ORPHANED

:: sixty-two ::

"you know, i'd expect you to know how to skate if you'd take me roller skating for my birthday."

dream and george giggled as they clung to the wall of the rink, neither of them knowing how to skate, dependent on sapnap's short classes every time he passed them.

"i forget how to skate every time i step out here, i'll get back into it eventually." dream skated behind george so if the man were to fall over he could catch him before he hit the ground.

"i think i'll stick to listening to what sapnap says, you've almost knocked me over several times already, and we've only been out for two minutes."

dream bit down on his tongue scared too laugh too loud in the building. "i don't know how wilbur does this, being this tall is crippling."

george turned around to shake his head at dream. "i don't know how you do it."

they heard gagging noises and turned to see sapnap and karl flawlessly skating beside them.

"you guys are so sweet it's disgusting." sapnap grabbed their hands, pulling them away from the walls for another round of rushed classes on how to skate. george and dream struggled to pick up the technique that would keep them moving smoothly, usually distracted by the other.

after almost two entire hours of skating and learning, dream and george were able enough to stray from the edges and skate together hand in hand. nothing too impressive.

this was when two girls had approached them. "you guys are so adorable." one of them would say as the other nodded, glancing in between the other three.

dream turned to find sapnap in the crowd, knowing his friend would send them on their way, leaving george for dream to enjoy alone for the majority of the day. he wasn't very keen on the idea of sharing george on the day he had planned out just for them.

"we couldn't help but watch you guys, you have great chemistry. are you a taurus by any chance?" the other girl pointed to dream. he's shook his head.

"sagittarius?" the other girl asked.

"no." george answered.

"are you a leo?" they turned to george.

dream let out an audible laugh, this was a joke. the girls were bashful, after having been so painfully wrong.

"sorry about that, i hope you guys have an amazing day." she pulled her friend away, turning from the guys, face red, embarrassed.

"you too." george watched them skate away, throwing the first punch. "she was flirting with you."

dream scoffed, "are you insane, she was flirting with you, i saw how she was staring."

"no chance." george rolled his eyes, skating faster as he pulled dream behind himself.

"are you guys really arguing about who was flirting with who? they thought you guys were together, they were complementing you as a couple." sapnap was tired of how dumb his friends could be at times. quackity, newly arrived skated idly beside him.

dream looked down to his hand connected with george's. he didn't know where'd they'd gotten that idea.

"but we're not together?"

both quackity and sapnap turned to glare at him.

"what?"

dream felt george's grip loosen around his hand, when sapnap sped up to speak with him. then the blonde went tumbling, the strength in his legs suddenly gone in an instant, pulling the birthday boy onto the floor with him.

when he looked up, quackity and sapnap were laughing.

"you deserved that." quackity spoke solemnly to dream, george had done nothing wrong. dream nodded, that was fair, he wasn't sure why, but it made sense for it to be fair.

"my legs are sore, we should leave." george stood from the floor, pulling sapnap to exit the rink, leaving dream on the floor with quackity hovering above him.

"id help you up, but i like the scene of you shorter than me." quackity smiled down to the blonde on the ground.

dream rolled his eyes, standing up himself as he glanced to watch george continue pulling sapnap out of the rink. quackity followed his gaze.

"yeah, you're fucking this up for yourself."

"yeah, well, you just got here and we're already leaving."

quackity's jaw fell open, dream wasn't wrong.

dream skated to the exit, quackity starstruck beside him. when he got to the table he untied his skates, stepping out of them, quackity lapped the table, trying to make up for all the skating he missed.

"hey dream, i bet you i'm taller with skates on." quackity skated over, standing beside dream. the blonde stood up beside him, still having height on the other even without skates of his own.

george's eyes didn't look up to watch.

quackity huffed, "well, okay then."

dream sat back down in the chair, rubbing at his calves.

"my legs are killing me." both dream and george had spoke up at the same time.

"jinx."

george looked away from dream's smile.

dream contemplated pulling out his phone and texting red, right then and there, tracing the screen of his phone in his pocket. no. he had to deal with this himself.

quackity followed sapnap and karl to hand in their skates, leaving dream and george alone.

this was his time.

"george?"

the brunette turned to the blonde from the rink.

"come to the bathroom with me?" dream stood from his seat, offering a hand to the other.

george seemed to contemplate for too long, leaving an uneasy feeling in dream's stomach. the feeling only settling when he felt george's hand in his.

he smiled over to the other, noting that the returned smile was more sad then happy. maybe, perhaps dream was an asshole. he knew he was the reason behind george's sad smile on his own birthday.

he walked toward the bathroom. avoiding people as he passed, making sure not to loose george in the crowds, keeping a strong hand in his. maybe he was an asshole, but he could also make up for it.

he could make it up to george.

—

i was going to publish the rest of george's birthday but the sun has risen and i'm falling asleep. i'll see you later today, that is a promise (: