Work Text:
George walked into Dream’s office with a glass of water and set it down for the blonde. Dream raised a brow and excused himself to his stream, muting. “Hey?”
“Hey! I brought you some water. I think I’m going to take a shower and then I’ll steal one of your shirts because for some reason I fell asleep in my room last night - which you should have woke me up and brought me to bed, idiot. But not only did I wake up in my own room, for some reason, I was in one of my hoodies. I don’t remember streaming yesterday so I probably recorded a thumbnail or an intro.” Dream just blinked at George and glanced at the water. He was not processing much of what George was saying, but George noticed him not catching up and shrugged.
“Right- uhm the stream can’t hear you, you don’t have to be nice and everything.” Dream said, looking away and playing with the rings on his fingers.
“Oh well I just thought you could use something to drink!” George smiled.
“Yeah, thanks for the water, G.” Dream said and took a sip.
“Well, enjoy your stream love.” George kissed Dream on the head, “I’ll bring you a smoothie after I shower.”
George pulled back and noticed the confused look on Dream’s face at the kiss. George just frowned and furrowed his brows. “Fuck, wrong timeline.” George mumbled. “I’m sorry, Dream. I am not from this timeline. You and Your George are not together, clearly.”
Dream laughed nervously, “what? George this is a weird ass bit.”
George looked around the room. “I need to get back to my timeline. I woke up the other day and I was in a different life where we weren’t even streamers. Then the zombie apocalypse world was crazy. There was even a heatwaves universe.”
Dream ended stream without a word and put his hand to George’s forehead, George melted into the touch. Dream took note of this since usually for him, George flinched away from contact. “So- you and your Dream… you’re together?”
George nodded and flashed the silver ring on his left hand. “Engaged. I just have to make it through the day and I’ll wake up somewhere else. Hopefully you get your George back.”
“Well, for the day we can do what you usually do? It could be fun.”
George shrugged, “okay, first I’ll shower. So you can do whatever.”
“Sounds good!” Dream smiled and George walked off, kissing Dream on the cheek.
<~>
Dream stretched a bit as he woke up and looked down in his arms at George. He smiled and pressed a kiss to George’s forehead. George blinked awake and it registered to him where he was. He scrambled away from Dream and nearly fell off the bed, standing next to it and looking at Dream with horror on his face. “What the fuck?” George said, looking around the room. “Why the fuck am I here? Did we get fucking drunk last night? Did I walk in here in the middle of the night? What the fuck is happening?”
Dream let out a breath and got off the bed, rounding it and approaching George slowly. George stepped away. “Georgie, it’s okay. You’re just in the wrong timeline.”
“What?” George asked, glancing at the ring on Dream’s ring finger. That was new. Something was wrong, very wrong. He felt so… out of place. Like he was in the wrong time of existence. Like he was existing wrong. It was confusing and kinda hurts.
“George, let me just explain everything to you… like why you woke up here, in our bed.” Dream stepped closer and George backed away again.
“No! Stay away from me!” George shouted, “and it’s your fucking bed, not ours it’s yours, you fucking dick!” George ran out of the room and Dream was quick to follow.
Sapnap saw them as they went into the kitchen, George was getting himself a glass of water and cussing about the cups being in the wrong cupboard. Sapnap walked into the kitchen behind Dream.
“A different George?” Sapnap asked and Dream nodded. They were watching him from the doorway.
“This one doesn’t like me very much.” Dream said, “he called me a fucking dick.”
“Yikes, I wonder what happened with you guys in his universe? In all of them you guys are like madly in love.” Sapnap bumped his crossed arm into Dream’s, swaying a bit. Dream just shrugged, having his hands in his pockets.
“Maybe the line got crossed at the wrong time. I mean, every other George said we didn’t get together till 2023. Just like our George and I. It was always at the beginning of 2023, the haircut and sushi day. Always after George made the joke that we were dating.”
“We were already sleeping together by then.” George said and turned to face them. “We got together in October of 2022- but we weren’t ever really together. It was just a- a situationship. Something fun. Something harmless. Something that turned into something else.”
“You and your Dream never got together?” Dream asked. “Why? It makes no sense. In every universe, Dream and George love each other.”
