Dream sat silently at his desk, feeling unmotivated and uninspired. George was out on a trip to some family meetup that Dream wasn't invited to, and George wasn't set to return for another month. Dream tapped his desk anxiously. His editing software was sitting open, yet he didn't feel like doing anything, so he had found himself staring at the number in the corner of his monitor, silently counting down the minutes until noon.

Dream shook out of his silent brooding and stood up, stretching, rubbing the knots from his back after sitting, unmoving, for a couple of hours. He began strolling aimlessly around his house, brushing his fingers past the walls and doorways, and stopping in the bedroom just to inhale the scent of George on his hoodie.

Dream missed George. He didn't want to call, as it was the middle of the day, and they usually called at night, but Dream felt extremely lonely, so he pulled out his phone and dialed George's number. It rang and rang, but George didn't pick up, and Dream put his phone back into his pocket, disappointed but reminding himself that that was what should've been expected.

Dream paced around, anxiously reminding himself that George was safe, George was probably busy, and wasn't just ignoring him. Finally, he decided to go cook something to get his mind off things, ignoring the fact that Dream was an absolutely terrible cook.

Dream pulled his phone from his pocket and typed into Google, "easy recipes for lunch", and a couple of results came up. Dream decided on a simple chili recipe which looked good and tasty enough. He scrolled down to the ingredients and began rushing around his kitchen, pulling open his fridge and different cupboards, gathering different vegetables and spices, finally plopping down on a stool, sighing as he scrolled down further.

With his phone in one hand, he took out an untouched pot from the depths of one of the more dusty cupboards. He inspected it for a moment, then rushed over to the sink. It had clearly not been used even once, as the tag was still attached. When George and Dream had bought that pot, it was the day before they were going to move in together, and Dream had had George on a discord call, and they were arguing back and forth about what to get, but that pot was the only thing they both agreed on getting.

Dream chuckled silently to himself. Even so, it's clearly been used many times.

Dream set his phone down on the table, rinsing the dust out of the pot and then haphazardly drying it with a paper towel. He set it on the stove, and began following the recipe.

After an hour, the chili was finally finished, and he wiped his forehead, fairly satisfied with his work. Sure, it definitely didn't look like what was advertised on the page he had taken the recipe from, but considering the fact that Dream hadn't blown up the house or set anything on fire, he was pretty happy with himself. He sat down, ready to serve himself, when his phone rang. He glanced over curiously, then hurriedly accepted the call when he read the caller ID.

"George!" Dream exclaimed. "Aren't you supposed to be with family or some shit?"

George chuckled. "That excited to be rid of me?"

Dream chuckled as well. "Where are you? It's quite quiet; I would've thought relatives of GeorgeNotFound would be just as loud as him."

"Oh, I'm just out grocery shopping for my mother, since she ordered me to get some obscure shit for this meal that she's preparing for later." George laughed at Dream's joke.

Dream raised his eyebrows. "That reminds me, I cooked something for the first time, and I didn't blow up the house or set anything on fire."

George snorted. "Nice one, Dream. Proud of you."

"Thank you, thank you." Dream took a mock bow, even though he knew George wouldn't be able to see. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"There's someone at my door, give me a moment."

"Mm." George's voice seemed to sound like it was about to crack, and Dream gave his phone a questioning look before putting it on mute and opening the door.

"Hello, how can I help- George!?"

"You can help George by kindly letting him inside on this cold day." George stepped inside, laughing openly at Dream's dumbfounded expression.

"But I thought- you said- what?" Dream stuttered, surprised.

"No welcome back? I'm disappointed." George folded his arms in mock sadness, and Dream finally snapped out of his trance, and engulfed George in a warm hug.

"You're back." Dream whispered, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Yep, here in person." George grinned back. "Happy to see me?"

"You have no idea. I missed you so much." Dream hugged George a little tighter before letting go and getting a good look at George.

George's smile softened into a sweeter one. "I missed you, too."

The pair took a moment simply looking at each other, drinking in the image that they had been deprived of for so long before George broke the silence again.

"So how about that chili?"