ORPHANED

:: five ::

dream was awoken from his peaceful slumber by the incessant bawl of his phone. he released his arm from underneath the pillow and reached for it, pulling it towards his face and squinting at the brightness of the screen. when he noticed sapnap was calling he answered the phone, and as the call connected dream blinked his eyes in attempt to wake himself. his face returned to the screen in time for him to see sapnap smiling back at him.

"rise and shine, it's time to get your grind on." sapnap turned away from his phone, and dream continued blinking at his screen allowing the words to process through his brain. "get it? since we work at The Grind." there was a pause. "anyway, you don't want to be late for your second day. bad will have a lot to say about that, trust me." dream let out a breath and set his phone down and sat up from his bed.

he stretched his arms, then his legs, next his shoulders, and finally finished by cracking his spine. "jesus, you need to see a chiropractor or something, your bones shouldn't just pop like that."

dream laughed at sapnap's remark. "alright man, i'm gonna get up and i'll see you in like twenty." when he turned to his phone sapnap was waving into the screen, dream waved back before ending the call.

he stood from the bed and grimaced at the cold temperature of the floor beneath his feet. he then made his way into the bathroom and took note of the height of the sun in the sky. it was still considerably early. after his visit to the bathroom he stood in front of his closet browsing his clothes for an outfit. after he finished changing he slid his phone into his back pocket, and slung his backpack over his shoulders.

he picked up his sneakers, and then his skateboard, and made his way down the stairs. as he approached the bottom landing, he saw his mom sitting at the table making a list, with her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. he smiled and continued down the stairs to the door. "i'm on my way out."

"you're not going to eat anything?"

he shook his head to answer, "i'll grab something while i'm out." he tied his sneakers and slid his keys into his pocket. "bye, love you." he called out behind himself to his mom and picked up his board and stepped out of the house.

as soon as he stepped foot out the door he felt a strong breeze, and it took him a second to adjust to the brightness outside. it took him even longer to realize the sun was still peering through the clouds like it had been that morning. he smiled and threw down the board in the direction of the station. today instead of being accompanied by the rising sun, the sun was alternatively hung high in the sky.

**

the blonde had walked through the doors of The Grind plenty of times before, yet this was the first time he had felt sound in the walls of the shop. as per usual he took a seat at the counter. sapnap rose his eyebrows at the blonde on the other side of the register. "what, you're not going to help me today?"

dream shook his head and pointed to a fake watch on his wrist. "i don't have to work for a few hours, plus i'm hungry."

sapnap shrugged, "your loss." he continued tending to the customer and dream kept browsing his phone. when sapnap placed a plate in front of dream, he set his phone down.

"what's this?" dream looked at sapnap with a confused face as sapnap looked back with a smirk.

"you said you were hungry."

dream inspected the pastry that sat on the plate. "yeah well, what is it?"

"eat it."

dream shook his head in response, "no, you could be poisoning me." sapnap laughed and turned from the blonde. dream gave in and took a bite of the pastry, still scrolling through his phone. the pair made small talk when the space between them fell too silent.

"text george and ask him when he's coming." dream nodded and opened his messages to text george, he browsed his conversations before realizing he never got george's number. it was ironic really. dream's eyes fell on a conversation, however that seemed to bring back memories.

"stay in touch."

dream stared at the words.

"hey," he looked up from the phone to see sapnap examining his face. he smiled at him to take the edge off, and then stood from the stool.

"i'm bored." he walked behind the counter and tied an apron around his waist.

he washed his hands at the sink and sapnap stood beside him. "i have a question." dream was perturbed by the suddenness of his words. "do you think bald people use shampoo?" the way he said it made it seem like not a question at all.

dream laughed out a response, "what?"

"like do you think they think it will make their hair grow back? or do you think they just wash their head with body soap?" dream stepped away from the sink and gathered his things before walking into the back of the shop.

"you can't be serious?"

"what do you mean? i think that's a reasonable question."

"why do you want to know so bad?" he set down his bag on top of his skateboard and turned to sapnap.

sapnap scoffed and turned from him. "i dont, i was just thinking about it in the shower the other day."

"well why'd you ask me, do i look bald to you?" sapnap laughed in response, and looked away from dream. this earned sapnap a punch to the shoulder. "i'll give you five percent of my tips today if you ask a bald person."

sapnap shone a mischievous grin. "deal." they shook hands and as they walked back to the counter in walked the first bald person of the day.