"And then Rocco burst in and knocked everything over! We had to shoot the whole section again." Clay laughed, retelling the story of the newest music video they'd recorded. Vincent had said over a hundred times that it was a bad idea to shoot even just part of it at Darryl and Zak's place but no one had listened. George laughed, remembering the video Clay had sent him of the trashed room.

"I'd say that's why cats are better but Mew has found out how to switch off my computer and it's his favourite thing to do at the moment, especially when I'm streaming." George side eyed Mew, who was peacefully asleep on his bed, channeling all the innocence George knew he didn't have.

"Oh yeah! I saw that." Clay laughed and George was slightly taken aback. He'd forgotten Clay watched his and Nick's streams. "He's adorable though." Clay tried to convince fondly. George shook his head with a smile.

"Don't boost his ego." George chastised with a smile. Since Clay left, they had video called practically daily. They had settled into a comfortable routine, attuning to one another's times zones with a practiced ease that came from months of being internet best friends.

"Have you got a stream planned for today?" Clay asked, balancing his phone on the coffee table and leaning to grab his laptop. George hummed and affirmative.

"Nick and I are going to test some code I've been working on. It's supposed to make this big black hole that destroys everything in its path and follows us around, trying to kill us. I don't know how well it'll work so we're just going to run it and patch as we go." George explained and Clay watched him fondly. George had been getting more and more confident and outlandish with his plugins, which is part of the reason that Clay decided downloading minecraft was a good investment.

"Can I join? I promise I'll be good." Clay pleaded attempting puppy eyes at George. George giggled at his boyfriends dumb face.

"I mean, sure, yeah, if you want to. Do you have something to play it on?" Clay fist bumped the air with a happy 'yes' that made George laugh fondly. Clay nodded, booting it up on his laptop with a grin. Eventually, George, Clay and Nick entered a call and joined the server.

"Clay, are we calling you Clay or Dream?" Nick asked, hopping around while George made the last check through the code.

"I... forgot about that. Call me Dream." Clay decided, since he'd set his user as 'Dream' anyways and people would recognise his voice.

"Great, that'll get us more views." Clay and Nick laughed as George rolled his eyes, uttering something about it 'not being about the views'.

The plugin worked well, George only having to make two patches until it was up and working exactly as they had wanted it to. And that's where the fun arose.

"It's so big! Dude, it's huge. Its ginormous. It's the biggest thing I've ever seen!" Dream dramatised, Sapnap and George giggling to themselves dirtily.

"Are you sure?" George commented lowly, causing Sapnap to laugh louder. The connotations flew over Dream's head, however, in his panic to escape.

"I'm telling you!" Dream cried, desperately fighting to get away from the black hole. Both George and Sapnap's chats were flooded with dirty jokes and quips that had each boy giggling hysterically to themselves.

Dream had moved from the sitting room over to the pc, setting his laptop beside it, so that he could keep an eye on George and Sap's streams while he was on. Right now, though, he was too busy running away to look at the chat.

There was a pause after Dream had managed to get away where he registered his words and read the chat. "I just realised what that sounded like." Dream murmured and George and Sapnap couldn't hold in their laughs.

George's donations chimed. "Miss Jackson asks: Dream, how is your first ever minecraft stream?" George read out with a smile, curious himself. He turned to look at where he had Dream's camera up.

"Great. I'm quitting the band. I'm just going to spend my time doing this from now on." Dream decided, deadpan. He glanced over at George's stream to see his laugh. "I feel like a normal person. Just relaxing and playing minecraft with my boyf- boys." Dream sincerely hoped no one picked up on his slip up.

"Minecraft with the boys!" George cheered, giggling, as he made his character dance. He then yelped upon spotting the black hole chasing him.

"What do you mean a 'normal person'? What are you?" Sapnap asked teasingly. Dream chuckled.

"Famous." He stated dramatically and Sapnap scoffed. George was distantly screaming as the hole chased him. "Seriously! Celebrities aren't normal people, they can't do things like normal people do." Dream pushed, trying to get Sapnap to understand.

