Sapnap looked after his friend as he quickly disappeared up the stairs. Dream could honestly be so stupid sometimes. George too for that matter. How could neither of them realize? To everyone else around them it was obvious that they had something for each other. So why couldn't they see it?
Sapnap shook his head and went up the stairs. When he went past Dream's room he stopped and listened for something. But it was silent so he continued to his own room. In all honesty there wasn't anything wrong with it, he just thought the one downstairs was better.
After starting his computer he saw that a bunch of people were in a call together. Including Karl. And Sapnap being the simp he was, joined without even seeing who else was in the call.
"Hello?"
"Nick?" Karl sounded happily surprised. "I thought you weren't going to be home tonight."
"I know, but Dream wasn't feeling that well so we went home early." He responded and looked over at the people in the call. It was Bad, Wilbur, Tommy and Quackity. Why were they all here? Oh wait, were they streaming? "Are you streaming?" He nervously asked with a chuckle.
"Oh no no, don't worry. But we were actually just about to play jackbox and stream."
"Oh, without inviting me?" Sapnap teased with a smirk.
"You told me you were going to be busy tonight!" Karl said and Sapnap smiled bigger. God, Karl was going to be the death of him.
"Busy with your mom!" He shouted back and rested against his chair. Between the moments when nobody talked he tried to listen for any sound from Dream's room. But he couldn't hear a thing. He just hoped that Dream hadn't gone to sleep again. He had slept enough last week for a whole month.
"Sapnap!" Bad scolded as usual.
"What? You're not my dad."
"Well, canonically..." Wilbur said and everyone laughed. That was true, canonically Bad was his father. He couldn't really understand how that made sense but didn't really try to either. He just went with it.
"That's true, that's true! Wait I have never thought about this but who the hell did you fuck to get me?" Sapnap asked and then added. "Skeppy?" Quackity sounded as if he was dying of laughter and Bad screamed at him. Sapnap couldn't help but laugh, he was glad to be back with the jackbox streams and lobby's with his friends. They all soon seemed to calm down from laughing.
"Skeppy!" Quackity repeated and everyone started to laugh again. Skephalo was one of these iconic things everyone joked about. Well, except Skeppy and Bad. Okay but to be fair they did their equal part of the jokes and maybe even leaned in on the jokes a little too much. Not that Sapnap should say anything. He did the same thing with Karl.
"So how's Dream?" Tommy finally asked and Sapnap sighed. That's something we would all like to know isn't it? But Dream was too stubborn to talk about it. Sure he had told him the reasons for it but not how he was actually feeling. And to be honest he was beginning to feel really worried for him. Sapnap could see how much this was affecting his friend mentally.
"Yeah...I'm not sure." He hesitantly said, still debating how much he should tell the others. Obviously he couldn't tell the whole truth. He had already gone down that path once and he had learned his lesson.
"What do you mean? Is he ill?" Tommy worriedly asked and Sapnap rushed to assure him that Dream was fine. He absolutely didn't want his friends to worry too much about Dream as he knew that his friend would only feel more anxious by that.
"Oh no no, not like that, it's...another thing." He tried to answer as vaguely as possible and hoped that the others wouldn't demand more.
"I talked to George just a couple of minutes ago." Quackity said out of nowhere and Sapnap wondered what that had to do with anything. You know, besides the fact that everything that had to do with Dream also had to do with George. "Guess who called him." Oh, that's why it's relevant.
"Wait- really?" Sapnap asked and Quackity hummed. He almost gasped. "That motherfucker." Dream just got pissed at him for even bringing up George and now he had just gone and called him? Doing exactly what Sapnap told him to? That was a new one. "Do you know if he answered?"
"I mean I screamed at him to do it and then I just left. But I hope so."
"Yeah I hope so too, I can't handle this anymore." Sapnap said and thought about how annoying this was. Even though he loved his friends he just wished they would realize soon or confess or whatever. It was hurting them all this way.
"Can't handle what anymore?" Wilbur asked and Sapnap sighed. Once again he couldn't tell his friends the real and whole truth.
"Dream." He simply answered and then continued. "Have you ever tried to talk to him when George is ignoring him? Or worse, when George is pissed at him? Let me tell you, it's not pretty."
"But you live with him?" Wilbur said and Sapnap laughed.
"Exactly! Therefore I have to experience it firsthand." He shouted and slammed his hand on the table for dramatic effect. He immediately regretted it when his hand started to hurt.
"I can see how that would be horrible but have you ever tried talking to George when he and Dream aren't talking?" Quackity asked and then added. "Like he is so fucking stubborn. And like today I had to have a whole talk with him." For a moment Sapnap wondered what this 'talk' had been about but he soon realized that he had no right to know and that he should probably not say anything about it.
