glimpse || DNF

𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛

DU DU DU DU dudududu

//

"What?" Their voices were breathless, mixing together with the gentle force of a deflating balloon.

George looks up at Dream, his eyes sparkling at the man who searched for the correct words fervently, chest rising and failing as stress pulled on his shoulders. "I'm not ready to lose you guys. And I know it's selfish, but I can't–" His voice breaks and he doesn't try to talk anymore.

"No, we get it." Karl mumbles softly, hand searching for Sapnap's without looking at the shorter man.

Sapnap still looked confused, and his best friends watched the thoughts whizzing past his eyes at lightning speed. He didn't know what to make of all this. He had sort of...resigned himself to his fate already. He was happy to spend his remaining hours with his lover, and his best friends. But now, for the first time since all this shit started, Dream had hope in his intense emerald eyes.

And that filled him with hope too.

"This is dumb." Sapnap runs a hand through his hair. Dream exhales in relief, a smile tugging his lips when he strides forward, pulling the man into a tight hug. Karl watches with fond eyes, as does George–although he tries not to let it show–as the shorter pats Dream's back, pulling back with determination.

"Well, everyone better get their asses out in fifteen minutes."

–

The short period of time passed in an absolutely dizzying blur. George wasn't used to moving this fast, ever. This much energy was too much to be exerted in a week, let alone a couple of minutes. Sapnap seemed to have thought about this beforehand, because he was ordering everyone around on what to take and what to leave behind.

Karl was put in charge of the food. He gathered everything he could that was packaged and canned, shoving it into the car's storage compartment. Although the blonde loved to make nice home cooked meals, there was still a fair amount of packaged food in the pantry, enough to last them a few weeks. He made sure to keep the limited fruits and other stuff that would spoil quickly in the front for easy access.

Meanwhile, George and Dream were hurriedly darting around their room, grabbing as many of Dream's clothes as they could carry. The brunette hadn't brought much of anything from England, so he would have to wear his friend's clothes for the time he had left.

George still hadn't gotten his hopes up too much yet. The plan was simple: get as far away from the coast as possible. And then, wing it. Find shelter. Go underground...somehow. It wasn't exactly the most fleshed-out plan. But he supposed it's better than nothing.

He snaps out of his thoughts, dumping a pair of folded trousers on the bed next to Dream where he had sat down, pulling at his thumbs with his phone in his lap.

"Dream, I'm tired too, but now's not the time to be lazy." George drawls, crossing the room to shove his toiletries into a bag. The man frowns when he's not given a response, poking his head out the bathroom door.

Dream hadn't moved. His eyes were hooded with sadness, so starkly opposite from the shining hope in his gaze a few minutes earlier. George quietly crossed the room, mouth forming a silent O, noticing the contact open on his phone.

Mom. With a single red heart attached to the end.

"They wouldn't risk coming back this way, their house is farther from the coast than we are. My parents had to get my siblings out." He muttered, clenching his jaw. "I just wish I could talk to them one last time."

George's eyes burn. It was his fault that Dream hadn't gotten to talk with his family. He had taken up that time. To fucking scream at him. To tell him that he hated him, when his Mum never had the chance to tell him she loved him at least once more. 

"Stop." Dream mumbles. The brunette forces his eyes up, exhaling shakily to the side. "It's not your fault. I chose to call you. And I don't regret it."

George says nothing. He couldn't risk betraying the crack in his voice. Not yet.

His best friend was achingly close to his family. It was a kind of platonic love everyone who didn't have it fantasized about. What George fantasized about, back when he floated through primary school with nothing but the affection of a few kind teachers.

When he first met Dream, or rather, when the man showed off and impressed George enough to add him on Discord, George would always feel a pang of sadness whenever Dream left him to go have dinner with his family, or talk to his siblings affectionately when they came into the room. He would listen to every word, trying hard to feel nothing.

And then, somewhere along the line, that affection was directed towards him. It wasn't the same voice as the one he used with his siblings. It was softer, smoother...endearing in a way that George struggled to comprehend for the longest time.

Once they grew closer, close to the point where they could communicate from the beats of silence in between softly spoken words, Dream slowly started introducing him to his family. Drista came first, George refused to call her anything else, then Dream's older sister, whom he adored.

Then his younger brother, who was George's favorite. He owned every single piece of merch George had ever released, and Dream mentioned it was a pain living with GeorgenotFound's biggest fan.

And then his Mum, whose personality was as warm and beautiful as Dreams' was.

"It's not impossible. They've surely gotten out of the state already. Maybe they'll spot Sapnap's stupid Tesla." George reasons, coaxing a tiny smile out of Dream. He's satisfied when he succeeds and watches as even the slightest bit of happiness transforms the man's face.

"Yeah, maybe." He shakes his head. George reaches up impulsively, carding a gentle hand through Dream's blonde curls. They bounced with his touch, falling in front of his eyes. Before the brunette falls into the urge to kiss the boy, he stands up, exhaling softly. They needed to get out of here. There's no use if they don't leave enough of a window to get the fuck out of this state.

Dream gets the hint, standing up with a bit of difficulty. He forces himself to shove his phone into his pocket, tossing essentials into his backpack while George runs their clothes out to Sapnap, who was helping them figure out the best way to maximize the little storage space they had.

They ended up taking thirty minutes to pack up and say goodbye to the life in the Dream Team house they were supposed to have had. George felt a crushing sadness in his chest, as he picked Patches up into his arms, petting her soft brownish fur. They looked upon their home, and he watched the tears fill up both Sapnap and Dream's eyes.

Karl was sad, but still not overly attached to the house that Dream and Sapnap had called home for a long time now. He felt awful for George, who was supposed to have lived out his "happily ever after" here. Instead, it'd be a miracle if they'd ever see this place again. He climbs into the passenger seat shortly after Sapnap wrenches his feet forward, settling down into the driver's.

Dream leaned down to press a gentle kiss onto George's forehead, a hand dropping down to scratch the back of Patches' neck.

Sapnap somehow honked the horn gently, enough to startle them into realizing they were staring for too long, but not enough to be rude. They climbed into the backseat, smushing against each other as all their supplies crowded against the windows.

"Let's get this show on the road." Sapnap grins. 

//

I speedran writing this chapter so have mercy on me and my grammar mistakes :]