"do you think george is going to like living here?" i asked nick, quietly. we were laying in bed, admiring the way our new room was coming together quite nicely.

"i hope so," nick said.

"do you think he would like it more if i weren't living here? i know dream has waited ages for this to happen, and i don't want george to be uncomfortable with me being here when he's trying to hang out with you guys." ever since the news of george's arrival, i had worried about whether he would see me as an intrusion or be comfortable with me also living here.

"thalia," nick said, turning on his side. "you've lived here as long as i have. you are the heart of this whole house. george will love having you here, just like dream and i do."

i turned that over in my mind as i wrapped the blanket around me more. after a long moment of silence, i said, "thanks nick."

"now go to sleep. you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow," he mumbled, already almost asleep.

i smiled to myself. nick could easily pull all nighters, so it was always a surprise to me how easily he fell asleep. normally i would lie awake for ages, unable to shut my brain off. tonight, however, was different. the steadiness of nick' breathing lulled me to sleep easily, and i ended up sleeping really well for the first time in a long time.

i woke up early and decided to cook breakfast for the three of us. it had been far too long since one of us actually cooked breakfast, and it happened to be my favorite meal of the day- besides lunch and dinner of course- so that made it even more of a tragedy.

i didn't have to be at work until later that morning, so i thought it would be good for us to enjoy breakfast together. as soon as i was done cooking, i yelled for the boys to get out of bed. in minutes, they were blinking sleep from their eyes in front of me.

"thalia," dream said slowly as he eyed the food, "have i ever told you that i absolutely adore you?"

"yes but it's always nice to hear again," i said with a little laugh.

as we started eating, nick bumped his shoulder against mine. "so why you'd cook breakfast today?"

"because i wanted to," i replied.

dream raised an eyebrow at me as he took a long sip of his drink. "thalia, you know that nick and i know you better than anyone else. which is how we both know that you made us breakfast because this is the last morning where it's just going to be us three and you're worried about how things are going to change."

nick nodded along then added, "yeah, you're totally trying to preserve one last perfect memory in case everything goes wrong when george comes, which it won't."

i rolled my eyes at that. "i hate you guys."

"but you know we're right," dream pointed out.

"maybe. anyways i have to get to work now. take care of the dishes please, bye!" i laughed as their grumbling about doing dishes followed me out.

the day at the office went smoothly and quickly, thankfully. when i made it back home, nick and dream had cooked dinner and set up for a movie marathon in the basement. i ended up falling asleep on the couch, along with nick and dream.

we all woke up disoriented, a cluster of limbs on the couch. as we blinked the sleep from our eyes and regained our bearings, i couldn't help but laugh a little.

"guys, we're going to need a bigger couch if george is going to join in on our couch cuddling," i pointed out, moving dream's leg off of me.

nick and dream murmured their agreements, still half asleep. suddenly dream bolted up. "holy crap george is going to be here today!" he was on his feet in seconds. "we've got so much to do still."

i yawned as i started making my way upstairs. "i'm going to go walk percy before i take him to the vet. i'll be back in a few minutes," i told them.

after percy and i went on a quick walk, i changed into comfortable clothes and drove him to the vet. he was due for some shots, which worked out perfectly. otherwise percy would be all over george when he got to our house.

when i finally got back from the vet, dream was in full on panic mode. he straightened everything  on the counters and table five times to make it perfect. occasionally, he would just stop and look like he was about to throw up.

for the most part, nick and i stayed well out of his chaotic ocd way. i finished the last minute touched to george's workspace and made sure the bathrooms were all clean.

"thalia!" i heard nick yell. "where are you?"

"bedroom!" i yelled back.

i heard the sound nick's footsteps on the stairs. seconds later, he enveloped me in a hug from behind. "i'm heading to pick george up from the airport. wanna come?"

"no, i'm going to stay here and make sure dream doesn't actually throw up," i replied.

"okay, i'll see you soon then."

i turned my head around and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "drive safe."

"i will."

"ooh, bring me a smoothie back please," i added.

"i'm bringing george back. isn't that enough?" nick joked.

"it is but it would be better if there was a smoothie, too."

"fine. i'll see what i can do," nick said.

after he left, i went to find dream and make sure he was okay. he was out on the roof, which took me by surprise.

"what are you doing up here?" i asked as i sat down beside him.

"panicking."

"oh continue on then. this is the best place in the house to panic," i said. "but you have nothing to worry about, you know. your best friend is going to be here soon. that's exciting."

"i know," dream said with a small sigh. "but i'm worried he's going to hate florida or hate living with us and move back. im also scared that this is  all just a dream and everything i've ever wanted is just a figment of my imagination."

i grabbed dream's hand and threaded my fingers through his. "get out of your head, dream. let yourself be excited about this and enjoy it. it's all real."

after a moment of dream taking deep breaths, he said, "thanks for always making me feel better thalia."

"it's my honor. now let's go bake some cookies or something."

dream laughed as we made our way downstairs. "is your solution to everything to eat?"

"yep. food does wonders for the soul. now, do we want chocolate chip?"

"of course we do."

we baked a few batches of cookies while we waited for nick and george to arrive. dream slowly relaxed back into his usual, not so worried self.

as dream finished washing the dishes and i cleaned the counter off, we heard the sound of nick pulling into the driveway.

"are you ready?" i asked dream.

"hell yeah," he replied.

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