Downhill || 𝘥𝘯𝘧

XLVII

7:50 A.M.

That was when the first alarm went off.

Dream blinked open his eyes and his gaze flitted around before landing on the phone resting beside George's hand on the other side of the bed. Surprisingly, George hadn't stirred at all despite the sirens blaring in his ear. Dream reached over him and grabbed the phone, grumbling something about it being 'too early' and 'not needing to get up yet.'

"George," Dream muttered as he hit the 'snooze' button on the screen. George stirred slightly, but didn't open his eyes. Dream placed a hand on his shoulder and shook gently, repeating his name. George groaned indignantly.

"No," George eventually muttered, curling his legs in until he was hugging his knees to his chest while on his side, eyes still closed and head planted firmly in the pillow. "Ten more minutes."

Dream happily complied.

The next alarm sounded at 8:00 A.M. Dream blinked open his eyes and hit the 'snooze' button once more. The screen faded dark, and most importantly, the noise abated.

He instantly fell back asleep.

Another ten minutes passed before the next alarm, which he, this time, was able to cancel almost as soon as it began. His brain heard and registered the noise, he rolled over, reached over George, and then brought his finger down on the button once again. At this point, it was just a reflex. A bad habit. But he didn't care. He wrapped an arm naturally around George's torso and rested his forehead on his warm shoulder before drifting back off.

This continued a few more times until the time reached 8:40 A.M. Dream reached over to hit 'snooze;' but as he did, George raised a hand to block him. "Wait," he murmured in a slurred voice, grabbing the phone and lifting his head to look at it. He read the time and groaned. "We have an hour," he said not-so-happily.

"To sleep?" Dream asked hopefully.

"No. To get ready," George replied, leaving the warmth of Dream's grasp as he sat up. "We should get up now."

"Why do we have to go so early?" Dream complained, covering his eyes with his forearm to block the sun filtering in through the window. "The actual funeral doesn't even start until noon."

"Well, first of all, we need to get flowers," George said as he very slowly and carefully stood up and paced over to the closet. Dream peeked under his arm to see George in boxers and a t-shirt. "Second of all, I'm part of his immediate family, so it'd be rude if I didn't get there early," George continued, flipping on the light and reaching into the closet to pull out two suits still-wrapped in plastic. He plopped them down on the mattress. "And third of all, we need to help Taylor and Grace with setting stuff up. I already said we would," George finished with his hands on his hips, facing Dream from the foot of the bed.

"I guess I can't argue with that," Dream muttered in response. George raised an eyebrow.

"So get up."

"In a minute," Dream replied, rolling over and burying his face in the pillow.

"Nuh-uh. Nope. You're gonna fall back asleep like that," George ridiculed, walking over to Dream's side and shaking his shoulders vigorously. "Get up."

"Hey!" Dream cried as his whole body was shaken. His arms flailed as he tried to escape George's steely grip, who continued to convulse him despite his exclamations. "Get off me."

"I'm not on you," George quipped, a smirk in his voice. Dream planted his face firmly in the pillow, groaning indignantly. Finally, George got the gist that shaking him wasn't working, so he stopped.