Archive of Our Own ^beta

They say when you kiss your soulmate for the first time, the world around you erupts in vibrant colours, that the trees become a beautiful green instead of dull grey, the sky becomes a brilliant shade of blue, cars become a rainbow as they race down streets instead of black and white. 

A lot of people, particularly the ones yet to find their soulmates, don’t like the concept; that the ideology that you have to kiss someone to know if they’re your soulmate is barbaric, that they’d rather it be if you touched for the first time, hugged or held hands, not kissed. But people with soulmates have always talked about being aware of the strong bond they hold together before their world is flooded with colour, the invisible string pulling them together causing them to just know before lips even touch.  

That’s exactly how Sapnap is talking about Karl, gushing to George and Dream on voice call while Karl’s supposedly gone to pick up dinner. Sapnap talks about how on Karl’s recent trip to Florida, he couldn’t contain his feelings for the boy any longer, how he confessed and immediately had the indescribable urge to kiss him and how he just knew, before even kissing him, that there was no doubt Karl was his soulmate. 

“Dude, I’m so glad you two are finally together,” Dream says, and George always finds it hilarious that despite living together, despite being a mere five rooms apart, Sapnap and Dream still always sit in voice call with George, nothing changing despite Sapnap moving 964 miles to live with their best friend. “Now I can finally stop listening to you wax poetry about Karl’s beautiful grey eyes.”

George hears Sapnap snicker on his end of the call. “Yeah, now I’ll get to tell you all about Karl’s beautiful blue eyes.” The emphasis on the colour doesn’t go unnoticed, Dream immediately screams at Sapnap for being gross and in love even though before anything, the pair of them are happy for him. 

“What is colour like, anyway?” George’s voice is small, almost embarrassed to be asking the question. After all, Sapnap and Karl are 20 and 23 and while people who find their soulmate this young are considered lucky, George has always been insecure about his lack of soulmate at 25, considering it wasn’t for lack of trying to find them. 

Sapnap’s Discord bubble doesn’t light up for a few moments, clear he’s thinking about how to describe it to his two friends who don’t know life any other way. 

“It’s like… Everything seems to have more life? I guess?” He laughs to himself, clearly thinking his wording is stupid. “Like Karl lit up my life, that’s the only way I can describe it.” 

Dream’s immediately hollering, calling Sapnap every whipped name under the sun, but George doesn’t. He usually would, if it was any other time he’d love making subtle digs at his best friend’s love life, but in all honesty, he finds it sweet and he says so. 

“Thanks, dude,” Sapnap replies and he can hear the blush dusting the youngest boy’s cheeks. “Who would’ve thought I’d be the first one of us three to find our soulmate.” It’s true if he was honest, George always assumed Dream would be first. The boy wears his heart on his sleeve, always has in the time the British man has known him so it always seemed like the most likely choice. 

“Please, Sap,” Dream said, the smirk on his face evident from the tone of his voice, “you know Georgie and I are soulmates, we just haven’t kissed yet.” 

George knows he can’t see colour, but he’s read enough books to know that if he could look at himself in the mirror right now, his face would be bright red, blush doing more than dusting his cheeks, it would be covering his entire face and neck, and he’d almost be overheated. 

“Dream, shut the fuck up!” he yells, the words leaving his mouth quickly because they’re not streaming, there’s no audience for Dream to pander to, no stan Twitter to send in shambles. “You’re insane.” 

Dream just laughs in response. “C’mon Georgie, you aren’t going to plant one on me when you’re finally here? I’m hurt, I want to see colours just as much as you do.” 

He knows the blond man is kidding, he has to be – he’s always been like this, so openly affectionate that George can’t tell if Dream would genuinely kiss him, even if it was to be platonic so every single time he says it, it catches him off guard, makes his heart race impossibly fast. 

“Why do I have to make the first move, huh?” George says, hoping his joking words hide how flustered he looks physically. “You’re the taller one, you can come down to my height.” Dream starts wheezing laughing at George’s words, starting to stutter out a reply about George relying too heavily on stereotypes until he’s cut off by Sapnap’s whines.

“ I’m the one with a soulmate and I’m still fucking third-wheeling.” His words only make the pair of them burst into fits of giggles, laughter erupting all through the voice call as Sapnap’s endless whines turn into laughter. “I’m serious!” 

Sapnap and Dream start bickering, threats of paying rent and exposing photos being posted on Twitter flood the call as George stares at the clock on his computer screen. 7am it reads and of course, he hasn’t slept, everyone knows he’s accidentally on an EST sleep schedule, but he’d never admit that to Sapnap and Dream, not wanting to inflate their egos even more. 

‘Are you tired?’ is the text he receives from Dream, completely unprompted. He stares down at his phone, confused at how he could have possibly realised how exhausted he felt all of a sudden considering he only just noticed how tired he felt. 

He shoots back a yes, no point in lying to Dream who’s going to lecture him about getting less than eight hours of sleep tonight, or this morning if he wanted to be technical. 

“George it’s 7am for you, go to sleep,” Dream says and George rolls his eyes, not even dodging the lecture he was trying to avoid in the first place. Sapnap agrees with him though, reminding him that he had plans to leave for Brighton in the afternoon to go see Wilbur. 

“Fuck,” he mutters to himself, admittedly forgetting about his plans to travel to the southern seaside city. “You’re right, goodnight guys.” 

Dream and Sapnap rattle off their I love you’s, George just sighing in response because they know he refuses to say it back as he disconnects from the call.  

He gets a sad face text from Dream, obviously in response to the lack of I love you to come out of George’s mouth. He sends back a kissy face emoji, taunting the man by withholding a love confession still, after all these years. 

He groans as he gets into bed, setting his alarm for 1pm, then 1:30pm and then 2pm, so he can leave for Brighton by 3 like he’d promised Wilbur even though knowing himself, he probably won’t be awake until 3pm anyway, but it’s the thought that counts, he thinks. 

When he falls asleep, he shocks himself with thoughts of kissing Dream as the world finally explodes in colour.

Brighton is a mere two hours away from London by train, but the trip somehow exhausts George whenever he does it. He doesn’t mind, he knows how much Wilbur despises London (he wrote a whole album about it for crying out loud) and the seaside has always been oddly calming.

Tommy’s down from up north too, looking at places for when he potentially moves early in the new year. George and Wilbur were more than happy to tag along with him, loving spending time with the boy they both consider a younger brother. 

They find it hilarious to look at different flats with a realtor. She talks about the lovely beige of the walls, the beautiful granite kitchen tops and the three boys snicker, nodding in agreement believing every word she says because none of them have the guts to tell her they can’t see colour. 

The trio eventually becomes a duo, Tommy going to see Tubbo and Ranboo while George stays with Wilbur. The two of them have always been close, nowhere near as close as George with Dream and Sapnap, or Wilbur with Phil, Technoblade and Tommy, but close in their own way. 

Close like George understands Wilbur’s weird sense of humour, close like George never feels uncomfortable around Wilbur. The pair make their way to sit on the beach, fish and chips in the white packing paper being carried like a newborn child by Wilbur under the guise of being too tall to trust himself carrying them. 

They find a nice spot to sit, right near the pier and neither of them cares about getting sand on their jeans. The cool British sea air blows on the pair as they eat their dinner, talking about plans for the SMP’s future, Wilbur’s next release date and when, if ever, George is moving to Florida. 

As he talks about his plans to move, to leave England behind, he stares up at the sky. It’s October and 5pm, so the sun has started to set, illuminating the sky in colours George can’t even name, colours he just knows are different to the daytime from stories from his parents. He hopes that if he ever gets to see colour, the sky lives up to the hype of what he’s heard, whether it be here or in America. 

“The visa process is taking forever though,” he mumbles, shoving a chip covered in vinegar in his mouth. “We thought I’d be there for Christmas but now…” he trails off, the words not needing to be spoken for Wilbur to understand.

“Are you scared?” Wilbur’s serious question catches George off guard because the taller man is often poking fun at him for moving to America, his favourite jab is that George is giving up the NHS’s free healthcare to live with his best friends. “Like what if your soulmate is British and you’re just moving across the pond and leaving them here?” 

George hadn’t considered that, hadn’t considered that leaving the country he’s called home for 25 years could also result in leaving his soulmate behind, hadn’t considered that while 25 is young to find a soulmate, it’s also young to up and leave the country for the foreseeable future and how he hadn’t truly even given it much thought that his soulmate would stay in England. 

