ORPHANED

:: one hundred forty-three ::

things tended to quickly get out of hand when the five of them were together, so much so that dream was often surprised they had managed to ever make coherent plans for anything. so right now, while he split from the parting group with the brunette clung to his arm, he had no recollection of how he had gotten into the car with the other four and didn't kill himself, or send them speeding meters over the limit off a cliff.

Nonetheless, he could recall the content feeling that hung with him through the evening, so he let bygones be bygones and promised to himself to be more present in the coming future.

and that just so happened to start when he paused in his tracks, coming face to face with the very same pair of boots his mother had not so subtly indicated she had wanted him to get her for christmas.

"i think you'd look nice in them." george had joked, measuring the boot with his fingers before directing their attention to the blonde's feet. "you might need to size up a few though,"

dream allowed his eyes to light up with faux excitement and he pulled the brunette into the sensory overload that was every department store that tried impersonating some high-end fashion aesthetic. "i say i should try them on first." the giggles that followed them into the small store irritated the others around who were in a rush and unluckily stuck christmas shopping a week before the consecrated day.

finding the same pair of boots proved to be difficult since their, for lack of better words, ignorant customer attendant seemed to be displeased with how close they stood, and scoffed at the way their arms tangled together. they decided the help was appreciated but unnecessary and took it into their own hands to wander the unending rows of overpriced clothes with no knowledge of what they were looking for.

"if you tell me who you got i'll tell you who i got."

"c'mon george," dream tried to present a stern look, but the wild sunglasses he had adorned did not help his delivery. "that takes all the fun out of it." he knew it was improbable for them to have both pulled the other, but with the unmanageable excitement the brunette came at him with, he was starting to doubt the odds. the blonde lowered the frames from his eyes to make direct contact before continuing. "plus you wouldn't survive knowing who i got." sassily he pushed the glasses back up the bridge of his nose before turning to flaunt his features in the mirror.

"ill just assume that means you got me." george's smile was wide and he took the sunglasses from the blonde to settle them on his own face. "in which case you should definitely get these for me." dream admired their composition in the mirror, it would've made a very pretty portrait of the pair.

"nice try, but.." dream stepped up closer behind the shorter and nabbed the frames one last time before returning them to the display case, "i already ordered my gift online so even if it was you, you've already gotten your mandatory gift from me."

the brunette dropped his front, "no fair," he crossed his arms, turning his back to the mirror to face the blonde straight on. "i was going to guess who you got by what you'd buy."

"oh don't worry, you'll still get to decide whether what i'm getting is for my mom or my sister." judging by the way the corner of the brunette's lips twitched into a grin it was worth the compromise. "speaking of, we should get on that before the guys beat us at our own game."

and so they were back on their way scouring shelf after shelf while scrutinizing offensive tops and modeling in the most dramatized fashion along the way. dream was relieved to have the brunette's assistance because if he were being honest with himself, he hadn't a single clue of what he was looking for. by the time the other guys had started to blow up both of their phones with questions of where they had gone they had already amassed an arm's worth of gifts. "we better hurry and get out of here before they decide to leave us with no ride home."

"i was starting to get nauseous from the perfumes in here anyways." ready to leave, george found the blonde's hand to help guide them through the maze of messy clothing racks to the register. the line was short and dream was thankful to finally put down everything in his arms, it truly was a surprise how heavy a pile of clothes could get. he fished through his pockets for his wallet but his arms cried out in protest. when he heard the suppressed laugh of the brunette, the pout that reached his lips was unavoidable.

"you could just ask for help, silly." he shone an innocent smile to mask the unsure intentions of the hand that slipped into the blondes' sweatpants pocket. he retrieved and presented the wallet, his smile persisting. "don't forget you still have to carry it out." he patted the blonde's back before crossing behind him to find his other side. teasingly dream stuck out his tongue to match the brunette's energy before both of them were torn away from what they were doing by the cashier's comment.

"all of this is for your girlfriend?" she seemed distracted with scanning the mountain of things that sat between them so dream dismissed her mistake.

"no," george answered for him, clutching onto the blonde's arm to clarify his territory.

"for my mom." dream corrected, turned towards the brunette that avoided his eyes. she emitted an awkward laugh and he knew it would be the last thing she would say to them. he fidgeted with the wallet in his hand attempting to occupy the time until he was reminded of what lay on the inside of it.

—

i started my english college course a few days ago so hopefully my writing is going to get a lot better!! (no promises)