(Note: Even though this chapter says "Day 1" and last chapter said "Day 0", these chapters take place in the same day.)
Dream was not sure what to feel when George met his eyes for the first time. It was partially due to nerves, but it also because of the way George looked at him.
He'd been watching George sweep across the terminal, analyzing the faces of the people he saw, until his gaze caught Dream's. His calm, slightly confused face froze, and relaxed into one of pure, unfiltered awe as his eyes swept from his eyes to his hair, across the curves of his face, and to his mouth that was settled in a small smile. Dream almost couldn't handle his gaze. It was powerful. And did nothing to help keep his feeling under the radar. He felt exposed, and for the first time, he felt okay about it.
But upon seeing the smile, George's face began to show confusion again, and Dream inwardly relaxed, wondering if the reaction was because he didn't realize who he was, which would be pretty funny.
He assumed that was correct after he saw more confusion take over George's expression as he noticed Dream still holding his phone to his ear, and watching it grow as he took notice of Dream's outfit. He knew he was correct when George pulled a face when he reached the crocs, and Dream quietly chuckled, feeling his smile grow. Jetlag must've gotten to him bad.
He watched George's eyes flicker back up to his face and blink, looking lost. Dream couldn't help but laugh again, though he tried his hardest to suppress it.
"Wh-" he heard George began on the phone, watching his mouth move, but interrupted, choosing to spare him from his confusion.
"Hey George," Dream greeted softly into the phone. As if it were a movie, he watched the confusion from his face evaporate and be replaced with pure shock.
"Dream?" Dream's smile grew into a grin. Finally, he figured it out. Dream opened his mouth slightly, about to suggest they hang up and greet each other like a normal pair of friends, but was caught completely off guard when an unreadable expression erupted in George's eyes and he muttered a breathless "Fuck."
"Awha-huh?" Dream sputtered, the confusion now landing on him, along with a hot flash of feeling flustered. "What do you mean, 'Fuck'?"
"Huh?" was George's dumbfounded reply, and he blinked a couple of times. The unreadable glint in his eyes rapidly faded. "What?"
"What do you mean, 'What'? You just looked at me and said 'Fuck'!" Dream laughed.
"Oh!" George nervously exclaimed. "You just kinda caught me off guard; Nobody told me you were absolutely gorgeous."
Both of them froze.
George began turning a bright shade of pink around his cheeks, looking slightly panicked at what he just said. Dream felt his own blush spread across cheeks and the bridge of his nose, expression akin to a deer caught in a pair of headlights as a truck barrels towards it.
"Uh, thanks," Dream eventually said after a few moments of silence. George cleared his throat and bobbed his head.
"I guess we can hang up now."
"Yeah." Dream ended the call on his phone at the same time George did, and despite the fog of some sort of tension growing between them, Dream strode across the remaining distance between them and enveloped George into a hug.
It became very apparent at that moment just how much there was a height difference between them when George's face was buried into the crook of Dream's neck and he laid his chin on the top of George's head, just above his ear. But that height distance felt just right, and they melted into the hug, the tension that was just around them dissolving like cotton candy throw into water. Dream gave a squeeze that was full-heartedly returned, and then they parted.
"That's been long-awaited, hasn't it?" Dream asked, a full grin taking his face. A large smile was returned as George nodded.
"It was," he replied, "and I'm so happy to be here."
"Oh, I didn't notice," Dream jabbed, and was met with a classic eye roll. "Speaking of notice, how did you not notice who I was? I'm completely decked in blue."
"I... don't know," George slowly admitted, as if he really knew the answer. "I think jetlag got me a little too much."
Dream wheezed, nodding and bringing a hand to cover his mouth. "You looked so lost!"
George joined in and chuckled, before swatting at Dream's arm. "Okay, let's get out of here. I swear we've been standing here for twenty minutes." Dream pulled his sleeve back and checked his watch.
"Nah, only like, four minutes." There was another swat at Dream's arm.
"You know what I mean."
Laughter followed them as Dream led them to the front of the building and to his car.
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Sapnap glanced at his phone's time again. It was almost five in the afternoon, and Dream was not back yet. Sighing, Sapnap unlocked his phone and prepared to call his friend.
But then he heard the slamming of a car door from outside Dream's small house, and pocketed his phone, sprawling even further onto the couch.
"Hey Sapnap, guess who I picked up from the airport?" Dream announced as soon as the door opened and he set one foot into the house.
