𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝙼𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚝 (Dream x Reader)

ɪɪ - ᴛʀᴜꜱᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ

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Now, I wasn't really sure how this was going to play out.

In the long run, but also in short moments like now; I wasn't really sure how to prepare for either.

But it's not like I had the time to think about it.

Obviously, it was pretty clear that he had to put his hands on me to help me off the floor. But even with this mental preparation, my body still flinched when he put one hand around my arm, the other carefully grabbing the side of my waist without the injury.

"Come on-" He grunted; to me or himself, I still don't have a clue.

His eyes followed my every move with innocent caution. I could see the way he was holding back from fully trying to help me and taking me into a carry, a bit hesitant by the way I was completely uncooperative and would probably snap at even the proposal of carrying me.

I was starting to feel uneasy with his eyes on me. If I could have any moment without an audience, it'd be right now, when I was floundering off the dirt floor around trying to get myself on two feet with the slight help from his arms.

The strenuous movements were killing my injury, so I was a bit thankful for his help that took the pressure off from me pushing myself up alone, though you never would've seen my gratitude with the angry huffs I gave in response.

Honestly that playful phrase, 'I don't bite' could apply to anyone but me. One more hand laid on me right now and my teeth would sink into the skin with no time for second thoughts or regrets.

And even though, he showed nothing but signs of surrender, he acted like I wasn't the rabid animal I certainly felt like and just continued to do anything he could to help me to the door. I'd never met anyone that didn't back off when they'd see how difficult I was to work with, but there's a first for everything, I guess.

Once I was on two feet, I struggled to keep my balance, the thought of walking by myself not even in the realm of possibilities. I latched onto his arm, no consideration for the way I was tightly gripping his skin as I almost dragged him back down with me.

But he stayed still, standing straight up like an old oak tree against the winds of a hurricane despite the limp dead weight hanging off his arm.

"Here," he said, voice a little breathless, "You can just lean into me."

And as much as I hated it, I did exactly that, wrapping an arm around his back and letting the hand hover off his side, afraid to touch him. I still couldn't bring myself to take the pressure off my injury so that arm stayed clamped firmly around my torso.

It was strange, the way it almost felt like he had me in some sort of a side hug. His hand would run up and down my shoulder, and I couldn't help the shivers that ran with such a feeling. I couldn't comprehend if I liked it or not, but it was obviously enough to tolerate.

It was impossible to sync our steps in rhythm when he was clearly used to taking long strides and I was struggling to land one in front of the other. So, he compromised by taking small inconsistent steps while I just shuffled against him, staggering as he never loosened his grip on my shoulder.

We walked a bit as I tried to gain a steady rhythm, so focused that I wasn't really all there when I noticed we had stopped. He looked down at me and I couldn't understand why, wondering what the holdup was.

"Ready?" I heard him say.

I didn't stop myself from looking up at him, seeing the small smile on his face as he tilted his head towards the stairs.