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In about a week everyone will leave for college and Dream feels like throwing up everytime he thinks about it, so he just doesn’t. He doesn’t think about Sapnap and Sam going to Texas or Quackity going to California or Karl going to North Carolina, and he most definitely doesn’t think about George going to New York. He just doesn’t think about everyone leaving in about a week even though he wishes he could, because that would make him accept it faster, but he just can’t. He feels like he’a being a big baby, crying because his friends are leaving him, almost like he’s a puppy being abandoned.
“Hello? Earth to Dream?” Sapnap shakes a hand right in front of his face, definitely too close for comfort.
“What? What do you want?” Dream turns to look directly at him.
“We were talking about going to Sam’s house tomorrow, since me and him leave in like three days and Quackity and Karl leave in four” the brunet answers, basically asking him if he was free.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be there for sure” Dream smiles at him before looking at all the other people at the table. “I’ll ask George” he goes to take his phone out of his pocket but a hand on his shoulder and a body sliding right next to him stops him.
“Ask me what?” George asks Dream with a smile, without even looking at the other people at the table.
Dream vaguely hears Sapnap scoff and Karl and Sam giggle before he answers. “If you’re free tomorrow night to go to Sam’s house”.
“Sure.”
“It’s kinda a goodbye party for everyone” Sapnap interjects.
“I’ll be there” George responds looking at their friends, almost as if he even forgot the others were there at all.
Dream sighs, hearing Sam and George start a totally different conversation. It’s like the world is against him forgetting, for a bit, that his friends are going elsewhere while he stays right where he is. It’s like everyone just has to remind him that George is leaving.
As much as he wanted to ignore the inevitable departure of basically all of his friends, it is now here. Sapnap and Sam left two days ago and Karl and Quackity left yesterday, and George — and Ponk — is leaving in two days. Dream is trying his very best not to burst out crying everytime he sees George or even talks to him on the phone, but he’s finding it harder and harder everyday. He should be excited, a new chapter for him is beginning and college is exciting, from what he always hears from his older sister at least, but he can’t help to feel the absence of his friends with him. He knows, objectively, that they’ll still talk to each other basically everyday but it feels different. It definitely is different, with them miles and miles away, all with different schedules and even different time zones.
He watches George sleep next to him, looking so peaceful, and he wonders how he seems so unfazed. Maybe he is. Maybe for George it isn’t that serious.
“Stop looking at me sleeping.” The brunet mumbles, squashing his cheek on the pillow.
“Sorry.” Dream shrugs, diverting his gaze to the ceiling.
“What are you thinking about?” George asks, planting his elbow on the pillow and resting his head on his hand.
“Just stuff.” The blond really does not want to elaborate.
“Just stuff?” The brit scoffs while scooting forward to half lean on Dream and be almost in his direct line of sight.
“Yeah.”
“You’ve been thinking about ‘just stuff’ a lot lately.” George presses on, not giving up on it yet.
Dream drags his gaze to George’s face, looking at him inquisitively, trying to understand what he knows or picked up on.
“Ugh, just tell me what’s going on in that dumb little head of yours.” George scoffs again, tapping on Dream’s forehead with a finger.
Dream raises a hand to shoo his hand away “So annoying.” He shakes his head before letting out a big sigh. “I just- I’m just thinking that everything is changing, and maybe it’s too fast. At least for me.”
George nods, clearly listening to what he’s saying, while also wanting to hear more. Sometimes Dream hates how well George knows him, because he really cannot hide anything from him. Well, anything except one little thing.
“And everyone is moving away, so I just feel kinda left behind.” Dream shrugs as if trying to drive the thought away.
“Alyssa’s here.” George jokes.
“You know it’s not the same thing.” Dream raises a hand to bring it into George’s hair and starts playing with it.
“Yeah I know.” George sighs now too. “But we’ll talk like everyday, and we’ll call every other night. I promise.”
“You promise?” Dream smiles.
“Of course, idiot.” George eyerolls and shakes his head.
“You’re an idiot.” The blond laughs
“You’re definitely the biggest idiot, idiot.”
“So… This is it, huh?” Dream says as George puts the last of his bags in the car that will take him to the airport.
“I’m not joining the army, Dream, I’m just going to New York. We won’t even be in different time zones.” George replies, going to stand right in front of the taller one.
“You’re still going away.” The blond counters, trying not to let the tears forming in his eyes fall. He almost wants to fall to his knees and beg George not to go, to just start university right there in Orlando.
