lo and behold

chapter eight: got two tickets

Dream opened the bottle of cologne he'd not touched since that fateful night he'd caught George kissing Michael, sniffing at it warily just as he'd done so many months ago before gingerly rubbing a few drops on his wrists.

He smoothed his sleek, all-black suit in the mirror, tugging gently at the beaded black earrings hanging from his pierced ears before deciding that he was ready.

"Look at you, all grown up," his mother had smiled fondly, reaching up to put a hand on each of his shoulders for a moment before grabbing a small camera. "Smile!"

A 'beep' and flash later, it was "be safe, now", and then he was off, checking his watch as Sapnap's pickup truck pulled into his driveway half past seven. The sun had barely begun to set, days growing longer and longer as the orange rays cast their golden dance across every surface they could.

"Dream!" Quackity grinned from the passenger seat as soon as Dream opened the door, Sapnap turning around to give his best friend a wave before turning back around to throw the car into park.

" Hey, guys," Dream greeted, looking around. "Is Bad already there?"

"Yeah," Sapnap responded. "He had to be there an hour earlier to set everything up."

"Damn," Dream cringed, scooting into the space in the backseat and shutting the door behind him. "How long is it to the place?"

His best friend glanced at the dashboard clock. "If we're lucky, we'll make it in time," he replied.

Dream watched as Sapnap drove through the neighborhood, palm trees and quaint houses flying past them, wind rushing through his ears between the cracked windows of the car. Paramore's latest album played softly from the car radio, filling the space with a quiet ambience.

"This is nice," Quackity spoke Dream's thoughts.

A chorus of agreeing hums went around before everyone lapsed back into silence.

Half an hour later, Sapnap pulled smoothly into a free parking space at a crowded outdoor venue. Loud pop rock blared in the background, and Dream could see various cobbled paths leading around to places he didn't know yet, but assumed would be some sort of park. Tiki torches burned on either side of each winding path, and rounded tables sat a bit away from the large dance floor, food obviously having not been served yet.

"This place is..."

"Damn, that's why Bad was working so hard, huh?" Sapnap mused, all three of them getting out of the car and looking around.

Dream agreed silently. "What now?"

Sapnap looked towards a group of people, of which Dream recognized Karl and Skeppy. "I'm going to go talk to them," his best friend decided. "Meet back here at the end of the night?"

"Yeah," Quackity nodded. "I think Valkyrae wanted to talk to me, so..."

Dream smirked. "Only a talk?"

"Shut up," his black-haired friend groaned playfully, splitting off and disappearing in the crowd.

Dream was alone. So, he decided to start walking through the paths that he'd seen when they'd arrived.

The first path he took led him to a clearing with a bubbling fountain and a stone bench, where Dream sat down to think for a bit.

He thought about the swans again. Maybe it was time for him to accept the fact that he needed to move on from George, however broken-hearted it would leave him. What was it like for a swan to feel alone, watching the gentle waves of the lake, waiting for a lover that would never come? Did swans feel like humans did, so wholly raw, like the way Dream felt? Or could swans understand heartbreak in a way that man could never?