George stared at his hand as he made it to the bathroom. Dream was so stupid. George washed his hands and went to the kitchen to eat. He took out a new bag of dinosaur chicken nuggets. He was ashamed of the fact that he started to like eating them, but they reminded him of childhood, even if he never ate them as a child.
They also reminded him of that night that Dream ate a nugget that he had licked. George shook his head, what a weirdo. He smiled as he put the nuggets on a plate, trying this time to put them in the microwave. He went to put in a time but realized he didn't really know what the instructions meant. How does he turn his microwave to high?
'How do I cook these dinosaurs?' George texted Dream, hoping he was near his phone.
'The dino nuggs? Put them in for like a minute and a half.' Dream replied.
'But how do I turn the microwave on high?' George asked.
'You don't need your microwave on high. Just put them in.' Dream replied.
'But it says to put the microwave on high.' George stated.
'Just put the nuggets in the microwave.' Dream said. George decided to just follow Dream's directions. He had to put the chicken back in for another thirty seconds but it seemed that Dream was right about not having to put the microwave on high. He went up to his room and got another text from Dream.
'How are the chicken nuggets?' George smiled as he put one in his mouth.
'They aren't as crispy as they would be in the oven but they're still good.' George replied.
'Did you make some for me?' Dream asked.
'No, I didn't make you any.' George replied.
'I guess I'll make some when I get there.' Dream sent.
George was confused and he spammed Dream with questions but got no response. He sighed and went downstairs. When he made it to the living room, he saw his mom at the door. He walked towards it and saw Dream standing in the doorway.
"Yeah, I was just wondering if George was-" Dream cut himself off as he looked to the side and saw George. George's mom turned around to see the problem and smiled when she saw George.
"Hey Dream." George said.
"Make sure you two get your work done before doing anything else. Other than that, you boys have fun." George's mom said as she walked off. Dream stood outside the door, as if he needed permission to come in.
"Come on, let's get some dinosaurs." George said. Dream smiled and happily stepped through the door and towards the kitchen. George closed and locked the door behind him. Dream was waiting in the middle of the kitchen when George arrived. George opened the freezer and gave him the bag of chicken, then opened up the cabinet and gave him a plate.
Dream made himself a plate of the nuggets and put it in the microwave. One minute and thirty seconds of sitting in silence waiting for the microwave to beep later and he had his plate. He put the desired condiments on his plate and the two headed upstairs.
They both got on the bed, where George's plate was as well. Dream reached over him and grabbed the remote. George ate and watched as Dream tried to navigate the T.V to turn something on. Then, he got up and turned on the DVD player. The disk was read and showed up on the screen. 'Cinderella.' George looked at him with confusion.
"I didn't have Cinderella at home." Dream said.
George laughed, "so you came over here just to watch it?"
"Maybe I wanted to hang out with my Georgie." Dream said with a smile.
"Shut up. The movie's starting." As the movie started to play on the television George noticed that Dream wasn't really paying attention to it. It was more like he was paying attention to him. He shook it off and looked down to grab another chicken nugget, only to see another hand there. He grabbed the hand and looked over to Dream.
Dream looked at their hands, shy like he knew he had been caught. George looked down again over to Dream's plate.
"Why are you stealing mine? You still have some on your plate!" George yelled.
Dream smiled, a slight tint on his cheeks, "but they taste so much better when I'm stealing them from you."
George glared at him before sighing, "give me your plate." Dream gave him the plate and George put his chicken on Dream's plate.
"Now we can share them. Happy?" George asked. Dream nodded and George let go of his hand. They had gotten through Cinderella and they went downstairs to put their dishes away. Then they went back up to George's room to do homework with him.
"Let's go to the skate park tonight." Dream said.
"If you want to go to the park, we have to do this homework." George said.
Dream groaned, "But it's not due until Thursday."
George looked over to him, "And are you going to do it on Thursday?" Dream thought about it for a second.
"If you do it with me." Dream said with a smirk.
George rolled his eyes, "I'm doing it with you right now. Just do it." Dream laid down on his back.
"We could do it right now if you tell me that you love me." Dream bargained.
"Wha- if we don't do this right now, we won't be able to go to the skatepark." George argued.
"Just tell me you love me." Dream said. "You can't just make it more unfair for me, that's ridiculous." George said.
"Well, we could just not do the homework at all." Dream suggested.
"Dream, we have to do this homework now. Don't you want to go to the skatepark?" George asked.
"I want you to tell me you love me." Dream replied.
George groaned, "I'll do this homework by myself then." George said as he started to type on his computer. Dream just closed the laptop and laid his head on it in George's lap. George's face fell in disappointment. Why did he think he would be able to do it by himself?
"C'mon George, what's so hard? Just tell me you love me. Like I love you." Dream said, the sentence ending shortly like he was in shock. Shock of what?
"I love you, Dream. Now let's get this done." George said. Dream smiled, but it looked slightly sad as he sat back up to work on his computer.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Dream liked someone who didn't like him back. Shit, he didn't even know if George liked guys or not. Dream hated the awkward feeling that he had given himself. Dream liked George. And now he knew that. But George doesn't like Dream. It was a talent that Dream had, to be able to tell if someone liked him. He was great at reading people, and right now it was a curse.
