Flame. (Dreamnotfound)

Dragons

[A/N: The whole Dream and Sap situation, heatwaves chapter 10 came out, they broke me emotionally and I wasnt gonna update today. Its emotional breakdown time, though- so you get a late night chapter smh. I'm also trying to take my time on this chapter as far as descriptions go so, let me know what you think when I'm NOT speed running writing lmao]

George's mind struggled to stay within the realm of possibility as the young boy listened intently to his boyfriends deep breathing.

A low feeling rumbling him down to his core as the butterflies grew to dragons, destroying him from the inside out. The small flutter of the butterfly wings against his body quickly became an agitating crash against his rib cage, the blood from his heart pouring into his veins at a faster pace than what would be considered normal.

The clock illuminated the small boy's face, the brightness being anything but subtle in the brunette's current state of restlessness. A shakey breath flew through him, his hands taking on the same shakey nature. He was nervous, to say the least.

The clock screamed at him, practically begging that he sleep soon.

2:57 am, it said. The dragons' flames breaking through a barrier George once had great control over. A burning feeling engulfed every inch of his body, more metaphorical than literal.

3:01 am, it screamed, louder this time. Clay's soft breathing had been drowned out by now. The taller man may as well have been under water, muffled against the loud volume of the brunette's own thoughts.

Clay's birthday, the clock shouted against George's skull. If the brunette didnt know better, he would be convinced his skull had shattered, the volume of his overthinking enough to destroy an entire city.

George never would have though his boyfriends birthday would cause such a deep rooted reaction within him. However, for some unknown reason, the boy was unable to pull trust down from its flight. Would he like the gift?

For what seemed like years, George had been awake thinking of nothing but that awful gift. In anyone else's eyes, it would have been perfect. In the british boy's twisted mind, however, that gift was nothing but fuel for the fire.

The fire being the unbearable bundle of nerves that had taken shelter in George's body, the young boy becoming a vessel for everything that could lead to nervousness. This same feeling had taken over George's body long ago, the same feeling he had when he read Heatwaves for the first time.

Somehow, an identical feeling had come to mean much more, now. It was imperative that Dream enjoyed the gift.

His eyes stared deeply into the green numbers of the clock. What seemed like a simple blink mutated to several hours of sleep, the tired feeling finally getting the courage to overtake the dragons.

George released a gasp, coming down from the high known as sleep. His eyes immediately found themselves against Clay's sleeping face, the taller boy clearly having a much more peaceful sleep than George was greeted with.

The small boy pulled himself up sluggishly, cursing to himself quietly when the birthday boy opened his eyes.

"Morning, my birthday bitch." George chuckled lowly, placing a gentle kiss to Clay's forehead.

Until that moment, the dragons had returned to their dens. Until that moment, the nerves were gone. Until that moment, George had experienced peace.

That was all cut short when he realized what Clay's birthday meant. That awful gift.

His brain flooded with the same thoughts from the night prior, filling with water too quickly for anything to stop it. The water damage would last decades if George's mind was a town. Lucky for him, the damages would likely be repaired on August 13th.

"That wasn't very nice, baby." Clay was sat against the headboard, watching George stumble over the basic actions he performed every morning. "You seem nervous," Clay stated.

"You don't say?" George's voice had taken on a sarcastic tone, the older man immediately regretting how harshly his words had fallen. "I'm sorry, Clay. I'm just- extremely nervous that your gift isn't going to be enough."

Clay shook his head, unable to respond before George had gone out to the living room, presumably to acquire 'the gift,' as he had called it.

Patches jumped up onto the bed, finding her own spot on Clay's lap, purring constantly when the tall man ran his fingers through her soft fur.

George entered the bedroom, a large box in hand. He sighed, quickly handing the box to Clay. He pouted towards the cat, releasing a chuckle.

"Hey, patches. That's my spot." George said jokingly, taking his own seat next to his boyfriend.

He watched eagerly as Clay's hands began to unravel the paper, time seeming to slow down in that moment.

Before either of them knew it, the box was open and Clay had pulled out the first object.

A small piece of paper rested between Clay's larger fingers, his thumb doing it's best to unravel it.

"Read it out loud?" The brunette asked, Clay saying no words, just giving a soft nod in response.

"This note is going to seem rushed, theres no way around it. After all, I'm not the same English genius as you are. I think we both know that by now.

Before the actual present, I just wanted to let you know that I'm here to stay. You're in a constant state of worry, I can tell. You never truly believe I wont leave you, but I know you can't help it. Trust me, Clay, I'm never leaving.

This next part of the note is 365 days worth of words, yes. Just words. The words I would use to describe each day for the past year. You dont have yo read those now, though. Get back to the box, dummy!!"

The two shared a chuckle, the accuracy of George's note shining through specifically at the last bit.

The next object was pulled from the box, and many more after that until a final object had been pulled.

Clay held onto a hard cover copy of Heatwaves, hardly able to react.

"Its so corny, I know. I couldn't help myself, though. Now, with the rings and the book, we're never forgetting what started this." The brunette ranted, Clay smiling softly at his flustered state.

"I love it, George. And everything else, too. You did a great job." Clay replied, the two finding themselves wrapped tight in a hug after that.

George felt the dragons change back to butterflies for the first time that day.

And eventually,

The dragons had disappeared entirely.

[A/n: I love how descriptive this was but I couldnt do all the chapters like this. It drains me so fast, its ridiculous. Hope you enjoyed this rare occurrence, tho. I certainly do :D]