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It started after a while of uploading his videos.
So many comments have been flooding, cooing and gawking about how close he is to his best friend, saying that they’d make the best duo ever. Some even say that they should just date already if it means that they’ll be teasing and flirting with each other like that forever.
He chuckles and shrugs it off, continuing to browse through more of his activity feed. Dream and George were just friends. It’s all just a joke.
It was just a running gag where one of them would do something to fluster the other, catching them off guard in order to win a match or to overthrow them at one point in their videos. Dream thought it was an amusing and funny tactic to get back on track whenever George would have a plan to kill him in-game built up in his head
He perked up, being broken out of his thoughts, when he received a notification that someone has joined the Teamspeak. He shakes his head while smiling. Sudden calls like these are just the new normal for all of his friends at this point.
“Dream!” A British voice echoed throughout his headset, all chipper and energized for the day, “Are we gonna work on a new video today, or are you gonna stream?”
Dream beams, he really treasures this new normal.
--
Weeks later, and he had to address a whole bunch of serious topics in a livestream as there were just so much things to discuss with his viewers.
This, however, did not exclude the shipping between him and George.
“Me and George are,” Dream begins to laugh, and George unmutes to join in with his own giggling. “Me and George are not, like, dating or anything and have no plans to, so—um,”
He began to explain further until his friend pops in, “Unless…?”
The blonde’s chest tightens at the suggestion of being more. The thought of being together, but not as friends. Something even closer.
Dream lets out a wheezy laugh, cackling quite a bit before repeating his words with a huge smile on his face. He continues to tell people that they’re free to do anything and that they don’t mind it one bit. He buries that thought to the back of his mind.
He shouldn’t be taking a joke way too seriously. They’re just best friends.
He mentally pinches himself.
--
He likes George’s company.
He doesn’t deny that fact. The other person is a nice contrast to his personality, someone who is more careful and easily scared yet is just as chaotic as he is. George would stay in call with him to keep each other company, sometimes accompanied by Sapnap when he isn’t too busy, whether it be Dream just doing speedruns or editing a recording they’ve done. It’s even to the point where they’d be sleeping and waking up still in call together.
He almost always wakes up before the two. Almost. It was only broken once when he wakes up to the sound of someone’s typing and humming in either satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Both George and Sapnap’s cameras were on, Sapnap’s head was still buried in his arms with papers scattered around his table as he was working on his homework the night before. George, on the other hand, seemed to be working on a new code for their next video.
He seemed so focused. His eyebrows were slightly scrunched together, brown eyes darting quickly from the left to the right, his lower lip being held between his teeth before his tongue passes over it to soothe the slight pain inflicted on himself. He continues to type away before giving out a frustrated huff, weaving his fingers through his short brown hair before leaning forward again to see whatever error he had made.
Dream realized that he’s been staring for quite a long while with these kinds of thoughts in his head. Flustered, he immediately ducks his head back in his pillow. His mic picks up the rustling of his jacket, which catches his friend’s attention.
“Dream?” George asked, clicking noises coming from his mouse signifying that he’s opening up his discord to check. “You awake?”
Dream contemplates whether to continue pretending to sleep or not. He gives up, grumbling a response before looking at the camera. He receives a soft smile from the older man.
“Good morning, Dream.” George giggled.
And, god, why did he find that giggle so cute? Why was it so adorable to him all of a sudden? His chest continued to tighten, and he felt his face heating up. Dream decides to cover his face with his hood. “Morning, George.”
He receives an amused chuckle, “Not a big fan of the morning per usual, huh?”
He ignores his friend’s remark and his tightening chest. “What are you working on?” Dream cringed at his groggy voice, clearing his throat immediately.
“Codes, per usual.” George shrugged, typing a bit more before leaning back to stretch and looked at his end on his second montior. “What about you? How was your sleep?”
Better, since you were the first thing I saw.
Now, Dream usually says flirty things off the bat. But, for the very first time, he had to bite his tongue and not let it slip. His heartbeat stutters.
“B— It was okay, I guess.” He shrugged as he immediately corrected himself.
The British nodded, “I wanted to let you guys sleep in today. You seemed to use up all your energy in the livestream yesterday, while Sapnap used his to finish his schoolwork.”