But they’re soulmates, they’d find each other in every universe, no matter how hard they have to look, so surely a move across the Atlantic is nothing. Moving to America has always been George’s mission, has always been his biggest want only to become his biggest need once Sapnap had moved the previous January. 

“If they’re my soulmate, I’ll find them,” he states, matter-of-factly. His words are smooth, confident and Wilbur drops the topic without realising George said that because he doesn’t want to let the thought of people without soulmates lurk in his mind, doesn’t want to give the intrusive thoughts any more power than his friend had already given them. 

They stay on the topic of soulmates, however, how Sapnap and Karl were only a matter of time, how no one will be surprised when Puffy and her boyfriend Josh admit to their viewers they’re soulmates too and eventually they wonder how platonic soulmates would work because Tubbo and Tommy are that for sure considering the nasty text message from Tubbo’s number, bragging about being with the younger of the duo (that is also sent by said younger boy). 

“Do you have a feeling you know your soulmate is?” The sun has set now, the sky a dark black as opposed to the usual light grey, the perfect time for the serious question to be asked to Wilbur. He shrugs, taking a swig of his drink and shaking his head the more he thinks about it. 

“I think the whole ‘just knowing’ based on vibes or whatever is bullshit if I’m honest,” he says, brushing his hair out of his face. “If that’s the case why don’t I just know who mine is despite my huge circle of friends. Surely I’ve met them by now.” 

George agrees on a surface level, agrees that he truly can’t understand how someone can just know, no matter how many times Sapnap explained how he ‘just knew’ Karl was his soulmate. The only thing he can compare it to is a want so strong you’re willing to bet a friendship on it, an innate need for it to be this one person. 

A crush, if anything. 

This is why George likes to tuck who he hopes to be his soulmate deep down in his chest, almost shoving it into his stomach, under lock and key. Because no matter how much he seemingly wants him to be George’s soulmate, how much he seemingly needs him to be, it’s never going to be more than a crush in his own eyes.

And when he meets his soulmate, when they kiss for the first time and the world turns from grey to colours, he’ll laugh at the fact he ever considered his soulmate to be his best friend, who lived 4,366 miles away from him all this time.

Time goes past, quicker than anyone would like to admit. Before they realise it, the Dream Team are winning MCC All-Stars much to everyone’s dismay in November and then Christmas happens without George in Florida in December. The conversation from October between the two men has been lingering in George’s mind for longer than he’d like to admit. So much so, that he feels as though every conversation he’s having these days is rooted in soulmates. 

He doesn’t mind, usually, it comes up because of natural curiosity, questions asked to Sapnap who is understandably still incredibly excited and more than happy to answer them. Not to mention, Karl had come to Florida in December and all George did was listen to Dream complain about how gross the pair of them were, but George can’t blame Sapnap and Karl; he knows, deep down, he’d be clingy and disgusting with his soulmate too. 

“Wilbur asked me if I’m scared my soulmate lives in England a few months ago,” George says, and he’s not exactly sure why he decided to bring it up now, in January of all times, when it seems like he will be in Florida sooner rather than later. It’s 4am and he’s only been in a voice call with Dream while he streams Geoguessr to him on Discord. “This is England by the way.”

Dream clicks the United Kingdom and the game tells him he’s wrong. George laughs and says Ireland and when Dream’s through to the next round on Battle Royale, he finally replies. “Why would you be scared of that?” 

George only shrugs in response, realising he was probably stupid for letting the comment get to him as much as it had. But he’s always felt comfortable with Dream, never felt like the blond man across the ocean would question these kinds of fears so he knows Dream questioning him came from a place of confusion rather than judgement.

“I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it,” he says, trying to decide how to explain this fear to Dream, who seemingly has never worried about not finding his soulmate, always confident he would find them one way or another. “But what if it’s true?” 

Dream laughs, but not in a judgemental kind of way, a way that makes you feel comforted because your friend is about to knock some sense into you. “But they’re your soulmate, dude. You’ll always find each other?” 

George replies telling Dream he knows, that’s what he’d said to Wilbur. But he can’t help but think about the soulmateless people, the ones who never found their soulmate.

“You can’t think you wouldn’t find them when you move next month, Georgie?” His voice is timid, almost like he’s asking if George is questioning his plans to move to Florida because of this one conversation. His visa had been approved shortly after New Year’s, a late Christmas present from the U.S Government for the trio, there was no backing out now, whether George liked it or not.

Not that he’d want to, of course. He isn’t worried about what Dream is asking at all, George has been excited to move, to finally be with his best friends, more than anything in the entire world but he can understand Dream’s weariness.

So George reassures him he’s not worried, that it’s simply something else that he can’t even explain to himself let alone another person, but before he can even try to justify his ruminating Dream is speaking again. “Like, Sapnap and Karl have never lived in the same city let alone state! And look at them!” 

“I know,” he laughs, “I’m just being dumb.” 

Dream is quick to backtrack, to quickly change his stance so he can reassure George. “It’s not dumb, I just don’t think you need to be too worried.” His words make George’s cheeks heat up. 

“You can always talk to me about this stuff, y’know?” George does know, of course, he does, and he makes sure to tell him that. “Besides, I never even leave the house so my soulmate will probably smack me when we finally know.” This makes George laugh and any worries he had immediately disperse from his body at Dream’s words. 

“Yeah, I bet your soulmate will be pissed when they find out you haven’t left the house in eight months and that’s why it’s taken so long.” George laughs as he says it but for some reason the idea of Dream having a soulmate makes the British man’s chest ache, the idea of Dream’s soulmate being out there, not realising how lucky they are makes George feel uneasy, but he doesn’t have much time to dwell on it before Dream yells at him to shut up.

“I don’t care about finding my soulmate anytime soon,” the blond says, the words barely audible despite the fact George has him turned up to 200% on Discord. “All I’ve cared about lately is getting you to America.” 

The words are earnest and George isn’t sure how to reply. Dream’s always been wonderful at expressing his feelings, has never shamed away from saying exactly how he feels. He supposes that’s why he loves to fluster George on stream, to rile him up to get a reaction out of him. George has always assumed it was for content, to entertain the fans but right now, George can feel nothing but genuinity lacing his tone. 

“I mean, I also care about winning MCC again,” Dream jokes, filling the void of silence that fell upon them when George didn’t reply. “I’ve got to keep my 5-0 streak.”

“Shut up!” George says back, laughing and he wishes he could be in the same room as Dream, to smack the boy for his comment. “You ruined the moment!” 

He hears Dream wheeze on the other side of the call, the boy suddenly not so quiet now he’s being attacked in a fit of laughter. “ You ruined the moment by not acknowledging my kind words!”

Suddenly, they both hear a noise that indicates someone else has joined the call. They run this risk whenever they voice chat in the SMP server as opposed to a private call, that any one of the other members could join and interrupt their conversation but George doesn’t even have to look at the channel members to know who’s joined because suddenly his other best friend’s voice is ringing through the call.

“Oh, Georgie!” A voice rings through George’s headphones and he suddenly regrets having Sapnap also turned up to 200%. “I’ve made an impulsive decision about you moving. Well, actually Karl enabled me so if you’re mad about it blame him!” 

Oh? George’s mind runs through what Sapnap could be alluding to. The three of them had talked excessively about the plan; Once Sapnap and Dream had moved into their new place post-New Year, Dream had begun setting up an office for George so he wouldn’t have to worry about bringing too much of his stuff over, primarily anything major expensive he would need for streaming that would risk getting broken. Then, when George arrives in Florida at the end of March, Sapnap would be the one to pick him up from the airport, as secretly as possible before bringing him to his new home where he would inevitably meet Dream.

He isn’t sure how much this plan could change and is so impulsive that he’s decided to leave the voice call with his boyfriend at 1am to inform the pair of them.

 “I’m coming to London!” 

Before George can even react, Dream’s voice is ringing through the call. “What?!” 

“Well, George was talking about being sad, y’know? Especially after everyone came to Florida in December, he said it sucked that all his friends were here.” Sapnap isn’t lying, he had said those exact words. It’s hard, being across the ocean, across a metaphorical pond as the British would say, and watching all your friends have a good time without you but George had never in a million years considered Sapnap would just get on a plane because of those words. 