"I know they are both stupid and stubborn." Sapnap agreed while gently feeling over his hand to see if it hurt and if so, where.
"Guys, I really don't think you should talk about them behind their backs." Bad said and of course he did. Somehow he always seemed to know what was going on with everyone. Sapnap wouldn't be surprised if he knew about George's secret and Dream's secret. And of course Bad was always the one to defend his friends.
"Eh, they can handle it."
George was quiet and thought about what Dream had just asked him. He could always lie and say he was straight but he had already lied to him once this call he didn't want to do it again. And if he did lie and say that, Dream would probably not believe him since George would probably not manage to say it in a believable tone.
But if he said that he wasn't straight then what would he answer when Dream asked him what he was? Even though he had told Bad that he would think about his idea he hadn't. He had completely forgotten about it to be honest. But now was not the time to rethink his entire identity or figure it out or whatever. When George didn't answer, Dream started to ramble.
"I'm sorry George. Of course you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I have nothing to do with this-" Except you do. "-You don't owe me this. But I know we haven't talked about this before really and I'm sorry that I asked." Dream sounded genuinely nervous that he had in some way offended George by asking.
"It's fine Dream." He finally spoke and they were both silent. Should he tell the truth about his sexuality? Probably. So he did. "No."
"What?" Dream asked, probably confused since he lacked context.
"The answer to your question: no." George simply said and he could basically hear the wheels turning in Dream's head as he tried to figure out what George meant.
"What do you mean? Are you straight?"
"N-no." George stuttered and closed his eyes tightly. This could potentially go very wrong and he did not have the energy to deal with it if it did. And Dream's opinion was honestly the only one he cared for. If everyone else didn't accept him but Dream did, then that was fine because Dream was the only one that mattered.
"Oh...I didn't know." George couldn't tell if that was a positive or negative reaction. Even if he knew Dream wasent homophobic it was still different when it came to people you knew. Especially when they were best friends.
"Yeah as you said, we haven't really talked about this. Except for…'that time'." 'That time' was quite a while ago when this whole youtube thing first started. It was when he and Dream would start getting shipped together; they were forced to discuss how they felt about it and what their boundaries were.
George remembered that Dream had told him that he was ambiguous and George didn't know what that was back then. Dream had explained that it was basically that he knew his own sexuality but didn't like telling people or he was very vague about it.
George also remembered that he himself had told Dream he was straight. And back then it was basically true. Back then he didn't have any of these feelings he has now and everything was much easier. Sometimes George wished he could go back to that time, if only to see how it was at the time he wasn't in love with Dream.
They had both come to the conclusion that they didn't care about the shipping and that they were fine with it and that maybe with some luck, it would help them grow. Seeing that they were accepting of everyone, no matter what sexuality you were. Not that any of them said that outloud. And George was seriously fine with it then. Now he wondered if it would have changed a lot of things if they had come to the conclusion that they were not fine with the shipping.
Had he fallen in love with Dream? Actually George believed he wouldn't have because without all the flirting he would never catch feelings this hard. He maybe would have had a small crush but he would have never fallen in love. He was quite sure of that.
"So is this like a new thing? I'm sorry that sounds so weird, I'm just trying to be respectful." Dream said and George let out a little chuckle. Dream sounded nervous as hell.
"It's fine Dream. I won't get offended or whatever." Dream seemed to let out a breath. "Probably." He jokingly added. They both chuckled.
"So since you never wanna talk about your past girlfriends then what about boyfriends?" Dream teased and then seemed to become serious. "Wait, do you have a boyfriend now?" There was something about Dream's voice that sounded very weird but George couldn't set his finger on it. Maybe this was all just new and stuff.
"I've never had a boyfriend." He confessed but Dream wasn't satisfied with that.
"Then what about have?" Dream demanded to know and George frowned. Now he could guess what Dream's voice dripped off. Jealousy.
"Damn Dream, don't get too jealous now or you will turn green." He joked and messed with a string of his hair. That one that never seemed to stay in place.
"Im-im not jealous! Just answer the question." Dream quickly defended himself. It didn't sound as if he appreciated the joke. George made an overdramatic sigh before finally answering.
"Fine, if you have to know. I don't have a boyfriend."
"Oh." Dream exclaimed and George smirked. Had Dream really been jealous? And if he had been then why? There was no reason for him being jealous that George possibly had a boyfriend.
"Sure you aren't jealous?" He teased.
"Yes!" Dream desperately tried to defend himself but it definitely didn't sound truthful.