“We’ll call every other night, we agreed.” George insists, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“I’m just afraid we’ll lose touch after some time. I mean, you’re going to New York, basically the most diverse city in the world, and you’re going to have all these experiences without me and you’re going to see how much I weigh you down and-” Dream starts to ramble, now too scared and sad to not let everything spill out.
“Are you stupid?” George interrupts. “No genuinely, are you dumb?”
“What-”
“You think I can just forget about you? Just like that?” George gets closer, finally deciding to take Dream’s hand in both of his. “I could never just ‘lose touch’ with you, because I would never let that happen to us. It cannot happen.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. Do you promise?”
“Of course I promise, idiot.” Dream laughs, finally pulling George in for a hug.
He’s having a pretty hard time accepting this change, not seeing George everyday anymore. He knows he just has to get used to it, but it’s hard going from basically spending every waking hour of every single day with a person and then suddenly not doing that anymore but instead just calling or facetime, being miles apart.
“George.” Dream distantly hears George’s dad call for him and knows that it’s time to let go, but he just can’t. He can’t watch George get on that plane, knowing that it’ll be months before they see each other again in person.
George hugs him tighter for a few seconds, nuzzling his head on Dream’s shoulders, and the blond finally understands that this is hard for him too, that George doesn’t want to leave him but has to, for his future. So Dream is the one that lets go first, even though it breaks his heart, because he doesn’t want George to worry about him too much, not to the point of being miserable just like he is.
“I’ll see you, right? On Christmas?” Dream asks, just for confirmation.
“Yes, everyday. Even on Christmas day.” George jokes, giggling.
“And we’ll talk, just like we promised.”
“Of course.” The brunet nods. “Goodbye Dream.” And he goes for another quick hug before basically running into the car.
Dream watches the vehicle start up and go down the road, and once it finally turns and he knows that George can’t see him anymore, he starts crying. His college experience isn’t supposed to be like this, with basically all his friends scattered around the United States. They are supposed to be together. But alas, they aren’t and he should just accept that. He will accept that, it’ll just take more time than he originally thought, and hoped, it would take.
For the next few weeks, Dream goes to his classes and sees Alyssa almost everyday, she’s a great support for him because it’s very obvious that she misses their friends as well but still understands that for Dream it’s different with George. Dream suspects that she might know about him being in love with his best friend, but she never says a word about it.
He calls George almost every night and still talks to him everyday from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed, but it still feels different, even though he doesn’t say so to George. He pretends everything is going great, because he doesn’t want the brunet worrying about him when he should be focusing on himself and his classes.
By the time the Christmas holidays come around, Dream already feels like a failure. He feels like he’s failing in college, but also feels like he’s failing at life. George comes home today, after months of only seeing him through a screen, and he’ll hear about all his great adventures in New York and all his new friends, and he’ll just want the earth to swallow him whole to make him disappear, knowing that he didn’t experience the excitement of college the same way the brit did. In fact, he almost didn’t experience it at all.
George: just got off the plane. I’ll be at your house in like forty min.
George: can’t wait to see you :].
Dream smiles reading the messages and plants himself in front of the window in his room, thanking his parents that decided to give him that room, so he’ll be able to see George coming.
Dream: i’ll be here waiting for u :).
Dream shoots him a message, just to make sure the Brit knows that he’s anxiously waiting for him, excited to see him again after literally months of not getting to hug him.
“Are you waiting for someone?” Dream’s head whips around at the sudden presence, seeing his sister standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow. “You look like a dog waiting for his owner.”
“George is coming home today.” Dream explains.
“Oh that explains it.” His sister nods, looking at him and scoffing out a laugh.
“Wha-” Dream never gets to ask the question, because his sister is already gone, probably walking to her room.
He feels like everyone just apparently knows about his crush on George. Is it really that obvious? And if it is, he can’t help but wonder if even George himself noticed and didn’t say anything because he doesn’t feel the same way and didn’t want to make it awkward between them. Would it even be awkward, though? He thinks he’d be able to still be his friend, but maybe George would be disgusted. That thought scares him. He doesn’t want to lose George just because of his stupid feelings. He shakes his head, as if that would help kick the thought out of his head, and turns to look out his window again, still waiting for George to show up.
After about another ten minutes of waiting, Dream sees his best friend turn on his street and quickly gets up just to run down the stairs and out in the street. When George sees him running towards him, he laughs that beautiful laugh of his. Dream missed hearing it without the static-y sound of a phone call. Once he’s close enough, he drags the brunet into a hug and holds on tight, as if afraid that he could disappear from in front of him again.