“What’s this got to do with you going to London?” George isn’t sure if he’s just tired, but he’s perceiving Dream’s words as incredibly harsh and he isn’t sure what to say because if anything, he’d be excited for Sapnap to come to London, to finally be able to have one of his best friends in proximity to himself rather than a phone call away. 

“Well, I don’t want him to be sad!” Sapnap says it as if it’s the most obvious thing in the entire world, so obvious that Dream shouldn’t even be questioning his motives. “It fucking sucks for him, and then I can help him pack! Packing from Houston to Orlando was a nightmare, I can't imagine packing to move overseas, bro.” 

“Thank you, Sap,” George says, completely honest and wanting to get it out before Dream interjects again. He was dreading packing, deciding what to keep, what to throw out, what of his London weather appropriate clothing would even be needed in sunny and warm Florida. “I appreciate it.” 

“You can come too Dream, if you’re going to get your panties in a damn twist,” Sapnap retorts, clearly picking up on Dream’s change in demeanour the second his announcement was said. “Plenty of room for your gangly ass on the plane.” 

“It’s fine,” he says, the tonal shift of the conversation on his end is clear to everyone on the call. “I’m getting tired anyway.”

And with that, he disconnects. No goodbye, no I love you guys like usual and George feels an odd tightness in his chest. 

“What’s his problem?” Sapnap asks, “was he being weird before?” 

George shakes his head before realising Sapnap can’t see him. “No, he was joking and everything. I think he’s probably just... I don’t know?”

The word jealous flashes before George’s eyes and he shakes the thought out of his mind before he can even say something to Sapnap. Dream wouldn’t be jealous , George can’t possibly work out why he’d be jealous. His idea to remain faceless until he met George was, and always has been, first and foremost his own, personal plan. Because of that, he’s never expressed jealousy toward Sapnap, never once got angry at the boy when he went to North Carolina without him to meet Karl, and never gets angry at him either when he spends consecutive days out with Punz. He didn’t even get upset at Sapnap in December when so many of their fellow content creators and friends were in Florida and the boy hung out with them without Dream. 

So he can’t work out why Sapnap coming to see George would be any different, when he could easily come with Sapnap to meet George in London, as opposed to waiting for the British man to land in Orlando instead.

“He’s being a pissbaby, that’s what he is.” Sapnap’s tone of voice is joking, but George can tell Dream’s reaction had rubbed the younger boy the wrong way too. “He’ll shut up once he has his eight hours of sleep.” 

George wakes up the next morning to an abomination of notifications, friends and fans alike. It seems as though Sapnap had tweeted a photo of his passport with the caption ‘ OHHH GEORGEEEE’, sending the internet into a frenzy. 

The group chat consisting of the boys and himself had blown up, Sapnap filling everyone in on the plan that had come to fruition last night, that he was flying to London in a fortnight so he could keep George company as well as help him pack for his big move to Orlando. 

A few of the boys had asked what about Dream but he hadn’t replied to the group chat at all during the conversation and Sapnap seemingly had to do the awkward ‘I’m trying to convince him to come' because, in all honesty, neither of them did know about Dream.  

> ik you live together so this could be really dumb
> but have you talked to dream today?

The texts to Sapnap immediately get read by him and immediately George is.

< yea
< he was fucking weird
< but like normal weird not weird weird
< has he not talked to you?

George snorts at Sapnap’s texts back, only Dream could be described as ‘normal weird’ and it is a perfectly reasonable descriptor. He shoots back a text, saying Dream hadn’t messaged him but he had also just woken up so it doesn’t shock him before Sapnap asks if he wants to voice call later to organise London.

George says yes of course, before looking at the clock- it reads 1pm and he knows he should go grocery shopping and pick up a few things but all he wants to do is lay in bed. He doesn’t like it when he feels as though Dream is mad, even if it’s not himself he’s mad at. 

So he scrolls Twitter, mostly just laughing at a lot of fans' reactions to Sapnap’s tweet. He doesn’t interact with any of it, not wanting to bring any more attention to it than it already has, and doesn’t want to cause speculation on whether Dream is coming or not at a time like this. 

Eventually, after refreshing his timeline so much it defaults to Home , showing him various likes from people he follows- usually a lot of fan art from his friends which he always loves to see. Today, however, Dream has decided to go on his weekly DreamNotFound fanart rampage, because his timeline is filled with art of himself, and Dream, crowned with the Dream Fanart liked! title. 

A lot of it is the three of them, usually drawn as their Minecraft skins and hanging out, but occasionally he comes across the art that’s meant to be interpretations of real-life- Dream without a mask, George without his signature glasses. Some of it’s romantic, and most of it can be interpreted as platonic but George can’t deny there’s a reason for Dream’s likes on Dream_Fanart today.

> are we ok?

The three little words sent to Dream make his heart race because realistically, he knows they’re okay. That if anything, Dream has an issue with Sapnap, not himself, but the nerves fill his body nonetheless. Dream doesn’t reply immediately, George refreshes his timeline and sees more and more art getting retweeted, liked and replied to by Dream’s art account and he feels himself getting annoyed, feeling as though Dream is ignoring him.

So he huffs, gets out of bed and puts his phone on Do Not Disturb despite knowing full well that he’s set both Dream and Sapnap to always bypass his settings so he isn’t sure entirely what the point was, but it’s about the principle. 

< vc? 

The text alert from Dream scares him as he brushes his teeth and he shoots back an okay to him after waiting a solid five minutes. 

Again the Do Not Disturb was about principle, he never expected to be able to ignore Dream when he inevitably replied. 

“Hi,” he says when he joins the VC-1 channel he sees Dream sitting in with Sapnap and Karl. George is still annoyed, now more than ever at the clear dismissal of his original text to the blond man. While he had already agreed to voice call with Sapnap later today, he didn’t want to voice call with him and Karl now, he wanted to talk to Dream, to hash out whatever tension they had for whatever reason but it’s whatever, he guesses, they’ll sweep it under the rug and deal with it later.

“George!” Karl exclaims back at him, “are you excited for Sap to come to London?” Sweet Karl is blissfully unaware of the tension between the trio that is already obvious but George chooses to ignore it, not wanting to make anything worse. So he tells Karl he is, because how could he not be? 

“It was my idea,” he says, pride in his voice. “Sap and I were talking and I mentioned it and well, you know how he is!” Karl giggles as he says it as if impulsivity was Sapnap’s middle name and while George loves his friends, he has to stop himself from rolling his eyes when Sapnap whines back at Karl. 

“I was going to wait and talk to Dream about it, but I was too excited,” he replies, the whine evident in his voice still and George hears Dream chuckle in the background of the call. 

“You’re like a dog,” Dream says and George feels a weight lifted off his shoulders at the fact he’s speaking at all. “An excitable puppy, you can’t be stopped.” George has never seen Dream, has no idea what he looks like in greyscale, and wouldn’t even be able to see him in all his glory with colour, but he feels like he knows how gorgeous Dream looks right now because he can tell he’s smiling as he speaks.

“I know I was being weird last night,” he says, the tone of the conversation shifting as soon as they stop laughing at Sapnap whining again about being compared to a dog. “I was just tired, and you sprung on me out of nowhere Sap. I’m sorry to both of you.” 

All the annoyance George was feeling towards Dream, towards this situation, immediately sheds from his body at the sound of Dream’s words. He’s genuine, of course, because George has quickly learnt Dream rarely says anything insincere, so George is, of course, quick to forgive him. 

“It’s okay, thank you for that.” While George is quick to forgive, he makes sure to add in the thank you, a way to let Dream know he was hurt by his actions and that the apology was warranted. “You’re not going to come to England though?” 

The question has been hanging on George’s mind since the conversation last night, the unknown ruminating, not letting George out of his grip. Dream’s plan was always to wait until he met George to face reveal, he wanted to meet George before he met any of his other friends, but nothing was saying it had to be in Florida, and while George would be more than happy with Sapnap in London, ecstatic to even have one of his best friends with him finally, he can’t deny that there would be a slight disappointment if Dream wasn’t there also. 

“Probably not, Georgie,” Dream replies and while it’s clear it’s more of a definite no than a probably not from the way the words are delivered, there’s an air of disappointment coming from his voice. “I don’t have a passport, I haven’t even left my own house in so long, it would just be too much, y’know?” 

“Boo, you suck,” Sapnap says before anyone can even reassure Dream his reasons are valid. “I’m gonna have Georgie all to myself and you can’t do anything about it!”  