"Okay..." George said slowly. It was pretty obvious now to him that Dream had been jealous otherwise he wouldn't be this defensive about it. But then again, why would he be jealous? Dream couldn't like him could he? No, that was completely ridiculous. George quickly shook the thoughts away. He definitely didn't need false hope right now.
"I promise you I'm not." Dream said and then went silent. After a while he asked. "So how long have you known...or have you always known?" He was back to being awkward. George shaked his head and let out a small chuckle.
"A year...or a bit less than that actually."
"Why didn't you tell me? If you've known for a year." George would be honest, Dream did sound a bit offended. Which was not good, so George chose his next words carefully.
"I don't know, I guess I was scared."
"Of what?"
"Being judged." That was only the half truth. There was also the chance that Dream would figure out that it was him that George liked.
"George, I would never judge you. You know that right?" He desperately asked and George hurried to assure him. He didn't need any more misunderstandings between them.
"Yes, but it's still scary."
"Yeah I get that. Does anyone else know?" He didn't want Dream to feel hurt about not being the first to know so he decided to be pretty vague. It felt as if that was how everything was nowadays.
"A couple of people have figured it out." He said but quickly frowned. They didn't exactly 'figure it out' it was more Sapnap actually telling them. So there wasn't much figuring out there.
"Figured it out?" Dream asked.
"Yeah." George could tell that he wanted to know more but he didn't ask about it. Which was good since George couldn't answer that without bringing suspicion to himself.
"Are you still fine with jokes about...you know?" George wasn't really sure what exact words Dream had intended to end his sentence with but he still understood. Maybe it had been something about jokes about him being gay or maybe jokes about DNF. But he would never know since he didn't ask.
"Yes, the only thing I ask from you is to not act any differently just because of this, okay?" George knew that this was an impossible request since obviously he knew that some things would change. Even if it wasn't how Dream would act towards him there would be other things. George for example knew that Dream wouldent throw around the term 'gay' around him as he usually would and he would probably be very careful. But even if he knew that, he still wanted some kind of confirmation from Dream.
"Of course George and I guess you don't want me to tell anyone." Dream said and George chuckled sweetly.
"Yeah it would be great if you didn't do that." Dream joined in with his laughter but it soon died down. He could tell that his friend wanted to say something.
"So we are completely fine right?" He asked after a moment of silence. George had already answered that question already, so why did Dream seem so unsure that it was actually fine between them?
"Yes Dream everything is completely fine. Stop overthinking."
"It's hard not to overthink when it comes to you." Dream mumbled and George barely catched the words. But just to be sure he asked him to repeat it. And Dream did, George had heard right.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing!" Dream quickly shouted as if he had been caught in something. "Um, I just saw that some friends of ours are in a call. I think they are going to play jackbox and stream. Should we join?"
"First time you are speaking to me in days and you already wanna share me with others? And I who thought you loved me more." George said with an over exaggerated snicker.
"It's fine If you don't-" Dream started to backtrack but George interrupted him. Seriously, why did Dream think everything he said would offend him?
"It's fine Dream, I'm only joking. And sure we can go and play jackbox." He then remembered something. "Wait, is Sapnap going to be there?"
"I believe so, why?" George didn't need to answer as Dream seemed to come up with the answer himself. "Oh wait, didn't you also have an argument or like fight or whatever? I'm sure it's fine." Dream assured him and he seriously hoped so. But if the guy living with Sapnap said it was fine then it probably would be.
"Yeah, I hope so."
Karl looked to his right monitor as he heard his messages ping. He completely ignored whatever his friends were saying and looked who it was from. Surprisingly it was Dream. Karl frowned as he clicked on it.
Dream
Hi Karl, can me and George join your jackbox lobby?
Karl
Of course :)
There was room for two more players so Karl accepted. He really hoped this would not end bad especially since this seemed to be the first time they talked to each other in days. It would also be Dream's first time on stream since that first panic attack. And on top of that it was a jackbox stream. But oh well, Dream did make the decisions himself.
"I have two others that are joining." He announced to the call and everybody stopped talking about whatever they were talking about.
"Who?" Sapnap asked and Karl smiled. It was much more fun to hint at it than actually telling them who it was. So he did that.
"Well, all I'm going to say is that you might wanna stop shittalking your friends." He said and made it very clear who he was talking about.
"Wait, really?" Sapnap sounded genuinely confused by this and Karl smiled. He didn't really know why, but just having Sapnap's attention made him really happy. A bit too happy to be completely honest.
"Yes, so shut up."
"I feel like I have missed something. Did anything happen between Dream and George?" Tommy asked in a serious tone. Karl didn't know how he had missed that. Almost all of their friends knew. Not that anyone had told them, it was more that everyone just knew because Dream wasn't online at all and George barely talked to anyone. Then it was just assumed that something had happened. Of course there were those who actually knew that that was the actual case.
