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Lights are shining brightly in George’s eyes, squinting at the crowd with a microphone in hand. His palm is a little clammy on the handle, heart thumping in his chest and breathing a little too quickly. He thought after years of streaming and doing live shows in front of hundreds and thousands of fans, this would be easy.
The room is filled with his and Dream’s family and closest friends, basically from across the world. After knowing each other for as long as they have, there’s not really a separation between the two anymore; Dream’s side and his own. They’re one in the same.
As he looks around and squints past the blinding spotlights, he tries to reassure himself that he knows everyone in the room, even though he can’t really make out faces right now. All the people he grew up with and spent his days with from London and all his online friends that became IRL friends and even the people that George hadn’t known until after the face reveal and Dream begged him to meet, he knew them all.
And here they were, watching him stand at the front table with a microphone to his face and his jaw slightly dropped with flushed cheeks, like an idiot.
This should be easy .
He glances down at Dream and swallows harshly, glancing back up at the crowd.
It’s not.
All of a sudden, he regrets his decision for this so-called speech that’s much more personal than anything he could’ve said right now. But it’s far too late for that now.
Before he starts, he clears his throat into the mic to re-gather everyone’s attention.
“Um, so, hi everyone.” Mumbled responses appear, though the glare makes it impossible to see anyone besides those at the front table. He makes eye contact with Sapnap, who gives him a reassuring nod. He’s the only one who knows about this speech. It makes it a little easier to breathe.
Sapnap’s smile is kind and warm as he sits at the front table with a blue tie and annoyingly enough, a baseball cap atop his head. George had made fun of him relentlessly for it but to be fair, he didn’t want his friend to be uncomfortable. Besides George and Dream, he was the next most important person at this God damn wedding. He basically helped plan this entire thing and if they could’ve shared the same best man, Sapnap would’ve fit the role.
But Karl was their best friend too, growing closer and closer over shared vacations, extended Banter recordings, and stupid things Dream liked to call double-dates against George’s will. Karl sat closely next to his partner with his arm wrapped around his waist, the two best men being the best as they share a look that George could only describe as proud.
“Uh, so, I think everyone knows this already, but I mean, I’m not really good with words.” He starts out, cringing that he didn’t plan this part beforehand. He eases into it a little when he hears laughter from across the room. “So, I actually decided to do something a little different than give a speech.”
He feels more than sees Dream look up at him with a perplexed look on his face, but George just presses on and nods at Sapnap, who fiddles around with a remote to the projector that pictures had been playing on all night.
George swallows harshly before mumbling a thank you and sitting down as he turns off the mic, wiping his hands on his tuxedo pants. He looks back at Sapnap one more time to make sure things are going well as the lights dim slightly and the song begins as the video plays on the screen.
For Dream. It reads.
The first thing that shows is a Minecraft screen, though George hates that this is how it starts. It seems cheesy, sure. But in his defense, he wants everyone to understand where this came from. Dream included, just in case he doesn’t remember. Besides, he and Dream met through Minecraft and it’s only fair for it to bleed into their wedding a bit. And it’s a little funny. That’s a win-win in George’s book.
It’s a clip he dug up from ages ago in Dream’s old hard drive, something that took him weeks to find. The video is of Dream running through the nether during the uncut recording from one of the Manhunt Speedrunner vs. 4 Hunters videos that was never posted. It’s from 2020, when Dream was just starting to blow-up on YouTube. Before he came out.
“What? Are you gonna propose?” Sapnap asks, sarcasm dripping heavy in his voice. He’s aiming the question at Antfrost, who at the time had already been dating Velvet for a while, even though it hadn’t been announced yet. It was a dumb joke that Sapnap had been trying to make, but it didn’t land and Ant’s hesitation made his answer a bit more serious. “Well, I think he’ll propose. But uh, not yet. Definitely not yet, it’s too soon.”
The silence is awkward for a second and that’s when Dream comes in, his Minecraft character jumping up and down as he waits for piglins to give him pearls. “How do you know he’ll propose? What if he’s just waiting for you to propose?”
It’s a curiosity that’s passed off by everyone else, but George knew he’d been questioning his sexuality a bit. He was sure it was more than being curious just for the sake of knowing. “Oh, I mean I technically don’t.” Ant responds. “But I think we’ll probably talk about it when it’s time, like when it’s actually relevant, I guess."
Dream’s character mines more gold, looking around to make sure he was in a safe spot as he continues. “If he proposes to you, don’t you think you’ll like—I don’t know, miss out on it? Won’t you wanna know what it’s like? I mean, I think I want to know.” It’s a slip up, obvious by the hitch in his breath as he realizes his mistake.
It makes George feel bad, even today as they sit at the head table of their own wedding , for God’s sake. But he can’t help but remember the weeks Dream was trying to figure himself out. Late nights of scrolling through Reddit, tears and sobs filled with confusion, words begging for things to just be easy and to make sense. George’s heart still aches for that Dream.
The memory makes him lean closer to Dream, resting his chin on his shoulder from behind as they watch the screen together. He sees Dream’s smile, though his face turns stoic as he concentrates on the video.
“Well, good thing you’re not gay then.” Ant says with a laugh, making the others laugh with. Dream’s character stops jumping and he sighs, sounding defeated.
The video zooms into the chat.
<GeorgeNotFound> Don’t worry, if you marry a man I’ll tell him to record everything :]
<Dream> thanks george
The screen fades black, and George looks at Dream’s face again, a little perplexed at the ending of the clip as the next one starts, but a smile remains, nonetheless.
Transitioning to the next clip, George’s cheeks flush at the sight of himself on the screen. It’s weird watching videos of himself in front of other people. Sure, he’d watched his own videos with Dream and Sapnap before for editing purposes, but this was different. George is straight out of bed with messy, soft hair and a happy gleam in his eyes. This was personal.
