Work Text:
When Sapnap leaves for most of the next week to LA for NRG, George suggests they do something. Just him and Dream. Alone.
It’s like he knows he’ll say yes.
Dream does say yes,, of course he does, but it has nothing to do with wanting to make George as happy as possible. Or at least that’s what he tells himself.
“What do you want to do?” Dream’s voice rumbles against George’s back where he lays into him. He doesn’t know why whenever they’re both on the couch or lounging on one of their beds, George always finds some way to be as close to him as possible. Sapnap even picked up on it and jokes about it way too much for his sanity.
It’s like they have their own special gravitational pull, one always orbiting the other. More often than not, it’s Dream circling George. The thought makes him want to put a little distance between them, but the comforting weight against him soothes any unwanted thoughts. He decides not to think about that too much.
They’re in his bed, as they normally are with each other. It’s a strange level of domesticity that Dream isn’t familiar with. His comforter and pillows have even begun to smell like George which he doesn’t appreciate when he’s trying to find any solace from his thoughts plagued by him.
George hums thoughtfully, “I don’t know. Anything. Just not here, too boring.”
He can practically feel George rolling his eyes as he scoffs, “I’m sorry, is the house I bought not good enough for you?”
“No.” George states primly, giggling as Dream flicks his temple.
There’s a pause before Dream speaks again.
“Disney?”
“Hmm, no. Too loud. Too much happening.”
“So I guess Universal’s out of the question too?”
George nods, resting his head back into the crook between Dream’s neck and shoulder. Dream stiffens and gulps, but he tries to play it off as stretching. George just mumbles a meek apology and straightens back up as he shifts away. Stupid.
“No, no. You’re okay. It’s- fine.” Dream’s voice is nothing but a squeak , he clears his throat, “Nothing to worry about, princess .”
He can imagine George scowling, with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips as he huffs indignantly.
“Ooh, I know! What about a beach trip?” If Dream had a tail, he is certain it would be wagging hard and thumping against the bed they’re laying on.
“Sounds lame.”
“Shut up, you’ll love it.” He’s sure George can hear his smile by the way the tips of his ears pinken and he sways a little closer to him.
“It’s too hot here” George whines.
“What do you want me to do about that?”
“I don’t know, fix it? You’re like, insanely rich.”
“I can’t just force the weather to appease your every whim if I give it a hundred-dollar bill.” Dream is laughing now, George turns to glare at him.
“Well, try.” Sometimes it shocks him how much he argues, it’s almost child-like and he adores it.
“You’re so stupid.”
“You’re an idiot.”
Dream is grinning against his hair. George pulls his oversized hoodie up to cover his face. Adorable.
Ten minutes or so later, when they’re in the middle of scrolling through George’s tiktok for you page, an edit of George in Tommy’s vlogs comes up. He groans, “It never gets this hot in the UK.”
Dream chuckles as George scrolls away when clips of him slipping at the water park come up. Suddenly, he has an idea he’s sure will make George happy. His heart leaps into his throat, butterflies beating velvet wings in his ears. “Well, what if we go there?”
“What?” His thumb hovers over his screen before clicking his phone off and turning to Dream.
With George fully facing him having moved away enough to do so, he finds it hard to find his words. “We could, like, go to London for a week or something. I can meet your Mom in person finally, and your sister too but she hates me.”
At George’s stunned silence, he begins to ramble. “I mean, I kind of ruined our plans after Twitch Con Paris by getting sick. I want to make it up to you. I feel bad for stealing you away and making you cancel our plans because of me.” He shrugs, George is still studying him.
“Okay, okay. Shut up for one second. One, my sister doesn’t hate you, just thinks you’re dumb is all. Two, you didn’t ruin our trip. You have the immune system of a frail Eloran child, it was a miracle you made it through Spain and Paris without contracting some prehistoric plague. Three, you never stole me. That’s absurd.”
