ORPHANED

:: seventy-nine ::

dream stared at the now empty screen, his arms loosing strength, he would text back soon.

"oh my fucking god."

he let his arms fall to his sides, turning towards the origin of the sound, in time to watch the brunette push the laptop away from himself. tangling his once busy hands into his hair.

dream frowned at the sight. right now george needed comfort, it was time to put aside his ignorance.

so he stood from the couch, slowly sitting down behind the brunette. he outstretched his legs onto either side of the other, slowly allowing his arms to snake around his small torso, resting lightly against the fabric. he missed the feeling.

he was pushing his luck, not a good idea for a considerably unlucky person. george didn't protest however, instead he pulled the laptop back onto his lap, and began typing away again.

dream peered over george's shoulder to watch his hands as they bounced around the keyboard, knowing where to go as he typed out a line of code.

george's hands lifted from the keys as he shook them in the air. "oh my god." he blew out a shaky breath and reached up to press his face into his hands, sliding down dream's chest to rest his head in the lap of the blonde. dream could hear how every breath that left his lips picked up.

he stared down at him, admiring the prominent features that were still obvious past the obstruction of his small hands against his face. "maybe you should take a break."

he watched george's temples pulse as he awaited a response.

"dream." he let out a hefty sigh, "i literally can't do this." his hands clenched at his face as he pressed harder into his eyes.

the blonde remembered when he had spoken the exact same words to himself in the car. he sighed, if only he could take the brunette to a place he'd feel no stress with no worry about the past or any consequences.

"i know george," he reached his hands down to rest against the brunette's slim wrists. "i know."

george removed his hands from his face to frown up at the blonde. the blonde frowned back down at him. he removed his hands from george's wrists running his fingers into the hair where george previously tangled his own fingers. "time for a break?"

george huffed, sitting up from the blonde's lap. dream watched george save and exit the project he had been working on.

"will said you haven't eaten anything yet, maybe we should order something?"

george nodded, picking up the laptop and disappeared down the hallway.

dream stood from the floor, making his way back to the couch. his eyes darted everywhere but where his sweatshirts sat alone on the table.

"dream?"

he looked up to the doorway to see george, shifting his weight. dream's eyes scanned his frame, eyes lingering where the sweatshirt he wore grazed his thighs.

george fidgeted, acknowledging where the blonde's eyes persisted. "i want to talk to you about jared."

dream's breath caught in his throat, he turned back from the brunette. "okay." his voice wouldn't be audible if there was any other noise in there room, unfortunately for him there was complete silence now.

**

they both hated the uncomfortable feeling in the air, yet neither of them knew how to alleviate it. so they sat in silence, a barely empty pizza box sitting on the table beside the sweatshirts. they both waited until george was ready to speak.

he figured they'd both be more comfortable if they didn't have to look the other in the eyes, so he pulled george into himself, letting himself breathe when he felt george's back rest against his chest. he watched as the brunette reached out his hand to twist the bracelet, that dream wore so proudly around his wrist, in between his fingers.

"i didn't want you to know about him, but it's too late for that now. i was trying to avoid having to tell you about what happened, but wilbur said i needed to tell you. i guess i should start from the beginning."

dream already felt exhausted before the talk even began.

"he was my first roommate when i moved out here, he was really nice in the beginning, kind of like how sapnap was for you. someone who made me feel at home away from home...i don't know." he shook his head, still concentrated on the green braided strings. the blonde's eyes followed every moment the brunette took while he messed with the bracelet.

"i don't want to go into detail."

"you don't have to." dream wanted to be supportive in anyway he could be.

"he was a funny guy, a lot of people knew him. we went to a lot of parties together. one night he tried to set me up with a girl, when i told him i wasn't really interested he started making moves on me."

he took a while to continue, seeming to try and think of how to phrase his next words.

"we had gone up to a room that night and..." he trailed off.

dream rested his head on george's trying to help sync the other's breathing with his own. as much as he didn't want to hear about what happened next he knew it would help the brunette to just be there and listen to what he had to say.

george cleared his throat. "i had been with guys before, but that was the first time i ever, well you know." he chuckled despite the serious conversation, avoiding the true feelings the memories had overturned.

this whole situation had been more extreme then he could have ever imagined. he wanted to take back his words, but he also knew it was too late for that. the only thing he could do was prove to george that what jared had once made him believe wasn't how everyone felt about him. it was just a biggger obstacle to overcome than dream originally expected.

the rain picked up.

—

i want to take the time to apologize to anyone who feels i'm making dream deal with all the problems alone. he's said before that he's very hard on himself, i was just trying to show how even if it something wasn't exactly targeted towards him in a negative manner, he'd interpret in a way that makes him feel he'd have to solve the problem on his own. i had another chapter prepared but i think i will wait until tomorrow to post again