LOVE LOCKDOWN (dnf + karlnap)

2: The Holiest Thing I Know, chapter two

+ ONE.

It was a Saturday, just past three p.m., and George was sitting in the locker room mindlessly scrolling through his phone. He had the closing shift that night. With Clay. Clay. Dream. Whatever.

They had worked together a bunch of times (some more memorable than others...), but they had never done closing together. Closing meant a whole hour to themselves after the restaurant closed at midnight and the last person except the closing pair went home.

George didn't really know why - but he was nervous.

A quick glance at the time told George it was 3:26. He sighed and stuffed his phone into his backpack. After one last look at himself in the locker room mirror, he braced himself and pushed the heavy door open. He made his way to the punch clock, narrowly avoiding bumping into Niki, who confidently strode past him with a stack of trays.

"Hi, George!" she called, throwing a smile at him over her shoulder before disappearing behind a corner.

George smiled at her before he clocked in. He threw a quick wave at the restaurant manager, Phil, who sat in the office, doing something on the computer. Phil smiled and waved back.

"George."

Dream.

George turned around and was greeted by Dream's towering form.

"Hello, Clay."

Dream chuckled, "Dream. Please."

"I'll try to keep it in mind," George replied.

"Good. Anyway, we're on closing today. Incredibly exciting. It's my first closing shift as shift manager, so we'll see how it'll go," Dream clasped his hands together with a big grin.

George just nodded. "Where do you want me?

"Second DT window. Want you packing and taking orders. I got Sap, me and Tommy in the kitchen, Niki at the first window and Karl helping you out at the front in 'bev' and packing orders for in-store."

"Do you want me to wear a headset?"

"Yeah. We're not that many so we'll all have them on."

George nodded again and went to grab one of the headsets from the rack. He picked up a battery from the charging station and put it into the headset before gently putting it on, trying to not mess up his hair too much.

He felt Dream's eyes on him as he smoothed out his shirt and made his way up to the second window.

The first few hours went on smoothly. There was a small rush around six, but the group managed it without a hitch.

At seven, Phil emerged from the office with a paper coffee mug. He pointed at Dream with a little smile, "don't burn down my restaurant, kid."

"No promises," Dream shrugged.

"Keep an eye on him, George! Come on you two. Teach each other things."

"What is George gonna teach me?" Dream scoffed, "I know more than him."

He wasn't wrong. Dream and George had started working at around the same time, but Dream was already shift manager while George barely worked a few shifts a month. George was just... busy, okay?

"I can teach you how to be a good person," George muttered.

Phil heard it, though, and laughed loudly. "I was just about to say!"

"You wound me, George!" Dream cried, hands on his chest.

"Okay, I'm out. Wash your hands, Dream! You touched your clothes" Phil said, still smiling as he walked out.