Stay, Forever

19

"Come on, George. Hit me."

George stands still, staring across the spread of unkempt grass that separates him from Sapnap. Although his hands are curled into fists, they hang listlessly by his sides. He has no idea what he's meant to do.

Sapnap wears a taunting smirk, and his voice drops low as he keeps pushing, "what's wrong, George? Scared I'll kick your ass again?"

With a scoff, George's eyes flit over to where Dream is sitting with his legs stretched out in the grass. He shoots him an annoyed look, but Dream only shrugs and says, "you wanted to help, George. You need to learn how to defend yourself first."

George rolls his eyes, but he knows this is his own doing. It's only been a little over a week since Dream got hurt, and he's still in no shape to help George. And George has been restless ever since he's made his decision to join their team. And so when Dream suggested they enlist Sapnap, he had reluctantly agreed. Getting Sapnap to agree had taken a bit more convincing, but he had given in when he learned what the job would entail.

And now here they are, standing across from one another in the backyard. And George thinks the whole thing is a terrible mistake, because he's already gotten into one fight with Sapnap, and it ended horribly for him.

"I'll take it easy on you," Sapnap calls out, "but I can't teach you if I don't know what you can do."

George rolls his head back and casts his eyes up at the sky, and he hears Sapnap mumble, "I already know you have a pretty good left hook, as much as I hate to admit it."

A small surge of confidence wells up in George, and his head tips back down. Sapnap moves closer, and his voice drops low again as he continues, "if it helps, just picture me making out with your best friend. That should piss you off, right?"

George tenses as he watches the slow smirk appear on Sapnap's face. He knows that Sapnap is trying to help, but the words work a little too well. The nails on his left hand press into his palm hard enough to sting, and Sapnap steps even closer, "do I need to go into more detail for you, George?"

Without thinking, George reels his left fist back and swings. But Sapnap is expecting it, and he moves before George can make contact. His fist collides hard with Sapnap's palm instead of his face, and Sapnap pushes him back as he mutters, "not bad. Try again."

George tries again, but he thinks that Sapnap is most likely expecting him to repeat the same swing. He swings his right fist instead, and connects with Sapnap's stomach hard enough to make him double over in surprise.

Sapnap mutters a low curse, and George can hear a cheer come from Dream's direction. He looks back over his shoulder with a smile, and Dream smiles back as he says, "nice one, George."

George is just about to respond when he notices the change in Dream's expression. His eyebrows shoot up, and he raises a hand to point at something in warning. But it's too late, Sapnap collides hard with George and sends both of them tumbling to the ground.

George struggles to pull air down into his lungs from the unexpected hit, and Sapnap's body keeps him pinned to the earth as he mutters, "first lesson, pay attention to your surroundings. If I had a weapon, you'd already be dead."

"That's not fair," George mumbles back with a groan. He tries to push Sapnap off, but Sapnap doesn't budge.

"It is fair," Sapnap responds, "I know Dream is pretty, but you can't let him distract you."

George's face warms in embarrassment, and he rolls his eyes. Sapnap finally rolls over and onto the grass, and George pushes himself up at the same time Dream calls out, "you think I'm pretty?"