“Okay guys, I don’t—I don’t even know what this is or like, who’s gonna see this.” George whispers to the camera, running fingers through his messy hair. He stands in their shared bathroom, vlogging himself with his phone. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t know.” He’s having inner turmoil with himself as he talks.
He paces a little back and forth before looking at the camera again. “I just—I woke up and was like, I wanna marry Dream.” He’s blushing and looks away from the camera.
George’s flush matches the pink cheeks on the screen. He can’t help but look away for a moment and scrunch his nose at his own mini vlog. His heart thumps quickly in his chest and he can only hope Dream can’t feel it from where George’s chest is pressed against his back.
“And okay, I’ve known that for a while, right? But like, I don’t know. I woke up and was just like, yeah, I’m gonna ask Dream to marry me.” He shrugs at the camera and sighs, looking up at what everyone can assume is the mirror to fix his hair, though he kind of just messes it up some more.
Still whispering, George tries fixing the angle of the camera. “I know Dream’s always wanted to be like, part of this whole process, I guess. Like proposing or whatever.” His hand flails around in the air, gesturing to the idea. “So, I’m gonna record it so he can like, be a part of it, I think.”
A creak is heard in the background and George’s eyes fly up to the door. Bringing his lips close to the phone, he says as quietly as possible “I think he’s waking up, sh.”
George freezes on screen, putting his fingers up to his lip.
It’s funny to George now, that he told the camera to sh as if the audience was making noise. It’s habit, he thinks, from talking to his stream and sharing drinks and giving virtual hugs.
Sure enough, a knock breaks through George’s quiet breathing. “George, you ‘kay? ’s so early.” Dream’s sleepy voice is mumbled. “Come back.” Dream’s voice is whiney and George in the video can’t help but smile, making wide and silly eyes at the camera. “Yeah, sorry. I’m coming.” He says, turning the camera off.
Dream looks back slightly, shock still apparent on his features although flushed, but he immediately turns back to the video as if he’ll miss something extremely important if he takes his eyes off the screen.
Another clip of George vlogging pops up on the screen, except he appreciates that he’s a bit more put-together in this one. He’s standing in the kitchen of the Dream Team house, George smiling at the memory.
George’s family had come to Florida to visit for the holidays. The year prior had been spent with Dream’s family and they decided to bring everyone together, meshing the families with perfect timing for George’s plan.
He’s alone at first in the recording, speaking quickly and quietly.
“My family is here, so I think I’m gonna just tell them. Right? I wanted to plan something out like, better than this.” He says to himself in the video, shaking his head free of the thought. “But I’m so happy and—and I’m excited. And I just want them to know.”
He watches Dream from his spot on his shoulder, who barely blinks as he listens to past George in the front. George smiles at him, though he can’t see it, and presses a light kiss to his shoulder.
George sets the camera down in the kitchen as his parents and older sister walk in. He gestures for them to sit at the bar stools, staring at them in a way that makes them all look at each other with hesitance.
“Uh, George?” His sister asks, waving her hand in his face. “Anyone in there?”He scowls and pushes her hand away, glancing back behind him and down the hall to make sure Dream is gone, even though he’s not home. “I’m gonna ask Dream to marry me.”
The words are steady and confident in the video, no fear peeking through. But that’s because there was none. He wasn’t scared to tell his family, not even in the slightest. Though he and Dream didn’t start officially dating until well after he moved to Florida, he thinks his family always knew. Even before.
Dream made him happy and he was willing to move across the world to be with him. It wasn’t a secret, that he loved Dream. They knew that already.
“Oh, honey!” His mum says, tears escaping almost immediately as she pulls him into a hug. His dad follows closely behind, a three-person hug soon becoming four with his sister. George’s eyes even turn glossy, a wet but happy chuckle escaping him.
“Congrats.” His dad tells him as they part, large hand landing on his shoulder with a nod of approval. George nods back a thank you.
His sister scoffs from beside him, wiping her tears but rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re getting married before me.” She tells him, shoving him lightly before tugging him into another hug.
George usually resists hugs but he doesn’t this time, letting his family hug him and congratulate him for something that was so important to him.
Even though it’s not included in the video, George remembers what happened after he told them. It was a few hours later when his mom asked him to sit outside, swinging next to each other on a two-person swing in the far corner of their backyard.
She had asked him if he told Dream’s parents yet and he had shrugged. Not yet, not at that point he hadn’t. He’d thought about it, but he was taking the process slow. One step at a time. He just finished that first step, to tell his own family. He didn’t think about step two yet.
But while they talked, George asked her how she’d want to find out, if Dream was asking for their permission.
She smiled and put a hand on his cheek, sun beaming down on the two of them and burning their cheeks just a little. And she told him not to worry, that his family would be happy to hear that George was asking, no matter how he did it. Because she knew that George made Dream as happy as Dream made him, and that’s all any parent wants. For their kid to be happy.
So while his own family was there to help distract Dream, he decided to tell them at a conjoined dinner they had a few days before Christmas. It’s at their own house, the two of them happy to host a holiday for the first time. George remembers it with a smile, it being their first of many.
With his own parents' help, they dragged Dream outside to the backyard, making up some story about their favorite swinging chair being broken and needing to be fixed. And luckily, George had just unclipped one of the sides and hid the clip somewhere in the bushes he’d find with a few minutes of searching, which meant he didn’t have much time.
“Um, so I actually wanted to ask you guys something.” George tells Dream’s parents after he places the camera down, fiddling with his fingers in front of him. He glances down at the countertop and takes a deep breath.
George wasn’t nervous before that, he remembers. It was that moment, right there, where both of Dream’s parents look at him intently with two sets of similar green eyes that he suddenly worried.
In George’s defense, he wasn’t nervous about them saying no, but he was nervous to say the words. It was just one of those things that made him feel weird for no reason, like saying I love you on stream even though he had said it a million times in private or apologizing to a close friend even when he felt terrible about something.