Dream shifted his head to stare at him, his face obscured by his hood and his blanket. His friend continued to type away while talking in a hushed tone in order to not accidentally wake up the youngest person in the call, who continued to slightly snore away. Why did he hesitate? Why did he feel the need to cover up so suddenly?
“You should go ahead and fix yourself up,” George suggested, “Y’know, get yourself some breakfast and freshen yourself. I know you tend to forget to do so sometimes, since you’re usually busy with keeping up with your momentum and all.”
He continues to stare at George through his camera in awe. From the corner of his eye, he can see George continuing to type before glancing to his second monitor. As he realized that Dream was just watching him, he glanced over to his own camera before flashing a smile at him.
Dream’s heart began to swell in affection before he shifted around to get up from his bed and shoved those feelings down in the depths where he would not want to return to.
He isn’t falling in love with his best friend. No way.
“That I will do. Be right back.”
--
The action of repressing his growing feelings became the new normal up until recently.
Out of the blue, Dream was invited to a game of Among Us. He accepted, of course. He liked playing with a lot of people.
Especially if it meant spending time with George.
The only difference right now is that George is sleepy. George being sleepy is a rare sight to be seen. He usually heads to bed the moment he feels sleepy, not wanting to seem sloppy or odd if ever someone else was streaming.
It was 5 am for George. Dream takes note that Sleepy George is very, very giggly.
“Awesamdude.” George had stated after laughing out loud, his voice loud. “Awesamdude!” His voice suddenly going higher, turning into fits of giggles as he defies the claim of him being the impostor of the round.
“It can’t be George,” Dream stated, “George has been with me the entire time. It’s impossible for it to be George.”
George continues to laugh loudly and excitedly, clapping his hands and exclaiming his accusation towards the player as the younger of the two defended him. Bad even commented on his attitude behind his muted mic, obviously amused at how enthusiastic he seemed.
Dream continued to explain his stand to their sputtering teammate, “George— I walked with George, like, we were— Me and George were literally holding hands in the hallway when we saw you!”
Everyone had turned into a mass of laughter as the blonde had said his statement, and he was pleased until he heard his best friend’s response.
“I was holding Dream’s hand!” George laughed out loud, overlapping with Awesamdude’s reasoning. “It was so warm!”
Dream couldn’t help but laugh out loud in both bewilderment and confusion as he cast out his vote. Half of him told him to laugh because it was George being sleepy. It was amusing.
But the other half was sending him warning signals.
Why was he feeling flustered all of a sudden? Why is his heart beating so fast, his breath shaky and state overall giddy? He looks to his monitor to be met with the victory screen. As his teammate continued to explain why he did what he did, He blocked out all the sounds coming from his headset for a moment as he realized.
He has feelings for George. He wants to be with George. He likes George.
He’s in love with George.
He wants to hold George’s hand for real. Wants to declare his love for him for real. Wants to kiss him, for real.
Dream notices and wipes away the mist from his eyes before clicking on the button that says ‘Play Again’. His heart was so full of the emotions that he had kept away for a long time that it began to overwhelm him, yet he still tried to push those feelings down in a shitty and childish attempt to control them.
He ended up letting it get to his head, defending the person he desired to be with from his other best friend even though he was assigned as the impostor which earned a huge reaction from his friends.
Dream ended up arguing with Sapnap even after the game had ended.
--
“I hope you didn’t mind that I snapped in that Among Us round.”
Sapnap chuckled, “Dude, really, right before my Love or Host show is when you bring that up?”
It was Wednesday night, Dream being in the usual sleepover call. He decided that it was okay to open up to Sapnap while he tried his best to speedrun Minecraft, attempting to keep his screams and yelp to a minimum since George was fast asleep, earbuds still in his ears as he quietly snores away.
“…I actually wanted to talk about something.” Dream started, pausing his own run of the game. He inhales deeply before huffing it out.
“Dude, you don’t need to apologize about it.” The Texan spoke up, clicking noises being heard. “We both know that— Fuck! —that you and I are just very competitive. It’s no biggie.”
Dream rolls his eyes, “I’m not talking about that, Sapnap. It’s about something… else.”
He can hear Sapnap pausing his game and his timer. “…What’s up?”
“Deafen George for me.” The blonde says, feeling too tired to just alt-tab from his windows to do it himself. He hears a noise of affirmation from his friend.
