Chapter Text
The vibrant cerulean waves crashed against the shores, sending gust after gust of salty mist over the white sandy beach. The sun’s rays were beating down onto the land, relentless yet comforting.
George was sitting on a boulder by the water, surrounded by smaller rocks and seaweed. His eyes were closed, head tilted up to the sky, knees curled into his chest. It was so unlike London, so much warmer. Even the humidity was new to him; his hair had been curling since he stepped off the plane. He took a deep breath in, letting himself exist in the space he sat in.
“Hey, that’s not cool!” someone shouted from behind him. His brow furrowed slightly, the fragile serenity of the moment broken like glass. He turned around to glare at the two boys behind him, who were caught in a sand-war of sorts. Upon further inspection, it seemed that Dream had thrown sand at Sapnap while he was trying to set up their campsite.
George slipped off of his boulder, his toes splashing gently in the water. He was wearing sandals; not his usual style, but Dream had convinced him they would be better for a trip like this.
They had boated out to a small island just off the coast of Florida. Dream didn’t even tell them the name, but apparently it was some place he used to boat out to with his family. And, his highschool friends when he wanted to rebel and impress the beautiful Floridian girls.
George thought it was nice enough, but he wasn’t sure why Dream had hyped it up so much. He had talked about beautiful sights and fun times, crystal clear seas and wild plantlife. Needless to say, Dream had over exaggerated a bit. The sights were embellished past truth in Dream’s stories; in reality it was like any other small island. The nicest thing George had experienced on the island was his moment of serenity on the rock.
Nostalgia was one hell of a drug.
He was happy to be in Florida nonetheless. Dream and Sapnap had been living together for a few months at that point, and he had finally gotten a chance to join them after all the COVID restrictions had loosened.
He had practically jumped on the plane, coming over to America immediately after he had been vaccinated twice (with a negative COVID test, for security).
Truthfully, he hated seeing them together, having fun without him. It was all he ever wanted, moving to America and living with his two best friends. They all joked about their situation, George being stuck a thousand miles away, but really they all wanted him in America. Part of him hated seeing his friends so happy, he felt sick when Sapnap hung up on him before he met Dream.
He wouldn’t necessarily call himself a bad person, but he was one jealous son-of-a-bitch. How couldn't he be? But he was finally there, in Florida, and he could finally put those sleepless, tear-filled nights behind him.
Sapnap and Dream had decorated his room weeks before he arrived, probably before he had even bought his ticket. It was mostly dumb gimmicky stuff, like a creeper bedspread and minecraft tools nailed to the wall, but there were truly thoughtful accommodations as well.
Sapnap had picked out a nice desk for him, and Dream picked the chair. There was a nice bookshelf filled with Sapnap’s favourite manga recommendations, the entire Percy Jackson series (alongside the Heroes of Olympus books, of course) and the whole Harry Potter series.
And, when George arrived and crashed in his new bed, he noticed a light blue braided bracelet on the side table alongside a framed piece of fanart, with a note written by Dream. It was short and sweet, explaining that all three boys had a bracelet, and he hoped that he was everything George “ dreamed” him to be.
That small addition made George smile into his pillow, his face blushing in soft rosé.
They had spent their time together thus far sleeping and playing CS:GO, and a bit of recording as well. This trip to the island was their first outing together.
Sapnap was shouting and running from Dream, sand flinging up from his frantic tracks. “George!” Sapnap shrieked, “come get your boyfriend!”
George rolled his eyes and carefully stepped from the rocks onto the sand. “Keep calling him my boyfriend, and I just might not help you,” he teased back, no real malice in his tone.
Sapnap turned to say something, but his face was hit with a handful of sand from Dream. He screamed again, making George chuckle.
“Dream, seriously, knock it off,” George tutted, walking over to the pair. Dream slowed to a jog and changed his path to run up to George, almost out of breath.
“Come on, you have to admit, it was funny,” he said between breaths.
George bit his lower lip to suppress a smirk, and looked over at Sapnap, who had flopped onto the sand. His arm was thrown over his face, blocking the sun from his view. His chest was heaving up and down.
He looked back at Dream.
