Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I wake up with a pounding head and a dry throat, but none of that matters right now, because despite my crippling hangover the memories of last night still haunt me in the form of George. George my straight best friend who now has a warm arm draped protectively around me, the same arm on which has the hand that bears his engagement ring to Lilly, his fiance

I quickly glance around the room, it's a mess, last night was a mess, but as my eyes notice smaller details I can't help but think back to it, to George on top of me kissing my bare chest, how kind and patient he was despite the fact we were both plastered, how right it felt to be laying in his arms,

I reach my arm up and feel the scratches I left on his back, he'll get married with those scratches still there, and the memories of him melting me with his lips and hands will haunt him as he kisses his new bride. but maybe he won't, perhaps he'll stay with me, I'll get to kiss his soft lips every day and sleep in his arms every night.

but as I watch his eyes flutter open they're filled with nothing but regret, he quickly scrambles out of bed, "shit shit shit," he whispers,

"George," I say reaching a hand out to try to calm him down, but he looks back at me with nothing but complete disgust,

"no, don't please," he says stepping away from me and sinking to the floor with his head him his hands, "fuck fuck fuck," he shouts pulling his own hair and digging his nails into his scalp, "on my fucking stag night,"

"I won't tell her, I won't tell a soul George I promise," I say, but as he looks back at me with such loathing I feel my heart completely shatter,

"I- I have to go," he pulls on his shirt and trousers hastily,

"I'm sorry," I whisper just as he's leaving,

"don't- just please just forget about this, I- I'm straight." he says firmly,

"I know," I sigh just as he's walking away, and when I hear the front door of my house close I feel tears sting my eyes, I lay back down and press my head into my pillow until I no longer feel the need to sob,

I get out of bed my headache getting even stronger, George's tie is still on the floor along with my clothes, I look at my bedside table, it has the ring and my best man speech because of course he picked his best friend who's in love with him to tell everyone how he and his wife are perfect for each other, I pad to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water bringing the speech with me to read over,

every part of me wants to rip the speech up, to tell George I can't stand there and let him marry a woman who makes him miserable, but I know it's not as simple as that, he's straight, and even if he somehow loves me back I could never support us on my teachers' salary, Lilly is his only financial support ever since he lost his job so now their plan is for him to be a stay at home dad, even though she makes him miserable in a way he has no choice but to stay and anyway he's straight and my opinion on his future wife means nothing even if I love him with my whole heart.

I sit down on the couch and take out my phone, I know how much George is probably panicking right now so I pull up his contact and text him, "I meant what I said, I'm not gonna out you,"

it only takes him a few seconds to respond, "nothing to out, I'm straight, last night was just frustration." that stings, that really fucking stings,

"George, I'm not stupid I know about the problems with you and Lilly," I say,

"dream, I know you like me but I'm straight, so just back off," I feel my heart break, even more, I put down my phone and lean back against the couch,

"fuck," I sigh, "what the fuck have I done,"

Chapter Text

I'm sitting in a taxi headed for the rehearsal dinner, my hands are shaking and my sweat is soaking through the white shirt under my blazer, I look down at the piece of paper in my hands telling everyone how perfect Lilly and George are for each other, how George is an amazing friend and will make a great husband despite the fact that less than forty-eight hours ago he was balls deep in his best friend, how the most intimate he has been with someone in months was with me, not his fiancee,

the uber pulls to a halt, I pay the driver then get out, my legs are shaking, George's uber is pulling up to the curb I wait for him to see if Lilly is with him, but she isn't, he's alone, and we're both here half an hour early, "shit," I whisper under my breath, he had asked me to get here early to set make sure everything is set up so it's not like I'm being weird but that was before our night together, my heartbeat starts to quicken, he sees me, and he looks equally as nervous, "I can go if yo-"

"no, it's fine," he cuts me off, we walk up the steps to the hotel to which the hall we rented for this dinner belongs, "Lilly will be here any second with her bridesmaids, she was staying at her mom's yesterday," he says, more dead silence passes before I take my turn to speak,

"we're gonna just ignore it then?" I say,

"yes," he says coldly," I'm straight and I'm getting married. To Lilly, the woman I love, and we're just friends," it sounds like more of a soliloquy like he's trying to convince himself that this is what's happening, but I know I shouldn't stress him out even more right now so I don't object,

"Okay, sorry for bringing it up," I say, we now stand in the hall he's rented, the catering is setting up and all the tables are set up simply yet beautifully, "wow, it's amazing," I gasp, it really is,

"yeah," he says, walking away from me to the seat he's gonna sit in, he lays down his phone and a few pieces of paper, I take my speech and sit down in the sweet to the left of him,

"do you want to hear it?" I ask,

"hear what?" he says turning to look at me,

"my speech, for you," I say, lacing away to avoid direct eye contact, "and her," I add quickly,

"Oh, yeah if you want," he says,

"Okay," I smile pulling out my piece of wrinkled paper, but before words can leave my mouth the door opens and Lilly walks through in a classy black slipdress followed by her two minions (or bridesmaids) Emma and bailey, I put the piece of paper in my pocket and sit back down,

suddenly I hear a shrieking voice from behind me, "what the fuck are you sitting down for," it's Emma her Californian accent so strong I wouldn't be surprised if her farts had vocal fry,

"I don't know," I sigh, "because there's no one here, and absolutely nothing to do," I turn to face her, she's chewing gum and wearing a skin-tight pink dress,

she begins to shriek at me again but I turn around to my speech and tune her out, but before my eyes meet the page they fall upon George, he's standing with an arm around Lilly's waist looking awkward as Lilly orders one of her other henchmen around, George's hair is slightly tossed and he has his blazer folded over his arm, he looks so handsome,

I recall the night of his bachelor party, how sweet and gentle he was, how safe I had felt when his hands rested on my hips or when he paced soft kisses on my back, and how I knew nothing could hurt me when I was laying on his bare chest, I'll have those memories forever, of him and I, even if he completely shuns me after the wedding I can remember the night when he had nothing on his body but me when he spent the entire night giving me every ounce of his focus, I will have that forever.

I get up and go to the bathroom without saying a word, I look in the mirror at myself, my face is red and sweat from even thinking of that night, I lean down and splash cold water on my face, I then bring my wet hands to my hair and mess with it a bit, I can here more and more people funnel in as I waste more and more time I sigh then walk back out into the room, as I'm walking I bump into someone, but not just someone, of course, it's not just fucking anybody, it's George, as soon as I see it's him my face heats up, "um ah sorry," I say,

"uh um yeah sorry," he quickly walks away with his head hung.

I try not to think of George for the rest of the night, and I mostly succeed until my speech, every time I saw his name on that piece of paper, or even make a reference to him I think of our drunken night, of me underneath his slim yet toned frame, of him with his arms wrapped around me as I slept peacefully for the first time in months, I make it through the speech though, I then sit back down and glance at George, he looks board out of his mind as Emma begins to talk,

I begin to zone out again and I don't even try to stop my mind from wondering to George, I wonder if he can remember our night in the same vivid way I can, I wonder if he can remember every one of my facial expressions, every whine and groan I let out, or maybe he was too drunk, maybe to him it's all just one blur, maybe he's choosing to forget about it, that hurts too much to think about, the fact he could despise me so much for that night his brain won't even bother remembering it,

I realize the entire room has fallen silent, then a round of applause breaks out, Emma must be done with her speech after the clapping dies down people slowly begin to leave, I get up and head to the door but a hand grabs me and pulls me back, "where are you going?" my heart plummets, it's Lilly,

"home?" I suggest,

"Okay you need to take George with you though," my heart falls even deeper into the pit of my stomach,

"um, why?" I ask praying there's a way I don't have to do this,

"the wedding day is in two days and they're not allowed to see each other," she says and I don't even bother arguing,

"Okay, tell him I'll be in the uber," I say walking away, I don't know how I'm gonna be able to spend an entire night with George but I can hardly tell bailey "sorry I can't because two days ago we had the most earth-shattering orgasmic sex but he's straight and engaged so now everything feels incredibly awkward, and spending a night with him will make everything one thousand times worse,"

my thoughts are cut off by the door to the car opening, it's George, he looks just as displeased as me to be here, we drive to my house in silence, as we walk up the driveway of my house he stumbles slightly and I instantly catch him from falling, but let my hand linger on his shoulder for just long enough for the sexual tension between to rise massively,

"Sorry," I mumble taking a few steps away from him,

"It's fine," he says, we walk up to the house in silence,

"you want a drink?" I ask as I unlock the door,

"Sure," he says sounding dull as we walk toward the kitchen, I take down a bottle of whiskey and two glasses pouring us a shot each, we both down quickly and I go to pour us another, this feels right, drinking with my best friend, it feels familiar, nothing about our night, nothing about Lilly or the wedding, just whiskey and George, we take another four shots before he drunkenly stumbles toward me and pulls me in by my tie, "can I tell you a secret," his words are slurred and he's pulling on my tie so hard I fear I may choke,

"you can tell me anything," I say, I'm tipsy and slightly dizzy but because of our height difference he's much more intoxicated,

"Our- our night, was better than anything, I've had before, from Lilly or a- anyone," he leans into me and I can taste the whiskey on his breath, "and I just- I want it- just one mmm- mor- more time," he says, pulling me in closer, and all of a sudden the alcohol hit, everything feels like it's melting around me and I lean in to let our lips meet,

"hmmmmm," I hum, he presses me against the counter running his hands down my hips and thighs, he moves his hands to my back squeezing my ass slightly and lifting me onto the counter, he bites my lip slightly as he climbs onto the counter with me, I open my lips and let his tongue roam through my mouth, I whine slightly as he presses his knee into my crotch,

"Is this okay?" he asks, breaking our kiss,

"Always," I hum, he presses his knee even further into my crotch I rock my hips slightly as a sign for him to continue, and I feel the same energy from our first night together, everything just fits, like it's meant to be, and from what he said it fits for him too, maybe he feels the energy too.

