another revealed truth

second-hand emotions

trigger warnings listed in opening author's note

✼

"can we go cuddle?" sapnap asks, and george glances over to see the ravenette drawing circles against the marble countertop with his pointer finger, looking bored and admittedly tired.

they were out clubbing last night and sapnap had an early lecture, so it makes sense that he's so tired. honestly, george is surprised the other even went to the class, since he'd seriously predicted he would just skip like he usually does.

"yeah, sure. let me finish putting this stuff away though," he says, continuing to dry up the washing he'd just done. there was a backlog of plates and things, presumably from karl's bedroom, and george had insisted that he does the washing up before they do anything else. it's not too bad though, because he's almost done once he's finished drying.

he reaches up to put away a dry plate before picking up another and beginning to wipe it down.

"my step dad messaged me saying he's looking forward to me coming home for christmas," sapnap says, not seeming all that interested in what he's saying. george presumes the ravenette is just talking for the sake of filling the silence. "how awkward is that? like, he's not my dad."

george hums understandingly. he'd learnt a lot from the meaningless little comments that sapnap makes about his family, and it's evident to him that the ravenette is not fond of his step-dad. "are you excited for christmas, though?" he asks, because george feels like they haven't spoken about it enough, especially considering it's one of his favourite holidays.

"yeah, i guess," sapnap answers, shifting to actually look at george. "i'm not excited for us to be apart though. i think i have attachment issues," he jokes.

george casually ignores the fact that he genuinely does have attachment issues, even if sapnap is just kidding. "yeah, that is gonna suck," he agrees. "i'm excited to see my family though, and be in england, even though it'll probably be fucking freezing."

sapnap scoffs out a laugh. "i want to go to england one day, particularly in winter."

"you should come next christmas," george easily suggests, because there isn't a single part of him that doesn't believe they will still be together next year. maybe it's early, but george thinks sapnap is his forever.

"that would be cool," sapnap nods. george offers him a smile before turning to put away the plate and grab the last wet glass to dry off. "you know, i used to hate christmas," sapnap comments after a few long moments of silence. "when my mom died and i was depressed i just like, hated every holiday. it didn't feel right without her, i guess. it's easier now though, because i feel like i can actually look back on memories without just feeling horrible about it all."

george has never heard sapnap mention being depressed before, and he wonders if the ravenette uses the term to describe sadness or if he genuinely had depression. he thinks it would be wrong to question it though, so he doesn't. instead, he puts away the glass and makes his way over to the ravenette to press a firm kiss to his forehead. "you're so strong," he tells his boyfriend.

sapnap looks up at him with a small smirk. "strong enough to carry you to bed?"

"give it a go," george jokes, yelping in surprise when sapnap stands up and pulls george off of the floor. he's holding around the underside of george's thighs, and the brit quickly koalas around the ravenette to help himself from being dropped. "sapnap!"