"Where have you been the last couple of days?" Wilbur asked and then added. "Just a couple of minutes earlier we literally talked about it." He chuckled.
"Did we? I don't remember that."
"We did, and also ask Sapnap about this, he knows best."
"There isn't much to know really. They got into an argument then me and George got into an argument. End of story."
"Oh, and you haven't made up?"
"Nope." The sound of someone joining the call made them all stop speaking about it. A couple of seconds later another identical sound could be heard. Karl looked to his second monitor and as he had guessed it was Dream and George. Not that it was much guessing, only those who had an invite could join.
Dream wasn't completely sure what to think about the things he now knew. Like George not being straight. Where did that come from and how? Why didn't George tell him earlier? Was George lying when he said he never had a boyfriend before? Because surely he had to have been interested in a guy to even realize that he was interested in guys. Right?
There were so many questions and still he didn't have the answer to any of them. And on top of finding out George wasn't as straight as he thought, George had also accepted coming to Florida. And this was all in the same call that they had apologized to each other. God, there was so much happening right now. Dream felt like his head was spinning.
Why was this so complicated? He had been sure that George was straight and now he knew that he wasn't. It was...not weird but...confusing. It was definitely unexpected. When he asked George if he was straight he half believed that he would make some kind of joke of it, not answer truthfully. But he did and Dream had no idea what to think of it.
He didn't exactly ask what George's sexuality was since George didn't exactly specify it either; he kinda picked up on the vibes that George wasn't really sure what his own sexuality was. With Dream himself being unlabeled he completely understood not knowing how to label your sexuality.
And the jealousy Dream felt at the possible boyfriends could not be explained. It was probably pretty clear in his voice too. He just hoped that George had not actually thought he had been jealous, but instead just teased him.
Then out of nowhere George brought up the topic of coming to florida by accepting his invite from like a week ago. Why did he say yes all of a sudden? What had changed that made him say yes? Dream truly had no idea but just the thought that he might meet George in real life soon made him want to jump up and down on the floor. From both excitement and nervousness.
"Dream?" George said out of nowhere, interrupting his thoughts. Dream shaked his head and focused
"Yeah?" He mumbled and blinked a couple of times.
"We were going to join Karls lobby…?" George said slowly, he probably noticed that Dream had zoned out with his thoughts.
"Oh yeah right. Eh...he sent me an invite. Guess I will see you there. Bye." He said and stretched in his chair.
"Bye." George mumbled back.
Dream left the call and clicked on the invite from Karl. Just a couple of seconds later he had joined. Even though he saw that there were a couple of people in the call he didn't hear anyone say anything. The sound of George joining made him flinsh and he hit his knee on the table. "Fuck." He swore as the pain shot up in his leg. Nobody said anything to that either.
"Hello?" George finally said.
"You actually did what I told you to do. I'm impressed." Quackity said and Dream wondered what he was talking about. What had Quackity told George to do?
"Yeah...thank you for earlier." George mumbled with a sincere tone that George rarely used and that Dream rarely heard him use. Now he was really invested in knowing what they were talking about.
"Of course, someone has to be your knight in shining armor." Quackity said and Dream was jealous. He wanted to be George's knight in shining armor.
"Mhm," George said doubtfully and then Dream heard how he hesitated. "Uhm, Nick...I'm really sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it." What was George talking about this time and why did Dream feel so left out of everything. First it was some kind of talk between Quackity and him that seemed important and now it was something he had said to Sapnap? Why didn't George tell him?
"It's fine I get why you did it and I've already forgiven you so...and by the way I know you did mean it." Sapnap said in a matter of fact way.
"No I didn't!" George defended himself.
"Yep but I forgive you for it. You were kinda right."
"Sapnap, I didn't mean it." George once again tried to defend himself but Sapnap was not giving in.
"Yes you did-" He was about to start argue but Dream interrupted him. He had a feeling that if he didn't stop them now they would go on forever.
"Nick, I'm also really sorry." He said and then clarified. "For earlier."
"It's fine dude, just don't do it again." Sapnap said and Dream promised him to never do it again. Even though he knew that it was probably an empty promise. He just couldn't help it if he got moody sometimes, no one could.
"What is it, apologize-to-Sapnap-day?" Tommy asked and everyone laughed. It really seemed as if it was.
"Oh Sapnap, I'm sorry for hanging out with your mom last night." Karl said and that was the start of endless 'oh Sapnap, im sorry…'. Everyone but Dream and George joined in but both of them still laughed. It was honestly stupid, they were all making fun of them but Dream didnt mind the slitest. And he guessed that George didn't either.
