George awoke to the feeling of something against his tongue. He closed his mouth around it out of reflex, and he felt the object twitch. He could hear someone quietly giggling and he snapped his eyes open to see Dream, Sapnap and Karl looking back at him. Dream's face was slightly red, his arm reaching up through the railing on the side of the bed. George trailed his eyes up Dream's arm, halting at his hand hovering right in front of his face.

Dream's finger is in my mouth right now. George's eyes widened and he clamped his teeth down onto the digit. Dream let out a cry of pain as he pulled his finger from George's mouth, shaking his hand in the air.

"What the fuck, George?"

George shot up and blew rasperrries at all three of them, attempting to get any remnants of the finger off of his tongue. "Yuck!"

Karl and Sapnap were on the floor laughing. "Shut up." George barked at them, rolling his eyes.

"Oh come on now, don't pretend you didn't like it puppy." Dream teased, leaning over the railing.

"Oh, I liked it? You're the one who was blushing." George shot back, putting his palm on Dream's forehead and shoving him away.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

George hopped down from his bed and walked over to his side of the drawer situated next to the bunks. He sifted through it, deciding to wear another pair of black sweats and a plain white T-shirt. He also grabbed a pair of black boxers and a new pair of socks. "I'm showering first." He stated, taking his clothes and walking out the door.

"Do you even know where the showers are?" Dream questioned, picking out clothes of his own.

George stopped walking. "I- I'll find them." He said unconfidently.

Dream didn't look convinced. "I'll walk you."

"What? No. You don't know where they are either."

"Yeah, but between the two of us I'm more likely to find them." Dream responded as he walked toward George.

George stuck his hand out, colliding with Dream's chest. "No. I don't need you to escort me around."

"Don't flatter yourself. The showers are probably right next to the bathrooms, and I have to piss."

George looked up at him and scoffed before giving in, dropping his hand and walking off. Dream easily caught up to him as they made a right at the intersection in the hallway, walking towards where Quackity said the showers were.

After a few minutes of looking, they arrived at the showers. Dream was right- the bathrooms were right next to them.

"Can I trust you to find your way back without me?" Dream asked as George walked into the shower room.

George didn't even look back as he said, "I'll be just fine." He pushed open the door, looking around for the shower labeled "B4". He quickly found it, setting his clothes on the small bench next to it and grabbing a clean towel from the rack a few feet away. He stepped in and stripped, reaching a hand through the curtain to drop his clothes on the bench.

Five minutes later George was out of the shower and dressed. As he walked out, he noticed the full length mirror plastered to the wall by the door, and George realized that up until this point he hadn't remembered what he looked like. He stepped up to the mirror and took his own face in. He had chocolate brown eyes with purple bags forming underneath them, short dark brown hair that laid flat on his forehead, full pink lips, slightly arched brows, long eyelashes and porcelain white skin that greatly contrasted his dark eyes and hair. He touched his hand to his face, running over every inch of it with his fingers. It was a weird feeling, seeing himself for what felt like the first time. He dropped his hand, letting out a long sigh.

With a final glance, he tore himself away from the mirror and left the shower room. When he walked out, he was met with Dream leaning against the wall waiting for him.

"You just had to wait, didn't you?" George asked, walking off towards their room.

"Didn't want you to get lost." Dream smirked, pushing off the wall and jogging up to George. He looked him up and down before adding, "Don't you think those clothes are a bit big?"

"They gave me the wrong sizes." George mumbled, keeping his eyes straight. Dream just laughed as they kept walking, rounding the corner of the now familiar intersection and heading towards their room.

When they walked in Quackity was already there, sitting on Dream's bed and talking to Karl. "Hey boys!" He greeted, grinning at both of them.

"Hey Quackity." George smiled as he set his dirty clothes on top of the dresser.

"You guys ready to go?" Quackity asked while standing up. Everyone mumbled an affirmative and he clasped his hands together. "Perfect. Let's go."

