A/N: I've been working on LNKD for a year today, so have a chapter in celebration !!!
George leaned halfway off of his window seat. He was dangerously close to falling off, but couldn't care less. His speaker sat in a shelf on a shelf on the other side of the room, blasting a song he barely knew the words to.
Normally he'd be asleep by now, but after spending the last three hours shifting around uncomfortably in his bed, he moved to the window instead.
Over the music, there was a small clink against his window. He chuckled, as he knew the sound well by now, and opened his curtains. He slid open the window and leaned out of it. "Isn't it a school night for you?" He asked Sapnap, who held a cigarette between his two fingers.
Yeah, but I have homework that's due in four hours and I don't understand it at all," Sapnap grumbled. "Any chance you can help?"
"How am I supposed to help you from here?"
Sapnap stared at him for a minute, then grinned. "I'm coming over."
"What? My front door is locked, dumbass."
"Not what I meant. Open your window all the way and be ready to catch me if I fall."
George's face scrunched in confusion, but he pushed his window up. "What are you doing?" He called out.
"You'll see," Sapnap said. He stubbed out the cigarette on the side of his house, then swung both of his legs over the windowsill and slowly inched towards the tree in between the two houses.
George leaned out of the window. "I know you're not doing what I think you are."
"Oh, I'm absolutely doing what you think I am." Sapnap giggled and pushed off of the wall. He lept towards the tree and grabbed onto a large branch. Once he stood and balanced himself, he tossed his bag through George's window. "Catch me!" He shouted and jumped towards George.
George shot forward to grab him.
One of Sapnap's hands caught the ledge, but the other missed. Right before he slipped, a pair of hands wrapped around his wrist. Once he was safely in the room, George let out a nervous, but relieved laugh. "You're so stupid, you know that?"
Sapnap nodded. "Now please help me because like you said, I'm stupid."
They worked for a little over an hour before Sapnap pushed the book away and sighed. "It's too early for this shit, and my brain is fried."
"You're the one who insisted I had to help you." George snarked.
"Yeah, yeah." Sapnap stood to stretch. "Hey, do you want to do something with me?"
"Like what?"
"I dunno, maybe watch the stars?"
"Watch...the stars? Is there something special about them?"
Sapnap's lips curled into an excited smile. "Yeah, there is. Now we have to go watch them!"
"From my window?"
Sapnap shook his head. "I want to watch them outside, on the ground."
"How would we get down there?" George asked nervously.
"The tree, duh."
George gulped. "No way in hell am I gonna bust my ass to get down there."
"You won't if I help you!" Sapnap didn't wait for him to argue and climbed back out of the window.
George hesitantly followed him. He looked down and scrunched his nose; the tree looked much further away than before. "How the actual hell am I supposed to get to the branch?"
Sapnap shrugged from the tree. "Reach out and grab it."
With a deep breath, George readied himself, then inched out of the window and jumped. As soon as he felt the branch, he grabbed onto it as though his life depended on it; in a way, it did.
The branch creaked under his and Sapnap's weight. They quickly made it to the next branch and kept jumping down until they landed safely on the ground. The soft grass tickled George's feet as he walked.
The space between their houses could hold a tree, so surely it would be no trouble finding a spot to sit, right? However, the tree covered the space between the fences and made it impossible to see the sky.
George's frustration built up as he searched for the perfect spot. He turned to Sapnap, who laid halfway on the sidewalk and halfway in the road.
"What are you doing in the road?" He asked, making his way to Sapnap.
"Looking at the stars? Duh." Sapnap patted the concrete next to him.
"What if someone drives through here? We'll get squished."
Sapnap sat up and slowly looked at him. "George. It's five in the morning, who the hell is coming through here?"
George rolled his eyes. "Fair point I guess. Still, I don't want to be roadkill if we don't hear someone coming."
"I'll keep an eye out, if that makes you feel any better."