Chapter Text

I wake up in my bed, with George's arms around me and my head on his bare chest, I don't move because if I move he'll wake up, and if he wakes up everything will be awkward and I don't want that, I just want George to hold me like he is, despite the fact I know it's wrong and that when he wakes he won't want anything to do with me but for now I have him and his warmth and his protection so I lie there in utter silence letting him sleep,

sadly after almost an hour of listening to his soft breath he begins to stir, I close my eyes and pretend to sleep as he wakes, "shit," he whispers, pulling his arm out from under me taking away the warmth he was providing me with, "oh darling," he says softly sending butterflies through my entire body, "I'm sorry I had to put you through this is sorry," he whispers placing a soft kiss on my outstretched hand, I hear him pull on his clothes, and walk out the door when I hear the door click behind me I open my eyes, I look around my room its a mess, I get up and feel a familiar burn in my thighs from last night, I limp around my room picking up all the dirty laundry and putting in a basket.

After about half an hour of cleaning I decide it's safe to leave my room, George is sitting on my couch looking hungover, "what happened last night?" he says, but soon realizes he thinks I woke up alone, instead of with him,

"no fucking clue man," I sigh, wincing slightly as I sit down on the sofa, the burning ache in my thigh muscles making me feel stiff, I conceal it well though, and play dumb with George,

"me neither, I woke up with a headache in the spare room," he lies, and I feel my heart break a little for him, I can't imagine the guilt he must be feeling,

"I think we got a dunk," I say,

"I thought my stag night was supposed to be our final hurry," he sighs, the energy in between us shifts thinking of our first night,

"uh, so whose dropping off your tux for tomorrow?" I ask,

"fucking Emma," he rolls his eyes, "please whatever you don't let her in," he says with pleading eyes,,

"I can't stand her either don't worry," I say, I heard the doorbell ring and I spring to my feet,

"speak of the devil," George mutters under his breath,

I walk toward the door and open it to see emma, holding a tuxedo in a clear bag, "thanks," George says taking the tuxedo and closing the door in her face, I smirk slightly as we walk away from the door, my back and inner thighs still aching, I wish I didn't have to hide the fact we hooked up last night from the person I hooked up with, I hate that I don't get to cuddle with him all day, I hate that if he knew the pain I'm in he would probably run me a hot bath or give me a massage, but I could never hate George, no matter how much the hate the situation were in I could never have anything but love in my heart for the man sitting next to me, "I'm sorry," George whispers as if he was reading my very thoughts, my heart pounds as I turn my head to him, "I shouldn't be putting you through this, I- I just can't- I can't not get married," he says,

"I know you can't," I say softly, "just, please don't hate me for ruining it," I plead,

"darling," he turns to me, "I don't think I could ever hate you," he cups my face, "and you- you didn't ruin anything, she ruined it," he says,

"she was-" my words trail off,

"mhm," he says, I almost speak but he cuts me off, "Jesus what am I saying," he says quickly standing up, "I- um- I just, I gotta-" he quickly walks away to his room, and with every step, he takes it feels as if he's breaking each one of my ribs and stamping on my heart,

"fuck fuck you fucking idiot," I say pulling at my hair as a nervous habit, I get up and make my way to my room flopping down on my bed, I stare at the selling for a while letting the thoughts pass through my mind, but as all the thoughts start to lead to the first stages of a panic attack I pull out my laptop to distract myself, I open my emails and sort through them I don't have much work being a kindergarten teacher in early august, mostly just small thing like sorting a seating plan from my class list and ordering decorations to make the classroom look nice,

I feel myself relax thinking about work, I love my job, and I love seeing my class every day and how excited they get to see me, it's ironic how fond of it I've grown, when I was seventeen I used to ditch so much school the police got called and I transferred to online school, but now I love school so much it relaxes me buying little signs and nick-nacks for my classroom, and planning out lessons and fun activities my brain drifts off total to zone in on my work and before I know it it's almost five o'clock, I place my laptop down and stand up all the blood rushes from my head and makes me feel faint, I brush it off and walk out to the kitchen, I take out some dried Raman and drop it in water,

"ge-," I'm about to call for George and tell him dinner is ready but I don't want to disturb him so I put his ramen with a glass of apple juice and some salad on a tray and place it by his door gently knocking on it and running away. as I eat from the kitchen I hear his door open and the tray being picked up off the ground, then the door is closed again I feel a small smile creep across my lips knowing I made one of George favorite foods, I finish my food and put my plate in the dishwasher and flop down on the couch and pull out my phone,

I scroll for a while then hear footsteps coming from the hallway, "dream?" George whispers, into the kitchen I almost answer but then he speaks again, "oh, he's probably asleep," I don't correct him just keep quiet and close my eyes pretending to be asleep, I hear the clink on the china bowl being placed by the sink alongside my dirty dishes, I then hear footstep toward where I'm laying on the couch, and feel him sit beside me, "what am I gonna do with you?" he whispers running a hand through my hair, he knows in a heavy sleeper so he probably thinks I'm completely unconscious, it takes him quiet a while to speak again, I can only imagine the thoughts going through his head, "I love you," he whispers with such a quite sob it takes everything in me not to get up and kiss him, "and I wish I didn't," he confesses to my sleeping body not having a single clue that I can hear him, "but I do, I love you so much," I feel a warm kiss on my forehead the hand leaving my hair to cup my face, I feel his breath tickle my face and a tear falls from his face onto mine,

he hovers over me then he silently walks away, I open my eyes slightly to check he's gone, and I wipe his fallen tear from my face and look painfully to where he was sitting, I sigh and pull my phone out, there's a text, it's from Emma, "just so you know since you seemed to have been in such a hurry earlier, you have to be in the church at twelve so that means you both have to be ready at eleven and up by at least seven," I'm tempted to say that George just has to put on a tux and a watch and fix his hair and that does not take four hours to do but I don't bother,

I text back, "okay will do," then set an alarm for seven and shut off my phone, I lay back down on the couch and close my eyes to drift off thinking about how affectionately George had been playing with my hair and the gently painfilled kiss he gave me and not about the fact tomorrow he will legally belong to someone else.

Chapter Text

I wake up at six am to the sound of the default apple alarm, I'm on the couch and the sun is currently peaking over the horizon, George is getting married today, and theirs no way I can change that, no amount of drunken hookups or sleeping confessions will change the fact that today he's committing himself to a cheating bitch who makes him miserable, I slowly get off the couch and trudge to his bedroom door, I knock three times with no reply, I open the door and see him sleeping soundly in the bed hugging one of the pillows to his chest, I wish I was that pillow, I wish I got to be hugged like that by him, to be pressed to his chest with such comforting arms would be so nice, but George is getting married today, so I can't be thinking about how safe I feel in his arms, to how luckily Lilly is that for the rest of her life she's able to wake up and see his sleepy face,

"George," I whisper to him, "George wake up," I say louder this time but still to no avail, I sigh and kneel down next to his sleeping form, "George," I say gently placing my hand on his shoulder, "geeoorrrggeee," I whisper tracing his shoulder with my thumb,

"Hmm," he sighs opening his eyes slightly, "it's too early," he whines,

"you're getting married today," I say, his eyes fully open and he sleepily stares into mine,

"I'm getting married today." he says, "to Lilly," he continues as if he's reminding himself,

"yep, but she's gonna killed both of us if you're late so you have to get ready now," I say,

"Okay, I'll go um shower, or something," he says getting out of bed, I take that as my cue to leave so I do, I walk to the other bathroom to shower, grab a towel from my room on the way, then step into the tiled room, I quickly get undressed and step into the shower letting the warm water pour over me,

"George is getting married," I say, this doesn't feel real, "he's getting married today, to Lilly. because they love each other." I stand under the hot stream of water letting the words sink in, "and George loves me," that sentence seems to be the serialist of all, I wish I could talk to him but the risk of fucking this up, even more, is too much, so I need to forget about last night, and the night before and the stag night, all of it because I'd rather have him platonically than try to have him romantically and lose him completely,

I'm broken from my stream of thoughts by the fact that the water is currently leaving red patches all over my skin, I turn the water down and reach for my body wash, I wash my body and then hair quickly as I can to keep my mind from wandering to the brunet who's probably standing naked in the other bathroom right now, I turn the water off and step out reaching for my towel and wrapping it around my waist, I then walk over to the sink and wash my face then moisturize,

I walk out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around my waist, and instantly I see George, he too is shirtless with a towel around his waist carrying his tux which is covered by the black bag supplied by the suit shop. All of a sudden I'm thinking about him and how perfect his toned arms look as small drops of water run down then and before I can stop myself I'm walking toward him, "wait," I say just before he goes into his room, he turns to me with a blank expression, "I know you're marrying her and I can't change that but I-" I take a deep breath to compose my thoughts, "do what about you and me?" I ask, "are we just gonna pretend the last week didn't happen?"

