warmth [dreamnotfound] | ✓

epilogue.

12:40 AM.

George backed out of the parking lot quickly, disappearing into the night without so much as a glance in his rearview mirror. He cruised through the dark city in complete silence, watching as the lights rolled over his windows and illuminated the interior of the black car. It had been mere minutes but he could already feel an icy cold expelling from the place where Dream used to sit.

He searched for a while, driving in circles around the city until he finally found what he was looking for. He flipped on his turn signal and pulled into the lot of a shitty motel with the letters on its sign falling off so the title was illegible. Perfect for a one-night stay in a town he never planned to return to.

George's shoelaces slapped against his foot with every movement of the car. His fingers tightened around the wheel. His book slid around on the backseat, making an obnoxious noise as it collided with the car door. The keys jingled in the ignition. George hated every second of it.

As he stopped the car across two parking spots in the corner of the lot, far away from all of the lamps that illuminated the old pavement, a song started on the radio. It was quiet and slow, yet perfect, and both speakers played it clearly. He smiled to himself, suddenly overcome with a feeling that started in his stomach and spread over the rest of his body.

The teenager laughed to himself at nothing particularly funny as he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned back in his chair, starting to get hysterical. His eyes crinkled at the edges, his chin trembled uncontrollably, and his shoulders shook until it was less of a laugh and more of a sob.

Tears rolled down his face in such rapid succession that George didn't even attempt to stop them. He clutched his sides and continued to hiccup in laughter though his desperate gulps for air were much funnier than what he had been thinking about prior.

His first kiss was shit. A lot of firsts in his life had been. The first time he used drugs, he'd almost passed out. The first time he realized he was gay, he denied it for years. The first time he realized his family didn't truly care about him, he couldn't remember what he'd done. Now here he was, sitting alone in a dark parking lot in Orlando after his first kiss. His first time driving on roads that weren't just in his neighborhood. His first road trip. So many more firsts that he couldn't even think of.

His cheeks were wet with tears, but they were not the kind of sadness. They were not the kind of grief. They were not even the kind of loneliness. They were something he had never experienced before. Freedom. Love. Pure elation. Things he could never feel with drugs numbing his system.

It was the only time George would ever be glad he was sober.

<><><><><>

starting this whole fic with dream pov and ending with george pov? poetic cinema. (/j that was literally an accident i didn't mean to do that LMAOOOO)

ANYWAYS! i just want to give a huge huge huge thank you to every single person that read the fic! the support has been fucking insane and i love every single one of you. seriously. you're all my little pogchamps :))))))

okay now that the cheesy stuff is out of the way, i just wanted to let you all know that i will be writing another dnf fic after this! it's a soulmate au! so i will definitely be back very soon! it might be a week or two but the dnf community can't seem to get rid of me smh. (if you wanna stay in contact until then, i have twitter @egirlpatches !! also if you have any art or thoughts or anything you'd like me to see...)

also, if you're considering re-reading "warmth" in the meantime (which i'd definitely recommend /j), i made a list of some of my favorite writing moments that i think are worth looking out for:
-use of the title word "warmth" (which is only used twice in the whole fic hmmm wonder if that is significant...)
-hills, mountains, and terrain in relation to how the characters are feeling.
-music (especially the song titles in the chapters. listening to the lyrics/vibes of those with each chapter adds a lot, i promise. anyone who has my spotify can vouch that i was listening to "space cadet" on a loop for an hour or so while i wrote this.)
-dream's sunglasses.
-repeated word usage. there are words surrounding the stars, motels, how things are "meant to happen", and a couple others that i genuinely worked really hard on making match up between different parts of the story. there's even a reference to dream's broken glass door from the flashback chapter in chapter one :))))
-also use of phrases like "friend" "pair" or "duo" referring to the two. there's a shift from "old friend" to "best friend" that i particularly love <3

one last thing! i wanna do a kinda q&a in the comments! any questions or comments or even if you just wanna scream with me, i'll be vibing down there and talking about the characters because i'm not quite ready to let them go just yet. i'd love to hear your favorite moments, references, motifs, cameos, etc. and now that the story is officially over i can answer anything without a vague open-ended "... :)" at the end and that's pretty poggers i think :)

okay that's it for now. i love you all so much. thanks for coming along on my little ride :)

-lili @egirlpatches <3