George is talking in that voice where it’s clear to only Dream that through his faux annoyance, he’s incredibly grateful and just doesn’t know what to say. He’s never been good with his emotions and expressing his needs, either never saying anything or saying a whole lot of nonsense that skirts around what he truly feels. There’s some truth in what he’s saying, but George is actually very soft instead of the abrasiveness and goofiness of his persona.
“Well I mean-”
“No. Shut up, you’re an idiot for thinking that. Don’t think shit like that again.” Dream melts a little and buries his face into George’s shoulder. “Okay.”
George subconsciously leans in a little to bridge the gap and his heart sings. Then, George dives head-first into planning. “I wouldn’t mind going back home. I could take you places I went to all the time before I got my visa. Ooh, we can go to the meetup Pizza Hut!”
“Twitter will love that.” Dream laughs, George is squirming against him happily as he babbles on and on about places in London he could take him. “I’ll buy our tickets then, how does leaving in two days sound?”
“Mmm, let’s leave tomorrow.”
“I doubt we could find an Airbnb or hotel for tomorrow.” Dream mutters, fingers playing with George’s chain. He’s not sure if his eyes are playing tricks on him, but he thinks George is getting goosebumps.
“I just texted my Mum, she says we can stay with my family. There’s two extra beds, we don’t have to stay there the whole time but I think it’ll be fun. Her and my Dad always ask about you.” George is rambling now, almost like he’s nervous about what Dream will say. Like he even has to be afraid, he could never make him uncomfortable.
“They ask about me? Your Mum asks about me?” Dream is in disbelief. Sure, his own Mom asks about George and he’s quickly become one of her favorites after he lost that bet in 2020 and gave him her number, but he never expected George’s Mom to be similar with him.
“Yes, idiot. My Mum is interested in the man that took me away from her.” Despite not being able to see his face, Dream is sure George is rolling his eyes again.
“I thought you said I didn’t steal you.” He raises an eyebrow and smirks.
“Whatever.”
The rest of the evening is spent buying tickets for the next late afternoon and starting to pack. When George complains of being tired, Dream finishes folding his clothes for him and zips up his now fully packed suitcase. He finds George asleep and curled in his covers when he returns. Dream pulls the comforter more securely over him, knowing his sensitivity to the AC in his room, and decides to leave him be and sleep in his office bed.
He’s happy to relinquish his own comfort if it means George is happy.
They arrive in London with little fanfare the next day. Well, the next night. It’s a little past 1am in the morning when they get to George’s family home. Everyone in the house is asleep but left the key on the top of a sconce by the front door, Dream makes fun of George for not being able to reach it and earns a swat on the head.
Instead of climbing the creaky stairs with heavy luggage and risking waking up everyone, they decide to move them to the living room. Cat, whom Dream learns is named Cecelia Horchata by George’s sister, leaps onto his suitcase and begins kneading. Dream quickly snaps a picture on his phone before following George upstairs, dodging loud stairs under his guidance.
He’s stopped on the landing by George with a hand on his chest. He ignores the electricity sparking from his touch, the current running through his veins and dancing across every cell in his body. “There are two rooms, I was planning on staying in my childhood room and you can take my old room, the one from before I moved into my flat?”
George is blinking owlishly up at him, dark eyelashes fluttering against his lightly freckled cheeks. He briefly gets lost in thought about how his freckles aren’t visible unless you’re close, he thinks about how he could map them out from memory. “Which one is more comfortable?”
“Uh, my old room.”
“Great, so I’m taking your childhood bed.”
George smiles up at him incredulously, shaking his head. “The bed is so tiny, Dream. You’re going to be like that one Dr Seuss book with the guy whose feet stick out. You’re taking the big bed.”
“Let me think about it, hmmm… I don’t care.”
“Fine, I’m buying breakfast tomorrow then.”
“We’ll see.”
The next morning, they go out for brunch with George’s whole family. He doesn’t think he’s seen George this relaxed, at least not with other people, besides him and Sapnap, for a good long while. Watching him and his sister bicker about dipping apples in apple juice during a fancy brunch while their Mom chastises them makes Dream feel impossibly fuzzy inside. He’s never seen George’s family dynamic, it makes him grow all the more fond.