“Don’t be mean, Sap.” George is quick to defend Dream, he always is in times like this. He loves Sapnap but sometimes he doesn’t know how to read the room and while yes, he literally would have George all to himself and Dream couldn’t do anything about it, it’s clear Dream isn’t just being stubborn and refusing to come to London, he has real, genuine reasons as to why. “It would be a lot Dream, I’m sorry for even asking.”

“No, don’t say sorry!” Dream is quick to say, always on top of any reassurance George ever needs. “Of course, you’d ask, but yeah, it would be a lot. Very overstimulating.” 

The silence that fills the call is deafening after that, Sapnap snickering at whatever messages Karl was sending him privately. George isn’t entirely sure what to say now, the situation that had been haunting him for hours resolved in merely a few minutes.

Eventually, Sapnap brings up London again, asking a bunch of questions about where they’ll go, what they’ll do. Sapnap demands they go to a Casino and a pub at least one night because both Dream and Punz refuse to go with him in Orlando and George rolls his eyes but agrees nonetheless- the boy’s barely turned 21, he might as well let him live a little in a city where he’s well past the legal age. 

“I wonder what London will look like!” the youngest suddenly exclaims, realising that of all of them, he’s the only one who will know the true difference between London and Orlando- colours. 

“It’s grey, just very grey,” George says, deadpanned because it’s not that he isn’t happy for his friend for finally having the ability to see colours, he just doesn’t want every conversation he has to remind him of the fact he doesn’t. 

“Of course you’d say it’s grey, that’s all you can see, dummy!” Karl snickers, “what do your parents say London’s like?” 

George wishes he could server disconnect Karl without pissing off Sapnap right now. 

“Grey,” he repeats, “genuinely, just grey. It’s always overcast here, the weather is going to be horrible for Spring, and it’s probably more exciting in Orlando. The most colourful thing you’ll see will be the London Eye, and I’m refusing to pay 40 quid to go on a Ferris wheel.” 

He’s not even lying to evade the conversation, London truly does have perpetual grey skies, littered with clouds so often that seeing the sun is considered a rarity these days. He finds London boring and cold, as most people who live there do, which is a part of the reason he jumped at the chance to move to Orlando in the first place.

“You suck too! What if I want to pay 40 quid to go on a Ferris wheel, huh?” Sapnap argues back, mocking George’s accent when he specifically says the word quid, and all George can do is roll his eyes in response, thankful that the colour talk is quickly swept under the rug. 

When Sapnap arrives at Heathrow International Airport one dreary Monday morning, George feels as though he’s going to vibrate so fast he can phase through walls. He can’t remember a time he was this genuinely excited, this nervous too. Despite the long hours he and Sapnap have spent on voice calls over the past almost decade, he can’t help but worry that somehow Sapnap could hate him.

That isn’t the case for Sapnap, not a worry in the world as he runs through the arrivals gate and right into George’s arms, completely disregarding the time and effort the British man had gone through to make the ‘Short King’ arrival sign.

“Don’t say it,” Sapnap says as he squeezes George so tight his bones could break. “I don’t want to hear a fucking thing about my height for 24 hours.” 

All George can do is laugh, happiness filling every inch of his entire body, any worry he had about Sapnap not liking him in person is immediately dismissed as he holds the auburn-haired boy in his arms after all these years. “You’re not 5’10.” 

Sapnap whines, pushing George away from him and he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and a pout appears on his lips. “My licence says I’m 5’10.” 

“Yeah, and you can lie.” 

Sapnap pushes George again before pulling the man back into his arms for a hug, both finally content that the two of them are finally together. George has always secretly thought Sapnap would give good hugs, that he'd truly be like a panda bear in person, so warm and comforting, and he almost tears up as they hug again because it confirms what he's always known. When they break away, George quickly sniffles hoping to hide how much that hug meant to him, and they quickly take a selfie and send it to Dream, Sapnap writing something along the lines of ‘with ur man’ as he shoots the text off as they both get into the Uber.

It’s like the pair of them have been friends for years, in-person friends for years- not a single air of discomfort between the two. However, while Sapnap had claimed he would help George pack for his move, he barely moves a muscle to help in any of the actual packing, instead, he watches George rifle through his closet and tells the boy which clothes are Florida appropriate or not. 

“Nothing in your closet matches,” Sapnap says after a long period, analysing the two piles of clothing on the bed next to him, a pile of Sapnap Slash Florida Weather Approved Clothing and clothes George has dubbed Clothes To Keep In England (Just In Case) . “It’s like you’re colourblind or something.” 

All George can stare at the boy on his bed, not daring to entertain him in the slightest despite the fact it’s clear Sapnap thinks he had just made the best joke in the world. “You’re annoying.”

“I’m serious though,” he says, a serious look on his face now. “Hopefully when you get to Florida and kiss Dream you’ll be able to colour-coordinate your clothing.”

George sputters at what leaves Sapnap’s mouth, struggling to find his response without sounding too defensive. There have always been these jokes between them, the DreamNotFound shipping always toeing the line on whether it’s real or just to appease fans, but the comment from Sapnap feels too casual, too serious like he genuinely believes that the two’s friendship would blossom into something more.

“You’re annoying ,” he repeats, emphasis on the annoying part as he throws a pair of jeans at Sapnap’s head but all his friend does is laugh at him and Sapnap gives him an all-knowing look before dropping the subject. “You’re being no help, by the way.”

“I’m helping you decide which clothes are appropriate for Florida weather!” George just hums and nods, not wanting to argue with Sapnap further. “Without me, you’d wear this Burberry jacket on the plane when it’s like 100 degrees in Florida.” 

“I happen to like this Burberry jacket and it’s coming with me to Florida anyway,” George replies, snatching the jacket from Sapnap and firmly putting it on the Florida pile.

This process continues for a while, clearing out George’s wardrobe and sorting his clothes takes a shocking amount of effort- there’s no point in continuing past his wardrobe considering he still has to live in London for two weeks. Sapnap eventually takes it upon himself to be useful, folding some shirts and shorts and packing them in the appropriate packing cubes while George has an existential crisis about moving before the pair decide it’s time to take a break and stream. 

“Kiss to break the long silence?” Sapnap says slowly, reading a passing comment on the stream. He turns to look at George, acting as if he’s about to lean in and when George reciprocates, the two of them burst out laughing. “Chat, chill!” 

 “Yeah, Karl would kill me for kissing his man,” George says in response to the chat flying by. While Karl and Sapnap have never outright admitted to being together, let alone being each other’s soulmates, Karlnap is probably just as popular as Dream and George, so the British man is completely aware of what he’s doing as he says it. 

Sapnap elbows him under the table, his expression flustered as he does and George knows he’s in for it when they decide to end the stream. With everything going on, George sees a few ‘are karl and sapnap soulmates?’ messages fly through chat and he decides to make a mental note to talk to his mods about timing people out for these messages later. 

After that slight hiccup, the stream goes well. The pair decide to play Minecraft with one of them controlling the keyboard and the other, the mouse, and Sapnap spends the entire time complaining about George’s ridiculous keybinds and playing with both his hands while George scolds him for not being fast enough. 

They end up calling Dream, who had been texting the both of them the entire time to call him which makes George laugh. The three of them joke and laugh and George is thankful that his small tantrum from last week is well and truly behind all of them.

He, unfortunately, ends up having to explain why he didn’t end up going to London, something that annoys George to no end because it just makes him feel that if Dream had truly wanted to, he would have but he shoves the thought deep down, straight to the back of his mind so no one questions why he suddenly looks so uneasy. 

“I wish I was there,” is the first thing Dream says when they end the stream, still on call with the man in Florida. “You guys look like you’re having so much fun.” 

“I did offer for you to come,” Sapnap responds but he’s laughing as he says it, clearly joking. George is thankful Sapanp was so quick to speak because he feels as though he would’ve said the same thing, just less jokingly. “We’ll be back in Florida soon enough, Dreamie.”

“Yeah, you’re going to be sick of me when I’m there.” It’s the only sentence George can bring himself to say. He had told Dream it was fine that he wasn’t coming to London, had accepted that it would just be he and Sapnap for these two weeks, but somehow being on the phone with him and hearing him wish he was with them when he had the chance, pisses George off. 

