Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

2:34 am

Dre: dude i cant find my goddamn headphones

sap: its fucking 230 in the goddam am if you fucking text me again im changing schools b4 we even start

Dream sighed and turned off his phone. He wasn't even supposed to be awake right now, but he just couldn't sleep. He was starting at a new school tomorrow and was much too excited to spend his precious hours not having major anxieties about it.

What if no one at the new school liked him? What if he got in trouble? What if he met his soulmate? That would be interesting.

Shut the fuck up and let me sleep, he told his brain.

No, fuck you, his brain responded. (pjo vibes anyone?)

He didn't feel like getting up and looking for his headphones again, and he didn't want to wake anybody up, but Dream seriously needed some stimulation for his beehive of a brain. So he started to whisper-sing one of his favorite songs,

Just know it breaks my heart
When soulmates die ten years apart
And lonely love is left to sit and wait
Soulmates come by surprise
Bell curve it seems extremes arise
And those who beat the odds will call it fate

Before he knew it, Dream's eyelids grew heavy and his brain finally quieted, and he peacefully drifted off to sleep.

~Morning~

6:22 am

sap: wake up fucker i dont have a car and ur driving me

Dre: ik ill be there in like 15

Dream was already up and out of bed, mostly ready, and eating cereal. He was so not ready to be social because he woke up feeling like shit.

"Honey, I found your earpods on the couch, don't you need them?" Dream's mother walked into the room and tossed them in his direction.

"Hey, yeah, thanks. I was wondering where they went," He replied, catching them. Then he got up to put his now empty bowl away and grabbed his things.

"If you're going to pick Nick up, you have to leave now," She reminded him while tapping the counter to emphasize her point.

"Okay, bye then Mom! And tell Dris I said bye too!" He called, walking out the door. He closed it just late enough to hear a 'Shut up!' coming from upstairs. Dream laughed as he walked out to his car.

Sapnap lived about two minutes away, so Dream was there fast.

"Wassup dickhead," He joked when Sapnap opened the door.

"Fuck you, did you find your holy headphones?" He responded, and flicked Dreams head. They joked and made fun of each other all the way to South Milestone Peak High.

Chapter Text

George checked his phone again, not knowing what he was looking for. It's not like anyone would be texting me anyway. He was slightly surprised to find an email from the school. He opened it to find-

Hello Mr. Davidson,

I would love it if you wouldn't mind showing a new student around the school today!

His name is Clay Moore, and his schedule is matched with yours. Please meet him at the front doors today at 8:00.

Thanks!

-Mr. Minecraft

Principal Philza.

Welp. It's not like George has anything better to do, right Ao3 comment section?

George sighed and put his phone away. It was about 7:50 now, and it's not any colder in the cafeteria than in the front entrance. He started to make his way over there.

When he reached the front, someone else was already there, scrolling through their phone. George recognized him as a fellow senior, Karl Whateverhislastnameis.

"Hey," George spoke up.

The boy jumped a little before recognizing George.

"Oh, hey, uh, George, right?" Karl said, remembering George from some class.

"Yeah, you're Karl, right?" The brown-haired boy nodded. "What are you doing here?" George asked.

"I'm waiting for someone named Nick Lite. You?" Karl rebounded the question.

"I'm waiting for some Clay More or however you pronounce that name," George responded. Karl laughed.

"Yeah, some people have strange last names. I'm glad mine is a simple 'Jacobs'," Karl joked. "Hey, maybe the two are coming together," Karl suddenly thought.

"Maybe," George agreed. Just then, he noticed two boys walking up to the front. One was tall and lean, with blond hair and tanned skin. The other was a bit shorter, with raven hair and broader shoulders. 

"Uh, hi," The taller one said to George, who, even though he was literally watching them, didn't realize they had come inside. "Are you the people we are supposed to stick by?" The blond asked. George noticed the gloves each wore.

"Yes!" Karl spoke up first. "I'm showing around whichever one of you is named Nick."

"Oh, I actually go by Sapnap," The raven said. "You must be Karl then?"

"Yep!" Karl chirped, holding out his hand. "Karl Jacobs, at your service."

Sapnap laughed. "Sapnap Lite, happy to take it," He shook Karl's hand. Sapnap's gloves were flame orange and black.

"So you must be Clay then?" George asked the taller man.

"Yep, but you can call me Dream," He said, also extending his hand. His gloves were bright green and black, almost matching Sapnaps.