Dream heaves a sigh through his nose, playing with his fingers. It was a little habit he does when he feels nervous. “I think… I like George.”
“We both like George, dude.”
“No, more than that.”
“…Oh.”
Oh, indeed. A little moment of silence filled the room before the older of the two spoke up again, “That’s why I ended up yelling a whole lot more than usual. I realized it right after the ‘holding hands’ moment.”
Sapnap didn’t reply, so he continued to ramble. “It all started as a joke, but then I don’t know— it was just so out of the blue that these feelings decided to keep growing and growing but I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”
The Texan let out a small chuckle, “Dude, you’re totally whipped.”
Dream felt as if his breath was knocked out of his lungs. “…Is that fine?”
Hearing his hushed tone and slight voice crack, Sapnap flashes a cheeky smile his way.
“You were keeping it to yourself when you could’ve told it to me this whole time.” He can hear his friend resume his game, continuing to click at things and move around.
Dream takes this chance and glances over to the sleeping British male, his ears and cheeks tinted a slight red due to how cold his room was.
“You were overwhelmed, and that’s okay. This is all perfectly fine.”
--
Dream stretches out his arms, a result of sitting in front of his PC the entire day. His MCC teammates decided to call it a day and bid both him and George good luck and a good night.
“You wanna go back to the Parkour Practice Server?” George spoke up, disconnecting from the Dodgebolt Server. “I’ll try to do a better run than last time.”
Returning to his original seating position, he followed suit. “Yeah, sure. I’ll help you out.”
As Dream waited for his game to connect, he picked up his phone and unlocked it to check his Discord messages with Sapnap.
Sapnap Yesterday at 4:37 PM
dream
arent you gonna join teamspeak
dream
hello???
dude
Sapnap Yesterday at 7:18 PM
oh my god
where are you
really when i need you most is when you disappear
Sapnap Yesterday at 9:49 PM
wow
you really slept through my loh
thanks man gn i guess
Dream Today at 6:20 AM
shit
sorry
i was playing among us with wil before watching and i guess my thoughts about george ventured on and on and before i knew it i fell asleep and it's now 6 am
Dream Today at 12:00 PM
sap
are you up for dodgebolt training?
hello?
are you still angry?
Dream Today at 5:14 PM
sapnap?
He lets out a heavy sigh before hearing a chuckle coming from his headset, confusion evident on his face as he looks up at his monitor.
“Sapnap still won’t talk to you?”
Dream snorts, “Yeah. I don’t get the big deal, I mean, I’ve apologized already.”
“You know Sapnap,” George rolls his eyes playfully, starting his run the moment he sees Dream’s character pop up in the server. “He’s like a baby. He’ll come around. I still can’t believe you slept through the entire event, though. You and I started tweeting at the same time.”
The blonde moves his character alongside his crush, “Me neither. I even got off Wilbur’s game as early as I could.”
George lets out a fit of cute laughter, Nevermind, I can believe why I missed it now, Dream thought.
They both continue to maneuver around the map, Dream pointing out easier tips for George whenever the older of the two found it difficult to get through. As the second run came to a finish, they exited the game to just hang around like how they’d usually do.
Or at least that’s what Dream thought.
“Is there something on your mind?”
Dream blinked, “What makes you think that?”
George hummed, “You seemed a bit more… distant today. A little quieter and occupied than usual. Did anything bad happen?”
And it’s rare. It’s so rare to have George talk to him directly about things that had bothered him. Normally, if he had noticed something is bothering the younger content creator, he would fix it up with a late night game of BedWars or put up a random movie that he’s never seen to either trash on it or to enjoy it with. He’d always find a way to make his night better when things go south.
If his laughter, his genuine reactions, and his company have helped comfort him through both their video and audio-only calls, how would it be if they had met in person once more? Would they be huddled next to each other under a blanket while watching random Netflix shows to pass time? If he were to confess his feelings, would they cuddle together in bed? Whisper sweet nothings into each other’s ears, reassuring one another until they find themselves succumbing to a peaceful slumber?
If he were to confess…
“...You.”
He didn’t mean to blurt it out loud like that, but he also didn’t feel like stammering and taking it back either. He was just letting himself be truthful and face his feelings.
His feelings that had once ignored and kept away for a long time.
“I…” George pauses, “I don’t understand. Was it something I’ve done, or?”
