Talk Fast || DNF

Chapter 9

It'll be another week before Dream sees George again. Things are winding down after their first champions game as they advance to another round, inching closer to finals as the end of their season and spring break. The locker room is clearing out as Dream changes out, receiving a few scattered congratulations and pats on the back. It was a close win, no parties tonight. Everyone is just exhausted and Dream's ankles are killing him. He just wants to go back to Sapnap's and sleep for another week. Unfortunately, that won't happen because he has practice first thing on Monday morning. At least it gives him two days to relax. Two days won't erase the tension in his shoulders, nor will it erase his frenzied mind, but it's something.

As his teammates leave, he feels a pair of eyes on him. Looking up, George stands in the entrance of the locker room, players leaving around him as his eyes rest on Dream. Beside him, Sapnap claps a hand on his shoulder, looking between the two of them and offering, "I'll see you at home, yeah?"

Dream nods, watching the other approach him slowly. George doesn't speak until everyone leaves the locker room. He gets a strange sense of deja vu, but he has a feeling things will carry out differently here than they have before.

"You told Sapnap," George comments matter-of-factly, his face darkened with realization.

"I'm sorry," Dream whispers, avoiding the other's piercing gaze, "I was freaking out and I didn't know how to talk about it without giving us away and I-I trust Sapnap with my life, he won't tell anyone. It's not an excuse, I just, I just—"

"Dream, Dream," the other interrupts his nervous rambling as he does the unexpected. Instead of yelling or getting mad at him, George just wraps his arms around the blond and holds him close. He freezes for a moment in shock before he lets himself wrap his arms around the man. Gentle fingers tangle in the nape of his neck as the brunet whispers, "It's okay, I'm not mad."

Dream lets a choked laugh out into the space between his face and George's shoulder, "I broke our rule."

"You broke two of our rules actually. The only two," he jokes as the two of them pull away but manage to keep their hands on each other. Their eyes linger for just a moment as they both wait for the other to make the first move. Surprisingly, it's George that caves first. "Move back in, please. I miss you, I miss existing in the same space as you."

His loose smile falters as he takes a step back from George. He doesn't know why the confession throws him off so much, maybe it's because he had done a brilliant job of convincing himself that George wanted nothing to do with him. Maybe it's better off the way things are with the two of them leaving this silly affair in the gutter where they found it and going their separate ways.

"If I move back in... I think we need to stop this. That's the only way I can see us working out is by cutting it off," Dream says with a certain finality. He swallows the lump in his throat as he regrets his words, but simultaneously knows that they are true. As much as he likes George and the things they do, he is shooting himself in the foot if he tries to carry this on as the friends with benefits situation it had morphed into. "Whether it's learning to kiss or just plain hooking up, we need to cut it out. I can't keep... I can't keep doing that to myself. That's the only way I'll move back in."

George hesitates, but after a heavy pause, he nods, "Yeah, yeah, if that's what you want then yeah, anything. I-I am okay with being your friend. I respect your decision."

"If that's what I want," he repeats slowly, "Is that... not what you want, too?"

"Not really, if I'm being honest," the brunet scoffs, running a hand down the back of his neck as he turns away from Dream with his arms crossed. "Um, when you... told me what you did the other day, I got to thinking. I realized I... I had broken our rule, too. It doesn't matter, though, you're right, we're probably better off as friends. Best not to complicate things any further than we already did, right?"