Chapter Text
Christmas.
In Dream’s opinion, the biggest holiday of the year had earned its spot in his heart. He loved the sharing of love and being able to spoil his friends and family with the guise of it being tradition. People who normally wouldn’t let him use his overwhelming amount of money to shower them with gifts were bound to the constraints of society, meaning Dream got away with far more ‘giving’ than most. There was a kindness in the air, with people willing to enjoy and help their fellow humans in the spirit of the most wonderful time of the year.
And this one, the first time he’d get to spend it with George in person, already had the makings of being the best Christmas yet.
“So is Karl flying here to go with us to Boston?” He turned his question toward Sapnap, who was busy playing with the rows of multi-colored garland on the store’s wall.
“No, he’s still finishing up something with Mr. Beast since he’s spending the next few weeks out of state. He’ll get there a few days after us,” Sapnap answered, shrugging at his choices before snagging four different tinfoil strings and tossing them into the growing cart. If Dream didn’t plan on shipping the bought items overnight to Sapnap’s family cabin the next day, he might have worried about not being able to fit it all onto the plane.
Dream hummed and then glanced around the Christmas decorating aisle, a pinch of a frown catching his lips. “Hey, where’s George?”
“I don’t know, not my turn to babysit the old man.”
“Shut up, Stinknap.”
The call from the opposite aisle had Dream rolling his eyes, leaving Sapnap to his shopping before pushing the cart around the corner. George’s hands were pressed onto either side of his hips, nose scrunched at the wide variety of tree toppers. Some were normal, the star or angel taking up most of the space. But there were funnier ones, as well, with gingerbread women dancing on candy canes, or a shark meant to eat the peak of the tree. Despite knowing he’d be the one ordered to place the particular decoration on the tree, he didn’t have a preference for what Sapnap and George chose. None of it mattered, really, so long as they did it together.
The pleasant thought made Dream smile, pausing the cart next to George. “See one that you like?”
“I don’t know why you Americans need so many choices. Like, who is putting a monkey on the top of a tree?”
“That’s a gorilla, technically,” Dream said, snickering when seeing King Kong’s replica on display.
George scoffed and stepped closer to the shelves, pointing to the highest one. “I want that snowflake that changes color.”
“Okay, sure. You need me to get it?” The jab at the height difference earned him a glare, Dream laughing while he waved off the aggressive look and reached up to snag the chosen topper. “Why this one, anyways?”
“It looks cool, obviously.”
“Always the aesthetic appeal for you, huh?” Dream teased when placing it into the cart, leaning his arms on the cart handle to peer up at George. “What, did you have a boring one back in London?”
“I don’t know, I guess.” The flash of discomfort in George’s expression before looking away had been happening more often since Sapnap and Dream started planning the trip for Christmas. He’d thought that George was just someone who didn’t enjoy speaking about the holiday until December hit, but his avoidant mood only increased as the days before their trip slipped away. Now, with the start of their vacation the following morning, Dream knew he needed to press the subject and clear the air.
“Do you not like Christmas?”
“What?” George blinked and turned to Dream, shaking his head. “Why would you think that?”
“Well, you’ve been kind of off for a couple days. Each time I bring up our plans, you never really have input and get this sad look. I was so focused on getting Karl set up and making sure to confirm with the events we agreed to in Boston, I didn’t ask if you were okay with it. Sapnap was the one who suggested going to his uncle’s cabin, so I know he’s fine. But if there’s a different tradition you want us to celebrate—”
“I don’t really care what we do, Dream.” George’s gaze dropped to the cart, fingers mindless when pushing through the tinsel Sapnap had dropped in before. “Most of the things I used to do as a child stopped years ago. When I started living on my own, I didn’t really have anyone to celebrate with. It’s not that I don’t want to participate in the excitement, cause I am looking forward to whatever you, Sapnap, or Karl plan for the vacation. I guess, I don’t know… I just don’t have a lot to offer, cause I haven’t celebrated with other people since I was a kid.”
“I thought you went to your parent’s house on Christmas,” Dream said, a punch in the gut leaving him breathless when George shrugged and stayed silent. “George, you told me you weren’t alone.”
“Because I knew if I didn’t tell you something, you’d get all worried. Like, look at you; I’m telling you something from a year ago, and you’re still getting that sad puppy look the fans melt over. Maybe it’s a good thing you hid your face for so long.”
George’s little laugh didn’t cover the truth of the sobering statement; for years, while Dream and Sapnap laughed and experienced the joy of being surrounded by their loved ones, George had been alone. He had sat in his little apartment, with nothing but his Twitter feed showing everyone else celebrating without him. Dream’s stomach turned at the thought, knowing that George had hidden the fact for everyone’s well-being but his own.
“George…”
“Stop.” Holding up his left hand to cut off whatever Dream wanted to say, George scowled, as if the thought of Dream’s concern bothered him more than his dismal Christmas memories. “It’s really fine. I’m here now, right? So you can just overload with me tacky American traditions to make up for the other years. I bet I’ll hate the whole holiday by the end of the year.”
“Don't say that,” Dream said, softening his tone despite George’s loud laugh.
“Really, you’re the biggest softie. How anyone saw you as a villain on the SMP is kind of ridiculous.”
“I’m playing a role; it’s not like you sleep for months like your character.”
George shrugged and wandered down the aisle. “I wish I could. If I could get paid to sleep all day, I’d have no reason to get out of bed.”
