ORPHANED

:: one hundred thirty-four ::

innocent quizzical versus mischievous knowing eyes clashed as dream's hands dipped down between them to reach into the pocket of the sweatshirt he had loaned the brunette. in fear of what and where his intent was, george's eyes shot open and his body instinctively tensed up in preparation. when he recognized the gentle intention of the large hands that ghosted over his clothed stomach, he relaxed. only a betrayed glance persisted when his focus turned to the headphones the blonde had pulled from the pocket.

"you are such an idiot," he whispered, throwing in the roll of his eyes despite the fact that a fond smile was quickly branching across his face, contrasting the hostility he tried to keep up with. dream would have called him out for his hypocrisy if the phone that was previously in his hands wasn't pulled away the very second he had plugged the headphones in.

it was his turn to roll his eyes, but just like with george, a smile reached his lips before he could claim it had annoyed him any more than simply just put him at a disadvantage. he hadn't exactly worried about any troubling evidence on his phone until the likes of it were taken away from him before he could conclude that he was completely clean. when he watched how confidently the brunette entered the pin that he had remembered since the blonde's birthday, all his original concerns came off as silly.

dream fully expected george to play the playlist they had listened to on his birthday, so when the brunette instead opened a playlist of slower songs like he had done it a million times before, he left the blonde with several questions. as george handed the phone back to dream, he did so in a fashion that would excuse the way he rested his head against the blonde's shoulder. and because of the kind gentle gesture, the blonde's questions would go unanswered.

blindly he reached for the brunette's hands, the very same ones he had engraved everything about into his brain. if it ever came to it dream was sure he could identify the brunette from his hands alone a thousand times over. the weight, how george always used little will to keep them in check, so the blonde could always pull him around. the size, how they both could easily fit in one of dream's own and still have wiggle room. the temperature, how they were always cold like they needed dream's warmer counterpart to balance them out.

he always got the most out of his adrenaline rush from being with the other when their hands were connected like this.

even just the aesthetic of them pressed together, resting on the brunette's thigh, was enough to help his brain wander off into the imaginative future and picture those same hands accessorized with bands that signified forever.

he shook the thought from his head, it was outrageous to fantasize about forever when he didn't even have him for today.

it was only then that he had noticed that the brunette had fallen asleep, the strands of hair he had tried so desperately to push back, fallen back in front of his eyes. it seemed like a haircut was necessary and would need to be scheduled for sometime in the near future, but that was technically a problem for another time. for the time being all the blonde could think to do was to reach his free hand over to brush back the stray hair himself.

he couldn't help himself but allow his fingers to delicately graze george's skin and linger where he saw fit. when his face was on show, dream tried to keep his admiration to a minimum, but it was nearly impossible with how peacefully content the brunette had looked in possibly the worst setting to fall asleep in. truly dream would have taken a picture for himself if it wasn't for the judgmental side of himself that called him a creep for even thinking of such a thing.

and as it would go to show, george's beauty wasn't only just seen and admired by the blonde, and actually attracted the attention of another.

"is this seat taken?" a girl a year or two younger than his sister implored about the seat across the aisle.

"not that i know," at first dream was dismissal, unknowing that this girl would go on to hold a very detrimental interaction for him. he tried not to pay attention to the way she fidgeted with her fingers the very same way he used to, but it was obvious she was waiting to say something, so he tried to come off as unthreatening as he could've. "do you like the snow?"

it took her a minute to realize it was her he was talking too but when she realized, she made up for her confusion with the rapid nodding of her head. "i really do!"

there was another beat of silence between them and dream was sure he was the only one of the three that was feeling deathly awkward at the moment.

"i came over here because i wanted to say something to you." this time her eyes never left her hands.

it was dream's worst nightmare. there were too many terrible things running through his head, that when she finally spoke up in her small timid voice he almost passed out.

"your boyfriend is very pretty!"

that had been the last thing dream had expected, so much so that it wasn't even close to any of the things he had contemplated her to talk about. she hid her face behind her eyes like she was ashamed to admit it and dream knew he wouldn't forgive himself if he left her to face her embarrassment for no reason.

"he is, isn't he?" he confirmed even though he could've set her facts straight, he figured it wouldn't hurt anyone to help her believe she was right, but part of himself knew he only did it for his own selfish needs.

—

"????" is my favorite emotion, nothing tops being dumbfounded