Forever

Chapter 6

Within the next two days, a good portion of the team had boarded flights and joined Dream, George and Sapnap in England. Quackity, Sam and Karl were there within a day, and Niki, Tommy, and Tubbo followed the day after. They had even managed to convince their newest team member, Punz, to join them, and he traveled over with Niki to help keep Tommy and Tubbo under control.

With everyone here, Dream felt a bit more at ease. Sapnap had even organized a makeshift space for them to work and train, and things were starting to feel a bit more familiar. The only thing missing now was George, who still had no interest in joining them. Each day, Dream would ask about him, and each day, Sapnap would simply shrug and give him a new excuse. But at least with everyone here, Dream would be able to distract himself a bit more.

With only three days to get themselves organized before they were expected to help Philza's team with a job they had absolutely no information about, the pressure was growing heavy.

A few of them had gathered in the makeshift training space around a small, wooden table. Dream, Sapnap, Karl, Sam, and Quackity were all there; everyone else was getting some much needed rest from the trip over.

Seated and ready to discuss the matter at hand, Sam started with the most obvious question, "where's George?"

Dream glanced at Sapnap, who looked back at him with raised eyebrows. With a sigh, Dream muttered, "he's mad at me. It's complicated, but he doesn't want to be around me right now."

He didn't like how the words sounded coming from his mouth, but he knew he couldn't keep making up excuses for why George was mysteriously absent from everything. The easiest explanation was the truth, even if he wasn't willing to explain the entire situation.

Sam weighed the words, one eyebrow raising as he slowly stated, "that's a problem, he's kind of a crucial piece to this puzzle. I don't love the idea of helping Philza's team when we know absolutely nothing about the guy."

Dream nodded, but he wasn't sure what more he could say. George wasn't even answering his calls or texts, and short of driving over to the hotel and dragging him back here, he was powerless to do anything about it.

"We've learned a lot from dealing with Techno," Sam continued, "and we can't just walk into this blind. And if he has a connection with Techno, then this whole thing could potentially be bad news for us."

"I know that," Dream muttered in a frustrated tone, "I don't know what you're expecting me to do, Sam. He won't talk to me. I can try calling him if you want, but he'll ignore me."

Sam blew out a frustrated sigh, but Karl leaned forward and tried, "what if Sapnap and I go talk to him? He's more likely to listen to us."

He threw an apologetic glance in Dream's direction, but Dream knew he was right. Even if he hated to admit it, they were far more likely to get anywhere with George than he was right now.

"Okay," Sam answered, "if he doesn't want to come here, he doesn't have to. Just try and see if he can remember anything about why he recognizes Philza's name. Maybe it's something from his childhood, or some connection to his father or Techno. Anything will help, we just need a starting point."

Dream watched both Sapnap and Karl nod in confirmation, and then they were rising from the table and linking hands as they walked towards the door together. It made Dream's chest tighten because of how much he missed George. It should be him walking out that door to see him, but instead, he kept himself seated, leaning back in his chair with a frustrated sigh.

-

In the car, Sapnap felt himself smiling, reaching for Karl's hand with his other hand gripping the steering wheel. He brought Karl's hand to his lips, kissing it softly as he muttered, "I'm happy you're here. I really missed you."