George shook his head and suddenly his face was filled with realization. Like he finally realized he wasn’t in the right timeline. The cup slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. Dream and Sapnap ran over instantly. Sapnap started cleaning the glass and Dream picked George up, away from the broken pieces so he didn’t get hurt.
“I hate you.” George whispered as Dream set him on the couch. “I hate you so much.” His voice was trembling.
“I know, George. I know you do. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me.” Dream crouched down to his level, holding George’s face in his hands gently. “I can feel it in your voice.”
“Does the other Dream know I hate him?” George asked and Dream nodded.
“He knows you too well. He knows you’re hurting.” Dream paused, “what happened, George? Why did it all fall apart?”
<~>
“You’re like- you’re an idiot. You’re an actual idiot. Nick, tell him that he’s an idiot.” George said, looking at Sapnap and spinning the engagement ring on his finger.
“Not-George is right, man, you are an idiot.” Sapnap said on the other end of the couch.
“Hey!” Dream said in defense. “I am not!”
“You let him leave on fucking Christmas? It’s his favorite holiday.” George said in dismay. “You’re like- you’re so stupid. My Dream literally proposed to me on Christmas and we have matching engagement rings. And you went and let your George leave? No wonder he hates your guts. Instead of confessing to him, you let him confess to you… you said nothing… you let him leave… and then you ended everything you have. What do you guys do on streams? Just.. sit there awkwardly?”
Dream shook his head, “we pretend everything is fine. We did it just the other day.”
George pinched his nose, between his brows. “I would actually hate you. He hates you, doesn’t he?”
“He uhm- yeah. It’s all over his face. He moved out of our room on his birthday. He left for LA not long after, and he came home after new years.” Dream explained, “and I know that I fucked up. I know that everything is wrong- I just don’t know how to fix it.”
George let out a breath, “ you shouldn’t have to. If he switched to be with my Dream then everything will be okay. He will fix things enough, all you have to do is confess when he gets home.”
“How are you so sure?” Dream asked and George only smiled.
“Because, he’s Dream after all. He can fix anything.”
<~>
“I’m sorry.” Dream said, rubbing his thumb on George’s cheek to swipe at the tears. “I’m sorry it happened that way. But I assure you that he loves you. And if he got my George then I’m even more sure he’ll learn things and you guys will be fine in the morning.”
“How do you know that? How can you be so certain? Everything is broken.” George closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.
“Because, it’s George. He can fix anything.” Dream said and kissed George on the head. George just nodded.
<~>
“A good first step is putting that glass of wine down.” George said, in the doorway of Dream’s office. “And maybe ditching the bottle.”
“Oh- uhm welcome back. How was the sushi?” Dream asked, downing the glass and setting it down.
George just rolled his eyes, but walked into the room and sat on Dream’s bed. “It was good. You could have come.”
“Sapnap needed some happy George time.” Dream said, “they’ve been pretty off since George left.”
“There you go, fixing things.” George said and Dream shrugged. “I know you don’t see it but you really are a great person. There’s a reason all the George’s have loved you for so long.”
“How long?” Dream asked, pouring another glass. George didn’t say anything about it.
“Years. Since around the time you turned 19.”
“What? Really?” Dream asked, not even paying attention to his glass anymore and solely focusing on George. George just nodded.
It was a weird feeling to explain his love for a second time. I’m the many universes he had been in lately, he never once had to explain his love. They had always been in love. George could hardly remember not loving Dream, or not having Dream love him. This was foreign territory to him. It was a horrible feeling to know that they harbored such deep hatred for each other.
Dream hated George for leaving. George hated Dream for letting him. They were shattered like glass on a floor. They were broken beyond the repair of Kintsugi. They were broken in all the wrong places and all the wrong times.
They were almost unfixable.
<~>
They were condemned by love, inspired by hatred and melted like wax.
They were broken bones and still waters.
They were the sun and moon. Feeding each other light and warmth and love. But the earth stood in their way. It blocked the light and the love and the eclipse. It stopped rotation and stilled the tides. It prevented them from fixing their issues. Because the earth was the parting of the plane from the airport. It was George in the empty LA house. It was Dream not being able to look at George’s door as he passed it.
“We aren’t unfixable. We are just hurt.” George said, softly. They were watching TV on the couch. Sapnap was streaming.
