Work Text:
Dream couldn’t help but bounce his leg as he sat in the unreasonably uncomfortable airport chair. It wasn’t so much that he was nervous as that he was dying of excitement. Any moment now, George was going to come down that hallway. George was going to be in Florida—was already in Florida, making his way through customs or some other ridiculous airport security measure that seemed to exist solely to keep Dream from his boyfriend.
“Ok, dude, look at me.” Sapnap placed a hand on Dream’s shoulder. “You look like your eyes are about to pop out of your skull. He’ll get here when he gets here, you need to chill.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to chill?” Dream leaned closer to whisper, “if you were meeting Karl for the first time you’d be falling out of your seat in anticipation,” earning himself a smack on the arm.
“Shut up, asshole.”
“Am I wrong?” Dream laughed.
“I said shut up,” Sapnap said in a near-growl before starting to giggle too.
Dream quickly tore his eyes away from his best friend and back to the frustratingly George-less hallway. “He landed ages ago, what’s taking so long? ...Do you think somethings wrong?”
“No, no, Dream, stop that! If there’s one thing airports are known for it’s being slow as fuck. George is fine. He’ll be here any minute!”
“Ok. Right. Yeah.” Dream paused, watching the endless flow of not-Georges coming out of customs. “Oh my god, he’ll be here any minute! Sapnap, can you believe it? This is—” But Dream completely forgot what it was, because there was George, walking quickly down the hallway, looking absolutely stunning in Dream’s blue hoodie, and Dream was already on his feet running towards him.
“George!”
“Dream!” George was running now too, and it was only a matter of seconds before the two crashed into each other. He had to go up on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around Dream’s neck, and Dream ended up lifting George into the air by the waist. George laughed and didn’t even ask Dream to put him down, just buried his face into the crook of Dream’s neck with a contented sigh.
Dream never wanted to let go, but they were in an airport, and by the time he set George down a couple of teenagers had already recognized their voices and were clearly pretending not to watch from a short ways away. Sapnap rushed over for a hug from George, which they stayed in for a few moments before he ushered them away from the eyes of fans and towards the baggage claim.
“Just so you don’t forget,” Sapnap said in a hissed whisper, “we’re famous, in public, and you’re literally both wearing each other's hoodies, so be careful.”
“They don’t know this one is George’s!” Dream whispered back, fidgeting with the hem of his black Dream smile hoodie.
“They might figure it out! Just try not to act too in love.”
“But we always act in love,” George joked, grabbing onto the folds of Dream’s hoodie for a brief moment before dropping his hand.
Sapnap rolled his eyes. “Good point.”
***
It wasn’t exactly surprising, but Dream was still relieved by how effortlessly the Dream Team dynamic moved into real life. They spent hours in the living room, Sapnap sprawled across an armchair and Dream and George cuddling on the sofa, switching between easy conversation and comfortable silences. Then Sapnap looked up from his phone and interrupted one of those silences to say, “so, uh, you guys probably want some time to yourselves, I can go.”
“No, no, Sapnap, you know I want to spend time with you too!” George protested. Dream nodded fervently, but honestly he was a bit disappointed. He still hadn’t had any time alone with his boyfriend, but of course George should get to have fun being with Sapnap in real life too. “You shouldn't leave because of us…”
“Dudes, it’s fine, I get it. We’ve been hanging for hours, I can see the looks you two keep giving each other and besides I, uh, Karl wants to call me so—”
“Oh, then nevermind!” George said and made a shooing motion with the hand that wasn’t holding Dream’s. “Go call Karl!”
“Fucking tell him!” Dream shouted after Sapnap, who flipped him off and left the room.
George giggled. “I take it that’s not going very well?”
Dream sighed dramatically. “Nope. I’d be mad at him if we weren’t so much worse. How’s it going with Karl?”
“Not great, I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to him because my—” George poked Dream in the chest “—dumb boyfriend keeps hogging all my time.”
