Chapter Text
“That is not what happened, asshole!” Dream groaned, hand sliding down his face as the group of friends surrounding them erupted with laughter. The arm around the shorter boy next to him tightened its grip that much as he glanced down at him. A smile of pearls and summer sun gleamed back up at him with a light he’d become accustomed to infiltrating every part of him with each glance, each kiss, each moment they’d shared, in swirls of dandelion and teal.
“Really? That is the exact way you explained the plan to me!” Sapnap snickered, elbowing the excitable brunet next to him, before taking a slow sip of the soda in his opposite hand.
Shaking his head, Dream huffed a laugh as he was forced to pull his gaze from the angel in his arms, illuminating the room in a simple yet exquisite light of true divination. Karl and Alex had flown out to Florida to finally meet the trio all together, first hugs and laughs shared being long overdue, but nevertheless treasured all the same.
The two had a unique perception of the relationship that had bloomed in front of their eyes, slowly burning, as it’s embers caught onto the clothes of everyone around them, as they both watched it unfold second hand, through screens, and echoey rooms, and manufactured videos for all of the internet to see. Calls and texts between everyone in the group leading to complicated answers and even more confusing open ended questions, leaving the air surrounding them less of hope and more of frustration for how blind their friends could be. Sapnap, for better or for worse, had to watch it unfold live , physically, and in front of his very eyes. He’d argue it was a journey of his own confusion as to why two people who’d known him for years on end would never even think of coming to him, even after every step he’d taken to make sure they knew he’d always be on their side. Although, Dream’s denial was the most frustrating part, of which he loved to bring up at all hours of the day.
“You’d said you wanted it to be perfectly planned , and done without any hitches- you would not believe the number of times this idiot told me I needed to make sure George was out until seven o’clock, on the dot!”
“We get it, I was a perfectionist with this one, but it was kinda a big deal , asshat,” Dream interjected again, eyes rolling as he subconsciously re-gripped his can.
“What do you mean it’s supposed to storm tonight? I- I checked the weather every day for the past two weeks leading up to this!” he frantically called into his phone, already shaky hands and wide eyes only being forced further past their limits. The tight button down felt more constricting, the tie was a snake encircling his throat with the urge and determination to kill, his hands would give out from their-
“I’m practically begging you to calm down, dude. I’ll bring him home in ten minutes for this whole thing to start.”
It felt like it had been so recent, so soon , although, everything felt within reach after he was finally, finally with George. Perhaps it was because George himself was in reach, and what other word to describe him was there aside from ‘everything’?
“Worked out real well for you didn’t it?” Alex chimed in, leaning further into the back of the couch cushions and giving a laugh of his own. Dream sighed, the feeling of rain on his fingertips all over again, with the touch of an icy reality on what he’d begged to be a sunny day.
Sunflowers, sky, clouds, warm tea, chocolate, everything that could possibly represent exactly how George made his insides burst into an otherworldly figure of hope and light, it all was supposed to be here.
They sat in all too tight, all too fancy clothes to be sitting inside of quant bakery, cups of tea and pastries in front of them, passing tangerine grins and caresses with twangs of sherbet and lime at the ends of each curve. The picnic, the walk, it had all been scrapped and thrown out in a last ditch attempt to salvage whatever this was trying to be. But how could a drowsy rainy day ever make up for a literal stroll down memory lane with each and every destination and word meaning something beyond what it appeared?
“This- This isn’t what I-”
“Dream,”
His voice clear as day, Selene’s graces once again raining upon him with glittering appreciation and blessings. If he looked out the window, he’d see her works holding up the navy sky downpouring onto the sidewalk.
“Whatever, all of this is, it’s lovely. Idiot.”
George laughed, and even after all of that time, Dream couldn’t help but helplessly reel .
“The guy almost didn’t, too!” Sapnap exclaimed, once again making contact with Karl before looking back intently at the blond, expecting him to continue, only for George to sit up within the boy’s grip and ask,
“You almost backed out? Dream, I am appalled -”
“Oh my god, it’s not like that , I- I just-”
Dream struggled to find an end to his phrase without giving away how truly and fully hopeless he was about the light next to him.