Dream does end up snatching the check before George does and earns himself a hard kick to the shin under the table. “I was wiping syrup from my hands, no fair give it to me!”
“No.” Dream’s voice is so warm it makes him want to gag, it seems George’s sister feels similarly.
“You guys are like, so gross. Can you keep all this to a minimum?”
“Elora, be quiet!” George’s Mom hisses and smiles kindly at Dream, “She meant to say thank you.”
“No I didn’t-” She puts a hand over her daughter’s mouth and smiles wider, George and his Father are giggling while Elora glares daggers at them.
They all decide to take Dream to Buckingham Palace without him saying anything, but he goes willingly. They board the tube and it is crowded . George’s parents and sister decide to stand and hold the rail due to almost all seats being taken, but Dream insists George takes a seat he found and claimed for him.
“Idiot.” George says this with no malice at all. Dream is starting to believe that George is incapable of having any ill feelings towards him, his smile is wide and toothy with flushed cheeks.
“You’re welcome, princess.”
The pet name started as a bit, but now it’s a permanent feature in his lingo. Which, he wholeheartedly admits, is mortifying, but the blush it gets from George is enough to encourage him to continue. He catches Elora’s eye from across the aisle, she just rolls her eyes at him and looks back down to her phone.
When they get there, George’s Mom insists the two take a picture in front. Elora takes over while grumbling about how the pictures she takes are shit. “Here, for your dumb Twitter or whatever.”
Dream and George pose in their typical goofy, unserious way. At one point, Dream even starts to attempt an English accent which has George nearly in tears from how shit it is.
As a joke, Dream puckers his lips and leans in. He just meant it to be funny, they’ve fake kissed in plenty of photos so they’re used to it. What shocks him though is that George doesn’t flinch away as he has those other times, (Well, except for the Snapchat selfie. That one was his idea.) instead, it seems that he moves a hair closer. Just enough for Dream to notice, he’s praying Elora and his parents don’t pick up on it.
George seems to realize what he did, subconsciously or otherwise, and puts on a face, scrunching his eyes closed and sticking his tongue out then one of disinterest. George doesn’t meet his eyes when they finish their impromptu photoshoot, he doesn’t push it.
His sister meets them halfway and hands Dream his phone back with her lips in turned into a half-hearted scowl.
“Thank you, Elora.” Dream says genuinely.
“Yeah yeah, whatever, fuck off.” Her Mom scolds her again before the family head back home, leaving him and George to themselves.
They walk in silence to The Green Park and stroll in content silence, only after Dream forces George to pose under the Canada Gate. They find the lawn with deck chairs and lounge there for too long. George is in his normal warm weather clothes, a tshirt and pants that hang above the knee. He looks comfortable with his eyes closed reclining in the chair, just enjoying the slightly cooler and less humid temperatures.
In his mind, Dream is reminded of a cat. Patches loves to stretch out on a patch of sunny carpet and nap for extended periods of time. She always smells of the sun after, warm and soft. He wonders if George would smell the same.
George squints one eye open. “You’re staring.”
“And?”
He seems taken aback by the answer and the honesty in it, both his eyes shoot open and he sits up abruptly. George fidgets with his hands in his lap, Dream can tell he’s nervous and maybe uncomfortable. His heart sinks from his chest to his feet, dropping out of his body to be caressed by dirt and roots.
“Oh my god, is that Dream and George?!?”
They both look behind them to see two women gawking at them. Dream smiles wide and waves at them, George still doesn’t look at him and instead focuses solely on the fans.
Dream takes the selfie for them at one of the girls’ request, less a request and more just calling him “sasquatch arms” but he does it all the same after he gets a teasing quip in as well.
“What are you guys doing in London?”
George has this kind smile on his face that Dream’s noticed is exclusively for their fans, full of gratitude and openness. From its place six feet under, his heart lurches against the constraints of the ground. He finds his hand reaching to rest on George’s waist without thought. It happens more often then he would like, which is both never and always simultaneously, but then again George loves it. If he were a cat, he’d purr every time Dream so much as grazes him.