George takes a deep breath and comes closer to me, "look, I don't know, we're going away for the honeymoon and I wanna try to make me and her work, I want to keep up my family's expectations and have the perfect little life with and forget about the cheating and my fighting but- I- I don't know if that will happen so- god I must sound like such a prick to you right now, I don't want you to feel like you're the plan b but- can we just pause for a bit?" he asks,

"mhm," I nod, "that's all I wanted, I just want to know where we stand, thank you," I say turning around and walking to my room, my heart is beating so fast it felt like it's about to break out of my chest, and from the look on George's face he probably feels that too, I close the door behind me and drop my towel on the floor, my suit is hanging on the door but since it's half six I decide to wait, I pull on and pair of red plaid pajama pants and a grey Oklahoma sooner shirt, I lay down on the bed this all just feels so surreal, I know I can't think about that now though, today is about George which means no more stupid fights, I take a deep breath and get out of bed again,

I get a hairdryer out of my drawer and plug it in then stand in front of my mirror letting the hot air evaporate all the water in my hair, just as I'm finishing drying my hair I hear the doorbell ring, "who the fuck," I mutter under my breath, walking out of my room to answer it, I knew my house was going to be used as a home base for the groom's party but I didn't think people would get here at seven in the morning,

I'm almost at the door but George has beaten me to it, I hang back out of curiosity to see who it is, I watch his slander hands twist around the handle and open the door, it's George's parents and his older sister, his mom and dad look stoaked but charlotte looks disappointed, I don't let them see me, quickly rushing back to my room, I can face them right now, I can't really face anyone right now, everything feels so numb but so sore, like the last four days have suddenly hit me but my brain is too busy helping my best friend to get married to raise that I and that best friend are in love with each other, so I let myself slip into a hazy blur of sadness and envy all covered by a smile as I put on my suit and tie then heading down to the kitchen to greet everyone,

my mind feels too distanced to even comprehend the rest of the morning, at some point, I'm ushered into a fancy car and left all alone with George ad some smartly dressed driver, the drive to the church only takes fifteen minutes but it feels like decades, we're lead past doting family members of George and some of his uni "friends" that I know for a fact he can't stand, he stood at the alter with me behind him as Lilly walks down the aisle in a lavish gown but as the music plays I see George's eyes drift away from her and for a slipt second they fall upon my his brow softening slightly then snapping back to his bride,

tears come to my eyes as he begins to speak his vowes not but not because of the beauty of them because of the pure sureaism of this moment and the fact my mind is still pushing away the idea george is going to belong to someone elsemy mind still feels like a fog of comforting sadness but the pries standing at the alter cuts through it completely when he speak the what could be the most consiquential words in my life "in anyone has any objection to this union speak now or forever hold you peace," lilly looks out into the crowd confidetally but georges eyes go to my and they're filled with pain, I look around and I see charollett starting up at my through her think brown hair as if shes begging me to speak up but just asI breath in to talk the preist beats me to it,

"well in that case lilly boyle do you take george Davidson to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," he smiles in a sickly sweet grin, my stomach drops as she talks,

"and george Davidson do you take lilly boyle to be your lawfully wedded wife?" he asks,

george takes one last look at me,one look that speaks a thousand words, a plea for help but also a apology as if he's about to put a dagger through my chest, I know deep down he would never leave her for me, she is normality, she is the expectation society expects him to meet, she is a wife and kids and cerianty, "I do," he says, but even though I've known this moment would eventually happen since the day I hear of their engagement my heart break entirely at those two sylobls,

"by the law invested in me by the state and church I now pronoce you husband and wife," tears for in the corners of my eyes he pulls her in by the waist and their lips meet, the lips that hold every comfort I could ever ask for in this life now confirming his loyalty to lilly, lilly who's spent hours scream at him for him doing absolutely nothing, lilly who has been cheating on him for the last six months, lilly.

as I walk out of the church I feel see charolett she aproches me with a sad smile," you wanted to didn't you," she says as if she can read all of the thoughts,

"I- I dont want to think bout it right now," shes right, I wanted to object, I wanted to let george claim me as his partner to be his forever and the word had been on the tip of my young but Dallas the gods didn't let me today,

"okay, but you can talk to me, trust me clay I despise that woman just as much as you do," she says causing a soft smile to form on my lips,

"thankyou," I say whipping the tears from my eyes, "but if you hate her so much why didn't you object?" I ask,

"I cound do that to my mum," she says, "she know I'm not getting married anytime soon and this is her only hope of grandkids," she says,

"oh, okay," I say, I then get pulled by the arm away from the tall brit by one of lilly minion and pushed into a car with he rest of the bridesmaids, "dear gods," I sigh pulling out my phone to check and social medias as the car drives us to the venue of the reception.

Chapter Text

the reception is beautiful, the hotel surrounded by forest, I'm sitting beside George who now seems to be completely infatuated with Lilly and I know I shouldn't be surprised since their now married but it seems so odd, even at the rehearsal dinner they seemed to be completely cold with each other,

Lilly's father does his speech first, then George's mom who is sat on the other side of me, then the maid of honor, and with every word she speaks panic grows in my chest, she sits down and now it's my turn, my turn to tell everyone how perfect they are for each other, how happy I am for then I take a deep breath and stand up, "I- um I- I'm sorry I can't do this," I say, my heart is beating a million miles a minute and I turn around and rush toward the back door of the hall I turn slightly to look back and I all I can see is George brown eyes filled with confusion and worry,

as I push open the door I turn around and when I finally step out of the room I run as fast as I can sinking down to the floor at the foot of a tree burning my head in my hands half sobbing half hyperventilating, "I just want you to love me," I sob quietly,

"clay?" I hear a soft feminine voice ask, I look up and see charlotte, I want to talk but all that comes out are cries, "come here," she says pulling me into a hug,

"I can't do this," I whisper,

"I know," she says," he shouldn't be doing this to you,"

"do you need a lift home?" she asks me, pulling away from our hug and leaning me gently against the tree I had been sitting by,

"yes please, but your gonna miss the party," I say,

"bonus," she smiles, I laugh slightly at her joke,

"c'mon," my heart feels so warm at the kindness of this woman, in a way she's developed as a sister figure to me despite the fact I have two sisters of my own, we drive to my house in slice the only noises coming from the car and her cellphone which seems to be flooded with calls from Georges family I close my eyes as we drive suddenly being hit with my regular post crying headache, but despite the pain in my head and the emptiness in my heart for the first time today the world stops spinning,

she drops me to my house and walks me to my door, "are you gonna be okay?" she asks sounding concerned I know what she probably means, George has probably told her story about my ever-struggling mental health,

"mhm, thank you so much," I say, my voice sounds horse from crying, she nods and leaves me with a sad smile, and all of a sudden I'm alone again, I walk into my house being greeted by my patches and when I heard my door close behind me I sink to the floor I look down at myself, my shirt is wrinkled, my tie is now almost undone around my neck, and my jacket is on the floor beside me,

I pull out my phone to check the time it's five O'clock my eyes tear up when I notice my lock screen, it's a picture of me and George from the first time I introduced him to patches, my heart aches to be back in that moment before it hurt before he hurt me and before I ruined everything,

I slowly pick myself up from the floor and walk to the kitchen, I'm greeted by a chirpy meow from patches, "hi baby," I smile letting her run into my arms, she purrs and rubs herself against me, I walk with her in my arms into my bedroom placing her on my bed and striping down to my boxers then pulling on sweatpants and a hoodie, I sigh as I play with my curls in the mirror, before finally flopping onto my bed,

everything aches, every single part of me wants George, I want him to hold me and tell me it's all gonna be okay, I want him to kiss me, cuddle with me, I. want. him. face starts to sting again as a fresh batch of tear fall down my face, I curl up into a ball and hug one of the pillows on my bed, the same pillow George had placed under my knees when he had noticed that I was uncomfortable just mere nights ago. I turn to my phone again and pull some headphones out of my bedside table, I open Spotify and find a playlist I had made a few months ago when all of my feelings for George had started to re-emerge, I think they had always been there, my heart has and will always want him, but my head didn't want me to want him so I suppressed him, but how could anyone not want him, his soft brown eyes, his soft skin and his gentle hands,

tears start to pour down my face I quickly press play on the playlist and let "cimmerian shade," by Sufjan steven aid my broken heart.

Chapter Text

I wake up to soft music coming from my phone, I realize I must have fallen asleep to my playlist, and that it's probably been hours since I left the wedding, I reach out and see it half one in the afternoon, I pause the song which was currently "cherry" by harry styles, I stand up and feel blood rush to my head, I suddenly notice all the notifications on my phone, twenty missed calls from George, my heart drops then I see a text,

"clay r u okay?" at four thirty,

"clay where r u?" four thirty-three,

"dream, I'm not angry I just want you to be okay," four forty

"char says you've gone home?" four forty-five,

"please respond, I'm just worried," five past five,

"I miss you, it's boring here, Lilly is pissed at you and won't talk to me" six O'clock,

"I'm leaving for the airport now I'm not gonna be able to go on my phone for the next few weeks, please just tell me your okay," two hours ago, I feel another tear roll down my face, I ruined my best friends wedding,

"I'm sorry," I sob quietly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry," I bury my head into my pillow continuing to sob, suddenly I hear my door creaks open, and I feel my matters shift as patches jump onto my bed, I feel her rub herself against my back and I smile slightly, she lets out soft purs and crawls into my now open lap, "hi baby," I croak, she just sits by my side purring, I smile slightly, "do you want to go outside?" I ask,

she answers with a meow that probably signals yes, I sigh and get it picked her up with me as we walk to the kitchen, I open the glass sliding door, covered in the raindrops from the ongoing shower, I place her down and follow her to the patio standing there barefoot, I look up at the sky and at this point I can't tell if its raindrops or tears covering my face and honestly I couldn't care less,

I let the rain soak through all my clothes until a seemingly concerned patches brushes against my leg almost as if she was telling me to go back inside, "thankyou sweety," I say picking up the tabby cat whose fur too was soaked with water, I take her back inside and dry her with a towel not bothered to dry myself, instead falling back down into my bed.

the next month passes in a blur, every day the same, get up in the morning to set up patches automatic feeder then fall back into bed my only food was instant noodles and takeout, I just lie in my bed listening to music, eating, sleeping, everything aches and when the date George was meant to get home passes with no calls, no texts, no nothing, my heart takes its final blow.