Dream’s face was flushed pink, golden blond hair sticking to the sweat on his forehead. It was longer than George had thought it would be. His hair was cropped just above his ears, shaggy and soft. His fringe framed his face perfectly, and accentuated his bright eyes.
The only photos he had seen of Dream before the trip had been a bit old, so his appearance shocked George a bit when Dream had come barreling into his arms at the airport. Even though he barely recognized the face tucked into the crook of his neck, the embrace felt like home.
Now here he was, standing before George with a wide, toothy grin on his face. His silhouette was backlit by the sun and he towered over George, cool shadow falling over his features.
And in that moment, George didn’t doubt for a second he was from Florida. One couldn’t live in such a warm place their whole life, and not have the sun seeping into every corner of their soul, weaving throughout their veins. If Dream held a piece of glass in his palm, his flesh would drain gold.
He felt a smile creep onto his face; Dream’s light was contagious.
“Maybe a bit,” he laughed, and Dream punched his arm softly, seemingly satisfied with that answer. He had such a dumb smile plastered on. “But,” he clapped his hands together with finality, “we need to actually set everything up, Dream,” George said, pushing past Dream pointedly.
“Yeah, no more chucking sand at my head,” Sapnap piped up from his spot on the ground.
Their campsite was barely set up. They had arrived at the island approximately half an hour ago, and all they had was a circle of rocks around a campfire pit, and a pile of belongings. Sapnap had been in the middle of setting up the tent before he was—rudely, as Sapnap would say—interrupted by Dream.
“Here, Sap, come help me with this tent.” George moved to pick up a stack of metal rods that Sapnap had haphazardly abandoned after the attack. He started to slip the notches together, creating a long line of metal supports.
Sapnap held the grey fabric up from the ground, standing on the opposite side of the tent, waiting for George to feed the metal through the loops.
He managed to get it through the beginning two, but struggled with the third. He couldn’t reach the loop and control the path of the metal at the same time.
After a mere few seconds of minor struggle, he felt a presence over his shoulder.
“Need help there, pretty boy?” Dream asked nonchalantly. George turned to face him, grip loosening on the metal.
“Excuse me? Dream?” he chuckled. “What did you just call me?”
“You heard me,” Dream smiled, and moved to grab the metal bar and fabric from George’s hands. His calloused fingers brushed over George’s hands as the contents transferred ownership.
George let Dream take it, but complained nonetheless. “Dream, I could’ve done that on my own. It would’ve taken three seconds, max.”
“And it took me two,” Dream said, not looking at George as he fed the metal through the fabric loops easily, holding the tent up while Sapnap secured the other side. After a thumbs-up from Sapnap, be bent down to secure his side as well.
“You’re so obnoxious.” George crossed his arms over his chest. Dream didn’t respond, but chose to throw a smirk at George instead. George backed away, deciding to get the other metal sticks rather than engage.
He was slightly baffled by what had just occurred, but he decided to drop it. There wasn’t much use in pushing Dream when he was weird like that; George had kept a reputation for rolling with his odd “ dreamnotfound ” schtick, and he couldn’t let that down.
In Dream’s defence—and to be fair, his own—it was pretty funny. It was just hard for George to remember where the line fell, when they had already pushed it so much further.
It didn’t take much longer for the tent to be set up and stable, with Dream staying obedient and all.
Sapnap tossed the hammer to George’s feet, asking him to help with hammering the pegs into the ground. George picked the hammer up, turning it over in his hands.
It was heavy and battered; obviously well used. George had his own hammer back in London, but he didn’t really use it that often. He wondered what Dream used it for, how often he fixed things around his house.
Maybe he could ask Dream to show him some of his projects, when they get back to his place.
No- their place.
“Can you handle that?” Dream asked, hovering over George’s shoulder yet again. George turned to face him with an annoyed look on his face. But Dream’s dopey smile softened him up immediately.
“Yes, Dream. I have held a hammer before.” George said sarcastically, shoving Dream away before crouching down to where the pegs laid on the dirt. “Shouldn’t we be using a mallet for this?”
“Nah, well, yes actually. But I didn’t have one, and I didn’t want to do it with my hands.”
George looked up at Dream, his vision falling unintentionally on Dream’s hands. “You probably could, if you wanted.”
“What was that?” Dream sidestepped, leaning down a bit.