“We’re visiting family and friends, just having a bit of fun showing this idiot around.” He finally looks up at Dream then, eyes shining with something he can’t place. After knowing George for most of a decade, he thought he knew him inside out. Whatever that look meant, it finds its way digging down into the ground in search of his weakness. He can’t tell if he’s found it or not.
The women thank them profusely for meeting them before running off giggling to each other. George takes Dream by the hand and tugs him away, out the park and onto the streets. He tells him how he bought them tickets to The Natural History Museum highlights guided tour because he needs Dream to see it.
“I know how much wonder you find in the world.” George says matter-of-factly as if his intentions and words carry no gravity at all.
“What’s up with you? Why are you, like, being so sweet?”
George scoffs and shakes his head. “I’m always sweet, especially to you. Did you even think that maybe you deserve some kindness in return for what you give out so freely?”
His eyes meet his for what feels like eons but Dream knows logically that it was at most ten seconds. Dark umber melts into sunshine and pools of molten gold. He doesn’t know how to respond, so he doesn’t.
Throughout the tour, Dream is enchanted. He can’t stop looking everywhere he can, taking it all in. Larger-than-life dinosaur fossils, a rock from the literal dawn of time, fossilized trees, everything he sees he takes in with a childlike fascination and curiosity. He finds it absolutely insane that throughout time, throughout the entire life of the planet, through multiple mass extinction events, he lives on the same Earth at the same time that George does.
And what a blessing that is.
It’s not even until after they spent the majority of the day running around the museum, giggling like kids, that they find a fancy Japanese restaurant for dinner. While waiting for their food, Dream of course already whispered to the waiter about giving him the check when George was preoccupied with laughing at the koi fish in the pond next to them, he absently opens Twitter.
The first tweet on his timeline is a post from an updates account of the pictures they took with the fans earlier that day. One of the pictures, taken during their brief conversation, captured the way George was looking at him. He’s almost glad one of the girls got that so he can study and analyze it further.
Dream navigates to the search tab and is not surprised to see the trending page.
DNF IN LONDON
7k posts
DREAM AND GEORGE
11k posts
Trending #1 Worldwide
DNF IS REAL
19k posts
Trending with THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HIM
blue ✿ | @gnfpupdates: did you guys see THAT picture?? i’m so serious i’m gonna shit myself in a walmart rn
| sage | @sageafk: DNF IS REAL I CANT BELIEVE IT
| blue ✿ | @gnfpupdates: I KNOW??? HE LITERALLY TOOK DREAM TO MEET
HIS FAMILY???
| sage | @sageafk: BOYFRIEND BEHAVIOR
| mii ౨ৎ | @chanheerose: *Soulmate behavior
| Jinx | @jinxiefae: *HUSBAND behavior
| アレーシア | @dtqker: WAIT WHAT PICTURE I WAS AT WORK
| blue ✿ | @gnfpupdates: [four images attached: george laughing at what fans say while dream facepalms, dream smiling with his hand hovering behind george’s waist, dream seconds later looking at the floor holding both hands together in front of him, george and dream looking at each other blushing and laughing.]
| アレーシア | @dtqker: HOLY FUCKING SHIT THEY’RE NEVER BEATING THE ALLEGATIONS AFTER THIS
alyssa!! | @starryfilms_: i can’t believe today is real. the way george looked at dream so lovingly?? i need to be sedated
| Nora Marie | @noraskj05: Be who you areeeee 👨❤️💋👨
| Robin!! | @urdads_attorney: for your prideeeeeee 🏳️🌈
nailea ִ ࣪𖤐 | @feelslikegnf: i fear for dream meeting george’s parents like what if his mom pulls up THAT tiktok
| gina :D | @saltykiiinq: It’s joever for homotron 2000
| muni | @wcstsidesugg: what abt the antarctica video 🤨
| ira!ッ | @snowdreamr: homie is NEVER getting his parents blessing after talking abt his ass anytime he can
| cattis🍄🐱| @cattisztan: fly high dream i just know gnf clan beat your scrawny pasty ass to a pulp for that 🕊️🙏
| nailea ִ ࣪𖤐 | @feelslikegnf: HELP???