“I know this might be like, a little unexpected—” He starts and Dream’s mum laughs, tears already filling her eyes. “It’s not unexpected, George. Yes, you can—” Dream’s father rests his hand over his wife’s, gesturing for her to stop and let him continue. She apologizes. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. You can—go ahead.” George literally laughs, loudly even, throwing his head back.
He feels Dream’s back move against his chest with laughter, hearing faint laughing in the crowd as well.
“Okay, well, um—” George clears his throat before continuing. “You guys know how much Dream— Clay— means to me.” He corrects, pulling out the real name for this kind of conversation, even though he never uses it. Ever. “And I just—I love him and he makes me a better person and—and I want to make him happy.” He’s tripping over his words a little and refrains from making a face at himself for kind of screwing this up.
Dream’s face is sickeningly fond as he stares up at the George with his parents, making George feel a bit better about his fumbling words.
“And I wanna spend the rest of my life with him.” He says, Adam’s apple clearly bobbing in his throat, even in the video.
George feels relieved just watching. He had never been more grateful in his life that Dream’s mum is impatient, pulling him into a tight hug with tears streaming down her face on the screen.
“Yes, George, yes! Of—of course, you can marry my son.” She says, pulling back and pressing a kiss to his cheek. She tugs him to her chest one more time, squeezing tightly. Over her shoulder, he looks at Dream’s dad who smiles at him before he gives his approval. “You make Clay happy, George. So yeah, yes—definitely.” Pulling away from Dream’s mum, he steps closer to his father and puts out a hand.
The taller man smiles and shakes his hand politely but leans down and pulls George into a hug taking him by surprise. “Welcome to the family, George.”
George is shocked, even though he experienced it first-hand and watched the clip so many times over while trying to edit the video together. Dream and his dad had been building a better relationship over the last few years as things changed. His dad seemed to better understand Dream and his career, and Dream learned to be a little more patient with his dad, as long as he was trying to do better.
But still, he wasn’t sure how his father would react to Dream getting married, to a man at least. Being proposed to.
Dream looks completely flabbergasted when George looks over, making him laugh as he hears Dream scoff and shake his head.
George in the video runs out of time, Dream coming back into the kitchen with his own parents and a fixed swing in the back. He remembers how worried he had been that someone would accidentally spill the beans to his boyfriend, or accidentally give it away by being too obvious by the way they smiled and winked at George for the rest of the night. That worry just got worse with the more people he told.
“Hey, guess what?” George says casually as he holds up the camera in a selfie motion with him, Drista, and Dream’s younger brother. “Chicken butt!” The little boy says, waving at the camera and making a silly face far behind in the shallow end of the pool. Drista laughs and rolls her eyes from her spot on the edge next to George, feigning an attitude when she responds. “What?”
George scoffs and glares at her playfully through his phone screen. “Well, if you guys don’t wanna know—” He doesn’t even get to finish the empty threated sentence that he won’t tell them before they’re both whining and saying he has to tell them. “No, no, no, George. Please!” He laughs and then swallows the ball in his throat.
“You can’t tell your brother.” He says seriously, looking away from the camera and at both of them seriously with a pointed finger.
Drista smiles with a knowing look, gaze softening in the camera while Dream’s brother pretends to zip his lips. “I’m gonna ask Clay to marry me.” He says, looking back at the camera with a feigned surprised face, jaw dropped to the ground.
Dream’s composure breaks as George hears a sniffle. To be fair, George thought he would’ve been crying already so he made it pretty far. He picks up a clean napkin and places it in Dream’s hand before tightening his grip on his waist, tucking his chin tighter against his shoulder.
The soft smile on Drista’s face doesn’t leave as she scoots to close the gap between them. “I’m so happy for you guys.” She says seriously, which is uncharacteristic for her, at least when she’s with George. He thanks her and pulls away with raised eyebrows, waiting for the punch line. “I can’t believe my brother is marrying the GeorgeNotFound.” They laugh together and George ruffles her hair, making her swat his hand away.
Seconds later, Dream’s brother is slapping his feet against the concrete as he runs toward George. “Hey, woah, no running by the po—” George’s face turns panicked as he watches the little one run on the slippery ground with wet feet and floaties on his arms, camera falling down just a little.
Phone pulled out of his hand by Drista, Dream’s brother body slams into George with all his might and cuts off his warning. “Oof.” He grips onto the smaller one, trying not to fall backward.
In any other situation, George would be annoyed at the heavy body and sopping wet clothes that he now sits in, but he leans into the hug and wraps his arms tightly around the boy. “Does that mean you’re my brother now, George?”
He tugs the boy to sit more comfortably on his lap, smiling with somewhat of a nod. “Kind of, yeah. If he says yes, I’ll be your—your brother-in-law.” He explains, trying to give a word to what he’ll be if they get married.
Snorting at his past words, George now knows the boy is a little young to understand brother-in-law. George isn’t the best with kids, and he doesn’t have much practice, but he thinks being around Dream’s little brother and younger cousins has taught him a bit more. So now looking back, he’s a little embarrassed at his words but shakes it off. He’s learning.
Drista wraps an arm around him, camera still in hand and smiles at him with a serious look in her eyes. “He’ll say yes.” He doesn’t argue with her about it, he lets her have it. Just this once.
“You’re gonna be the coolest brother, ever!” George snorts at the boys’ words and lifts him off his lap. “True, I mean, I am the coolest. Clay’ll love that.” The three of them laugh and he begs George to toss him into the shallow end. He tries his best and ends up falling forward into the pool with the weight of the other, Drista laughing at them once more before turning the camera to herself and giving a thumbs up before she stops recording.
George thinks back to the reminder he gave them about keeping the secret. He could tell by the look in Drista’s eyes that she wouldn’t say anything, but George wasn’t too sure about Dream’s brother.
