Wanna step out with me? I need a smoke.” Sapnap nods enthusiastically and they duck out together.
George gets the attention of the door guy as they leave so he’ll let them back in, he realizes just how drunk he is as he stumbles around the side of the house with Sapnap behind him.
He’s leaning up against the house, staring at the starless night with a smile.
“What are you smiling at?” Sapnap asks.
“Don’t know yet” George answers honestly.
“Yet?”
“Yet.” Sapnap opens his mouth to say more and decides to shut it again, huddling into the shirt he’s wearing.
“Thought you came out here to smoke” Sapnap points out and George blushes slightly, being caught in his ploy to get Sapnap alone.
“Don’t rush me, maybe I just like having your pretty face to myself” George flirts half consciously, and Sapnap has a cute smile adorning his face at the others words.
“Are you ok? How much did you drink.” The blush on his cheeks stands out even in the dark of night.
“I’m amazing, actually.” George peels his eyes from the sky to look at Sapnap and he immediately pulls his eyes away from George. He’s smiling madly at Sapnap, like a gold digger who struck a vein, and he’s hoping and praying he remembers the way the busted bulbs outside the frat shadow his face perfectly. George finally does light up a cigarette, taking long drags that make his lungs hurt in the cold.
“Do you smoke?” He offers his cigarette to Sapnap.
“No actually-”
“Good.” George cuts him off as he pulls the stick away from his reach quickly, taking a shallow hit from it.
“Oh so you’re allowed to smoke but I can’t? Double standards much” Sapnap retorts. George laughs loosely, doubling over a little as the cackle spills from his chest.
“You’re the athlete, you need your lungs in good shape. See this is why I want you alone, you’re so nervous with prying eyes.” Sapnap is the one to laugh this time.
“P-prying eyes? Like the FBI or something?” Sapnap smiles wide, and George is so proud of himself for getting this reaction from the younger boy.
“You never know!” George places a hand on Sapnaps shoulder as they laugh together, bonding over the stupid joke. When the giggles die down they’re left standing there, hand still on Sapnap's shoulder as they look at each other in the borderline romantic lighting.
“Where the fuck is he!” he hears Dream yell from around the corner. Sapnap looks nervous at the words but George just groans at the voice of his roommate.
“Over here idiot” he yells back, taking his hand off Sapnap awkwardly. Within seconds Dream is rounding the corner, very obviously drunk and confused about the guy standing next to him.
“I thought you died- you melted into the crowd.” He takes the cigarette from George, taking the final hits from the finished smoke, “Thought you were being mauled by the delta gamma girls again.”
“That never happened, Dream, stop telling people that.” George grumbles half embarrassed, “This is Dream, my roommate and this is Sapnap.”
Dream finally pulls his drunken attention towards Sapnap, who looks nervous about the 6’3 guy standing in front of him.
“It’s nice to finally meet someone with a weirder name than me.” Dream says casually as he digs his hands into the pockets of George’s jacket for his pack, “It’s hard to top ‘Dream’ but you did it.” George lets out a quick laugh.
“It’s definitely not hard to top Dream” George jokes, immediately looking at Sapnap for his reaction and he giggles at the low hanging joke.
“Haha yeah point and laugh. At least I’m getting some, idiot.” He fumbles with the lighter as he puts a cigarette up to his mouth, eyes going between him and Sapnap and he wiggles his eyebrows at George as he figures out the connection between the two of them.
“Did you come out here to smoke all my cigarettes and call me a virgin or did you just miss seeing me.” George deflects as much as possible, he watches Dream fail to spark the lighter, “You’re plastered, I’m cutting you off, you’re not throwing up on the rug again.”
“Yeah yeah whatever you say, man.” He gives up on the lighter and hands both of the items to George.
“You put this in your mouth” George mumbles, looking disgustedly as he holds the lighter and now moist cigarette in his hand.
“I’m not even craving anymore, it ruined my ego. Do you want to go back inside? I’m sad and lonely, the guy I’m talking to isn’t here.” Sapnap's head whips up at Dream's words, George notices and decides against saying anything about it in front of Dream.
“I'll be down in a second, but don’t you dare drink more, I'm not bringing you home if you black out” George shouts at Dream as he staggers back around the house, flipping them off as he leaves. George brings his full attention back to Sapnap again, alcohol making his movements feel delayed.
“Sorry about him, he only gets worse unfortunately” he laughs to himself.
“That was a joke right? You are gonna take him home if he blacks out, right?” Sapnap asks timidly.
“Oh of course, I just would prefer he didn’t. I don't feel like taking care of him tonight.” George's words grow softer at Sapnap's concerns and then they go silent again, and if George wasn’t so drunk he would have probably tried to kiss him, but he’s trying to make a better impression.
