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At first everything was perfect. They were perfect. Nick couldn’t even imagine anything being better. He was in love with his best friends and they were in love with him. It was like something straight out of a coming of age movie.
Nick and Clay met when they were both 6 years old. Nick had just moved in next door and his dads decided that in order for their son to socialize the best idea was to have a playdate with the neighbors son. Well it worked.
The two were either in Clay’s house or in Nick’s. They were always running after each other or holding competitions to see who was better at what. It was perfect. Then a British boy moved in and it became even more perfect.
Nick and Clay immediately accepted George into their friend group, the three forming the greatest trio of all. The three were always together, rarely apart. The three could have been attached to the hip and no one would have noticed. The only time when the three weren’t together was in their football club. Nick and Clay got in, while George was happy on the sidelines. Attending nearly every game and cheering them on.
When high school started they were moved to a new school, a bigger school with more kids. There they met new friends, but no matter what it was always the three of them. “Sapnap” and “Dream” (as their teammates would call them) were very popular among their fellow classmates for their sports skills and good looks. George didn’t mind that he wasn’t as popular, he was just happy to be around the two of them.
After a while Sapnap realized he wasn’t entirely straight, and that he had feelings for his best friend. Luckily for him, Dream also had feelings for him. The two started dating during sophomore year, becoming the most popular couple in the school. Everything was perfect until Dream came to him crying one night, confessing that he might have feelings for George.
Of course, Sapanap didn’t know what to do at first. He was worried he would have to break up with Dream. He didn’t want that, he didn’t want to lose his best friend. He also had a crush on George but didn’t know what to do about his feelings. After a talk with his dad, he discovered polyamory relationships and realized he didn’t exactly hate the idea of that.
He talked things out with Dream and they both agreed to a polyamory relationship with George. The only thing they needed was George to accept both of their confessions. They decided to tell him on valentines day, pretending to bring him out to hang out. When they tried to confess, George interrupted them to say that he had feelings for the both of them. After a lot of laughing and talking the three became boyfriends. Everything was perfect.
Dream, George, and Sapnap. It was the three of them against the world. The three of them together. It was as perfect as it could be, and Sapnap couldn’t be happier.
Graduation came and went, and the three of them went to college. They weren’t constantly together anymore but they were still very close. They decided to live in the same house. They all got jobs to pay for the rent and other necessities. They were happy.
Until one night, when Sapnap got home to an empty house. It wasn’t unusual for them to go on one on one dates, but it was weird when they two got home they were acting weird with Sapnap. Usually after one on one dates whoever was left at home would ask about how it went, the details etc, but neither George or Dream would acknowledge the fact that they went out at all. It was like they were embarrassed that they were going out together alone.
Soon, it became a regular thing. George and Dream would go out while Sapnap was left at home. Sure they would still go on dates with him, or be with him but it was rare. Sapnap told himself that it was normal. That it was ok. They were all dating each other, and beside Sapnap and Dream were alone together for a good part of their childhood. George could have some time with him too.
So Sapnap would go out. He would hang out with his friends. He would go out to party, or go out to drink with them and come back home to Dream and George. It was still perfect.
Oftentimes, he would be over at Alexis “Quackity”’s house. Drinking and playing video games. The two met during high school and stayed close ever since. Sometimes Quackity’s roommate, Karl (another friend of theirs from high school) would join them. Sometimes there were more people, but it was usually just the three of them.
Sapnap enjoyed the times when he was with them. He considered them to be best friends too. He would die for them as much as he would have with Dream and George. He would fight for them too, and he did. Back when Quackity’s ex wouldn’t leave him alone, one fight later and his ex was never to be seen again.
Being with them was like a breath of fresh air. Yes, he still loved being with Dream and George but with Karl and Quackity it was something else. He loved the way Karl smiled, and the sound of his laugh. He loved how Quackity would murmur little snarky comments out things under his breath, like a secret he was the only one who could know. He loved being with them.
Slowly it was like he was with them more often then he was with his boyfriends. Not like they seemed to mind anyway, they were too busy with each other to even remember that Sapnap was also dating them.
Sapnap would rant or vent to Karl and Quackity, and like he was for them they were there for him. They would always be there to give him a shoulder to cry on, or to just hug. But after a while, one thing led to another and Sapnap woke up naked with the two of them.
He swears he didn’t mean to. He swears that he still loved Dream and George, it was just that no one made him feel more loved than Karl and Quackity did. He didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t. He felt like he was breaking their trust, no one deserved to be cheated on. Even if they were in a polyamoury relationship it wasn’t an open relationship.
So he didn’t. He continued to have his affair with Quackity and Karl. He continues to love them more than he did with Dream and George. Somewhere in between the pain and the sorrow he lost himself. He was driven mad over the fact of being a third wheel in his own relationship.
Sapnap doesn’t know when it first started, when he first realized that Dream and George loved each other more than they ever loved him. He doesn’t know when first realized that it was more like they were only dating each other, and he was just the third wheel tagging along. Part of him thinks that it's always been that way. Part of him knew it was always gonna end up that way.
He couldn’t tell when he gave up on trying to be part of that relationship. When he gave up on them, and went for someone new. It seemed like it was always destined to happen. However, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to break up with the two. He didn’t know how to say that it was over. How could he? He was the one who cheated, but they were the one who made him feel unloved.
It was his fault that this was happening. He did this to himself. So he stopped. He stopped seeing Karl and Quackity. He stopped replying to their texts, he stopped answering their calls.
Maybe in some way Karl and Quackity understood that what they did was wrong, they should have stopped him the first time. But neither of them could deny they had loved it. They wanted Sapnap, but they gave him time. The two began dating each other and waited for him to come back.
Sapnap couldn’t sleep anymore. He cried a lot, he regretted what he had done. He was ashamed and he was weak. He was scared with what they would do, what they might say when he told them. He knew he had too, but he didn’t want to. Living in a lie might be comforting, but it's hollow and empty. Eventually it would crack, and who would fall but him?
So he did. He told them. But who confessed to Dream and George it was like they didn’t care. The two revealed that they knew all along. They knew what was going on and they didn’t care. They explained that they realized they only loved each other, and their feelings for Sapnap had faded. They wanted to break up with him, but didn’t want to hurt his feelings. So they would ignore him, exclude him, and leave him out of things. Sapnap finding love for himself was just a bonus.
So they broke up.
Sapnap cried. Yes he still felt regret but he felt anger more than anything. He felt betrayed. He doesn’t know how he wanted them to react, but somehow finding out they stopped loving him hurt more than it would have. He expects anger, he expects spite. But watching them tell him with no emotions hurt.
No one deserves to be cheated on, but no one deserves to be told that they lost feelings for you long ago either.
So he goes back to Quackity and Karl. He goes back crying. He doesn’t know what to do anymore, but he couldn’t stand being in the same house with them.
Karl and Quackity welcome him with open arms. They helped him, they brought him to therapy and they loved him.
Slowly, little by little he got better. He came to terms with what he did, and he knows it was his fault but there was nothing he could have done. He reconnects with Dream and George and he dates Karl and Quackity when he got over them.
And it was perfect again.