Three weeks had passed since George's 'death' and life had gone on as normal. Well, as normal as it can when you're mourning someone.
Surprisingly, I think Kate had taken it the easiest of all who were told. She had taken Jennifer out of the room, sensing bad news. The words had come out of Puffy's mouth and neither woman spoke for a time. Tears ran down both cheeks as they hugged each other.
Tommy had to stay as strong as possible for Tubbo, who was a blubbering mess sitting on the floor. Puffy even knelt by Maisie's grave to let her know. It felt only right.
All of them barely moved when they were given their messages. Tubbo cried harder, Tommy stayed silent, Katherine wiped her cheek. They were all in a sort of shock, not quite registering what had happened.
No one wanted to believe that George was gone.
____________________________________
Meanwhile, George was happier than he'd ever been. Sapnap and Drista had gotten so nosy over the course of a fortnight that Dream and George had locked them out of the house one day. They'd banged on the windows till dusk. Honestly, all they'd wanted to know was whether or not Clay and George were dating. The question was innocent enough. Shutting them out seemed like Sapnap and Drista's answer.
"You want something to eat?" George called from the kitchen.
"Nah," Clay waved his hand dismissively, walking into the room.
"You sure? I haven't seen you eat all day," George frowned, leaning on the bench. It was quarter to five in the evening. How could Clay not be hungry?
"Yeah. They didn't exactly feed me all the time when I was in Pandora's Box, so I kind of developed a hunger tolerance," Dream explained. George flinched. He wanted to forget all about the way Dream was treated when he first met him.
"It's kind of funny, seeing that's how we met," Dream continued as if he'd read his boyfriend's mind. "I met the love of my life in a place I despise."
"I hate that you went through all that," George said, winding his arms around Clay's neck and burying his face in his chest.
"Hey, it's not your fault," Dream said softly, murmuring into George's hair and stroking it gently. "It's in the past now. I shouldn't have even bought it up. I'm sorry."
"No, I am. If you'd asked, I probably could have gotten you out of there," George admitted. It was the last-resort, but the card was on the table.
"You really had the power to do that?" Clay's voice deepened.
"Not directly," the brunette covered. "I knew people on the inside who could have helped you. I could've reached out-"
"Yet you didn't?" Clay interrupted. He stiffened and his hands stopped moving. George had fucked up. How was he to fix this?
"It was going to be a reward..."
"A reward for what? Selling out my friends? You were going to trade my place for Sapnap's."
"No, I..."
"Basement. Now." The blonde let go of the brunette, forcefully shoving him away.
"Clay," George began, laying his hands on Dream's chest, a remorseful frown playing on his features. The killer threw George's hands off his body with a scowl.
"You will call me Dream. Go," the blonde growled. George didn't argue this time, going downstairs without a fight. The door was unlatched and George was thrown inside, hitting the cold concrete with a bruising thud. God, he hadn't missed this.
"I'll come and get you when I feel like you've learnt not to fuck with me," Dream snarled, slamming the door. A tear ran down George's cheek as he heard the lock click.
____________________________________
"Hey, where's George?" Sapnap asked as he rounded the corner.
"God, don't even mention him," Clay groaned. "He's in the basement."
"What? Why?"
"..." Should he tell him? "George was... George was going to sell you out in my place."
"What do you mean?" Sapnap cocked his head, understandably confused.
"He was going to blackmail me - my release for your capture."
"That's not true."
"It is-"
"No, it's not," Sapnap interrupted. "George talked to Karl about the whole Pandora's Box thing the other day. He never wanted anything like that to happen."
"He told me himself, why would he lie about something like this?"
"I don't think it was a lie, as such," Sap amended. "Sometimes people say silly things when they're nervous. Maybe that's what happened."
"Sap, have I fucked up?" Dream asked, rubbing his temple.
"Only one way to find out," the raven shrugged.
____________________________________
"You have twenty seconds to explain yourself. If you don't, I'm leaving you in here till I feel like letting you out."
"Honestly, it was the last thing on my mind, I wasn't going to sell out or hurt Sapnap, I just meant that if I'd gotten to know you while you were still in there I probably could have bailed you out and I didn't and I'm sorry," George said all in one breath. Dream pitied him. He had gotten George all worked up over little to nothing.
"No, I'm sorry," he said softly, pulling George into his lap. "I should have let you explain before I snapped."
"All is well?"
"All is well." Heads were rested against shoulders and hugs were shared as the two got over themselves.
"Hey, guys? I don't mean to interrupt anything but we have a problem."
"What?"
"Quackity's back... with Techno and Charlie."
"He's not."
"He is. He's in our living room."
"Fuck," Clay murmured. "George. This is gonna sound really blunt, but do you have parents?"
"Eh?"
"Are you an orphan?"
"I... don't think so?"
"Good. We should be fine, then. Stay here, I'll go fix this," Clay told him, pressing a small kiss to his forehead. George wouldn't have been able to leave even if he wanted to - he was far too flustered.
Upstairs, Dream was giving Quackity a piece of his mind.
"Its bad enough you show up unannounced in the first place! Why the fuck would you come back after we threw you out?"
"EHHH, incorrect!" Quackity screeched. "You didn't kick us out, Wilbur had to leave. Aren't you pleased to see me again, amigo? I bought Techno!"
"Yeah!" The pink haired man beside him agreed. "I was promised a nerd to beat up!"
"Go on then, Dream! Where you keepin' Jorge? In the basement again?" Quackity laughed.
"Basement?" Techno's ears pricked up. "That's a location..."
"Nope. This is not happening."
"You bet your ass it is!" Quackity banged his (probably high as a kite) fist on the table with a high-pitched giggle.
"Yeah, you bet your ass! Your ass is bet! Ass!" Charlie piped up excitedly from behind the Mexican. Quackity stopped what he was doing and turned around to smack Charlie upside the head.
"He's still like that?" Sapnap queried.
"What do ya think? 'Stupid' doesn't just go away."
"Fair point."
"Look, I just want a child to punt. Preferably without parents," Technoblade cut in.
"You won't find any around here," Clay glared. "Just leave us be, for God's sake! I just wanna live my life~"
"And you can, but now have a boyfriend to show for it. A boyfriend that I may or may not want to fatally harm."
"You know what, fuck this!" Dream shouted, going downstairs into the basement. He returned with George a moment later, a death stare etched onto his face.
"Here he is. You try anything and I fucking kill you."
"Bruh... He's so scrawny! This kid couldn't get a hit on me even if I was standing unarmed right in front of him! He's not even worth my time. This is nerd to the max. He probably plays chess," Techno said, to Clay's relief.
"Um, thank you?" George said confusedly.
"You're welcome, nerd. C'mon Quackity, bring Charlie and let's motor."
"Can't we stay?"
"No."
"Absolutely not."
"I don't even know what's happening."
"I think we've pissed Dream off enough for one day," Techno said definitively. Quackity rolled his eyes as the three bade their farewells and left. Thank fucking God.
"What just happened?"
"Don't worry about it. I don't know about you, but I'm going to bed," Clay rubbed his forehead, stress balling in his stomach.
"I'll come with you," George volunteered. Clay was too exhausted from the day's events that he didn't bother to protest.