Chapter Text

I had thought the last three weeks had but hurt knowing he was able to contact me, knowing he could've taken two minutes to call me and the fact he didn't that hurt, that hurt more than anything, that hurt more the soft kiss he had placed of my forehead as I slept on the couch the night he confessed his love for me who he had thought was asleep, that hurt more than the look of betrail on his face as I fled his wedding with tears in my eyes, but this hurt so much more,

the only reason I got out of bed on the first of September was to go to work, planning this day had been the best distraction and finally having a reason to leave the house was nice, as I arrive at the small kindergarten on the first day I see Phil standing at the door with a smile, the school itself was small, Phil had run the school on his own for years until it got to big and he took me on as a teacher for a class of ten kids and over the last few years my class grew to what would be twenty today,

"hey mate," he smiles,

"hey Phil," I smile back as he pulls me into a hug,

"you ready for today," he asks,

"mhm, I just gotta put up the decorations in my room,"

"Great, I got you a coffee as a thank you for coming into work four hours early," he says handing me a warm Starbucks cup,

"awh dude you didn't have to do that," I say graciously taking the cup from his hands,

"Well, I heard you were having a hard time recently," he says, "you know I'm always here right?" he says,

"Thanks, man, I promise I won't let this affect my job," I assure him,

"never doubted you," he says paying my back and leading me into the school, we walk in silence as I sip my coffee, it's what some might consider sickly but the five pumps of caramel are the only way I can block out the bitter taste of the coffee,

"all right mate, tell me if you need anything," Phil says as I turn off into the room,

"Thanks, dude," I say reaching for the light switch and letting light flood the light blue room covered in clouds I spent thirty-two hours making and sticking up last year, I walk up to my desk at the top of the classroom placing my coffee down on the desk and placing my bag down on the floor beside me unzipping it and taking out my laptop on my laptop, I then take out the new poster I bought from amazon a few weeks ago, one with all the letters for the alphabet and one with colours, I also take out the packet of blue-tack from my bag and stick them up beside the whiteboard, I plug in the fairy lights from last year them make my way to the book nook in the corner with the bean bag and add some new books I've collected over the summer, I then walk over to the other side of the room and check the play dough hadn't dried up,

I then walk back to the top of the class and write welcome in black cursive writing, finally, I sit down and lean back into the chair and open the PowerPoint I've made to introduce myself to the new kids and add some final details, I end up getting distracted by a youtube video after I've finished the PowerPoint and all of a sudden it's eight twenty and Phil and knocking on my door, "you ready mate?" he asks,

"oh shit, yeah yeah," I say, quickly logging out of my personal youtube account and onto my work account, I then stand up and rush to the front door with the list of kids' names I'm supposed to be having in my class since I'm sure at least one of the parents hasn't read the email I sent out two months ago, I wank out to the front of the school and wait for people to arrive.

It's so exciting to see each kid walking around with a backpack probably twice their body weight, I go around and individually tick each one off my list, while also introducing myself to them and their parents, "alright everyone in my class follows me we're in the first door to the left," I say leading everyone toward my classroom, I let all of them settle in and find their places then watch as all the parents leave,

"Hello, everyone," I say in the soft tone I always use with kids, "I'm Mr Williams, but you can call me dream okay?" I watch as all the little faces look at me and nod, "do you want to tell me some of your names?" I ask,

I go around the class and let each kid say their name and age, the rest of the day runs smoothly from there, and before I know it I'm helping each find their parent as exited chatter fills the air, it was right to say this day had been good, but I felt the crushing weight of sadness return to my chest the moment I stepped through the door of my house, "fuck," I murmur, I take my laptop out of my bag and slip into my room quickly changing my jeans for a pair of pyjama bottoms and crawling into bed, it was only one in the afternoon, but I felt so so tired I just decide to sleep.

the next day at work goes as planned and I find myself falling into the same routine as yesterday, getting home from work and instantly falling asleep, I would fight it but it's so comfortable getting to sleep away half the day, when I'm not in work I have nothing to keep my from thinking of George and that's the last thing I need, so every day for two months straight I follow the same routine, get up, get dressed, drive to work, teach, drive home from work, grade, eat and sleep, this was all until Halloween.

Chapter Text

it's Halloween night, usually, I would spend Halloween with George, but this year I have a feeling he would rather sacrifice our five years of friendship instead of talking it out, so instead, I'm spending the night on the couch with a bowl of candy and a bottle of cheap vodka on the couch watching shitty Halloween movies, I've been sober since the start of September since I spent most of it asleep, but it's a Friday night, their fireworks faintly going off in the distance and as I sip my bottle vodka, and for three hours my plans are undisturbed until I feel my phone vibrate beside me, I it up and see its an incoming call, from George.

My hand starts to shake as I answer the phone, "he-hello," My words are slurred,

"drreeeaaaammm," I hear that all too familiar voice slur from the other end of my phone, "gue-guess what," he says,

"George-," I get cut off by his voice again,

"Lilly's pregnannntt," he says, "with- with my baby, from the one time we have sex on our fucking honeymoon, but I'm-," this time I cut him off,

"you know what," I say, all common sense or logical thinking leaving my brain as the five-dollar vodka and the months of abandonment takes over, "fuck you, George," I say, "wha- you- you fucking blank me for like two fucking months, and- and now that your stupid fucking wife is pre- pregnant all of a sudden I have to care, fuck you, your stupid fucking baby, and your cheating slut of a wife," I pause to take a swig from the bottle of vodka, the bitter liquid burns my throat as I swallow but at this point, I couldn't care less,

"drea-," somehow he sounds completely sober now but the alcohol is still making my mind spin,

"no, I'm not fucking dream to you anymore, you lost the right to call me dream," I say, standing up off the couch and spilling vodka on my shirt, "YOU SAID YOU FUCKING LOVED ME,"

"wha- when?" he asks,

"ON MY COUCH, TWO DAYS BEFORE YOU WERE MEANT TO GET MARRIED, I WAS PRETENDING TO BE ASLEEP AND YOU CAME IN, YOU KISSED MY FOREHEAD AND TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME, AND FOR ONCE I ACTUALLY FUCKING BELIEVED YOU," I say falling to the ground letting the vodka splash onto my hand, " I ACTUALLY FUCKING THOUGHT FOR ONCE YOU WOULD HAVE A SINGLE DROP OF HUMAN EMOTION AND STOP TO THINK HOW I MUST FEEL, YOU THINK THIS IS HARD FOR YOU? I HAD TO WAKE UP EVERY DAY NOT KNOWING IF TODAY MY BEST FUCKING FRIEND IS GOING TO BE IN LOVE WITH ME OR COMPLETELY FUCKING BLANK ME," I scream feeling my voice go horse,

"clay plea-," he says,

"don't ever fucking call me again," I say hanging up the phone and taking another swig of vodka before abruptly passing out.

when I wake up my head is pounding and my shirt stinks of vodka "argh," I groan, I sit up to find myself in my living room, the smell of booze seems to be surrounding me, I look around and see it's about midday, "fuck," I say pulling off my shirt and picking up the spilt vodka bottle from the ground, everything hurts, I force myself to stand up ago and the whole room seems to be spinning, I stumble toward the kitchen and through the empty bottle in the bin, I don't even remember how much of it I drank and how much got spilt but I feel like total shit,

I force myself to shower to get the scent of liquor off me, when I'm done showering I pull on pyjama pants and fall into bed.

Chapter Text

for some reason when I get up on Monday after a weekend of hungover moping I expect something to be different, I just lost my best friend for god only knows how long, but everything is the same, the same routine of getting up, driving to work, teaching, driving home, and falling into bed, and this repeats only changing in July when my school breaks up for summer break when I fill my days with eating laying in bed and reading, and all of a sudden it's my birthday,

I'm in my kitchen in a white shirt and black dress pants, I'm getting ready to see Phil for a drink and apparently, he has a surprise for me, even though it's august it's lashing rain outside so hopefully, the surprise isn't outdoors, I'm standing in my kitchen tying a black tie around my neck when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, I pull it out and my heart drops, even though I had removed him from my contacts the number on my screen belongs to George, unsure of what to do I press answer with the intent of telling him to fuck off,

"what do you want," I say blankly,

"dream, I- I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm so fucking sorry and I know it's your birthday and you have plans with Phil but- I really need your help right now," I hear the pure panic in his voice as he stutters over his words, I know he would only call me like this if he really needs me,

"what's wrong?" I ask,

"um- I- I don't know what to do me and Lilly had this massive argument, about me going out to apologise to you and she was so angry, and she was screaming at me and then she- she said she was gonna hurt Ellie- our um- daughter, and she had a knife and I didn't know what to do so I just took her and ran until I could find a sheltered bus stop but I have no money or anything and I just-,"

"Okay okay calm down," I say, "where are you?"

