𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖 - Ⓓ Ⓝ Ⓕ

~32~

Dream was hammering away outside, boarding up the front windows while the rain came down on him, turning his skin pink and making him shudder from the blasting cold. His fingers were almost numb as he swung the hammer at the nail, barely missing his fingers with each swing, but Dream didn't care, his mind clouded over with drowning thoughts.

"I love you, Dream."

Why didn't he say it back? How could their roles have reversed so quickly?

"Thanks, Georgie. That's nice to know."

He loved George – how could he not? He was perfect in every single way, and has made Dream feel things that he's never experienced before. But now, he just felt like a total jerk. He had felt the way George's grip on him tightened when he said the words, and how they loosened straight after, as if he had lost hope. Dream hated the way he stood and left the brunette soon after, leaving alone and empty on the couch, and Dream knew that he had hurt George's feelings, and that he was probably feeling a gaping hole in his heart.

Just like Dream had felt, when George didn't answer him earlier in the day.

"Do you even love me?"

Dream threw the hammer forward and completely missed the nail, the metal of the hammer just brushing past Dream's hand before it embedded itself in the wood. Dream swore under his breath and dropped the hammer to the floor, the tool splashing as it landed in a puddle. He wiped his hair off his sticky forehead and then sighed, inspecting the hole in the wood. He would have to cover it up with another piece of wood, now, and Dream silently cursed himself for missing the nail.

This window was the second last one at the front of the house that needed to be boarded up, and the rest were around the sides of the house, which both Karl and Sapnap were boarding up together. The rest of the windows were on the second floor, which would have to be boarded up from the inside, since they didn't have a ladder and couldn't reach them from the outside.

The rain hadn't stopped all day, just like it had for the past week, and Dream could feel himself shaking. It was so cold outside, and Dream was absolutely soaked to the bone. To anyone else, he probably looked like a crazy person hammering at some random window, but Dream didn't care for unwanted onlookers. He was doing this for their safety, and for the protection of the house. He didn't want the hurricane to ruin the home he had built for himself.

Dream started attaching the wooden planks to the windows again and had started on the last window when he sensed a presence behind him, and he startled when he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned, worried that one of his neighbours wanted him to board up their windows, too. Don't get him wrong; Dream was a kind person and would have helped out the people in the neighbourhood, but he was tired and pissed at himself, so he just wanted to get his own windows protected and then collapse on the couch and watch a movie with his friends.

Once he turned and took in the person in front of him, he shook his head and sighed, his shoulders sagging with relief. George stood before him, clad in red rain boots and a blue rain jacket, an umbrella clenched in his small hand, which seemed to be struggling with the intense winds. Nonetheless, it provided them with some relief from the storm, even if it was just a few spare drops.

"George, what are you doing out here? Go back inside," Dream urged, his voice loud so that it would be heard over the sound of rain, and he stepped sideways so that his foot wasn't standing in a puddle anymore. "It's cold, and I said that you're on strict bed rest."

The Brit smiled gently, a little embarrassed, and a small blush tainted his cheeks, which could have been from either the cold, or his emotions. "I want to help out."