“And yet I’ve had plenty of time to talk to Sapnap.”
George rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because you literally live with him.”
Dream’s smirk melted into a genuine smile. “And now I literally live with you.”
George rested his forehead against Dream’s. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Dream finally, finally pulled George in for a kiss, and oh, it was magical. It felt like sunshine, like winning mcc, like that moment at the top of a swing’s arc. It felt like countless other things that Dream couldn’t be bothered to think about because George’s hands were in his hair and George’s lips were on his and nothing else mattered. George pulled away to catch his breath and Dream found himself chasing after his lips for a moment.
“Wow,” George said breathlessly. “I can’t believe I get to do that now.”
“We should get used to it, then,” Dream said, and kissed him again, and again, and again.
***
Someone knocked on George’s door and he turned away from his computer. “Hello?”
“Are you live?” Dream’s voice made George grin before he even finished asking.
“No, it’s just me and Karl.”
“Cool.” Dream walked into the room and draped his arms over George’s shoulders from behind.
“Hi Dream!” Karl called out. George relayed his statement and disconnected his headphones so Dream could hear him.
“Hi Karl!” Dream pressed a kiss into George’s hair.
“I thought you were editing, babe, why are you here?”
“I was, but editing’s booooring. And I missed you.” Dream leaned down farther and kissed George’s cheek. George giggled and shied away from him.
“Am I that irresistible?” George teased.
“Yeah.”
Dream’s deadpan caught George completely off guard. “Wh—shut up!” He covered his blushing face with his hands. Dream kissed the crown of his head again while Karl cackled at them.
“Well, I just wanted to see you, I need to go back to work.” Despite what he’d said, Dream lingered above George. “Come on,” he said after a moment, “don’t I get a kiss?”
“Ugh, fine,” George grinned and planted a kiss on Dream’s cheek. “Love you,” he whispered so Karl couldn’t hear it.
“Love you too,” Dream whispered back and walked out the door. “Bye, honey. See you later.”
Karl groaned. “God, you two make me feel so honking single.”
“Well,” George leapt at the perfect segue, “you don’t have to stay single.”
“Gogy,” Karl teased, “are you asking me out?”
“No, dumbass, but I know someone who wants to.”
“What? Who?”
“Just your little Sappitus Nappitus.”
“Wait, really?” George heard something that sounded suspiciously like Karl falling out of his chair. “He does?”
“Well, I mean I don’t know for sure.” He actually did know, but he couldn’t tell Karl that. “But it’s fucking obvious! Have you seen the way he acts around you?”
“Like what?” Karl giggled.
“Every time you come up in conversation he just perks up, like ‘oh? Karl, my Karl!’” George put on an overdramatic southern American accent.
“Really?”
“Yes! Wait, I can prove it, watch this.” He raised his voice to a shout. “Sapnap! I’m on call with Karl—”
“Coming!” A loud crashing noise came from Sapnap’s room, followed by a muffled “fuck!” A few moments later Sapnap walked into the room.
“Hey Karl!”
“Hi Sap!” George could hear a matching smile to the one splitting Sapnap’s face in Karl’s voice.
“What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, of course I love talking to you but Gogy just randomly called me in here, did you want to tell me something?”
“Uh…”
Karl clearly couldn’t come up with a response, so George decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided against pointing out that he hadn’t really called Sapnap in and instead said, “Karl just wanted to talk to you.”
“Geo—” Karl started to say, but seemed to think better of it halfway through.
“Oh, ok, cool! Well, I’m here, hi!”
Karl giggled. “Hi! What are you up to?”
“I was just reading manga.”
“Oooh, what manga?”
George tuned out most of their conversation, but he didn’t miss Sapnap’s dopey grins or Karl’s constant giggling. They’re adorable. They really would make such a good couple. Well, will is more like it.
George was thoroughly lost in thought when Sapnap shoved his shoulder. “Earth to Gogy! Can he?”