Drista nudged him a little and told him she had it under control. George didn’t ask what she meant and wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Oh, God.” George says to the camera when the scene changes, eyes looking wide and frenzied as he sits alone on their couch. “I have to tell Sapnap. ” He says with a half-scowl, half-frown.
“I—I wasn’t nervous to tell my parents, or Dream’s parents, or my sister, or—or his siblings. Like why am I scared to tell Stinknap?” He spits out, running his fingers through his hair with nerves.
George’s belly swirls with nerves just thinking about this moment, heart speeding up again and slamming into his ribcage. He knows Dream feels it this time when he feels his hands grab George’s, where they rest around Dream’s waist.
The clip ends there and abruptly changes to George and Sapnap standing in their kitchen together. George is nervous in the video, that much is obvious.
Sapnap’s sitting at the bar of their kitchen eating cereal with one hand and scrolling on his phone with the other. His hat is on, per usual, but the quick glance of his eyes shows that he’s sleepy and had just woken up.
After a few moments of silence where George is just staring at Sapnap eating his cereal, the shorter looks up at George with raised eyebrows and spoon halfway to his mouth. “What, George? Why are you looking at me like that?” Sapnap’s always grumpy in the mornings.
His words seem to shock George out of his frozen state, and he clears his throat before backing away from the counter. Grabbing his phone, he says “sorry, I’m just—tired.”
George keeps the camera rolling on himself as he facepalms and shakes his head, mouthing idiot to himself.
Dream laughs brightly at the scene and makes George roll his eyes. Of course, he’d find this funny, the part that George freaked out over and literally cried about. To be fair, looking back at it, it is kind of funny.
“I’m gonna do it this time.” George says to the camera as he sets up his phone.
He still looks nervous in the clip and George’s stomach drops again, mimicking how he felt during what’s about to play. It’s a few days later, night this time, George remembers. He purposefully planned it for when Sapnap was usually in the best mood and not the worst, like in the mornings.
“Sapnap.” He says as he walks into the room. He’s got a puss on his face and it makes George recoil, arms crossed against his chest and fingers dancing on his arm to keep them moving. George grimaces and gives a side-eyed look to the camera before looking back at his friend. “Sapnap?” George asks, lighter in hopes not to get yelled at.
“What?” He snaps back at George who bites his lip with a sigh, shaking his head. Dropping his arms, he grabs the camera and turns it off.
George makes eye contact with Sapnap across the room who is already looking at him. He’s got a happy grin on his face, which George returns. Love you Sapnap mouths at him, making George roll his eyes and fake gag before deadpanning. Love you too.
“I literally don’t understand why this is so hard.” George is pacing in the movie room, groaning and looking up at the ceiling. “It’s—it’s just Sapnap.” He’s talking more to himself than to the camera.
George on the screen sighs and sets his phone up before he finally sits, head falling into his hands. “I can do this, I’m—I’m just being an idiot.” Sapnap walks in as he says it, laughing and shoving him, making his head fall out of his hands, earning himself a glare.
“You probably are being an idiot, to be clear.” Sapnap prefaces, making George roll his eyes. “What are you being an idiot about?”
George groans and falls back into one of the comfy chairs, leaning all the way back and staring at the ceiling. He says nothing though, refusing to meet Sapnap’s eyes.
Sapnap sighs too, grabbing the soccer ball that always ends up in front of the projector before sitting in the chair next to George. He says nothing but tosses the ball straight up in the air before letting it come back down.
Catching it, he nudges George and throws it in the air toward him to catch. He grabs it and sighs as Sapnap asks, “what’s wrong, bro?”
George throws it back and clears his throat, still staring at the ceiling and shaking his head.
Sapnap stays quiet as they toss the ball back and forth.
“C’mon, George.” Sapnap nudges again, elbowing him lightly in the side.
The ball comes down and George catches it, resting it on his stomach. His fingers lay on top, dancing to a rhythm in his head. “I have to tell you something.” He says, throat bobbing even from the shitty angle of the camera. His friend doesn’t say anything, just nods and waits.
After a few moments of silence, Sapnap taps the ball in George’s arms. George throws it back. “Whatever it is, dude, like—”
“I’m gonna ask Dream to marry me.” He interrupts, refusing to look in Sapnap’s direction. Even so, George knows he sits up abruptly with the soccer ball held tight to his chest as he looks back at George. “Seriously?”
George clears his throat with a nod. “George, oh my God.” He says before he tosses the ball to the ground and grabs George’s hands to sit him up. He gets pulled into a tight hug by Sapnap that he usually wouldn’t allow but sinks into it with comfort.
George thinks back to that moment, the exact second, he realized how scared he was that Sapnap wouldn’t be okay with it for some reason. George now knows that was irrational, but he couldn’t help but let that fear dig in and settle deep within his chest at the time. Sapnap was like, the most important person in all this. He needed to approve of this.
Before he knows it, tears are flowing down his cheeks, and he grips Sapnap tighter as he feels his body shake with a sob. “I’m so fucking happy for you guys, holy shit! Congratulations!”
George cringes at the curses he left in the video but thinks that the raw moment was important to him and Dream and to Sapnap, too. Besides, the kids at the reception probably weren’t watching anymore anyway.
“George, why are you crying?” He tries to pull away, but George pulls him tighter into the hug as another sob wracks his body. Sapnap’s face is confused but he leans back into it, trying to comfort him by rubbing his back.
The interaction looks a little awkward but in Sapnap’s defense, George wasn’t usually very open with his feelings and if he was, it was usually a very dude this, dude that conversation. Tears and hugs weren’t really his thing.
“Sorry, I just—” George finally pulls away when his sobs stop, wiping his tears with the sweater paws of a sweatshirt that is so obviously Dream’s. “It’s stupid, I don’t know. I was just—I was so nervous to tell you for some reason.”