"George Davidson," George responded, shaking Dream's hand. "May I ask how you pronounce your last name?"

Dream smiled. "Of course. It's pronounced m-ow-er," He explained. "Dream Moore."

"Oooh," George clicked, getting a quick laugh from the blond. Now that he could see Dream up close, George couldn't deny how handsome he was.  I wonder if he has a soulmate... George shook his head a little to get rid of the thought.

"Yeah, anyway, what's our first class?" Dream asked, reminding George where he was. 

"Right! Um, we have science with Mx. Rosevera first," George pointed to the hallway on the right. "That way."

"And we have math with Mr. Gliden first," Karl told Sapnap, grabbing his hoodie sleeve and dragging him down the hall.

"Woah- okay, well, bye Dream!" Sapnap yelled, being pulled along by Karl.

"Bye Sap!" Dream called back.

The two boys made it to class before the bell rang, so George took a seat and gestured to the one next to him.

"You should probably sit next to me for the first few days of class until you get to know some people," He said.

Dream gave him a questioning look. "Aren't you going to introduce me to some people?" He spoke with a laugh in his tone.

George scoffed. "I don't know any of these people."

"You go to school with them? And you're in the same class?"

"So?"

"You don't know any of them?"

"I don't care enough to pay attention to them," George rolled his eyes. He wasn't really a people person, and no one had ever really approached him and tried to make conversation. George wouldn't brush them off if they did, it was just that they didn't.

He looked up to see pity in Dream's eyes. "Don't give me that, it's not like I ignore people, it's just that I really couldn't care less."

"Still, you have no friends?" Dream said, still giving George pity.

"Just sit down," The burnet groaned. Dream sat.

Chapter Text

Holy damn

This George kid is hot

like what 

Dream couldn't help but stare at George the entire time Mx. Whatsthery'reface was talking. George was wearing a powder blue hoodie that swallowed him, dark blue jeans, and (and Dream only noticed this now) had his ears pierced. His earings were two little strawberries. The bright red was a nice contrast to his skin, which was really pale, like the boy didn't get enough sunlight. Or it could just be that its winter. Why did Dream's mom make him wear gloves?

"Mr. More-ay, are you paying attention?" The teacher called on him. There it goes, the first mispronunciation of his name.

"Uh, yeah. Also, my name is pronounced m-ow-er, not more-ay" Dream responded, trying to sound polite but also correcting the teacher.

"Moo-er?"

"Okay."

"Alright, thanks for correcting me, now..." The teacher went back to their boring lesson. 

Huh, I think I forgot my meds today.

Ah, there my brain goes, buzzing like a beehive.

I should build a car.

I wonder how many bees could fit in a Ford pickup.

Pickups are very useful cars.

I wonder if George is single.

Did I feed Patches, or was mom going to?

I wonder how Drista is adapting to her new school.

What if my soulmate lives on the other side of the world?

Hey, just like in my song.

Dreams mind finally slowed and decided to focus on his song, which cured the headache that was beginning to form. 

Just know it breaks my heart
When love's ten thousand miles apart
And lonely souls are never face to face
Smooth talk and butterflies
Let's be Pandora's hidden prize
And if we beat the odds, we'll call it fate

Dream was off in his own world, and nothing could pull him back

Seasons just come then they go away
Reasons to run building every day
I keep searching for the words to say
Our best bet is just to runaway
If things don't turn out that's okay

Except something was pulling him back. Somewhere, way far off in the distance, somewhere back in reality, something was trying to pull him back.

Dream

Where? 

Dream!

He was having trouble focusing.

"CLAY!" George almost yelled, hitting Dream's desk.

Dream stared blankly at him, then blinked.

"Sorry, what?" Dream was worried George had said something he had missed.

"Class is over, now we have to go to the next one," George rolled his eyes. Dream sighed, half relieved he didn't miss anything important, half upset he had another class to go to.

"Oh, re-lax, this is high school, we don't get recess here pal," George scolded.

"I know that douchebag," Dream shot back, gathering his things.

Oh, how the morning droned on. Dream's brain would not shut up.

Math:

What if humans had pores to absorb nutrients, like plants or something.

English:

Why do I fucking care why there's a fucking comma in the middle of the sentence, its fucking called grammar.

History:

How many cotton balls can I fit in my mouth until the dryness becomes painful?

 Until, finally, it was lunch.

