George was the one to plan their second date.

He had the idea the day after their date and found himself researching the area during his job. Clay didn't come by the whole week due to business meetings and photo shoots, though he said he was going to be free on Saturday- Good.

Niki promised she'd keep Will and Tommy away from the house so that George could be at peace (He had thanked her tremendously.)

Tubbo said he would be hanging out with a friend of his that day, so he was busy aswell. Perfect, it was so perfect. No interruptions, nothing, just him and Clay without any interruptions from siblings.

He had gotten so excited about it he had started falling asleep early just so it would happen quicker. Tommy joked around with him, saying he was so smitten but George only chose to ignore him.

On Friday, he realised maybe Tommy was right. Maybe he was being a little too smitten.

The world decided it wouldn't let him have what he wished- because it had given all of its hope to Will.

It happened so suddenly. One moment the world was quiet; Tommy was scrolling on his phone and George was quietly reading a book. But the next moment, the door had burst open and Wilbur walked through, holding a flier in his hand, yelling out their names.

He sat in the middle of the two and showed them the flier in his hands- A band audition. "'Says they need a lead singer, and this guy's gonna go to it." He pointed to himself, grinning.

George congratulated him and Tommy just sat there, humming. Wilbur put his hands on his hips, staring at him, "What the hell? Where's all your energy gone?"

"He was waisted on a very long stream." Tommy rubbed his eyes, yawning.

"Aw, little icky Tommy's sleepy." Tommy bristled at George's tone and snapped foul words towards him. "Fuck off."

"We have to put witty ittie tom-tom to bed," Wilbur got into it and George laughed at him. "C'mon, Tom."

"Fuck you, no way!" He bristled and tried to escape Wilbur's arms but Wilbur had grabbed him. He had slapped his arms and kicked and almost screamed but Wilbur let him go, and they all sat there laughing and smiling.

"Auditions are tomorrow, gotta go practice. See you lot around, good luck on your date tomorrow, G." George smiled at him and nodded his understanding before Wilbur left for his room.

"Good luck, Will."

-

The world really did hate him.

The next day, George had awoken early. He had gotten ready, brushed his teeth and ruffled his hair, dressed himself in comfortable clothes and slipped his backpack over his shoulders.

He was so ready to go, but when he had made it into the kitchen, he found Tubbo waiting for him. George didn't think anything wrong of it, just bid his friend a wonderful morning and made a quick breakfast for himself.

Niki had left him a small case of brownies with a sticky note on them, 'for George :)'. He had taken it and put it in between the food he had already packed, putting the case in his backpack.

"Why're you up this early, Tubs?"

"...I needed to talk to you."

"Yeah?"

"-Will's going to his practice and Mick's out of town today."

George furrowed his brows, looking up at Tubbo. "Niki said she would be here today."

"Change of plans. I thought she told you?"

"What the- No, she didn't. I guess you too just have to keep yourselves entertained."

Tubbo opened his mouth to speak but shook his head last minute. George looked down at his food and opened his mouth to take his first bite. "Where are you too going anyways?"

"Some abandoned house in the countryside."

"Isn't that too far away?"

"Not particularly. It's just a few hours away."

"I forgot how much you liked abandoned places."

"Oh Gogs, why can't you take us with you?!" George almost spat out his food at the sound of Tommy's voice. He ran over towards him, wearing his vans and club Sunday shirt with a worried expression plaguing his face.

Tubbo groaned under his breath as Tommy tried to explain himself, pleading- "Tommy, forget it, it's fine. We'll just hang with Will."

"There's no way I'm bringing you too to my date- What happened to agreeing to leaving me alone?"

"Oh c'mon, we're going to that abandoned house? Fuck man, we haven't been there in forever, it would be so much fun-"

"There's no way in hell I'm going to bring you with me."

He ended up bringing Tommy with him.

He was pissed off. But Tommy and Tubbo had promised him he'd be out of his way and he'd let them go on their date without any interruptions.

