King of the Cell (DNF)

Chapter 19: Dinner

George POV.

A gentle hand rested itself on my shoulder, making me jolt slightly before immediately relaxing as I noticed it was Dream. “Sorry,” he muttered quietly, immediately realising what he had done wrong. “I shouldn’t have touched you like that. It was stupid of me. But, are you feeling okay?”
I simply nodded, not feeling in the mood to talk to anyone as the blond sat beside me.

“What were you talking about over there?” I questioned quietly, since a couple of times over the last five or ten minutes I’d lifted my head to make sure Dream was still somewhere nearby.
“Just boring stuff,” he explained with an over dramatic eye roll, making me giggle lightly before he continued. “It’s almost dinner time, are you done with your work at the library?”

“Yeah.” I muttered, glancing at the clock before standing up. “I don’t really do much here anyway. All that I usually do is either read or talk to Techno, but… y’know.” The taller man nodded, beginning to head to the exit with me following after him.

We walked over to the mess hall, with me taking my time because I wasn’t sure if I could stomach anything after this morning. “Are you feeling okay?” Dream questioned, pausing for a moment making me end up a couple steps ahead of him. I simply shrugged before continuing to walk and the blond hurried to catch up with me.

Just like with lunchtime, we were some of the last people to arrive. Dream grabbed his food, I didn’t because I didn’t feel hungry. We both walked without a word to anyone and headed over to our table. I settled in next to Dream, not planning on eating anything again but the blond had other plans.

“Are you going to have something to eat George?” He asked in a hushed voice, although it seemed that through the silence enveloping our table everybody else heard.
“I’m not hungry, thank you.” I responded, lowering my head so that I could avoid his burning gaze.

“George,” Bad spoke quietly, causing me to look over at him from the corner of my eye. “You haven’t eaten since this time last night.”
“I know,” I said, giving a weak smile. “I am not hungry.”

“George,” Dream repeated in a firmer voice, one that made a shiver run down my spine. I looked over at him as he continued. “You need to eat something.” He nudged over his plate of food. “So eat it.” I glanced down at his food, he hadn’t even started eating yet.

“But then you won’t get to eat,” I murmured, looking up at him with a blank gaze.
“I ate earlier, breakfast and lunch,” he responded. “You haven’t.” He continued to nudge the plate closer, and I glanced down at the food now sitting in front of me.

There was chicken, mashed potatoes, and a small bowl off to the side of cooked carrots, peas, and corn. Honestly, the sight of it made my mouth water after not eating anything for twenty-four hours. My gaze moved back up to the blond as he looked back at me.

I knew that both he and Bad, along with the rest of the group, just wanted me to look after myself after what had happened, and deep down I was feeling hungry. But I wasn’t sure if I could eat that much. So I said that quietly. “I don’t think I could eat that much,” I whispered to the blond.

“Anything is good.” He reassured, before watching as I used the knife and fork to cut off a bit of chicken, and added some mashed potatoes before slowly raising it to my mouth and taking a cautious bite. I took my time chewing, finally being able to eat something felt great, and I savoured any bite, however my face remained neutral.

My eyes moved to study Dream's expression and I felt my heart warm slightly at the proud look on his face as I chewed. "Good job," he praised, making me feel even better about doing this, if not for me, then for making him feel better.

Everyone had a relieved smile on their face as I finally had something to eat, and seemed even more happy when I cut off another piece of chicken after finishing the first. This time along with the chicken I got some peas, corn, and carrots. The only person that I really focused on was Dream, and the way his grin widened after every bite.

“I think that’s all I can stomach,” I murmured after a while, sliding the tray of food and what was left on it over to the blond for him to finally eat. He thanked me quietly before taking the knife and fork himself and beginning to eat. Overall, I managed to stomach just under half of the chicken, mixed with half of the mashed potatoes, and a couple mouthfuls of the vegetables.

The rest of the group had eaten their food while I had been doing so, but they all kept sitting around waiting patiently for Dream to finish before any of them left. Nobody said anything, however it wasn’t awkward at all. All of them seemed to have a wordless conversation by just glancing at each other.

When he had finished and stood up most of the other inmates had already left. The group followed after him as he went to put his tray away while I stood at the table awkwardly. I watched the group, seeing how they interacted as though they had been friends for years, which I guess they could have been depending on how long they could have been in here.

I felt like an intruder. Sapnap, Skeppy, Bad, Punz, and Quackity were all chatting amongst themselves. Dream didn’t say as much, occasionally joining in with a comment or a joke. I didn’t feel at home among them, as though I was intruding. That made me feel guilty, and so without saying anything to any of the group I turned to leave.

Without even thinking I just started walking, not saying anything to any of the other inmates or guards who I came across. It was just wandering until I paused when I realised where I ended up. The doorway of my cell.

I froze, my eyes widened as I looked over everything in here. My bunk still had the sheets missing from earlier, and the bottom bunk had its sheets pulled back, showing that the man who had slept in it last hadn’t bothered to clean up. Not that he had gotten a chance, when Dream and the others showed up he had been pulled off of me and beaten to a pulp.

For a while I just stood there staring, frozen to the spot as I remembered what had happened to me earlier, beginning to shake as I felt my legs glued to the spot. Suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder, making me jump before noticing it was just Dream. “Are you okay?” he whispered out, pulling me close to him in a protective hug before looking past me into the room. “You disappeared earlier, I got worried.”

“Sorry,” I responded. “I just felt like you would have wanted to hang out with your friends, instead of worrying about me.” The blond hesitated to respond, before dropping the topic entirely.
“Why are you back here?” He asked, glancing around at my cell, but his gaze caught on the bunk beds and the red marks on the wall more than anything.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I just walked. Plus, I have to be here. This is my cell.” I huffed out in sadness, hating the thought of spending literally any time here.
“I’ve organised with the guards for you to be moved to a new cell tomorrow that’s far away from this one. For tonight, you’re staying in my cell with me and Sapnap.”

The fact that I wouldn’t have to be in here made my heart leap, for the first time in over two weeks I felt a shroud of happiness wash over me. I’d be able to get a cell far away from this one with it’s horrid memories.

I wasn’t too sure about how he was able to let me stay in his cell for the night, or if Sapnap would be okay with it. Dream began leading me away though, and I allowed him to direct me wherever he wanted nonetheless.
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