Work Text:
It’s not an unknown fact that George loves Dream. It’s also not unknown that Dream loves George. Years of friendship and pining, kindling feelings, resulted in the quick start of a relationship after George landed.
And, for a while, it was perfect.
It was everything.
Until it’s not. George, inexplicably, isn’t happy. He finds more comfort in spending time with Dream outside of their relationship, or with Sapnap, or quarreling himself away in his office alone. He can’t understand why, after spending so long being in love with his best friend.
Relief comes with the ending of the relationship—on good terms—in mid 2023. Dream and George return, rather clunkily, to being only friends. It’s slow, halted by inexperience with being just friends while existing in the same space, and the fact they constantly have to start again. Dream, for a full five days after their break-up, kisses George whenever he sees him. Be it on the cheek, the crown of his head, the corner of his mouth, or the scent gland on George’s neck. When he kisses George there, they both forget they aren’t together anymore. When he kisses George there, George’s eyes slide shut and he sighs, leaning back into Dream’s chest, encouraging him with the tilt and stretch of his neck.
The last time he kisses George is in the evening, when his lips ghost the skin right beside George’s gland, and he gets a swift elbow in the gut.
“Dream,” George breathes, facing him. “I— if you keep doing that, I’ll lose my mind.”
“Are you using it for anything else?” Dream teases, rubbing his ribs.
George lifts his elbow again, but Dream’s arms circle him before he can inflict further damage.
“I’ll stop,” Dream whispers. “I’ll remember. I promise. I’m sorry.”
George sinks into the hug, closing his eyes as he breathes in Dream. “Me too,” he mumbles. His hands dig into Dream’s waist. “Me too,” he says again.
—
Even then, it takes a while for them to transition to a space apart from their relationship. Their hands find each other, they press too close, and then Dream gets his rut. George wants to help him, and it kills him to only sit outside Dream’s room, hearing him cry George George George over and over, but if he were to step inside and let Dream use him, it would set them back so far, they may never move forward.
He perseveres. He tries his best.
Really, he should have opened the door. He should have stopped Dream’s crying, been used, helped. Because he’s set back anyway.
Dream off-handedly mentions his girlfriend two weeks after his rut. George nearly chokes on his apple juice.
“We’ve been dating for a week, but I really like her already,” Dream says, grinning.
“Oh?” George asks. He wipes the apple juice from the counter with a rag, face flushed bright red. He doesn’t turn around.
Dream doesn’t say anything for a moment. “Are you okay with it?”
“Of course,” George says, still wiping. “ I broke up with you, Dream, in case you need a reminder.”
Dream chuckles. “I don’t, thank you,” he says, “but I wanted to be sure.”
George drops the rag in the sink and runs cold water over his hands. He splashes some over his face, wiping it away with his forearms before turning around. “I’m good,” he says, leaning against the counter as nonchalantly as he can manage.
Dream raises an eyebrow, clearly not buying it, but he doesn’t say anything. He stands from his bar stool, crossing to meet George. His scent is thick now, strong with the smell of old books, anxiety, and a smell George hasn’t smelled before. Flowers and morning dew. It makes his nose curl with disgust, and he knows it’s from her. The smell makes him want to scent Dream until they both smell like each other for a week.
“George.”
“What?”
Dream pulls him against his chest. “I still love you,” he whispers.
George’s heart leaps.
“You’re my best friend.”
George closes his eyes and sighs. “Yeah,” he mutters. “You’re my best friend too.”
They pull away and stare at each other. It’s a little awkward, but George likes staring at Dream. He doesn’t seem to realize how beautiful he is. George is— was —so lucky to have him.
But he’s not in love with Dream anymore… right?
He brushes it off when Dream walks away.
He meets Ella not long after. She drops by the house another week later to meet George, Sapnap, and Patches. George acts cordial, almost cold, to her, but if she notices, she says nothing about it. She’s polite, funny, beautiful, and exactly Dream’s type. George watches them and frowns, unsure what it is he’s feeling.
She doesn’t come around much. She’s back to meet Sapnap’s new kittens in November, she spends New Years Eve with them, and she’s around one weekend every one or two months. She whisks Dream away on Valentine’s, and Sapnap invites her over for his birthday after the stream. Mostly, Dream goes out to her. George doesn’t care.
He doesn’t. He’s out of love. He goes on a few dates, sleeps with a few guys, but doesn’t find anyone he’d go out with again. He doesn’t seem to have the same luck as Dream does. As much as he tries.
He spends his next heat alone. He can smell Dream nearby, and he’s pretty sure he asks for him a few times, but something keeps him rooted to his bed. As much as he wants to leave, go search for his friend, he stays in the darkness that reeks of him and him alone, craving it would smell of Dream too.
They don’t talk about it when he’s done. He pretends he doesn’t see the way Dream’s eyes pore over him when he first opens his bedroom door, doesn’t smell how relieved Dream is to see him. He pretends he can’t smell how Dream almost got sent into an early rut because of him.
Turns out he’s not bad at pretending. For the most part.
He and Dream have an almost synced cycle. So, two weeks after George’s heat ends, he gets a whiff of Dream’s pre-rut.
And then Dream vanishes.
“Sapnap,” George asks, peering into Sapnap’s office. “Where’s Dream?”
“Ella’s,” Sapnap says without looking up. “Guess they’re at the time in their relationship where they can spend their cycles together.”
He makes a disgusted face. George has a similar one. He leaves and goes into his room. He stands there for a moment before turning and going downstairs, beelining for Dream’s room instead. He can smell Dream’s pre-rut here, covering his bed and a few items of clothing dropped around the room.
He lifts one of Dream’s hoodies and presses the collar to his nose. As he breathes in, he knows. He wants Dream. And he wants Dream to want him again. The thought of Dream spending his rut with Ella instead of him sickens him. And he can do nothing about it.
He thought he wasn’t in love anymore. He thought he had gotten over Dream. But he had confused his feelings. He had adjusted to the relationship, not been unhappy.
Now he’s here. And Dream is there.
And he can do nothing about it.