"the bus stop two blocks away from my house," he says, I can hear that he's on the verge of tears,

"Okay darling, I'm on my way," I say, grabbing my keys from the countertop and running out the door,

"Really?" he asks,

"of course," I say turning my keys in the engine and driving as fast as I can to the bus stop George had described,

"I- I'm sorry, I've been a terrible person to you, I- I shouldn't have strung you along like that," he says in the softest tone, and even though my head is telling me to not do this, to turn around and go him, to leave him and Lilly's child in the pouring rain my heart is too soft for any of that,

"thank you," I say,

"and I'm sorry for ruining your birthday," he says,

"It's drinking with Phil it's no big deal," I say,

"I had this whole plan I was gonna show up at the bar, I was gonna say I'm sorry, I had been planning it with Phil for weeks,"

"It's okay if you and um- Ellie are safe," I say,

"Are you sure," he asks, and all of a sudden I hear the cries of a baby through my phone, "oh honey, it's okay," he says now completely distracted by his baby, "shhh," he says gently, I smile softly hearing the way he talks to his child, "I know its cold my love, but it's all gonna be okay,"

"Okay I can you two I'm like thirty seconds away," I say as the bus stop comes into my view,

"Okay thank you," he says, it's lashing rain and under its shelter, I see a figure in a white shirt and a pair of jeans holding a baby in a pink blanket, he's holding a toy elephant in his other hand and is rocking her back and forth in an attempt to comfort her, I hang up the phone then stop the car, I get up and walks around to the passenger seat to open the door,

"hey," I say,

"hi," he says sounding exhausted,

"you wanna come back to my place, I can get you two sorted out there," I say,

"yes please, but can we wait a minute, I just need a second,"

"of course," I say, "do you need me to hold her?" I ask,

"yes please," he says, his voice cutting off at the end of his sentence, he had me the infant then lets his head fall into his hands, letting out tired sobs,

"hi," I whisper softly to the baby, she has big brown eyes that are indistinguishable from George, and dark blond hair that looks like a mix of George's and Lillys,

she babbles back at me and makes grabby hands towards my tie,

"well if you aren't the sweetest thing," I say, I glance over to George who is staring at the ceiling of my car, "you okay?" I ask solemnly,

"mhm," he says, "sorry again, for everything,"

"Don't be," I say, I look down at Ellie who is now looking at her dad, "c'mere honey," he says, taking Ellie out of my arms,

I take that as my single to drive so I do so, and by the time we're home Ellie is asleep with her face pressed against George's shoulder, "she's adorable," I say,

"I know," he smiles back at me, "I- I- I just don't know what to do now, I can go back to Lilly not after what she threatened to do to Ellie, and even if you got ever how shitty I was to you and I could stay here, I would have to work to buy her food and clothes and toys and then there are medical bills and she would need a daycare and-,"

"George," I say trying to stop his spiral, "don't worry about it, I can look after you, both of you you don't need to worry about all those things, I'm here, I- I have a bigger salary than last year I promise I'll look after you two," I say cupping his face in my hands, he looks like he's on the verge of tears, "for now I'm sure my mom has an old crib we can borrow, and I was halfway through packing up the spare room, we can turn that into a nursery, it's all gonna be okay," I promise,

"thank you," he says, I don't talk but instead pull him into a hug, being careful as to not hurt the sleeping child pressed to his chest, "you two need to go to bed, I'll call my mom and I can go buy formula in the morning okay?"

"thank you thank you thank you thank you," he says over and over I break away from our hug and lead him and Ellie to my bedroom letting George lie down in my bed before I leave to call my mom.

Chapter Text

half an hour later my mom is standing in my driveway as I take the flatpack crib out of the trunk of her car, "oh and darling I have some of the formulae from when we babysat your little cousins last month and here and some spare onesies and diapers I didn't know what size she is but these are meant to fit an average two-month-old,"

"Okay that's mom," I say opening the door and bringing the crib in,

"do you need me to get your dad to help you assemble it?" she asks,

"Mom, thank you but I think I can manage," I laugh, she seems so worried,

"where is she?" she asks,

"she's sleeping in my bed with her dad," I assure her,

"Are your sheets clean because I heard-"

"yes, mom, my sheets are clean, she's with her dad, he's looking after her," I say, taking the crib out of the worn-out box that has been lurking in my parent's garage for the last decade,

"poor thing, that woman must be dementated threatening to hurt a baby like that," she mutters under her breath,

"Now that I can agree with that, "I say laying all the prices in front of me,

"Are you are George gonna-,"

"I don't know, both of our priorities right now is this baby, the rest isn't important," I say slotting the pieces together

"Okay I'll leave you to it," she sighs sounding disappointed,

"you want to see Ellie don't you?" I laugh,

"oh if it isn't too much of a bother," she says,

"their probably awake now anyway, I hear some talking a few minutes before you go here," I say standing up and leading her to the door of my bedroom then I knock lightly, "you two awake?" I ask softly in case they aren't,

"mhm," I hear George grunt,

"Can my mom come to see Ellie?" I ask,

"of course," I slowly open the door to see George laying in my bed, in my now dimly lit room, wearing one of my hoodies and rocking a giggly baby in his arms, "I borrowed these if you don't mind," he says apologetically,

"Don't worry about it," I say,

"This is Ellie," George smiles, showing the infant to my mother,

"oh she stunning," she coos,

"thank you," he laughs, I watch from a distance as my mom dotes over the baby for a solid five minutes,

"Okay I better be going now," she says but only after I clear my throat for the one hundredth time to give her the hint that George is probably exhausted, she leaves me and George in peaceful silence, I sit down next to him in my bed,

" hi," I say,

"hi," he says looking painfully into my eyes,

"do you think Ellies is alright to sleep in here tonight, that crib doesn't really have a clean mattress," I laugh,

"I don't mind as long as she's safe," he sighs,

"we can go shopping in the morning and get everything for her,"

"Are you sure," he asks, I look from him down to the giggly baby in his arms,

"positive," I say,

"Okay," he smiles, the smile that I would move mountains to see, his glowing smile that defiantly passed down to his daughter, "can you hold her for a sec I need to pee," he says inturupting my thoughts,

"of course," he quickly hands me the baby then dashes to the toilet,

"hi lovely," I smile rocking her back and fourth in my arms, "are you gonna stay here from now on?" she just giggles and claps her hands, "how could that horrible woman ever try hurt you?" I whisper, she continues to try pull at my hair and clothes until George comes back and takes her from me,

"oh god she probably needs changing," he sighs,

"oh, my mom bought over some spare diapers and the least of a tub of formula from when she was babysitting my cousins, I even think there's an unused bottle,"

"oh thank you so much dream, you've completely saved my ass," he says,

"no problem," I smile leading in to the kitchen, I show his where the formula is so he can make some whist I get a towel so he can change her, when I arrive back in the kitchen george is shaking the now warm bottle, he puts it on the counter and I hand him a town, he lays that con the counter and lays Ellie down on the towel, "so are you to good in here?" I ask,

"mhm, thank you so much again," he replies,

"no problem, I'm gonna go get changed of that's okay," I say,

"okay, night," he says.

Chapter Text

I go get changed and then fall into bed, I fall asleep almost instantly, it's peaceful sleep for once, I'm not just sleeping to escape my problems, I'm sleeping because I need to, if I had the choice I would stay up and take care of Ellie with George all night, but I can't, and I know their both safe so I sleep.

Despite the peacefulness of my sleep I'm woken in the night by soft sobs coming from the other room, but they don't sound like Ellie's cries, they sound like George, I stumble out of bed to see try to track down the source, I find George in the living room cradling Ellie in his arms trying to feed her with the bottle he had made earlier, he's sat on his knees in boxers to big for him and a hoodie that he's constantly adjusting to not fall on Ellie's face, he looks so tired and helpless as he desperately tries to feed his child, "I'm sorry baby," I hear him say softly between sobs, "I'm sorry I don't know how to do any of this," my heart breaks watching the scene, "I'm sorry I don't even know what formula you like or what type of diapers you need or how to even feed you, I'm sorry," I watch for another minute before steeping in,

"oh George," I whisper, I see him turn to look at me,

"I'm sorry I didn't want to wake you," he says, even in the dim light I can see tears welling in his eyes,

"It's okay darling, do you need some help?" I ask gently

"yes please," he says,

"Okay," I say sitting behind him so his back is against my chest, I place my hands on top of his and just them slightly so the bottle is angled upward as if the tip of it was a real breast, I rest my head on his shoulder to see Ellie now drinking happily from the bottle, "you just gotta imagine it's a real boob," I laugh,

''why are you so good at this?" he asks,

"When you have three younger siblings you learn how to feed babies," I say,

"thank you," he says leaning back into my chest, it all feels so intimate, we're both absolutely exhausted mentally and physically, but for now we can lean on each other, and not have to worry about controlling fiances or wedding plans, just me and George protecting the tiny child in George's arms,

"do you wanna go back to bed now, it might be better to give her a break and burp her for a bit, and feed her the rest there if you want?" I say,

"Okay, I think I know how to do that," he says,

"c'mon, I say offering him a hand up which he accepts, I hold the half-empty bottle and he holds the infant now babbling nonsense as she tries her very hardest to pull the string of Georges hoodie which is just slightly out of her reach,

"c'mon you," he says taking the blanket off the baby and putting it over his shoulder as he gently tries to relieve any of the trapped wind from before, after about five minutes of that he sits back down on my bad and picks up the bottle from my hand but again fails to get Ellie to feed off it, "dream?" he whines turning to me looking fed up,

"c'mere," I say patting my lap, he sits between both my thing and I place my hands on top of his the same way they were before, I think angle his arm up slightly keeping my hands there so he gets used to the shape, "See that's better," I smile,

"you're so good at this it's not fair," he whines,

"Okay, so you're telling me you left behind your entire marriage and waited in a bus shelter in the pouring rain with nothing but a baby blanket, a stuffed toy and a mobile phone just to keep your kid safe but no I'm the one with that's good at this?" I say sarcastically,

" I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know anything, and I've proved it to you so many times," he whispers,

"your talking crazy," I say,

"I shouldn't have married her," he says, my heart sinks, "There were so many fucking red flags," he continues, "and I never should've been so shitty to you, I fucked everything up, even if you still want-,"

"George, it's okay, you're both okay now, we can talk more in the morning just focus on her right now," I say, he can probably feel my heart beating in my chest right now but I can't talk about us right now, I can't be hurt again right now so instead both of us sit there, as he feeds Ellie and by the time she's finished he's asleep too, he's just laying there still as ever with his baby in his arms but it feels so right, so right yet wrong in every single way

I know in the morning he's gonna give me the "I'm straight, " talk for what seems like the millionth time so I savour this intimate moment, I lean back and accept the faith that my legs are going to be numb in the morning and drift off with the two bodies still resting in my arms.

