Dream almost didn't recognise the airport. He could barely remember the last time he'd been there. He found it strange how everyone seemed to have someone whose arms they could run into, and there he was, unsure of what to do when he met George. 

  While they'd patched up, for the most part, Dream was not sure if George was comfortable with hugging him, especially after what had happened. Besides, Dream was scared that his feelings for George, which he'd spent the last couple of days ignoring, would show up once again once he'd embraced the brunette. 

  "Clay?" A man's voice called out to him, dragging him out of his thoughts. 

  He could recognise that voice anywhere. 

  "Nick!" Dream smiled, engulfing his friend in a hug as he returned it.

  Dream was giddy with happiness as he pulled away from Sapnap, taking in the fact that they'd finally met after knowing each other for years and only on the Internet. He noticed just how much better he looked in real life, taller and more fit. He noted how he let his beard grow, giving him a more manly look. 

  "Where's George?" Dream asked, noticing how it was just Sapnap who'd approached him.

  "He had to pee," Sapnap replied simply, tilting his head up to look Dream in the eye. "Dude, you're so tall."

  Dream merely chuckled- he knew he towered over the rest of his friends when they talked about their heights. 

  "Do I hug him, Nick?" Dream asked; Sapnap instantly understood whom Dream was referring to.

  "George told me you both had worked things out and that you're friends. I don't think he'd mind a hug, especially if it is platonic." 

  Sapnap eyed Dream, whose face fell immediately. He had to admit that keeping anything with George strictly platonic was hard.

  Sapnap sighed, "He has a girlfriend, Clay. It would hurt lesser if you tried to move on from him." 

  As much as he hated to admit it, Sapnap was right, and Dream knew that. He just couldn't do it. 

  "I know, Nick."

  "Speak of the devil," Sapnap muttered, turning his head.

  Dream's eyes followed suit, surveying the crowd of people before finally landing on the brunette who was hurrying over to them. It was at that moment, Dream felt his heart race.

  Dream's deepest desire to meet George was finally coming true, and he couldn't contain himself. 

  "GEORGE!" Dream exclaimed, smiling widely and waving over at him. 

  George smiled in return, a huge one, and his face began turning red. He, too, was finally meeting Dream, something he'd wanted for the longest time. 

  The two exchanged a deep hug, George burying his face in Dream's chest as Dream rested his on the shorter male's head. To say fireworks went off in Dream would be an understatement; it felt more like bombs. He never wanted to pull away- he wanted to stay like this forever. It felt so damn right.

  "Ahem, why didn't I get such a special hug? You've known me longer," an annoyed Sapnap asked, making the duo pull away from each other. 

  "Cause he likes me more," George teased as Sapnap rolled his eyes. 

  Oh, how right he was, Dream thought. 

  "George is so unbearable; he keeps competing over everything."

  "Shut up; you act like a man child!"

  Dream just laughed as he watched his two best friends go at each other. He knew he was going to have a blast with them. 

  "You two must be tired," Dream looked at his friends, who tried to stifle their yawns. "Let's go to my place, and you can rest up before we plan what we're gonna do." 

  The trio made their way to Dream's car, parked at a distance. 

  "Did you know George can't drive?" Sapnap asked suddenly. "He picked me up from the airport in an Uber." 

  Dream's jaw dropped in a comical shock. He recalled George mentioning this, but he passed it off as a joke. He turned to the British boy whose face was flushed as he flipped Sapnap off. 

  "Really?" Dream asked, trying to hold his laughter back as George nodded. 

  "Well, I'm your personal chauffeur, so don't worry. I'll even teach you how to drive." 

  Dream watched George's eyes grow big as he nodded cheerfully. God, he thought to himself, how am I meant to get over him?

  "Shotgun!" Sapnap shouted, rushing over to the front of the car. 

  His friends laughed and teased him for acting like a child. He flipped them off in response. So, George sat at the back, and Dream got in the car before heading to his place. 

