in this forever - dnf football au

27

dreams pov:

as i search though the candy isle i hear the baby monitor go off in my pocket, not a cry but an adorable coo, "dadadapapa," i hear my two year old babble in her sleep.

my heart melts and i grab my final bag of candy then go find george.

however as i walk to the other side of the store i hear shouting, i pick up my pace to a run to find a large man standing over george, who's curled in a ball.

it feels like i'm watching the scene play out in slow motion as the mama brings a bottle down over george's head, i instantly lunge towards the man and push him to the floor away from george, and fall to my knees in the puddle of vodka and glass shards, brushing them from his skin and clothes as i repeat, "it's okay baby, you're okay,"

there are now two security guards running towards us,i begin to brush shards of glass from george hair and clothes but a lot of it stabbed into his skin and his head if bleeding from the impact, his attacker is fighting with the two security guards and i realise i recognise him, from the day ivy was born when he and george mum tried to take her from us,

the only two other customers in the stores are running to us now, "do you need an ambulance, is he okay?" one asks,

"call the cops first, he'll be safe when he's no here any more," i point to his dad, "and yeah, call an ambulance he's bleeding a lot from his head," i say, trying my best to comfort him, it so much more difficult doing this in public when the cause of his breakdown is standing in front of him and not just a figment of his imagination,

"it's okay baby," i whisper,  wrapping my arms him, and pulling him into my lap, "i'm here, he's not gonna hurt you,"

i can hear him muttering to himself from the tight hall he's curled in, "don't let him near us," i say glaring at the huge man still fighting with the two security guards,

"george, love, i'm gonna pick you up okay?" i explain to him so his doesn't mistake me for his dad, i gently begin to pry his tightly wrapped ball of limbs apart and let him cling to me instead of himself,

once our bodies are pressed together, his numb pressing against my chest, i walk us over to the other side of the store near the entrance and gently talk to him, as we sit in a corner,

"it's all gonna be okay george, i know right now it's scary, and you have all these forrible memories in you're head and you think it'll never end, and you're in so much pain, and everything smells like alcohol, but i've got you, and the ambulance is gonna get here soon and get fix you up," i say trying to find him something to focus on apart from the awful flashbacks he has and the terrible pain he's in.

i can hear him muttering nonsense into my ear, he sounds terrified, i can hear sirens in the distance and soon see flashing lights, the police rush in first followed by the paramedics, "what happened?" one asks as i try to peel herve off me but he refuses,

"his dad smashed a vodka bottle over his head, uhm, he-" i try to think of what to say to sum up the situation in the least amount of words, "he's pregnant, he moved out from his parents how's a couple years ago, he had like- diagnosed ptsd, because they used to abuse him and i just seem to be his comfort person when it gets bad," i ramble,

"okay, i suppose i'd be easiest to just get him checked out with you there," he says, "let's go outside to the ambulance, they'll probably be bringing his dad out this way, best not be near him,"

"yeah," i sigh, reaching a hand up george's hoodie and gently rubbing his back, they lead us outside to the ambulance where i sit with him still hugging me like a koala as the paramedics pick shards of glass from his skin and ask me questions on his behalf,