“You’re shaking,” George points out, barely breaking the silence with his whisper.
“Yeah it’s like 23 degrees out” Sapnap scoffs.
“What’s that in Celsius?”
“Pretty cold, like -4 maybe?”
“Close it’s actually -5.” George smirks at him as he laughs.
“If you knew then why did you ask?”
“I was testing you” Sapnap has a dopey smile on his face again as he continues to laugh.
“Testing me, why?”
“Fun.” Sapnap laughs with his full chest again, and George laughs with him just for the hell of it.
“C’mon, I’ve gotta make sure Dream isn’t permanently destroying his liver” George says as he pockets his lighter again.
Sapnap tails George the rest of the night, watching him take more shots and greet people he knew with those one handed back clapping hugs. But no matter how far Sapnap strayed from him he was always right there, making sure not to lose him in the mix of sweaty bodies. It felt almost territorial, like he would explode if he wasn’t right next to Sapnap 90% of the night. But eventually the party comes to a close, Dream does end up blacking out despite George’s warning and he has to drag them both back to their dorm. He makes sure to get Sapnap's number this time and promises he’ll text him when he gets back as they’re pulled their separate ways.
They make it back fine, as fine as they can be in this situation and he forces himself and Dream to drink some water. He also preemptively places an old garbage can by the head of Dreams bed before texting Sapnap.
george: we’re ba ck
sapnap :D: good i’m glad
george: did you make it back
sapnap :D: yes i did
george: good good
george: i’m glad you were there tonight
sapnap :D: me too, i normally never have fun at mixers
And after a few too many minutes of no response, Sapnap sends a sleeping George one last message.
sapnap :D: goodnight george
George sees the goodnight text when he wakes up and it puts a stupid grin on his face despite the hangover he has.
george: well good morning now
He took care of Dream, walking down to the dining hall closest to their building. He’s checking his phone anxiously waiting for Sapnap to respond as he’s getting the two of them breakfast. He remembered a large majority of the night, he remembers finding Dream on the dancefloor and him trying to get Sapnap to dance with him. He remembers how Sapnap had looked at him like he was begging George to save him from his insane roommate. He remembers how close they had to get to each other to hear in the loud basement. He shakes his head dismissively as he grabs a gatorade for Dream before starting the walk back to the dorm.
He wakes Dream cautiously when he gets back, “Dream get up, you’ve got that event today.” Dream groans.
“George, I think I’m dying.”
“I kind of wish you would, get up, I brought you breakfast.” His eyes peek open at George at the mention of food, he sets Dream's meal on his desk before beginning to eat his own.
“Gross you got me orange.”
“Orange is all you deserve.” George answers coldly as he continues checking his phone.
“Waiting for that guy to text you back?” “What was his name? Sam? S-”
“Sapnap, his name is Sapnap.”
“I’m sure the guy you went on a date with is pissing and crying right now” Dream jokes as he takes a bite of the plain bagel, the silence intrigues Dream, “No, don’t tell me they’re the same guy…”
“You’re such a gossipy bitch, why don’t we talk about your love life huh? Who are you going to see at this event today.” He makes air quotations around the word event as he snaps and Dream looks away.
“I’m going to see his display at the art gallery actually” he mumbles, taking a visibly disgusting sip of his drink. Just then George’s phone vibrates and he quickly shuffles to open it.
sapnap :D: good morning
Sapnap :D: how are you and dream feeling
George smiles fondly at the concern.
“He’s asking how you’re feeling.”
“I’m glad someone cares, I’m doing horribly.”
george: im good, hes fine
sapnap :D: good im glad
The conversation dies, and it stays pretty dead for the rest of the week. He will occasionally send random questions or funny thoughts his way to try and get a good conversation between them rolling. Eventually George realizes he must not be a texter, and that’s when he remembers the basketball games. He can try and talk to Sapnap after his game this week, it's a common thing for him to show up to them so if he’s reading too much into it he can say it's coincidence. And then promptly throw himself off the nearest bridge.
It’s only when he sits down in his seat Friday night that he realizes he’s only watching Sapnap. He’s got his eyes locked onto Sapnap's frame the whole time. Through warm up, sitting the bench and playing his eyes are locked onto #68. Watching him play this closely confirmed to himself that he is undoubtedly attracted to Sapnap. His fluid movements and the stupid flips in his hair suck him down a spiral of gay thoughts. The final buzzer goes off, 72-70. Shocker Golden Bears lose again. As George gets up out of his seat he makes a mental note that gay thoughts make time go by quicker.