“I just wanted everything to be perfect , okay? Is that a crime ? Come on, now,” he finished, tilting his head to George and letting himself fall further into dark oak and sweet glucose.
“You worry far too much,” George gave back coolly, his own blithe smile making an appearance amongst his golden glow. The blond knew that much was true, but if the end result was keeping everything he’d ever wanted in a beautiful infatuation to surpass even the seconds they’d be able to spend within each other’s grips, it was something he’d be willing to accept. His flower, his star by his side forevermore; how could he foolishly give up such an opportunity on not being careful enough ?
“I was being impulsive, yeah, but a part of me knew it was, like, the right time. Like it was supposed to happen in the mess that it had. I don’t know how to describe it right.”
“Please, your nice clothes are gonna get ruined like this,” Dream started, louder than usual over the pounding rain smacking onto the concrete beneath them. His blazer was held high above him, desperately trying to get the other underneath it.
“C’mon, you know I don’t mind. Why would I want to miss being in all this!” George added, outstretching his arms and letting his already wet exterior flood even more. After a few more hesitant seconds, the boy turned back to him, and the Earth and all of her beauties halted in place.
Shiny and sleek hair clinging to his forehead, reflecting more than just the water soaking it, eyes blissed out while closed with the fierce, and raw power of a thousand rays of pure solarity behind them, pale skin reflecting crème and grey light like a dagger through Dream’s heart, solidifying his forever place even further into his every being, all of this deity in front of him, right there for the taking, to make his forever , and it hit him that oh, he was desperately and irrevocably infatuated with this boy.
He stood shell shocked, melodies of laughs amounting to songs, and albums, and vinyls of music to the soundtrack of Dream’s future, his own jade eyes and now drenched hair and clothes amounting to nothing to his own merit. He couldn’t care about anything other than the star burning it’s brightest glow all for him to see, holographic edges and a sucrose center.
“Dream?”
“You’re such a sap , it’s endearing,” Karl said, pushing himself further against the pillows as a goofy look tugged at his lips.
“He’s my sap, I’ll have you know,” George butted in, hand hitting the center of the blond’s chest before his smirk from before melted into one of sheer affection. Lavender and lilies overtook Dream’s breath as he unabashedly fed every ounce of meaning he had into their gaze, only ever breaking the intensity as the brunet smiled wider, and let a hand slide to his cheek. Cold metal stunned his warm, flushed skin.
“It was perfect, Dream.”
“Are you-”
George gasped, as the blond sunk to his knee, eyes still just as wide as they had been as he possessively watched the perfection before him.
“I- This- This was supposed to happen differently,” Dream whispered, not daring to break his gaze as a hand dove into the pocket of his pants, “but I just-”
His breath hitched, as cold rain was now meeting warm salt he hadn’t realized had clung to his eyes so soon.
Trembling hands, a heart beating with the intensity of a rose not yet wilting, despite the aggressive fight it had been putting up for so, so long, or a fire that had roared for longer than anyone had known, not letting it’s final embers and sparks die in the face of fear.
Purple petals lined his every move, as he realized George, too, had silver dripping from his deep eyes. Clinks of aluminum, and an iron promise, lined with eucalyptus and cherry-drenched gazes, had amounted to this moment; in the midst of an unprecedented rain storm, and all of the love in the world centered in one place and time.
“I love you, George,”
His voice broke, the brunet’s hands were covering his agape mouth.
“And- and I want to- to keep every promise I’ve made to you. Far beyond forever.”
The black velvet box had, too, been soaked by the storm, yet Dream, with his strong hands trembling in the sight of his star, proceeded to open it nevertheless.
“Can that forever be with you?”
Loud beats of rain aside, the world, his world, went silent, until George moved. A small nod, that grew into a much larger one, and finally a sputtered out “yes” through tears begging to fall over where they belonged sealed their fate of infinity within each other.
Dream couldn’t help glancing at the gleaming gemstone against George’s hand before returning his gaze.
