SPIDERMAN AU||DNF

4. Scared

TW: Mentions of Abuse and murder

George exhaled. Though he didn't want to tell anyone about it, he knew he would feel better if Dream knew. So he would suffer through this. "It starts out with my father. He was... horrible. He abused me and my mom- with words, though, not even with violence. He wasn't an alcoholic either, he genuinely just liked seeing people be in pain. Almost every day, he'd come home from work scowling, and my mother- Oh, my poor mum, she believed she could fix him. She was convinced this was a phase, and still loved him with all her heart. They didn't date as long as they should have. Within a few months they got engaged, and a few days later, married. She told me everything changed when I was born. Evidently he seemed to realize I was too much of a responsibility for him, and he got sour. He tried to disown me, but mum loved me too much for that. My life was spent getting yelled at over and over, and witnessing my mom get yelled at over and over. One day, when my came home from work, he-"

George's voice broke, and he had to take a deep breath to continue.

"He decided that violence was the best thing to do. H-He punched my mother. Over and over again. With a smile on his face. And.. Dream, I don't really get scared- not the way you do. I get really, really mad if I truly get 'scared'. And, Dream.. I got a knife and killed him. Stabbed him in the neck, anything to get him to stop.  My mother- my own mother- Told me I was a monster. I- Dream, she said she loved me no matter what I did, all the time, so you have to understand the gravity of what this meant to me. She'd tell me monsters weren't real. ...I believed her. ANd so when she said that, I- I had to-"

Tears pooled in his eyes. He took in a shaky breath.

"I had to kill her, too. I couldn't bear to see her that way. I figure if she really loved him so much, they'd want to be together forever. I-"

He burrowed his face in his knees, not wanting Dream to see him this way.

"Dream, and- So, I.. Dream, I got scared. More scared than I've ever been in my life. And I've told you before, when I get scared I get.. Honestly... ...Murderous. I remember my neighbor, still. He was never kind to me, and tried hitting me with a beer bottle once. A piece of shrapnel got into my arm, and he got arrested. I don't know how, but he escaped and got back under a new name and identity. I knew it was still him. He had the same voice. So I went and killed him. I killed a lot of people, Dream. Never innocents. Abusive fathers like mine, toxic exes that threatened to dox their once-lovers, hundreds of such cases. They're dead. They- they could have gotten better, though, Dream. They could have redeemed themselves. They're dead... And, well, being a seven-year-old, I wasn't careful. I got caught and sent to prison. For a while I stayed there, until I calmed down. Until I got better. And then, just like that, I moved through the floor, back into my old apartment. At this point I was nine, spending nearly two years in prison."

George lifted his head.

"I remember the phantom stench of blood that seemed to haunt that place. For a few weeks, I lived there, not wanting to go to an orphanage or foster home for fear that I'd start killing again. I isolated myself from the world. I taught myself how to do most of the things their parents teach them. I might have been nine, but I wasn't stupid. I knew that if I wanted my shitty life to go anywhere, I was going to need an education. So, I taught myself online how to do math, english, science, and even learned how to defend myself and how to fight. Eventually, though, the phantom blood smell got to me. I found an abandoned house, rickety and old, and renovated the basement to suit my needs. I never really made any friends. I still got scared. Sometimes I'd kill, but always regretted it. In the moment, though, I knew the world would be better without them. It felt... Nice, to do something useful for once. Overall, though, I had a simple- lonely, yes, but quiet life."

George met Dream's eyes. "...That's my story."

Dream seemed to be speechless.

"I know, I know it's horrible and-"

George was yanked forward abruptly, muffled by Dream's chest. Dream held him in a tight embrace. A warm one.

It's been a while since he'd been properly hugged.

He wordlessly wrapped his arms around Dream's torso.

He waited for an "It's going to be okay" or "I'm so sorry" or even "If only I'd been there, I could've stopped this".

Instead, Dream stayed silent.

George noticed that Dream smelled nice. It was calming, and it made him feel sleepy.

They both stayed in silence, though it was a gentle one. One that would give in, if someone wanted to speak.

That was the nice thing about Dream. He knew the best way to help in a situation. And for this one, it was silence.

He could have asked if there was anything he could do to help. He could have asked if George wanted therapy. He could have asked why George had done these things alone.

But the past was in the past and Dream understood that worrying about it helped no one.

George let the tension melt out of his muscles as he let more and more of his weight shift onto Dream's chest.

Dream smelled really good.

George could feel himself slip away from his conciousness, and made no move to fight it. He welcomed the darkness with open arms. He knew he needed it. He knew he needed sleep.

He hesitated a moment before falling asleep, questioning what Dream would think of him from now on. Should he have told him this?

Well, what was done was done. Now Dream knew how he'd become Spiderman, for better or for worse.

Sorry about the angst. But, hey, character building is character building.

Dream's going to tell george his backstory, and I'm going to throw in some worldbuilding before we can get to the FLUFF.

mmmmm flufffffffffff :DDDD

And maybe there will be some proper plot in this idk ;)

vote pleasseeeee