sonata | @reveriewastaken: Let me get this straight. Dnf are in LONDON ALONE. Dream is meeting GEORGE’S FAMILY. And Dream was about to grab George’s waist.
| bee 💚 | mcytfeels: i should not have taken an edible today bro WHAT 💀
yvonnè/jelly🪼| @jellyified: nah no way dream and george started soft launching their relationship WHEN I WAS ASLEEP
| greynotfound @noideafound404: I HATE OUR TIMEZONE SM
| yvonnè/jelly🪼| @jellyified: REAL we can’t have SHIT in detroit
Tobi!/Kaz!/Miguel!✨| kazwastaken3: one of the girls said after they left she saw gnf holding dream’s hand
| ellis! (taylor's version) | @elleedearest: ARE U SLASH J OR SLASH SRS???
| Tobi!/Kaz!/Miguel!✨| kazwastaken3: /srs !!!
| rae !! | @adoresdrm: WHERE
| 𝒥 🎀 | @404Dream_:[image attached: original poster replying to a comment on instagram. “dnf are dnfing???” “they really are, when we were walking away george held his hand they are so ☹️🫶”]
| jen: @jenoxox_luv: ????!!!?
“What are you looking at?”
Dream shakes his head and turns his phone off, tucking it away in his pocket. “Just Twitter ‘s all.”
George is frowning when he looks back up. “Dream, don’t look at that kind of stuff, you know how bad it is for you.
His heart stutters from where it is below his feet, slowly clawing its way out of the ground and digging its nails into the soles of his expensive sneakers. “It’s nothing like that, I promise. Just watching everyone lose their minds over the picture with fans we took earlier.”
“I thought we’d have more time before everyone knew we were here.” The sentence itself is sad, they have no privacy anymore but it’s just apart of the job. George says it with that disappointment directed to not being alone with him anymore instead of the fans.
Dream shrugs, “I’m gonna post the picture of us at the castle or whatever its called. It’ll make them happy.”
George smiles at him. “Go for it. Only post the ones I look good in though.”
“Don’t be silly, you look good in every one. You’re GeorgeNotFound, the token pretty Twitch twink.” Dream scoffs and George nearly spits out his hot tea.
Dream finds two pictures he likes and posts them. Not the ones where he almost kisses George, those are for him and him only. He still hasn’t looked at them yet, he doesn’t think he can right now with his heart beating against his feet.
He feels George’s phone vibrate against the table as soon as he tweets them on main just as the waiter returns with their food. He moves his plates closer to him but still close enough that George can steal some if he feels like. His phone vibrates in his pocket, he turns on the screen and sees the notification of George’s reply.
George | @GeorgeNotFound: why didnt you post the one where you actually kissed me?
They return to George’s family home around 11:30 pm, George is nibbling on the last bits of a cone he got when he begged Dream to get gelato for him. He throws away the paper and turns to Dream. “It’s so weird having you here.”
“In London with you?”
“No. Well, yes. It’s just strange walking the same streets where I felt so alone and sad with someone I’ve dreamt of being with.” George seems to realize how he phrased his words and, as he always does when he’s accidentally too honest, pulls the rug back over it. He closes back up tight and distracts. He points to an alley with a dead-potted plant. “Like, I was sick there after an influencer event, it was alive then though. And now you’re seeing that!”
“Well I could have lived without knowing that, but I get it.” For George’s sake, he doesn’t say anymore. They round the bend to his home, Dream climbs the stairs first to hold the door open for him.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to Brighton to meet up with some friends. That’s the only day we aren’t alone, I didn’t know if you’d be okay with spending that much time with me.” George says as they stand in the landing. He says it like he’s afraid Dream wouldn’t spend every second of the rest of his life with him.
Instead of saying that and professing his rekindled love for him, he says “I don’t mind, like, at all.”
The love never died as he thought it did, just was forced into dormancy for his sake. He would worship with prayers and adoration falling from his lips, kneeling reverently at his altar. Like a child disillusioned with life and the world, he eventually opened his eyes and realized what his reality was.