He walked out of the room, pushing the door open for Karl who trailed closely behind. They walked down the hallways to the cafeteria where almost everyone else was sitting at a table.

The room was gigantic. It led George to wonder how big the whole place really was. Dozens of round lunch tables were scattered throughout the room, each being able to hold eight people. On the left, a large deli-like counter was set up, the kitchens visible behind it. There was even a menu board hanging above it. George looked around at all the other kids as Quackity led them to a table towards the back of the room.

"Techno!" Quackity yelled, waving his hand in the air. "Save seats for my group!"

George looked past Quackity to see a group of four sitting around a table, a pink haired male (who wore a lab coat) standing next to them. He didn't look very happy to be there.

As they approached the table, George took note of the boys sitting there. One was a tall brunette who wore a thin, pastel yellow long sleeve. He smiled at George as he sat down across from him, and George returned it easily. There was something about his face that drew George in. He had perfectly straight, pearly white teeth and his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. He was very pretty. George found himself admiring him.

"Oi, shithead, I'm talking to you!" A boy yelled, catching George's attention. He looked around to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him intently.

"Uh, sorry, what?" George asked.

"Hey, another Brit! Let's go!" Said another boy on the other side of the table. He was small compared to the blue eyed boy. He had a mop of dark brown hair sitting on top of his head, and he was wearing a dark green long sleeve shirt that had a few buttons leading up to the collar. He looked fairly young compared to George's group.

"I don't care Tubbo. What's your name?" The blue eyed boy asked, his voice laced with impatience.

"Oh, I'm George."

"I'm Tommy. I'd say it's nice to meet you but I'd just be lying." This earned a laugh from everyone at the table, but his face was serious. George slowly nodded as he looked away, and his eyes landed on the boy next to the short brunette.

He was tall. Like, really tall. He had to be at least 6'6. He had a swoop of dirty blond hair curving over the right side of his forehead, ending at his cheekbone. He wore a black short sleeve and black gloves, but that's not what caught George's attention. His eyes were the exact same shade of brown as his own. It could have been a coincidence, but something about them looked oddly... familiar. There were too many things that George had seen that looked familiar to him, and he was starting to get a bit worried about it.

But the weirdest part was that the boy was looking back at George with the same curious gaze. When George realized this he spoke up. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Ranboo. Do I... do I know you?" He asked, leaning his elbows onto the table.

George too leaned forward as if they were having some top secret conversation. "I'm not sure. I feel like I know you, though."

Ranboo scrunched his face up in thought and Tommy butted in.

"I don't think it's the time for a bloody reunion, boys. We've got more important things to worry about."

George flushed, leaning back so that he was sitting upright. Dream ducked his head, whispering in George's ear. "You know him?"

"I dunno. He looks so familiar." George responded, keeping his eyes on the boy. Dream narrowed his eyes at George, but didn't say anything else.

"So what do you guys think the meeting will be about?" The boy in the yellow shirt asked, his eyes flashing to George. "I'm Wilbur by the way." He was also British, his voice deep and a bit raspy. Dream stiffened beside George, but George didn't seem to notice as he reached his hand across the table to shake Wilbur's.

"I don't know. Quackity, Techno, any ideas?" Sapnap asked, turning to the two who were standing at the side of the table.

"Well we do know, but we can't tell you. You'll just have to wait and see. Now go up and get your food." Quackity said, waving the boys off towards the counter. They all stood, walking as a group towards the food.

Once they filled their plates they returned to the table. Waffles were being served alongside fruits and juice. George personally preferred pancakes, but he was just glad they weren't being served prison food.

It was silent while everyone ate, aside from Quackity talking to Techno in a hushed whisper. That is, it was silent until Tommy spoke again.

"Ugh, what is this shit? It tastes like sandpaper."

"I didn't want to say anything, but yeah, it does." Tubbo agreed, lowering his voice in case any of the cooks were around.