  "I'll take you on the more scenic route if that's okay." Dream mentioned, turning to both his friends, who nodded in agreement. 

  The trio chatted in the car, Dream mostly listening to his friends talk about their time in the UK and their petty fights. Sapnap said George had a messy sleep schedule while George whined that Sapnap was a messy person who was hard to live with. He joked along with them, and at that moment, it felt like they'd known each other their whole lives. 

  Eventually, the car fell silent as Sapnap dozed off, and George stared out of the window, taking in Florida's sights and sounds, how the afternoon sun enchanted Florida like nothing he'd seen before. Dream glanced at his rear-view mirror, admiring just how perfect George's side profile was and how beautiful he looked, staring out the window with a certain elegance. 

  "How's Mia?" He asked suddenly. 

  Dream glanced up at the mirror once again to catch George's puzzled reaction by the abrupt enquiry about his girlfriend, his cheeks gradually flushing as he rolled his eyes and turned to look out the window, his charismatic smile returning. 

  "Why the sudden interest, Dream?" 

  "I've always been interested when it came to you," Dream whispered, audible only to his ears. 

  "Pardon?" George asked, lifting in his seat and directing his attention to Dream, whose eyes flicked back onto the road ahead. 

  "Nothing, I was merely curious," he lied. "You don't have to tell me."

  "I just thought it'd be weird talking about my girlfriend to you."

  "Weird?" Dream was confused- why did George find it weird? Were they not as close friends as he'd thought?

  "You know, because, we, uh," Dream's eyes returned to the mirror, catching a glimpse of George staring up at him with a knowing look. 

  "What do you mean?" Dream decided to play dumb.

  "Oh, come on, you're seriously going to make me say it?" George asked, chuckling nervously. 

  "I don't know what you're talking about, George." Dream shrugged, pretending to be concentrated on the road. 

  Lies, he knew exactly what George was talking about. He just wanted George to admit it.

  "Dream," George said simply.

  Dream felt George's eyes burn into the back of his head, but he ignored it. He was desperate to hear George say it. He needed to hear it.

  "What?"

  George sighed in defeat. 

  "You know, because we had something for each other," George reminded him, as if it were obvious. 

  Dream's heart fluttered at those words. He'd admitted it again. 

  George had admitted to having feelings for Dream, again. 

  "Oh, so that's what you meant," Dream replied, his tone mocking and his lips turning upward into a playful grin. 

  "You're such an idiot," George exhaled sharply, shaking his head disapprovingly and returning to his prior action of staring out the window. 

  This cracked Dream up as he roared with laughter. George joined him as well on hearing his unique wheezes. 

  As tense as the moment was just a couple of seconds ago, they'd managed to lighten the mood, going back to cracking jokes and sharing bits and pieces of their lives. 

  Neither of them realised just how refreshing it was to the other to hear each other's laughter and voice up close as opposed to through their headsets. 

  Not long after, Dream pulled up into the driveway of his house.

  "We should just leave Nick in the car," Dream joked as he got out of the car while Sapnap remained asleep. 

  "More fun for us," George joked, heading over to the rear of the car to get his suitcases.

  It was a light-hearted statement that George probably did not realise had an alternate meaning to, but, oddly, Dream felt a warm glow rise to his face, and his cheeks flushed. 

  He'd wanted to ask what kind of 'fun' George was referring to, but, right at that moment, Sapnap got out of the car. 

  "There's no way you're leaving me in there," he groaned, rubbing his eyes and stretching his hands before going over to George to get his suitcase too. 

  "So, before we go in, uh, my house can be a little messy," Dream hesitated as he looked back and forth between his two friends. "I'm not a messy person; my house just gets dirty really easily."

  "Dude, we don't care; I just want to go to a room and sleep," Sapnap expressed. 

  "I've had to deal with two timezones; leave me alone," he countered, rolling his eyes when his friends laughed at him. 

