King of the Cell (DNF)

Chapter 34: Staring into space

George POV.

I was admittedly surprised when I reached the mess hall and Dream and the rest of the group were not there. Usually they’d all be sitting and eating when I appeared after my therapy session with Philza, but I was surprised to find that I was the first one there. I was slightly confused, but decided to get myself something to eat.

Other prisoners were beginning to file into the mess hall for their own food. Some of them decided to be cocky and whistled at me saying things along the lines of ‘looks like your group of boyfriends are gone’ or ‘look who’s up for grabs’. By this point in time I knew they were mostly all talk and still too nervous to do anything, but it did quickly get irritating.

I just began eating the stew we’d been served when I noticed the group of guys come in. They all seemed confused that I’d gotten there before them, but they moved along the line to get themselves something to eat before joining me.

“You guys all took a while.” I stated nonchalantly as the group sat down before having another mouthful of the stew. “Usually you are all in here halfway through your meals when I turn up.”
“Sorry about that George,” Bad said with a smile. “We had to talk about something and lost track of time. We didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

“It’s alright Bad. I knew that you wouldn’t forget about me.” Then I smirked. “...the rest of these guys however, they probably would forget me in an instant.” I said, making him giggle.
The rest of the group feigned offence. “My memory is amazing.” Quackity claimed. “Do you know how smart you have to be to organise the biggest political party of the century?”

“I think you mean the biggest corrupt political party of the century.” Punz pointed out, causing a fit of laughter throughout the group.
“Well, I guess you could say corrupt. If you consider taking bribes and murdering opponents corrupt.” Quackity said with a shrug which made them laugh louder.

An amused smile was on my face as I continued with the stew. I watched quietly as the group talked, since some days I didn’t have much to contribute to conversations. After I finished my plate I noticed Dream subtly handing a package to Skeppy.

It was one of the deliveries, and as I saw it I began falling into a spiral of guilt about the fact that I wasn’t helping with the deliveries any more. After all, Dream was still protecting me, and the deal was that I’d deliver stuff to whoever bought from the blond. Now though, I was just doing nothing in return for him being so nice to me.

For a few minutes I must have dazed out, just staring blankly forward and thinking about the fact that I should be helping Dream more to repay him for his kindness. I jolted suddenly as I noticed Dream beside me, a gentle look on his face. “Are you feeling okay, George?” He asked, seeming concerned. “You’ve just been staring off into space the past few minutes.”

“I’m all good.” I responded. “Just got lost in thought.” I decided it would be best to switch subjects instead of giving the blond the opportunity to question what exactly it was I was thinking about. “Have you finished eating?”
“Yes. The whole group has, all of them are gone besides you.” He said, gesturing at the table.

“Oh,” I said quietly, realising that in my daze the rest of the group had all left for whatever they were doing this afternoon. “I guess I hadn’t noticed,” I said sheepishly. Then I allowed myself to laugh before grabbing my tray of food to get rid of it.

Dream followed after me without saying anything, it seemed that he was concerned. I didn’t say anything to him as I got rid of my food before walking out of the room. As I went to head off to the library, Dream gently grabbed my arm. I didn’t have one of my usual reactions of jumping out of fear, instead allowing him to lead me back towards our cell.

“Are you feeling okay?” He repeated the question from earlier now that we were alone. “You made a lot of us worried when you were just staring blankly earlier.”
“I’m fine.” I reassured with a smile which he didn’t believe. He crossed his arms in a way that reminded me of my parents as I sat on his bunk.

“George, you seem upset.” He sighed out, adding to the parental feel by the way he could practically read my thoughts. “Please, tell me what’s bothering you…”
I let out a huff, feeling relatively pathetic. “I just feel bad that you and all of your friends are looking after me, and I haven’t been keeping up with my end of the deal.”

“The deal?” The blond questioned. The arms that had been folded over his chest unfolded at the mention of the agreement.
“The deal.” I repeated with a nod. “The one that you made with Techno before he left. You said that if I delivered stuff for you, then you’d protect me.”

“Yeah, I did.” Dream nodded, but he still seemed relatively confused by what I was talking about.
“And recently I haven’t been delivering anything to anyone.” I continued. “And it just makes me feel bad that I’m not following our end of the deal.”
“You think we are still going by that deal?” The blond asked, making me give him a puzzled look.

I simply nodded, feeling confused as to why Dream had said that. A gentle look appeared on his face. “George. I thought that ended ages ago.” As he spoke he moved to sit on the bunk beside me. “I haven’t been looking after you as part of some stupid deal I made to get one over on Techno. I’ve been looking after you because we’re friends, and it’s what friends do.”

“We’re friends?” I questioned, although immediately regretting it and feeling stupid afterwards, I had been helped by him so many times. If he wanted to be called friends, then we’d be called friends.
“Yes we’re friends.” He smiled. “What else would you call us?”

I simply shrugged before inching closer to him. My hand brushed against his and ended up resting against it. It was clear that the blond felt confused about what I was doing, however he didn’t say anything.

After a couple of minutes I spoke. “I should give you something to say thanks.” I decided out loud, and Dream seemed even more confused.
“You don’t have to give me anything.” He claimed, moving his hand away from mine as he did. “I promise you George. I don’t need anything.”

For a while I thought about it while just sitting beside him. Then I came up with an idea. It was kind of weird, but I quickly moved to press a kiss onto his cheek, something completely out of character. “Thank you.” I murmured against his cheek.

While Dream just sat there confused I began regretting what I did, attempting to read his emotionless face and see what he thought of what I did. When I couldn’t come up with an answer, I just let out a sigh and hurried out of the room.
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1242 words