I wake up to soft cries coming from Ellie, "shhhh," George soothes her softly rocking, he's still lying on me with his back pressed to my chest, "your gonna wake dream," he coos,

"It's okay I'm already awake," say placing a hand on top of Georges who was shaking from what seems like panic,

"oh god I'm so sorry," he says,

"Don't worry about it," I say,

"you wanna come shopping with me for baby stuff?" I ask wrapping my arms around his waist just under where Ellie was lying,

"Are you sure about this?" he asks, "we could just go back to Lill-,"

"no," I say quickly, "It's not safe for either of you there," I say, "plus I have the money and the space for it,"

"I promise I'll pay you back, I'll-,"

"bullshit, I cut him off again, there's no need for that," I say,

"thank you," he says,

"no problem," I smile leaning in and resting my head in the crook of his neck to quietly observe the baby in his arms, "c'mon targets probably gonna be packed later on, better to get there early," I say,

"yeah that sounds good," he agrees sliding out of my lap and standing up,

"Can I borrow some of your clothes?" he asks,

"of course, do you want me to hold her while you change?" I say,

"yes please," he answers handing her to me,

"hi cutie," I smile and turn away to let George change, she just giggles happily at me, I look into her deep brown eyes as she tries to grab my nose, she looks so happy for something that's been a victim of such horrendous things, her own mother held a knife to her yet she was still here all smiles and giggles,

"thanks, George says walking over to where I'm sitting on the bed, he's now wearing the same hoodie as before but this time with grey sweats and I assume clean boxers,

"no problem," I smile, "I'm just gonna put on some deodorant and then we can go," I say, grabbing the can and walking into my ensuite to put it on, when I emerge Ellie is wearing one of the onesies my mom brought over and is sucking on a passifier I assume my mom also bought,

"you ready to go?" I ask,

"mhm, just wondering what I should be with Ellie while we're out since I doubt she'll be this good and I don't want to embarrass you and-," I cut him off from his spiral,

"It's okay George, we'll buy a stroller first and we can put her in that while we do the rest," I say walking nearer to him and taking his free hand to calm him down,

"Okay, sorry I'm just really on edge, what if we see her when we're out or-,"

"George, it's all gonna be okay," I say tracing my thumb up and down his hand,

"Okay sorry I'm just-,"

"I know, I'd be scared too, but I've got you now and nothing gonna take you from me okay?

"Okay," he nods,

"c'mere," I say pulling him into a hug being careful not to squash Ellie, I feel him relax in my arms but when he pulls away it isn't far, his face is still mere centimetres from my face as his eyes look from my lips to my eyes, the atmosphere between us instantly changes when I feel his free arms snake around to my lower back,

"Can I?" he asks,

"mhm," I nod, I then feel him pull me closer to him, I then feel his arm move quickly from my back to the back of my neck pulling me closer to his lip and when our lips finally meet I feel fireworks shoot through every part of me, it feels like home, like warm sweet love, I pull back first to see he is standing there just as flustered as I am,

"So um- we should probably go," he says,

"yeah yeah," I say blushing bright red then grabbing my phone and keys and following George to the car.

Chapter Text

we're both sitting in my car in semi-awkward silence as I park the car in the target parking lot, "okay so what do we need from the store?" I ask, cutting through the defining silence while pulling out my phone and opening the notes app,

"a stroller, a crib, formula, pacifiers, onesies, baby soap, baby powder, blankets, bottles I think that's all," he says,

"Okay perfect," I say, opening the car door and stepping out of the car almost as if on cue Ellie starts to cry,

"shhh," George says rocking her back and forth, "you've been so good please," he says almost on the verge of tears, "please," he begs,

"George it's okay, I'll go in and get the stroller and then if she calmed down when we get back you can bring her in and if not I'll just get the stuff myself," I say, over the crying baby,

"Really?" he asks looking so confused,

"of course honey," I say, I know how guilty he must feel as if any of this is his fault,

"thank you thank you thank you," he says,

"no problem," I say, I grab my wallet from the car and walk toward the store, the first thing I do is walk toward the baby section, it's filled with pregnant women and their husbands and its safe to say some random twenty three year old with a pride pin on his face mask looks very out of place, I shrug it off through and walk towards the Stoller section, a worker instantly approaches me with a smug grin on her lips,

"hello sir what are you shopping for today?" she asks,

"um a stroller," I say blankly

"oh well, is your wife here I'm sure she'll be using it more so it might be better to ask her the question-"

"it's actually for my boyfriend and his kid," I say,

"Oh," she says looking utterly disgusted, "well according to an article I rea-" I already know where this is going so I cut her off before she can spew her homophobic bullshit,

"look in all honest Linda, I don't give a flying fuck about the article you read so thank you but no thank you," I say staring her down as she backs away, I look around for a few seconds until I recognise the stroller I always see the moms at the kindergarten with I pick up the box from the self and walk to the cashier feeling the glare of a very angry shop assistant, I quickly pay and go back outside into the parking lot,

I see that George is sitting in the cat with a now peaceful Ellie, "good news I got the stroller," I say showing him the box,

"thank you so much," he says looking up at me with the most breathtaking eyes in the world,

"bed news I pissed off some pissy shop assistant who was being rude so I think we're gonna have to do the rest of our shopping in another target," I wince,

"oh okay," he laughs,

"well thank you for the stroller anyways," he smiles,

"no problem," I say and the curve of his lips makes my heart melt, I admire him for a while before walking around to the driver's seat of the car and starting the engine, I pull out onto the road and thankfully Ellie doesn't wake the quiet hum of the motor or the movement of the car,

as we drive in silence I feel him place a gentle hand on my thigh, I glance over at him to see he's smiling at me again with Ellie asleep in his arms, "I really like you," I say looking from his hand to his face then back to the road,

"I really like you too and I do want to be with you but if we do this can we take it slow? all of this is so difficult and I don't want to hurt you or Ellie" he asks,

"of course," I say,

"thank you, my love," he says the nickname making me blush,

we drive in comfortable silence until we reach the target in the next town over, when we arrive I set up the stroller as he holds Ellie, "Okay that should be secure," I say after unfolding the pram and making sure nothing was gonna collapse if George put a baby in it,

"thank you, darling," he says,

"no problem," I smile, he takes pulls me in with his free hand and gives me a quick peck on the lips,

"c'mon let's go," I say, he places Ellie's blanket in the stroller first then puts the tiny infant in, he pushes the pram through the quiet parking lot to the target doors,

"to the baby section," he says with a chuckle,

"let's go," he smiles, we walk to the baby section which is much bigger than the one in the other store,

"Okay pacifiers first?" I ask,

"mhm, I don't think there's much of a difference just get the cheapest ones," he shrugs,

"but they're so boring," I say looking at the plain blue and pink ones, "these are much cuter," I say gesturing to the slightly more expensive ones that are solid colours with stars all over them,

"Okay, they are cute but are you sure? I seriously don't care if you get the cheap ones," he says,

"George it's two dollars, and she'll look so cute with these," he says,

"Okay okay, thank you," I say,

"no problem, shall we look at clothes next?" I suggest putting the pacifiers in the basket,

"Okay, she mostly wheres onesies but she does look adorable in dresses," he says, I feel him get more relaxed as we walk toward the wall with baby clothes hanging from it, "and she's two months so she fits in newborn still," he says,

"Okay perfect," I say, "and what colours does she find flattering?" I ask,

"Dream she's a newborn I doubt she cares," he laughs,

"Well, I don't want to just assume," I say raising my eyebrows as he laughs even harder,

"you're an idiot," he laughs,

"Jeez," I say raising my hands defensively,

"you wanna pick some clothes now?" he asks,

"yeah sure," I laugh, we pick out ten onesies that we agree would look adorable on Ellie, well anything would look adorable on Ellie, but these will enhance her cuteness, we also pick out two dresses for her to wear we then choose some baby socks and little hats for her to wear since it's gonna be getting cold soon,

"Okay now, do you wanna pick out a crib I'll go get some formula and diapers and things," I suggest,

"perfect," he says,

"I'll come to find you when I'm done okay?"

"m'kay thank you so much," he says,

"oh and pick out some sheets that fit the mattress and a couple of blankets,"

"I will," he says as I walk toward the big shelf with about twenty different brands of formula as he walks to the bedding section, they all look mostly the same so I decide to look up some reviews to make sure I'm getting the best for Ellie, I crouch down by the first tub to read the label, it says 'Enfamil' I type the name into google followed by review and quickly find there have been traces of lead found in it,

"defiantly not," I say instantly putting it back, I don't know how long it takes but when George returns I'm crouched down in front of the five brands I've narrowed it down to, and I'm going through each of the ingredients checking which is best,

"dream are you okay? it's been like half an hour and you're still picking out formula, just get this one it's the cheapest," he says going to reach for the second brand I knocked out

"Are you crazy?" I say springing up before he can pick up the container, "that has far too much gluten in it for a newborn!" I say

" Okay okay," he says, "shall I leave you to it?" he asks,

"not to be rude but yes please," I say,

"Okay well how about I go get the diapers and the other stuff and then I'll come back and help you with the formula?" he says placing a soft hand on my shoulder,

"Okay," I smile,

"perfect, can you watch Ellie, she's sleeping but it'll make all this a lot quicker,"

"of course, I'd love to," I smile,

"thank you," he says, kissing me quickly then blowing a kiss to his sleeping daughter and walking off to find the rest of the things, I put the cover of the stroller over Ellie to shade her from the florescent lighting in the shop and to prevent her from being stolen from me, I then crouch back down and pull up the article I was reading about baby food on my phone again,

I'd narrowed the options down to two when I get interrupted again, "hey mate what are you doing here?" I turn around and see Phil standing with his wife who I've met on a few occasions, one of his curly-haired sons Wilbur and a chubby blonde toddler in a pram next to him,

"oh hi Phil, um I'm trying to find out which formula is the best for Ellie," I say, "is this Tommy?" I ask looking at the boy who looks about three,

"um yeah this is Tommy he's gonna be in your class this year but um- Ellie?" he asks,

"oh yeah," I unclip the cover on the pram to reveal the sleeping child," she's um- Georges's daughter," I say looking at him, he looks completely shocked,

"BABY!" Tommy shouts from his stroller causing Wilbur to laugh slighter and Ellie's eyes to flutter open,

"Tommy!" Kristin scolds, "I'm so sorry," she says,

"Don't worry about it," I smile,

"so you and George are-?"

