I didn't wear suits that often. In fact, I only owned one. But I guess that was one more than most people. I ran a hand through my hair in a fruitless attempt to fluff it up a bit. My tie hung slack over my shoulders. Don't get me wrong, I knew how to tie a tie. Except "knew" was the key word. Memorizing how to tie a tie was not a main priority of mine, especially when I didn't plan on wearing a tie anytime soon.

"George, hurry up!" Sapnap said through the dressing room door. He banged on it and rattled the walls around me. I tore my eyes from the mirror and at the wooden door beside me.

"Hold on!" I grabbed both ends of the baby blue tie and began to loop it around itself.

I eventually gave up and had resorted to using the classic bunny-ear method. It turned out to only work on shoelaces.

There was yet another knock as I pulled the knot out.

"You good in there, George? Did you stick your head through the arm hole or something?" Dream asked through the door.

I stepped up to the door and said in a small voice, "Are you alone?"

"Uh yeah. Sapnap and Bad are looking at suits, why?"

"I can't tie my tie," I mumbled.

He laughed, "I'm sorry, what?"

"I kind of forgot how to tie a tie," I repeated a little bit louder.

"Oh, my God," He chuckled. "Let me in. I'll help you."

I unlocked the door and opened it up. He was from head to toe in all black aside from his white shirt and yellow tie. It brought out his eyes, and they sparkled as he grabbed the two ends of my tie. His hair was its natural mess, but for some reason it actually made his personality shine through his formal appearance.

"I honestly thought you would have picked the blue tie," He said.

"I did. Isn't this blue?"

“No, it's pink." He snickered as he took the tie from me and wrapped it around his own neck. "Alright, watch this, George." He showed me both the ends in his hands and overlapped them. My eyes drifted up to his. For once they weren't looking back. Many specks of hair fell over his face and into his eyes, and he'd swipe it away without even thinking about it.

His voice was really smooth. One that could slip me into a peaceful sleep if I let it. And right now it wasn't the same as when he was with Sapnap. It was calmer, deeper. Like a different part of him was talking to me. And I was so busy listening to the way his voice moved that I forgot to pay attention to what he was actually saying.

"And there we have it." He pulled my tie over his head and over mine. He brought the knot up to my neck and his eyes traveled up my neck and into my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to look away. He was so close our breaths mixed together. His eyes flickered before he smoothed out my suit. His eyes dropped and move up my body. I could feel where his stare was. It sent tingles up my spine. When he reached my eyes again he nodded with a soft smile. "You look great."

"Uh, thanks," I replied quieter than I intended.

"How do I look?" He spun around with his arms out, and he looked at me like a hopeful child at a candy store window.

"Uhh with your eyes," I replied, walking passed him and over to where Sapnap and Bad were. Sapnap had a black suit and a red tie on and he and Bad were looking at the white suit with black stripes. Sapnap was the first to notice me.

"George, you look so sexy!" He shouted for the whole mall to hear. I covered my face before it could turn red and approached them.

"Seriously, though, George, you look really good," Bad said. "I like how you three all have different color ties. Especially you, George. I thought you were going to choose blue again. It's a nice change."

Dream came up a few moments later. "How do I look?"

"Sexy," Sapnap said with a wink.

"Oh, my goodness, Sapnap. You look good. All three of you look snazzy!" Bad said.
“I look the best, though," Dream said. "I mean, come on, just look at me."

And I looked at him from head to toe. He looked like a true gentleman aside from his red converse shoes and bright white socks under his slacks. "You look like a spy," I remarked.

"A good looking spy?"

"What spy isn't good looking, Dream?"

His smile seemed to grow. "George complimented me. He just got one hundred times cuter. He's the best looking one here now."

I snickered, "No need to be a simp, Dream."

"Wha— I'm not a simp!" His ears crept red. "A simp gets nothing in return." His smile seemed to fade away.

"Yeah, Dream. I'm sure George gives you something," Sapnap laughed.

"Yeah, I guess." He scratched the back of his neck. "Anyway, you're paying?"

***
The sun had since gone down and the rain had stopped pattering at the windows as Dream entered the bedroom. He shut the door softly behind him and Patches hopped up on the bed and curled up next to my leg.

"October 4th, George," He said, pulling off his sweater and joining me in bed.