“God, I missed you.” Dream murmurs, nuzzling his head on George’s shoulder.
“I missed you too, idiot.” George says back, squeezing him for a moment.
Dream sighs, knowing that he has to let go of the Brit. So he does, also knowing that once they’ll be inside the house, they’ll probably cuddle. Or he’ll force George to cuddle. They have lots of cuddling sessions they have to catch up on.
“Let's go inside.” Dream keeps an arm on George’s shoulders, keeping him literally at arms length. “How was the flight?”
“Awful.” George responds. “There was this stupid kid behind me that would not stop kicking my seat.”
Once inside the house, George goes to greet Dream’s parents, being the respectable young man that he is, before they both go to Dream’s room.
George flops down on the bed and pats the space right beside him. “Come here, I want cuddles.”
“Oh you want cuddles now, do you?” Dream jokes around.
“Yes, come here.” George tries to order him around. “I deserve cuddles.”
“Fine, I guess I’ll give you cuddles.”
Dream walks to the bed and flops down next to him while George looks at him with a victorious smile plastered across his face. He looks very soft like this. Dream realizes he missed this more than he thought, and almost cries when he reminds himself that he has to give it up in a few short weeks, once the holidays are gone. He forces himself not to think about it.
“Cuddle me.” George complains, with the whiny voice he always puts on when he doesn’t immediately get what he wants.
Dream complies.
He watches George physically relax when hugged and sigh, as if finally getting a weight off his shoulders. Dream finally realizes that the distance was as hard on George as it was on him.
“Are you gonna fall asleep?” Dream asks after a few minutes.
“Mh-mh.” George answers. Or he mumbles.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
“We should get under the covers then.” Dream moves to do so.
George huffs. “Don’t wanna.”
“C’mon Georgie, we’ll be more comfortable and warmer.” Dream tries to convince him.
“Ugh, fine.” George moves to get them both under the covers as fast as possible.
Once they are finally settled, George gets more comfortable and ready to nap and cuddle with Dream once again. He lays his head in the crook of Dream’s neck and puts an arm around his stomach, basically hugging him. Dream is forced to put his arm around George’s shoulders.
As soon as George falls asleep, Dream is left to just watch him. He can feel George’s breath hitting the skin on his neck, and it’s giving him goosebumps. He can feel the soft skin of George’s cheeks and the slight bit of stubble on his chin. He wishes he could just raise a hand and caress him, wanting to deliberately touch his skin, not even just his cheeks but everywhere. Dream wants to touch him everywhere. He wants to know how his stomach feels like, how his hips feel like and, most importantly, how his thighs feel while he squeezes them between his fingers.
He has never hated clothes more than at this very moment, because he knows that there’s just two layers of fabric separating them, but it feels like they are still miles apart.
A few days later, George messages him in the middle of the night saying he can’t sleep. Dream, being the good friend that he is and nothing else, of course, offers to do something.
That something involves going out in the middle of the night, picking up George and just driving around Orlando. Dream thanks whoever is up there that it’s late enough where no one is on the streets except the poor low-paid truck drivers, but Dream pays them no mind, too preoccupied with ogling George in the passenger seat of his car.
George hasn’t said anything since he got in the car, and Dream is starting to worry. Because why, exactly, are they currently driving through the streets of Orlando in the middle of the night?
“Wanna go to the beach? I think we’ve already been here three times in the last ten minutes.” Dream asks, looking at his best friend for a split second.
George nods. “Sure.”
Dream nods along and takes a left, knowing the route by heart. All the memories come back to him. About his family going to the beach in the summers when he was little and him arguing with his sister, while his mother tried to calm them down. About being thirteen in Sapnap’s dad's car with all his friends, going for the first time to the beach together and being so excited about not needing their parents to watch them anymore. About doing that same exact journey the next year but with one more person with them, a new guy with a British accent that they became friends with in school. About being in his own car a couple years later with George in the same passenger seat that he’s in right now, going to the beach for the first time alone, without all their friends bothering them.
It takes one hour to get there and they still don’t really talk. George is in charge of the aux cord and of course plays the most random assortment of songs known to men. At one point they end up singing “Call Me Maybe” at the top of their lungs.
Dream is still very concerned about George, cause he hasn’t even hinted at what could possibly be going on. But he’s also content just staying in silence for the entirety of the ride, except for the occasional singing of songs, because silence with George is never awkward, they still understand each other without the need for words. That’s also why Dream knows for sure that there’s something bothering his best friend.
Dream parks the car near the Westgate Pier and turns to George, seeing him look forward to the ocean.