Dream shakes his head, “No, I really meant you, George. It was you that was on my mind. It has been all this time.”
“…Can you try to explain it to me more?”
“What else is there to explain?” Dream laughed out bitterly, tears pricking his eyes and blurring his sight. “George, I like you. As more than a friend. And I’m sure that you didn’t want this to happen, so I’m perfectly okay with whatever you’d prefer to do, even if that means you wouldn’t want to talk to me for a long time.”
He didn’t even give his friend a chance to talk back, and he immediately took it as him messing everything up. As he was about to excuse himself and disconnect from the call, he heard George speak up.
“…So you meant everything that night?”
“…What do you mean?” Dream furrowed his eyebrows as he hesitated to end the conversation. He doesn’t recall telling George anything about his stupid growing feelings towards him.
“The—” George chokes slightly, and Dream looks up to his camera and sees him covering his reddening face with his oversized sleeves. “The words you said the night before…”
He freezes. Didn’t he tell Sapnap to deafen him?
“Did Sapnap not deafen you?”
And he received a cute shake of his head that signified a ‘no', which then lead him to slamming his forehead onto his desk. It created a loud bang! on his desk, and it caused George to jump since his microphone had picked its noise up. “Dream?!”
“Please,” He begged. All he wanted to do is to bury himself 8 feet into the ground and stay there forever. “Kill me now.”
Bewilderment radiated from the British male, since it isn’t a normal sight to see his best friend so flustered and embarrassed to the point of just face-planting into their own computer table. George then slowly started to chuckle out of amusement.
“What’s so funny?” The younger grumbled, slightly irritated by the response given to him.
“Well,” the laughter died down a little and only a shy smile was left on George’s face. “Wouldn’t it be preferrable if I told you that I liked you as well?”
Wouldn’t it be preferrable if I told you that I liked you as well?
I liked you as well?
George’s sentence echoed through his mind for a good five minutes before he abruptly sat up, bumping his head against his mic stand. “Ow, fuck— No way, George, you’re kidding.”
“You wound me, Dream.” George giggled once more at his antics.
“Are you serious?” Dream leans over to his monitor, a futile attempt to see George’s face closer and clearer as it turns into more specks of different colored pixels. “You like me back?”
George flashes his signature grin, albeit a bit more shyly as he nodded. “I love you, Dream.”
And with just those four words, the blonde felt as if he were punched in the chest. All air was knocked out of his system and he remained breathless. The rush of having his feelings reciprocated after all this time of panicking and overthinking of what could happen and all the different possibilities, his heartbeat accelerating at the thrill of being able to actually love George and to finally stop hiding everything else with even the dumbest reasons, it began to bring tears to his eyes as his next words just quickly spill out of his mouth. “George, I love you too.”
Dream immediately turned his camera off after feeling tears run down his cheeks and began rubbing his face roughly against his sleeves.
“Dream,” the brunet chuckled fondly. “Let me see you. It’s okay.”
Dream looked up at George’s video as best he can with his blurry eyesight, seeing that he was tearing up as well. He sniffled slightly, contemplating a little bit, before activating his webcam again. This caused George’s face to light up.
“…I really want to hold you, George.”
George smiled at him lovingly, before humming a little bit. “What about, maybe, 2 or 3 weeks from now, I’ll buy tickets to your area. Will that sound good to you?”
Dream huffed, “I’ll buy them for you.”
“Dream—” “Let me buy them for you.”
The other male could only shake his head as he chuckled, “I can never get past you, huh?”
“Let me spoil my possible boyfriend like how I usually do.” Dream huffed, his heart fluttering as the title of ‘boyfriend’ slipping past his lips.
George raised an eyebrow teasingly, “That’s what we are now?”
“Only if you’d like to be.”
Seeing Dream pout was probably the cutest thing George has ever seen, aside from any pets he had seen. The smile on his face seemed to have a hard time melting off, “Of course I’d love that.”
The blonde returns it with his own goofy smile. “I’ll book them right now.” He says as he pulls up Google to find the cheapest tickets he could find.
As he shares his screen with his now-boyfriend, George props his chin on his palms as he paid attention to the details he’ll have to share when a thought came to mind.
“You better do your best at MCC tomorrow.”
Dream could only smile at that remark, “Of course.”