lo and behold

chapter two: oh, how she rocks

Dream actually had a reason to look forward to gym class now. It was nearing the end of September and George and him had formed a tentative yet nice acquaintanceship.

Quackity's reaction to Dream's perpetual blush around George was as expected, gleeful cackles echoing through the blond's ears as Sapnap filled the black-haired boy in on all the details about 'Dream's little crush', Bad occasionally interrupting to add a few small details, but mainly to chastise his friend for swearing while explaining.

"Oh my god, Dream," Quackity grinned. "There's no way you don't like him!"

"Shut up, Quackity," Dream groaned, burying his face into his fingerless-gloved hands.

"No, no, he does! I'm a dude, but even I can say that George dresses cute," Sapnap agreed.

"Guys, c'mon, you're making him uncomfortable," Bad ribbed gently, though the small amused smile on his face gave him away almost immediately.

Dream stayed silent for a minute, flustered as he sipped at his Monster and chewed on his snakebite piercing. "Whatever," he muttered. "I don't even know if he's single or not."

"Ask him out!" Quackity immediately giggled. "Oooh, Dream's finally going to get a boyfriend!"

"Oh my god, Quackity !" Dream smacked his beanie-wearing friend lightly on the shoulder, wheezing as he laughed in an embarrassed tone. "Stop!"

"Holy fuck, I'm so happy we have gym together," Quackity laughed. "Now I can make fun of you for an entire hour!" he exclaimed gleefully, not deterred by Bad's "language!"

Lunch couldn't have ended sooner, Dream immediately leaving the table and speed-walking to physics as his friends chortled behind him.

Halfway through his fifth period, Quackity sent Dream a text.

" From: quackhead.

'so? whn r u gng 2 ask grg out?'

To: dream."

Dream rolled his eyes and shot back a text, fingers moving quickly over the tiny buttons on his flip phone.

" From: dream.

'I told u, idk if he's sngl.'

To: quackhead."

A minute later, another text rolled in.

" From: quackhead.

'lame lol'

To: dream. "

Dream rolled his eyes and turned the cell phone off, opting to keep it in his bag instead of letting Quackity tease him the entire class period.

Thirty minutes later, the four boys were out in the stuffy heat, walking laps around the track. For some reason, the situation had evolved into both Quackity and Sapnap mercilessly teasing Dream, Bad not agreeing yet not disagreeing either.

Suddenly, George was right in front of Dream. "Hi," he said with a smile on his face. "Would you want to walk with me?" he asked kindly.

Quackity almost fell over himself trying to answer for Dream. "Yes, George, he would actually love to," he giggled, pushing the punk roughly towards the pastel.

Which caused them to collide, not unlike the way they'd crashed into each other the day they met.

"Uh-" George began, trying to detangle himself from Dream's chest.

"Um-" Dream coughed, finally detaching himself from the pastel. "Yeah, I'd love to walk with you."

"Okay," George's face broke into a small smile.

Dream could hear his friend's rapidly fading snickers as he walked with George.

"Hey, Dream?" George asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Hm?"

"Do you skate?"

"Yeah, I do, why?"

George blushed, giving his sunkissed cheeks a light but not unflattering flush. "I liked to roller-skate before I moved, and I've been looking for a new place to go. And Poki doesn't really know any skate parks, so I thought I'd ask you, uh," he trailed off. "Never mind, it's stupid."

"No, it's not," Dream responded, heart on fire at hearing George talk himself down. "I- I skate, it's the Avalon Skate Park," he told the shorter boy. "Sometimes I go with Sapnap but usually I go alone."

"Oh," George perked up. "That's great!"

"It's fun there, you should go some time," Dream smiled, playing with his tongue piercing between his words.

"I might," George smiled. Suddenly, Pokimane joined them.

"Hey George! Dream, right?" she smiled warmly.

"Yeah," he smiled back. "What's up?"

The brunette looked at George and then back at Dream. "Are you going to come to the first football game of the season? I know we're having the pep rally on Friday, but I was wondering if you were going to go to the game too."

"I'd like it if you went," George told him. "I got on the cheer team! You'll be able to see me cheer, too!" the shorter boy exclaimed excitedly.

Dream was in the middle of thinking about how to politely decline Poki's request when George's words stopped him right in his tracks. "I- uh," he stumbled for words. "Maybe," he finally said lamely, mentally cursing himself for how stupid he sounded. "I'll ask my friends if they want to go."

"Sounds chill," Poki grinned. "Hopefully we'll see you there!"

Twenty minutes later, sixth period ended. Dream and Sapnap were walking together towards the student parking lot.

"Hey," Dream said suddenly, stopping Sapnap in his tracks as he excitedly discussed a new code. "Would you want to go to the first football game this year?"

His best friend looked at him in slight confusion. "Uh, I mean, sure? Why?" he asked.

Dream sighed. "Okay, don't tell Quackity because I just know he'll never let it go. But Poki invited me to the game and George said he'd be cheering with the cheerleaders, and..." he trailed off, holding his face subconsciously as he realized how warm it was.

Sapnap chuckled a little. "Dude, you're gonna fall way into the deep end if you keep chasing after George like this," he cautioned, but there was no real hardness behind his voice. "I'll go with you, though."

Suddenly, Valkyrae's distant, hushed voice ghosted across their ears. "Poki, that was really brave of you to invite him, the punks are kind of scary, you know?" she murmured, clearly thinking that only her, Poki, and George could hear her.

"No," George argued. "Dream is really nice, he helped me find my classes on the first day of school when I didn't know you two!"

Dream couldn't contain himself as he burst out with a laugh and turned around, not missing Valkyrae's flinch. "You know," he wheezed, "I can hear you guys?"

George rolled his eyes. "Turn around, Dream, we're only talking about you literally behind your back," the shorter boy said sarcastically, causing Dream to laugh even harder.