safe with me - dnf mafia au (english)

>31<

Dream POV.

I got the feeling he didn't even really believe himself.
It was as if he knew that we knew what had happened, but he didn't want to actually realize it.
You could clearly see that he was scared and desperate.
When I finally spoke up after a few seconds of silence, my voice was calm, careful not to hurt or upset him with my words in any way.

"How exactly did you get the knife, George? We found one right next to you when we were looking for you..."

His eyes found mine and for a split second, I had the feeling that he was trying to tell me what Fundy had done with the look in his eyes, but that feeling quickly dissipated as he avoided eye contact and instead looked down at his hands.
He was fiddling with his bandages while quietly speaking up, sounding embarrassed.

"I... I stole it from someone and made up some reason why I needed it..."

This time I wasn't given enough time to really think about that answer, as Sapnap exhaled sharply, took a step closer to the bed, and in a venomous voice broke the momentary silence.

"Was that 'someone' you're talking about Floris Fundy by any chance?"

Just hearing that name made my heart skip a beat; obviously not in a good way.
George was now looking directly at Sap and this time dared to maintain eye contact, which he hadn't been able to do with me just seconds before.
I didn't know why, but it worried me.
Sapnap's initially very aggressive and annoyed expression softened a little when he met his best friend's eyes and he explained his question with a sigh.

"...Listen to me for a moment, George...
I recognized the knife. It's Fundy's blade. He's pressed it against my throat one too many time before as well because he thought something was going on between me and Dream. Believe me, I recognize a weapon when I've had to feel it underneath my skin before..."

I remembered that one incident when I just bearly prevented the death of my best friend because Fundy didn't want to understand that I just wasn't interested in him.
At the time, I was still dating Samantha, but he wouldn't accept even that explanation and approached Sapnap instead.
The blade of Fundy's knife was silver and very sharp, with small indentations on the sides so that it didn't make a cut completely straight, but left a ridged wound that was a little more painful than cutting with a regular, straight blade.
The handle of the weapon was red, but Fundy had wrapped strips of orange and white dyed leather around the material, making it impossible to see the original color.
It almost seemed like Fundy left the knife on purpose so we would know exactly who did it.

"Please tell me the truth... Why was Fundy's blade of all things lying next to your injured body, even though Fundy claimed that he called you taxi and sent you home before?"

George hesitated and now looked down at his arms and hands again while obviously searching for a plausible answer and biting his cheek from the inside.
It took a little while before he seemed to work up the courage to speak, but he stuttered and I could see tears forming in his eyes from the side. His words came across as uncertain, desperate, and like he was trying really hard to hold on to his lies so he wouldn't have to deal with the truth.

"...He- He tried to stop me because he knew I was actually clean from self harm...
He just wanted to h- help me, so he tried to calm me down, but when he couldn't do it and I was too embarrassed to show myself to all of you, he lied to you so I could have my peace and be left alone..."

I just wanted to take him in my arms, hug him tightly and wipe away the tears that had started running down his cheeks, but I couldn't do anything before Ranboo spoke for the first time since he'd walked into the room with us.