  "Okay, okay, quit whining, you big baby," Dream chuckled as he turned around to open the door to his place when he froze suddenly. 

  "What now? Are you gonna tell us that this isn't actually your house?" Sapnap grumbled, causing George to giggle. 

  How could he have forgotten?

  "There's another issue," Dream began. "There are only two bedrooms in my house." 

  He watched George and Sapnap turn to face each other, not exchanging a word. He noticed a distinct look of discomfort on George's face as he realised that one of them would have to sleep elsewhere or, with Dream. 

  "I call dibs on the guest room!" Sapnap called, cheekily grinning as his eyes darted from Dream to George. 

  There was no denying the tension that hung heavily in the air and the annoyance George felt toward Sapnap for his prior statement. Still, he waited for Dream to suggest an alternative. 

  "I could sleep on the couch if you want my bed for tonight. You must be tired," Dream suggested after moments passed in awkward silence.

  "No, you don't have to do that," George interjected. "I could look for a hotel-"

  "Or you could share a room with him," Sapnap burst, referring to Dream, his lips curling up in a smirk. 

  Dream chuckled, brushing off the sudden urge to second Sapnap's suggestion as he faced George, who cringed at his best friend. 

  I like this idea, he thought to himself.

  "It would be weird-" Dream started, but Sapnap cut him off.

  "It's only weird if you make it weird. Besides, I know you want to."

  At this, both Dream and George's faces flushed as they cursed Sapnap for even putting forth such an unconventional thought. How could he have suggested this when he was fully aware of their fallout due to their irrational feelings for one another? 

  Dream wondered if this was Sapnap's way of insinuating something. Was there something George had told him on their way here? 

  He knew that as unlikely and as uncanny as it was, there was a slight possibility that George hadn't gotten over his feelings for Dream. 

  He knew for a fact that he hadn't gotten over his feelings for George. That dream he had about George only brought those feelings back, stronger than ever. 

  Since that dream, he'd promised himself that he would not let those feelings return, weaken him and drive George away for the second time. He swore he would never think of that dream, but there he was, piecing back torn memories of that dream all over a light-hearted statement jokingly made by Sapnap.

  "How about we sort it out inside?" Dream suggested, dragging his subconscious back to reality and away from the thoughts he feared. 

  Unlocking the door and stepping in, he allowed his two best friends to enter his house, the same house within which, the walls echoed with Dream's roaring laughter from spending hours on end on calls with his best friends. It seemed so bizarre that the people he'd known because of and only on the Internet were now standing in his house, where they would be staying for the next couple of weeks. 

  "Actually, the couch doesn't seem too bad," Sapnap said suddenly once Dream had shown them around his house. 

  "Really?" He chuckled at the surprised reactions of his friends. 

  "Yeah, I can leave my stuff up in the guest room and sleep down here at night."

  He reassured George, who felt guilty that Sapnap had the sudden change of heart to let him have the guest room instead, that he was totally fine with it and did not mind. On the other hand, Dream knew Sapnap well enough to know that Sapnap did not do this out of the goodness of his heart but rather had an ulterior motive. 

  "I'll try to look for a smaller bed that can fit into the other room so you two can share it," Dream added finally, easing George's tension and making himself feel less guilty for not telling the two beforehand about his housing issue. 

  "Well, if that's that, then I'm off to bed. Wake me up for dinner," Sapnap announced, promptly walking off toward the guest room earning giggles from his two friends. 

  "Yeah, I think I'll take a nap too," George mentioned, stifling a yawn. 

  Dream nodded and watched as George walked into the guest room as well. As he turned away from the room George had just walked into, his eyes fell on the door of his room, just a few feet away from the room outside of in which he stood, the same room George would be sleeping in, and he immediately understood Sapnap's reason for wanting to crash on the couch. 

  "That cheeky bitch," Dream muttered under his breath as he shook his head slightly at his friend, a smirk creeping onto his face subconsciously.