“Can he what?”
“Can Karl come to see you in person!” Sapnap was practically bouncing on his feet with excitement.
George winked at Sapnap. “Of course he can! I’d love to meet you, Karl, when were you thinking?”
“Well, I should get a covid test first, but I could come really soon!”
“Awesome!” Sapnap seemed more excited to see Karl for the second time than George was to meet him for the first time. Of course George wanted to meet one of his closest friends in real life, but Sapnap looked like he might start jumping up and down.
“I can’t wait to see you—to see all of you!” Karl said. George had a sneaking suspicion that the first ‘you’ was definitely not him.
***
“So, Sapnap, you know who’s gonna be here in a few days…” Dream sang.
“Yeah, I can’t wait! I literally can’t, three days is just too many.” Sapnap flopped dramatically onto his back, almost bouncing Dream off the bed.
“And is there anything you’re going to tell him when he gets here?”
Sapnap leveled a glare at Dream and pushed him off the edge of the mattress.
“No! No, help me back up,” Dream held onto the sheets for dear life and acted like he couldn’t stop himself from falling.
Sapnap looked down at him with a smug grin. “Long live the king.” He kicked Dream’s shoulder and sent him screaming to the floor.
“Betrayaaaal!” Dream moaned. “That hurt my ass, fuck you!”
“That’s what you get!”
“Come on, don’t you want to tell him?”
“I… I mean, yeah, obviously, but what if he doesn’t like me?”
“He does!”
“But you don’t know that!”
“Ok, I basically do.”
“Wow, I love getting lectured by Dream George-Isn’t-Actually-Madly-In-Love-With-Me WasTaken about thinking my crush likes me.”
“Oh, shut up!”
“I will not! You were so fucking dense, Dream—”
“Well so are you! Karl definitely likes you!”
Sapnap stared into space for a moment and giggled. “You really think so?”
“Yeah, yes, I really do!”
“That would be fucking amazing,” Sapnap sighed. “Oh my god, that would be so amazing.”
“And it’s only gonna happen if you ask him out!”
“You really think I should?”
“Yeah, I seriously think you should, Sapnap.”
“Maybe I will.” Sapnap giggled. “Maybe I will! Maybe I’ll ask Karl out. Oh my god, I could just do that. I’ll just call him and be like, ‘let’s go on a date’, and then we would!”
Dream grinned. “Yes! Yes, you should! You should call him right now!”
“Ok, ok, I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Get out, get out, I’m doing it right now!” Sapnap shooed a shocked but thrilled Dream out of the room and slammed the door.
***
“Hey Sap, what’s up?” Sapnap’s stomach dropped the moment Karl answered the phone. What the hell am I thinking?!
“Um…” Nope, nope, I can’t tell him. “Nothing?”
“Why’d you call me then?” Karl snickered. “Did you just want to hear my voice?”
“Yeah,” Sapnap answered without thinking. “No, I mean no, I just wanted to talk to you!”
“It’s ok,” Karl teased, “I like your voice too.”
“Yeah, sure,” Sapnap muttered.
“I do, you know.”
“W-what? Really?” Sapnap didn’t really like his own voice, so he was kind of shocked to hear that Karl did.
“Yeah, uh, it’s… it’s relaxing, I think,” Karl giggled.
“Um… thank you!” Sapnap’s brain was completely fried. “I like yours too!”
“You do?” He could tell Karl was smiling.
“Yeah, I, um, I miss hearing it in person.” Why the fuck did I say that?
“Yeah, me too. God, Sap, I miss you so much. I can’t wait to see you again.”
“It’s only three more days! Then you’ll be here with me. Well, I mean with everyone, really you’re coming to see George but—”
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Huh? Of course.”
“Honestly, I’m more excited to see you.”