"What about it?" That was a few days from now.

"That's when we're getting married."

"Wait, what?" Every cell in my body seemed to freeze for a brief moment.

"What are we waiting for? We already waited two months, we bought suits, we're—uh—something. I don't know what. Sapnap's starting to get a pile-up on schoolwork. Waiting for this wedding is just becoming tedious."

"I suppose."

He glared at me. "What do you mean?"

"What? I just said 'I suppose'."

"You don't sound very excited."

I took a deep breath, but it didn't help the welling happening somewhere in my body. It was a similar feeling as I had sitting next to Dream as he sped down the freeway at two in the morning. Except this one was worse. I was actually becoming more convinced that I would actually die.

"I'm just tired, I guess." I shrugged it off

"Do you not want to get married anymore?"
“What? Of course I do." I kept my eyes glued to my phone. Do not look at him. Do not look at him.
"Look at me."

Dang it. I glanced up at him for only a brief moment before scrolling through Twitter again.

"George, do you not want to marry me?"

I sighed and actually looked up at him. Every second looking into his eyes was like a burn into my cornea. "Of course I want to marry you, Dream."

"You don't act like it," He mumbled, reaching over and grabbing his cat. He rested her on his lap and began to run his hand through her fur.

"Just because I don't act like it doesn't mean I don't want it."

"Well it gives the impression of that."

"Sorry."

He glanced up from his cat and at me and said, "No, you're not."

"What?"

"No you're not," He repeated, "That was the most unapologetic apology I have ever heard."

"Are you serious, Dream?"

"Yes, I am, because you've been acting like a real dick lately, you know that?" His sudden change caught me off guard. He was fine just five seconds ago and now he was getting right back out of bed and pacing the room. He was biting his nail as he waited for my response.

"What? How?"
"Well let's talk about the fact that you've been brushing me off all day. And you've been doing that for days now. I feel like I'm doing all the work here."

"Oh, my God, Dream."

"No, don't just brush me off again, okay?" He snapped.

"Where is all this even coming from?"

He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled sharply. "It's coming from the fact that we kissed and you've been acting like we're strangers. Did it not mean anything to you?"

My head spun and my heart basically tanked. I had honestly been trying to not think about the night we kissed. I didn't want to think about how the entire world seemed to pause for that brief moment. Or how it left a small tingle on my lips for days since it happened. Or how I could feel myself slowly slipping into something I didn't quite want to slip into.

"It did mean something," I said through the dense lump in my throat. "But that's what's wrong."

"What?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

I kicked off my sheets and stood in front of him. I had to look up. "I didn't ask to feel anything."

"Neither did I! This whole thing was supposed to be something we did as friends. But isn't it nice that it turned into something better?" His voice trailed at the end and pink brushed against his cheeks.

"It's not really better, though."

"What?"
“ I didn't ask to-to feel anything towards you. You were probably the last person I wanted to catch feelings for."

He took a step back and scoffed, "What is that even supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what I said."

"Wait, so you'd rather fall in love with Sapnap or Bad before me?" He pointed at himself and he stared at me with a smile.

"That's not what I mean—"

"Then what do you mean?" He interrupted. "Am I that bad of a person to be in love with?"

"No, you're not. And I never said I was in love with you."

chuckled quietly and would no longer meet me eye to eye. "So it's not the fact you don't like me. It's the fact that you don't want to like me. I'm not sure what hurts more, if I'm being honest."

"I don't mean it like that."

"That's exactly how you said it! You know what? Fine. How about we just get married tomorrow? That way we can get this whole marriage thing over with and you can find someone better to fall in love with."

Before I could even answer, he had grabbed Patches and the sweater he was just wearing and walked past me and over to the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"The park."

"Alone?"

He looked me in the eye. "I'll have Patches with me."

He threw open the door.

"Dream, wait."

He turned to me, and in his eyes I felt a million emotions. Just one look felt like a massive beat down. They were glassy, similar to the last time I'd seen him cry. But this time was somehow worse. It was fragile. Like one more blink and he'd completely unravel.

"Please stay under the speed limit."

I wasn't sure how he'd react. It honestly looked like he was about to rip my head off.

But he nodded softly, and in a hushed voice, he said, "Okay, I will. Goodnight, Georgie."

========