"George." Dream's voice came from right beside him. George turned around.

"Mmm?"

"Would you like to meet my family?"

George blinked. "What?"

"Would you like to meet my family?" Dream repeated.

George shrugged. "Sure. Why, are they coming?"

"Yeah. They said they wanted to come for a visit. And also," Dream looked down at his intertwined fingers. "I haven't told them about... about us."

George shrugged again. "That's okay. We can break the news together."

Dream smiled, but there was a hint of sadness to it. Dream sat down on the chair next to George's, and took George's hand, rubbing his thumb over the back subconsciously.

"Well, some of my family are rather... homophobic. That's why I haven't told them yet." George widened his eyes sympathetically. He pulled Dream into a hug. Dream buried his face in George's shoulder. Not crying, just seeking comfort.

"You'll be there?" Dream mumbled.

"Of course I will." George pulled back and looked Dream in the eye. "I always will." Just like that, a small smile spread over Dream's face.

"Thanks." Dream dropped George's hand and stepped back. "I'll go do some preparations and stuff. Might as well make a good impression." George nodded, and turned back to his work.

-

"They're coming." Dream's eyes were wide and panicked, pupils reduced to slits. George squeezed Dream's hand one last time, then let go, leaving Dream to the door. George stepped back, watching as Dream opened the door. First a tall woman with blonde hair who George assumed was Dream's mum, and a man with dark brown hair who George assumed was Dream's dad.

"Hello Mom, Hello Dad." Dream said, almost too politely. George frowned a little. Why so formal?

"Hello. I'm George. You must be Dre-Clay's mom?" George stepped forward for a hand to shake, mimicking Dream's formality. He turned to the man.

"You must be Clay's dad?" They both nodded.

"Call me Christina." Dream's mother said, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Call me Eric." Dream's father dipped his head, and George smiled politely.

Another woman stepped in, who seemed to be be about the same age as Dream.

"Hi." She smiled warmly. "I'm Amelia." Amelia stepped forward and gave Dream a hug. George stood back awkwardly, insides twisting uncertainly.

This isn't some girl he hasn't told me about, is it?

George stepped forward and greeted Amelia. "Hello, I'm George. I'm Dream's, uh... Clay's friend." George paused awkwardly, and Amelia smiled at George as well.

Dream gave George an odd look, but didn't say anything.

"Come into the kitchen!" Dream smiled at his parents and Amelia, and practically shepherded them to the kitchen, but held George back. Amelia gave George a strange look, but entered the kitchen behind his parents.

"Not yet." Dream muttered through gritted teeth to George. "We need to get them settled in first — let them get to know you."

George nodded, and bit his lip, thinking.

Dream hadn't invited them over to break up with me, right?

George followed Dream into the kitchen and sat down on the far end of the table. Dream's parents sat next to George, and Amelia next to Dream. George had a sinking suspicion that Dream chose those seats on purpose.

"Nice to see you're thriving." Christina smiled, but it seemed almost cold. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Certainly, Mom." Dream smiled again. So much smiling. It seemed so fake.

"How's your — what's it called — YouTube channel doing?" Eric asked politely.

Dream sat up a little straighter. He had a glint in his eye. Most would call that arrogance, but George would say otherwise. Dream was proud. Of himself? Or making his parents proud?

"Great, Dad. I've been number eleven on fastest growing channels for a while now." Eric nodded slowly. He turned his eyes down to his plate.

"Is this lasagna?" Amelia poked the food with her fork. Dream nodded, turning his attention to Amelia. Christina frowned slightly, and Dream noticed, shrinking a little in his chair, the past pride all gone in a heartbeat.

Eric cast a critical eye around the kitchen, and his gaze fell on George.

"You're George, right?" Eric began. George nodded in response.

"Nice to meet you." He smiled, dipping his head to George. "I haven't heard much about you. Tell us."

George gulped. He wasn't expecting this. "Um... well, I'm George. I was born and raised in London, but I've come to America to stay with Dre- Clay. I'm a programmer, I help Clay do a lot of his plugins."

Eric nodded slowly, not having found anything to fault yet.

"I play Minecraft too, I'm in most of Dream's videos. I have my own channel, and I stream as well." George babbled, only to be interrupted by Christina.

"We want to know about you, not your resume, dear."

George blushed. "I'm, well, I have a dog. I had a cat, but he died. His name was Luca." George was silent for a moment, remembering his cat, only one year old when he passed. "I love programming, I suppose. I play a lot of Minecraft. Oh, and I'm colorblind. Red green, to be exact. It's called protan."

Eric and Christina nodded. Thick silence fell over the dining table. Dream began eating, and everyone followed him, although the lasagna, that George knew Dream had spent so long on, felt like paste in his throat. He choked it down, however. After an hour of uncomfortable conversation, Dream invited them into the living room, where he put on a movie and tried to relax the tension a bit. Dream was quite clever, actually managing to extract a laugh from his strict and uptight parents. After a few hours of strained conversation, Dream gave George a look that George understood immediately.

"- and George was like 'ahhhhhhh!' and he literally just ran away from me!" Dream finished, laughing slightly at the memory. He stopped smiling, and George could see him steel himself for the next words he was going to say.

"Anyways, I'm glad you came today. Because there's something I wanted to tell you." Dream took a deep breath. "George and I, are... together." The pair watched Eric and Christina's reactions.

"Clay, this isn't something to joke about." Eric finally said. Amelia was watching, eyes wide and sympathetic.

"Dad, I'm not joking." Dream responded, a panicked tone in his voice.

"Clay. What did we tell you?" Christina added.

George tensed up. Was there something that Dream hadn't told George? Something involving his parents?

"Mom, please." Dream's voice was desperate.

Christina stood up, and so did Eric. "I think it's time we go." Christina spoke, voice cold. "We've extended our stay long enough. Thank you for inviting us."

Dream stood up, eyes wide. "No, mom, please, listen."

"No-" Christina held up a hand to silence Dream. "You've made your decision, and we've made ours." Amelia gave Dream a sympathetic look, but started walking towards the door. Christina and Eric turned their backs to Dream and left. Dream collapsed to his knees. George quickly made his way to Dream and awkwardly put his hand on Dream's shoulder.

"It's okay, Dream." George began awkwardly.

"It's not." Dream sobbed into his hands.

"Look," George forced Dream to look up at him. George kneeled down to better see Dream. "I'll never leave you, okay?" George embraced Dream gently. Dream was shaking, tears streaming down his face, absorbed by the soft fabric of George's shirt.

They stayed like that, hugging gently, swaying slightly back and forth. Slowly, slowly, the sun set. Slowly, slowly, Dream stopped crying. Slowly, slowly, the lighting in the apartment dimmed, until they were hugging each other in the darkness. Finally, George broke away from Dream.

"We have to go to bed." He whispered in Dream's ear. "I can carry you if you like."

Dream nodded like a small child, and clung onto George's neck when being carried into the bedroom. George gently set Dream down on the bed and climbed in next to him. Dream instinctively curled up against George's chest. George hugged Dream closer, hooking his chin over Dream's forehead, and cradling him, as though Dream were a small child.

"I'll always be here." George whispered. Dream's breaths were slowing.

"You can always count on me." George whispered. Dream breathed steadily, warmth radiating from him.

"I love you Dream." George whispered. Dream fell asleep, curled up against George, resolving to think about his parents, Amelia, his video that he was supposed to upload today, tomorrow.

Because tonight was reserved for George.