EIGHTH WONDER; memeulous & imallexx

15.5; sour

cant rmmr who exactly asked for a second part but im like 80% sure a lot of u did so (: here thanx dan for giving me an idea for it ily

love how i said i wasnt gonna post until i felt better but idk what self care is so

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George might have been a little jealous. Only a little, he can admit that now. It's not like his stomach feels like turning itself inside out, or like he gets this constant cold prickle across the back of his neck, or like it constantly tastes like he's been sick in his mouth. Nothing like that. It's a simple bit of jealousy, and George can admit that it's only a small bit. It's nothing more.

Except, if it was, why does it follow him? Why does it keep him up at night, clinging to his mind like an old spider's web? It runs through his mind every time he tries to sleep, leaving it as a last thought, and the scene burns into his eyes. Why can't George seem to leave it in the past?

It's impossible to escape, and George fears he's never going to forget it. What happened in the bathroom, between him and Alex, is only an afterthought. He can cherish the good all he likes, but it's the bad that really influences his feelings on that night.

The bad being that fucking lapdance. It won't leave George alone, no matter how many videos or how much editing he distracts himself with. All he can see whenever he closes his eyes, whenever he fucking blinks, is Alex's cheeks painted a pretty pink, hands clutching at the curve of James' waist, staring up at him as he does this stupid shitty lapdance.

George doesn't hate James. He genuinely doesn't. It's a battle between hating that James actually did the joke and hating how Alex let him do it.

He doesn't say anything. Why would he? Will never sent the video to anybody, never posted it on Twitter or Instagram, and they never really spoke of it again. There's not much point in bringing up a joke that no longer has relevancy.

Life goes on, George supposes. Their neighbours are dicks, Will earns them a few more noise complaints, and Fraser and James move into the same building. They go down to their new flat to celebrate, and George tries to forget the sense of déjà vu he gets.

They're all seated on their ridiculously soft corner sofa and George hasn't had enough to drink yet to have Alex hang all over him. It makes a strange crawling feeling trail down his back, coming in the form of a shiver, but George can't make himself push the other boy away. Will keeps making wisecracks about what they do in their flat to earn more noise complaints, James pours drinks, Fraser calls them all arseholes and looks like he's about to cry when Will mentions his lock screen being a picture his dog.

"D'you remember last time we drank?" Alex whispers to him, soft-spoken and fuzzy as he buries his face in George's jumper. "Wait – not the last time. Time before."

George knows what he's talking about. "What time?" He pretends not to know.

Alex snorts a laugh and sits up a little straighter, leaning the line of his body up against George's. "The time when James gave me that sorry excuse of a lapdance." It makes George swallow down a somber noise. "Was that weird?"

"Was what weird – the fact you let your mate give you a lapdance?" George asks, turning to face the other man. He's got a smile on those perfect pink lips, slightly chapped from the recent drops in temperature, and his eyes are lazy and glowing in this room that feels too dim all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I s'ppose." Alex hums. His hands wander down to the strings of George's hoodie, tugging on one so the knot of the other one stops at the hood. "Was that weird? You seem really weirded out by it."