feel my hands. (dnf x gream)

Chapter Eleven: Soon

Dream woke up in a cold sweat. His neck strained painfully when he numbly turned his head to the side. There was a dark head beside him—he couldn't tell if it was George or Sapnap.

He nudged the body beside him. Why am I in bed?

It blinked sleepily, looking up. "Oh, you're awake." So it was Sapnap.

Dream hummed with the little energy he had left in reply, eyes searching the dark room. "George?" He croaked.

"Couch." Sap lowered his head again, voice muffled. "It's 5 in the morning, by the way."

"How long have I...?"

"A few hours. Knocked out cold."

He willed himself not to think about the entire situation. Fully awake now, his eyes roamed the room. Drafty air tickled his neck, cooling his throat.

It had almost been a week now. The three had nearly done anything, save for nearly drowning and getting chased down by a psychopath. Sapnap had spent more time with Jo than with him or George.

Dream didn't want to come to this conclusion, but the entire meet-up was a mess. He had been so engrossed in his own issues that he'd completely neglected his guests. What would his sister have said about that? He could practically hear her, stiff-mouthed and stiff-backed, slight frown dancing on the corners of her lips.

"Hey, you're seeing this... girl, right?"

Sapnap's head shot up, pink dusting his cheeks. "O-oh. Yeah, how'd you know?"

"George." He realized how bad that sounded. "I'm sorry I-I didn't know. I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to you or your personal life. This whole meet-up must've been really boring."

"It was still fun. Plus, I know you have your own stuff to deal with, dude." Sapnap replied grimly.

"I know, I just—I just wish I could've been there for you—your wingman, you know? Like," he gulped, "like the old days."

Sapnap looked up at him with glittery eyes. Dream hated himself for forgetting how Sap saw him as an older brother. Had he failed him?

"S'okay. We're best friends. I'm just glad that you're alive and well."

"Sapnap." Dream felt his voice crack and he curled up tighter under the covers. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, this was a disaster. Please don't tell me it's all okay," he interrupted when the younger opened his mouth to retort, "it's not."

Sapnap nodded dutifully and he continued softly. "Can you... tell me all about her?"

"Of course. Uh, sh-she's really pretty and cool. She's got this blonde hair." He gestured to his head, face crumpling. "It's really yellow and it smells like strawberries. Her eyes are blue, really blue. Like the ocean."

"That's so corny." Dream muttered half-heartedly.

Sapnap agreed, fire burning in his eyes. "But she's amazing. She's really funny. Her name is Joanne but she goes by Jo and sometimes Anne, and sometimes Jojo or Anna." Tears welled up in his eyes. "She likes to play soccer and go shopping but she spends more than she expects to and gets upset afterwards. She yells at the TV when her favorite soccer team loses, curses them out like a sailor. She knows all the curse words in the library."

Dream nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. Sapnap furiously wiped at his eyes.

"And she likes me. She thinks I'm amazing and funny and great and she says we belong together. And I believe her."

"Yeah?"

"I think I like her back. I've spent so many days talking to her. Everytime I see her she runs up to me and punches me," he laughed brittlely, "and I tell her, 'ouch!' so I can see her smile really bright and hold my arm. Then we go and lose track of time. And I've met her Pa, he's one hell of a dude and he loves that damn motorboat he keeps in his driveway, on the truck he calls Martha. He shows it to me, every time, and Jo just slaps him away and drags me up to her room so we can play video games or talk about life."