ORPHANED

:: one hundred thirteen ::

it didn't take long for them to neglect the screen, in fact they grew so agitated from the voices talking over them it was eventually just shut off. dream stood from the couch during a conversation about drama happening in his sister's friend group. he carried the empty pizza box to the kitchen feeling strangely exhausted for not having used any energy today. when he returned to the living room the conversation was different.

"i want to talk to this george guy."

dream sat down pretending to be unphased by the topic but his mom stared at him with expectant eyes. he glared at his sister knowing she'd was the reason his mom suddenly seemed interested in the brunette. his sister shrugged. turning back to her pizza as if she was just as confused as he.

"don't tell me you thought i wouldn't notice you locking yourself away in your room? i've got parental vision, i see everything." she gestured two fingers away from her eyes, jabbing them into his sisters ribs to entice a giggle. "no child of mine should have to hide away in their room, buthurt about a crush, i will not have it."

dream felt his eyes roll, it was no use disputing the crush title, he knew that she was aware of his feelings for the brunette well before he was. he didn't want to be proven wrong, knowing exactly what it would mean for the way his brain would operate around the other. nonetheless he rested his head on her shoulder. she was cheesy, yes, but he knew it was only because she really did care.

"people should be chasing you, not the other way around." she pet his head and his sister moved to kneel on the floor in front of them.

"i think they might actually be playing a weird game of tag at this rate. they're constantly chasing each other but when it comes down to it they always run." his sister flicked the shell of his ear, easily expressing to his mom the issue he found himself dealing with this past month, in less than two sentences.

he hid his face in his hands embarrassed both by the situation and the conversation topic. he could almost feel the cogs turning in her head as he knew she was searching her brain for a piece of advice that she figured would solve his problem. "you have to kiss him. he needs to be kissed." she shrugged her shoulders as if it was the only solution.

"he needs to be kissed." his sister nodded along. "then you both will fall in love.

"that's so unrealistic, stuff like that only happens in movies." if it really was that simple, his problem with the brunette would have been solved a long time ago.

"it worked for me, why are you so sure it won't work for you?" his mom turned her focus to him, and he could feel their eyes blazing through the hands over his face in attempt to search his expression better.

he held in his breath, unaware what to expect from the two when he explained to them his skepticism. he always managed to get himself into instances like this, normally he'd lie to get himself out of this situation but at this point in time he honestly thought they could help him. "i already kissed him." the shock didn't hang in the air as long as he expected.

"kiss him again idiot." his sister plainly stated, her eye roll almost audible with the amount of sass it carried. he removed his hands from his face when he heard his mom begin laughing at his sister's callout. he pouted at her but she only shone back a smile.

his eyes rose to the ceiling, inspecting the blades on the fan to focus on something that didn't automatically embarrass him. "it's not that simple."

"of course it is, just pucker up and..." her face screwed when her eyes scanned his face. "maybe put some chapstick on? nobody wants to kiss chapped lips."

dream felt his mom begin to stand from beside him so he shifted his weight to stretch across the couch in order to pick up his phone off the end table. "say's you. you've never even kissed anyone before what do you know?"

"who says i've never kissed anyone before?"

dream held his phone in his hands but before he could even turn the screen on, he dropped the phone onto his thighs from shock. his jaw almost dislocated from his face as he turned to their mom. "did you hear that?" he tried to fight the smile that came with hearing his sister's giggles insisting that she had just been joking.

"why didn't i know about this?" she lent against the doorframe to the kitchen popping the same frozen grapes dream had been snacking on, into her mouth.

his sister played with her lips, turning all of her attention away from him, and lowered her voice. "you do know, remember that guy we were talking about?"

"ohh, him." she smirked while crossing her arms, and dream couldn't help how quickly his eyes bounced from between them.

"why didn't i know about this?" his hands flew up from beside him, trying to help accentuate how left out he felt. "why am i always left out of everything?"

his sister turned to him with a quirked eyebrow. "oh please, like you'd be any help anyway. i told you already, you run from your problems too much."

he moved quickly to crumple a napkin and toss it at her, sulking as it bounced off her head and landed on the carpet beside her.

"oh, i've been shot." she spoke with a straight face, words dripping with sarcasm pretending the napkin did her more damage than it actually had.

"alright stop teasing him."

dream pulled his knees to his chest as he moped against the edge of the sofa, agreeing with his mom that his sister had been going overboard.

"everyone's first love always makes them act out of character."

—

complimentary chapter until i get back into the swing of things, figured this would be a more fitting chapter to end on if it takes a while for the next! how many of you remember when i used to update literally everyday, what the hell was i on?