"We should sit with Sapnap," Dream suggested, pointing over to the table where he saw his best friend.

"Yeah, okay," George sounded really tired. "Let's go."

"What about grabbing, yknow, lunch?" Dream asked when George walked past the line to head to the table.

"Oh, I don't really eat lunch, I do homework or sleep or something," George vaguely shrugged.

"Um, no?" Dream said, bringing his hands up to his face before pointing them out towards George. "You need to eat? You- You know that, right?" George shrugged, like it wasn't his problem.

"It's not like I have money anyway," George stared at Dream, his shoulders still up to his ears and his hands in his pocket. It was hellishly cute.

"Then let me buy it for you, I have money," Dream offered. George responded with a shrug, but followed Dream to the line and ordered his food. Then the pair headed off to where Sapnap was sitting.

Chapter Text

"Well, hello there," Sapnap said when the pair sat down.

"General Kenobi," Dream said as he sat down. George huffed out a quiet laugh while Sapnap and Dream started chatting about their first day. George couldn't help but stare at Dream while the blond talked, and he couldn't figure out why. After a few minutes, Karl decided to join them, bringing with him a friend, who he introduced as Quackity. 

"Hola!" Quackity said when he sat.

"Bueno hola, ¿hablas español con fluidez?"George sat in awe at how quickly Dream had switched to Spanish. 

"¡Sí! Soy de México. Lo tomo usted es fluido, así? ¿dónde aprendiste?" Quackity asked.

"Soy de Florida, y mi abuela es mexicana. hablamos español en casa a veces, sobre todo mientras ella está allí," Dream responded.

"¡Pulcro!" Quackity commented. The pair continued to talk in Spanish, while George decided to get to know the other two.

"So, Sapnap, where are you two from?" George asks. 

"We're from Florida, we moved here because of tight money. Turns out Milestone Peak, California is cheaper than Miami," He said.

"You crossed the entire fucking US just because of tight money? California is ridiculously expensive, how cheap is your house?" Karl exclaims. He's right though. Milestone Peak might be cheap for CA, but that doesn't mean inexpensive.

"You underestimate the prices of housing in the Miami area. Here, it's like, 200, 300K for a house or whatever. We're from the Downtown Miami area, where it's like 1-point-something million. This place is pretty decent," Sapnap explained. One point something million? Are these rich kids?  George wondered. His family wasn't super poor or anything, but if Dream was from a million-dollar house, he's gotta have some money to his name. If he was rich, why would he want to be friends with George, a short, skinny kid from the UK whose family had gotten a lucky burst with his mom's job moving them here and letting them get a house pre-paid? That's the only reason they weren't struggling after all.

"Why did both your families move?" George asked, the question suddenly occurring to him. 

"Well, I'll be honest with you, it was really just my family that had it hard. The Moore's moved with us so we would have some friends in this new town," Sap said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. So Dream was the rich one?

The trio was interrupted by Quackity tapping Karl's shoulder.

"Hey, Karlos," Sapnap sniggered at the nickname, "What's the English equivalent of 'alma gemela'? It's not coming to me," Karl stared at Quackity blankly.

"You know, when you touch someone and it zaps? What are those people called? This bitch won't tell me." Quackity jerked his chin towards Dream, who was giggling like a maniac.

"Soulmates?" George suggested. Suddenly someone hit him.

"Nono, don't t-tell him," Dream was now full-on wheezing, and no one knew why.

"You fucker! You don't get to tell me that I'll never have a soulmate when your mommy makes you wear gloves!" Quackity yelled, smacking Dreams head.

"Why couldn't you remember a word from your native language?" Dream was basically reeling at this point.

"Shut up! I'm just more used to speaking English! I've lived here for a while," Quackity defended. Karl was kinda giggling at this point, as was Sapnap. Dreams laugh was infectious, George couldn't help but laugh along. Even Quackity joined in, and then it was just a group of five boys going historical. The rest of lunch was spent becoming best friends.

Maybe lunch won't be so boring anymore. George thought, looking around at his new friends. 

Chapter Text

Newsflash: just because lunch isn't boring doesn't mean the rest of the day isn't.

Dream was almost 110% done with this new school by the time the bell rang. He was just about ready to snatch Sapnap out of whatever class he was in when the teacher did the unthinkable.

