𝓌𝑒 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝒸𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑒𝓇 ; 𝓈𝒶𝓅𝓃𝑜𝒷𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑒

[vii.] ;; 𝒿𝓊𝓁𝓎

"sorry," the brit says, and dave shrugs with a tired smile. "techno, listen- i know what it's like to have feelings for your best friend, and i'm just- just here to tell you he feels the same. he might not've said it aloud, but the way he looks at you, like you're the only person left on earth, like you're the prettiest person in the room, like you're perfect. it's obvious. just.." george sighs, pats dave's shoulder, gives him a small smile, "just tell him eventually."

dave is quiet. george's words do ring true; he's aware of the way nick looks at him, soft and doe-eyed and adoring and loving, but that doesn't quell the fact that dave is still scared, scared of messing up, scared of losing nick. he hasn't been in a relationship since freshman year in high school, and even though he's matured, he still feels like he'll fuck it up, fuck everything up and nick will leave him, just like they all do.

"and dave? i know you're scared – hell, i was scared too, confessing to clay was terrifying. but it's going to work out. you're a good man, there's nothing sapnap would ever dislike about you. it might be scary, but you're brave." those last words ring in dave's head as george steps behind him, closes the bathroom door and leaves dave standing alone in the hallway.

he robotically shuffles back into the living room, where zak and darryl are sitting on the couch next to nick, who's got his arms around both of them. "technoblade! nice of you to finally show up!" zak smirks, and dave sighs, though he can't hide the smile on his face.

"skeppy. nice to see you're still as childish as ever. tell me, how does it feel to be an adult and still be mistaken for a sophomore?" zak whines in protest (another childish action dave proceeds to point out), the rest laugh, and dave takes his spot back beside nick, dropping his head on the grecian's shoulder. darryl's eyebrows raise, similar to how clay's did when nick hugged him, and he hides a small smile behind his sweater sleeve, leaning against his boyfriend. zak moves to accommodate darryl, dropping an arm across the taller man's shoulders, and darryl smiles.

dave watches the two happy couples – clay and george are entangled in each other's arms, watching as sam and dean fight demons with castiel – and wonders if he should take george's advice. he'd obviously do it in a more private place, not wanting nick to feel pressured into saying yes if he asks him out in front of them all. he wonders if he'll be good enough for him, wonders if george is right and if nick really does reciprocate.

nevertheless, he banishes those thoughts from his mind.

that's for another time.

after another few episodes of supernatural (they hardly pay attention to it), they decide to start up the festivities. dave isn't up for cooking or grilling anything – hotdogs and hamburgers are disgusting, no one likes them – so they ubereats some chinese food, zak waiting patiently at the door until the delivery man comes (he sticks his tongue out whenever dave comes around, and he'd rather not get sick because the manbaby can't keep his germs to himself), which is fine, because that means dave can dig through the boxes in his room to find the fireworks.

nick whirls into his room, closes the door behind him, shuffles over to where dave is kneeling and drops down next to him. "thank you for this," nick whispers, wrapping his arms around dave, and the californian shifts, turning his body to give nick a proper hug.

"you don't need to thank me. i know how happy it makes you, to see them, and all i want is to see you happy. it's a win-win situation for me." dave replies just as softly, and nick sniffles, hiding his face in dave's chest.

"you're going to make me cry, you're so nice-" he manages to get out, taking a deep breath to compose himself before pulling away from dave. "you need help with the fireworks?"