ORPHANED

:: eighty-five ::

the blonde woke up to a sight he wished everyone could experience once in their lives. the brunette's head remained on his chest, his mouth agape as soft breaths left his lips. the early morning light that filtered into the room settling on his skin in a way that made him look more awake than ever before. his face was illuminated by the contrast of the light yellow and the dark of his hair.

a smile branched across the blonde's face. he stared at the brunette, his mind wandering as he waited for the man in his arms to wake. he welcomed the light feathery feeling in his heart when he watched george peek at him from one eye, closing it immediately after, as his eyebrows drew together. he pulled his arm farther up dream's chest to hide his eyes from the light that shone directly at eye level.

dream did what anyone in their right mind would do, and stretched from where he lay on the bed to close the blinds. the light in the room barely dying down, all that he accomplished was directing it away from straight in the brunette's eyes. that was enough of an accomplishment for him. george needed new curtains if he was annoyed by the light in the room.

dream moved his hand from where it lay on his stomach to slide underneath george's shirt. the heat that transferred from the brunette's skin to his was almost alarming. george embraced the cold of dream's touch, pressing back into his hand. the blonde softly rubbed careless circles at the skin between george's shoulder blades.

"how are you feeling." his voice was deep and low after its break from use during their rest. george groaned, pushing himself to lay nearly on top of dream.

"not great, huh?"

george shook his head, retracting his arm from his face to rest it on the blonde's chest. dream didn't want to bother with waking the other, so he let them lay there longer. to fill in the silence he pulled his phone from his pocket. a text from sapnap sat at the top.

are you home?

sapnap wasn't one to ask if you were home, instead he'd just show up and wait for you to let him in, so the message was worrying, but dream tried not to let it scare him.

'no?' he responded noting how quickly the message was read before he started typing.

'i know, your sister told me'

the next messages were sent at the same time.

'are you with george?'

'are you alright?'

'sorry, you first'

dream rolled his eyes typing against the screen again.

'well i already know you're fine'

'fine, my turn then, are you with george? :)'

he knew sapnap had added the smile for comedic effect.

'i am'

'you slept over? :))'

'i did'

'on the same bed? :)))'

'what do you want sapnap'

'i'm visiting family for thanksgiving so i won't be here :('

that is not what dream wanted to hear first thing in the morning. he began to type back a response but instead set down his phone when george stirred in his arms, sitting up abruptly in the bed.

"are you alright?"

the brunette didn't answer, stepping off the bed, breathing heavily out of his nose as he left the room. that was when dream began to worry. he followed george out of the room, watching him enter and close the bathroom door behind himself. he could've wondered about what had been happening on the other side of the door, but the noise traveling through the hallway left little up to the imagination.

dream let out a long sympathetic sigh, walking to the kitchen to bring the brunette water, then he approached his bag which had been left by the front door. fishing around for a second, he smiled when he received the very same bottle of anti inflammatory tablets he had given to the brunette the first day he had been inside this apartment. he walked back to the bathroom. knowing george was in pain, made him physically hurt.

"george?" he knocked on the bathroom door, cautious as to not spill the ice water from the cup in his hand or drop the bottle of pills. "can you open the door for me?" he heard shuffling on the other side of the door, but it still stood locked. "please?" he tried once more, not wanting to overstep his welcome. if george wouldn't open the door he'd have no choice but to wait until he was ready to step out again.

the noise of the door unlocking gave him an indescribable hope. he opened it to see george sat with his back pressed against the tiling on the wall, his legs pulled to his chest and his head in his arms as he pushed out the intense bathroom light. dream felt his hope transform into empathy.

he flicked off the glaring light, opening the bathroom door wider so only the light from the hallway windows seeped in. he sat down beside the brunette, avoiding pressing his bare skin to the cold tile. sat next to the brunette he was finally close enough to inspect the layer of sweat that sat on his skin.

"are you hot?" he frowned, knowing the answer but just wanting to confirm his speculations.

george nodded, moving his head to rest on dream's shoulder as he stretched his legs out in front of himself, his eyes staying shut.

"do you want to take your shirt off?" the blonde asked, fidgeting with the items in his hands.

george shook his head too quickly, his hands flying up to his temples as he pressed out his ongoing headache.

dream recalled the two tablets george had shook into the palm of his hand all the time before, so he mirrored the action.

"here."

he held forth the cup of water and the pills, waiting for george to open his eyes and completed the gesture dream had been hinting to.

it was going to be a long day.

—

taking care of someone when they're sick is such a genuinely loving gesture, that's probably why i don't let anyone do it for me