paint splattered scars || dnf

All the Signs

The first bit of the caption is George recounting the past events in this fic to Karl. So keep that in mind because that's why the TW list is so long. It's basically covering everything that's h happened to George so far.

TW: talk of abuse, implied abuse, mentions of self harm, mentions of anxiety, mentions of bullying/fighting, swearing (this should just be expected at this point tbh), mentions of bruises/scars/burns

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"Are you okay?" Karl asked as soon as George slammed the door of his shitty old subaru. He looked genuinely worried.

"Karl, I'm fine. Things just got weird—"

"What kind of weird?" Karl tensed up.

"Sapnap's inside and me and him... Have more in common than I'd like to admit and when Dream and I left we went to that diner and now at least one old lady thinks Dream's a creep—"

"Is he?"

"No! Look— It's really fucking complicated. Can we just drive around for a bit?" George glanced at the dashboard. "Jesus, it's four? I thought it was like noon or something!"

"You think I'd be able to come pick you up from Dream's house in the middle of the day?" Karl giggled.

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight. After we left this morning we went to get some food and it was actually really nice for a bit... But— Dream asked me about—" George stopped himself, realizing to explain this he'd have to explain everything. His uncle, getting kicked out, staying with Dream... He hadn't gotten a chance to properly talk with Karl in the library that morning. "God, this is so much deeper than I thought. Uh—" George took a deep breath. "You need to relax before I say this. I need you to be chill. Okay?"

"What? Is everything—"

"Chill."

"Right."

"You know how I live with my uncle? And I hate him?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Do you know... Why?" George could already feel a lump forming in his throat.

"I guess I just assumed it's because he's a dick and it's like a 'you're not my real dad' situation." With that, George let out a quick sharp laugh.

"Man, I wish. It's..." George's smile dropped. "It's worse than that."

"How so?" Karl glanced at George warily while turning.

"He... How do I say this nicely... Oh, fuck it." George closed his eyes tightly. "He hits me. He's abusive and is always drunk and most my visible bruises are from Sapnap but the ones on my back, some of my scars, that burn on my arm in eighth grade? That was all him."

Karl didn't say anything.

God... Say something. Anything, please. Does he think I'm lying?

George opened his eyes to see Karl staring at him. He hadn't even noticed he'd pulled the car over to the side of the road. Karl opened his mouth but didn't say anything. Then, without warning, wrapped George in a giant hug.

George let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"I'm not trying to be a dick when I ask this... Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Karl asked. He didn't ask the question in a way that made it about himself. He wasn't asking because his feelings were hurt.

"I don't know— It just felt... Hard to talk about. But that's all I needed to say so you can have a bit of background on th— the story."

"That's not even the story?"