"I don't think it's that bad." Ranboo said, stuffing another bite into his mouth.

"Of course you don't. You bloody Americans are probably used to eating shit for breakfast." George, Wilbur and Tubbo all laughed at this, but everyone else didn't seem to find it funny.

"Shut the fuck up Tommy. You're the ones who had an entire mental breakdown over spilt tea." Sapnap said, earning a laugh from Ranboo, Dream and Karl.

Tommy stood up, leaning towards Sapnap. "You wanna go, big man?"

Sapnap stood too. "Let's go. I'm not afraid to beat a child's ass."

"Sapnap!" Karl yelled, stifling a laugh. He grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back down.

"You got lucky you prepubescent bitch." Sapnap mumbled. Karl smacked him on the arm.

"Fucking twat." Tommy said as he sat back down.

"Well now that that's over," Quackity interjected, "It's just about time to head down to the Meeting Hall. Follow me."

They all stood once again, dropping their plates into a nearby trash can on their way out. As they were about to leave, Wilbur gently grabbed George's arm, pulling him back. George spun around, a light blush present on his cheeks.

"Hey, um I just wanted to ask what that whole thing with Ranboo was about? You know, the whole 'Do I know you?' thing." He asked, keeping his hand on the smaller boy's arm.

George could feel his arm tingling under Wilbur's fingers, but he ignored it. "Oh, sure. Um, I don't really know. He just seems really familiar to me. Like, I could swear I know him from somewhere." George explained, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for asking." George responded, smiling up at the taller boy. He smiled back, finally dropping his hand to gesture towards the exit. George turned and walked with him out the doors.

When they walked out, Dream was standing there looking rather angry. "Dream?" George asked, throwing him a weird look.

"Just... making sure you didn't get left behind." He responded, his face softening the slightest bit.

"Uh, okay?" George said, grabbing Wilbur's wrist and walking past him. He yanked on his sleeve, signaling for him to lean down.

"Sorry about that. I don't know what that was." George whispered into his ear.

"S'alright. Seems like someone's a bit protective." Wilbur responded, wiggling his eyebrows at the shorter boy.

George let out a laugh as he rolled his eyes playfully. "Not protective, just annoying." Wilbur chuckled as he straightened back up.

After a few more minutes of walking, and George feeling Dream's gaze burning a hole into the back of his head, they arrived at the Meeting Hall. This time, instead of lunch tables, it was lined with foldable chairs in a 10x10 array. He saw his and Wilbur's group sitting together in the third row, so they made their way over. Since they were sitting in a line, George had no choice but to sit in between Wilbur and Dream, who was coming up behind them. Sighing, he slumped down into his chair, Dream quickly sliding into the chair next to him.

The rest of the kids starting coming through the doors by group, filing in to the rows of seats. Once everyone was seated, the lights overhead dimmed, and a spotlight shone on the podium on the stage.

"That's a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Wilbur whispered in George's ear. He smiled, nodding his head in silent agreeance.

"Welcome back to the Meeting Hall!" Schlatt said, stepping onto the stage and crossing over to the podium. The white lab coat people clapped, prompting everyone else to do the same. After a few moments of scattered, awkward applause, he continued.

"I have some good news and some bad news. Good news: actually, I lied. I don't have good news. You're all going to die."

AN: heyyy besties how are we doing today?? it took me a while to write this chapter because it was supposed to be kind of a filler but it ended up being the longest chapter so far so that's cool👍🏻and yes i had to hit you with that cliffhanger tehe 🙃
how are we feeling about this story so far?? if you have any suggestions or feedback drop them in a comment! they're always welcome☺️ AND thank you all so much for the support on this story. there's literally almost 600 reads are u kidding??? that's bonkers bro thank you all so much. anyway i love u all, go drink some water and grab a lil snacky snack. next chapter should be out tmr <3
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