George wasn't even sure why he agreed when Tommy had thrown his arms in the air and told Tubbo to grab his bag, to which he admitted he had packed the day before.

They had walked to the bus stop where he had found Clay waiting for them, a guitar case over his shoulders. He had put in his AirPods to listen to music but when he had caught sight of George, he had opened his arms in a hug to which he uncomfortably accepted.

Tommy made gagging sounds behind them and George let go of him, pointing a finger at him. "You said you wouldn't make a single noise."

"No, I promised I wouldn't annoy you."

"Same thing." George deadpanned and sat next to Dream, gripping onto his trousers. "Sorry, but they wanted to come so much."

Clay greeted them and turned back to George, sliding a hand over his shoulder. "It's okay." He placed a kiss on his temple. "They won't annoy us, don't worry."

George looked to see Tubbo distracting Tommy with a card trick, where Tommy lost his shit when Tubbo had guessed his card. "Well- Maybe they might be a distraction."

"You can tell me twice."

Clay began to talk to George about whatever had come to mind and then, sooner than later, the bus had arrived. They all walked on, paid for their tickets, and sat at the very back like the cool kids they were.

The bus was almost empty because of the time. It was too early for anyone with a right mind to get on a bus to an abandoned house of all places.

Clay and George sat one seat before Tommy and Tubbo, whom of which started discussing and debating about bitches and minecraft and undertale and created an irritable headache in George's mind.

But Clay's words softened him up and he placed his head on his shoulder, listening to him as he started pointing out things from the road, calling the UK weird every chance he could.

"Your forgetting your country is even weirder."

"Says you."

"Says you."

Clay rolled his eyes, a smile gracing his lips. "We're cool-"

"-Your government sucks-"

"Oh, boris." He sang and George covered his hands with his mouth, "Stop, you're gonna get the rest of us in trouble!"

More and more people began to pile up, to the point where the bus was full and people had to stand. George turned around to see Tommy's head on Tubbo's shoulder.

They were both out cold.

George breathed in a smile and turned back to Dream, whom of which was fiddling with his AirPods. He handed one to George to which he took and placed it within his ear. The rest of the drive was them listing to Mccaffery and the smiths, then they went onto Hamilton and other similar soundtracks.

Clay fell asleep with an arm around his shoulder and head pressed to the window, but George sat awake, snuggled within his embrace. The farther they went, the less people were on the bus, and soon they were surrounded by rocky roads and greenery all around.

The bus driver stopped all of a sudden and called to George, his voice crooked and strong; "There'a no road after here. You sure you four wanna go 'ere?"

"Yes." George stood up and nudged Dream, before turning around to hiss Tubbo's name. He woke up eventually, as did Tommy, and in a matter of seconds, they were all yawning and walking to the bus stop.

George was the last. "Will you come by here again, sir?"

"You might have to go to the next bus stop, I'll most likely drive 'round there. Have a good day trip, son." George smiled at him and hopped off the bus.

"Gogy, where the fuck are we?" Tommy complained as the bus drove away. "It looks like it's gonna rain." George looked up to see clouds forming around the sun, and he physically cringed.

"It's England." Tubbo pitched in. "The clouds like to trick us. Where are we going anyways?"

They followed George through the grass and roads, cracking jokes and telling stories. Mid way through, Tubbo pulled out his ukulele and began to strum absentmindedly as Dream and Tommy debating on numbers and views and streams.

"Tubs, play something good," Tommy strung an arm over his friend's shoulder and poked at his guitar, grinning at him before he turned back to Dream who had lost his will to argue at the mention of music.

"Play one of 'is songs." Tommy laughed and Tubbo shook his head, grinning, focusing his attention on his ukulele.

"You know how to play?" Tubbo nodded at Clay's question, "I've known for years. Will taught me a while back."

"Well, what do you know?"

"I'm kind of a folk guitarist, or Atleast that's what Will calls himself." Tubbo shrugged. "Just play something that annoys Tommy."

