suffocation | dreamnotfound

june 17th

george wheeled his luggage into the airport, trying to calm himself. he had been crying consistently since dream had left him, having no clue what to do with himself. he had tried to seek solace in the fact that he still had sapnap and bad, and had even spent time with quackity in the hopes that he would be able to laugh but all he felt was a gnawing feeling in his stomach. he felt like he had lost a piece of himself and he wasn't even sure why. how did george let himself get so attached to someone? didn't he know better? 

george knew that no matter what happened, he would never forget dream, nor would he ever overlook the positive impact dream had brought to him. dream had saved him, essentially. dream made him want to finally feel alive and stop hiding from everything that made life so special. george boarded the plane with tears in his eyes, taking his phone out quickly to call sapnap before take off.

"i am so scared that he's going to hate me. i'm scared i'm going to get to florida and he's going to be gone, moved from that house and far away and i will never see him again. what do i do?" george rambled before sapnap could even get a word in.

"hey, he's not going to hate you. he loves you so much." 

"then why is he gone?" 

sapnap stuttered on his words, having no clue what to answer. at that moment, the flight attendants shrill voice rang out, telling everyone to put their phone on airplane mode. george shut his eyes, wishing he didn't have to get through this ten hour plane ride alone. 

"have a safe trip george. please call me when you get there."

"i will nick. take care." 

the plane took off a bit later and soon enough, george could see the world so far below him and the clouds within reach. he tried to be calm but he was nothing but jittery, his gut twisting when he thought of what could happen when he touched down in florida. 

he just wanted his friend to be happy to see him. 

~~

george was approximately a twenty minute drive away from dream but, he still had to go through luggage, plus wait for an uber, and he felt like all his time was being eaten away. his heart pounded in his ears. the time had thrown him off on top of it all; it was only ten at night and still thursday, when it would have already been the 18th for george. he already felt so out of place. 

he ran outside after luggage and called for an uber, then called sapnap while he waited. sapnap wished him good luck, and it was clear he had been crying. george felt himself choke up too, scared of what could happen within the next hour. 

in the uber, george had to talk himself through this, pleading with himself to not back out. he hadn't come this far to not see dream and tell him what he needed to. when the uber driver said he had reached his destination, george jumped, the sudden voice scaring him. the driver gave george a look mixed with pity and confusion before he drove away. 

dream's house was blue; atleast, that's what george saw. he stood looking at it, his face illuminated by the flickering streetlights. his feet felt like they were trapped in cement, and with heavy legs and a mind screaming at him to turn back, george fought through it and took his first steps forward.

he stopped at the door, his fist motionless in the air, trying to determine if he should knock or not. he couldn't help but imagine how annoying and confusing it would be to have someone knock at your door at nearly eleven at night and cringed at his own actions, but he still brought his fist to the door and hit it three times. 

minutes went by. 

george didn't know how to approach this situation. he knew someone was home as there was a car in the driveway, but the house seemed dark except for one window. his hand trembling more than before, he knocked again. 

the world seemed still. 

then, finally, there seemed to be a movement in the house as feet were heard, then a cough and a weak "fuck". the door swung open, and there he was. 

"clay?" george looked at him, taking in his sickly appearance. red stained the collar of his shirt and crimson petals stuck to his clothes. dream's eyes looked at george with shock. was he just imagining the boy standing outside of his house? this couldn't be real. 

"george?" dream whispered, his hand raising as if he were going to touch the boy in front of him just to make sure he really existed. but he let his hand fall, trying to use his words instead. "is that really you?"

"it's me. i'm here."

dream tried to stay upright and tried to stop what would happen next, but his legs had already given out on him. he had barely moved since his parents had found him minutes from death days ago and his entire body was unfit for a surprise of this caliber. he fell to his knees, coughs and sobs reverberating within him. within seconds, george was on the ground next to him, grabbing at his shoulders and trying to keep him from hitting his head against the doorframe or the floor. 

"what's wrong clay? please, please, what's wrong?" 

dream looked up at the sky, at the stars that could be seen above them and smiled, a bittersweet expression on his face.

"i always wanted to look at the stars with you." he gasped out, before retching petals in front of george's feet.

george jumped back, releasing dream who fell back against the door. 

"what the fuck?" george murmured, looking at the emaciated dream and the blood and petals that had just come from him. he called for a ambulance immediately while the blond looked at him in pain. 

"i never meant to hurt you george. i never meant to keep secrets and lie but i wanted to protect you from this. i have hanahaki disease and it's killing me, right here, right now. it stems from unrequited love. i'm dying because i love someone who doesn't love me back. it sucks, doesn't it?" if dream could find enough strength to hit himself, he would smack himself right across the face. george wasn't meant to ever know any of this and here dream was, dying right in front of the boy. what was george even doing in florida? 

george kneeled down next to dream, trying to atleast calm him while they waited for the ambulance. he knew nothing about this disease so he was not even sure they would be able to help, but he hoped beyond all else they could save dream. george tried to remember things he had learned in a first aid class about how to help someone who was choking. after all, it seemed that that was what was happening to dream; he was choking on flowers. george put his hands on both sides of dream's head, his touch gentle, and he tilted the blond's head back.

the sirens of the ambulance could be heard; they were so close now. dream looked at george once more before closing his eyes. he needed to say one last thing but he didn't want to see george's face when he said them. 

"it's you. it's always been you. and i would die a hundred times over if it meant i would get to love you. whether you love me back or not, i will always chose you." 

dream turned his head away from george as he let go of dream's face and vomited again. george could see the shadows of blue siren lights dance across the peaceful homes nearby. he begged them to come quicker.

"clay, stay with me. look at me. don't go away right now. stay with me, please!" 

dream opened his eyes, seeing the flashing red and blue lights approach them. the red of the emergency lights matched the color of the blood soaking the pair.