"Hold on, the bell doesn't dismiss you, I do. I still have to assign homework!" Mr. Ferenzio said. he was some grumpy old man in his late 70s or something. The whole class collectively groaned. George dropped his head down on his desk so hard it made a THUNK and Dream wheezed. George looked up rubbing his forehead and silently held his middle finger up. Dream only laughed harder.

They still got homework though.

Dream dropped Sapnap off at his house and drove home from there. When he got inside his Mother was already busy on her computer, and his sister was sitting at the hightop fussing over papers. Dream took off his gloves and prepared to ask his mom a question he had been wondering about.

"Mom, what's it like meeting your soulmate?" His mother looked up from her work.

"What?"

"I-It's nothing I-I was just-" Dream started. His mother's eyes got worried, her hand ghosted over her bicep, where Dream knew her mark was.

"Honey, you wore your gloves to school today, right? And you didn't take them off?" 

"Yes, Mom, I was just wondering, it's not like I got one," Dream said, the words leaving his mouth dusted in bitterness. His mother looked relieved.

"Good. You're still too young. You're only 16!" She spoke with a soft scolding to her voice.

"I'm a week from 17, mom. But why do I have to wait? What if my soulmate was at my last school, and I'll never meet them again? What if we move again and I miss them? What happens then?" Dream asked in a rush. He wasn't one to cry, but the thought of never meeting his soulmate made him anxious. 

"You will honey. You won't miss them, that's the thing with soulmates. They will always find you," His mother reassured. Dream just mumbled an 'okay' before heading towards the stairs.

After about two hours and one of ten pages of homework done, Dream's father calls him down for dinner.

"So, how was school?" His dad asks.

"Oh, it was great. I met these two girls named Tristan and Melania, and they showed me how everything works. Melania had the most beautiful yellow dress on, it contrasted her skin really well. And the teachers were all really nice too. Also, Tristian told me that our homeroom teacher, Ms. Tara, and the math teacher are totally dating. It was a lot of fun," Drista talked about her day like a four-year-old who just learned how to form complete sentences.

"Nice. How about you Clay? I heard you got paired up with someone to show you around?"

"Yeah, George. He was the one who showed me around while Sapnap got this dude Karl. Karl also introduced us to this other guy named Quackity, who speaks fluent Spanish."

"Oh? Where'd he learn that from, school?" His father interrupted.

"No, he's from Mexico. The classes were all boring today. The science teacher, Mx. Rosvera, gave us no homework though, so they're my favorite," Dream continued. The family kept talking until Dream's mom decided that the two children needed to get back to their homework.

2-hour skip

sap: do u have any idea how tf we're supposed to do this math 

dre: no

sap: have u even started it???

dre: oh its done. I just have no fucking ida what I did

dre: *idea

sap: ??? tf

sap: did you even try

dre: eh

sap: ur useless

Chapter Text

George had less excitement at his house that evening. His mother was still at work, so he had the house all to himself. There's a reason George keeps to himself at school, he just isn't used to a lot of people around. He never had any siblings, his father died when he was six, and the family cat went with George's dad. His mum worked later hours some nights too, so that didn't help.

George got a text from his mum, speak of the devil.

mum: Hey, are you home?

george: ya, what time do you get home?

mum: six-ish. Do you want to eat before then or will you wait until I get home?

george: I can wait

mum: okay then

Sighing, George opened his notebooks and got to his homework. After about 2 hours he heard a door slam.

"I'm home! I brought Chinese!" His mother called.

"Coming!" George yelled back, finishing the last of his homework and rushing downstairs.

"Hey honey, how was school?" His mum asked setting the table. He quickly rushed to help.

"It went great. The principal asked me to show this new kid around." George responded, sitting to eat.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. His name is Dream, and he had this other kid who moved with him..." George told her the story of how his day went, but because you readers have already lived through it once, I see no reason to force it on you again here.

George's mother smirked at how often George mentioned Dream and the way he spoke of him.

"Oo~ does someone have a crush?" His mum giggled as George yelled in protest.

"No, how would you know mum!" George spat with no real malice to his words. He could feel his face burning, which his mum pointed out.

"Your face says otherwise. Gogs, you know I have no problem with your sexuality, you don't have to worry about that." His mum quickly reassured, afraid she had gone too far with the teasing.

"I know, it's okay mum," George responded he can never express how grateful he is to have a mother who accepts him. They continued to chat for the rest of dinner, then chose to watch a movie before bed. It's a happy night.