I Know Who You Pretend I Am

Chapter Two

They finished recording earlier, and now they're sitting on the couch, Sapnap curled into Dream's side, Dream's arm wrapped around Sapnap's shoulders. The tv plays, but Sapnap is hardly paying attention. All he can think about is the way Dream acted during the recording. How obviously he was pining.

He can tell that Dream is upset about his unrequited crush, but Sapnap has a sneaking suspicion that it's not quite as unrequited as Dream thinks. He's almost sure that George returns at least some of Dream's feelings.

And yet Dream seems determined not to say anything, to keep it buried. He doesn't even talk to him about it, not since the first talk they had.

He can't stand watching Dream tear himself up over George anymore.

"You should just tell him already," he says finally.

"Huh?" Dream questions, unsure of what Sapnap's referring to.

"George. You need to tell him how you feel about him."

Dream retracts his arm, leaning away from Sapnap. Sapnap can tell that he's starting to close himself off, so he puts a hand on his shoulder, facing him.

"You need to tell him, Dream. I can't watch this eat at you anymore. It hurts me to see you hurting," he says softly.

"It's not that bad-"

"You've been having nightmares about it. You mumble about him while you sleep. It's tearing you up, just tell him already."

Dream seems to mull it over, his eyebrows furrowing and his lips pursed in concentration.

"What if he... what if he doesn't like me? What if I make everything weird? What if- if he doesn't wanna be friends anymore?"

"Dream, don't be stupid. You know that George will be your friend no matter what. You've been friends for years, and even if he doesn't like you back, he won't just ditch you over it," Sapnap says with certainty. "And if he does, I'll beat him up," he tacks on with a smile.

Dream relaxes slightly at the reassurance and the joke, and nods.

"I'll think about it."

————————————————————————

Hey George? Can we call?

Sure! Gimme one sec

Ok

Dream taps his fingers against his desk anxiously, waiting for the call. His stomach churns when the discord ringtone comes through his headphones. He takes a deep breath and answers the call.

"Hey, Dream! What's up? Everything alright?"

"Uh- umm- yeah, yeah, everything's fine! I just- I wanted to talk to you about something..."

He wrings his hands nervously, waiting for George to respond, even though he didn't ask a question.

"Sure! What'd you wanna talk about?"

"Okay, umm- I'm not really sure where to start- I'm not good at this sort of thing..." he trails off, searching for the right words to say. He wishes he had written out a speech beforehand.

"Is everything okay, Dream?" George's voice is laced with concern, and it makes Dream sick to know that he's making his friend worry because of his inability to talk about his feelings.

"I like you-" he finally blurts out, ripping it off like a bandaid.

George laughs, and Dream's heart sinks. "Okaaay, I like you too, Dream."

Dream blinks, before trying to clarify. "No- George- listen, I-I really like you- like, more than friends."

George falls silent. A second passes, then two, and Dream feels like he's burning alive.

"That's not funny, Dream. If this is some sort of joke, it's not funny." His voice is low and deadly serious.

"It's not!" Dream exclaims immediately. "It's not," he repeats softer.

More silence passes, before George speaks again. "You're dating Sapnap. You can't date Sapnap and then tell me you like me. That's fucked, Dream."

"It was his idea for me to tell you..." Dream whispers.

"So it is a joke then?" George sounds more and more angry with every word.

"No! No, it's not like that-"

"Then what's it like then?"

"I've liked you since before me and Sapnap started dating! He always knew, we talked about it and- I love both of you, and he was okay with that- fuck, I'm bad at explaining things- he wanted me to tell you how I feel so that I could get it off my chest."

He hears George sigh and he feels like he might be sick or cry or scream or do something .

"You swear to god this isn't some prank?" George asks softly.

"I swear to god," Dream responds, equally as soft.

"... I like you too..." George whispers, barely loud enough for his mic to pick it up.

And Dream smiles.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short, but the next one (already working on it) will be longer. 💕