Between Friends (dnf)

Christmas

"Are we really not doing gifts?" Dream asked with a noticeable whine in his voice. This had to have been the fourth time he'd brought up the topic since George mentioned it yesterday.

"We are really not doing gifts, Dream." George answered through a sigh, not even bothering to turn around and face Dream.

He was doing his best to focus on the task at hand, which was fixing Dream's PC. He had tried running all types of diagnostics and codes, he even took apart some of the computer, all with no luck. George had just started typing out one last code to try.

"But, like, what are you going to do if I do get you something?" Dream asked.

"I wouldn't open it." George answered dismissively. He had come to the realization about 20 minutes ago that there was no way he was going to be able to fix Dream's computer, but his stubborn mindset wouldn't let him quit.

"How are you going to not open it?" Dream scoffed, tugging on the back of the computer chair. George instantly reached out to hold onto the edge of the desk, preventing Dream from pulling him away.

"Hey! You're the one who asked for my help. Why are you being so distracting?" George grumbled, scooching the chair back in once Dream let go. He hit send on his code, watching as the slow moving progress bar began to climb.

"I didn't think it'd take this long, I'm bored." Dream complained, leaning on the back of the chair, making it recline. George sighed, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

"For Christmas, you can buy yourself a new PC and it'll be like you got me a gift because then I'll never have to look at this stupid thing again." George tilted his head down, gently kicking the PC by his feet.

"One gift- a real gift. That's all I'm asking." Dream said after a second.

George leaned his head back again, looking up at Dream. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't having an increasingly difficult time telling Dream 'no' whenever he made that face at him.

The look on his face reminded George of the look Dream gave him when they were standing in his mother's garden on Thanksgiving.

It was a look of longing for something, which George had a difficult time identifying. Well, not really identifying but more so accepting that he knew exactly what Dream was longing for. It's easy to recognize a look that you've also been giving.

"No." George finally answered, realizing that he had been lost in thought, staring at Dream in silence.

"George, pl-"

"My code! It worked!" George called out, noticing a notification on the home screen, acknowledging that his code had successfully run. He leaned forward in the chair, making Dream pull away. After tinkering with a few more settings, George turned around with a bright smile.

"You did it." Dream said after a second, his smile much more gentle than George's. He could feel his own smile fading, as he truly took in just how softly Dream looked at him. George found himself blinking rapidly, looking away from Dream as he stood from the chair.

"Well, you're welcome. And, uh, don't be an idiot and go downloading dumb sh-"

George cut himself off mid sentence when Dream prevented him from walking away by wrapping his arms around George's shoulders from behind. He found himself leaning back against Dream's chest, trying to catch his breath.

"Thanks for helping me out with that." Dream said quietly, resting his chin on the top of George's head.

This was a position they had found themselves in only a handful of times. It was familiar and comforting but also made George's heart race each time, like it was the first all over again. It scared George the way his body could mold perfectly into Dream's- how pulling away became harder each time he found himself in Dream's arms.