In This Together | Dreamnotfound

Chapter Eighteen

Joseph drags himself out of bed bright and early the next morning.

He feels silly, really. Grinning to himself as he prepares breakfast. Sure, he accidentally burnt his toast and sure, they may be out of milk, but nothing was bringing his mood down. Not right now at least.

Not when he has a date.

He goes on his phone, smiling at his phone. The door to George's room opens, and his smile, somehow, grows wider.

"Hey, Georgie! I made you breakfast, c'mere."

The brunet smiles at him, and Joseph almost ignores how puffy George's eyes were. He feels his heart clench, but he continues beckoning the man over.

Even after crying, George is beautiful.

He wonders how he hadn't immediately realized that he's in love with his best friend, his best friend who has been nothing but perfect to him.

"Wh- oh yeah… we still up for… that?"

Joseph brow furrows a little, and he chuckles.

"Well.. yeah. Unless you don't want to go on the date.. do- do you not want to?"

George blinks as if finally snapping out of his sleepy daze.

"Uh, I- we can go, yea. Just… just a little hungover 's all."

He nods, smiling at George again. He pushes the plate of toast and eggs towards George, standing up to grab apple juice from the fridge.

"I'll be taking care of you the whole day Georgie, don't you worry."

He wishes the thought of George wanting Dream instead would disappear.

They get to Hyde Park, where the Winter Wonderland was being held. He mentally thanks Bad for the advice, seeing George slowly start to brighten up as they explore the park.

"What do you wanna do first?", he asks, smiling fondly.

"We could…" George looks around, seemingly trying to find something. He smiles at something to his left, "we could go ice skating!"

Joseph grins, holding George's hand and dragging them there. He hears the brunet giggle, and he swears his heart bursts at the seams. It feels incredibly cliché, and he thinks that the last time he felt like this was with his ex-girlfriend back in Florida.

Butterflies flutter in his stomach as the shorter elegantly skates around the rink. He's stuck observing to the sides, smiling to himself.

He knows how to roller skate, but also knows that they're very different. And he's never had the chance to go ice skating because in the three years he's lived in London, he's never had the opportunity to do this.

"Joseph", George sing-songs, grinning mischievously. "Come on!", he giggles out, dragging the blond.

He, of course, falls flat on his ass within the first five seconds. He'd be lying if he said that his mind wasn't preoccupied with thoughts of how beautiful George was.

With a couple of messy spins and poor attempts at tackling each other, they finish the allotted time on the rink. They clumsily exit, giggling at each other.

"Wanna eat?", Joseph asks, noticing that it's already 1 p.m.; they've managed to reach the butt-end of lunch hours, which meant the lines for food stalls were shorter.

"Yes!", George gasps. "We should get the pretzels and hot chocolate, D-… someone… recommended it to me back then."

Joseph almost misses the slip-up.

He smiles, nodding softly at the man.

Lunch was amazing, and despite George making hums of appreciation at the soft pretzel, Joseph still thinks that the fluffy feeling in his heart is softer.

They walk around a bit, stopping at the Ice Slide, Cirque Berserk, and Ice Sculpting Workshops. Every time they check out something, he feels George take a small piece of his heart. He hopes the man keeps it tucked away safely in his own.

He eyes the Munich Looping roller coaster, and his adrenaline-seeking heart aches for the ride.

"George, please!", he pouts. The man purses his lips, looking away a bit.

"I don't know… I'm a bit-"

"Come on."

"... Fine."

Joseph grins, grabbing George's hand and dragging him to the line for the ride. He feels the brunet clam up, and he tightens his grasp.

Once they finally get on the roller coaster, he grins impossibly wider.

He loves it. Roller coasters, in general, are amazing, but thinking about it, he thinks having a pretty boy next to him makes the experience so much better.

Especially if you're in love with the aforementioned pretty boy.

There's some sort of silly symbolism he could think about how love was like a roller coaster, but the ride starts climbing up and he can feel his mind melt.

All thoughts had been replaced with the thrill of falling, the excitement of feeling like you're in danger but knowing that you're safe and someone is there to catch you in the end.

He looks at George, who had his eyes shut close so tightly.

Is George afraid of heights?

The ride drops, and Joseph could feel his heart swell.

He hears George yell a little, but it was muffled by the sounds of his own screams and the wind.

Again, he thinks that there's a metaphor somewhere in there, but all thoughts had been blocked out by the thrill of falling and twisting so much.

Before he knows it, the ride was over. He feels a sort of twinge of disappointment in his chest, but he still grins nonetheless, puffing his chest out.

George is a little shaky, but he still smiles at Joseph. With a little bit of a clearer mind, he finds that he appreciates the brunet doing things he doesn't want to do just for him.

He smiles to himself. He still has a chance, no way he doesn't.

"Let's sit down and watch the sunset, yeah?", George asks, looking unsure.

Joseph almost recommends riding the Ferris wheel, but ultimately decides against it. He nods, thinking that he could ride off of the adrenaline from the roller coaster.

"So… George. What'd you think?"

About me. Us.

"Ah… well…" George looks down, and Joseph almost chastises him for chewing his lips.

"I'm sorry, Joseph."

Oh.

Joseph nods, feeling dumbfounded. He should've expected this, but it still hurt like a bitch.

"I- okay. Did you at least enjoy the date?"

"I did… I'm sorry, I don't know. I think I fell in love with the idea of you and I… I never got to let go of it."

"Well, then what about Dream?"

George flinches, and Joseph feels him grasp at the sleeve of his coat.

Joseph kisses him.

♡

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