George remembers laughing after he said it because in hindsight, it was stupid to think that their friend wouldn’t be happy for them. Sapnap had never once faltered in supporting them. He always had their backs.
“What? George, I can’t even explain how happy I am for you.” He tells George, who sniffles still in the aftermath of crying. “Yeah, I mean—I feel stupid now. If that helps.” They both laugh at his words, Sapnap silently pulling him into another hug.
“Love you, brother.” Emotions heightened and already on the verge of tears, George breaks into another fit of sobs.
Love you, brother was kind of Dream and Sapnap’s thing. But when Sapnap said it to George for the first time, it kind of felt like approval .
George can’t help but let his resolve break as a tear slips. He groans at himself and wipes the tear quickly before anyone can catch it, but Sapnap’s eyes are on him already when he looks over.
Before he has the nerve to feel embarrassed, Sapnap wipes a tear of his own and they both laugh before turning away. Brothers.
George smiles as the screen changes into him and Sapnap in a jewelry store.
The two of them glance at a few rings but nothing catches either of their eyes, so they don’t even speak to the salesmen before they exit the store . And this happens four more times, so the next minute of the video is just a timelapse of them walking in and out of stores.
Another timelapse starts. Three more stores go by.
The next clip is funny and makes him laugh before it even plays.
“George, I swear to God if you drag me to another store and they don’t have something you like, I’m gonna kill you.” Sapnap says, facing the camera on George and then back to himself.
“Clay, I’m taking over your idiot boyfriend’s vlog because now we’re—we’re in fucking Los Angeles because he hates every single ring that exists in all of Florida, and he still doesn’t like anything. Like, George! You’re being too picky.” He says, jogging to catch up with George on the sidewalk and capture them both in the video. “No, I’m not. Stop it.” George’s hand flies over the phone camera.
Sapnap puts the phone down but the recording continues, capturing their conversation. “George, what’s the reason for all this—this fuss ?” George sighs. “I just—I want this to be perfect, okay? And—and I’m not gonna like, settle on a ring because it’s hard to find what I want or whatever.” Sapnap sighs back at him and lifts the camera again.
Adjusting his hat while squinting in the sun, he looks at George in the phone’s screen. “So, what’s the plan then, boss?” He asks, George looking down at his phone. “I’m—I found a custom store and made an appointment. We’re almost there.”
Dream looks back at George with raised eyebrows and George just shrugs in response, nodding to the screen.
The two of them never spoke about the ring, not in-depth at least. Dream knew it was customized, to an extent. Like the engravement on the inside and two special stones, but that was it.
George and Sapnap walk into the store, Sapnap inconspicuously recording George walk up to a woman at the counter.
He explains the details to her what he’s looking for in a ring. Sapnap lifts the camera to his lips and whispers quietly into the mic. “So, he couldn’t find a ring because he knew exactly what he wanted and needed it custom made. What an idiot. Why didn’t we just come here first?”
Apparently, his quiet whispering wasn’t all that quiet because all of a sudden, the camera catches George turn around with a glare when the lady goes to the back.
The crowd laughs when the camera moves backward, as if Sapnap physically recoiled from George’s look. He probably did, in all honesty.
She comes back with a variety of bands and George sorts through with Sapnap’s help, but he doesn’t really need it. George knows exactly when he sees the band he wants, no questions asked.
The platinum band has room for three rows of small diamonds, one row in the center and one on both the top and bottom. In the center row, George chooses a single aquamarine diamond and a single green diamond to go on either side.
“George, the colors are barely noticeable. Hell, you can’t even see those colors. What’s the point?” Sapnap tells him and George tells him to shove off. “I like it, it’s like—it’s us. You know?”
George can see the glint in video-Sapnap’s eyes while watching now, that he wanted to continue pushing George’s buttons on this, but George was too busy at the time to notice.
Instead though, Sapnap smiles and doesn’t make another joke on George’s behalf.
He can’t begin to wrap his mind around how much he appreciates Sapnap. With his family back in London and Dream’s family over an hour from their Florida home, George isn’t sure what he’d do without his friend.
Sapnap’s kind of awesome, right? He suffered through over ten ring stores with George, driving them back and forth way too far when all the ones in close proximity failed them. He was definitely accustomed to George’s meticulous planning and extreme worrying about anything proposal related by the end, being his number one through and through. George is lucky to have him.
“Yeah, it’s—it’s nice.” Sapnap tells him as he wraps his arm around George’s shoulders as the woman comes back for the last step before they leave.
George writes the words I love you on a piece of paper about a million times before he decides he’s got the one he wants to use. Sapnap doesn’t make fun of him for that either, wanting the engravement to be his own handwriting.
Dream is most certainly full-on crying by now, twisting the engagement ring along with his wedding band now, on his ring finger. George reaches and puts his hand over it, feeling their rings ding slightly when they touch. Dream only cries harder.
George wipes his tears for him quickly as the next clip starts.
Sapnap lifts the camera again while they’re in line for Starbucks and George clearly doesn’t know what for, based on the confused expression he wears. “You finally got a ring.”
George laughs and nods, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I mean, kinda. I hate that I have to wait so long for it.” Sapnap glares at him. “You personalized that shit down to every diamond, did you expect it to be handed over to you today?” George just shoves him in response.
After they walk out with drinks in hand, Sapnap lifts the camera back up and smiles at his friend. “You’ve gone soft, Georgie.” He shoves Sapnap again and rolls his eyes, sipping his drink.
“No, I haven’t, nimrod.” He shoves Sapnap a third time just to prove a point and grabs his head from behind to shove it down. It’s gentle and doesn’t hurt but it’s a nuisance and George knows it pisses Sapnap off. George insults him again, just to drive his point home. “See, idiot? Don’t be dumb.”
