Heavenstruck (Guardian Angel AU)

Reveal

tw: talks of death, spirituality

There were no words Dream could use to counter the resolute firmness of Sapnap's voice or to describe the horror on every feature of George's face, so he laughed. There was nothing else he could've done.

Laugh. Just laugh. Laugh!

"I know what you're trying to do and it's not gonna work this time," Sapnap said. "You always turn these things into some sort of joke. I'm not falling for it."

Took one to know one. Sapnap did the exact same thing whenever Dream cornered him during an argument. Their past arguments seemed so petty in comparison now—which ice cream flavor is the best, cats versus dogs, which type of Minecraft wood was the best. All of those arguments paled in comparison to the confirmation that something beyond them and the mortal plane they knew existed.

God, he was so stupid. So, so stupid.

He couldn't stop laughing.

"Dream," George called, his voice quiet. "He already knows. I can tell."

"Stop laughing, Dream," Sapnap said. He took a seat on the other end of the couch and straightened his back in what Dream could only interpret was an attempt to look serious.

Stop, stop, Dream told himself, but laughter wouldn't stop bubbling out of his throat and pulling him underneath it. The panic from Sapnap almost slipping into the river, the guilt of having to ignore George for the majority of the day, the stress of keeping all of it under wraps—everything finally crashed down on him like a riptide. He was out of breath. Was he drowning? He felt like he was drowning.

"Dream, man," Sapnap said, scooting closer to him. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern, and he set a hand on Dream's shoulder. "Come on. Breathe. You've got this."

"I'm sorry," Dream managed to eke out. His throat felt scratchy. His body shook. Maybe it trembled? All he knew was the vague sense of panic slowly burning through every inch of him. "God, I'm so sorry."

Then he made the mistake of locking eyes with George, and the laughter returned.

How funny. Dream had messed up enough to expose the entirety of George's world, yet George was the one concerned for him.

"Dream," George said. He sighed and moved to sit on the armrest next to Dream. "Just focus on us, okay? Or just Sapnap or your cat or whatever you need to." There was a moment of hesitation before George's wing carefully, slowly wrapped around Dream's back. The tip rested at his waist, and the slightest bit of the feathers tickled against the back of his neck.

It was soft. So, so soft.

Dream didn't know how much time had passed before his breathing finally evened out. It felt like a second, but it could have been hours for all he knew.

The three sat in silence. It was only a few minutes into it that Dream realized they were waiting for him.

"How?" Dream asked.

"To be fair, you did a decent job at hiding it," Sapnap said. "If I didn't know you, I definitely would've known something shady was going on, but I don't think I would've come to the conclusion that I did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you'd let me get out my list..."

"You made a list?" Dream said, laughing. Finally, the ball of tension inside his stomach began to unravel just the slightest bit.

Sapnap laughed along with him and pulled out his phone. "I wrote everything down in the notes app. But uh... really, I just thought it was kinda weird how you never introduced me to your roommate or even told me their name. I guess that's the thing that tipped me off to the other weird shit going on around you. And you were talking to someone every night, too."