behind closed doors

pizzeria

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

☾

"i can't do this," dream says, standing still just outside the doors to the pizzeria and shaking his head.

george and sapnap both stop when he does, looking back at him before looking at each other with equally worried expressions.

"do you mean you can't do it, as in you feel like you physically can't, or as in you don't want to?" sapnap asks gently, stepping over to dream and reaching up to hold his forearm.

dream glances over to george, seeing the brit's sad-looking face and reminding himself how excited george was for this.

"dream," sapnap says, getting the blonde's attention back. "don't look at him, okay? stop feeling guilty and answer honestly. george won't be angry at you if you don't feel like you can go in, i promise."

dream bites down at the skin on his lip, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "i can do it," he assures, nodding, and he thinks he's convincing himself more than them. "i'm just feeling really really anxious about it," he confesses.

"dream, we don't have to go," george tells him. "i can meet karl's friends another time, you don't ever have to if it makes you uncomfortable."

"no, i want to," dream corrects, "i'm just scared."

"we're both going to be here, and the moment you want to go, we will," sapnap promises. "i'll sit next to you, and if you want to go then just pinch my hip and i'll think of an excuse, yeah?"

"okay. okay, yeah, that's good." dream nods, taking a deep breath, "okay, i'm ready."

"are you sure?" george asks.

"no," dream answers honestly, "but let's just go before i change my mind," he says, stepping forward to pull open the pizzeria door.

the trio make their way in, scanning the restaurant to see if anyone they know is already there.

"george!"

george looks over at the familiar voice, smiling brightly when he sees karl sat a few tables down. only karl, alyssa and punz are occupying the table, so thankfully they're not last to get there. though, it would've been nice to arrive before punz, to help dream ease into it.

the brit turns back to his friends, saying, "if you guys are going to leave then i'll catch the hint and come with you."

they both nod, all three of them sharing reassuring smiles before they turn to head over to the table.

karl gets up when they get close enough, pulling george into a hug with a cheerful, "hi!"

george says, "hey," in response, blushing when the fluffy-haired boy presses a kiss onto his cheek.

karl pulls out of the embrace, turning to dream and sapnap and holding his arms out towards them. they smile, and he takes that as an okay to pull the pair into a hug, saying, "it's lovely to properly meet you both."