After about an hour of driving, George decided it was time to stop for some gas and a bathroom break. He parked his car at the next gas station he drove by that looked decent enough for a working bathroom. He parked and turned off his car with a sigh. Hands leaving the steering wheel while he leans back in his seat, his seatbelt still buckled. He grabbed the rear view mirror and turned it towards himself gently. Staring at his still quite pink face, where just an hour before Dream's hands laid, and his tears were plastered. With a swallow of his own spit he quickly moved the mirror back the right way, knowing he couldn't take seeing himself like that anymore.
He unbuckled and crept out of the car slowly. Unlikely his previous actions his sadness became anger, noticeable by the slam of the car door as he closed it behind him. He just needed to get in fast and get out even faster. He knew when he got to campus to meet some new friends he would be distracted. But, being alone was the worst possibility for him, even though at the time, it felt the one thing he wanted the most. Making his way to the front door and pushing it open. The bell sang "RING RING" as he entered, making the worker look up from his magazine, smile, then look back down.
George stopped in his tracks for a moment, standing on his tippy toes to try and find the sign indicating the direction of the restrooms. After a few seconds or so he found it, and went back down to his flat feet and continued walking. To his surprise, it was a one person at a time bathroom, meaning there was a bit of a line. Just his luck. He let out a breath of defeat before getting behind the two other people in the line.
He pulled out his phone to pass the time, but made a mistake almost immediately. Out of a force of habit, he opened his texts with Dream, expecting to see a caring message. But there was nothing. While in his contact George stared at his name in his phone "my Dream boy :]" He closed his eyes trying not to let a few tears escape again but, he failed. The drop dripped onto his phone, but he wiped it away. Then he made a pretty big decision. He took a deep breath once again, and selected the "edit name" option under his contact. This was the first step to moving on.
George started to cry a little more, still trying to hold back as much as he could. He didn't want to bring any attention to himself. His thumb began to tap the delete button, erasing the letters one by one, and with them, the memories. He renamed the contact "Dream" and exited his messages app. He looked up to see the bathroom door open and the man who once stood in front of him exited. Meaning it was his turn to go, so he walked in and locked the door behind him.
George took a moment to stare at himself in the mirror. Tears slowly rolling down his face, he wiped them quickly. He wasn't ashamed of his emotions, that's for sure. But, he hated making anyone else worry for him. Minutes rolled by but George was so caught up in himself he didn't notice. He heard a knock on the door, and then a man's voice. "Hey, are you alright in there?" George waited a moment and checked his phone, then realized he was standing in there for 8 minutes. He didn't know if the man was asking because he heard George's sorry weeps or just because of the sheer amount of time which has passed.
That didn't matter though, either way George would have responded with the same thing, and so he did. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry for the holdup. I will be out in a few!" He managed to get out without a voice crack from crying.
George went to the bathroom almost as fast as he could, in order to not waste any more time than he already had. He washed his hands and reached for the paper towels, but there were none left. Go figures, right? To be fair, he was using a gas station bathroom. He soon unlocked the door, tried his hands on his sweatshirt, and opened the door. He continued to keep his head down, but he could still feel the angry glares piercing on his skin. He walked out of the gas station as fast as he could. He already embarrassed himself enough, and he didn't really have the need for gas yet, so he decided it would be best to leave anyway.
He unlocked his car, got in, and sat in the driver's seat for a few short moments. He got out his phone and opened his messages app, he needed to text someone important. George knew it hadn't been long at all since they last talked, but George couldn't help it. With some buttons being pressed, ending with a "send", he successfully sent a text. He buckled back up and got back onto the road, he didn't have much longer to go anyway.
Meanwhile, Dream was coping in other ways.
He didn't take any stops whatsoever, even after the billboards tempted him every other exit on the interstate. He kept telling himself the reason he didn't want to stop was because he was already running a little late. In reality, he just knew no matter where he went something was going to remind him of George, and he just wasn't ready for that. Passing car after passing car, and still Dream kept going, eyes always on the road. He had always had problems with expressing his emotions, that was until he met George of course.
Unlike Dream, George understood his emotions and was probably the biggest empath you would ever meet. That is why him and Dream matched so well. One's weakness was the other's strength, and vise versa. George was the first person Dream felt comfortable opening up to, but now he was gone. Yes, he was one phone call away, and he would 100% pick up the call, Dream knew he was over. The tension was overbearing, the safe space that George once was quickly turned into a place of dark, raw emotion that remained hidden in the shadows. An area that not even the brightest light would dare to cross through. The same vibes as before were no longer even in sight.
Suddenly, Dream's GPS began to speak, "In 5 miles, take a left onto exit 26." This caused Dream's attention to shift from the road and thought of George to the time remaining on his phone. 20 minutes. In 20 minutes he would be at his dorm and meeting new people. He was excited, people have always been a good distraction for him. He knew he would soon get over his past with George, and learn from it.
Before he knew it, he was taking his exit. Then swiftly receiving another message from his GPS. "Continue on this road for 15 minutes, and your destination will be on your left." A sigh was released by Dream at the thought of almost calmness. Though his mind was anything be calm, he knew he would settle down and take a break once he was one solid ground. The 15 minutes passed faster than he even noticed, and he was soon parking in the campus parking garage. He texted some friends that he arrived and they came to meet him at the front.
He didn't really have anyone at this college he considered a close friend. Just some pals he grew up with, but only in school friends. He didn't care though, Dream only went to this school because it was one of the best Computer Science schools, oh yeah, and the free ride scholarship of course. He received a message and picked his phone up, he expected it to be one of the boys he texted earlier, but instead, he was surprised.
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Sink or Swim
Romance"Would I rather drown from too much love, or die from the thirst of it?" George and Dream are highschool sweethearts who end up separating after the summer going into college, desiring to move on and grow as people. They run into each other again a...
