Astrid didn't know how long it went.

She knew the sun was down when George pulled her to his bed, delicate touches turning possessive as they continued, his marks left over her neck and down her body for anybody to see.

She also knew that the sun was rising when they stopped, both out of breath and hardly present enough for him to pull her to his side, placing a soft kiss on her temple, juxtaposed to how he's kissed her only moments ago, so full of unsaid emotion and territoriality.

They didn't speak at first, just basking in each other. Their legs rapped together in an impossible knot and his arms held her tight, fingers drawing on her soft skin.

"Are you excited?" George finally broke the silence, a question with no context, that he soon qualified after realising that himself, "for the meet up"

Astrid let out a light breath, a small smile on her lips as she thought of their shared friends (although said friends were very much left in the dark about that part).

"Very," she nodded a confirmation, "I haven't seen Tom and Tubbo in so long"

He hummed in agreement, letting the conversation fall flat until she spoke again.

"Are you?"

"Yeah," lightly, "will be good to see Wilbur again, and everyone else, maybe talk to Niki more; I didn't get the chance last time" she giggle at what he implied.

"I'll be sure to leave you and Soph a lot of alone time, who knows...you could hit it off" her heart swelled, despite it being a joke she could think of nothing worse than anybody else being in bed beside George, let alone her best friend.

"Mmm..." he seemed to contemplate his next words greatly, setting himself up for them, "we probably shouldn't... be too close yknow, just incase"

'Just incase' what did that mean? Just incase their friends suspected everything about them simply because they walked next to each other in a group.

It burnt a fire down her veins, as if injected with lava, a feeling she was unused to and hated to no end.

They'd agreed.

Both of them decided to keep it quiet, so why did it bother her so much that he was desperate for not even their friends to know their dirty little secret.

Why was he desperate to keep their lives so separate despite being so intertwined together? Like they didn't spend all this time together behind closed doors.

"You scared somebody will find out our dirty secret?" She tried to joke, staring into his deep eyes as they scanned her face, trying to understand if she was truly joking.

"Not scared..." he spoke carefully, stepping over the wrong words like a minefield, "just cautious"

"Of what?"

"Of the world, having everybody pry into our lives, not having the little things anymore," he pressed a kiss to her temple, pulling her hand into his, dragging his thumb across her knuckles, "things like this"

She stayed quiet, unknowing how the 'little things' like this would be anybody's business, why the internet would want to know the ins and outs of them.

But she knew he was right.

Without a real relationship to bond them together, there was no reason that anybody had to know their business.

She was sure it wouldn't go down well if the internet knew of their late-night meetings and early morning goodbyes. They'd put words in each other's mouths and run the little happiness they had into the ground.

It was for the best, that's what she had to remind herself.

She shouldn't get too connected, it'd only end with a broken heart, months of mourning what was and what could have been - and she definitely didn't need that.

"I should get going," she pushed up to her elbows, trying to break free of George's grasp but he only pulled her back down.

"It's four am," he glanced at the digital clock he kept by his bedside, claiming that his phone alarm didn't wake him up, not that the clock did either but that was neither here nor there, "you're not going anywhere"

"It's light outside, I'll be fine" it was true, the winter mornings were bright and cold, her breath often seen in the air in front of her, but it was still Astrids favourite season.

"No, you're staying"

It was harder to keep her mind steady when he spoke to her like somebody who cared.

—————

Written: 3rd June 2022

Published: 9th June 2022

Every chapter is just the same thing I'm just repeating myself lol