“You forgot the rings, didn’t you?
Okay, in Dream’s defense, he’d gotten a bit distracted.
How could he not? They were late—by nearly 10 minutes, to be exact—and George had finally rounded the corner, looking like he’d just walked off the cover of a fashion magazine. Between his already frazzled state and his fiancé looking drop dead gorgeous, how could Dream not stop and stare?
Sapnap, however, had not been nearly as fazed. As soon as George appeared, he was shoving the two of them out the door, zero hesitation or questions asked. Dream was surprised he even remembered to lock the door in their rush to leave.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t exactly pat himself on the back too much, considering their current predicament.
Dream winced, looking over to Sapnap, who was still patting down his own pockets. “Please tell me you happened to grab them?” he all but pleaded.
Sapnap held up his empty hands. “I didn’t,” he said apologetically. “I assumed you already had them when we left.”
Dream dropped his head and sighed. “Of course we managed to forget the rings,” he groaned, dragging a hand over his face.
Another hand reached out, gently pulling his hand away. “It’s fine, Dream,” said George, interlacing their fingers. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”
Dream frowned. “But what—” He paused, eyes catching on a bracelet wrapped around Sapnap’s wrist—a bracelet that matched another somewhere in North Carolina. An idea clicked into place. He turned to the judge. “We don’t necessarily need to use rings, do we?”
The judge nodded and replied, “Well, you don’t technically need to use anything at all; rings are commonly symbolic nowadays.”
Dream felt the edges of a smile begin to appear. “But anything can be symbolic, right?”
“I suppose so, yes.”
“Perfect.”
George raised an eyebrow as Dream let go of his hands. “What are you thinking?” he asked, his own smile growing with Dream’s energy.
Without responding, Dream reached up beneath the collar of his nicely ironed shirt—courtesy of his mom—and unclasped the gold chain from around his neck. He held it up, the light glinting off the metal as it swayed. “Will this do?” he asked the judge.
The judge smiled kindly. “I don’t see why not,” she said.
Dream looked back to George as Sapnap cheered. George laughed, Dream shrugging proudly. “Only you, idiot.” He rolled his eyes, but his smile was bright. “Only you.”
“I take it you boys are ready now?” the judge interjected lightly.
Happiness sparkled like stars in Dream’s eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Wonderful.”