The shorter shoves him back but doesn’t start a war. Not in the middle of LA, at least. Maybe when they get home. “You’ve gone soft for Dream.” He says quietly, expecting a scoff or eye roll or any kind of sign of annoyance. Instead, George just side eyes Sapnap quickly before his eyes fall to the floor and he smiles.
George had debated on whether or not to propose during their trip for months. They had planned a trip to the Bahamas for their anniversary months before George even thought about proposing, and now he couldn’t get it out of his head that it would be the perfect time to do it.
Dream seemed to be completely oblivious to George’s proposal, finding that out after George had practically begged Sapnap to somehow get some information out of him. And turns out, Dream is incredibly nonobservant, and George is good at this whole secret keeping thing.
Planning another trip out of the blue would just be too obvious and he didn’t want to spoil it after all this time. And besides, if he proposes on their anniversary, it’s just one less date to remember. And they already had nice dinner plans at a restaurant that night and had planned to take a walk on the beach to watch the sunset that night. It was almost like they made the plans for George’s proposal.
Efficiency , he tells himself. It’s definitely not because Dream is a sap and loves that shit. It’s not.
Even with the idea in mind, the rest of everything needed to be pulled together.
Like, George knew Dream would want Sapnap there. Not at the proposal, but to celebrate it. And Dream was also such a family guy, he would want his family there too, right? His mom and dad, sister and brother. And of course, his own parents and sister, because Dream would want his basically already, definitely future family, to be there.
George remembers when he realized this in the middle of the night. He groaned but rolled quietly out of bed and into his office. He had rubbed his face until it was red and scratched his eyes harshly with his fists before deep diving onto every single website he could possibly find to see if it was possible. Finding the dates, George sent off a mass text with a huge secret disclaimer and grabbed hotel rooms and flights as their family said yes.
The next minute of the video includes small clips of Dream and George traveling to the Bahamas, mostly George pretending to vlog for his channel, which made it easy to do without secret.
“We’re on the plane, guys! We’re on our way to the Bahamas.” George says to the camera, smiling over at Dream who is already asleep in the center seat. He rolls his eyes at his boyfriend but smiles anyway.
A video of them landing plays next, of their feet walking through the airport, and baggage coming their way.
George tried to capture a second of each day, or each special thing at least. Pictures of Dream posing with food at each restaurant, clips of them riding bikes on the side of the road, or videos of their hair flying in every direction on a boat tour while George makes silly faces.
George wanted to remember everything .
The night before the proposal, everyone flew in, and George did everything he could to make sure that they didn’t cross paths with anyone they knew.
He sneaks into the bathroom to record himself quickly. “Okay, okay. Everyone is almost here, so I’m taking Dream out early just in case. I don’t wanna ruin anything.”
They ate dinner early that night and got back to the hotel early that night too, deciding to spend the night in the hot tub on their porch.
George shows up on the screen as he fiddles with the camera before he shuffles toward Dream. They each have a glass of wine, George pressed up tightly against Dream’s bare chest in the hot water.
Looking up at his boyfriend, he leans up for a kiss and Dream hesitates as he looks at the camera but presses his lips against his anyway. “Just for us?” He asks and George nods, trying to hide his smirk behind his glass. Kind of.
George hums and smiles, leaning against Dream. He rubs his hands up and down Dream’s arms, whose eyes are still fixated on the screen.
“Alright, so everyone’s here and—and like, this is it, I guess.” George whispers into the camera with a shrug. His eyes look tired and Dream is asleep on the couch behind him. “Tomorrow.”
George literally laughs at his calmness and feigned nonchalance. He thinks it was probably just exhaustion and everything just not feeling real yet because by the next day, he was panicking. As the video starts to transition, George cringes as he remembers the awful sick-like feeling in his stomach as he got ready for their dinner. The proposal.
It had been months in the making. Sharing the news, looking for a ring, planning the trip. And George had felt like he was blowing it.
George hadn’t meant to record this part, but he had set the camera up to show himself getting ready and just started to absolutely panic. He remembers putting the camera down in haste, shaky fingers missing the button to stop recording.
George is shirtless, arms pulled tight around his knees as he sits on the bathroom floor with his back up against the door.
His vlog camera is leaned up on the edge of the tub, a little sideways as if it wasn’t meant to be recording, as he picks up his phone to call Sapnap before Dream got back from the store. George had sent him on some stupid errand to get more sunscreen, even though they didn’t need any. But it was fine, Dream didn’t need to know that.
He picks up on the first ring. “George?” He pauses before diving straight into panic, voice shaking and talking way too fast. "Fuck, Sap. I'm—I’m freaking the fuck out.” Fingers dig into his still-wet hair and tugs.
“What? Why? He’s—he’s gonna say yes, you know that, right?” George wipes at his eyes. “Sap, I just—I can’t do this.”
Sapnap breathes in and out slowly from the other line, waiting for George to follow without any direction. He does.
“Okay good, George. Good. Now, what’s goin’ on?” George rubs his nose and sniffles. “I’m so nervous, like what if this goes so wrong ? What if I fuck it up?”
George still cringes at how Sapnap’s voice gets softer than he’s ever heard before. He barely noticed at the time, too in his own head, but he hears it now.
“George, you’ve been preparing for this for months. It’s not gonna go wrong. Fuck, George, you—you could literally put a fucking cheerio around that idiot’s finger and he’d still marry you. It doesn’t even matter. He wants to marry you for you, not for your proposal.”
He laughs before he responds. “A cheerio wouldn’t fit around his finger, dumbass.” George says, though the joke is too late to be funny. Sapnap’s nice enough to laugh anyway. “Yeah, that’s true, Gogs.”
After a moment, the outside door opens with a loud creek and Dream walks into their hotel room announcing their new sunscreen. “Okay, you’ve got this George. See you later!”
