Heavenstruck (Guardian Angel AU)

Alone

so theres a content warning i need to add, but adding it would be a spoiler for the chapter. a giant spoiler for the chapter. if you want to read the content warning before reading the rest of this chapter, skip to the bottom of the chapter and its listed there.

Dream had begun these two dizzy weeks with what he knew best: working. He wasn't in a place yet where he could upload spontaneously without the YouTube algorithm fucking him up; it was only right to his fans that he have something scheduled to upload during the trip. So he had spent a couple days recording with Sapnap, then shut himself in his room editing. (Of course, George had forced him out a couple of times, but his mind had always wandered back to where he needed to cut, where he needed music, where a scene needed to end.)

He only recognized his mistake after he finished saving both videos to his computer. He had gone from isolating himself in his room to spending every second of his day with George: playing games with him, pretending to have fallen asleep cuddled up to his side, making meals to share. George had melted under the affection, even taking the time to change into his human form for Dream.

But with each day that passed...

Dream hit the print button on his plane tickets, the grateful look George sent him only making him feel worse.

George couldn't muster up the energy to morph between forms anymore. They couldn't board the plane together like they had planned, yet Dream found himself buying two tickets anyway. The thought of George not being by his side even spiritually while they flew was enough to make his stomach turn.

"Are you really okay with this, Dream?" George asked quietly. "I know it's a bit unfair of me to ask you to do something like this. I can always go alone—"

Dream shook his head. "No. You've always been there for me, so I'll be there for you. What kind of..."

Boyfriend? Lover? Partner? All those terms hung in the air, the pause afterwards almost like a question mark.

But not all questions needed to be answered. Some things weren't meant to be defined.

George relaxes with his back against the bedframe and a closed book against his lap. His wings spread out enough to cover the width of the bed, and Dream was instantly reminded of how impossibly soft they were. "Thank you."

Dream nodded. He wanted to make a quip about having already dropped off Patches at his mother's place, but it didn't feel right.

His throat felt dry as he glanced over at the whirring printer beside him.

The rest went unsaid.

*

"Enough clothes for two weeks?"

"Check. And I can always buy more if I need to."

"Money?"

"Yup."

"All your hygiene things?"

"Yeah, but not like you would know."

Dream laughed as George pouted and tossed a tiny bottle of shampoo at him.

Packing everything had been some of the most fun Dream had had over this past week. They had started off with some checklist they had taken off a travel website, then George had insisted he carry a couple extra things in his suitcase. Dream had countered by throwing random shit in his suitcase, and here they were now after everything had calmed down.

"I was plenty clean enough when I lived, and I'm plenty clean enough now," George grumbled. "Are you done with packing or not?"

Dream rolled his eyes as he zipped up the suitcase. "Jeez, okay, Mom. I'm done."