Bugcedes Fest 2026 ā Day 3
prompt: a long-awaited confession/breakdown | fluff/very mild angst | wc: 1.109
Getting a moment alone with George was difficult. What was even more difficult was trying to tell him something that had been weighing on Fred's heart for years, something he'd never dared to tell him before.
Not because George was a mean person. Quite the opposite, actually. George was painfully polite with everyone, always putting on his best smile. And that's exactly what Fred was afraid of: of George letting him down gently, patting him on the shoulder with a smile while his eyes screamed how much they pitied the poor lad that he was.
Falling in love with George Russell had happened slowly, over time. Or maybe it had been love at first sight; he didn't remember. Either way, Fred had helplessly fallen for him.
It had become an obsession, almost, but not in a creepy, stalker way. They saw each other almost every day anyway, and Fred couldn't help that he instinctively sought the Brit's proximity.
And George had always been so nice to him as well. Not the way he was with fans who shoved their phones into his hands and told him to smile for a photo, but the way he was off-camera. Genuine. Attentive. Sincere.
The first time George had put his arms around his shoulder for the photo of their annual Christmas party, Fred had almost fainted.
It happened more often after that, and casual touches became more common, until Fred didn't flinch anymore when George's hand brushed against his whenever the Brit handed him a cup of tea, which became a lot more common too.
At times, late at night in his own bed, Fred had imagined George's hand touching him in other placesāthoughts he buried under layers of shame the next morning. He couldn't help himself, though. George, on top of being nice and friendly, was incredibly attractive, and Fred wasn't blind. He was just human.
They had formed a friendship of sorts, although a mentor/mentee relationship would probably be more accurate. George lent Fred a helping hand whenever he struggled to figure out why the simulator settings didn't work for him the way they should, or even for simple things like trying to decide which of the meals the cantina offered he should have for lunch.
George had even been there for him when he'd crashed a car for the first time, returning to the garage all teary eyed. The Brit had pulled him into a gentle, comforting hug, telling him to get used to it, that this wasn't as big of a deal as it might seem and that it would be fine and not to worry about it too much.
Another habit Fred unfortunately suffered from. He was a chronic worrier, often staying awake late into the night, mulling the same thing over and over in his head a million times, despite coming to the same conclusion every time.
This is exactly how the decision to finally confess his feelings to George had come to be. After a long and sleepless night, Fred had carefully crafted the confession, revising it over and over in his head until he could recite the exact words by heart. It was not too detailed, yet clear enough to get the point across, although he had made sure to give George an out if his feelings were unrequited. Fred was pretty sure they were, but he wanted to try anyway.
His friendsāwho didn't know George, only from his storiesāhad encouraged him, told him that if George really was this amazing guy, he would let him down gently. He tried not to dwell too much on how this could destroy their relationship or how awkward it would be to clock into the office and be forced to look at George's pitying expression every day after that.
It was late on a Friday afternoon when Fred had decided to do it. Most employees had already gone home, making dinner, watching TV, playing board-games with their families. George sat in his cubicle, mulling over data from their most recent test run to try and figure out where his feeling of the car and the data didn't align.
"Ahem, excuse me, do you have a moment?" Fred cleared his throat as not to startle George.
"Sure, what do you want?" George spun around in his office chair, expectantly looking up at Fred.
Okay, this is it. The moment Fred had been waiting for all these years. He just had to get out the words, make them leave his mouth and put them out in the open between them. He could do this, he'd rehearsed this in front of his mirror a million times. Deep breath. Here it goes.
"I want you to touch me."
Fred wanted a black hole to appear on the ground and swallow him whole. This was not the confession he'd so carefully crafted.
His brain had gone completely blank, and of all the things he could have said, this is what his brain had chosen to come up with?!
He might as well have called George a dickhead, that would have been easier to live with.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, that's not what I meant at all, I didn't mean to say that, how stupid of me, please just forget everything I ever said Iā" Fred rambled on, completely oblivious to the small smile hushing across George's lips.
"What did you want to say then?" George asked, getting up from his chair until him and Fred stood almost eye to eye. Almost, because George was still one centimetre taller than Fred, which made him tower over the slumped Dane in this very moment. "Hey, take a deep breath," he encouraged when he noticed that Fred was getting close to a panic attack, his skin pale enough to seamlessly blend in with the wall behind him.
Now that he'd made the whole situation the worst it could possibly have gone, ironically, the confession left Fred's lips a little easier, albeit still merely louder than a whisper. "I think I like you."
"Well why didn't you just say that?" George laughed lightheartedly, elaborating when Fred didn't seem to catch on, "I've liked you for a long time, I just never wanted to make a move because I was worried I'd put you under pressure since I'm technically your superior. Not that I see myself that way, but from an external perspective it could come across as me taking advantage of you. So, I've been waiting for you to say somethingāeven if that's not how I imagined it'd go, but I'm happy we're on the same page after all."
