𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

31

the initial meeting was a little bit awkward, to be honest. the sun was in dream's face and nick videoing it made it seem like the whole thing was for the fans, but everyone agreed they would be upset if they didn't get to see the moment george arrived. they did take my advice, however, and only filmed a few minutes before turning the camera off.

dream took the opportunity to pick george up and swing him around, both of them laughing like maniacs, before george buried his head in dream's shoulder and they embraced for what seemed like hours. had the fans seen that, dnf would have been trending all over again.

i was inside the house watching their adorable little meeting and laying out the cookies when i heard george yell for me. they were just walking in the door, so i ran from the kitchen to the doorway.

george caught me in a tight embrace, laughing as we nearly fell over. "i can't believe this is happening," he said as we broke apart. "like i'm actually here with you guys. it's not a dream."

we all laughed at that. "i can't believe it's not a dream," nick said. "george in america! george literally in our house and not just for a visit."

"this is your last chance to run, george," i warned him. "it's chaotic around here."

george just smiled at that. "i think i'll survive."

dream and nick took george on a tour of the house and helped him bring the suitcases he had into his room while i called alex to see when he was arriving.

"thalia," he said as soon as he answered the phone, "i have bad news."

"did your plane crash on an island and you only have enough phone battery to call one person and you chose to call me to give me access to your bank account because you can trust me to take care of your money?" i teased.

"your imagination continues to amaze me every day," he said with a sigh. "but no, someone had a stroke on the plane and we had to emergency land. i'm stuck in this airport until later tonight or tomorrow, so i definitely won't make it to florida today."

"i hope that person is okay. and don't worry about it, we aren't going anywhere," i said. "just text me or call me when you know what time you'll get in so i can come pick you up from the airport at the right time."

"i'll keep you updated. bye, thalia."

"bye alexander," i sang before hanging up the phone.

i made my way upstairs to see where the boys went. i found them in dream's room, sprawled around, talking. the door was open, but i didn't want to intrude so i knocked to get their attention.

"why on earth did you knock?" dream asked. "normally you just barge in."

"i didn't want to interrupt your guy time," i told them.

"thalia," nick and dream said at the same time. nick smiled at that and let dream continue. "you know you're always welcome. you may be a girl but you've never been excluded from "guy time" and that's not going to change now that george is here. i promise."

george looked uncomfortable at that. "um yeah, this is your house first. don't feel like you have to stay away because of me."