ORPHANED

:: seventy-four ::

during the ride back sapnap proved he didn't hold the same sentiment dream had. expressing to everyone in the car exactly why he had been so upset with george. dream blocked him out, no longer wanting to hear about it.

his sister sat beside him, falling asleep despite the crude words sapnap spewed into the air. dream had been upset but sapnap appeared to be offended.

he pulled out his phone to distract himself, an unanswered text sitting at the top of his notification center.

so you met jared

he opened the message, eager to have more understanding about the situation.

'will what the hell'

'i was trying to avoid this, believe me'

'i'm so confused wilbur :('

'i thought they were done, i hadn't seen him in so long, and then he just showed up one day'

dream frowned at the screen letting out a shaky breath, his sister stirred from in between himself and quackity, resting her head on his arm. he turned back to his phone.

'when you showed up at the door i knew i couldn't let you in, not only had george told me against it, but i couldn't let you see that'

'so he wasn't lying, george did invite him over'

'i don't know about that, you'll have to ask him yourself'

dream huffed, riled up again from the situation that had previously irritated him.

'will, what do i do'

'you've always been a loving person dream, i know that, i might still be upset about techno but i meant it when i said i still love you like a brother. i think you need a break, some time apart for george to realize the reality of the situation and get his shit together'

dream couldn't imagine being the reason they were apart.

'how long?'

'long enough for him to end it with jared, he's been telling me they're over but he always runs back to him, maybe seeing that jared's the person tearing you guys apart he'll grow up and finally end whatever it is they have'

'you'll make sure he's okay?'

'he's asleep right now, but of course, i won't let him keep this up, take care of yourself dream, this will be over sooner than it started'

'goodnight will'

'i mean it dream, if you won't do it for me do it for george, goodnight'

dream exited their messages, closing the app and coming face to face with the picture of george that was set as his wallpaper. he felt tears form and turned off his phone, tucking it back into his pocket and turning to look out the window.

maybe dream didn't have the right to be upset about george kissing someone else, but how could george switch up on them so quickly, after all the time they spent together? why hadn't george told dream about him? were they dating? didn't george say he was single?

questions lined themselves up in the blonde's brain leaving no open space for him to think of anything other than george. he held his eyes shut swallowing air, not completely sure he was breathing at all.

"dream."

he opened his eyes again and he was back in the forest, back pressed to a cold rock, the rays of sun that passed the leaves of the high trees, burning into his already hot skin. the brunette crouched down in front of him offering a gentle hand. dream scanned the other boy, remembering the memory all too clearly.

he felt tears fall from his eyes and he grabbed the hand, feeling the brunette pull him into into his chest, wrapping his arms around him as he sobbed. his cries echoing into the vacant expanse of trees. the brunette rubbed at his back, holding him tight, offering himself up as an anchor that kept him in the reality of the situation.

"dream."

he opened his eyes and he was back in the car, hands grasped at the hair on the sides of his head.

"are you alright?"

he lifted his head, turning to sapnap. "i just need to sleep."

sapnap offered a sympathetic smile. "i'll see you tomorrow?"

dream tried to come up with an excuse but nothing came to mind. he nodded, turning from his friend to realize they were parked in front of his house, the other guys seemingly already having been dropped off.

he turned to his sister, debating waking her up before pushing open his door, sliding his arms around her to pull her out of the car. the position reminding him of the day he had carried george when they had walked to his apartment together.

he shut the door with his hip, watching as sapnap waved, pulling out of the driveway. he walked up to their front door, removing his keys from his back pocket, unlocking and pushing open the door, his sister still in his arms.

he sighed at the silence behind the door, closing and locking it as he hung up the keys.

he set his sister down on the sofa, pulling off her sneakers and setting them by the front door, he found a blanket and draped it over her, leaving her on the couch to sleep as he made his way up the stairs.

falling asleep was going to be difficult, he knew it before he was even remotely close to his bed. so many things were flying through his mind he was scared he was going to overheat and blow up.

he sat down at his desk, opening a notebook to the page he had been doodling on the night of george's birthday, when they had been on the phone. halfway through the page the doodles had changed from swirls and smiles into the repetition of six letters.

he seemed to be at a war with himself, trying to see how many times he could fit the letters onto the page. the six letters lined up with the thoughts on his brain. all he could think about;

george.

—

sorry about the wait, i've rewritten this chapter 7.5 trillion times and i still don't like it, i figured i might as well finish it to get it out of the way so we can finally move on