“I think that’s true.” Dream said, looking over at George. “I think all you need to do is wake up tomorrow and remind him that you love him. It will help mend the wounds.”
“And if he doesn’t love me?” George asked.
Dream let out a breath, “buy a plane ticket.”
“But wasn’t leaving the issue that caused all this hatred? What if I make it worse? What if it can never be fixed and we can’t even be friends?” George asked and Dream only offered a brief smile.
“Then you fight for the friendship from LA. He’ll chase you there, you fix the friendship if the relationship can never happen.”
“And if everything that I try doesn’t work?”
Dream looked at his lap, “then you let him go.”
<~>
“Goodnight, Dream. I hope everything works out for you both.” George said, from the doorway of his room. Dream nodded and kissed his head.
“Tell your Dream that I’m thankful he takes such good care of you, George.”
George smiled and shut the door, laying in the bed that was foreign to him. He hoped that everything he did would work. He had tried all day to convince Dream to just confess his feelings to his own George. He was really hoping that they could sort their issues out and every variation of them could be fixed.
<~>
“Dream!” George ran to his fiance and tackled him into a hug. Dream laughed and hugged George back, in their kitchen.
“George.” Dream’s voice held only fondness for his fiance. “You’ve been gone for weeks, I wasn’t sure you were coming back.”
George just shook his head against Dream’s chest, “I will always come home to you, idiot.”
Dream laughed and kissed George on the head, “And I will always wait for you, love.” He paused, “Wait until I tell you about the most recent George.”
“Oh my god, the recent Dream was such an idiot.” George dragged Dream to their room by the hand, they would discuss their recent interactions in the warmth of their bed.
<~>
George blinked awake in his bed and let out a breath. He and Dream were engaged in another universe. They were happy. Why couldn’t they be happy here? Why did they have to suffer at their own hands?
George stretched and popped his back before getting out of bed and searching the house for his taller friend. George knew he was terrible with his feelings but he refused to not say anything. He couldn’t remain silent anymore, it would kill him.
“Dream.” George said, walking into his office. “Can we talk?”
Dream lowered his headset and nodded, turning his chair to face the bed in the room as George sat on it. “I think we should, yeah.”
“What was the other George like?” George asked and Dream shrugged, fiddling with his rings. George noticed the lack of an engagement ring on his left hand. He noticed that his Dream carried himself differently from the other Dream. The other Dream was happy and confident. George’s Dream was weighed down by sadness and regret. It was painful to see the difference. Maybe Dream felt the difference as well.
“He didn’t carry hatred in his eyes.” Dream said, looking at his hands. “He didn’t have a weight on his shoulders that tainted each word he said.” George frowned at the words. He didn’t realize how obvious it was how upset he was. He didn’t realize how well Dream could read him. He didn’t realize a lot of things until he was sent into the other universe. Maybe he was meant to be in that other world to see the truth of this one. Maybe it really was written in the stars.
“I told the other Dream that I hated him. He said he knew I did- he said you knew that I hated you. Is that true?” George asked. Dream nodded. “I was with a Dream that was engaged to his George. They were happy… They are happy. Wherever the fuck they are.” George felt his lip quiver as he spoke, “Why can’t we be happy, Clay? Why? Why did you let me leave? Why- why…” George watched a tear fall and seep into his shorts. “Why didn’t you ask me to stay?”
George could hear Dream approaching him, he didn’t stop the blonde. He wasn’t sure he could if he even wanted to. “I love you.” Dream said, grabbing George’s hands. George looked up at him, they were almost eye-level with the raised bed. “I was scared that you only told me that you loved me to make me feel better or something. I didn’t think you actually meant it. I didn’t think you could possibly love me.”
George shook his hands free and cupped Dream’s face, “Of course I love you. You’re my idiot, idiot.” George smiled and Dream rolled his eyes, smiling as well. George’s thumb ran over the smile lines under Dream’s eye. “I do love you.”
Dream leaned down and pressed their lips together, softly. It wasn’t the first time they had kissed, of course. But it was the best kiss they had shared. This one was full of soft love. “And I love you.” Dream whispered against George’s lips. And they both knew that they would be okay… Because in every universe, George and Dream loved each other.