They say goodnight and head off to their rooms on different sides of the hallway, and suddenly it feels like there five thousand miles apart again. In the dark of George's childhood room, Dream spends far too long studying George’s face when he pretended to lean in for a kiss. He still isn’t sure what the look on his face means. His eyes were lidded slightly more and his entire face turned this dusky shade of pink.
What Dream definitely knows is that George was looking at his lips.
He glances at the time and realizes it’s almost 2 am, he felt heavy shame that he spent hours looking at his best friend and scrutinizing for what? A glimmer of hope? He can’t understand why George thinks he’s so generous, he’s selfish. So, painfully, selfish for hoping.
Then, a timid knock on his door.
“Come in?” He calls, barely above a whisper.
And George is there. He’s in his big, soft Dream merch made especially for him. George made a special request a few years back for him to make him an oversized shirt with the Dream Valentine's sleeve detailing on the back as well as the embroidered heart on the top left of the shirt, right over his own heart. Of course, Dream obliged. How could he not?
“Hi.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I— I’m sorry.” Dream attempts to assure George that it’s fine, that he doesn’t care before he just keeps talking. “I used to get nightmares almost every night before Florida here, I didn’t think they would return if I did.”
Dream is shocked by the hidden admission given so willingly. “Almost every night?”
“Yeah, if we sleep-called then it like— made it go away? I would take the tube here when it was really bad and my Mum would comfort me until I basically passed out from exhaustion.” George laughs like he’s telling a joke, Dream is horrified.
“Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me? If you asked, I would’ve called every night!” He whisper-shouts, his hands start to tremble from the overwhelming sense that he’s failed George somehow.
He just shrugs. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Just something temporary that would go away.”
“Jesus, George. Why are you only telling me now?” Dream feels a bit hysterical, the stupidly-endearing train sheets on George’s childhood bed start to feel suffocating.
George looks at the floor, avoiding Dream’s gaze. “Um. They kind of came back. My Mum’s already asleep and she’s just so happy I’m back, I don’t want her to worry-“
Dream pulls back the mismatched quilt with kittens on it. “Lay down, George.”
“Are you sure?” He wavers on his feet like the only thing stopping him from immediately joining Dream in the tiny twin-sized bed is his mind.
“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure. I don’t want you to be scared anymore.” His voice is so small it cracks Dream’s heart hanging in his feet.
George, despite the exhaustion radiating off of him, smiles minusculely. Just a tiny quirk of his lips before he’s laying down next to Dream saying, “Thank you, Dream.”
“Always, any time.”
And he means it.
| Maria ♡ | @mariaa_clouds_: I need a villanduo and meowduo meetup so bad.
@WilburSoot make it happen red coat
| Wilbur Soot | @WilburSoot: @Dream @GeorgeNotFound… Pizza Hut… 8pm BST…?
| George | @GeorgeNotFound: Friends don’t lie…
In the morning, George takes Dream out for breakfast. Their backs and bodies both ache due to the cramped twin bed, but Dream doesn’t complain. George does. A lot.
Dream doesn’t complain even when George falls asleep on his shoulder ten minutes into the train ride.
They step off onto the platform in Brighton at half past one, George immediately texts Wilbur and a few others to let them know. George pays for the cab to the Pizza Hut from The Vlog which Dream protests.
When they pull up to the curb, Wilbur, Niki, and Tubbo are already there sitting outside in the sun under an umbrella. They order pizzas for the table and eat greasy, dense slices while catching up and trading stories with each other.
After eating, Wilbur pitches the idea of going to the pier and arcade from the very first Dream SMP meet-up vlog the idea is immediately latched onto by the group.
On the walk there, Wilbur focuses all his efforts on begging Dream to show him a song from his upcoming EP which Niki and Tubbo also join in on. They wear him down eventually.
“Fine, one song. One song only , choose carefully.”
“Play Kind of Love! ” Tubbo exclaims, George barks out a laugh and Dream grows uneasy.
