behind the streams | dnf

twenty | fire

SAPNAP

"Wake up."

My eyes snap open into darkness.

"Get up."

A faint fold of light bends across the rises and dips in the bedsheets.

"Get up."

My surroundings are unfamiliar. I try to grasp the disorienting sight.

Why is there a window there? Why isn't my bed against the wall?

Someone breathes loudly behind me, not even trying to conceal it.

The hair on my arm and the back of my neck rises.

Who is that?

I turn over.

Through the darkness I see a face, features twisted by the dimness and my own fatigue.

Fear nearly knocks me out and my heart thunders through my chest as I'm practically slapped awake. Propping myself up and scooting to the opposite corner of the bed, the looming silhouette striking a frenzied scramble for instincts as my brain goes absolutely haywire. "What the fuck-"

"Sapnap."

The air rushes out of my lungs.

My heart's still recovering from its treacherous drop, but the last wisps of sense just manage to catch me.

I squint in the darkness as my fear ebbs into confusion.

"George?"

He scoffs at me, tone harsh with impatience. "Yes, it's me."

"You- you- ," I sputter, still feeling my pulse raging loudly in my throat. "What the hell were you thinking? Oh my God, if you were any closer than that I would have probably punched you what are you doing in my room-"

"Get."

"Up."

His eyes pierce through the darkness. There's not a trace of kindness in his features.

I'm stunned into silence as my fire dies.

"Let's go."

There's a cold edge in his voice, live steel against my neck. The metal threatens me enough to obey.

I slowly get up. 

He takes a few steps back and watches me glacially as I throw on a hoodie and sweatpants. I notice, in the faint glow of the moonlight, he's still wearing the same clothes from the airport.

I grab my phone and stare blankly at his stoic expression. He meets my gaze and abruptly walks out of the room, leaving me stumbling after him, nearly staggering into the door.

"Be quieter, goddamnit."

"Sorry."

My voice is hardly above a whisper. Confusion and fear squeeze every part of my brain and the fact that I'm still half-asleep does no good to my coherency. I follow him blindly through the hallways of Dream's house before practically tripping down the staircase he navigates with no trouble at all.

His eyes are so much better adjusted to the darkness than me.

How long has he been awake?

My socks slip on the wooden floors as he makes a sudden turn towards the front door.

His hand reaches for his shoes.

It's at this moment the fire inside me rekindles and I snap out of my paralysis. My feet stop several paces behind him.