“You’re not planning on going in the water, right? It’s like, 50°.” Dream asks.
“I’m not stupid.” George rolls his eyes and unfastens his seatbelt, already getting out of the car.
Dream shakes his head with a smile on his face and gets out of the car as well.
They run to the beach and then flop down on the sand, out of breath but still giggling. George puts his head on Dream’s shoulder and Dream leans his head on George’s while they catch their breath.
Dream leans backward on his hands. “So…”
“So?” George turns to look at him.
“Why are we here?”
“How am I supposed to know, you’re the one that suggested it.” George says with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
“Well, you’re the one that couldn’t sleep.” Dream insists, praying that George just starts talking about it.
But he doesn’t, he just shrugs.
“Tell me how you’re doing.” George changes the subject, catching Dream off-guard.
Dream shrugs.
“C’mon, tell me.”
So, Dream tells him.
“Well, life is great, y’know? I am very happy to be out of high school, because that was a literal nightmare. With my parents it’s going great and I see Amelia more now that we’re on the same campus, which is great. Noah and Olivia are still the same annoying little shits.” Dream laughs. This part is true, he feels like everything family-wise is going great, like how it’s supposed to be.
“And college is college, it’s great.” Which is a lie, because college is not great for him. Alyssa keeps inviting him to go out with her and her new friends, and sometimes he does go but it’s not the same and it will never be. There’s always something missing.
George lays down on the sand and looks at the sky, to all the stars littering it. All little specks of light, some dead and some very much alive. “Did you make friends? You never said.”
“Oh yeah. I often go out with them. Alyssa too.” Dream nods, knowing fully well that he’s lying to George. He just doesn’t want him to feel bad, he doesn’t want him worrying about his stupid best friend.
“That’s great.” George says, still looking at the stars.
Dream lays down next to him and knocks their heads together, as if nudging him. “Can you tell me what’s bothering you?”
“It’s stupid.” Dream can feel George shaking his head.
“It’s now stupid if it’s bothering you.” He insists.
“It’s just-” George interrupts himself, letting out a frustrated sigh. He sits up but still keeps his back to Dream.
Dream lets him take his time, knowing that George has a hard time expressing his feelings, especially if he feels pressured.
“I am just having a hard time.” George sags his shoulders, putting his head on his knees.
“What do you mean?” Dream asks softly.
“I hate it.” George explains, his voice muffled. “I just hate it.”
Dream sits up and puts his arm around George’s shoulders, carefully caressing him, as if he’s a scared animal. “What do you hate?”
“New York.” George finally lets out, raising his head as if to see if Dream is disappointed in him for not being strong enough to do it. Dream is just very confused.
“I thought you were doing great?” Dream scoots a little closer to him.
“I am.” George sighs. “That’s the worst part, I am doing great. School-wise. But I just- I miss home. I miss my parents. I miss my friends. And I know that Ponk is there, but I don’t see him that often.”
Dream nods, not really knowing what to say.
“And most importantly, I miss you. I really, really miss you.” George lets out a shuddering breath, as if he was trying very hard not to cry.
“Oh.” Dream says, like a dumbass. “I really miss you too.”
“I can’t do it, Dream. I really can’t. The thought of being so far away is killing me and I just can’t do it anymore. I know I can’t. And knowing that I’d have to do it for however many more years is like killing me even more.” George lets out a cry and just falls forward, leaning his head on Dream’s chest.
Dream hugs him, feeling the tears fall on his shirt and George’s shoulders shudder with his cries. Dream doesn’t know what to do or say, so they just stay like that for he doesn’t even know how long. Once George calms down, they lay down on the sand once again, but this time George is mostly leaning on Dream.
They watch the stars. George points out a few different constellations, like Orion and Andromeda. Dream listens to him talk about them and is amazed at how smart George is, once again.
“I wanna move back here.” George suddenly says.
“Really?” Dream asks.
“Yes. I just have to talk to my parents about it.” George sighs. “God, they’re gonna be so disappointed.”
“I think they’ll be happy to have you back home.” Dream tries to reassure him.
“You think?” George looks up at him.
Dream can see the slight hint of tears in his eyes. “Of course, they love you.”
George nods, resting his head on Dream’s shoulder once again.
They stay there for a couple more hours and by the time they get back it’s already past the sunrise. Dream leaves George at his house and George promises to talk to his parents that very same day.
When he gets home, he finds his mother in the kitchen. She looks at him dumbfoundedly.
“Did you just get back?” She looks towards the door, obviously expecting George to be there as well.
