exposé

eleven

A/N: hi everyone!!

slight tw: this chapter describes unhealthy/toxic relationships in non-graphic detail. i personally don't believe that it's construed as abusive, but i feel like the tw is necessary anyway. there are also VERY brief mentions of underage, consensual sex. please skip Dream's backstory if either of these things might bring harm or hurt to you.

stay safe, and i love you all <3 enjoy!

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Dream knew from the very first moment he'd seen George that he was completely and utterly fucked.

His mom had always said that he had a big heart, one that was far too soft and trusting for the kind of world they lived in. Dream, only being young at the time, had shrugged it off as a strange 'grown-up' compliment, not knowing the weight behind those words until he was much older. It was a true enough statement, one that became more and more apparent once he'd started high school.

Everything went to shit from there.

Dream started getting crushes left, right, and center- ones that would take immense coaxing from his friends to realize the fragility behind them. At one point, it felt like he was falling in love with someone new every other week. It wasn't even an exaggeration to straight-up call it 'falling in love', either. When Dream fell for someone, he fell hard- something that had become enough of a problem for him to avoid talking to new people altogether. If he didn't meet anyone new, then there was an even lesser chance of him starting to like someone again.

Instead, he slept around at the start of his junior year with the few people he did know, craving intimacy and fake love from those that had already rejected him or from relationships that had ended up going nowhere. It was an extremely unhealthy habit, one that left him feeling devastated one too many times to be considered anything other than harmful- but it was all he had.

Then his ex came along.

She was great, at first, seemingly having the exact same problem as Dream when it came to falling too fast. They got on like a house on fire, their friendship quickly turning into a full-fledged relationship within only two months of knowing each other. She'd asked him out during Dream's junior year, just after he'd turned 17 and she'd turned 18.

It had started off 'normal' enough, with them being your stereotypical, clingy, Alpha and Omega couple. Dream was always by her side, much to his friends' chagrin, and would only not be seen with her when they were in class- but even then, he'd still reek of her overly flowery scent. She followed him everywhere too, going so far as to leave her own friend group to sit with Dream's just so they could be closer.

Everyone had found how close they were sweet in the beginning, some even calling them adorable or 'couple goals'- but it didn't last for very long. Eventually, the red flags started becoming apparent to everyone but Dream himself, and no one except his friends' tried to save him. Dream lost several people that year, promptly foregoing his slight popularity to stick with those that truly cared about him.

What had started off as just regular teenage clinginess quickly became borderline extreme possessiveness, his girlfriend not allowing him to have any time by himself or with others. If he wasn't physically with her, then she'd be blowing up his phone, demanding proof that he was where and with whoever he said he would be. Dream hastily grew tired of it, exhausted from constantly feeling on edge at the thought of making her mad.

Despite her obsession with him being loyal, she was completely unfaithful to him in return. Dream couldn't even count on both of his hands how many times she'd cheated on him during the span of their relationship, and that was with the few affairs he actually knew about. God knows how many she'd truly had.