"mhm," I smile to myself, "that's why neither of you showed up to drinks," he laughs,

"oh god, I'm so sorry he was getting ready to go out but Lilly was blowing up at him and then she threatened to hurt Ellie and I had to go pick them up I'm sorry again," I ramble,

"no problem mate," he says, "by the way the one on the left is better, I went through the exact thing when will was a baby," he says,

"well, that could've saved me a whole lot of time," I laugh,

"anyways, Tommy decided to take a pair of scissors to all his shoes so we better go," he laughs,

"yeah that sounds urgent," I laugh,

"well good luck with Ellie, see you in a few weeks yeah?"

"yeah," I smile, putting the other container of formula down as he walks away, him and Kristin always seem like such an odd couple, she old ever wheres black or purple, while I pick up another two tubs of it just in case and almost as clockwork George comes back with a basket of baby stuff,

"I think I got everything," he says, "Are you done here?" he asks,

"mhm, Phil helped me, I ran into him and some of his kids,"

"well that's luck," he smiles, "I ran into someone too," he says looking slightly anxious,

"Oh, is everything okay?" I ask taking a step closer to him,

"it- um, it was one of Lilly's friends," my stomach drops to my feet," she blew up at me and said that Lilly was gonna get the police involved if I don't let give Lilly full custody of Ellie and now I just don't know what to do," he rambles fidgeting with the string of my hoodie,

"honey, calm down, come here," I pull him into my arms and he lets out deep breaths in my arms as I squeeze him tight,

"They won't take her from you I promise, I know a good lawyer you can use, I promise my love," I say letting him step back and take a few deep breaths,

"Okay, thank you," he sighs, pulling me back into a hug,

"do you know if she's contacted the police yet?" I ask gently,

"I don't think she has,"

"that's perfect, I'll talk to Alex and we'll get this all sorted out," I say,

"Okay," he sighs, we walk toward the checkout in silence for a while before he speaks up, "I bought some snacks if that's okay?"

"of course it's okay," I smile, "do you take Ellie back to the car and I'll pay for the rest of the stuff?" I ask,

"Okay, thank you again,"

"my pleasure," I hand him the pram and he gives my the basket of things and the box with the flat packet crib in it, I pay as quickly as I can and then meet in the car.

Chapter Text

when I get back to the car I find George sitting in the front seat of my car with no Ellie in his arms, "um wheres your daughter?" I ask slightly alarmed,

"she's in the back seat idiot, the seat of the pram turns into a car seat so I don't have to hold her in the car anymore," he explains,

"oh okay," I laugh, I then put all of the baby stuff in the trunk of the car,

"you wanna go out for food?" I ask,

"Could we just go home, I'm so tired," he sighs,

" of course, should I order some pizza and we can call Alex to see what he can do about this whole Lilly thing?" I suggest,

"yes please, you're a star," he says placing a comforting hand on my thigh, he seems absolutely exhausted,

when we arrive home George takes Ellie in along with two of the bags of shopping and I take the other one along with the crib, "here's my phone order whatever pizza you want, can you get a margarita for me? I'm gonna go set up the crib in the spare room," I ask,

" of course, thank you so much," he says,

"my pleasure," I walk out of the kitchen and into the new nursery, I take the gross old crib out of it and open the new box, I follow the instructions carefully assembling the bed, when its done I place the crib in the corner and put in the materas, the sheets and Ellie's teddy, I then put all the clothes and dipers in the old chest of drawers, the room was already a light blue so it does somewhat resemble a nurse but in my head, I form a plan, I'll make clouds like the ones in the classroom and change then from the ceiling and walls, and fairy lights to make the room relaxing and I'll bring one of the chairs from the living room in so george has a place to sit or mabey I'll buy a whole new couch, and I'll make it the most beautiful room in the world for Ellie, but for now said ellie has starting to cry from the kitchen, I walk toward the sound and find george trying to rock the crying child while also make a bottle for her,

"hey hey, what's wrong," I say,

"I don't know I think she's hungry," he says,

"here you do that I'll take her," I say offering out my arms for her,

"thank you so much," he says handing me the baby,

"shhh," I say trying to soothe her as I rock her back and forth in my hands,

"I think she needs to be changed," George cringes,

"okay I'll do that you keep making the bottle," I say,

"thank you so much, "he says,

"no problem, now let's get you cleaned up little lady," I say as she settles down a little bit, I lay down a towel and lay her on top of it on the other side of the kitchen island, I take off her diaper and clean her up before putting her in a fresh on and putting the dirty one in the bin, by the time I'm done George has made the bottle and has it waiting for her, I let him feed her and we both sit as the counter,

when he's around halfway done feeding her I get up and walk around to the other side of the counter, I wrap my two arms around his waist and rest my head in the nook of his neck, "you're doing so good," I whisper softly,

"thank you," he says leaning back into me, I slowly waddle back into the counter, sitting on it, pulling George into my lap but being carful not to hurt Ellie,

"you're so brave for doing this," I whisper, I feel him pess himself against me even fourth,

"thank you my love," he says, suddenly the door bell wrings making both of us jump,

"I'll go get it you stay here," I say getting off the counter grabbing my wallet and rushing to the door,

"um two pizzas for clay Williams," the pizza boy says,

"mhm that's me, how much for them?" I ask,

"Twelve bucks," he says, I pull three five-dollar notes out of my wallet and hand them to him,

"keep the change," I say taking the pizzas and walking back to the kitchen, George is finished feeding Ellie when I return,

"here you are," I say handing the top box to him, we sit at the island and eat in silence before I speak, "so this whole thing with Lilly," I say,

"yeah, um I don't even know where to start,' he says, and I can see the panic seep into his face,

"Okay okay, so how much do we know?" I ask, "just so we have something to go off when I call Alex,"

"so, over our honeymoon we made amends with each other, we both confessed about the cheating and everything was okay, well no really since she had made me promise never to talk to you again and then in early October we had this blowout fight because I was drinking too much because of how fucking depressed I was and then when I treated to leave she pulls out a pregnace test and I couldn't didn't know what to do and when I was speechless she got all upset and screamed at me because I didn't want the baby to fix our marriage, and then she went to stay with her parents for a bit and on Halloween I got really lonely and had a few beers and that's when I called you," he says taking a shaky deep breath,

"Okay so that's how it started and then what about last night?" I ask,

"so Lilly had gone bad to work last week because she didn't want to take the next few weeks off and I said she should stay home but that started and argument which was still pretty fresh when i said I was going out for a drink so she started to blow up at me for that and somehow it slipped out that the drink was with you and Phil and that when she tarted saying she was gonna cut Ellie or poor boiling water and her and then blame it on me and I didn't think she would actually go there but then she grabbed a knife and- all I saw in my head was Ellie sweet face and I ran to the nursery and grabbed her and ran," he says a tear slipping from his face, as his breathing starts to speed up,

"oh darling it's okay," I say, he looks down at Ellie sleeping in his arms and then at me and I understand the tears in his eyes fully, Ellie is all he has,

"I can't lose her," he sobs,

"I know my love, how about we put Ellie to bed and then eat and talk about this with a clear mind," I suggest,

"yes please," he says,

"Okay c'mon," I say taking his hand and helping him up, we walk slowly to the spare bedroom, "I know it looks sad and decolite right now but I'm gonna make clouds like the ones in my classroom and I'll put fairy light and I promise it will perfect," I say, but George is just staring at the crib in which has Ellie's teddy and the new blankets he bought with a soft smile,

"that you," he says,

"anything for you," I say, he gently places the baby into the crib and brings the blanket up to her chest tucking her in and blowing a kiss onto her head, I walk slowly and lean over the side admiring the sleeping child, "she's so cute," I say as I lean my head on his shoulder,

"I know," he says smugly placing a kiss on my forehead, we stand there for a while before either of us speaks again, "our food probably getting cold," he sighs pulling himself away I follow him into the kitchen and sit down with him, we eat in mostly silence, I finish eating first and lay my head on his shoulder pulling out my phone and finding alexs contact,

"do you want me to call him now or do you wanna finish eating," I ask,

"you can call him now if you want," he says bringing a hand to my hair and playing with my curls,

"Okay okay," I say clicking the facetime button and waiting for him to pick up,

"dream, what's up?" he asks with a croaky voice after a while of rining, his room his dark and I can vaguely see the outline of another body in his bed,

"oh shit is this a bad time to talk about work stuff?" I ask,

"Nah man it's good, one sec I'll go to my laptop," he says switching on the lamp beside his bed illuminating his room so I can see clearly that he is wearing a hoodie in bed with another shirtless brunet who seems to be completely attached to him, "I'll be back in a sec love I've got a work call," he says gently to the other boy as he gets out of bed, "okay what's up?" he asks casually,