"Oi, sod off, dickhead." Tommy poked at Tubbo's cheeks. "Give me a good tune-"

"-Almost heaven." Tommy's head snapped to Tubbo's the moment he began to sing. Dream started clapping as the beat continued. "West Virginia-"

"Oh fuck no-"

"Blue ridge mountains, Shanadoa river." Dream clapped along and Tommy fumed as he stared at Tubbo, grinning wickedly. George found himself chuckling at the whole ordeal himself. "Life is old there-"

"-Older than your mum."

"Toms that doesn't even make sense." George pitched in for the first time and Tommy drew his finger like a sharp blade and pointed it at his friend, seething, "Shut the fuck up."

"Hey, don't speak to George like that." Dream placed both his hands on Tommy's shoulders and Tommy only looked up, as Tubbo went on with the song. "Or what, bitch? You gonna cry abou' it-?"

Needless to say, Tommy was fucked.

He cowered under his powerful gaze before Tubbo's singing enchanted a meaning within them that led them to continue on singing. Sooner or later, they ended up infront of an abandoned house.

"So this is the place we spent 3 fuckin' hours walking too? Shit looks like a natural dump." Tommy swore and Tubbo stepped forward, placing his hand on the rusted metal door. He pushed it slightly and the door opened, letting him see into the abyss behind the door.

"Toby, don't go in there." George stepped forward and placed his hand on his shoulder, peering inside. There wasn't much of anything in there- Just an old living room.

They heard a scream from behind them and turned around just in time to see Tommy dashing in the air. "Toms!" George gasped and Tubbo grinned. He turned his head back and saw that Dream had gone mission.

When he turned his head back around, Tommy was on Dream's back, lifting a cassette tape of a high shelf, reading what it said before passing it down to Tubbo.

George rolled his eyes, smiling. Children.

"Whoever lived here left VHS tapes." Dream pulled Tommy back up so he wouldn't slip. "Isn't it interesting that in some place, some time, somebody lived here?"

"Holy shit, there's a sword! Dream, go 'round there!"

Clay found himself smiling up at the blond before he went to the wall opposite the cassette tapes. Tommy dragged his finger down the sword and stopped at the blade, a gasp leaving his lips as a smile grew on his face.

"Technoblade would've loved that."

"Technoblade?" George turned his head to stare at Tommy as he turned to grab at his pocket, pulling out his phone to snap a picture of the sword.

"The bartender that let Will use his bar for his first show." Tubbo informed, only to be interrupted by Tommy. "You mean, only the greatest man ever."

"Technoblade, huh? I've heard that name before." Clay pitched in and Tommy replied. "That's cause he has a YouTube channel."

"The minecraft guy, right?"

"Yep."

"Holy shit, I remember! I use to love the guy."

"I'm friends with the blade."

"Does he even know you?"

"Does. Showed up on one of my streams with Big Q." Dream pulled Tommy from slipping, shoving his phone in his pocket.

"Really now?"

Tubbo pulled up his phone and pointed it to where Tommy and Dream were standing. George watched him press the recording button, "Yep. Hee-Ya, horsy! To the upstairs we go!"

"Ey-I, captain!"

Dream bolted up the stairs, Tommy gripping onto his back, hearing the laughter of George and Tubbo and finding it rather amusing. "Send me that, okay?"

"Haha- Will do!"

The rest of the house was nothing to gawk at. The bathrooms smelled like salad dressings and unwashed furniture, the hallways creaked and the walls were peely- The rooms, however, were total jackpots.

Tommy found a diary hidden between two boxes in the dresser. He flipped it open and wouldn't let anyone read it, before he put it in his bag and zipped it up.

"Tommy, your stealing a strangers diary." George deadpanned and Tommy just shrugged, turning to the boxes. "They left it here. What did they expect?" He tried to rip off the tape that kept the flaps of the boxes in tact.

"Look. To my darling Jennifer, I must be off now. Don't look for me, for I do not want to be found. If you or anyone else ever find this house you may open this. If you are a stranger, please enjoy the lives of my children. Signing off...The name is crossed out." Dream read, pressing his fingers all over the gloomy text.

