Chapter Text
It's the last week of August.
Thick clouds blot out the stars across the night sky. The moon is abnormally large and peaks through the clouds just enough to illuminate a weak glow throughout the room.
It’s just him. Him and his computer screen, the light casts pale shadows across his face. He takes a sip of water and leans back in his chair with his eyes closed, deep in thought. He’s not really paying attention until, all of a sudden, he is.
“Dream.” Someone says, and Dream stirs at the sound, blinking his eyes open and flinching slightly against the dim light of the screen. He realizes it’s George.
“Yeah?” Dream asks.
“Did you hear anything I just said?” George asks.
“What?” Dream asks, because he did not hear anything George said.
“I said that we need to go to Disney World when I move to Florida.”
Dream huffs out a dry laugh at the thought as he runs a hand through his hair. “Oh. Alright. We can go to Disney World.”
“Yeah bro, of course we’ll go to Disney World and you know I’m going to take you to that one sushi restaurant I’m always talking about,” Sapnap chimes in.
Dream can't even remember the last time he went out to socialize. Planning for going out in public almost doesn’t feel real. Usually he just sits in the darkness of his room, thinking and drowning himself in the nostalgia of a time when he could enjoy the world. He scrubs a hand down his face, sighing loudly.
It's been a hard day to feel real.
Dream joins the server where Sapnap and George are waiting for him. He navigates his character through the desert spawn, where he sees them standing on a hill full of cacti. “Alright, are you guys ready to start our streams?”
“Yeah,” Sapnap says, “Let’s do it.”
Go Live.
Dream glances at the time. They had been streaming for two hours already. Sweat forms on his hairline and adrenaline pulses through his veins as he sees Sapnap in the near distance and begins chasing him down.
“Come here, Sapnap!” Dream yells enthusiastically.
“George, help me!” Sapnap screeched. Dream’s point of view followed Sapnap swerving around a tree, attempting to lose Dream in a sea of chunks and pixels.
“Run, you idiot!” George screams frantically. His character was nowhere to be seen on the screen, so Dream assumes the pair had probably separated to gather materials. Big mistake on their part.
Dream presses hard on the W key, gaining speed on Sapnap. Target acquired. Dream was just close enough to hit him with his axe.
“No, Dream! Please, I’m only on two hearts!” Sapnap pleads, but it’s too late.
CRACK!
Dream’s axe collided with Sapnap’s body.
Sapnap was slain by Dream.
-
After another hour of playing, laughing and screaming at one another, they collectively decide it’s time to end their streams. They each mute and say goodbye to chat.
“So, I might’ve gotten some news today…” George says, almost cautiously.
“Ooh, about what?” Sapnap asks.
“Regarding my visa.”
“No shit,” Sapnap says.
“What did you hear?” Dream couldn’t hide the hint of excitement in his voice.
“Well, I might just have my visa in the next couple of weeks,” George says, “I know we thought it would be within the next few months, but I didn’t expect it’d be so soon.”
“No way!” Sapnap exclaims, “George is coming to Florida!”
“Really? That’s awesome!” Dream says. He can’t help but smile at that. He feels a fluttering in his stomach, but he can’t quite pinpoint why.
“I know! I can’t believe it. It seems like it’s taken forever. Are you excited to finally see me in person, Dream?” George asks playfully. He can no longer see George’s facecam, but he knows he has a mischievous grin plastered across his face.
“Why, of course, George. How could I not be?” Dream asks slyly, and it makes the other two laugh.
Of course Dream is excited to meet George. They have known each other for years, and it has been a long time coming. He’s more nervous about the fact that he’s going to have to go outside for the first time in two years. He can count on one hand how many times he’s been out in the real world since his YouTube channel blew up, and even then, he felt like he was in fight or flight mode the entire time, scared that someone would recognize him, frantic that someone would take a photo of him and leak it online before he was ready.
“Alright, guys, I have to go. Karl ordered pizza and he just texted from downstairs saying it’s here,” Sapnap says a little too eagerly. “I’ll talk to you guys soon though. Bye!”
And just like that, Sapnap leaves the call.
Sapnap had been staying with Karl in North Carolina for the past week and planned to come back only when George was more sure he was going to be in Florida. It seems now that Sapnap might be home sooner rather than later.
“So, I guess that’s it. You’ll more than likely be in Florida soon?” Dream asks, trying not to sound too eager. “I guess I really do have to start moving my and Sapnap’s stuff to the Dream Team house soon.”
“As long as everything goes like they told me it might, then yes. If they approve my visa, I’ll have to finalize a few things here first, but then I’ll be coming to Florida.”
Dream chuckles thinking about all the fans who have no idea that things are moving this quickly. “Everyone is going to freak out.”
“I know,” George replies, “They’re going to freak out even more when they see your face.”
“You’ll probably freak out more than them whenever you see my face,” Dream retorts.
“Why would I do that?” George challenges, sounding amused.
“Because I’m devastatingly beautiful, George. You might not be able to handle it,” Dream teases.
“Oh, shut up.” Dream can practically hear George rolling his eyes. Dream feels a flush rising up to his cheeks. He decides he really needs to sleep.
"But I think I’m going to go now too. It’s late here. Probably just gonna go to bed," Dream says, “If all goes to plan and you actually get your visa soon, we’ll get on a call at some point with Sapnap and discuss everything.”
"Alright,” George acknowledges, “Well, I’ll talk to you later."
“Bye, George!”
They end the call, and Dream takes off his headset and begins to get ready for bed. George could be in Florida in one month or less. His chest begins to burst with warmth at the thought of George getting his visa soon. For a brief moment, he pictures himself hugging George; an image that’s flashed across his mind hundreds of times would soon no longer be just a swift thought. It would be real.
Dream climbs into bed and pulls the mess of covers up over himself.
He begins to think about Sapnap and George, his two best friends, his appreciation for them and how the thought of them all finally being in the same place together makes his heart swell with pride. Maybe going outside wouldn’t be so bad after all with those two by his side.
Take your friends with you, Dream thinks to himself.
With that, he is lulled to sleep by the sound of his ceiling fan.