Sapnap giggled in a way that would’ve been incredibly embarrassing if he wasn’t too caught up in everything Karl was saying to care. “Really?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
“That’s—I—thank you—that’s—”
“You’re so cute,” Karl interrupted breathlessly.
“You—wha—uh, ok?”
“Sorry, nevermi—”
“No, no, it’s fine! You’re good, you’re… you’re really cute, too.” He thinks I’m cute??
“Thank you,” Karl giggled.
“I really can’t wait for you to be here. I miss holding you.” Sapnap wasn’t sure he should be saying things like that when Karl was calling him cute (what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck), but they’d said stuff like that before so it should be fine, right? Karl was pretty much the cuddliest person he knew, he’d get it.
“Oh, when I get there I’m just never letting you go.”
“Good,” Sapnap said with some mysterious burst of confidence.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I really really miss cuddling with you. I keep seeing stuff on twitter and whatever talking about our last meet up and I just… I miss it. I miss you.
“Me too, I promise we’re gonna cuddle so much, Sap…” Silence filled the call for just a moment too long. “Um, yeah, uh… I, sorry, this is, uh, I gotta go now. I’m sorry.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. “Oh, bye…”
“Bye, love you!”
“Love you too.”
“Bye, sorry again, bye.” Karl hung up and Sapnap let out a sigh of… relief? Worry? Confusion? He wasn’t really sure what just happened, but he knew he really wished Karl had kept talking to him like that instead of hanging up.
What was that?
***
Dream couldn’t believe that he’d somehow just convinced Sapnap to tell Karl. He’d been bringing it up for days now, but Sapnap had refused to do more than consider it every time. Dream wasn’t about to question it if it worked, though.
George was already asleep, so Dream couldn’t brag to him about his imminent victory just yet. He decided to watch youtube in bed next to him while he waited for Sapnap, but the next thing he knew he woke up the next morning with his phone dead in his hand and one of George’s arms draped over him in his sleep. After taking a moment to wake up fully, Dream remembered what he'd been waiting for before he fell asleep and texted Sapnap right away.
Dream: howd it go with karl????
Sapnap: I didnt tell him
Dream: sapnaaaaaaaap whyyyyyyyy
Sapnap: Shut up i have screenshots of you simping for george from ages ago and i WILL send them to him
Dream: oh no im so scared its not like were already dating or anything
Dream: speaking of
Sapnap: Dont say it
Dream: you could be dating karl
Sapnap: I mean
Sapnap: You MIGHT actually be right
Dream: YES!! PROGRESS!!
Sapnap: I think maaybe he might like me back?
Dream: omg did something happen?? :O
Sapnap: He said some nice things idk
Dream: let me guess translation he flirted with you
Sapnap: Maybe????? I think so??????
Dream: did you flirt back????
Sapnap: Yeah sorta
Sapnap: But then he hung up
Sapnap: But he said love you and he didn’t sound mad
Dream: maybe he was nervous?
Sapnap: Maybe
Sapnap: Or uncomfortable tho
Dream: but you said he started it right
Sapnap: Yeah
Dream: what did he say?
Sapnap: He called me cute
Dream: WHAT THE FUCK DUMBASS HE CALLED YOU CUTE HE LIKES YOU OMG
Sapnap: link: Dream and George FLIRTING for 20 minutes!!
Dream: stfu
Sapnap: What was that? Is someone saying something in that glass house?
Dream: fuck you
Sapnap: oOo hE cAlLeD yOu cUtE hE oBvIoUsLy LiKeS yOu i dont have to take this from the guy who “joke” dated his crush for a MONTH before confessing BY ACCIDENT
Sapnap: YOU didnt even tell george asshole at least im considering it
Dream: ok fine thats fair
Sapnap: The audacity omg
Sapnap: Fuckkkkkk dream what do i dooooooo
Sapnap: And dont say tell him
Dream: why not???