"A homeless person?" Sapnap teased, and he heard George yell in offense from outside, causing him to laugh. Dream shot him a look of 'be nice' and Sapnap gave him a thumbs-up, flipping it into a thumbs-down after watching George enter the house with his luggage and bag behind him.
"Oh, so you brought home an idiot."
"It's been two seconds, and you're already bullying me," George pretended to be angry. "I vote to exile him."
"This isn't Survivor, George," Sapnap shot back.
"Yeah, but I can force you both out of my house and to book a motel room if you don't stop bickering," Dream replied casually, and he grabbed George's luggage from him. The three erupted into giggles and chuckles.
"You sound like my dad," Sapnap commented, and was swatted on the head by George's bag as the man passed him.
"Maybe he is your dad," George suggested.
"Does that mean I can call him 'daddy'?"
"Not unless you want to sleep outside!" Dream yelled from another room, his voice muffled. Sapnap and George were thrown into another fit of laughter, and they didn't calm down until after Dream returned to the living room and stood with his arms crossed.
"What is it, Blue Man Group?" Sapnap asked when he stopped laughed, and was hit by George's bag again.
"I put both of your suitcases in the spare bedroom. Do you two mind sharing a bed, or do you two want to alternate sleeping in the spare bed and on the couch?"
"Why don't I get the spare bed," Sapnap began, and both Dream and George expected him to finish with 'and George gets the couch'. However, they were wrong, because what he really said was, "and you two share a bed."
Sapnap watched Dream shoot him a look with an amused expression. What? Sapnap couldn't help it. Dream's crush was in the same room as him and he was not passing up the opportunity to tease the shit out of him like he did to him and Rose before they got together. Karma's a bitch.
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"I mean, have you seen your bed? It's a lot larger than the spare," Sapnap reasoned, and George shifted his eyes over to Dream for his reaction.
"I mean," was Dream's hesitant reply, and he looked towards George. Even though his heartbeat had risen significantly with Sapnap's suggestion, he feigned indifference and shrugged. After a lingering look, Dream looked back towards Sapnap. "as long as George doesn't mind, because I don't mind."
"I don't mind," George said, trying his hardest to not show his nerves. He didn't know how he was going to handle this week now.
"Well okay, that's settled then," Sapnap casually concluded, "I get the spare bed, and you two'll sleep together."
Sapnap was hit once more by George's overnight bag, his screech of "Don't phrase it like that, you idiot!" carrying throughout the whole house, trying his hardest not to blush. Sapnap grabbed the bag from George's hand, sat up, and whacked George on the shoulder with it, before throwing it across the room and startling a sleeping Patches as the bag missed her by a couple of feet, which caused George and Sapnap to profusely apologize as Dream gave them a death glare.
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Two hours passed in the house, and Dream quickly learned an important fact: When Sapnap wasn't in the room, the atmosphere starts turning strange.
He first learned this when he left George and Sapnap on the couch, watching whatever was on TV, and pulled some store-bought pizza from his freezer, turning the oven on pre-heat while he got the food from the box and placed it on a tray. As he was waiting for the oven to finish pre-heating, he heard George whine from the next room, "Dreeeeeeeeeam" and turned to watch him sulk into the kitchen.
"Sapnap's being mean to me," he whined, and crossed his arms with a pout. Dream gave a small laugh and George faked an offended gasp. "You dare mock me? You're canceled." Dream continued to chuckle and George joined in, before they fell into a comfortable silence. Dream leaned over the island in the middle of the small kitchen and supported his head with the palm of his hand, elbow resting on the smooth countertop. During that moment, all he could do was truly appreciate George's existence. His presence felt like silk being draped over his heart and soul, and ever since they got into the car it's been impossibly hard to look away from his rich eyes and wide smile. He was so preoccupied he didn't notice George subtly relax under his gaze, as if he was under a spell, and begin to lean against the counter as well. What Dream did notice, however, was that the atmosphere around them had suddenly changed into something he couldn't really name, but it wasn't a negative air.
But that atmosphere quickly disappeared when the oven beeped, and caused both of them to jolt in surprise. Blinking, Dream turned back around to put the very large pizza in the oven and George returned to the living room, a "What's that look on your face about?" coming from Sapnap.
Dream also learned an hour later when the pizza was eaten by all three of them and while they casually watched a random movie. Sapnap had excused himself to the bathroom and left Dream and George alone on the couch, sitting side-by-side.