“Go make an OnlyFans, but just sleep,” Dream said, knowing George was distracting from the real conversation. Still, he fed into the bit, letting the wheels in the back of his mind spin with ideas. “Apparently that’s when some streamers get the most views cause fans think they’ll see things slip out or something.”
“Ew, pass. I don’t want people watching me.”
“Then guess you’ll have to stay a Youtuber and bug me to edit your videos.”
“Lame.” George stopped at the end of the row, turning to look back at Dream over his shoulder. “Stop looking at me like that. I’m twenty-six, not twelve. Missing a few years of celebrating Christmas isn’t going to ruin my life.”
“I know that.” Dream did, despite what the ache in his heart said. He tried to hide his scheming when he glanced casually around the aisle, fingers wrapping around the handle to move their cart. “I think there’s another row of ornaments if you want to go check them out. I’m gonna grab Sapnap so we can head out; come find us when you’re done.”
“Alright, hopefully he didn’t get lost. It’d be sort of embarrassing to hear our names over the intercoms to come pick up our child.”
“Oh, Sapnap is our kid, now?” He asked, grinning when George laughed and shook his head.
“Yes, we, as two men, popped out a full-grown adult as a child.”
“Anything’s possible, George.”
“Oh my God, stop. You’re worse than our fans.”
He waited until George’s little snickers disappeared into the next row before he moved, quick to push the cart out of the aisle to find their missing friend. Sapnap was easy to spot, as he hadn’t moved far from where Dream left him, taking pictures he knew were being sent to Karl. Though he enjoyed teasing his friend about his crush, Dream waved the temptation away. Instead, he focused back on the conversation he’d had with George, waiting for Sapnap to finish sending the Snapchat before he cleared his throat.
The noise worked, Sapnap peeking up from his screen and blinking. “Oh, hey. We leaving? I’m waiting to see which one of these ornaments Karl wants, but we could just buy both I guess.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Throw them in the cart.” He smiled at how quickly Sapnap followed the direction, then scratched the back of his neck to settle his discomfort over the more serious conversation. “Did you know this is the first time George has celebrated Christmas with other people since he moved out?”
“Wait, really?” Sapnap’s surprise eased something in Dream’s chest, knowing he wasn’t the only one thrown off by the revelation. “I thought he used to go visit his family out of town.”
“Apparently, he just made that up so we wouldn’t worry about him.”
“What? Dude, what a dick.” Dream rolled his eyes and bumped the cart into Sapnap’s hip at the insult. “It’s true! You’re not supposed to lie to your best friends.”
“He did it for us, idiot. Guess he thought it’d ruin our holiday.”
“Oh, well… yeah, he’s got a point. I’d probably feel like garbage knowing he was miserable over in England while I was having a good time. And I don’t even want to know how bad you’d be after hearing the love of your life was all alone without you.”
Regretting his confession of his feelings to Sapnap the week before George moved in, Dream forced down his flush and focused on the problem at hand. “You know what that means, right?”
“That he’s gonna expect extra gifts for all the years we missed?”
“Wait, you didn’t send him presents?”
Sapnap’s lack of repent showed in his casual shoulder shrug. “Hey, he didn’t send me one, either. That was a you and him thing.”
“Friends give each other gifts, Sapnap.”
“Yeah, like a half used Chili’s card or something their grandmother ordered them two sizes too small. You drop a grand on George because he smiles when he says your name.”
“Karl gave you custom made anime shoes,” Dream replied, enjoying his moment of victory when Sapnap flushed and waved the claim away.
“Whatever. If the presents weren’t your point, what were you talking about?”
“We’ve got to make this the best Christmas ever for him. Like, everything we did as kids, we’re going to bring them back so George can enjoy the holiday the way he should.”
“He’s going to hate it,” Sapnap said, though the beginning of his excited energy had him rocking in his sneakers. “I’ve got at least fifty things he’d murder us over. And you know Karl will be even worse.”
Smiling at the matched response, Dream laughed, snagging Sapnap under his arm to share the feeling. “He’ll hate it because he’ll love it.”
“And maybe he’ll show he loves some of us more than others.”
Sapnap’s hint wasn’t subtle, Dream staying silent in fear of his voice reflecting his hope of the implication being true. Dream accepted Sapnap’s head falling on his shoulder, the non-verbal support waging against the uncertain flaps of the butterflies in his stomach. Because where Sapnap was sure of his claim of George’s love, Dream couldn’t accept the little signs of interest as fact. He needed something more, words to confirm that the feelings were mutual beyond Twitter threads and clipped moments he watched too many times to admit to. The entire world could think George was in love with him, but until the words left his mouth, Dream refused to believe it.
For now, he wanted to focus on something he could change.
“Dream!” He looked back to see George’s expression brightened when he lifted boxes of candy canes, fruit and peppermint, on either side. “Can we get these?”
“Fruity candy canes? Gross,” Sapnap said, though Dream cut in with a nod.
“Yeah, sure. Throw it in the cart.”
“Awesome! I’m getting more boxes. Don’t move.” After dropping them off, Ge skirted out of sight, Dream’s smile softening at his childish joy.
Sapnap scoffed, poking his side. “Simp.”
Dream didn’t care about the insult, heart pounding with excitement when mumbling his new vow. “We’re going to make this the best Christmas George has ever had.”