Sapnap: Im just not ready yet
Sapnap: I cant mess this up
Sapnap: What if im wrong
Dream: i really really really think youre not
Sapnap: But what if I am??? Like I honestly think Karl’s the best thing to happen to me since meeting you and george i cant risk ruining that because i think he might like me back!! Im gonna wait a bit and if i really think he does ill actually tell him ok, hes just too important to me I cant risk it until im more sure
Sapnap: YOU should understand that lmao
Dream: leave me aloneeee >:(
Sapnap: No <3
***
“Karl, you should’ve seen the way he was looking at you during your stream! Oh my god, it was so funny. He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
Karl groaned. “Oh my god, this again?”
“Yes, ‘this again’, you should ask him out! You’re gonna see him tomorrow, it’s the perfect time to tell him!”
“George, come on, I can’t.”
“Why not? He’s totally into you.”
“Yeah, I know, but—”
“Wait, you do?”
Karl let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, of course I do, I’m not you and Dream.”
“Ok A shut up, B since when?”
“I guess I’ve been sure for a few days, but it doesn’t matter, George.”
“But…” George had no idea what was going on at all anymore. “If you want to be with him, and you know he wants to be with you, then why won’t you ask him?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not? We both know he wants to date you—”
“But what if he wants more?” Karl shouted. Oh. “What if…” Karl’s voice became a hushed whisper. “I know he wants to be with me romantically, but he might want more, and I don’t think I can give him that, and I don’t want to disappoint him…”
“Oh…” George realized that though he’d known Karl was ace for a while, he hadn’t really thought about how it would affect things with Sapnap. “That’s… really hard. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Do you know how he feels about it?”
“No, but… I dunno, he probably would want sex, right?”
“You could ask.”
“But it would be so awkward! And I don’t want us to, like, know we both like each other and not be together. Besides, the feelings will probably go away if we don’t say anything so then we can just stay normal friends, it’s fine.”
“That’s the same thing I said about my feelings for Dream for years, Karl. I think you should try!”
“But…”
“Ok, enough, I’m asking him.” George typed out a dm to Sapnap.
“No!” Karl shouted, “George, come on, don’t!”
“Alright, alright, I won’t.”
Karl spoke up again after a few seconds. “Actually… fine, could you?”
“Yes! Ok, sent!”
“Wait, honk, no, nevermind he’s totally gonna know why you’re asking, delete it, delete it!”
“He’s typing, he already saw it,” George winces.
Karl groaned. “What’d he say?” he asked after a few seconds.
“He’s still typing.”
Karl let out a noise of distress and made some kind of rustling sound. “Oh dear god…”
“Oh! He says ‘why are you asking.’”
“Geoooorge!”
George wrote a reply and Sapnap messaged back almost immediately.
“Ughhhhh, I can hear you typing this is so stressful.”
“Wait, wait—oooh, would you look at that!” Karl demanded to know what George was talking about, but George just laughed. “Here, I’ll show you.” George took a screenshot of their conversation and sent it to Karl.
George: Hey would you date someone who didn’t want to have sex?
Sapnap: Wtf why are you asking
George: No reason
Sapnap: Ur fucken weird
George: Just answer!
Sapnap: Fine whatever
Sapnap: I totally would
Sapnap: If i really liked someone id way rather have a just romantic relationship with them than nothing yk
George almost fell out of his chair laughing at the little squeal Karl let out.
“So…”
“You think he meant it?”
“Karl.”
“Ok, ok, maybe I’ll tell him?”
George smiled. “Better than nothing, I guess. But you really gotta do it.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go pack now,” Karl said distractedly.
“Bye!” George paused. Talking about emotions was… not his thing. “I’m, uh, I’m proud of you?” Yep, definitely not his thing.
Karl laughed. “Thanks.”