George still thinks it’s funny that Sapnap whispers over the phone, as if that would’ve made a difference in volume from his end.
George in the video scowls at the camera and grabs it roughly as realizes it’s still on. Either way, he stands up and exhales sharply as he stands up to look in the mirror and nod before turning it off.
“You were nervous?” Dream asks him, speaking for the first time since the video started. George stares at him in disbelief with a scoff. “Sh, sh, sh, idiot .” George shushes him before he misses anything.
The camera is facing the floor, both of their feet walking in the sand and the sound of small waves crashing on the shore.
George remembers how perfect the breeze was, keeping him cool and grounded as his heart raced in his chest.
They were both overdressed for the beach, but perfect for the restaurant that sat just a couple hundred feet from the water. They both had pants that looked like dress pants, though Dream’s were a bit more cargo-y with a ton of pockets. The material was slick though, making them look a little fancier with a long sleeved, black button-down shirt, and Dream’s curls were flattened down from the cat beanie he wore earlier in the day, but he and George both agreed he couldn’t wear it in the nice restaurant.
George was wearing dress pants as well, also with cargo pockets that were tight around his ankles. He wore a white, long sleeved button-down shirt that he unbuttoned at the top after they got out of the restaurant. It was too constraining on his neck, and he just couldn’t deal.
They both took off their shoes and left them before walking through the sand, not wanting to ruin them. George held their bag of things, just a blanket to lay down in the sand so they could sit and watch the sunset together. And the ring was stuffed inside the blanket, so Dream had no chance of seeing the box bulge out of one of his many pockets.
“Wait, George, look at this!” Dream says as he runs to a shell he sees in the distance, just at the edge of where the waves are climbing up to shore. Dream stops short and begins to roll up the hem of his pants so they don’t get wet. “C’mon George!” He says, waving at him excitedly and making George laugh behind the camera as he brings it up to better film his boyfriend.
“Just one sec, I’m gonna put the blanket out!” He yells back, wondering if Dream could even hear him over the crashing of the waves from where he is. Dream’s hand just waves him off as he nods and bends over to inspect the shell. Quickly, he finds the ring box and shoves it into his pocket.
He sighs and looks at the camera, fixing his hair one last time before putting it down on the ground. He looks up and tries to find the photographers without being suspicious as he unrolls the blanket and lays it on the sand. Dream is paying him no attention, which makes it easier to find them, and to spot Sapnap waving from behind tall grass. It gives him one last second to take a deep breath and collect himself.
George clears his throat and looks at Dream, picking up the camera and filming him now staring at the sunset. “George!”
The camera goes down one last time. The professionals have got it from here.
The video switches from George’s perspective to something much better looking. Better quality, better shots, better angles.
“Dream.” He says back, close enough that he doesn’t have to shout.
“Come on, George! The water’s so nice.” He says glancing back at George quickly before looking at the sun again. George takes the ring box out of his pocket and opens the box to look, just make sure it’s there one last time before he starts.
He closes the box.
George gets down on one knee and bites his lip. “George!” Dream yells again, completely unknowing as he gets the bottom of his pants wet, distracted by random shells and things in the water.
“Dream.” He says a bit more sternly, hoping Dream will look up and see him. “George, you—” His words die in his mouth as his attention shifts from the sand to George, down on one knee. Dream’s posture straightens out, eyes widening almost comically, and he just stands there.
“George.” He repeats, except much quieter as he slowly approaches George at the towel.
Dream swallows audibly, even caught on video and says, “hi.”
George smiles, Dream talking again before George even gets the chance to say anything. “What—what are you doing?” He rolls his eyes. “Really, Dream? What does it look like I’m doing?”
George nods at himself, kind of proud at how steady his voice sounds in the video for how fucking nervous he was. Even now, he feels worried about what’s happening in the video, despite knowing exactly how it goes, word for word.
He tucks his eyes into Dream’s shoulder, kissing lightly over his suit jacket. Dream rests his head on George’s, wiping at his own tears with a napkin. George wants to laugh, he wants to call him a simp. But here he is, tears in his eyes, too.
“Dream, I—” George starts to talk, and his boyfriend cuts him off again, making him huff and shake his head fondly. The taller man fumbles on his next words. “Well, I mean, okay—okay, to—to be fair, like, there’s no way you’re proposing—”
Humming, George interrupts him back. “Dream, I can’t propose if you—” He cuts himself off this time with a laugh as Dream lifts his hands and covers his mouth as an apology, not saying anything else. He makes eye contact with Dream, who nods to go ahead and pulls his hands from his face.
“I’m not good at this,” George starts.
In hindsight, he probably could’ve started with something better. But it makes everyone laugh, so like, brownie points for that.
“But I think I loved you before I even met you.” Dream’s eyes are already watering and George bites his lip. He promised himself he’d get through at least half of it without crying. “I mean, I literally moved to Florida to live with you and hadn’t even seen your face, like who does that?” Dream laughs and George does too, because that was kind of the point. Break the ice, stop Dream’s tears.
“Well, an idiot in love does that, I guess.” Dream seems to try really hard to keep it together. “And when I got here, like, it was so easy. You know? Like my home was with you.”
“That’s cheesy.” Dream tells him and he nods in agreement. “Yeah but like, it’s true, isn’t it? I—I found more of a home in Florida than I ever did in London.” Dream nods and tears slip from his eyes, so George has to keep talking and make a joke. “And it’s definitely not because Florida is objectively a better place, because like, it’s not.” Dream laughs. “It’s ‘cause of you.” And, the tears are back.
George takes a deep breath and grimaces, a little unbelieving that he’s letting all these people see the most private and vulnerable moment of his life. But when he glances at the people he can see, a smile sits on everyone’s face. Sapnap and Karl, Bad, Skeppy, Tina, Hannah, Sylvee. He supposes being vulnerable to his closest people isn’t so bad.
