Atlantis - DNF

Ch. 1 - Acceptance

Dream

Laughter flooded into the Discord call, intoxicating everyone there. It was hard not to laugh along. It was beautiful, enticing—the type of laugh that comforted others. Well, that was what he thought anyway. He wondered if anyone else felt it, but when silence fell upon the call and he was left with beating in his heart, he knew that it was only him. He knew that he was hopelessly in love. 

His best friend. 
The person he's known for such a long time. 
The person he fell asleep in calls with and cried to. 
He was George, the person that lit up his world with simple words. 
He was someone he could never have. 

---

"GEORGE! You killed me, again!" The screams from Sapnap echoed through his ears, followed by the same laughter he simply couldn't get enough of.  "GEORGE STOP! DREAM HELP ME!" Dream could practically hear the screams from the other room, but his only response with a simple chuckle. He shook his head in the process, attempting to get the pearls. He knew that getting in the middle of this fiasco would be pointless; it happened each and every time they attempted to record a video together, but he didn't mind. This was his happiness. As insane as they were, these two kept him sane. 

"Dream wouldn't help you anyway, SappyNappy." George replied in a mocking, terrible American voice. "You know that he's a simp for me." Dream immediately smacked Georges' model as it came closer to him, causing Sapnap to laugh and George to feign hurt. 

"This again? I am not a simp for anyone."  The banter continued on for the next few hours and although they really got nowhere in completing their challenge, the trio seemed satisfied with their content and eventually called it a night on recording. Once it was over with, more silence fell upon the call, leaving nothing but the gentle purr of his cat to hear. He glanced down at the small brown cat, then gently rubbed his hand along her head, careful not to disturb her comfort. 

"Dream?" Georges' voice caught him off guard and he snapped his gaze towards his computer, noticing that Sapnap had left the chat. There was no doubt that he was heading to bed for the night. It was nearly 3 in the morning and God knows what it was for George. 

"Hm?" 

"You were pretty quiet tonight. Is everything okay?" He hadn't really noticed much from himself, but he did have to admit that in a lot of instances, he wasn't really joining in on the conversations. He was far more focused on Minecraft than anything else. It was definitely out of character for him, but in reality he had been pretty out of character for awhile now. Ever since a few months ago, that is. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I'm just tired." It was the same response as always. He knew that his friend wasn't buying it, but George never pressed it. He knew that Dream wouldn't give the actual answer even if he begged. 

"All right. I'm going to try and sleep a bit since I have a date later with Alana." The words stung him, piercing his heart until it bled. He held back the jealous comments that bubbled up and instead forced a smile that only he could see. He wanted George happy and she made him happy. 

He was just his friend. 
His best friend. 
Nothing more. 
Nothing less. 



George and Alana

As the call ended, George was left with a defeaning silence that he wished would stop. For a few moments, all he could do was stare at his computer screen with a slight frown on his face. He glanced at the time. '8:00 AM'; his sleeping schedule was all over the place, but this was one of the many days where he hadn't slept at all. Having best friends that lived in a completely different timezone did tend to do that, but he made it work... Sometimes. Nevertheless, the brunet got up from his chair and slowly slipped into his room where his bed was. He attempted to sleep, but he knew that it was futile. 

His mind was whirling with thoughts of Dream—surely something was wrong with him. He had noticed it quite sometime ago. He laughed less, he talked rarely, and he distanced himself a lot from him. It hurt George, but no matter how many times he asked if he was okay, he received the same reply. Dream was stubborn and he despised that about him. He wasn't a fool. He knew that something was wrong with his best friend, but he wouldn't pry. If Dream wanted to tell him, he would. 

Time seemed to fly by while George laid in bed, his eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. He hadn't even noticed he was late until he heard knocking at his door. Immediately he was startled out of his state and jumped to his feet, quickly scampering over to where the sound came from. Standing in his doorway was Alana, half soaked from the rain that poured outside. Instant guilt flooded through his heart as he stared at the girl. She herself didn't seem all that bothered, but instead offered a small, half-hearted smile. 

"I figured you be a bit late." The words weren't an easy thing to take in, but George swallowed and stepped aside to let her in. Alana had been his girlfriend for going on 2 months now and he loved her. She was selfless, kind, and probably one of the most beautiful girls he had ever met. She understood how he was and despite the inconveniences that came with being in a relationship with him, she made do. For that, he appreciated her more than he could ever express. "I made us something to eat so that way you don't have to drag yourself outside when you're so exhausted." 

Carefully she slipped off her jacket and shoes, making sure not too much water got on the floor. George was just standing there and then after a second, he was snapped out of his trance once more. "Let's get you something warm to wear. I am so sorry, Alana—" The small redhead shook her head, signally him to stop. 

"It's okay, George. I get it. It's your job and I'm not going to blame you for forgetting one silly date. We can just have it here!" The cheerfulness that radiated off of the girl warmed his heart and he made quick steps to locate something for her to wear so she was stuck in those clothes. Shortly after leaving, he returned with one of his merch sweaters and a pair of sweats that he hoped fit her. 

"Get changed and I'll sort the food situation out." He murmured, taking the bag that she had brought in from her. Alana grabbed the clothes and with one last look at her boyfriend, exited the room to change. The thing was, Alana loved George with all of her heart, but she knew. Deep down she knew the truth and though it pained her, she was just grateful to have some of his love in return. 

At the end of the day though, she knew that the oblivious man loved someone else.

She saw it in the way his eyes lit up whenever he stream with him. 
She saw it in the way he would tilted his head and his cheeks would flush whenever he spoke to him. 
She saw it in the simple gestures that were meant only for him. 
She knew that his heart would never be hers, but for now she was okay with holding it until it was ready to be handed off to another. Call her foolish, but she didn't care. It wasn't Georges' fault for not seeing it. After all, loving someone as deeply as his love went for him was hard to notice from in the inside. 

Alana hugged the sweater close, smiled sadly into the mirror and turned away. 

She'd love him until he was ready to love him. 

------------------

A/N: Hey there! This is my first attempt at this sort of thing, so please understand my errors are not intended! I don't know what my schedule on posting will be. It'll probably depend on the traction this gets. That said, I do hope you enjoy!