“Anything other than that one?” He asks halfheartedly, he pleads at Wilbur with his eyes.
“You know what, I want to hear that one too. Good choice, Tubbo!” Wilbur claps him on the back like he’s proud while he smirks deviously at Dream.
He sighs heavily as he navigates to the song in his files and presses play. He doesn’t pay attention to their reactions to it, instead taking pictures and videos for his Snapchat dump that night. At one point, he even takes a seven-second video of George walking to a bit in the bridge. He’ll ask George if it’s okay to post when they’re at the arcade.
When it ends, Tubbo and Niki clap while Wilbur cheers and whoops. “Why are you so self- concious, that was amazing! ”
“Yeah big man, I’m gonna need to hear all of these now I think.” Tubbo says, like it’s assured.
“Well, I’ve heard the whole EP. L.” George gloats proudly. He loves bragging about knowing more about Dream, it doesn’t matter if it’s to their friends. But, he’s noticed through the years, that he rarely does that for Sapnap. It’s only saved for him.
The group make it to the pier with the arcade, they spend a few hours playing. Tubbo even wins a plastic toy gun and names it The Not Vlog Gun. They sit on the beach after while they decide what restaurant to eat at.
“I don’t mean to be all “we won the war!” on you guys, but Florida’s beaches are so much better. This is all rocks! ” Dream complains, punctuating his complaint by throwing a small rock at George who scowls before throwing it back at him.
“Well technically sand is rocks-”
“Shut up, Wilbur. You know what I mean, America better, UK sucks.”
“Are you just gonna let this American scum traitor besmirch our kingdom, George?” Wilbur is playfully scandalized as he nudges George for an answer.
“Actually he’s right. This place kinda sucks.”
His comment is met with boos and heckling while Wilbur looks positively aghast. Dream beams at him and George smiles back.
After they eat dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, George and Dream board a train back into London. They go to sleep a little past midnight, slightly wine drunk after a short impromptu wine stream from Wilbur’s flat, giggly and warm.
Dream awakens hours later to George knocking at his door.
He looks small and broken. Even though it’s only been three nights without a good amount of sleep, George looks exhausted. Dream’s heart climbs into his stomach as George immediately moves to the small space next to Dream as he pulls back the quilt again.
When his breathing evens out within minutes, Dream presses a small, soft kiss to his hair as if it’d soothe his tumultuous mind plagued by nightmares.
noksi | @noksikson: dream liked and unliked my tweet⁉️[images attached: @dreamwastaken and 427 others liked your tweet and tweet reading “i can’t believe dream just posted a drapchat of george to kind of love??? what is in the uk AIR i’m taking this as confirmation dnf is real i fear”]
“What the fuck is wrong with you, George?”
Dream is woken up by what he thinks is George shushing someone.
He speaks much quieter than his sister, “Keep your voice down, Dream’s still sleeping.”
“I don’t care about that, but you two are spending the night together with Mum and Dad a few rooms down? You’re sick in the head.” Elora doesn’t sound surprised at all even if she’s completely misunderstanding George walking out of the room Dream sleeps in.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“You’re so full of shit I can’t believe it!” Her voice rises just slightly, by the sounds of it, George slapped his hand over her mouth as he shushed her harsher this time.
“Dream— He doesn’t feel that way about me.” George sounds like he’s hollow, dejected and dispirited.
“But you feel that way about him?” She asks him in a careful way like she doesn’t want to spook him like a wild animal.
He doesn’t hear a response from George for a few seconds. He waits with bated breath and strained ears, but still nothing.
“Oh,” Elora says, “Oh, George.”
“Shut it, just go away.”
“Okay. My door’s unlocked if you want to talk.”
Dream barely has enough time to get into a somewhat convincing sleeping position, he closes his eyes and focuses on breathing slower as the door creaks open. George pads over and lifts his arm with so much care and softness as to not wake him that he wants to weep.
His arm is placed over George’s body and he can’t help but pull him closer under the guise of an instinct of sleep. He’ll allow himself that.
He feels George curl into him more. Then, he hears a quiet sniffle.
