Forever

Chapter 13

There was only about an hour left before Philza's team was set to arrive. Dream was sitting at the table in the training room with George, Sapnap, Sam, and Tommy. The rest of the team was busy preparing; either getting surveillance ready, or gathering weapons for the job.

But Dream was focused solely on George, who had barely said a word all morning.

Although he had told Dream that he still wanted to help with the job, he seemed distant and distracted now. His expression had remained neutral and blank for most of the day, and Dream couldn't seem to get a read on exactly how he was feeling. And the fact that they would inevitably need to be around Wilbur for a good part of the day was enough to make Dream feel uneasy.

"I'm really sorry, George," Sam muttered from across the table. They had just finished telling him about Philza's connection to George, and Sam looked apologetic because he had been the one to push George to see him in the first place, "I never would've suggested it if I had known."

George nodded once, and then quietly muttered back, "it's okay, Sam."

Dream looked over at him, but George kept his eyes focused down on the table, fingers trailing over a groove in the wood as Sam asked, "so he changed his name and he's just been hiding out here?"

He still sounded shocked, and Dream looked over the table in a silent plea for him to stop asking questions.

"Yeah, apparently," George answered, "I think his father was called Philza, so that's probably why I recognized the name. And he said he still had some connections in England. So he just reestablished himself over here since everyone thought he was dead."

A silence settled over them, and George finally lifted his eyes to glance around the table at them. Sapnap leaned forward, worried eyes quickly flickering over George's face as he stated, "we're done talking about Philza. Let's just focus on the job."

"I agree," Dream responded with a nod and a relieved sigh.

George's expression remained neutral, and he leaned into Dream's space and slung an arm over his shoulder as he asked, "what kind of job is it, anyway?"

Sapnap opened his mouth to answer the question, but a knock at the door behind him drew his attention over. He called out a quick "come in," and the door swung open to reveal none other than Wilbur.

Dream could feel the way George immediately tensed, and his arm fell away from Dream's shoulder as he drew back into his own space. Sapnap looked over at Dream, and then both of them turned their attention over to George, who only met Dream's gaze briefly as he muttered, "I'm fine, Dream."

He looked far from being fine, but Dream didn't push it. Instead, he directed his attention over to Tommy next, who was rushing across the room and throwing his arms around Wilbur in greeting. It had been over a year since the two of them had been in the same room, and Dream knew that Wilbur had treated Tommy and Tubbo like little brothers when they had all been working for Technoblade. It was only natural for Tommy to react this way despite the circumstances, but Dream knew it probably didn't sit well with George.

Wilbur hugged Tommy back and smiled down at him, but as he pulled away, his smile faded quickly. His bottom lip was still slightly swollen, and the partially healed cut was still clearly visible. Dream even noticed a small crack in one of the lenses of his glasses, and he couldn't help but smile because he thought Wilbur had deserved exactly what he had gotten. If it had been up to him, he would have let George hit him a few more times, but he knew Sapnap wouldn't have allowed that to happen.

Wilbur trailed into the room cautiously, and a few more people filed in behind him. Dream had never seen any of them before, so he assumed this was the team they would be working with. He let his eyes trail slowly over the group as Wilbur ran through introductions.