“I doubt it with how jealous I am right now,” Dream laughs, clearly not picking up on the bluntness of George’s tone, “I’ll cling to you every chance I get when you’re here.” 

Sapnap snickers next to him as George huffs, crossing his arms across his chest at Dream’s confession. The last thing he wants to do is give either of his friends any kind of reaction, but it’s proving to be much harder when you’re sitting next to one of them. While George can feel the warmth on his face, Sapnap can see the colour changing in his face, and that’s decidedly worse. 

“You better,” he starts, carefully choosing his words so he doesn’t entertain Sapnap any more than he had with his warm face, “Sapnap’s been hogging you for a year, I deserve it.”

The time George spends with Sapnap in London will forever be cherished. 

A lot of their time together, they’re not even packing for George’s move, usually just enjoying their time. Sapnap had even convinced George to go to a casino with him one night, much to the older’s dismay and he spent the entire time babysitting Sapnap as he lost numerous amounts of money. 

“Remind me to never let you go to Vegas,” George had said that night, as Sapnap had once again been given George’s $1000 chip. George didn’t know why he had let Sapnap even go near the Blackjack table, but at his words, the younger, cocky as ever, had responded by betting $2000 and inadvertently had lost. “Never.” 

That’s why on their last night together in London, it’s a quiet night- just two guys at the local pub, enjoying a pint and relaxing after a hard day of finally getting all of George’s stuff packed. 

“Beer tastes like piss, dude,” Sapnap says, pulling a face as he takes a sip of his drink. George just laughs in response, taking a sip of his beer. He guesses beer, especially English and Irish beer, isn’t for everyone and that it’s a part of the pub culture he grew up in. “Like I’ll drink it, but only this one.” 

The two talk for a while, scrolling on Twitter as they sit huddled in their small booth at the back of the dingey pub they had decided on sneaking into, hopefully away from any fan’s prying eyes. Sapnap tweets some photos of him and George from a few days ago, sending everyone into a frenzy and George makes fun of him when he giggles at Karl’s reply to his tweet.

“Do you miss Karl?” George finds himself asking after he finishes his beer. “Like is it hard, being soulmates and apart all the time?” 

Sapnap hums in response before talking, clearly trying to find the right words. “Yeah, it’s hard. But it’s also like, he’s my soulmate, y’know? No matter where we live he’s mine and I’m his and that makes it a little easier. And I guess we’re lucky, with our jobs. We don't have to worry about school or getting PTO to see each other, we can just… Go whenever we want to.”

George nods, still not completely understanding how people just know , but if it works for his friends, he’s not going to be the one to rain on their parade. “Were you nervous about kissing him?”

“Kind of?” Sapnap says as if it’s a question. “I knew, it had to be Karl, there was no one else I felt this way about. Like… It felt different to the way I feel about you and Dream, he was my best friend too but the feelings were just so different that he had to be it.” 

“Isn’t that just a crush?” George feels ignorant asking these questions, but the pint and a half of alcohol he had consumed already that night got rid of any filter he had. 

“Sure,” Sapnap agrees, “I guess I just took the chance and was lucky it paid off.” He doesn’t seem offended at George’s assumption, if anything he seems amused and all it does is make George think more about his feelings, about how he feels about the people in his life. 

It’s a dumb train of thought to spiral down because George knows the feelings he holds for one of his best friends are clearly different to how he feels for Sapnap, how it had always been different even from the beginning. It scares him, right to his core it terrifies him. 

“I want to kiss Dream,” he finds himself whispering and he’s surprised Sapnap had even heard him over the loud ambience of the pub. The boy could have laughed, could have made a joke like he usually does but he successfully reads the room, because when George looks up, grey eyes meet his own and there’s not a hint of joking in them. “But I’m scared to.” 

“I was scared to kiss Karl, George,” he says as if it was obvious. “I was scared it was unrequited, that I was wrong, even more so that I was right but Karl wasn’t ready, those fears exist and that’s okay.” 

George knows he’s going through it when Sapnap’s the one giving advice.

“Just… Talk to him.” The boy across from him throws his arms up in the air as he speaks, clearly not being able to think of any other solution. “This is Dream we’re talking about. If you’d let him, he'd lay one on you for the content dude.”

All George can do is laugh at that, because it’s true. They know how their fans are and while they’d never actually do it, the fact Dream would kiss him for content in an appropriate setting is entirely true and while that doesn’t do much to ease George’s nerves, doesn’t do much to make him any less scared, telling Sapnap has relieved some sort of tension, lifted a weight off of his shoulders.

He tells the younger boy this, who just snickers and says it was obvious but he’s glad it helped nonetheless. 

Landing in Orlando is a blur.

The entire flight George is anxiety-ridden, worried that he’s somehow messed up his visa, that the tiny blue packet that was strictly for immigration hadn’t been packed neatly into his carry on despite the fact he had checked 15 times before they left for the airport. Sapnap slept for the entire flight and George can’t say he’s shocked considering in the two weeks he’s been in London, he’s learnt that the young boy can, and will, sleep through anything. 

When they reach immigration, Sapnap obviously doesn’t have an issue, quietly slinking into the U.S Residents line while George deals with immigration officers on his own. He thinks he blacks out of panic, worried they’re going to turn him around and send him back to England because even after all these years, something is wrong. 

Instead, they stamp his passport and welcome him into the U.S with strict instructions on what to do next in the process for his visa to stay valid. But George is barely listening because he’s here. Finally in Florida after all these years, so many late nights talking about which visa to apply for, rejection after rejection and George can’t believe it. 

“Welcome to Florida!” Sapnap yells when they’re finally reunited at customs, which is also a breeze considering neither of them has anything they need to declare, and finally, they make their way to baggage claim which by far is the longest process of getting out of the airport. 

Finally, Sapnap is digging through his Nike backpack searching for his car keys. “Cost me $260 to park my car here, stupid Dream and his refusal to even pick us up, damn.”

George just laughs in response, taking in the Florida air. It’s humid, almost disgustingly so but he honestly doesn’t mind it because anything is an improvement from the icy cold weather of London and despite the fact that everything he sees is in greyscale, there is something so much brighter about Orlando, something so much happier, something that makes him feel at home. 

“Do you want food?” Sapnap asks as they pull out of the airport and George just nods in agreement, unsure if the nerves that have finally kicked into 5th gear in his stomach will let him keep anything down. He’s not sure why he’s nervous, he and Dream have been friends for years but something about it is different now. With George admitting he likes Dream, in the way Sapnap likes Karl, surely something is going to change between them? 

Sapnap orders for the both of them, basically shoving the Baja Blast from Taco Bell in George's hand. It's not like he hasn't had Taco Bell before, they do exist in London after all, but he'd never give Sapnap the satisfaction of agreeing that US Taco Bell is better. 

They pull up at the house quicker than George expected and his heart feels like it's going to jump out of his throat. He's not ready to be face-to-face with Dream but it's too late; Sapnap's turned off his car and already climbed out and running towards the front door, luggage abandoned in his trunk because there are more important issues at hand in his mind. 

George tries to settle his breathing, looking around the grayscale scenery that's his new home and he notices that there are flowers planted out the front that he's sure Dream's mum is to thank for and he wishes he could admire them fully. He counts the rocks surrounding the flower beds, a deep breath in every odd number, exhaling every even number until he feels like he's ready. 

Eventually, he forces himself to climb out of the car and he slowly makes his way to the door that he had seen Sapnap slam through not even three minutes prior. It doesn't escape him that Dream hasn't come rushing out the door and George selfishly hopes, deep down in the back of his mind under lock and key, it's because his best friend is just as nervous. 

It's times like right now that make the hope that Dream's his soulmate threatens to bubble over, makes him remember how adamant Sapnap was about feeling different towards Karl. George didn't feel this nervous to meet Sapnap; while he was validly nervous that meeting up in person would change their dynamic, George felt entirely different about meeting Sapnap to how he feels right now knowing Dream is five feet away from him. Meeting Sapnap was excitement, jitteriness, like bouncing your leg under the table because you're so excited and you're counting down the minutes. Standing in front of Dream's front door makes him feel like he's going to throw up, and makes him want to run for the hills.

Suddenly, the door swings open, so quickly George is shocked the blond man in front of him didn't knock himself out. 

George doesn't even get a chance to say something, can't even properly look at his best friend's face for the first time because the aforementioned best friend has pulled him into such a bone-crushing hug he can barely breathe. 

