another revealed truth

8 letters

trigger warnings listed in opening author's note

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george's first lecture back from winter break was frankly awful.

he made the stupid decision to stay up all night catching up with his boyfriend and, despite his morning exhaustion, had attended the lecture regardless. he could feel his tiredness in the drag of his limbs, and the way that he had to read each sentence at least four times over before he could properly understand whatever it was supposed to say, and even then he hardly retained the information.

george honestly wishes he didn't care so much about his course, just so he could skip a few lectures on days like today when it felt necessary – like sapnap, he skips whenever he sees it suitable.

"i'm gonna walk over to that skatepark in town and get high," quackity tells george as they leave their lecture hall, with absolutely no regard for people who could possibly overhear. "you coming?"

george is tempted, honestly. town is only a ten-minute walk from campus, and george would love the chance to meet the people quackity smokes with and have a chance at meeting some new friends, but he decides it is probably a bad idea.

getting high when he's this exhausted will probably just lead to a bad trip, and part of him thinks he would rather just go home and sleep anyway.

"nah, not today," he dismisses, pausing in the hallway because he knows they'll go in different directions. "i have a load of work to catch up on," he lies, hoping that the idea of him being genuinely busy will prevent quackity from trying to convince him – he is easily swayed by peer pressure.

"you sure?" quackity tries anyway, though he asks while taking a step away from the brit, "you look like you need it."

george knows he looks tired, and the external confirmation of that fact doesn't do anything to make him feel better about his current state. "i'm sure."

quackity hardly seems disappointed, probably because george isn't an essential component of his enjoyment, and the pair exchange brief goodbyes before going their separate ways.

george doesn't enjoy walking around campus during lecture hours on his own, because pretty much everyone else seems to be with someone, but he tries to convince himself that it's alright because being alone just makes him look cool and mysterious. that's not true at all, when he's dragging his feet in some grey joggers and one of his boyfriend's big hoodies, but it helps him feel less like an idiot during the short journey from his lecture back to the accommodation, so it's okay.

he lets himself into the building, distantly praising himself for how good he has gotten at remembering his lanyard, and decides to bypass having to go upstairs to his own bed in favour of heading straight over to sapnap's apartment.

he knocks, and a few short moments pass before the door swings open, revealing dream. "oh, hey," he smiles, stepping aside to automatically let the brit into the apartment, "i don't think he's awake."

george steps past, kicking his shoes off with a yawn. he nods through it until he can talk, saying, "i'll get him up."

"there's coffee on the counter if you wanna take him a cup," dream lets him know, heading back into the lounge where george can see he has his laptop and books set out.