"No one would feel safe with you on watch," He joked, but settled beside Sapnap. The cold concrete against his bare arms shot a chill up his spine. A gust of wind blew by, and he shivered. Of course he would be the one to forget a jacket in the crisp air of the fall.
"Are you cold?" Sapnap asked.
George shook his head. "No way, I'm burning up," He lied.
"You're shivering."
"Not. Cold."
After arguing back and forth, Sapnap ultimately won. George felt a little guilty, but Sapnap had insisted that he was naturally cold and shoved the jacket at him.
George hesitantly slipped the jacket over his shoulders and huddled in its warmth. The faint smell of cinnamon and apple made him discretely bury his nose a little further into the fabric.
A comfortable silence fell over them as their focuses drifted to the glittering sky above. Sapnap glanced at George and smiled. The stars reflected in George's eyes, making them sparkle.
It was George that first broke the quiet. "So, how did you jump the tree so easily?"
Sapnap tore his eyes from his friend and looked back up at the sky. "Quack and I used to scale trees when we were kids. We would jump from tree to tree and try to catch each other."
"He's the one that works at the bakery, right?"
"Yeah, he's the bakers son."
"That's what I thought. Ari loves his chocolate cakes."
"Isn't that what you had the day you fell into the puddle?"
George's face heated up. "We don't talk about that."
Sapnap's quiet chuckle faded into another silence between the two. A couple of cars passed by, and they scooted back onto the sidewalk. Sapnap complained both times about how it was "too damn early for any sane person to be awake."
After a little while, Sapnap sat up to lean back on his elbows. "What if we got struck by lightning right now?"
George blinked a couple of times. "What."
"Seriously. I've heard it can strike out of nowhere."
"Well, it would be one hell of a way to go out."
Sapnap looked at George again, and a smile slipped onto his lips. George had moved closer since earlier.
Eventually, George turned his head. Their faces were inches apart. What Sapnap didn't expect to see was panic in George's eyes. He sat up just as George scrambled back. Guilt crept up his spine as George put space between them once more.
"Um, sorry," George muttered after a moment.
"No, it's fine." Sapnap rubbed his arm, fighting back the disappointment.
The once comfortable silence twisted into something suffocating. A few minutes passed before George spoke up. "I think I should get back inside. I have tutoring in a few hours."
"Right." Sapnap kept his eyes down and fiddled with a pebble stuck in the sidewalk.
George stood up and started back to his house, but froze.
"What's wrong?" Sapnap asked.
"I, uh, don't have a way back up."
"Can't you just climb back up the tree?"
George eyed him like he was insane.
"Fine, wait here a second." Sapnap stood up and disappeared into his house.
George made a noise of confusion. He waited patiently, but the front door remained closed. "Did he just leave me here?" He wondered.
Right before he gave up and risked pissing Ari off, the door swung open and Sapnap stumbled down the steps with a small ladder.
"How is that going to help-" George started, but Sapnap held up a finger. He rested the ladder against George's house and pressed a button. In an instant, the ladder extended up to the bedroom window. "There. Climb up so I can go in, it's cold as hell."
"I thought you weren't cold," George taunted.
"Yeah, whatever. Hurry up, I can't feel my toes."
"Alright, uh, thanks?"
"No problem."
George gripped both sides of the ladder tightly and wobbled his way up. The ladder shook beneath him. "Hold it still!" He called down.
"I'm trying!" Sapnap snapped back.
He scurried up the rest of the steps, refusing to look down. He tossed himself through his open window and shouted, "I'm up!"
The ladder disappeared from the window and back down to the size of a hand ladder. Once the two said their goodbyes, George didn't bother to clean the mess of papers and books scattered across the floor; he just collapsed into his bed and curled into his blankets.
——————————
"What am I doing wrong?"
That was Sapnap's first thought as he returned the ladder to the storeroom. He thought doing one of his favorite things with one of his favorite people would be fun and maybe bring them closer together. Instead, it ended up awkward and left him confused. Not to mention, he left the work he needed in George's room.