***
When Karl’s car finally pulled into the Dream Team’s driveway (the Dream Team’s, not Dream and Sapnap’s. George still couldn’t help but smile giddily at the thought) Sapnap was the first to bolt out the door. By the time Dream and George ran out hand in hand to meet him the two were wrapped in a tight embrace, and they wordlessly agreed to hang back and let their friends have a moment. Eventually Karl broke away, but only to run over to George and pull him into a hug instead.
“Oh my god, it’s so good to see you!” Karl squealed.
“Yeah, it’s good to see you too,” George grinned.
After Sapnap helped Karl settle into the guest bedroom the four friends spent a few hours catching up in the living room. Dream and George took the couch and Karl and Sapnap wedged themselves into an armchair that wasn’t really meant for two people, but they didn’t seem to mind. (They especially didn’t seem to mind after Karl wrapped his arms around Sapnap and rested his chin on his shoulder.) George didn’t catch the exact moment it happened, but he realized about half an hour after they sat down that the two were holding hands. Well, that’s definitely my cue.
“I just remembered,” George stood up abruptly, “I have to get something from my room.”
“O-oh, ok,” Karl stammered.
“Why don’t you come with me, babe?”
“Huh?” Dream looked at him, puzzled. “Why?”
George tugged on Dream’s hand to make him stand up and nodded his head slightly towards their friends. “Because you should come with me, now.”
“Ohhhhh,” Dream exclaimed, the epitome of subtlety. “Oh, yeah, I’ll go with you.” George rolled his eyes and pulled him out of the room.
***
Karl watched Dream disappear down the hallway and felt his stomach drop. This is it. George couldn’t have provided him with a better moment. Here he was, finally reunited with Sapnap after months since their first meetup, holding onto his hand just a bit too tightly because nerves, ok?
“I really missed you,” Sapnap said, pulling Karl from his thoughts. “We should meet up more often.”
“Yeah, we really should. And I missed you too.” Sapnap squeezed his hand, and it was like Karl could physically feel the last of his inhibitions fly out the window. He needed to tell him, right then and not a second later.
Karl took a deep breath. “Hey, Sap?”
“Yeah?”
He moved away from him, just far enough to look him in the eyes (which might’ve been a mistake because damn) but still close enough to keep the reassuring contact between them. “There’s… there’s something I want to tell you.”
“Ok, you can tell me.” Sapnap gave his hand another little squeeze.
“I…” Karl looked down at their intertwined hands, “I like you. Like, like like you. A lot.”
“You do?” Karl nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Sapnap cut him off with a hug. “Karl! I like you too, oh my god!”
Karl squealed and held him tight.
“Wait, wait,” Sapnap moved his face out of Karl’s shoulder to look at him, “so three days ago when you called me cute and all that, you were flirting with me?”
“Yeah, obviously, nimrod,” Karl grinned, running a hand through Sapnap’s hair just because he could.
“Argh, Dream’s gonna kill me!” Sapnap groaned.
“Wait, was he egging you on or something?”
“Yeah, god he was so sure you liked me back, he’s gonna rub this in my face forever.” Sapnap paused and then cackled. “Wait, nevermind, I keep forgetting he can never pull that on me again after how he was with George.”
Karl laughed hard and squeezed Sapnap’s hand. “Actually, George was trying to convince me to tell you too.”
“Huh, George never really talked to me about it.”
“Weird. I mean, Dream never brought it up with me.”
Sapnap furrowed his brow and sent a knowing look up at the ceiling where Dream and George’s bedroom was. “I sense shenanigans.”
“Definitely.” Karl sighed and rested his head on Sapnap’s shoulder. “But I don’t really care right now.”
“Me neither,” Sapnap grinned, and Karl realized he might just be the luckiest man alive.
***
Sapnap lifted his hand (the one that wasn’t holding Karl’s hand, his honking boyfriend’s hand, oh my god!) to knock on Dream and George’s bedroom door. “Dudes!”
“I did it, George!” Karl yelled.