"Sure," Sapnap answered, sceptical.

"George gets it." Dream grumbled and Sapnap laughed with an 'of course he does'.

"You can be a normal person with us, Dream." George consoled, finally having escaped the black hole. He looked over at Dream's camera to see him smiling fondly.

The stream continued similarly, the majority of the donations were questions for Dream but George and Sapnap certainly didn't mind.

"Sootnoot asks: since he's gone and not in the chat for once, we can gossip. How was your week with Clay?" George read out, giggling. If only they knew. "It was great. I don't get why he hid from me for so long, he's good looking. Don't tell him that though, it'll boost his ego too much." George laughed, sneaking glances at Dream's camera.

"Do I miss him? Of course I miss him, he's my best friend." George answered the question being spammed in chat, faking innocence. Sapnap scoffed and mumbled something about preferring A6d anyways. "Hang on, he forgot one of his hoodies here I'm pretty sure." George commented, disappearing off screen to grab a thick gray hoodie and slipped it on, making sure Dream's smiley pendent was hidden from view. He sat before the stream with a grin and soft pink cheeks.

"Fleep floop says: all the dream not found shippers in the chat are dying." George laughed, praying the flush crawling up his neck wouldn't reach his face. "Dream not found? Is that me and Dream?" He asked, surprised he hadn't heard of the ship before.

"Yeah, What the hell, George? I thought you loved me?" Dream asked and Sapnap gasped dramatically. George giggled nervously, deciding to play along.

"I'm sorry, Dream." He sighed out dramatically. "I thought so too but-" George was cut off by his own shriek. He was being pulled again.

Eventually, the three decided to wind down and cut off the stream, remaining in the call. Nick left relatively quickly, claiming he had work to be doing and logging off with a cheery goodbye.

"That went surprisingly well." George sighed, relaxing properly in his chair and full screening Clay's camera. Clay smiled, doing the same, and hummed.

"I was ready to fight anyone that said anything to you. Or Nick, but mostly you." George laughed, a swell of something warm and fond bubbling in his chest. "I think I only slipped up once but I didn't see anyone say anything about it in chat."

"Minecraft with my boys!" George cheered teasingly, smiling. "It's just the same as I'd assume interviews are, we'll get there." George consoled. As much as he wished they didn't have to hide, he knew it was better that way.

"I wish we didn't have to 'get there'. I wish I could just tell the world and have them all be happy for me." Clay sighed. The upset in his voice was almost palpable.

"I know, I wish we could as well. Maybe, one day, we'll be able to. For now, I'm glad that I have moments like this with you. For now, I'm dating Clay. Maybe, one day, I can date Dream. For now, I'm happy just being with Clay." George reasoned softly. Clay nodded. It hurt but he wasn't ready to risk George like that.

"How do you deal with this all so well? I'm so lucky." Clay commented, resting his elbow on the desk and his chin in his hand. George laughed with a soft blush.

"It's worth it for you. I'm happy to hide if it means I can have you in private." George murmured sentimentally and Clay ached to bundle him in his arms and never let go.

"I really wish I could kiss you right now." Dream sighed, pressing a hand over his chest as if it would relieve the pain. George was taken aback and stuttered in a breath.

"I wish I could kiss you too." George murmured, voice hoarse. "Soon. Soon, they'll let you come visit again." George stated, unsure  whether he was trying to convince himself or Clay.

Clay nodded, sure that if he repeated the words he might begin to believe them. "And then I can hold and kiss you and take you out on cheesy dates. I can love you like normal people do." George nodded along smiling fondly.

"Like Normal People Do"

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And that, my dear hearts, is where we close our curtains.

Do not fret! For those who aren't done with this storyline yet; go to the bathroom, gather some snacks, grab your tissues and find your seats once more because the curtains will open on act two soon. I will update both here and on discord when the first chapter of the sequel drops in a weeks time! (If I find that writings quick and I don't need the whole week to prepare then I may bring the drop date forward 😳)

For one final time this book:
Feedback is welcome and appreciated!!!

Always yours, Dandelion.