He waits outside the doors again, this time with the intention of seeing Sapnap. It almost makes him nervous, what did he have to be nervous about? He’s a pretty ok looking guy who can definitely pull his weight in flirting. Even if he couldn't, it's Sapnap, he thought of the phrase ‘ his Sapnap’ before the doors next to him open loudly. Sapnap exits the doors, eyes landing onto George almost immediately.
“Hey.” George smiles.
“You came, you stayed.” Sapnap says the questions more like statements.
“Of course I did.” George answers vulnerably, and Sapnap’s face contorts in a half confused manner, “Dinner?”
They run through their same routine at the dining hall, George opening the door for Sapnap and Sapnap standing and waiting patiently for George at the end of the line.
“So um, my frat is having another mixer this weekend. I have to go or I get in trouble,” Sapnap starts when they finally sit, “and every time I go I always get ditched and I had a lot of fun last weekend. I was wondering if you’d want to come with me this weekend? You can invite your friends and everything i just-“
“Sap, Sapnap stop. Of course I'll go with you.” George cut off Sapnap's nervous rambling.
“Really?” his face perks up and George wants to kiss him again.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want you going alone.” Sapnap starts to blush again and George smiles with pride. He picks up his phone, preparing a message to his friends.
“What's your frat again?”
“Delta theta.”
the boys 💪
george: delta theta tomorrow?
idiot #1: i’m in
mr nimrod: i’m in
dream 👎: i wanted alpha tau :(
george: shut up dream
dream 👎: fine.
“I've got… three people including my roommate.”
“Just like that? It’s been one minute” Sapnap says in disbelief.
“Yeah my friends like to party, they’ll always take an invite.” George thought about his next message briefly before sending it.
the boys 💪
george: i’m bringing a friend to pg
dream 👎: ooOoooOo is it sapnap
george: dream i will snap your dick like a glow stick
george: but yes it is i can vouch for him he’s good
dream 👎: i’ll vouch for him too
mr nimrod: it’s your dorm do what you want
“We normally pregame at my dorm, if you want to join us beforehand.”
“I,” Sapnap looks away, playing with the food in front of him. “I don’t really like drinking all that much.” Sapnap looks embarrassed, like he was admitting something super game changing to him.
“Then don’t drink, no ones gonna force you just come hang out.” Sapnap's brows furrowed a little as he thought it over.
“Yeah, ok sure. Pregame at your dorm tomorrow night.”
But when the projected time he gave Sapnap comes around he gets more and more nervous.
“George, stop walking in circles, you're making me nauseous.” George flips Dream off as he continues to pace, “Sapnap wouldn’t have invited you if he didn’t want you to be there with him, stop worrying you’re scaring the hoes.” He gestures to their other friends who showed up early.
“Dream I w-” a soft knock on the door cuts off George's threat, “You’re lucky I don’t want to get blood on this outfit.” George harshly whispers at Dream before turning to the door. When George opens the door and sees Sapnap his angry thinly pressed lips turn into a soft sweet smile, and if Dream could see it he’s sure he would never live it down.
“Hi” he says softly.
“Hi George” Sapnap responds as George lets him into their room.
Sapnap and his friends get along perfectly, and as promised he’s only offered drinks and not forced to drink any. Though he does have a shot or two of the peach rum Dream offers him, on account of it peaking his interest and also it tasting amazing. George watches them with a goofy smile as they take a shot with their arms interlaced, spilling strong smelling liquor all over Dream's shoes and them laughing together about it. Sapnap eventually looks over at him while they’re laughing, his whole face is lit up and he looks like he’s having the time of his life.
The urge to kiss him is back, he wants to know if Sapnap would look at him like that after they kissed, after waking up together on a lazy morning, if he would look at him like that forever.
Dream eventually calls final drinks, and all except Sapanp take a final shot of a gross tasting vodka before filing out of the small dorm.
Sapnap walks next to George the whole way there, sometimes adding small comments into the conversation they were all having. When they get to the house the party’s at Sapnap walks up the short set of stairs first with George behind him, he greets the door guy and lets him know the people he’s bringing in with him. He looks furious, giving Sapnap a death glare as they file into the house. He looks so proud of himself and George is super happy Sapnap is getting his own form of revenge on his frat.
Dream lets him know he’s going to the basement, Sapnap asks if they can go to the kitchen first. George obviously agrees and he follows behind Sapnap, and he thinks about how ironic the change of pace feels. A guy walking the opposite way of them in the narrow space bumps into Sapnap's shoulder purposely and hard. George pushes him back when he tries to pass him.
“Watch it douchebag, '' George spits out. The guy laughs dryly at him before looking Sapnap up and down.
