Like Normal Kids Do (Sapnotfound)

Chapter Six

Five full days passed, and he still hadn't apologized. Each day, he went over to Sapnap's house with full confidence, and left with the creeper plushie still in his bag.

At the end of each day, Ari sat and listened to him complain about how he couldn't do it and maybe he should leave the situation alone.

On the sixth day, George repeated the process of returning home with the plushie and ranting. Finally, Ari had enough and grabbed his shoulders, cutting off his frustrated rambling.

"Listen, dude, it's almost been a week and you still haven't done it. Tomorrrow, you aren't allowed back in this house until you apologize. It's okay if he doesn't accept it, because you can at least say you tried."

"But what if-"

They held a finger to his lips. "No, hush. If he doesn't want the plushie it's fine, you can keep it for yourself. You're a great person, you just need to show him that."

George knew it was useless to argue, so he silently nodded. Ari let go of his shoulders, and the two sat comfortably in the window seat, watching the sky outside grow darker.

Before he knew it, time slipped through his fingers and the sunrise alerted him of a new day. He waited until around midday, then Ari made him leave.

It was Saturday, so Sapnap wouldn't be expecting him. He gripped the plushie in one hand, the other balled into a shaky fist. Forcing his arm up, he knocked three times on Sapnap's door and stepped back.

It took a minute for the door to open but when it did, Sapnap stood before him. His expression was unreadable as he mumbled out a soft, "Hello?"

George took a deep breath and shoved the plushie toward him. "I know you like Minecraft, so I got you this to apologize for last week. I didn't mean what I said, and I'm sorry." He spoke fast and stumbled over a few words, but he hoped Sapnap understood.

Sapnap carefully took the plushie from his hands and examined it. An excited grin replaced the hard line his mouth was pressed into moments ago as he hugged the plushie to his chest. "Thank you, it's cute."

His lack of a harsh tone suprised George. "Y-Yeah, no problem."

"So, you're not mad at me anymore?"

George frowned. "I wasn't ever mad at you. I was more mad at myself, but that doesn't matter. Also, I have something else for you, but we need to go uptown to get it."

"Oh? We can get that later, if you'd like to stay and hang out a little while."

His first instinct was to turn down the offer and retreat to his bedroom, but if he wanted to prove he could be a decent friend, this was the way to do it.

"Sure." Something flipped in George's stomach as he noticed Sapnap's eyes light up.

"Awesome! I have another game I think you'll like." Sapnap motioned for the boy to follow him into the house.

His brother lay across the couch, watching TV. He peeked his head over the back of the couch as the door closed behind the boys.

"Hi guys!" He waved.

George nodded and returned the gesture, then ran up the steps to keep up with Sapnap. By the time he reached the top step, the other boy poked his head out of his room. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, yeah."

This time, he was welcomed into the room immediately. He must have hesitated on where to sit for too long, because Sapnap scooted to the edge of the bed and gave him enough room to have personal space.