Without Sapnap's constant commentary on the movie, Dream noticed George quickly becoming drowsy from jetlag, and his heart softened. He leaned over into George's side, looped his arm around his back, and gently pulled George over to rest on him. Being too sleepy to really care, George relaxed into his newfound heat source and snuggled his head into Dream's shoulder, arm closest to him curling around his and gently enclosing it in a hug.
The atmosphere slowly returned the more Dream stared at George's resting face on his shoulder, and Dream found himself growing a little sleepy despite not feeling tired. Like their embrace at the airport, Dream felt himself melt into George, and a dopey smile worked its way on his face as his turned his gaze back to the TV. A fuzzy feeling spread from his stomach outward, and Dream didn't want anything other than to sink down and wrap his other arm around George and tangle their legs together-
Dream snapped from his own thoughts. No, no, he wasn't going to think about that, no matter how much he wanted it. George was his best friend, and there was no way he returned his feelings in the slightest...
Even though what he said at the airport did seem a bit suspicious.
Dream slightly shook his head. No. Don't think about that, it probably meant nothing.
...Unless?
Sapnap snickering saved Dream from an argument with himself, and he looked over to see his friend looking at him and George with an amused expression. The atmosphere once again fizzed out, and Sapnap sat back down at the far end of the couch, mouthing the word 'suffer' at Dream. Dream only shook his head at him.
Seriously, why did Sapnap even tease him about it? George is his friend too, shouldn't he be worried about how confessing would affect the trio's friendship?
But it was only jokes, so it's fine. At least, that's what Dream's reasoning was, as he looked back towards the TV.
The third time was when the other two of them decided to go to sleep a couple of hours later, growing bored of watching movies. Sapnap had simply risen from the couched, waved goodnight, and slinked to the spare bedroom, leaving Dream with George fast asleep on him, their positions remaining unchanged except for George's head had rolled back and buried deeper into Dream's numbed shoulder.
Dream didn't know what to do. Should he wake him? Try to carry him? Leave him? Growing immediately flustered at the second option and hating the third, Dream gently shook the shoulder his hand rested on.
Stirring, George left his spot laying against Dream and rubbed his eyes, hiding a yawn behind a hand. "What time is it?"
"Around midnight. You fell asleep for a couple hours."
"Oh," George mumbled, sleepy.
"C'mon, let's head to bed. I know you're still tired."
An incoherent groan of agreement came from George, and Dream got off the couch, watching George slowly follow.
"You're half-asleep, aren't you?" Dream gently laughed, keeping his voice gentle and quiet.
"Mmm-hmm." A fond smile spread over Dream's face. George was cute when he was sleepy-
Nope don't think about that.
It took a minute, but Dream slowly led a practically sleepwalking George to his room and opened his door, entering. George followed, and Dream left the door cracked open in case Patches wanted to sleep on the bed later in the night.
He directed George to the bed and once he got his hand on the mattress, Dream grabbed a pair of dark green sweatpants and snuck out of the room and into the bathroom to change out of his jeans. He refused to sleep in those. He kept the sweater on, though, it was really comfy. (A/N: I changed the color of the sweats bc you guys will not fucking shut up about it, I'm sick if it. And before you ask no, I didn't know what gray sweatpants supposedly do, I just thought it would be a color he'd wear.)
When he returned and cracked the door back, he was met with George fast asleep in his bed, only taking up half of the space. Sapnap was right, his bed was big enough to fit them.
Feeling drowsiness grow on him, Dream made his way over to his side of the bed and slowly climbed in so he wouldn't disturb George. Dream shifted from his back over to his right side, facing away from George, and got comfy.
Until he felt an arm drop over his side and stomach and George to snuggle up to his back.
Then Dream was as stiff as a board, the phrase 'what the fuck' playing in his head on repeat like a broken CD. About a minute later, Dream attempted to Grab George's arm and remove it from him, but was met with a surprising amount of resistance and a troubled noise coming from George. That was right in Dream's ear.
So Dream dropped George's hand and laid still. Not too long had passed when George shifted again, pressing closer to Dream and resting his face to where every warm exhale passed over the back of Dream's neck.
And from a combination of growing tiredness and that particular atmosphere returning, Dream felt himself relax and press his back gently into George's chest, and he drifted off, thoughts slowly becoming incoherent as dreams took over his consciousness.