"hold the fuck up," I say, "who the hell was that?" I ask until now I had thought Alex was completely straight, "oh that's my bootycall Karl" he smirks,

"shut the fuck up you moron," I hear the other man say sleepily from out of the frame which is followed by a pillow being launched at Alex's face,

"ex-booty call now boyfriend," he says rolling his eyes,

"oh shit, congrats man," I smile,

"Okay so what do you need?" he asks sounding impatient,

"legal advice," I say,

"whos seuing you now," he rolls his eyes,

"no one, well no one is seuing me its George," I say looking at the glowing boy beside me,

"Okay what's the story?" he asks,

I explain everything up to today to him as George quietly gets visibly more anxious, his legs started to bounce up and down and his eyes are darting everywhere trying not to look at Alex and I, when I finished Alex looks up from the notes he has been taking and takes a moment before he speaks, "okay, George you're defiantly in the right in the eyes of the law, but if this does go to court, you will have a disadvantage given the fact she is a newborn and therefor is more reliant in her mother, and also you employment state,"

"but dream said he would financially support her," George says rage growing in his eyes,

"yes, but if you want full custody dream would have to adopt her and become her legal guardian," Alex explains calmly,

"but that's not fair she tried to-,"

"I wouldn't be against that," I say quietly, squeezing George's hand,

"you wouldn't?" George asks, the rage now melting away to the sweet gentleness he always shows me,

"I mean I have enough in my salary, I would if you're okay with it," I say looking at him, his eyes are filled with shock and tenderness,

"Okay, so that's a step forward," Alex says, "George do you have any possible evidence of what happened, like cameras in the kitchen or a nanny cam or something?" Alex asks,

"um there aren't cameras in the kitchen but I think I had the baby monitor in the kitchen with me and the doorbell probably picked up my running out with Ellie," he says,

"Okay perfect-," Alex trails off as he looks to something out of frame from the face time call, "um- do you want to uh-," I see Karl walk into frame now wearing a lavender hoodie as he wraps himself around Alex from behind, "h yeah um- do you want to get coffee tomorrow afternoon and we can talk about this more," he says turning bright red as Karl burrows his head into his neck,

"um yeah okay," George laughs,

"perfect, thanks Alex, bye," I say,

"yeah bye," he laughs hanging up the phone,

"c'mere," George says after I place my phone back onto the counter, he pulls me into a hug and rubs my back, "thank you," he whispers,

"anything for you," I say burying my head into his neck and smelling his colonge, "shall I ask my mom to take Ellie out for a bit while we meet with alex?" I ask lifting my head away from his neck,

"mhm, I'm sure she wants to spent some more time with her new grand daughter," he smiles running his hand down my hand, my heart flutters with excitement at the thought of officially being Ellie's parent, "and maybe if we have some spare time afterward..." his tone changes to be more seductive, "I can reward you for being so good to me lately," I feel the blood rush to my crotch from his words as he leans closer to me,

I take a shakey breath and squeeze my thighs together in a desperate attempt to keep hidden how desperate I am for him, "remember the night after your rehearsal dinner?" I say purely thinking out loud,

"I thought about that night every time Lilly touched me," he says leaning closer and closer to me and all of a sudden I am sitting on the counter hanging from his lips as his hands once again roam free on my body, "are you prepped?" he asks between passionate kisses,

"n-no," I stutter as his hands go under my t-shirt and up toward my chest,

"okay," he says as he begins to leave love bites on my neck, "we can work around that," his hot breath against my neck making me never want to be far from him again,

"George," I whine helplessly, I want to say a million words to him, I want him to never ever let me go, I want him to know I am all for him, but I can't right now so I just close my eyes in absolute ecstasy,

"come on baby lets go to bedroom, its to cold out here," I slip down off the counter and my crotch grazes against his knee making my legs feel to weak to walk,

"George," I say utterly breathless as I lean against the counter,

"whats up," he says tilting his head to the side and pressing his knee between my thighs again, and as my head falls back again I know he knows exactly what he's doing to me,

"mhmm," I hum as he moves his leg up and down slightly making me completely unable to do anything apart from bucking my hips even harder into him,

"you want me to carry you huh?" he says,

"n-no," I breath out, 'stay- mmh- stay here," I say pressing myself against his leg even more as I feel the same euphoria that I've only experienced with the man in front of me, but all of a student his takes his knee out from under me,

"you didn't think I'd let you finish that fast baby did you?" he says cupping my face as frustration clouds my mind,

"please," I beg as he kisses my helpless lips,

"c'mon let me at least make me work a little to hear your pretty mouth whine like that," he smirks cupping my face and lifting me towards him so I'm leaning on him completely,

I dont speak I just burry my head into his neck and wrap my arms and legs around his torso, letting him pick me up and carry me.

Chapter Text

He is perfection, every part of him, his gentle hands as they trace every part of me, his sweet sweet lips kissing me in the most tender way, the way he whispers soft words against my skin, how even when I was at my most vulnerable he was patient, and as I lay there panting with my heart hammering against my chest with my legs trembling he just stayed kneeling over my legs gazing at my flustered sweaty face,

"I'm gonna go finish myself off okay?" he says once my breathing has returned to normal and the blood floods back to my head,

"Please let me do it," I pant lifting my hand up to try to stop him,

"no baby, I wouldn't want you getting all riled up again, you stay here and look pretty, I'll be back in a second to look after you," he smirks and places a quick kiss on my forehead then gets off the bed and head to the ensuite bathroom, I check the time on the clock beside my bed, it's almost midnight, I just lie there, thinking about what just happened, I hear the toilet flush and the sound of deodorant can spraying at then George emerges from the bathroom still completely naked,

"hi," I say, with a grin feeling incredibly needy all of a sudden

"hi my love," he says,

"you want me to help you shower or shall we just go to sleep?" he asks,

"Can you just get the deodorant can from in there? I'll shower and get prepped tomorrow," I say with a slight smirk,

"of course," he quickly grabs the can from off the counter and throws it to me, I spray some on and discard it on the ground beside me,

"boxers?" he asks,

"yes please," I say, he throws me a pair and then pulls some on himself, I quickly clothe myself as he lays down next to me opening his arms for me to lay in, I accept the invitation graciously and burrow my head into his neck, I lift up one of my legs so it's across his stomach and then I hug his torso as he pulls the covers over us both,

"mine," he whispers wrapping one of his arms around me and turning his head so we're face to face,

"yours," I confirm, we lie in hazy silence for a moment with him tracing my lips,

he then takes a breath and speaks again "I meant what I said in the kitchen, every time she touched me, all I could this about was how your body felt under me that night," he whispers, I look deep into his eyes and I can tell he isn't lying,

"were you like this with here?" I ask,

"like what baby?" he asks gently,

"This possessive, did you call her yours?" I ask and in the split second before he answers I feel such deep regret for asking so scared I just ruined everything we have,

"Never," he says, and everything is all right again, "she was never mine, but you are, my only and only mine, my boy," he whispers running his hand through my hair,

"your boy," I grin, completely satisfied with his answer, I then press my face into his neck and close my eyes savouring this sweetness in case a change of heart rips it away from me again, though I doubt it will, George is sober, he did this all himself and he knows how much I trust him, though that doesn't seem to stop a tear running down my cheek, as he holds me tight,

"I love you," he whispers, "so so much," he adds as if he can read my mind,

"I love you too," I say kissing his shoulder softly and then letting myself drift off to sleep.

it's about three a.m. when we are both woken by cries coming from Ellie's room, George gets up but as I try to follow him he turns to me to stop me, "you stay here honey, I'll be back in a sec," he whispers as he pulls on a loose t-shirt and leaves the room gently closing the door as I curl up in a ball missing his warmth, a few moments later I hear the door to the nursery open then shut behind him and after a while the crying stops and just as quick as he left he slips back through the door and pulls his shirt off,

"you really fucked me up last night," he grins,

"what do you mean?" I ask sitting up and leaning against the headboard,

"turn on that light beside your bed," he says, I follow his order and see his handsome face smirking in the now dimly lit room, "look as those catches," he says turning around to reveal six long marks down his back left from my fingers in one of our particularly pleasurable moments from last night, "and look at my shoulders, there's no skin left its all fucking bite marks and hickeys," he laughs,

"you wanna fucking talk about hickeys," I say pulling down the blanket from off my torso to reveal little purple marks trailing from my jawline to my thighs,

"you're so dumb," he laughs flopping into bed and pulling me into his arms so my back is pressed against his chest and his hands are around my waist,

"you love me though," I say smugly,

"of course," he whispers kissing my neck softly as I close my eyes in pure joy.

"Dreammmm," I feel George whisper against my, "baby wake up," my eyes slowly flutter open to realise its now bright outside, "we gotta go meet with Alex," he says,

"mhmm," I hum turning around and seeing his face smiling back at me,

"good morning my love," he grins,

"shut up," I whine, pressing my face into his shoulder to shade my eyes from the sun beaming through the blinds and partially blinding me,

"Okay, how about you stay here, and I'll go make me you and Ellie some breakfast and then you get up," he suggests, his voice soft and sweet,

"but then your not here," I whine,

"Okay then come with me while I make breakfast," he whispers only mere centimetres keeping us away from each other,

"It's cold out there though," I say, trying to find any excuse for him to stay and cuddle with me for a few more hours,

"you can bring the comforter with you," he laughs seeing straight through my plan,

"Fine," I say rolling my eyes and grabbing the two corners of the blanket and rolling off the bed straight onto the floor with George landing right on top of me,

"you're so dumb," he laughs, and I just move my face closer to his and kiss him, "c'mon you, idiot," he smiles as he gets off of me and stands up offering my a hand to help me up, I take it holding my blanket around my shoulders.