Dream pretends to sleep until George is still, asleep in the comfort of his arm.
NRG | @NRGgg: @sapnap third wheeling from LA…
[image attached: a picture of sapnap in 0.5 frowning with a thumbs down]
| neve ⭑ | @neveskiee: NRG ARE DNFERS???
| NRG | @NRGgg: We are not dnfers, we simply have eyes ✨
That day, George is a bit more distant. He hovers further from Dream than usual and doesn’t seem fully like himself. Every time Dream asks how he’s feeling, George tells him he’s fine. He tries to coax more of an explanation out of him, just an opening to a deeper conversation where Dream can assure him of his feelings. But that doesn’t happen.
They both turn in for the night pretty early due to George’s weariness and lack of sleep. Dream accepts that, but he tries to mend the gap between them once more.
“Did you— D’you want to just sleep in my bed with me this time? Maybe it’ll nip it in the bud and you can sleep peacefully.”
“No Dream, it’s okay. I know how much your body hurts having to accommodate me.” Dream thinks about how the same could be said about his heart residing in his stomach. Its so full of love for George that it’s painful.
“Don’t say no for that reason, I can feel better after stretching a bit but you can just wave a magical wand and poof in an extra five hours of rest for yourself.”
George pauses and mulls over his options. “I’ll come knock if I have another nightmare, we’ll sleep in the big bed if that happens.”
And Dream still has hope.
Half an hour, George knocks at his door. It’s a frantic, heavier rapping. Much more distressed than the other times. He crosses the room in two strides and opens the door.
George is crying. His face is blotchy and his oversized merch sleep shirt is stained with tears.
Without thinking, Dream pulls George into a tight, crushing embrace. George sobs into his shoulder as he guides them to sit on the bed. George is still buried deep into the crook of his neck when he starts to speak.
“It was really bad this time.” His voice is scratchy and tired like he’d just been screaming. “Really bad.”
“What happened, baby?”
He lets out another gasping, stuttering sob. “You were… you were gone. You left me. I—I just don’t want to lose you. Ever. Don’t leave m—me, please.”
Dream’s heart shatters in his stomach, shards stabbing into the lining. “I don’t want to lose you either. I would never leave you. Never, George.”
“You would, you will. You’ll find someone else, someone new, someone better.” He hiccups and trips over his words. His fingers dig into the skin desperately in a possessive, protecting, animalistic way.
“What? I am never going to leave you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“No, you don’t get it. I’m in love with you. I’m sorry, please don’t leave.” He wails with Dream’s shirt clutched so tight in his hands he’s afraid it’ll rip.
“George, George. Look at me.” Dream takes his face in his hands cradled gently as he tilts it upward. The moonlight out of the windows fractures in the tear tracks on George’s face, how can something so beautiful create art from pain?
Dream’s thumb brushes the moisture building at his lower lash line away. “George, I understand. I love you too. I’m in love with you.”
George’s eyes scan over his face as if looking for any sign that this isn’t real. It seems he doesn’t find any, he only finds stars reflected in the tears in Dream’s eyes. There’s nothing but raw and open emotions.
“Can I—?”
“Please, George.”
George leans up and in, and their lips meet. It tastes of bitter salt, revelation, and promise. His heart nestles into its rightful home in his chest.
Dream slants their faces together and deepens the kiss, George gasps into his mouth. He pulls away with guarded hope. “This is… real? Like this is what you want?”
“God George, I want you more than anything ever.”
Elora doesn’t knock to wake George the next morning. George sits ramrod straight and chucks a pillow at her head in a matter of milliseconds.
“Get out!” He yells as she barely dodges a stuffed animal projectile.
“Fucking finally!” She cheers from down the stairs. “I fucking knew it!”
On their last night, they sleep in George’s old streaming bedroom together openly. George’s Mum gives him a special look and smile, she knows he’s sure. If she wasn’t told explicitly, she can feel the way the world has turned on its axis now that they’re together. She can feel the change in the tides and gravity, feel how the stars and moon shine brighter. And she embraces it.
George sleeps through the night.