paint splattered scars || dnf

Who Gave You the Right?

Lmk if there are typos and I'll try to fix them. Comment while you read & vote!!!

Ft: George being pissed off, therapy, and unsaid words

TW: discussions of previous events (therapy)

———————

Sapnap and George walked into the same office they had a few days prior. George was once again called in first.

"Hi, George. It's great to see you!" Puffy said politely from across the room in a chair.

"Good to see you too."

"I'll just start off with this. Anything new happen this week you want to talk about?" Her eyes looked into his like she was searching for any sign of... something.

George stuttered for a moment. He wasn't prepared for this. Honestly George thought this would just be talking about his early childhood. Not his current life. "I went to the beach yesterday?"

"That sounds fun. I haven't been able to get out in the nice weather myself recently. Did you go with anyone?"

George nodded. "My boyfriend and two of our friends. Karl and Sapnap."

"That sounds like a lovely day." Puffy said, sweet as honey and it almost made George want to tear up. He had no idea why. Instead, he nodded and waited for Puffy to ask another question. "Should we get into it, then? I have a little bit more to ask about the specifics of your life."

George nodded, and tried to smile but his stomach dropped a bit. He was going to get into specifics. Was he actually about to talk about this?

"You've mentioned a car crash and coma. What exactly... happened there?" She asked carefully. Kindly.

"I'd had a bad time the night before," George admitted, as if that weren't the understatement of the century. Puffy looked a little nervous. "I was going to see my boyfriend the next morning to apologize for... a lot, I think. Kissing him, partially— We weren't together yet," he clarified. Puffy nodded, her hand was for once still. No scribbled notes were written as he talked. George's heart thudded against his ribcage. "I was t-boned at an intersection in the way. I think they got the guy, too. He ran a red light and just... yeah. My friend's car got wreaked. And, I guess my ribs did too," he chuckled once, but it sounded strangled.

Puffy looked sympathetic. "I'm very sorry, that sounds awful. I'm assuming that's the event that put you in a coma?"

"Yeah."

"How long were you there?"

George thought for a second before responding, "Probably a month and a half? Two, maybe."

Puffy looked shocked. "That's quite a long time. I suppose comas can vary, but still." She looked at George questioningly, almost prompting him to say something else, but he didn't know what, so he pretended to not notice. "And what was it like after? Integrating slowly back into school and everything must've been difficult."

George nodded. "There was a lot going around the time I got out." George decided not to mention his uncle once more, and wished he had. "My boyfriend had some family issues going on so when I went home, his aunt was there and she's... I guess difficult is the best way to describe her."

"You say home, when implying you went to your boyfriend's house," Puffy noted. "Is there a reason for that?" she asked, clearly knowing what George meant. She was probably using this as a conversation opener.

"I live with him. He's eighteen and—"

"You're seventeen though, no?" she asked, flipping through a few papers on the clipboard she held.

"Yes." George understood this conversation was a bit dangerous, but it wasn't like there was anything to do about this. He was nearly an adult and he had nobody else to live with, anyways. Foster system probably wouldn't take him either, considering his age.

Puffy didn't say anything. She just nodded, scribbled something, and he face was back to a pleasant smile. "Did these familial issues make this time more difficult?"

George considered his answer. He didn't want to say that everything Dream was dealing with was a burden, because that'd be awful. "It was difficult for everyone, honestly. His aunt's a bad person," he said factually. "She keeps trying to take his sister, and she said some pretty fucked up stuff to him—" George stopped for a second. "Am I allowed to swear in here?" he asked. Maybe Bad was rubbing off on him.

Puffy smiled. "You can. I won't, because I am supposed to act professionally, but you aren't held to that same standard for the most part."

George just nodded. He glanced at the clock, and wondered what Sapnap was talking about right now.

"Your boyfriend has custody of his sister?" Puffy asked, continuing the conversation.

George didn't know if he actually did, so he just said yes.

"And what of your parents?"

Great. Family. So he was going to get into this today. "My parents are dead. I... I was taken in by my uncle and aunt."

"But you don't live with them," she clarified, and wrote something down.

George nodded. "My aunt is—" George glanced around as if he were nervous to talk about this. Probably because he was. He felt like his uncle would show up from no where. "She'd dead too." He swallowed. "Killed."

Puffy's eyes went wide, but she scribbled something quickly. "That's a lot of loss, George."

He chuckled bitterly, "You don't have to tell me. He nearly took me out, too."

Puffy opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

"And here I was letting you think the coma was the worst of it," he muttered.

"This is all very difficult subject matter, and I understand if you don't want to get into all of this today. We have all the time in the world," she said comfortingly and slowly.

George didn't even nod, he just stayed silent, before mumbling, "I've never really said that out loud so easily."

"Well," Puffy began, her blue eyes flashing slightly, "that's progress, then, right? Even if it isn't from therapy."

George nodded. "Yeah, I guess." And he didn't really find himself disagreeing.

Later, George and Sapnap drove back to Dream's. Sapnap had walked out of the office looking slightly confused, while George had left feeling angry. Not at Puffy, but at his uncle. He was just furious. George wondered how in the world somebody could put their hands on kid like that and live with themself. He was pissed that he had to go to therapy. He was thankful for the opportunity, but he wished he didn't have the emotional baggage that brought about the need for therapy.

He and Puffy had continued their conversation for a few more minutes by talking about how it was getting back to school and if he was managing stress of the make-up work, which he was.

Now, George just sat silently in the passenger seat, glaring at his reflection in the window.

"What's up with you?" Sapnap asked, glancing from the road.

George sighed. "Just a rough session."

"I get that," Sapnap said in a clipped tone.

George and Sapnap spent the rest of the day at home, mulling over their respective sessions and letting their emotions run their courses. It should've been healthy, but at the end of the day, George was still put off.

————————

1190 words

My boy is working through some feelings yall

I haven't updated in awhile, but here you are!!

Woooo only a few chapters to go :) The last one will be titled "Paint Splattered Scars" then I might do an epilogue after but idk.

Also holy shiiiit new Lovejoy EP is amazing. My favorite song is probably consequences