He doesn't have a single complaint though; Sapnap is immediately bumped to second-best hugger in DTQK because George has never felt so loved from just a hug. His own arms sneak around Dream's waist, pulling the taller man closer if it's even possible and maybe, just maybe, George tucks his head into Dream's neck too. 

"Hi," he whispers, hoping Dream can hear him through the muffled barrier of his Oklahoma Sooners hoodie. "You have a physical form."

He feels Dream's chest rumble from laughter before he replies, his voice muffled by what George assumes is his hair. "That's the first thing you say to me in person?" 

Dream starts to pull away, clearly deciding for them that their time is up and George has to stop himself from whining and pulling the younger man back in his arms. "You're a dick." 

Dream throws his head back in laughter and George's heart flies at not just the noise, but the fact he finally has the visual to go alongside it. Dream is, without a doubt in George's mind, the most gorgeous person he's ever seen. He's smiling ear-to-ear, and while George knows this is the first time he's ever seen his best friend, he doesn't think a person gets much happier than Dream at this moment. 

His cheeks hurt from smiling, and he quickly realises he teared up, again and he curses his tear ducts for crying both times he's met his best friends. 

"You've seen photos of me, Georgie," he says, not acknowledging the quick swipe at his eyes as he's swinging his arm back around George's shoulder and directing him back to Sapnap's car to grab George's luggage. "You have quite literally sat on FaceTime with me as I swung around a lightsaber, you just didn't see my face." 

George whines, because it's not the same and Dream doesn't get it. It's been years since their friendship and George's feelings for him have blossomed more purely from his personality and their conversations, and grown from their very online friendship. 

"It's different," he mutters, grabbing the suitcase that's had the word blue scrawled across the top of it in Sapnap's ugly handwriting from the car. The youngest boy had thought it was funny to start labelling George's stuff with what colour they are, proclaiming that he might as well get a head start because he'll be seeing colours soon enough.

George had just rolled his eyes and let him snicker to himself as he got to work. 

"Yellow?" Dream asks, reading the scrawl as he grabs the duffle bag. George just sighs, and begrudgingly explains Sapnap's idea whilst conveniently leaving out the reason as to why he was so motivated to colour code a colourblind person's belongings. 

"He started doing the same to mine just before he went to England, my toothbrush is apparently red. Whatever that means. He's weird," he responds and Dream just brushes it off, clearly having not gotten the same reasoning as George had and he makes a mental note to interrogate him later before he holes up in his room to play Valorant.  

Dream is unwavering in his demands to be the one to show George around the house, not that Sapnap had even really cared in all honesty, already sitting on his phone and smiling at what George assumes is another text from Karl. 

"This is the kitchen," Dream says awkwardly and George has to resist the urge of replying something snarky about how US kitchens are so different to British ones. "Sap never cooks so really I'm the only one who's ever in here longer than to get cereal but feel free to use anything if you want. It's all ours, not just mine."

Ours . The word makes George smile. This is their home, the Dream Team shared home; he's not just a person living in a space that's controlled by a landlord, he has a home and it's with his best friends.

"Living room, every Saturday starting September we will be having a family meeting in here." George knows what Dream really means is that they're watching College Football together, and he finds it so endearing that despite not knowing a single thing about NFL, let alone College Football , he can't wait for September to come. 

He then guides him throughout the rest of the house, showing off his office ( "The DNF shrine was not intentional," Dream has proclaimed, defending himself that DNF art was just that popular.) and his bedroom, where George finally meets the famous Patches who's happily asleep, curled up on Dream's comforter. 

George pretends he doesn't see the look of pure adoration on Dream's face when George scoops up the cat into his arms and scratches her head.

 "And this is your room!" Dream exclaims as he pushes the door open to the room adjacent to his room. George is still nursing Patches as he makes his way in, Dream now dragging the suitcase and duffle bag into the room for him. The room already has furniture set up in it; a bed, a chest of drawers and a desk are all he really needed but he's thankful nonetheless. 

"Sap and I ordered a bunch of IKEA shit when your visa got approved," he says sheepishly as he places the bags next to the built-in closet. "We spent the night before he left trying to set it up. So…"

"So I blame you when I'm asleep tonight and my bed breaks?" 

"If it breaks, it's an open invitation for you to invade my bed tonight." It's such a throwaway comment, obviously a joke but George feels the heat rise up his neck and onto his cheeks and he's thankful, now more than ever, that Dream sees in greyscale. 

"I'll take you up on that," George manages to choke out after a while and Dream just smiles at him, not realising for a moment how his previous comment had affected George. He loudly proclaims he's going to get George's other suitcase for him, before leaving him alone to unpack, to decompress.

George is thankful at first, he hasn't had a second alone in two weeks. He unzips his suitcase and starts mindlessly hanging his clothes in his closet, folding away things into the chest of drawers. The bed has already been made, just missing the pillow that George was adamant he brought from England and his room begins to look less like a guest room, and more like his own.

He admires the PC that sits on the desk, the one Dream was relentless on letting him get for George so he didn't have to worry about hauling his previous set up across the Atlantic. It's nice , admittedly way nicer than his old one and he can't wait to mess around on it.

"It's blue," a voice behind him says and George whips around in the chair. "Mines red, Dream's is green. Our colours, even if you two fuckers can't see them." 

Sapnap waltzes into his room and sits himself on George's bed and while he was previously thankful for the alone time, he doesn't mind the fact Sapnap just barged into his room, could get used to it even. 

"Unless…" the smirk on his face makes it obvious what he's implying, and George throws a clothes hanger at the younger man sitting at his desk. "Are you serious? I gave you guys alone time and everything and you didn't kiss him?"

"I've been in the house for 30 minutes," George retaliates. "I wasn't planning on kissing him at all, let alone the second I see him. Need I remind you that you didn't do that with Karl?" 

Sapnap huffs at George's defence, knowing that the older man was right with what he had pointed out. "I just want you to be happy."

George cocks his head at what Sapnap had said, the assumption that he wasn't happy confusing him. "I am happy, Sap. I get to live here with my two best friends, that's all I've ever wanted. If you-know-who is my soulmate that's just a bonus." 

Dream cooks dinner for the three of them that night, his kiss the cook apron causing Sapnap to elbow George in the ribs when the pair of them enter the kitchen to supervise. If George thought he had fallen in love with his best friend via Discord calls and Minecraft worlds, he's absolutely ruined for anybody else now he sees Dream in person. 

Dream is gorgeous, George thinks. The hood of his sweater is pulled up, curly blond pieces of hair peeking through every time he moves his head. The smile on his face seems like it's permanent, and George finds himself curious about whether he's the reason why. 

The banter between Dream and Sapnap in person is the same as it was online– Sapnap flawlessly falls into the role of an annoying younger sibling while Dream smacks his hand away from the pasta he's in the middle of cooking. He's not mad of course, the laugh that erupts from him makes sure they know and George is fucked.

George is fucked because he believed maybe living with Dream would cause his feelings to minimise. Maybe he'd be a huge slob in person, sometimes the occasional shallow thought of maybe he'd be ugly had crossed George's mind, but at this point, George is convinced nothing could force him to fall out of love with Dream.

The three of them sit around the dining room table, phones all in separate rooms while they just bask in finally being together. They haven't even posted on Twitter, no one even knows that Sapnap had left the UK, let alone left with George in tow. It's nice, it's simple, they're not Dream Team at this moment, they're just three roommates, three best friends.  

"When do you want to face reveal?" Sapnap asks as he grabs a drink from the fridge after they've spent hours just sitting and talking. George is washing up, much to the others' dismay but they let him when he snatched the dish towel from Dream's grasp.

"I don't know," Dream mumbles, leaning against the counters in the kitchen. He's picking at the skin on his fingers, clearly lost in thinking about it. "I don't want to do it right away, I want to just enjoy us finally being together."

The two boys nod in understanding, and George is selfishly glad that Dream doesn't want to face reveal right away either. He wants to spend time with his best friends, with Dream in the privacy of his new home. "Whenever you want to, let us know, we'll be there."

Dream smiles at George, he’s noticed he does that a lotand says thanks before proclaiming he's going to bed and Sapnap follows when he realises the time and the jet lag hits him.

George has always been on a funny sleep schedule, so much so that it's a normal occurrence for Dream to scold him so when he looks at the clock and sees it would only be 5 in the morning, he's barely phased but reluctantly returns to his room anyway. 