“Yes.” Dream answers sheepishly.
“And where were you?”
“I was at the beach.” Dream turns around. “I’m gonna go to bed.”
“What were you doing at the beach in December and in the middle of the night?”
“George needed to talk. Goodnight, mum. Or good morning, I don’t know.”
Dream hears her sigh and imagines she is shaking her head while watching him go to his room. He knows they’re gonna have a talk once he wakes up.
He decides to shoot George a text before he goes to sleep.
Dream: i know you’re probably already fast asleep.
Dream: so this is for later.
Dream: you can do it, i know you can <3
Dream: call me right after to tell me how it went.
Dream wakes up to someone banging on his door and begrudgingly gets up to open it. “What do you want?”
He wasn’t expecting George to be right there.
“Wow, way to greet me.” George pushes past him. “You weren’t answering.”
“I’m sorry. I basically passed out as soon as I hit the bed.” Dream raises a hand to scratch at the nape of his neck.
“I talked to them.” George finally says, the real reason why he’s there.
“What did they say?” He shifts his weight from one foot to the other nervously.
“I explained that I wasn’t feeling well, being so far from home and never seeing anyone basically. I explained that it was a mental thing and that I knew it would only get worse. They understood, but said that I still need to finish college, so they agreed that I should enroll at UCF.” George finishes with a big smile on his face, waiting for Dream’s reaction.
Dream takes a second to process everything, but then when he realizes he scoops George up into his arms with a smile. George returns the hug and they both laugh.
“I’m so happy.” Dream puts George down and looks at him, still smiling.
“I am too. It’s like a weight off my shoulders, I swear. I felt so alone there and I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone because no one would take me seriously. But they did, and they understood.” George goes to sit at the edge of Dream’s bed. “I will enroll into UCF after the holidays and-”
Dream listens to him ramble on about university and how they can go together everyday and how everything is gonna be better, and he just has the urge to say it.
“God, I love you so much.”
“What?” George looks at him, perplexed.
“Oh, I actually said that.” Dream feels stunned.
“What did you say?” George gets up and walks up to him.
“I said- I said I love you.” Dream knows that what’s done is done, so he embraces the sudden confession. “I love you. I am in love with you. And I get that you might not feel the same, and it’s okay really. If it is for you, of course. I don’t want to weird you out. But I love you, and you deserve to know.”
“Dream.” George takes Dream’s face in between his hands and looks him right in the eyes. “You are the stupidest person on the planet if you think I don’t love you back.”
Dream is, once again, stunned. “You do?”
“Of course I do!” George explains, exasperated. “Have you met you? You are basically my favourite person in the whole world. You are wonderful, and caring, and fun, and so empathetic. I am astonished you decided to love me of all people.”
“Now you are being stupid. You are the most lovable person I know.” Dream shakes his head, a smile plastered on his face.
“Can I kiss you?” George still keeps his hands on Dream’s face and inches closer and closer.
Dream doesn’t answer, he just kisses him.
The moment Dream’s lips touch George’s, he feels like galaxies are colliding with each other and flowers are blossoming. The world could stop, and he would be happy. George’s lips are so soft that he just wants to kiss them forever. He feels like he can live just off of those lips. Dream puts his hands on George’s hips, bringing him even closer. Bodies touching, lips touching. They giggle when they come up for air, and they stare into each other’s eyes.
Dream feels like crying, but this time from happiness. Because George is finally his, and he doesn’t have to let go. He doesn’t have to see him up and leave, going miles and miles away, and he doesn’t have to only speak to him through a phone anymore.
George is all his.
“Clay it’s like two pm, it’s time to wake-” His mother enters the room suddenly, interrupting them. They scramble to step away from each other.
It’s clear from her face that she saw them being way too close, probably even saw them kissing. She doesn’t say anything about it, just clears his throat.
“You’re awake, good. I made some pasta, if you want. George, you’re welcome to stay.” She smiles at them and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
They exchange glances and burst out laughing.
“She definitely saw, right?” George asks, through a laugh.
“Yeah, she definitely did.” Dream answers, taking a long breath to calm himself. “We should go and, I don’t know, probably talk to her.”
He offers George his hand, inching towards the door.
George looks at him with a smile and takes his hand, interlocking their fingers. “Yeah, we definitely should.”
Dream raises their hands and kisses the back of George’s hand while looking him in the eyes. George is smiling at him.
He feels the happiest he’s ever been. He feels like he’s ready to take on the world.
For now, though, he’ll just take on the very awkward conversation they are about to have with his mom.