into fire (dreamnotfound) (complete)

eleven.

a/n: please vote, comment, and share! how do you think this is going to end? second to last chapter :D

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word total for this chapter: 1656

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My jaw shuts roughly, and I pull away from Dream's touch, my skin already feeling numb from where his fingers touched. Turning away, I walk towards the shore again, suddenly hating this stupid river. I turn my head slightly, to catch Dream in my peripheral vision.

He has his back to me again, and he's deeper in the water, the line almost reaching his shoulders now. Heading hanging slightly, I can tell that he's deep in thought. Turning back, I step out of the water, feeling cold and vulnerable.

Shaking my hair out like a dog, I try to get all of the water droplets off of my skin, since we don't really have towels. I stand behind a tree, blocking my body from view for a few minutes, allowing the air to dry my skin most of the way.

Finding a change of clothes in my pack, I shove the old ones in, not really caring how they'll look when they're pulled out again. I get dressed rather quickly, and when I look back to see Dream, he's walking towards me. And the waterline is lower than it should be on his skin.

My entire body rushes with heat, and I turn my head quickly, feeling as if my neck would've broken if I had done it any quicker. I stare at the ground, my eyebrows raised in shock, mouth hanging open slightly at what I just saw.

Could it really end that badly? Why not just try? My mind taunts me with thoughts of him and what we could be. Shut up. It'll ruin everything if it goes wrong.

But will it go wrong?

"Oh, sorry, George." Dream's voice is quiet, just loud enough for me to hear over the rush of the water. I mutter out a small acceptance of his apology, not really thinking about it. Picking at my fingernails, I listen to him hum while getting dressed, almost as if nothing happened.

We can just pretend that didn't happen. Then it won't be weird. My mind soothes my rising anxiety, and I breathe a small sign of relief. I can't lose him. We should probably talk about what happened, but it seems clear that neither of us really want to.

I grab a small snack from my bag as I wait for Dream, and I realize just how low on food I am. We need to hurry this up. As he finishes, I stand, and my movement catches his eye. He turns to me, his eyes speaking for him.

Dream looks disappointed, and it makes my heart squeeze, my head dipping slightly. We walk alongside each other in silence, yet we're further from each other than normal, tension making the air feel heavy around us.

The hours seem to drag on, with merely a small bit of chatting filling the silence. Dream's voice does not seem as excited and passionate as normal, and it causes me to hesitate before speaking.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" I ask at one point, purely to keep the conversation from going stale. Dream tilts his head towards me slightly, the mask on his face taunting me with a smile when I know his expression is blank.

"One or two." He answers shortly, clearly not wanting to elaborate. I let out a strained breath, starting to get thoroughly irritated with the tension between us.

"Do we need to talk about it? Or can we just go back to normal already?" I demand, stopping and turning towards him. He does the same, crossing his arms lightly over his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks, and I was expecting his voice to sound angry, yet he's just purely curious, genuinely asking my opinion. Contemplating my response, I run a hand through my hair.