Sink or Swim

Chapter Ten: Stuck in Love

George POV:

I stopped right then and there.

My body soon became lifeless as my breathing was brought to a halt and my feet grew the weight of 1,000 pounds. I felt as if I was chained down, physically and mentally. Unable to move on, unable to move forward. As much as I just wanted to forget and walk out of the coffee shop without hesitation, my eyes refused to move from his.

I was no longer in control of my own body at this point. I could only feel light taps on my shoulder from Karl, but it wasn't enough to break me from my trance.

He started to get closer and closer, yet I couldn't bring myself to back up. Instead, my feet started walking me towards him. The pace was picked up, quickly. We both continued to run until before I knew it I was in his embrace. I felt alive for the first time in years. I felt like I was home. I felt that indescribable feeling. That feeling that could be found in the loudest of music, or the quietness of car rides. The feeling that can be found when the moon shines on the snow, or the stars light up the sky. The feeling of when someone compliments you're favorite sweater, or remembers small things about you.

I was finally brought out of my little world when I heard a familiar voice speak. It was all in my imagination. Dream stood there before me, but we didn't hug. He was just standing there awkwardly. I sighed knowing that my desires overcame my sense of reality.

But, if I had learned anything from the break up, was to make everything out of every day you have on this earth. To never let a chance go missed or a second to waste. Which is why I did this next thing. I looked up at him and hugged him tight, for real this time. There was one issue though, I didn't feel his arms hug me back.

Third Person POV:

In the middle of the coffee shop stood George and Dream, reunited, but things were different now. George's arms rested around Dream's waist, tightly holding onto his back. His face was buried into his chest. Dream's arms laid limp by his sides. His eyes were wide as he stared down at the boy hugging him. George eventually took his arms away when he got the hint that Dream wasn't comfortable. He took a step back and began to hit himself in the head with the palm of his hand.

George was embarrassed, he had messed up his chances big time. He decided it was best if he just left. He sat his drink down on the table next to Karl, who sat there with a mixture of awe and confusion on his face. George looked back up at Dream to find him with the same expression on his face, this just clarified that George should leave.

He started to run toward the door, almost making it, then an arm grabbed his wrist to stop him. He turned his hand to face a guy he had never met, nor seen before.

"What the hell, let go of me! Who are you!?" George spoke trying to remove the other person's hand from his wrist.

"Just calm down! We need to talk, I know Dream." Quackity spoke, calming George down.

"What are you his new boyfriend? Since he obviously isn't interested in me anymore?" George hissed, words laced with spite. He stopped squirming around but refused to make eye contact with Quackity.

Suddenly, a voice rang from a voice further inside the shop. This voice sent unexplainable chills down George's spine, he knew that could only mean one thing. He looked up and could feel his eyes get heavy with tears. They prickled at the edges, threatened to be released any second now.

"Quackity! What are you doing??" Dream slightly shouted.

"You'll thank me later, now, George let's go." And with that Quackity took George out of the shop and down the road to an unknown park.

"I guess I will introduce myself?" Karl walked up to Dream, who was now sitting back down with his friends. His head laying on his arms, faced down on the table.
"My name is Karl, I'm George's friend and roommate." He put his hand out to greet Dream. He bought his head up and looked over at Karl with a soft, sad smile. He shook his hand and spoke in response.

"Hey, as you know, I am Dream. Also known as the stupidest man on Earth. Nice meeting you." He said, small giggles in between each word to mask his real feelings.

"Yeah, you kind of are. But, not without reason, I mean, I wouldn't know how to react either in this situation." Karl said, trying to calm Dream down.

"Who cares! He thinks I hate him now, when the truth is anything but that! I loved him so much, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't anymore. I just fucked up my whole life. But you see, that isn't the issue... I fucked his life up too, and that is what makes me the most upset."

"Why didn't you chase after him and Quackity?" Bad chimed in.

"Yeah, because we saw how well I reacted to seeing him again." Dream said sarcastically.

"If anyone can handle this, it's Quackity."

Quackity and George were now sitting on a bench under a tree in a park a few minutes walking distance away. It wasn't a very populated area, people would pass every so often walking dogs or jogging, but it was eerily quiet.

George had already let his tears get the best of him and started crying on the walk over there. Quackity knew it wouldn't be as messy if he helped George understand his emotions first, and give Dream time to think.

"I just don't understand, I guess. In that text message you left him, you had already seemed to move on, at least enough to know it was best to not speak to one another anymore. What is with the change of heart?" Quackity spoke.

"I'm not sure. Seeing him in person wasn't something I had faced yet, I thought if it were to happen it would be under my control at least. It's like my whole world became brighter the second I locked eyes with him again. I could've sworn his eyes weren't this green since the last time I saw him. This sweatshirt I have on now, I got with him. It is like I am stuck in this cycle. Stuck in love with someone who I don't want to be anymore." George spoke, gasping for air in between words every so often.

"I think we need to walk back into that coffee shop, and you and Dream need to catch up. If you are stuck in love, I'd like to believe there is a good reason for it." Alex spoke, standing up from the bench and putting his hand out to help George up. Just like the day he sat on the bench reading the text George had responded with to Dream's voicemail years ago.

word count: 1283

Author's Note:
I have really gotten into trying to portray the raw emotions that this story shows in my best abilities, and I hope it has made sense to you readers. I have seen a lot of people add this to their "read when complete" collections, and that makes me quite excited to have more people hopefully comment on what they like and what could use improvement. Anyway, thank you to all!!