"Can I kiss you?"

George looked up, eyes wide. "What?"

Dream looked down at him, his eyes still a little sleepy. He smiled. "Can I kiss you?" he repeated. George let out a breathless laugh.

"Why would you want to do that?" he questioned. The tips of his ears were turning red.

Dream clicked his tongue. "Because I love you," he said simply. "And I want to show you that I'm serious about you, whenever you're ready to have me."

George's entire face turned pink, the blush spreading down to his throat. "You can't just say that," he muttered, slightly embarrassed. He hid his face in Dream's chest, unable to bear looking at him. Clay laughed.

"Why not?" he said, smiling teasingly down at him. "It's true."

George covered his cheeks with his hands, a wide smile on his face. "Whatever, Dream,"

The two of them lay in a short silence for a moment before Dream spoke again.

"So, can I?"

"Can you what?"

"Kiss you."

George sighed and looked up, heart fluttering nervously in his chest. Butterflies swarmed in his stomach.

"Sure."

Dream blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh my god," George muttered, rolling his eyes playfully before he reached up, resting his palm on Dream's cheek and pressing their lips together.

The kiss was short, but even just the slight pressure of Dream's lips moving against George's had the butterflies in his stomach raging about to the point where George had to shuffle about a bit to settle them. Dream pulled away first, his pupils blown and a shit-eating grin on his face.

"I love you, Georgie," he said happily. George smiled and snuggled back into Clay's arms, closing his eyes.

The words bounced around in George's head for a bit, making his heart race. 

Dream loved him.

Sudden displays of affection became more common after that. George rarely initiated them, but allowed Dream to drop kisses onto his cheek, into his hair, or on his forehead. They hadn't kissed, for real, since that one time a few days ago, but George was content with...whatever they had going right now.

Taking the blades out of the bottom drawer had proved to be worthwhile - George hadn't harmed since they were thrown out. He was starting to feel a bit better, with Dream's constant presence and reassurance. He still had problems eating, often self conscious of the way he looked. But other than that, things were good.

Until they weren't.

Edward showed up out of nowhere, standing at George's doorstep. It was early in the morning - Dream was still asleep upstairs. George stood between the door, peering cautiously at the man.

"Edward," he greeted carefully. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."

Edward shoved his hands in the pocket of his coat. "I wasn't planning on being here, either." he said. His tone was cold. George shivered.

"Can I do something for you?" he asked. Edward shook his head.

"I wanted to talk to you about Oliver."

George shook his head quickly. "I haven't talked to him since...Well, I'm sure you know." George's hand reached up to brush against the still healing bruise on his cheek. Edward looked away, looking uncomfortable.

"He got bailed out," Edward said awkwardly. "They called me to come pick him up."

"I assumed so."

The two of them stood in silence for a moment. George couldn't stand it and sighed.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked, opening the door a bit wider. Edward smiled gratefully and stepped inside.

George led him to the living room and while Edward made himself comfortable, George went to the kitchen, returning to his guest with a glass of water. Edward accepted and took a small sip.

"So," he began, setting the water down on the coffee table. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here."

George breathed out a laugh. "Yeah, of course. The last time you were here obviously didn't go very well."

Edward nodded. "Right, well. I wanted to talk to you about Oliver."

"What about him?"

Edward sighed and clasped his hands together. "He's obsessed with you," he said simply. George blinked. "He can't seem to get over you, he's always talking about getting you back, how you were...always meant to be his and not..."

"Not Dream's," George guessed. Edward nodded in confirmation.

"Exactly. I guess I just wanted to...Express my concerns. For your safety."

George frowned. "What do you mean?"

A sigh escaped the other man's lips and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "You know Oliver," he said seriously. "He's very stubborn, doesn't like being told he's wrong. I suppose I'm just concerned that he won't leave you alone."

George smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I appreciate the concern," he expressed, looking kindly at the man. Edward smiled back. "But I'm very certain that I won't be having any problems with Oliver anytime soon. I've got all the locks changed, locks on the windows - I sincerely doubt he'd be able to come inside my apartment again."

Edward looked relieved. "Of course, I should've guessed you had done something already."

Footsteps sounded behind them and both of them looked up as Dream entered the room, his eyes squinted tiredly.

"What's he doing here?" he said, attempting to look as intimidating as he could with his hair sticking up every which way. George smiled gently at him and waved him over. 

"Edward was just explaining to me that Oliver seems to have some attachment issues," he said, sounding eerily calm. "He was concerned for our well-being."

Dream looked suspiciously at Edward, who smiled nervously at him.

"Can he leave so we can cuddle again?"

George turned bright red and Edward laughed loudly, getting to his feet and dusting his hands off on his jeans. 

"I should get going anyways," he chuckled. George stood up and reached out to shake his hand. "Oliver will be wondering where I am soon."

"Stay safe," George said seriously. "I appreciate you coming."

Edward nodded and George walked him out, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Dream was back in the bedroom, and he opened his arms expectantly when George returned. George rolled his eyes.

"Seriously?" he joked, crawling into the bed and allowing Clay to wrap him up in his arms, their legs tangling together. "You're so needy."

Dream hummed and kissed his cheek, snuggling closer. "I was lonely," he mumbled. George laughed, hesitating for a moment before leaning up to kiss Dream lightly. Dream's eyes opened in surprise, but he smiled when he pulled away.

"Let's talk when we wake up," George said, curling his arms around Dream's waist.

"M'kay. Love you, Georgie."

"Goodnight, Clay."

AN: okay, this one was a bit late, but we're reaching the end here! Only a couple more chapters :))