ORPHANED

:: one hundred nine ::

halfway through their conversation dream had crawled out onto his roof. the wind outside offered a comforting feeling, different from the warmth he felt with the brunette, similar to the familiar feeling he felt when he'd sit and cry at the forest in his hometown. he knew talking about it with sapnap was good for him, but that didn't cancel out the feelings that rose from recalling the events. his head instinctively came to rest on his knees.

"listen dream, he told me not to tell you this, but i have a feeling it will help you feel a lot better." sapnap waited on the line for dream to protest but in all honesty the blonde would take anything to make him feel better now. "before i left he came to the airport. he said he got your message and wanted to say goodbye before i left, but he told me he had business to take care of...whatever that means."

business huh? what a generic excuse. "i know he probably has a good reason but i want him to try and talk to us about it before just randomly running off."

sapnap stayed silent, almost like he was waiting for dream to realize the irony.

dream toyed with his lip. "maybe i should also talk to you more, instead of trying to deal with all my problems alone."

"that would be nice." a conversation happening on sapnap's side clouded the noise of him sighing. "i wish i was there, you need a hug."

dream smiled. he did need a hug. "but hey you'll be back in five days."

that single comment made the other debate over several more things to say. "aww, were you counting down the days without me?"

the blonde rolled his eyes and laid back on the tile roofing. "shut up." he stared up at an almost perfectly round cloud, it wasn't dark, but the light was minimal, so much so it was almost blue outside. "i've had nothing better to do."

"you act like in five days you'll still need a hug."

"who said i won't? i'm always up for a sapnap hug."

the conversation on the other line picked up, dream could hear them calling sapnap. "dude i hate to leave you like this, but i have to go."

"no it's alright, just call me later if you can." the blonde began to make his way back into his room.

"that's if you pick up." sapnap said it so matter-of-factly it made dream feel terribly guilty again.

"ha ha, goodbye sapnap." he locked the window behind himself.

"bye bye dream, love you man."

"love you too, ill see you in five days." when his words came to a close, so did the call. dream stared back into the empty of his room. five days, easy right? all he had to do was get through five more days. he threw himself on the bed and set the phone beside him. he could say he wanted to be alone as much as he wanted, but the truth was, sapnap had made him start craving a hug.

luckily for him, his solidarity was broken when his sister knocked on the door, pushing it open a few inches to let a stream of the hallway light into the darkness of his room. she seemed to be inspecting him, trying to figure out if he was sleeping. to fulfil her curiosity she tickled at his feet. dream was quick to jump from the touch. "cut it out."

his voice only seemed to invite her farther into the room. she opened the door farther and dream could hear her walk to the side of his bed, before he could ask what she wanted he felt her arms wrap around him. they stayed like that for a moment. "sapnap told me you needed a hug."

dream felt tears flare up at her words. it sucked having family and friends that cared so much, now he was trying to fight off tears for something that shouldn't have brought him to tears in the first place.

she broke from the embrace and flicked the back of his ear. "c'mon, mom wants me to peel potatoes, and i'm not doing it alone."

time had seemed to pass so quickly yet still so slow, if she was peeling potatoes that could only mean one thing. he picked up his phone and sure enough, in bright white letters it read the twenty-sixth.

"thanksgiving already?"

"already, what do you mean already? ive been waiting all month for this."

the blonde scoffed but eventually he stood from the bed again. "carry me downstairs?" he dramatically fell onto his sister and she struggled to keep him standing upright.

"as if, i can't even trust myself to take me down the stairs, let alone us together."

"no fair, i have to carry you all the time." the familiarity of the sentence tingling in his brain as it was spoken.

his sister must've noticed his pause because she played along to his silence. "get george to carry you."

"oh shut up." his eyes rolled but finally he stood on his own, following her out of the room. as soon as they stepped foot into the hallway he could smell the food from downstairs. just then he had realized how hungry he actually was.

"sleeping all day isn't the best way to not be hungry by early evening, you know?" she stood by the top of the stairs, staring at him as if he was just something to observe.

"is there anything else you want to criticize me about before we go downstairs?"

again she stared at him with an intense look of thought on her face. "hmm, no i think im good." he walked to meet her at the stairs. "for now." and with that addition he pulled a handful of her hair.

"ow."

"you deserved that."

"did not."

"did to."

"you're ugly."

"thats why all your friends have crushes on me."

"they have bad taste."

"i thought we looked similar?"

she was silent after that.