It was late at night when Oliver's phone rang. Two days had passed since his conversation with George at the grocery store, and while he understood the man's hesitation, he didn't think it would take him this long to make up his mind.

Nevertheless, as soon as his phone lit up with the call, Oliver excused himself from where he sat on the sofa with Edward and left the house, standing outside on the porch.

"Georgie," he greeted enthusiastically. "Hey. I was beginning to wonder when you'd call."

George hummed on the other line. "I wasn't sure whether I should even call in the first place."

Oliver frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

A long, tense silence strung out between them before George sighed.

"I've made up my mind. I... don't want to get back together with you, Oliver."

Oliver's heart sank and he had to sit down on the porch steps to regain his bearings. "What- what did I do wrong?" he asked, his voice strained.

"What did you do right, Oliver? You're the one who cheated on me in the first place. I just think it's best for both of us if we...move on." George coughed awkwardly. "You're with Edward now. Does he even know you asked to get back with me?"

Oliver's eyes narrowed. "That's not any of your concern," he said, words cold.

"But it should be his, right? Treat him better, Oliver. I'm sure he's great."

Oliver shook his head. "You don't understand," he protested, tugging in frustration on his hair and gripping the phone tight. "He's not you, Georgie."

"Then maybe you should've treated me better while you had the chance. I'm going to block your number now, Oliver. I really wish the two of you the best." George hesitated before speaking again. "Goodbye."

Oliver felt his heart squeeze painfully as George hung up, and he dropped his hand into his lap, staring in shock at his phone screen.

"Do you want to explain what that was about, or are you just going to let me assume?"

Oliver glanced back behind him. Edward stood in the doorway, leaning against the door with his arms crossed. Oliver swore under his breath.

"Listen, Ed-"

"I really don't feel like listening to your excuses, Oliver," Edward snapped. "Tell me what that was about. Go on."

Oliver got to his feet, an apologetic look on his face. "Ed, I'm really sorry, I just-"

"You want to get back together with George," Ed nodded, tears welling in his eyes. "I get it, don't worry. Go to him, then."

Oliver shook his head, reaching out to grasp Edward's hands. "He turned me down, Ed," he said quietly. "He...told me to treat you better."

Edward pulled his hands away, wiping his tears off his cheeks and sniffling a bit. "You would've left me, just for him," he said disbelievingly. "Without even saying anything. You would've just left. That's fucked up, Oliver."

"Ed, please-"

Edward held a hand up, and Oliver stopped talking.

"Please, just leave. I can't even look at you right now."

Oliver's brows shot up in confusion. "Where am I supposed to go?" he called as Edward walked back inside, watching as he slowly shut the door.

"I'm sure you'll find someone. After all, you can't seem to be faithful to one person to save your life, right?"

Oliver watched with his eyes wide as Edward shut the front door, locking it shut behind him.

The wind picked up a bit, making Oliver shiver as he made his way out onto the sidewalk. There was only one place he could go this time of night.

The bar down the street was always opened, and the bartender recognized him right away.

"Back again, Olly?"

Oliver nodded and took a seat at the counter, slumping with emotional exhaustion. He felt drained. "Nice to see you again, Stephen." He glanced around, noting how empty the place was. "Busy night, huh?"

Stephen laughed as he mixed Oliver's usual drink and placed it in front of him. Oliver downed it in one go.

"Tough night?"

"You could say that. Could you keep them coming?"

"Sure thing, Olly."

By the time the bar had started filling up with late-night drinkers, Oliver was straight plastered and not thinking straight at all.

Which definitely explained why he was standing at George's doorstep, glaring up at the door with a menacing look in his eyes.

George needed to pay.

George had felt weight lift from his rather thin shoulders as he hung up the phone, immediately going into his contacts list to block and delete Oliver's number. Sitting on either side of him on the sofa, Dream and Sapnap both grinned at him and hugged him close.

"We're proud of you, Gogy," Sapnap said happily. "This is going to be great - Dream and I can stay here for a while and you can show us all the British shit you got here, like ferris wheels and tea and those weird guard guys with the really tall hats-"

George laughed from beneath them, their arms completely encompassing his small frame. "Yeah, whatever you say, Sappitus Nappitus," he joked, his eyes seeming a bit brighter than they were before calling Oliver.

He felt better, more free. Like he wasn't being held back anymore.

Dream squeezed him tight and moved a bit closer to whisper in his ear. "I'm proud of you, Georgie."

George turned pink and he shivered, quickly moving away from the group hug to stand and walk into the kitchen. He opened the fridge under the guise of being hungry. "What do you guys want to do for dinner?"

Sapnap slid into the room, grasping at the counters as he nearly fell. "Can we have grilled cheese?" he said excitedly, eyes wide. George chewed his bottom lip and checked the fridge again to see if they had the ingredients they needed.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed. Nick cheered loudly, and Clay laughed as he joined them, leaning against the counter and watching closely as George pulled out everything he needed from the fridge.