He ponders turning on his PC, play a few games of CS:GO without the pressure of streaming until he gets tired but he decides if he's going to force himself to sleep, lying in bed is probably the best option. So after a quick shower and a change of clothes, he tucks himself into bed hoping his body would get the hint. 

Sleep never comes.

He rolls over and looks at his phone and despite it feeling like he's only been lying in bed for 20 minutes, it's 2 in the morning. As if on autopilot, he opens Discord– usually when he can't sleep his first instinct is to call Dream, to sit on call with him until he falls asleep and when he looks at the offline symbol, George kicks himself. 

He's in the same house as Dream, there's no need for late-night Discord calls anymore and George finds himself mourning that part of their friendship. 

He thinks back to what Dream had said earlier. That if his bed broke, he's welcome to invade his own. If it was a joke, if it wasn't serious, George doesn't care because without realising it, he finds himself padding over to Dream's bedroom. 

He laughs at himself for a moment, he's standing at the end of Dream's bed like a sick child wanting to wake up their parents by staring at them and he's about to turn around when he hears movement from the bed. 

"George? Don't tell me your bed actually broke, fuck." Dream's voice is riddled with sleep, and guilt overtakes George for even thinking he could just waltz into Dream's room like he owned the place.

"No, no, it's fine, I uh…" he trails off, embarrassed to admit his true motives as to why he's made his way into his best friend's room at 2am, but in true Dream fashion, he's reading George's mind.

"Can't sleep?" 

George just nods, not even aware if Dream can see him because of the darkness cloaking them both. He's about to leave but then suddenly, the comforter covering the blond man's body is being lifted, inviting George inside. 

He crawls in next to the boy, awkwardly trying not to take up too much room in fear of crossing any unwritten boundaries. He immediately feels at ease, using Dream's patterned breathing to hook onto to pace his own and he's embarrassed to admit to himself how quickly he feels himself falling asleep. 

"I'm happy you're here, Georgie," Dream whispers from beside him, making grabby hands at the older man to bring him closer to his own body, so George shuffles himself closer, still unaware of where Dream wants him exactly.

"Here as in Florida or here as in your bed?" George isn't entirely sure why he's asked, because he can't imagine why Dream would mean specifically in his bed, can't get his hopes up of Dream's words having some sort of double meaning. 

"Both," Dream says, the admittance of truth shocks the wind out of George's windpipe. "Definitely both." 

Dream rolls from lying on his back to his side, to face George. They're close now, a little too close for best friends to be lying in bed together and George's intrusive thoughts get the better of him. He's so close, he could kiss him . George shuffles, just a little bit closer under the guise of getting comfortable and soon enough, he feels Dream grab him, pulling him into his chest.

"You move so much," he mumbles, voice now muffled by the fact George is tucked neatly into the taller man's chest. "Go to sleep." 

Neither of them talk about it; how George had woken up wrapped in Dream's arms, how Dream had whined when the older man had tried to get up. 

It becomes a regular occurrence after that, either of them sneaking into the other's room late at night. George's reasoning is never a lie, it's always because he can't sleep. He blames it on the new environment, that he's not used to sleeping with the Florida humidity. It's a half-truth– in reality, he can't sleep alone anymore. 

Florida now feels like home instead of a place he's just moved to. The three of them hang out in the living room and watch television together instead of screen sharing in Discord, George and Dream cook together in the kitchen, dancing to whatever music shuffles from Dream's Spotify and they laugh when they see everyone on Twitter freak out when a particular Glass Animals song comes on. 

Sometimes George will sit in Dream's office with him as he edits. This isn't anything new, occasionally before he moved Dream would call him as he edits, asking for opinions on music for certain aspects of a video but somehow, in person, it feels more intimate, their computer shares swivelling around the room together as they pass a headset between the pair of them.

When George streams, Dream sometimes sits by his feet like he used to with Sapnap when he had just moved. They talk to George's Twitch chat together, reassuring everyone the face reveal is coming soon but Dream's just enjoying finally being with George in person and the sentiment feels oddly intimate. 

And then, at night, one of them will sneak into the other's room. Usually, it's George, occasionally it's Dream on the rare chance he retreats to his room first, always the pair of them cuddled together in bed, acting as if it didn't mean anything to either of them.

And slowly, but surely, George falls even more in love with his best friend.

It's a month of this, before the conversation that changes everything happens.

Sapnap's gone to North Carolina to see Karl so the two of them have the house to themselves. Not that it matters, the only difference being instead of George sneaking into Dream's room that night, the blond man pulls him in there when they decide to rewind. 

They're laying in bed, facing each other and just talking. This is usually how it goes, it fills the void of missing the long-distance calls that once were the core of their friendship. They talk about anything, video ideas usually, but sometimes MCC, sometimes they make plans for the following day. 

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" George finds himself asking. The question doesn't entirely come out of nowhere, he'd just opened a Snapchat from Karl that consisted of him and his soulmate and the question just tumbles out of his mouth.

"Yeah, plenty of people," Dream admits, playing with George's hair as he watches him switch from Snapchat to Twitter. "Girls, guys, nonbinary people. Starting to think I'll never see colour."

He laughs as he says it, clearly not thinking of any importance of what he says but it affects George in ways he doesn't want to admit. 

"Don't say that," he mumbles back. "Don't you have, like a feeling at least? Like Sapnap always talks about?" He feels Dream tense up and his breathing becomes shallow. "What?" 

"What do you mean 'a feeling'?" 

George sits up in bed so he can turn around and look at Dream, not believing that Sapnap hadn't also given the man in front of him the same lecture he had received a month ago. "Sapnap hasn't told you about how he just knew Karl was his soulmate before they kissed?" 

"Yeah, but you don't believe that do you?" Dream questions but George is positive Dream is evading the question, doesn't believe that the man who wears his heart on his sleeve wouldn't believe something like that. "C'mon, Georgie, if we just knew we wouldn't have to kiss people." 

"Are you taking the piss, Dream?" he spits. "You can't be serious, you've never had someone who you've hoped was your soulmate?" His eyes are narrowed in on Dream, who's just looking at Dream like he's… Embarrassed? 

"Of course I have, but I know he's not my soulmate so who fucking cares?" The words are like venom, slicing every part of George's heart as they leave Dream's mouth. 

"How do you know?" Dream doesn't answer him. "Dream, how do you know?" He knows he's being annoying, pestering Dream, harping on the blond man to answer but he feels like he's spiralling, his heart is breaking. The realisation that Dream has someone else he wishes was his soulmate hits him like a tonne of bricks, and he immediately falls down the rabbit hole that it has to be Wilbur or maybe Punz, someone else in their friendship circle. There's no way in George's mind, that with the way he was speaking, that Dream wished his soulmate was himself. 

"I just do, George, drop it." George doesn't want to drop it, he can't breathe and he wants to know who this person is that Dream wishes were his soulmate, needs to know who this person is so he can find out what he has that George doesn't. His face is illegible, George can't tell what a single emotion on Dream's face could ever mean. 

"I think I should sleep in my room tonight," he says so quietly he wouldn't be shocked if Dream didn't hear him. "Alone." 

He gently moves Patches, who had made her home in his lap, back onto Dream's bed before getting up and walking towards the door. Dream just lets him, which annoys the brunet man even more and as much as he wants to hold back from saying something, he can't help it when it slips out. 

"I understand you, what it's like to hope someone's your soulmate and be convinced it's not them," he finds himself saying. "Because I'm in love with you , Dream. And I'm terrified my soulmate isn't you."

They don't talk.

It's not for a lack of trying– Dream's tried to catch George multiple times and he always finds a way to dodge him. Editing, streaming, calling his family, he'll always find an excuse not to say more than three words to the tall, blond man.

Sapnap comes home on the 7th day of George's Avoid Dream At All Cost plan and he immediately senses the vibes are off. It's obvious, there was no way they'd be able to hide this from Sapnap; not when the youngest man comes to notice he hadn't seen George and Dream in the same room for hours. 

George waves it off, giving Sapnap the same excuses that he's been giving to Dream in hopes it'll get the boy off his case.

It doesn't, of course, it doesn't. Sapnap is intuitive, knows exactly what's going on in the house at all times and George curses when he comes out of his bathroom one day to find Sapnap sitting on his bed. 

