More or less than friends

Chapter 1- surrender (start of Pt.1)

(reposted)

No one's POV

"SHIT!" Sapnap yelled into his mic. He was fighting George on minecraft, their characters hitting one another as fast as they could. Nick was on 3 hearts while George was that much away from full health. He was laughing in the excitement of winning; it's not like it happens very often.

"FUCK, DREAM! FLIRT WITH HIM OR SOMETHING, DISTRACT HIM! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!"

Sapnap shouted it down his microphone to both the others, making George hesitate in confusion.

"DON'T! That's cheating!"

The only response he got was a slight wheeze and a hopeful grunt. George spam hit Nick's avatar, trying to win before anything could distract him.

Why am I panicking??

He kept hitting the other character, mind distracted from the task at hand as he huffed in annoyance at how much the prospect of Clay flirting affected his game performance. But even as he gritted his teeth, an unfairly deep voice cut through Sapnap's babbling.

"Oh come on, George. Give in."

Lips parted with a gasp before a hand could raise to cover them. The second George's avatar stopped moving Sapnap rushed forward with his sword, hurrying to take advantage of the sudden pause. But there was no need- George literally didn't move.

Georgenotfound was slain by Sapnap.

"YESSSS!!! F*CK YOU GEORGEE!" All too happy words came from Sapnap, genuinely surprised that his panic idea was what worked. George just sat there, trying not to make his reaction too noticeable to the stream. But it was too late, the chat filled with lyrics from heatwaves and exclaims on the colour of the usually pale man's cheeks.

What just happened. Why the fuck did that work.

Dream was laughing, also amazed at his simple few words causing George to stop so abruptly.

"W-what wh..why did it work...*wheeze*...tha-thats so fu-funny...."
The obnoxious laughing didn't stop for a while, coming from both boys involved in what just happened but not from the subject of it. He was practically silent.

George tried to chuckle, but the air had grown tight in his throat and he couldn't even force himself to try and laugh.

Why do I care? That was funny, Dream's right. We make jokes like this all the time.

When he eventually managed a 'laugh' it came out as a slight croak, and he noticed his knuckles turning white as his hands gripped the edge of the desk.

What is wrong with me?? It was literally a joke, I'm just overreacting.

"Oh-oh my God" he managed to breath out the few words, mixing them with a sound that could sort of be resembled with laughter. He then fake yawned, stretching his arms and rubbing his eyes. "I think I'm gonna go to bed".

At this his two friends stopped, confused as to why he was going so soon. It was only 10pm, and when streaming George usually went to bed at about 2am, earliest midnight.

Shit. They know I'm being weird. They'll think this whole thing's just dumb.

"I'm uh- tired...didn't get much sleep, I need to get up early too. Thanks for watching anyways, bye bye chat!" He waved with a smile to his camera before rushing to end the stream, hands now shaking slightly. This is so fucking dumb. Just as he went to leave the discord call the same voice that started this spoke to him, laced with genuine emotions.

Shit.

"George, you OK? You know we were joking. What's up?" Clay sounded concerned, keeping his tone gentle yet still nonchalant. He hopefully wasn't thinking too far into it.
But George was. His hands were now coated in a thin layer of nervous sweat, leg slightly bouncing. It was literally so dumb.

Yes, you were joking. That's the problem.

Wait what?? Clay's my best friend, why would I-

"Everything's fine, like I said...I'm really tired. G'night guys." He left the call quickly, turned off his pc and sighed slowly. He let frustrated tears appear on his cheeks, crying yet again for the feeling that confused him so much.

What the heck was that?? Why did Dream's romantic words make him react so noticeably? Why was his face suddenly so warm?? Why had his stomach suddenly fluttered with hidden butterflies?

"Goddammit.." George groaned, hiding his bright face in his hands.

I know why. I've known why for the past month or so, just refused to admit it to myself.

The butterflies, the blushing, the shaking, the feelings of defiance whenever anything was brought up.

I shouldn't have let them become a normal thing, I should have pushed them away the first time they came.

Clay was his best friend. His straight best friend, who lived miles away, who had never shown George his face, who had no idea that the man he jokingly flirted with is actually gay.

George groaned again, heaving himself up off his chair and instead flopping down on his bed. His hands hadn't stopped shaking, but the tears had stopped falling, so after about 10 minutes of shuffling about and thinking too much, a comfortable sleep welcomed his body into itself.

His last thought was almost a surrender to himself, decided with fleeting determination and an unsure brain.

I like him. I like him and I might as well accept it.

(890 words)

Hehe yes I'm doing this. I have a vague idea of what's going to happen, and I'm quite excited to write it. SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER!!! This is my first fanfic, so please be nice :D