“...Nothing.” George rolled his shoulders back, digging through the pile of pegs for one he liked.
They decided to put the tent right by the treeline, in the spot where the sand had all transitioned to dirt. It will have better grip, Dream had said, and there’s no chance of the tide coming in that far.
It was probably best to listen to Dream when it came to these things, he had come here for years of course.
George slipped a metal hook into the corner of the tent, lined it up, brought the hammer above his head, and swung down hard. The piece went well into the dirt, and only needed another couple taps before it was nestled securely into the ground.
George was acutely aware of Dream standing behind him, watching his every move. He turned around and looked up at Dream. “How about you go stare at Sapnap, weirdo,” he muttered, and went back to his work.
He heard Dream’s footsteps retreat, and he dared glance back. Dream had moved to their boat, and started to sort through the stuff that they had brought.
“Hey Sap,” George called out, “how long are we staying out here anyways?”
On cue, Sapnap came from around the other side of the tent, finished with his own pegs.
He hummed, sticking his hands deep in his hoodie’s front pocket. “Dream was thinking maybe three nights. We have the food for it, so that’s no biggie. We can talk about it tonight though,” he said, sitting down on the sand next to George.
George leaned back on his hands, setting the hammer aside. The sun was still high in the sky; if George had to guess he would say it was midday. He put his hand over his brow and looked over at Sapnap.
He was staring at the ocean, encaptured by the rhythmic waves. The wind was blowing through his hair, which had curled just as George’s had.
George smiled to himself.
He hoped this would be a peaceful trip. They had all been working extremely hard, this was the first break they’ve all allowed themselves in a while. No doubt Twitter would be freaking out, waiting—no, begging —for them to come back.
But for now, he put the bird-app out of his mind, thankful to be spending his time with his two best friends.
He glanced over at Dream. He was walking to and from the tent, dropping off their sleeping bags and things they wouldn’t need immediately.
As George watched, Dream stopped in his tracks. He brought a hand to his chin, looking like he was thinking for a second, before he straightened up and jogged over to the two boys on the ground.
“George, Sapnap, I have a great idea,” he said excitedly. He was a golden retriever of a man, bouncing on his heels in pure anticipation.
“Then say it, idiot,” George said with a laugh. Dream looked at him, his smile growing exponentially wider.
“We should go on a hike! Exploring, y’know?” Dream said. George and Sapnap exchanged glances before looking back up at Dream.
George grimaced to himself. He wasn’t a huge fan of the outdoors. Sapnap and Dream had been talking about a camping trip with him for a while, and had only just convinced George to come.
Sapnap shrugged nonchalantly, getting to his feet. “Sure, I’m down.” He started towards the boat, presumably to grab his backpack for the hike.
George felt betrayed.
He was already out on this beach, with salt water in his curls and sand between his toes. This was the most sun he’s gotten in years, and these two wanted more from him.
He groaned and got to his feet. “Do we really need to?”
Dream stepped forwards and put his hands on George’s shoulders, giving them a small squeeze. His breath hitched as he realized how close the other man was, observing George’s features closely. George looked back; he could see every freckle, every fleck in Dream’s eye. Dream’s pupils dilated as he tilted his head away from the sun.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Dream’s hands slipped off George’s shoulders and down his biceps. George looked down at them, and exhaled. “It would make me really happy if you came,” he cocked his head slightly, “but, if you want to stay, we can call it off.”
George bit his lip and closed his eyes, hiding from Dream’s intense stare. He was making a big deal of nothing again, wasn’t he? “Okay, fine. But we aren’t doing this again,” George said as he shrugged Dream’s hands away. Dream pumped a fist in the air with a cheer, making George wince.
“Okay, get your backpack, water, food, anything else you might need. We leave in 15 minutes.” Dream rushed off to meet Sapnap at the boat, throwing some sand at him on the way.
The way he ran off was endearing. He was so excited for a simple hike; and he knew that if it would make Dream smile, he would run a marathon for him.
Still, George shook his head tiredly.
He hoped he wouldn’t regret this decision.
--
The sun was beating down on George’s neck, sure to leave a sunburn.
He didn’t tan, he just burned, and he forgot to bring sunscreen. And, he didn’t have the guts to ask Dream or Sapnap for some extra.