"Where'd you find this house, George?" Tubbo asked uncertainly. They would never know his answer for Tommy had interrupted them once again, "Opened it- holy shit."

He pulled out a warren leather book, to which he dusted it off and peered at the cover. "Some old fairytale."

"Pass that back." Dream spoke and caught it when Tommy had thrown it to him. George looked at the cover in his hands and almost laughed when he saw Clay flipping through it, stopping at a page with a fox.

He slipped the book in his backpack. "Your practically robbing this poor guy."

"Well- He left his house, didn't he?"

"You're literally Tommy."

"Shut up."

By the end of their search, everyone was hungry and silly, cheeks staining from the amount of times they laughed or smiled in the span of an hour.

George led them behind the house, to a lovely overgrown garden. They sat down and placed everything they had on a white and blue patched picnic basket.

They all munched on cool brownies Niki had made in the morning and marmalade sandwiches, throw in Tubbo's apples Tommy's cookies he stole from Niki when she wasn't looking at him.

Tommy had brought a yearbook he had found in the box and now he flipped through it, nudging Tubbo whenever he found something and then he would read it out to the rest of them.

When they were all became plump and well fed, Tommy stood up exasperated when he realised there was a swing in the trees apposite them. He pulled Tubbo along with him and they both ran to the old swing like children of the countryside.

George watched them go, his mind leaving him for a short while before Clay brought him back to reality with the strumming of his guitar.

George leaned into his side, staring at the strings of his guitar before plucking one absent mindedly. Clay chuckled and looked towards him smiling, "Hi."

George's lips curved to a smile, "Hello."

"D'you know how to play?"

"Nah. Couldn't learn."

"Why not?"

"Don't know." He watched as Clay began to strum a tune to himself. A rumble grew in his throat and so he let himself hum. George listened, watched as his (what was he to call the guy, anyways? Friend? Not really..) play a song that he didn't even know.

The humming devolved into whistling and then Clay was communicating in a language that only he knew, only he could speak, only he could hear.

And George only sat there, leaning into his side, trying to find warmth within the silk of his sweater. Clay grimaced, wrapped an arm around the boy and cuddled him in warmth, wrapped a blanket of security around him to shield him from all the misplaced dangers in the world.

George tried to push him away but the attempt was sheepish, resulting in Clay forgetting about his guitar somewhere on the grass. He wrapped his arms around George's slim waist and stared down at him, grinning. "Hey."

"Hi."

He placed a kiss on his temple. "Hey, what if Toms and Tubbo come around?" Clay gave him another peck, this time nearing his eye.

"Don't care."

"I do."

Clay looked up at him before he dropped his head to his shoulder, gripping onto him tighter than before. "I'm so happy I met you."

The words caught George off guard, made him blush a bright red and wait until Dream dared to utter something else. Though he didn't. He only hid his face in the crook of George's neck and breathed on his skin.

George opened his mouth though he quickly closed it, sighing. He couldn't utter the words he wanted to. Instead, he found his hands crawling back to Clay's hair, dragging his fingers through his overgrown, fluffy locks.

Clay found himself laughing and George looked down to stare at him, before he tipped them both to the grass below them. They were in the grass, Clay laughing his lungs out till they coughed up in his throat and he couldn't breath. George thought he was in crack or something before he too joined in, within a fit of smiles and hugs.

Clay placed another kiss on his forehead, "You're so adorable, you know that?" George's face grew redder and he tried to turn away from Clay's embrace, only to have him whine out his name.

"You don't like it when I compliment you?" George blew a raspberry and shook his head, "No, it's not that- It's just...weird."

"Oh." They grew silent for a moment before Clay looked up at him, smiling. "D'you mind it though? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

George turned to look at him. "No, you're not making me uncomfortable, it's just- I don't know. I'm not uncomfortable with it, but.."

"No, I get it." George looked up at him. "But I'm still gonna hug you lots."

"Of-course you are."