Sapnap heard some muffled, excited whispering before George yelled back, “yes! That’s awesome, Karl!” George flung open the door with a grin. Dream appeared behind him a moment later, looking strangely sullen. He put on a matching smile when he saw the new couple, but Sapnap knew his friends way too well.
“Ok, what did you do?” Sapnap asked.
George and Dream turned to each other and then looked back awkwardly. “Well, uh, me and George, uh, we kind of had a bet—”
“Which I won!”
“Shut up.”
George snorted. “Make me—”
“Do not,” Sapnap cut in. “You nimrods bet on us?”
“Baby,” Karl stage whispered, “we bet on them too, remember?”
“Oh yeah, we did!” Sapnap giggled.
George rolled his eyes. “Ooh, who won?” Dream asked.
“Me,” Sapnap smirked. “Karl thought one of you would eventually confess, I said it would have to be an accident or something. So thanks, Dream, for being a dumb motherfucker.”
Dream flipped him off. “Thanks, Karl, for believing in us.”
“Uh, how about ‘thanks, Sapnap, bestest of friends, for knowing me too well to have any faith’?”
George giggled. “He’s not wrong, babe.”
“What?! Since when do you side with Sapnap?”
“Since you sent me your hoodie with a love letter in the pocket,” George grinned.
“Yeah, because you definitely would’ve told Dream eventually, huh, George?” Sapnap said.
“I would’ve!”
“Ohhh no, look me in the eyes and say that again.”
“I might’ve! You don’t know that, maybe I would’ve!” George glared at Sapnap.
“Nuh uh, no, definitely no. No way, you two were completely stuck—”
Karl kissed Sapnap on the cheek and whatever words he was about to shout at George melted away into nothing. “Ok, boys, break it up," Karl said, "we get it, you’re all oblivious idiots, I’m the only one here who’s not—”
“No! I was gonna tell you too!”
“—and we’re all happy couples now so it’s fine.” He pressed his lips to Sapnap’s cheek again, who giggled and pulled him into a hug. “But for the record, I’m officially better then all of you.”
The three of them started shouting over each other at Karl, but Sapnap’s voice quickly dropped out of the chorus. He had better things to focus on, like the look on Karl’s face as he doubled over laughing at them.
***
George tugged on his hoodie strings as he watched Sapnap set up the camera. This video was about to become the biggest deal he’d ever put on the internet. Maybe this is a mistake…
“Alright, honey, I’m ready!” Dream burst into the room with his mask in his hands and a goofy grin on his face, and George’s worries eased a bit at the sight of him. With Dream by his side, everything would be ok in the end. George ran over to hug him, burying his face in Dream’s chest.
“Are you nervous?” George whispered.
“Yeah, yeah, I am a little, but… it’ll be fine. I’m ready if you’re ready.” George didn’t respond, just nodded and held on tight to Dream’s hoodie. “Hey, George, if you don’t want to do this we can call this off right now, you know that, right?”
“No, I’m good. I’m ready. …Thank you, though.” George stood up on his tiptoes for a quick kiss before turning back to Karl and Sapnap behind the camera. “Alright, let us get in place and then we can record.” He walked a short distance away from Dream, who raised the mask up to cover his face.
Sapnap pressed record and gave them a thumbs up.
“So, uh,” George glanced at the camera and then looked back at Dream. He knew his boyfriend must look confused behind the mask; George had only told him to hold the mask up like that and follow his lead.
“There’s, uh, there was this fanart I saw, a while ago, and I… well, I always wanted to recreate it.” George took a step closer to Dream, feeling heat rise in his cheeks.
“And we couldn’t then, but now…” He reached out and took one side of Dream’s mask, holding it so that George could see his face but the camera still couldn’t. Dream raised an eyebrow at him and George giggled. He didn’t even try to hide the obvious affection in his reaction.
“Now we can.” George moved forward, hiding his own face behind the mask to kiss Dream on the lips.
