ORPHANED

:: sixty-eight ::

dream got into the car, disappointed in himself for cowering away his chance to spend the night with george. maybe he was being unreasonable, but on the other hand, dream has never even been in george's room. he didn't think he was ready for something like that all at once.

so instead of staying in the warm comfort that george brought along, he sat in the car being berated by his friends about the possibilities that filled the box he left for the older. although he prefer not to be made fun of for his loyalty to his good friend he figured he could deal with a little teasing, especially when he could imagine's george's face when he opened said present.

this of course brought on a blush, leading into another reason for the guys to crowd around and assume what he had been thinking about, causing his smile to become face splitting, trying to shut up his friends, no longer wanting to imagine the very explicit images they described.

maybe he wasn't flustered as easily as george was, but only because he didn't completely hate the idea of blushing at the words and depictions they spoke into his subconscious. being crowded in the car with his friends, who he knew only wanted want what was best for him, made him smile.

however the smile that played on his face never traveling deep enough into his form to mingle with his soul like the smile george had always pulled out of him had.

**

"well, hello."

dream heard his sister speak as he pushed the front door closed behind himself.

"who are you and what have you done with my brother?" she appeared to chew gum as she spoke, flipping through different netflix categories on the screen. he flopped down next to her.

"what do you mean?" he picked up her water bottle, screwing and unscrewing the cap as he watched her navigate through several movies.

she turned from the screen, scanning him before turning back. "i haven't seen you in so long and you come back all smiley. i don't know that's just weird."

"i have friends, you know."

"i can't tell, you hang out with me more than you hang out with sapnap."

he scoffed, "that is not true."

"is too."

"is not."

"were you with george?"

he stopped, letting the change in her words process in his brain. she smiled up at him, a knowing grin on her face as he turned away from her.

"it was his birthday." being made fun of by his friends was tolerable, as soon as his sister started shooting down on him he was over.

"it was his birthday." she confirmed, setting down the remote, turning to speak directly to him. "what did you do for his birthday?"

"roller skating."

she blinked for a second, "wow okay rude, i'd expect you to take me with."

"you wouldn't want to have been there, neither of us knew how to skate." he shook his head, thinking back to the several times they'd trip over each other, sending one of them into the ground, pulling along the other.

"it was just you and george?" she smiled over to him, assuming she was cracking a code.

dream shook his head. "no? sapnap, karl, and quackity were there."

"q- quackity?" she seemed to be unbelieving.

he smiled. "you don't want to ask about him."

she nodded, "okay well, you and george were skating together?"

he felt like accusing his sister, how had she figured all of this out? nonetheless he nodded.

"hmm." she smiled turning back to the t.v.

"what does that mean?" he now turned to her.

"what?"

"hmm." he mimicked.

"nothing." she smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"i don't like when you do that."

"when i do what?"

"when you act like you know things."

she turned to him as if he was the inexperienced one in this situation, despite the many more years he'd been alive. "you don't think i know things?"

"you don't-"

"what was he wearing?"

"a sweatshirt?" her quick question made him answer quickly.

"what color?"

"my navy blue one?"

she smiled. "really."

maybe he shouldn't have said that. "...why?"

"what was sapnap wearing?"

dream though for a second, knowing he was stumped. he hadn't payed that much attention.

"don't you think it's funny how you can remember exactly what george was wearing, but not what sapnap was?" she smiled at him. "what were you wearing?"

immediately his eyes snapped down to inspect the clothes he had put on that morning.

"that's all i needed to see." she stood from her spot on the couch, dusting her hands.

dream wasn't completely sure what had just happened. he had known though, that his sister had him figured out more than he originally figured.

"how do you feel about laser tag?" she spoke from around the freezer, returning to the couch to sit down with a popsicle.

"laser tag is cool...why?"

"my friend is going with her older brother and his friends, i figured we could go and bring george, sapnap, karl, and..." she searched her memory. "starts with a q?"

"quackity?"

"quackity." she smiled, turning to her older brother. "what do you think?"

he sat thinking for a while, this would be another excuse to hang out with george, outside of their limited interactions while he was working.

"i think you've got yourself a deal." he stood from the couch ready to head up to his room.

"tell george i said happy birthday, hopefully i can give him a gift for christmas." she plugged her phone into her charger.

"tell him yourself." he started up the stairs.

"do you really want me to be able to contact george?"

he paused on the stairs. "i'll tell him, goodnight."

"goodnight."

after using all of his brain power to try and interpret his sister's intentions his bed looked extremely comfortable. when he collapsed onto it however, he was reminded how much he'd rather be at george's.

his phone vibrated in his pocket.

—

chapter 69 up next i wonder what will go down (;