(He made sure to not let his mind wander, specifically to the scenario of asking Dream to help him reach the spots he couldn’t.)
He rubbed his neck and shoulder, his skin hot to the touch. At least if he got burned, he knew Sapnap had some extra aloe vera. Asking for sunscreen was one thing, but if George was in enough pain he could swallow his pride.
Dream was about ten strides ahead; curse his athletic nature and long legs. Though he stayed home all day coding and recording, he still took time to exercise. He even had a whole gym in his house.
It would be a waste of space in George’s house, as London apartments don’t have the abundant capacity that Floridian places have. Or perhaps American houses as a whole, he wasn’t too sure.
He wasn’t excessively bothered by it. Being a bit more lanky was okay with him. Especially when he felt Dream’s muscles rippling under his tee when they hugged, and Sapnap’s American-footballer-build when he tackled George from behind, he thought maybe he liked being smaller. He wasn’t tiny, per-se, but he was fairly average.
George jogged up to Dream, waving at Sapnap to catch up. Dream would pull ahead eventually, but it was nice to walk with his friends.
The path they were trekking was on the side of a hill, pretty steep and ridden with intricately thick tree roots. This section of their hike was in the shade at least, thanks to the copious amount of trees around them.
“So, uh, Sapnap,” George spoke up, clearing his throat. “Got a girlfriend yet?”
Sapnap snorted, “yeah, I do.”
“No shit, really?”
“Yeah, your mom,” he said, cackling and doubling over as he walked. Dream cracked up as well, wheezes escaping him as tears formed in his eyes. George laughed lightly, but rolled his eyes.
“It’s really not that funny,” George muttered, “just trying to make conversation.”
“Oh come on George, lighten up,” Dream smiled.
“It’s hard to lighten up when my feral energy is being channeled into a hike .” George glanced behind himself to pull a face at Sapnap, but then something caught on his foot. He yelped, tripping, and fell forwards into Dream.
Sapnap shouted something unintelligible, and George felt Dream begin to topple over, but then he felt a solid arm wrap around his waist and suddenly he wasn’t falling anymore.
He opened his eyes, not sure when he closed them. He took a deep breath and looked down to see Dream’s arm around his waist, and Dream’s other arm clenching onto a tree branch.
Dream’s feet were digging into the mud, giving them traction, while George’s feet were dangling in the air.
Dream swung his body around, throwing George onto solid ground and into Sapnap’s arms.
George felt faint.
“I think I almost died,” George muttered, bringing a sweaty hand to his forehead.
“Jeez dude, are you okay?” Sapnap asked, peeling George away from his chest to look him over. Dream swung himself back onto solid ground and came over as well.
“I- I’m okay. I’m okay,” he exhaled. “That was fucking scary.” Dream and Sapnap nodded in agreement.
Sapnap cleared his throat, “if you wanna head back-”
“No, I’m okay. We can keep going,” George interrupted.
Dream bent his head down to meet George, concern in his eyes. “You sure?”
George smiled and ran a hand down his own face. “Yes, guys. It was just a slip-up.” George readjusted his backpack and continued down their makeshift path, leaving Dream and Sapnap behind.
Of course, Dream would catch up and get further, but he didn’t want to sit in the aftermath. Letting it marinate was not ideal; other people having pity on him wasn’t something George liked to entertain.
When Dream inevitably came up behind George, he leaned down to his ear.
“George,” Dream muttered, and he glanced over to catch his gaze. “Please, just be more careful. Watch your step, okay?” George nodded curtly while holding Dream’s eye contact. After a second of studying George’s face, he straightened up and began to lead the other two, seemingly satisfied with George’s promise.
On one hand, he appreciated Dream’s concern, but on the other, he wasn’t a fan of being babied.
Their walk had been going on for about a half hour, maybe just over that, at George’s estimation. He felt gross. He was hot, sweaty, hungry, and thirsty.
Well, at least he could do something about that last one.
He pulled his water bottle from the pocket on the side of his backpack and took a swig. “Dream, how much longer?” George said through a mouthful of water. Dream stopped and turned, letting George and Sapnap catch up.
“We aren’t headed somewhere, we’re just exploring, Georgie,” he said with his trademark toothy smile.