In the back of his mind he heard Karl and Sapnap cheering, but all he could focus on was Dream. It took him a moment to remember that it was for a video, and he pulled away quickly as soon as he did. The look on George’s face alone, flushed red and grinning with pure joy in his eyes, would be more than enough to get rid of any doubt in their fans’ minds that they were still joking.
“I love you,” George whispered, quietly enough that the camera wouldn’t pick it up. A part of him knew their fans would probably guess what he’d said, but he realized he didn’t really care, not when Dream’s face broke into a wide smile and he surged forward for another kiss. Dream kissed him deeper, harder, pushing them flush against each other, and George brought the hand that wasn’t holding the mask up to tangle in Dream’s hair.
Of course Sapnap ruined their beautiful moment, making a fake gagging noise and blocking the camera with his hand. “They get it, you’re in love, enough already!” A beeping sound informed them that he stopped recording .
“Wow, being in love, what a terrible thing!” Karl draped his arms around Sapnap’s shoulders and kissed his hair. “You tell ‘em.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Sapnap tried—and failed—to hide his smile. “Shut up.”
***
[Bonus dnf moment even though there’s already way too much dnf for what was originally a karlnap fic because the author has no self control]
George pulled Dream into their bedroom and shut the door. “One of us is definitely about to win.”
“Absolutely.”
“And it’s going to be me,” George singsonged.
“No no no, it’s gonna be me!”
“No way, Karl is totally gonna do it.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Dream said, sitting down on the bed. “What do you wanna do while we wait? They’ll probably be a while.”
“Um, well,” George opened the closet door and reached for something, “I found this earlier today.” He held out a neatly folded piece of paper that Dream instantly recognized.
“Oh, god—”
“I didn’t read it yet! I’d like to, but only if you’re ok with it, I’m sure it’s really personal and I still feel bad for reading the other letter without asking you…” George tugged on the strings of his hoodie. “I’m really sorry, Dream, I just really wasn’t thinking straight.”
Dream snorted. “You weren’t thinking straight?”
George rolled his eyes. “Wow, what a comedic genius.”
Dream waved George over and repositioned himself so that George could sit in his lap. “You can read it if you want. I mean, it’s dumb as hell, but I don’t mind. It’s nothing I haven't already told you.” At least, Dream hoped it wasn’t. It had been a while since he wrote that letter.
Unfortunately, Dream was wrong. “Wait, wait wait wait, you were jealous of Wilbur?”
Dream groaned and buried his face in George’s shoulder.
“Oh my god,” George pulled out his phone and looked up a youtube video (Dream graciously didn’t point out the fully red progress bar underneath it). “I have to see this.” He skipped forward to the right part and hit play.
“Aw, you won’t do it?” George pouted.
“Oh, forget him, Gogy,” Wilbur said, “I can give you a hoodie if you want one. I could even drop it off in person.”
George giggled and spoke low and flirtatiously. “Really, Wilbur? You’d do that for me? I’d—”
Dream interrupted him, sounding almost angry. “Whatever, if that’s really the bet you wanna make I’ll do it. It’s still stupid though.”
George whipped his head around to face Dream. “Oh my god.”
Dream rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“You had a crush on me! That’s so embarrassing,” George smirked.
Dream peppered George’s cheek with kisses in between his words. “That is so stupid I love you so much.”
George squirmed away from him and pointed to the letter where Dream had written I love you about a gazillion times. “I kinda got that,” he teased, but despite his nonchalant demeanor Dream saw his face flush pink.
“Come on, just keep reading.”
George snuggled back into Dream’s arms and held up the letter. Every few sentences he made a little happy sound or squeezed Dream’s hand, and Dream regretted letting him read it less and less with every touch and exclamation. By the time George put the paper down and turned back to Dream he was blushing furiously.
“So that was really fucking sweet.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” George kissed him on the cheek. “I love you too.”
“I kinda got that,” Dream smirked.
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
George rolled his eyes, but leaned in for a kiss all the same.