“Watch it [redacted]” He says eyes staring directly at Sapnap, and George sobers up quicker then he ever has.
“Say that again to my face.” He steps up the asshole, cutting his line of sight to Sapnap, “I dare you, c’mon test me.” Sapnap is standing directly behind him now, the air around them is thick with uncertainty and tension. George is much shorter than him, he probably looks a little ridiculous stepping up to a guy who looks like he was drinking pre workout in the womb.
“Or what,” the guy challenges as he steps up as well “What the hell are you gonna do about it?” There’s a crowd around them now, watching the boys square up to each other.
“Fuck around and find out, tough guy.” He half hopes either his friends are nearby or this guy steps down because it's looking like a 4v1 at the moment, because Sapnap is not a fighter. It’s a fight that he’d take for him in a heartbeat but at the same time he also doesn’t feel like being sent to the hospital tonight.
Though it might just be his lucky night, the asshole's friends are pulling him away, echoing into his ear how he and Sapnap ‘aren’t worth it’. He huffs annoyed, spitting on George's shoes as he steps away silently.
“That’s what I fucking thought, stay the hell away from him.” George turns around to Sapnap, “Are you ok?” He asks, concern lacing every word. Sapnap looks mortified, his eyes blank and his mouth agape slightly. He goes to say something to George but he realizes no words come out so he shakes his head a solid no. George carefully takes Sapnap's wrist as he leads them back out the way they just came in.
The cold isn’t much better than it was last week, but it seems to help calm Sapnap down as he sits him on the stairs carefully. He waits for Sapnap to say anything about the situation, he doesn’t feel like it's his place to bring it up first.
“Thanks” Sapnap whispers after a few minutes of calming down.
“What? Oh, don’t worry about it.”
“No, you didn’t have to stick your neck out for me but you did, thank you.” George pauses, really thinking about the words Sapnap said.
“You’re welcome.” Another long stretch of calming silence washes over the two of them.
“Now I really don’t feel like partying,” Sapnap jokes lightly.
“I don’t blame you, do you want me to walk you home?” George offers. Sapnap smiles at him, “Yeah, I would like that.” Sapnap gets up off the stairs with George's help and begins to lead them in the direction of his dorm.
“They’re gonna think you’re gay, y’know” Sapnap mumbles a few minutes into their walk.
“I don’t think that’s the only thing that makes them think I’m gay” George laughs.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Dream’s openly bi, and I’m his roommate. People always assume we’re a thing. I however would rather die painfully than date that psycho,” he enunciates the last word dramatically and Sapnap laughs at his antics. “And the fact that they wouldn’t be wrong.” Sapnap doesn’t say anything for a while, guiding them down wide sidewalks.
“Me too,” he finally says, “on top of the whole trans thing.”
“I figured based on the slur they used.” Sapnaps smile lights up again, shaking his head
“That gets top spot on ‘weirdest thing someone’s said to me after coming out’.”
“What’s number two?”
“My grandma asked me ‘why’ when I told her I was trans.” They’re laughing again, the weight of the hostile encounter fizzling out the more time they spend with each other. They’re bumping shoulders as they walk, an unspoken need to be as close to each other as possible. Eventually Sapnap turns into one of the buildings with Greek letters sprawled over the opening. He stops them at one of the doors.
“Are you gonna be ok walking home?” He asks George as he pulls his keys out of his pocket.
“Oh yeah, I'll be fine.”
“Text me when you get back?” Something about the tone of his voice and how much Sapnap obviously cared about George made him smile sweetly.
“What are you worried about me or something?”
“And what if I am?” George blushes this time, surprised by the confidence in his voice.
“I’d be honored.” They stare at each other, neither wanting their night to be over. The urge to kiss him is back again, imagining how the aftertaste of the peach rum would taste on George's tongue. It doesn’t feel like the right time though, as much as it hurts George's heart to think about. Sapnap had a rough night and he respected that.
“Goodnight Sapnap.”
“Nick, my name is Nick.” George is slightly taken aback by the information.
“What would you rather me call you?”
“Nick.” Sapnap breathes out and George's smile grows wider.
“Goodnight, Nick.” Sapnap melts a little.
“Goodnight, George.” George steps away from the doorframe, walking away backwards and staring at Sapnap as he stares back. And when Sapnap can’t see the white of his eyes he closes the door.
He texts Dream on his walk back, letting him know he’s not at the party and that he’s fine, almost immediately he gets a call.
“Uh- hello?”
“George! What the hell happened!”
“Nothing, I left with Sapnap.” he hears shuffling on the other end of the line, “Not like that though, nothing happened.” George mentally face palmed at how nerdy he sounded.