It took George only a few minutes to make the toasted sandwiches, much to Sapnap's delight. The three of them crashed on the couch again, their plates og gooey goodness resting in their laps. Dream put on some cheesy action movie and they ate their food while they watched.

CW: Violence and mentions of blood

The doorbell rang in the midst of the three of them laughing at a ridiculous scene, and George set his plate on the coffee table.

"Be right back," he chuckled, walking over to the door and pulling it open.

His eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could a fist flung out at him and clipped him right across the cheek. George yelped and stumbled back, falling onto the floor, his hand flying to his cheek. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"George!"

Oliver towered over George, a furious look in his eyes. The stench of alcohol fell off of him in waves. George trembled and watched as the man walked closer.

Before he could, however, Sapnap flew in out of nowhere and tackled Oliver to the ground, punching him straight in the mouth.

"Take George back to the bedroom," he ordered, looking over at Dream who was already helping George up. "I'll take care of this out here."

George's eyes widened in fear as Oliver flung his arms up, catching his fingers on Sapnap's hair and tugging him violently to the ground. Oliver got to his feet again and set his sights on George, but before he could get too far, Sapnap pulled him down to the ground again.

"Go!" he shouted.

"Come on, Georgie," Dream whispered, sounding nervous. "He'll be fine, I promise. We'll call someone when we're in the room."

George allowed Dream to lead him back to his bedroom, watching distantly as the door was locked and Dream helped him onto the bed. He refocused when Dream sat beside him and pulled him carefully into his arms. It was at this moment when George realized he was shaking violently.

"You're okay, Georgie," Clay whispered, holding him close. He held his phone in his hand, already on the line with the authorities. George blushed red when Clay dropped a kiss into his hair and tightened his hold. Butterflies swarmed in his stomach, and though he knew this was an awful time to reach this sort of revelation, it was here he realized something.

He liked Dream.

It made sense, the way his skin tingled when the other touched him, the way his cheeks turned pink when Dream smiled or laughed.

George jumped a little as Dream hung up the phone and tossed it to the side. "The police are on their way." he said, smiling gently at George, who was still cradled against his chest. George nodded and pressed his head closer, listening to the steady throb of Clay's heart beating. It seemed abnormally quick, but George wasn't a doctor so he didn't comment on it.

They stayed like that for nearly ten minutes, holding each other for comfort, before they heard more voices in the living room, and then Sapnap yelling at them to come out.

He looked a mess, but he was grinning.

"Nick!" George gasped, his eyes being pulled towards the cut on Sapnap's lip and the bruise already blooming on his cheek.

"I'm fine, Gogy," Sapnap laughed, accepting the hug that George gave him. "You should see the other guy."

Dream laughed, and Sapnap raised a brow at him over George's head. Dream shrugged and smiled.

"I'm glad you're okay, Snapmap," he teased. "Always the hero, aren't you?"

Sapnap protested loudly at the nickname and George pulled away from their embrace to laugh, watching from the hall as police handcuffed Oliver and led him out of the apartment. A vase was broken - "I knocked it over his head," Sapnap pointed out proudly - but that was about the extent of the damage.

Oliver looked like a wreck, both his eyes bruised and his lips bloodied. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor as he looked back at George, who flinched back a bit.

He never thought he would stoop this low, to want to actually, physically injure George. This was something he never could've predicted.

The police asked them all a few questions before leaving as well. Oliver would be locked up for assault and breaking and entering. A wave of relief crashed over George at this news - he wouldn't have to deal with him any longer.

Dream insisted on icing Sapnap's cheek with an ice pack before they all decided to head to bed.

George slipped into his sweats silently, deep in thought about a few things.

He hadn't expected any sort of feelings to arise for someone new so soon after being dumped, especially if those feelings were for Dream. He wasn't sure how to feel about it, let alone what to do about it. Was it even appropriate for him to move on so fast?

George shook his head and frowned as he followed Clay into the bed, pulling the covers close around himself. No. He wouldn't say anything, do anything to let Dream know about this interesting development.

Hopefully, before long, these feelings would fade before Dream left to go back to Florida, saving him a whole lot of trouble.

His plan grew more complicated as he woke up early in the morning, laying on his side with Dream's arm thrown around his waist, holding him close to his chest. George's cheeks burned at their proximity, and attempted to move away only for Clay to grunt and pull him closer, moving his legs to fold around George's. George sighed in defeat - not that he tried very hard to move away in the first place - and relaxed into Dream's hold, snuggling a bit closer into his warmth.

Behind him, Dream's eyes opened and he smiled, tightening his hold minutely and resting his chin on top of George's head.

Both of them sighed contentedly and fell back asleep, charmed by the others' embrace.

AN: This one took me a while to write, mostly because I wasn't too sure where I wanted it to go, but I'm happy with the outcome :) Let me know what you guys think!!