“You’ve changed my life. Like, it’s crazy that I ever lived my life without you. I could never do that again.” George starts to tear up a little bit again. “You—you make me a better person. You make me, me.” Now Dream is just crying.
“Dream, if you cry, I’m gonna cry.” He pouts but Dream just wipes his own tears again, reaches out to wipe the one tear that escaped George’s eyes, and steps a little closer to him. “Just—you mean everything to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Dream is full-on crying again, in sync with video-Dream, but to be fair, so is George. He kisses Dream’s cheek lightly, with a whispered I love you.
He remembers how much more he had to say, what he wanted to say, but swallows down the thought. This was perfect, he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I’m honored to love you, and to be loved by you.” He clears his throat.
“So, Dream,” he says, as he opens the ring box. “Will you marry me?” Dream chokes out a yes through his tears and bends down to kiss George before he stands. “Wait, idiot, wait. Dream, the ring.” George laughs through his own tears, trying to get Dream to stop kissing him long enough to put it on his finger.
Dream pulls away laughing, holding out his shaking left hand with his fingers spread out. George gently places the rings around his finger with his own shaky hands from his spot on the ground, smiles spreading across both their faces as they look at his hand.
Pulling George to his feet, Dream puts his hands on either side of George’s face to pull him in for a kiss that’s barely a kiss because they’re both smiling too much.
“Hi.” Dream says, hands still on either side of his face, smiling wide. George places his hands over Dream’s that lay on his cheeks. “Hi.”
“We’re engaged.” Dream tells George with disbelief, making George’s head fall back with relief. “We’re engaged.” He echoes after Dream.
“You’re my fiancé.” Dream tells him, kissing him again with a smile. He hums and repeats him again, “fiancé.”
George and Dream both laugh before the next part, knowing what George is about to say. Dream rolls his eyes fondly as he looks over at George.
George snorts, looking at Dream in the eyes again. “What’s so funny?” He asks and George pokes at his cheek. “DreamNotFound.” His head falls forward with laughter, landing onto George’s shoulder where he presses a kiss.
The clip stops briefly, flashes of photos of them on the beach briefly replace video. George hums as they flip through, appreciating that he had a videographer and photographer at the engagement.
He had debated it a lot, thinking engagement photos were kind of cringey. And in his defense, they were . But George’s tolerance for cringe has definitely increased recently and he’s grateful he has the photos.
They capture the pure shock on Dream’s face when he sees George down on one knee, both of their smiles and tears throughout the entire night, the ring being pushed onto Dream’s finger, their first kiss as an engaged couple. Although caught on video, he also loves that the pictures capture each moment in time.
“George?” They’re laying together on the blanket now that they took their photos.
The plan was to text Sapnap to come over, then his family, then everyone else. But Dream beat him to the punch line.
“Did you tell Nick?” The smallness in his voice makes George sigh and kiss him before just looking over and making eye contact with their friend, who comes jogging over to them.
“Dream!” He yells and Dream turns around so fast, George thinks he got whiplash from it. Dream jumps to his feet and throws out his arms for the tightest hug. “I’m so fucking happy for you, Dream.” He says, the two of them swaying in a hug together. George stands back with a smile.
“You fucking did it George, let’s go! I’m proud of you, brother!” He releases Dream and pulls George into a tight hug next. Dream’s crying again, pulling them both into a hug. George looks over Sapnap’s shoulder and waves on the next group.
Dream meets his family halfway when he sees them. He hugs his mom first, the rest falling behind, except for Dream’s brother who sprints full force into George’s arms. It actually almost knocks George over, making him stumble a bit.
“Clay, Clay, Clay!” He chants, forcing his full attention away from hugging the others. “George is my brother now, isn’t that so cool? He’s the coolest.” They all laugh and Dream tries to feign annoyance at the little one, but can’t help but walk up to George and ruffle his little brother’s hair. “Yeah? You’re excited to have George as a brother?” He nods and lifts his arms up for Dream to hold him instead. “I’m glad, kiddo. George is gonna be around forever, ‘cause I love him.” Dream whispers, wrapping an arm around George. “I love him, too.” His brother says, making the couple cry again.
The next and last wave of people is George’s family, giving hugs and kisses on the cheeks and congratulations in circles. The camera can’t catch many words with so much commotion, but it catches the tears and flushed cheeks, warm smiles and tight hugs.
They didn’t end up spending much of that night with their family, but George is so happy they were able to make it because the smile on Dream’s face was worth everything. And George had planned a full dinner celebration for the next day, with all of them. So, they still got their fair share of celebration.
It’s the last clip and George is lying in bed alone, comforter pulled up past his chest but showing his exposed shoulders. “I did it. Like, I finally did it.” He tells the camera, smile on his face as his eyes start to flutter shut. “And it was so amazing.”
Dream pads over to the bed from the bathroom, tucking himself into bed and resting his head on George’s chest. “What’re you doing?” Dream asks, referring to the camera. George smiles, one last secret to keep. But this is the easy one. “Jus’ wanna remember this.” He tells Dream, kissing his head.
“We’re getting married, George.” George can’t help smiling fondly and tugging lightly at his hair for a real kiss. “Yeah, we are.” They kiss before Dream looks down to inspect his ring a bit closer.
“Is one of these stones green?” Dream asks as he squints in the dim lighting of the room. “Mhm, yeah. And one is blue.” George tells him, getting closer to inspect the ring as if he didn’t customize the thing himself.
Dream kisses him again. “And the inside, it’s my handwriting.” Confused, Dream pulls off the ring and brings it close to his eyes. When he sees it, he rubs his finger against it lightly and starts to cry. Again.
George just laughs at him and pushes it back on his finger. “I love you.” He says with it.
“I love you too, George.” Dream glances at the camera before giving George a soft kiss and placing his camera over the lens.