“Only for you,” he whispered back, yet again underneath a thunderstorm and filled with euphoria and the sealed fate of a time transcending love.
Always for you.
The moon looked more than just familiar. The night sky had somehow managed to emulate a memory within both of the pair they had never expected to fully recreate in its purest form.
They’d vowed to each other, promised now and forever to treasure the other with everything that they had, and to keep the unity they had as their most precious possession. Things they’d both individually believed and acted on for years; long, intense years of hardship and total bliss all wrapped into a gift of each other’s presence and spirit.
Cobblestone beneath their feet felt oddly fitting, their hands interlocked for them and their garden’s beauty to see in it’s full essence. Bushes of familiar purples and greys giving a nostalgic aura, even more than what was already present through their beings.
The arch was beautiful, just as they’d remembered it from the hours prior, as they displayed the truest form of love in the form of lifetime promises and goals with for each other, wrapped up in vanilla and buttercream swirls, looping through each letter and coating every paragraph in a sickly sweet representation of purity.
George let go, and ran ahead, staring upwards at the sky’s natural life, rather than the artificial glow by their own making, and Dream couldn’t breathe.
His chest constricted as his person stood against the heavenly light of each and every God he could name, white wool clinging to his arms and back, as his staunch coffee hair lay against the darkness of the night already.
Dream took a few steps forward, the glistening in his eyes that had seemed to be present all day making their way to the forefront of his presence, and let a gentle hand slide against his waist.
“How about a dance?”
Familiar piano chords rang out as the words were said, but neither of their heads could pull out of the piercing gaze they created as George turned around, succumbing to the large hands pulling him closer with each passing second. He hummed.
“Shouldn’t our first dance be in there, with everyone else?” George coyly gave, smirk evident in his words as his world melted to shades of viridian and gold.
Dream smiled, the warmth built in his eyes about to break at any moment.
“I like this more.”
An unspoken, “me too”, hung into the air, as ivory hands made their way to sturdy shoulders covered by chalky fabric. Newfound camellias bloomed in their garden, tended to with each and every movement and moment, vines winding around their legs and blooms pulling them closer.
Dream studied the brown eyes in front of him, growing shiny again as not only their legs grew wobbly in tandem. Wordlessly, George reached for the blond’s hand, bringing it to his eyes, as every feature on supple pale skin softened, gleam against the riverside within his eyes only growing more desperate as seconds ticked by.
Essence of Luna’s grace soared through Dream’s beating heart as he spoke.
“What?”
George paused, thumb running over the shiny silver, cloudy eyes growing heavier as he gave a husk of a laugh.
“I just like looking at it,” he responded, looking up with the same smile Dream had first felt true, inescapable, devotion for. The same smile present during every trial and tribulation, on their first date, under moonlit skies, entangled in fresh sheets, during each sob, each second of euphoric obsession and possession ; it was always there, it was a forever reminder of the beauty and magnitude of the love they had festered together.
“You’re such an idiot,” Dream said, malice off into another dimension of reality, as he couldn’t suppress the heavy tears falling onto his cheeks and pristine suit. George sniffled, pressing his chest flush to the blond’s, amethyst desire infecting their veins, and letting his hands cup the taller’s cheeks.
“Maybe,” he whispered, his own cheeks dusted with roses and morning dew, lips mere centimeters apart, “But you’re my idiot.”
Dream had spent years falling, and after tending to a garden of serenity and hope, he’d not only been caught in the hands of a deity, but had snatched the heart and soul of one, too. He kissed him with everything; with roses and thorns, and amethyst jewels, and dreary mornings, and silver rings, and the cobblestone garden walls he’d built by hand, and jokes with no bite, and halls of memories, and those of which they hadn't had the pleasure of making just yet; Dream kissed who was his, with more than he could ever possibly tangible give in hundreds of lifetimes over.
The moon smiled up at him, as the sun, the form and role he’d been destined to play, smiled back.
Shaky breaths in rose quartz air, as they had finally made it, to where they were written in and by the stars to be.
“Always, George.”
He was in love.