“Okay, but as long as we are back before it gets dark,” Sapnap said. “There isn’t much of a trail here anymore, dude.”
Sapnap was right. They had certainly started out on a well-trodden path, visible boot marks in the dirt leading them further into the island. But now Dream was trekking through bush and boulders, leading the way into unknown territory.
It gave George a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“It’s like 12:30, you idiot,” Dream ran his fingers through his fringe, exposing his brow. “Latest we would get back is like, two o’clock.”
Dream turned to walk again, no destination in mind. George hung back, choosing to keep in step with Sapnap.
“We haven’t talked much since I came,” George said. Sapnap hummed and wrapped a sweaty arm around George, making him cringe. Sapnap wasn’t one for physical contact, making George get the inkling that Sapnap either felt bad for him, or just wanted to get him covered in sweat.
“Don’t worry about it, Gogs. You’ve known Dream for longer than you’ve known me, and I’m not that insecure. We have a couple weeks anyways,” he smiled, patting him on the back, hard. The force sent him stumbling forwards, and tripping over rocks. He managed to not fall over, and once he was back on his feet he sent a glare back at Sapnap.
Dream was standing at the bottom of an incline of large rocks when Sapnap and George caught up. George was heaving, out of breath, and even Sapnap was breathing heavily.
Dream, however, had barely broken a sweat.
“So I’ve been looking at this path for a bit, and I’m not sure what the best way is,” he said with a frown. George came up next to him, observing the upcoming options. Next to the rocky area was a more forested path, which looked bumpy. Sapnap joined quickly thereafter, but had pulled out his phone instead of helping.
“Give George the decision, Dream,” Sapnap said, not looking up from his phone. Dream shrugged, nudging George. George looked up at him, and his breath got caught in his throat.
Dream was bright and excited, and the adrenaline which ran through George’s body was enough to keep him going. He was close to running back to the campsite, but he would stay for Dream.
“Okay George, you heard the man. What looks the most interesting?”
George tore his eyes away from Dream and studied the rocks with determination, looking for something he thought he could manage.
He didn’t feel great about scaling the terrain, but he wasn’t too keen on going into the forested area either. It looked swampy and wet, and they had no way of cleaning their clothing out on the island.
After a moment, he pointed to their left at a rocky part that looked pretty stable. The only problem was that there was a jump, but he had a feeling they could make it.
Dream leaned into George’s space, lining his eyes up with George’s pointer finger. He hummed in consideration, before nodding. “Think you can make that jump? You’re kinda short,” Dream smiled in anticipation of George’s outburst.
“I am not short.” He rolled his eyes, shoving Dream towards their determined path. “I am literally the same height as Sapnap. Is this a good path for you, Sap?”
Sapnap looked up from his phone, shoving it into his pocket. “Yeah, dude. Looks good.” He caught up to them, making a close train of the three boys.
Dream was leading the way, with George right behind, and Sapnap trailing after that. It was pretty easy getting to the jump, only needing to pull each other up onto a ledge a couple times.
The rocks were a bit unstable, but the usage of their hands as well as their feet made it pretty easy to climb.
“Okay, how are we doing this?” Dream stood before the jump, hands placed firmly on his hips.
“I could go first,” Sapnap spoke up. “I would probably be best on the other side so I could pull you two over.” He stepped up to the edge, and all three boys observed the fall. It wasn’t too far, just falling into a small lake, but there was no obvious way of getting back up. The walls of the pit were smooth, and it was too deep to reach the edge from the bottom.
Sapnap motioned for the other two to step back, and with a breath and a leap, he was on the other side. His runners kicked up dust on the other side, floating through the air back over the crevice. He turned with a smile.
“Easy,” he said, taking a step back. “Dream, you next.”
Dream bent his legs and concentrated on the distance, before running to the edge and jumping. He made it look easy, up until he went barreling into Sapnap’s chest. Sapnap stumbled back with a grunt, killing Dream’s momentum.
George stood back, nerves shaking his core. The drop drew him in, making the world spin.
“Hey,” Dream called out from across the gap, “it’s not that hard, we’ll catch you.”
George took a deep breath before falling into the same stance that Dream had. He rocked back and forth on his feet. Dream put his arms out, bracing for George’s potential body weight to come crashing into him. No matter how much smaller George was, that sudden force would be sure to knock over an unsuspecting person.