"Talk to me." It's not a question, not even a request, it's a statement. 

"Hi?" 

"Don't be a smartass," Sapnap says, "that's my job." George nods his head in acknowledgement because admittedly, it is usually Sapnap's job to be the smartass. "What's wrong?"

George sighs, shooing the boy to turn around while he gets changed into his usual grey sweatpants. He contemplates how much longer he can just pull the homesick card, how much longer Sapnap would believe him. Probably not very long, considering the youngest man has already snuck into his bedroom for intervention and when Sapnap wants something, he usually gets it.

"I told Dream." Sapnap's eyes almost bulge out of his head at George's words, clearly not expecting the confession to be something that serious. "I told Dream I loved him and I was scared he wasn't my soulmate and then I ran away."

Sapnap doesn't say anything, just continues to stare at George and process what he had just said. "Hold on, how did this even come up?"

George sighs but sits down on the bed next to Sapnap and begins to explain the situation at hand. He starts by telling him about how he had snuck into Dream's bed the first night he was there, and the cuddling, which makes Sapnap raise his eyebrows but he doesn't say anything. He moves on, admitting that sneaking into Dream's bed wasn't a one-time occurrence, that it had been going on for the entire month and Sapnap rolls his eyes.

"You guys are so oblivious," he mutters under his breath, shaking his head but letting George continue, which brings them to the night everything collapsed. George's voice is wavering as he explains the situation to Sapnap, his heart feeling like it's breaking all over again when he tells Sapnap about Dream wanting someone to be his soulmate, someone who isn't him. 

"Dream didn't actually say it wasn't you though?" Sapnap starts, voice soft as he takes George's hand in his own as a form of comfort. "You didn't let him say anything?" 

George contemplates Sapnap's idea for a moment, he isn't wrong, Dream had never outright mentioned who he had hoped his soulmate was but it wouldn't make sense for it to be George at this rate– George was sleeping in his bed, George moved countries to be closer to him, why would this be where Dream keeps secrets? 

"Dream's an idiot, that's why," Sapnap replies matter-of-factly and George realises he was thinking aloud when he hears his best friend's voice. "I know for a fact he hopes his soulmate is you, why do you think I've been trying to wingman you motherfuckers for so long?" 

"Has he told you that?" George asks pointedly because he knows for a fact Dream hadn't, otherwise, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. 

"Well, no, but–" Sapnap starts and George looks at him, defeated. "No, listen! He's been my best friend for a decade George, we know each other better than we know ourselves! He knew I liked Karl before I even realised I liked men!" Sapnap is rushing the words out as if one wrong sentence will cause George to stop listening. 

"I promise you, George," Sapnap says seriously, and George knows the auburn-haired man means business when his grey eyes meet his own and there's not a hint of mischievousness in them. "I would not have pushed you so hard if I thought there was even a 1% chance Dream didn't feel the same way." 

George knows Sapnap's right– this is Sapnap's brother they're talking about, and no one on this Earth indeed knows Dream better than Sapnap. George has always trusted Sapnap and knows that despite his youngest sibling antics and his insatiable need to be a menace at every opportunity, he would always have George and Dream's best interests at heart. 

"I can't just go to him now." He knows he's being stubborn saying it, knows he's essentially saying the ball’s in Dream's court without actually telling him and all Sapnap can do is sigh. 

"You can," he replies but suddenly, it looks as though a lightbulb goes off in his head and he quickly stands up. "Actually you know what? You will." 

With that, he stands up and grabs George, drags him to Dream's room and without even knocking, he pushes the door open and pulls George inside. "You guys are talking. Now. I'm going to be on the phone with my boyfriend in the living room and I better not see either of you leave here without reporting to Karl and me." 

The distinct noise of a Facetime call ringing out is heard as Sapnap leaves the room, leaving the two men who haven't properly spoken in a week alone in the room together. 

"So…" George starts, kicking at the dust bunnies on the floor of Dream's carpet. "How have you been?"

"Terrible." 

George looks up and looks at Dream properly for the first time all week, and terrible wasn't a lie. He looks gaunt, like he hasn't been sleeping, or even looking after himself in general. The bags under his eyes are evident, even with the world in greyscale there's distinguishable darkness that circles his eyes– he looks exhausted, to put it simply, and George wants nothing more than to lay the taller man in bed and let him rest.

"I'm sorry for running out the other night, I–" George begins, but he's not entirely sure how to explain what exactly happened. 'Sorry, I'm in love with you but you clearly love someone else so we're not soulmates' seems like a bit of a handful to open with, but thankfully, Dream knows exactly what to say. 

"It's okay, Georgie," Dream chuckles to himself, sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to him and George, embarrassingly so, takes the spot next to him quickly. "I didn't exactly get a chance to explain that it was you I was convinced wasn't my soulmate?" 

George feels dizzy at the confession as if the oxygen has been stolen from his lungs. "Me?" he nervously asks, and Dream laughs, his boisterous, full-body laugh George loves so much and he almost tears up at hearing it for the first time in so long.

"Who fucking else, you idiot?" George begins listing off people, because of course he has a list of people who would be more suited to be Dream's soulmate than himself; Wilbur, Punz, he even goes as far as to say Foolish before Dream is cutting him off with a kiss. 

A kiss that is filled with so much love and passion that George is for certain he's going to pass out when they finally pull away. George's eyes immediately close, too terrified of keeping them open and seeing the world continue to exist in mundane black and white. 

Dream's lips are soft, tasting of the strawberry flavoured Lush lip scrub he's been religiously using for as long as George can remember and it just makes him melt completely into the kiss. Dream's hands quickly move up to cup both sides of George's face, and he feels embarrassed at how warm his cheeks are.

George kisses Dream like he needs him to breathe, like if they stopped kissing at this moment the British man might die. He instinctively opens his mouth to let Dream's tongue into his mouth, hoping to convey the innate need George needs for Dream's lips. 

It's everything someone would wish for a first kiss to be; soft, sweet but not lacking passion in the slightest. George wonders if he can stay here forever before he's being pulled from his thoughts.

"Okay, I've gotten worried so I've come back to make sure you haven't killed each other and– Dream, Jesus Christ, don't eat him !" comes Sapnap's voice from the doorway, causing the two boys to jump apart from each other. 

George can hear Dream telling Sapnap to fuck off, Karl's giggles coming through the iPhone speaker as he says maybe they should leave and Dream mutters something under his breath that George can't quite make out because he's too caught up in his running thoughts.

His eyes are squeezed shut, too terrified to open them. This kiss changes their friendship, whether they want it to or not and if the world is still colourless, George doesn't know where he stands with Dream anymore. He doesn't know how he could move on from Dream.

"Georgie, open your eyes, baby." The pet name causes a shiver to run down George's spine, but he shakes his head. "Please? I promise we're okay. I just want to apologise properly for kissing you without asking and I can't do that if your eyes are shut." 

"No, Dream, don't apologise–" he starts, completely forgetting about keeping his eyes shut in fear as he opens them to look for the boy but when he does, he gasps.

Sitting across from him is Dream, in full colour, smiling at him with the grin he's missed seeing so much. George looks around the room, taking in all the kinds of colours he's never had the opportunity to see before, that he can't wait to learn how to name– colour is everywhere in his world now and Dream is George's soulmate.

"Soulmates," Dream says gently, picking up George's hand in his own and he begins to play with the older man's fingers. "I don't know why we were so worried. Of course, we're soulmates." 

"Soulmates," George whispers back, his heart feels like it's going to burst with all the emotions he's feeling. "I didn't think you could get more gorgeous, but here you are."

Dream shakes his head, "Georgie…" he trails off and George finally learns what blush looks like because Dream's light skin suddenly is covered in a dusting of it. "I'm so glad it's you." He lifts George's hand to his own and presses a kiss to each of the knuckles. 

"You better be," George laughs, all the worries from earlier gently washed away alongside the black and white colours of his world. "You're stuck with me for the rest of your life."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, baby," Dream replies, shuffling the pair of them to lay down in his bed, taking the older man in his arms. He places a gentle kiss on the crown of George's hair, and the British man thinks he could get used to this. 

(It's two days later when they learn George is actually colourblind and Sapnap is howling with laughter in their kitchen. It's not his fault, Dream defends, even though he thinks it's slightly funny that George has spent the last 48 hours believing the colour of his boyfriend's eyes was yellow.)