Even as George said the words, George showed absolutely no signs of liking him more than a friend. And now Dream had to spend the rest of the day with him, trying not to express his feelings.
They also went to the skate park that evening, when Dream's dad was asleep. He didn't want to flirt with George anymore, but he had to keep up the act. They spun together in their skates. Hands held together as they danced and twirled. Every lean in made Dream want to immediately push away. But he let George push away, a smile pushing past his sadness and landing on his face.
Then George put his arms around Dream's neck, pulling him closer. Dream had to look surprised and not sad.
"Wanna make another bet?" George asked.
"What kind of bet?" Dream replied. George let go of Dream and pushed back.
"How about we do a game of S.K.A.T.E?" George asked.
Dream looked at him, "how would we do that?"
"Well, I'll teach you a ton of moves that you can do on these, in three weeks you master them and try to beat me in S.K.A.T.E!" George announced.
"And what happens if I lose?" Dream asked.
"The same rules as before: if you lose, I get to tell you to do anything I want you to. And vice versa if you win." George said.
"Why don't we do it with skateboarding instead?" Dream suggested.
"Really? You would have a huge advantage. And skateboarding really isn't my forte, I think I'll stick with these shoes." George said, pointing out his feet. Dream smiled, at least he tried it out.
"Now stop asking questions and either accept or deny." George said. Dream wasn't one to turn down a simple challenge so he accepted the bet. Maybe a bit stupid on his part since George had such a clear advantage but he assumed it wouldn't be that bad. He also kind of wanted to see what George would ask for if he won. But that was only if, because Dream was going to win.
They started that day, George had showed him four tricks, all four he was expected to learn by next week's Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, they were the tricks that he used during the last time they played S.K.A.T.E together. Next week, he would get four more tricks that he had to learn. Then another four and then they would play. Dream sighed, maybe it really was a bad idea to accept the bet, but the choice had already been made.
After a night of falling, he dropped George off and headed back to his own house. When his back touched the soft bed, he sighed in the relief of it not being the ground. Then he called Sapnap, who picked up surprisingly quick.
"Hey Dream." Sapnap said.
"Hey Sapnap. I was questioning like a lot of things yesterday. And today I found out that I uh like George." Dream said, and Sapnap was about to start freaking out before Dream started talking again. "But I also found out that he doesn't like me." Dream finished.
"How do you know he doesn't like you. Did you suddenly grow a pair and confess?" Sapnap asked. Dream laughed, knowing Sapnap knew he didn't have the courage to do that.
"No, I just know." Dream said.
"Are you talking about that stupid radar you have? You know that doesn't work." Sapnap replied.
"It's not a radar, it's deduction. And it works, that's how come I've never been rejected." Dream said proudly.
"I think you've never been rejected because you're attractive. I don't believe that you just knew that those girls liked you." Sapnap replied.
"I'm not that attractive, Sapnap." Dream said.
"You've also only asked out about two girls." Sapnap argued.
"But that's only a 25% chance that they would both say 'yes.'" Dream replied.
"You're too lucky to miss a 25% chance. I bet it could have been a 5% chance and you still wouldn't have missed." Sapnap stated.
"We aren't talking about how lucky I am, I knew that they liked me. I've liked other girls but I didn't ask them out because they didn't like me." Dream said.
"So you don't try unless you're sure that they like you?" Sapnap asked.
"Well, yeah. Then I would get rejected." Dream replied.
"Your love life must be so boring since you never take risks." Sapnap said.
"It's not a risk. It's 100% rejection. Why would I want that?" Dream asked.
"Well, if you weren't so worried about analyzing someone to see if they liked you, you would be happily gushing over him right now. Instead of moping about your stupid rejection rates." Sapnap said.
"I can't help it. I wanted to know." Dream said.
"Haven't you ever heard of the saying, 'ignorance is bliss?' Or 'curiosity killed the cat?' Your curiosity is killing you." Sapnap said.
"Don't get all poetic with me. It's 'curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back.' I thought that the satisfaction of knowing he did would make me happy." Dream said.
"Well, you're still basing this off your stupid analytics. That's all bullshit because his feelings aren't something that are just logically there like an algorithm. They're real." Sapnap said. Dream hated it, but Sapnap was somewhat right with that statement. He sighed, knowing that he had been partially defeated.
"But I don't even know if he likes guys." Dream said.
"Well, yeah. But you won't know if you don't ask." Sapnap said.
"What the hell? You just want me to go up to him and ask, 'hey, you like guys?'" Dream asked, laughing. Sapnap started to laugh too, the mood lifting with their laughter.
"Ha, maybe." Sapnap said.
The conversation ended and Dream was still laying in his bed. It was now around two in the morning. Damn it, George. Had to keep Dream up all night. He couldn't help but think about what would happen if George did in fact like him. Probably nothing too serious.
Even if George did like him, he could never be sure that George would know it. So, asking him out would be absolutely useless. Especially if he was sure that he was straight.
Dream just then realized that he came out to Sapnap. He probably wouldn't come out to anyone else, seeing as the teasing would just become worse if he confirmed to the group that he was bi.
He turned to his side and grabbed a pillow, hugging it tight as he fell asleep. He imagined that it was George who had just happened to fall asleep at his house once again. And the thought made him both happy and sad.
But more happy than sad since Dream figured that he would cuddle with George again soon anyways.
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