ORPHANED

:: thirteen ::

they stepped out of sapnap's house and the cold air immediately surrounded them, the warmth from the house long gone. they walked side by side again, arms rubbing against each other. dream standing on the side of the pavement closest to the street.

"i'm not a child, you don't have to walk me home."

george didn't seem very customary to the idea of dream walking with him. dream spoke softly, treading carefully. "you might get mistaken as one though." he turned his head to watch george's reaction, "wouldn't want you getting kidnapped."

george's smile spread quickly across his face and both him and dream laughed gently. most of the time they had spent together today had been in almost complete silence. so it didn't surprise dream when they continued walking with no topic of conversation. dream's let his eyes direct towards the sky. "do you still think pluto is a planet?"

"they already confirmed pluto can't be a planet, it's too small." george's eyes also gazed towards the sky, and their stroll transformed into a saunter.

"but do you still think of it as a planet?" dream lowered his eyes from the sky to look down towards george. george had a look of thought plastered onto his face as he let his bottom lip slip in between his teeth. he nibbled at the skin of his lip as he kept his eyes turned towards the sky, inspecting the stars.

"i guess not.  i stopped thinking it was a planet after i saw the article." dream nodded and george lowered his eyes. they continued walking.

"you're not too different from pluto you know."

"how's that?" george turned to look at dream and they locked eyes.

"small." dream let a smile sprout on his face as he saw george begin to roll his eyes.

"shut up."

after that the conversation died down. dream loved the silence that fell before them, however he felt as if the quiet should have been filled with george's laughter. watching george smile at his stupid jokes warmed him up in ways a sweatshirt could never. the warmth came from beyond his bones. "what's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

"are you serious?" dream turned to look at the face george was making, imagining he was about to describe an insane event. "running from the actual police today, that's the craziest thing i've ever done."

dream's mouth fell agape, "you're joking?"

george only shook his head.

"technically you weren't running from the cops, i was, but i'll let it slide."

in response he received a pinch to his exposed to skin, the pain causing him to erupt in laughter, allowing a wheeze to escape. "why'd you do that?" he was only able to speak in sections while he was regaining his composure.

"payback."

it was dream's turn to roll his eyes, "hey, for that being the craziest thing you've ever done, you handled it pretty well."

george smiled, "usually in a situation like that i just freeze up, i don't know what kept me in the moment."

"let me guess, maybe, the cops. perhaps?" dream expected george to roll his eyes again, however when a smile broke out he couldn't help but smile back.

"maybe."

"well it looks like it's my job to help introduce you to more crazy situations."

george shook his head, "no. no, no, no. not happening."

"too late i've already made up my mind."

**

as they stood in front of george's apartment they argued about how dream would get back to sapnap's. having the temperature dropped severely and him only sporting a thin t-shirt. george could've easily gaven back his sweatshirt, however he never seemed to voice this idea.

"i'll be fine, i'll just run back, by the time i get there i'll be sweating." dream could feel the multiple notifications vibrating in his pocket, most likely from sapnap asking what was taking so long.

"you should've just walked me to The Grind. i could've walked from there." george opened the door to his apartment and stepped out of his shoes.

"that would've defeated the purpose of me walking you home." dream enjoyed the heat from inside of the house.

"well now you have to walk all the way back alone." george frowned, still wearing a sweatshirt that was far too large for him.

"i'll be fine, honest...unless you want to let me sleepover?" dream smirked at the older who flaunted a look of unamusement.

"let me call you an uber, as thanks." george slid his phone out of his pocket and dream hovered his hand on top of the screen, before george looked back up at him.

"i'll be fine, no need to thank me." he started stepping away from the door and turned back to wave at george. george was still frowning. dream smiled towards him hoping to smooth his nerves. he kept waving until george had closed the door to his apartment.

only then had he realized how overpowering his lonely silence was. now he himself exhibited a frown. he pulled out his phone, letting sapnap know he was going to head home. in times like this he wish he carried his board around everywhere he went. he let out a huff of air and began his trek home.

he didn't end up running, his legs still sore from only hours ago. the only thing keeping him warm was the picture of george's smile that was burned into the back of his eyelids. when he finally made it home the cold was no longer a relevant problem. he hadn't brought his keys with him. he checked his phone; two in the morning, no good. both his sister and his mom would be sleeping.

he contemplated walking back to george's, but he'd probably be sleeping already, he thought about going to sapnap's, his legs throbbed in protest. he sat down on his front step and tried to remember which window would be unlocked. he sighed and made his way to the kitchen. it wouldn't be the first time he had to break in.

—

definitely leave suggestions about what you want to see the boys do, and i will do my best to incorporate it into the existing plot. i don't want to run out of ideas any time soon because i already love this story too much