exposé

six

A few days after his talk with Sapnap, things were almost back to normal.

George had put a bit of distance in between himself and Dream, but not enough that the taller man or the rest of their friends would get concerned. Dream hadn't made any more flirty remarks or overly affectionate touches since the whole 'glasses incident', as George so lovingly liked to call it, and so their friendship remained at a positively neutral level. If George pretended hard enough, he could almost ignore his small, blossoming crush he had on Dream.

He'd tricked himself into thinking it was simply because Dream had been giving him the attention his touch-starved self craved so badly. The Omega part of him was attached purely because he was a nice-smelling Alpha, and that was all there was to it. They were friends, very good friends- and George could even see himself calling themselves best friends. Though Dream could never replace Quackity in that department.

As much as George denied his crush, he could not deny the fact that it was Dream who'd woken up his inner Omega. He'd never felt it as strongly as he had before he met Dream, much less to the point where it actually started affecting his thoughts and feelings. George was mildly concerned that this could become a potential problem in the future, but quickly calmed himself down. There was no need to be thinking so negatively when everything was going so well.

Right?

Having a group of people to sit with that he genuinely like was an incredible sensation. George had never felt so at peace before, instantly relaxing whenever he caught sight of their familiar table. Their seats always remained the same, with Dream never changing from his place next to George. It made him feel safe, in a way- despite the fact that he was the one sitting on the outer edge of the table instead of Dream.

That fact hadn't changed today as George walked into the cafeteria with a big smile on his face, his previous lesson having gone exceedingly well. He'd gotten higher marks than he'd wanted, but was in such a good mood that he couldn't really find it within himself to care. His grin only grew at the sight of their table, quickly making his way over to it.

The first thing he noticed was the startling wave of nervous energy coming off of Karl. The younger man looked all flushed and twitchy, sitting even closer to Sapnap than normal. Sapnap himself appeared to be on edge, eyes constantly scanning the other tables around them warily. George slowly slid onto the bench next to Dream, making sure to keep his distance as he raised an eyebrow up at the younger man questioningly. Dream only shook his head in return, silently telling George to not concern himself over it.

Well, that was weird.

"Karl," George greeted carefully, "Are you okay?"

Karl hummed in response, dropping his head down onto Sapnap's shoulder. He instantly snuggled up against his neck, Sapnap's arm winding around Karl's waist protectively as he tried to tug the taller man impossibly closer. George would've found the whole interaction cute if he wasn't so confused. Dream was refusing to tell him what was going on, looking very hunched over into himself as Sapnap's eyes kept glancing over at him, and Bad and Q just remained mildly impassive.

The silence at the table was seriously uncomfortable, no one knowing what to say in case they made the already strange situation worse. Everyone but George looked as though they knew what was going on, and that made him feel almost offended. Why would no one tell him specifically? If it was a privacy thing, George could keep it a secret! God only knows how many he had himself.

Suddenly, George's phone started buzzing noisily against the table. He could almost sigh in relief at the welcomed distraction, quickly picking it up before scanning his eyes over the text notification.