“Karl told me he saw you about to fight someone, did you fight them? Where are you, do you need help?” Dream stutters out nervously.
“I’m fine, no fighting happened. Who’s Karl?” George asks and the line goes quiet.
“It’s no one, absolutely no one, don't worry about it.” George laughs at his terrible recovery.
“This is what it took for me to figure out his name? Almost getting in a fist fight, you’re truly unbelievable Dream.” Dream curses under his breath.
“This blows, I was hoping to keep my mystery a bit longer.”
“Call me Freddy then, cause this mystery is solved.” Dream snorts and tries to play it off as a cough.
“That wasn’t even funny, I’m just drunk.”
“I know.”
“I’m going back to drinking.” George rolls his eyes to himself.
“I figured, don’t wake me up when you get back.”
“We both know I can’t promise that.”
“Worth a shot, goodbye Dream '' he hangs up on him.
George walks slowly purposely, letting the cold wind cool down his overheating brain. He cares so much about Sapnap, he realizes he’s not just a pretty face anymore he’s a person he wants to spend every second of every day with. And it’s obvious Sapnap cares about him some too, making sure he’s fine and entertaining his friends with absolutely insane thoughts and hypotheticals.
When he finally sits down at his desk he decides to text Sapnap.
george: i’m home
nick :D: good i was getting worried
george: you worry about me?
nick :D: sometimes
george: and why’s that
Sapnap's typing icon lights up multiple times, and disappears a couple more times before George actually receives a text.
nick :D: you’re just always on my mind
george: is that so
nick :D: yes it is so
george: then that makes two of us
nick :D: you’re always thinking about yourself?
george: you’re such a dork i’m going to bed
nick :D: goodnight george
george: goodnight nick
They text like that for about a week, sending flirty texts and exchanging photos of their pets back home. They also meet up a few times to just talk or grab dinner. And it's at one of these times when Sapnap inevitably brings up his next basketball game.
“You gonna be there at our next game?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Good, I’m glad.” Sapnap says quickly “I think I might play better when you’re there, all the closed scrimmage games I played I was dog shit.”
“Oh I’ve gotta be there then, there’s nothing I care about more than the Golden Bears winning” George says sarcastically.
“What, you don’t care about the Golden Bears basketball team's record? I can’t believe my ears.” Sapnap mocks George's accent. He rolls his eyes fondly at the sarcastic comment.
“Yeah yeah, laugh at the British boy.” George jokes but he’s metaphorically kicking his feet, Sapnap wants him at his game. He asked him personally, even though he knew he probably would have been there anyways.
George shows up to the game as promised, and Sapnap's face lights up when he sees him in the crowd. George gives him a little wave, trying not to draw too much attention to either of them. Sapnap gives him a coy wave back as he watches George take a seat in the bleachers.
The game goes pretty ok, though their team sucks the enemy team sucks worse and they end up winning 75-68. Normally he didn’t care about his schools team winning but he is happy that Sapnap got a win today. He played amazing on top of it, carrying the offense of the Golden Bears.
He waits for Sapnap outside the same doors he met him at, shuffling his feet anxiously as he waits for the doors to open. After about 15 minutes Sapnap steps out of the doors looking fancier than normal, he’s wearing a button up under a dark gray sweater with clean black jeans. He looks nice, it’s definitely fancier than either of them would normally wear.
“Sorry I took so long, I was getting ready.”
“It’s fine, you look nice. What’s the occasion?” George asks curiously.
“Oh, it’s nothing just wanted to wear this.”
“Ok… sure I’ll pretend I believe that.” George feels a little underdressed, which is something he’s never felt before. He briefly wonders if he should start dressing better when he goes out with him. “You played great today, the way you broke the power centers ankles made me laugh out loud.”
“George, would you like to go out on a date with me?” Sapnap spewed quickly before George could speak anymore. That sickly sweet smile is on George’s face as he realizes just why Sapnap was dressed up. George can barely hold himself together as he decides to mess with him.
“That depends, which fine institution will you be taking me to,” he sticks up his nose comically. Sapnap looks horrified for a moment before he realizes George is joking, he straightens his posture and bows like a royal.
“The one and only east D Hall, good sir” he says with a goofy British accent lacing the words. George giggles childishly when Sapnap goes along with his stupid joke.
“I would love to” he accepts sweetly, he holds his arm out to Sapnap to take and he does, walking all the way to the D hall with their arms interlocked.
They sat and ate dinner with each other once again, dumb jokes and fond looks being passed between the two of them. And as Sapnap is telling him the overdramatized version of the forward tripping him, George could not stop brainstorming ideas on how to ask Sapnap to be his.