Sapnap squatted next to Dream, presumably prepared in case George slipped, or didn’t quite make the gap.
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to think about that. Once he opened his eyes, he shoved his anxiety down and ran forwards. Just as he came to the ledge, he faltered, his feet slipping at the edge and slowing his momentum.
But he had already committed, and he was flying across the gap, his feet cycling in the air. He was searching for traction in the wind to no avail.
His hands made contact first, grasping onto Dream’s shoulders. Next, he felt Dream’s arms around his waist and Sapnap’s hands around the back of his thigh.
Then the tips of his toes grazed the edge, just barely slipping past and leaving rocks to crumble into the lake, leaving large splashes behind.
His eyes were closed but he was secure. His body was thrumming with adrenaline, making his ears buzz.
He was slowly dropped to the ground and he finally allowed himself to breathe. Sapnap was the one to place his feet solidly on the ground, and Dream had taken the brunt of the momentum.
“We good?” Sapnap smiled up at George, who nodded breathlessly.
“That was… terrifying,” George said, “but fun.”
Dream squeezed his arm and nudged Sapnap. “Alright, okay , we made it. Where next?”
Sapnap looked around before pointing up another rocky path. “That looks cool, and it looks like it’s gonna peak. Could be an awesome view up there.”
The boys agreed wordlessly, and began their trek up the path. It was more stable than the one they had been on before, so they didn’t need to use their hands to climb the rocks.
But at this point, even Dream had started to get a bit tired, sweat beading down his neck. Not that George was staring or anything.
He imagined that they would probably head back after getting to the peak of the rocky hill, making him more determined than ever to get to the top. He had caught up to Dream’s pace, staying close behind him. Sapnap was still back a bit, not picking up on the same energy that George had.
They were about five feet from the top, and George was right on Dream’s tail. He wasn’t sure what would be over the hill, but he hoped it would be worth the hike.
George would be holding this excursion over Dream and Sapnap when he got back.
Dream made it to the top first, throwing an arm over his head to shield his eyes from the sun. Dream’s backpack slipped off his shoulder and hung by his side.
“Man, George, it’s beautiful up here,” Dream said breathlessly. George took a step up, placing a hand on Dream’s shoulder to steady himself. He looked back at Sapnap, a good 10 feet away, making his way over to the pair.
He turned back to the view.
It was truly beautiful; a large lake off in the distance, trees as far as one could see, the sun shining in the sky, unobstructed by clouds.
George looked up at Dream. The hike was worth it, seeing Dream here, in his natural state. The sun lived on his skin, light bouncing off of him beautifully.
If George didn’t know any better, he would say Dream was beaming light himself.
Dream met George’s gaze just as Sapnap had come up behind them. Dream smiled lightly, before his body jerked, tensing, and his face turned to one of shock and fear.
In a split second, a million things ran through George’s mind. The first thing to register was the small pebbles beneath them sliding, Dream moving to catch himself, but only meeting loose ground.
The terrain from underneath Dream crumbled, rocks bouncing down the side of the steep hill. George grabbed Dream’s hand, but Dream couldn’t find solid footing. He skidded downwards, pulling George, who was stumbling forward onto the unsteady rock.
Sapnap leapt to grab at George’s arm, but the fabric of his hoodie slipped through his fingers.
George’s heart was pounding. He moved to grab Dream’s arm with his other hand, and out of the corner of his vision he could see darkness beginning to grow beneath them.
And then, Dream was falling.
George’s world was in slow motion. Dream’s face made him feel sick, pure fear flooding his features. Sapnap shouted, the noise echoing in George’s ears. A tug was felt on his backpack.
He felt like he was underwater, flying forward into the hole that had opened beneath the pair.
Boulders crashed around them, smaller rocks growing into larger ones. The noise was deafening.
Dream slipped out of his tight grip and fell into the abyss, George close behind.
His palms scraped at the edges of the pit and he flipped in the air, his vision stuck on Sapnap, who was crouched at the edge with terror in his eyes.
He reached out pathetically, upwards from the darkness.
But then the light closed off, and George was slammed into the cold, unforgiving ground.