A few days later, he and Karl sat in the middle of his room, sipping on Monsters that Karl brought over, and he asked the same question.
Sapnap watched as Karl's mouth shifted up, something he only did when he was concentrated.
"Maybe you're not doing anything wrong, but he could need some space. From what you've told me, it sounds like he doesn't like too much physical touch, and knowing you, you can be pushy for affection sometimes."
"You're right, but all of you guys at least like affection a little. I don't know what to do."
"He might not either. I don't want this to sound rude, but do you know if he's had friends before you?"
Sapnap shrugged. "He's mentioned a Kat before. I don't know if it's short for Katrina or what."
"Hm, maybe this Kat is the reason he doesn't like attention?"
"That better not be the case," Sapnap growled. After a moment, his head fell back against the bed frame. "I just want to be a good friend."
"You are a good friend, Sap. Things will work out, just give it some time." Karl reached forward and rubbed his back. Sapnap nodded and shifted to lean against Karl.
"Hey, Sap?"
"Yeah?"
"At Asher's party, did you notice George acted different when Dream was around?"
Sapnap shook his head. "He was quieter than when it's just us, but nothing other than that."
"But when he left after Dream wanted to talk to him, didn't you see him shaking? He looked like he wanted to cry."
Sapnap lifted his head. "Are you saying that Dream-?"
"I'm not saying anything!" Karl held his hands up. "Dream is one of my best friends too, and I'm not accusing him of anything. Just keep an eye on George next time Dream is around and see what happens."
"Will do then." Sapnap was quiet as he considered the possibility. He actually did notice that when they played Mario Kart, George leaned away from Dream and more towards him.
No. There's no way. Dream could be a dick sometimes, but he would never hurt a friend.
"So," He tried changing the subject, "how are you and Quack doing?"
Karl grinned with red tinted cheeks. "Shut up."
"What, am I not allowed to check up on my friends?" Sapnap asked, feigning innocence.
"He's still clueless, to be honest. The day you and George went to the arcade, I was with Quackity." Karl's grin spread further across his face. "I flirted with him the whole time and even offered to buy our lunch, but he wouldn't let me."
"Ooh, sounds like you enjoyed your day then," Sapnap teased.
"Definitely. Before lunch, we spent a little while at the bakery and ended up having a flour war."
"I'm sure that was a pain to clean up."
"Oh, for sure. We're lucky his dad didn't come back in the middle of it, he probably would've killed us," Karl giggled. "But, did anything happen with you and George?"
Sapnap smirked. "Yeah, When we played laser tag, I cornered and flustered him long enough to get a shot in."
"You cornered him?" Karl raised an eyebrow.
"Technically, he cornered himself. I just took advantage of it to score some extra points."
"Uh huh, I'm sure that's why."
"It is!"
"Whatever. Lay back on my shoulder, it was comfortable."
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As Sapnap started dinner, a knock came from the front door. "Coming!" He called, wiping off his hands.
He swung open the door to see George, who kept his eyes to the ground and held out his book and jacket. "You forgot these."
"Oh, thank you," Sapnap said, taking the items. "I've needed this book for a few days now."
He noticed George's shoulders stiffen. "Why didn't you come get it earlier?"
"I couldn't tell if you were upset or not, to be honest."
"Right. I'm sorry for acting weird, I wasn't feeling great that night."
Sapnap waved it off. "No worries, man, it happens." He smiled as a mix of blue and brown eyes peered up at him. "Do you want to stay for dinner, by any chance?"
"I can't, Ari's already cooking."
Disappointment sank within his chest. "That's okay. I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah. see you."
After the door closed, a small half-smile rested on Sapnap's lips. Though, it slipped as he thought about George's behavior lately. Was he really not feeling good? Or was there something else going on?
He turned back to the stove. For his sake, he hoped Karl was right about George being confused too.