ORPHANED

:: eighty-eight ::

"shut up, you don't mean that." dream rolled his eyes but he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face in hope of what it could mean for them.

"of course i do." george's smile grew quickly as he stared at the blonde, seeming to forget the origin of the topic.

"yeah, until sapnap asks why i started calling you babe out of literally nowhere." dream removed his hands from underneath the others shirt to run them through his hair.

"he doesn't have to know." george returned his cheek to rest against dream's chest, watching with interest, every movement the blonde took.

"you're so dumb." he felt himself chuckle, turning his eyes to the brunette who still watched him with happy eyes. he moved his hands from his hair to press them into his face. "stop looking at me like that."

dream felt george lift himself from where he lay on the other's chest and pry at his hands, desperate to see the face underneath. when he came face to face with the other he felt a blush rise quicker than he could fight off, this only made george's proud smile wider. "why are you so shy all of a sudden? what were you thinking about dream?"

"i told you already." he fought with the brunette to return his hands to his face feeling hot in the overbearing heat of george's gaze.

"this is so unlike you, i doubt you were just thinking about 'home' why are you all blushy?"

"i'm not." perhaps his remembrance of his past sent him back into an old mindset, back when he was more withdrawn. bad was right after all, being friends with these guys had definitely given him more confidence.

"you can't just say you're not, i can see the blush on your face." dream felt the other sit on his lap as they continued to fight over where his hands lay. "dream." george laughed, still clawing at the blonde's hands.

"george."

"let me see your face."

he gave in, dropping his hands from his face only to dive head first into the same situation as last night. the position, george's concentrated look, the indescribable feeling that flipped inside of him. he closed his eyes.

"now i know why you're always teasing me all the time, this is fun."

dream scoffed, beginning to brace himself when he felt two hands on either side of his face. if last night had taught him anything this was not a situation he wanted to be in right now. "dream, open your eyes." the brunette's voice was much softer, reserved, just for him.

he opened his eyes to find that today was different. today wasn't last night, today was comfortable and soft. last night was pushy and wrong. he wanted to stay in today.

dream could see george. the warm light in the room illuminating the features of the brunette, more than the moon had the night before. he saw every freckle, admired the light dusting of blush, and traced his eyes along the structure of the brunette's face. storing everything on display into his brain to be remembered forever.

when his eyes landed on the pink of george's lips he had an internal debate with himself. he couldn't decide whether it would be right for him to stare so he watched the brunette for permission, only to find george focused on his eyes. their eyes met and dream could've sworn he saw george lick his lips. again, he prepared himself, knowing he didn't have the words, nor a reason to stop the other today.

george only smiled at him. "i'm hungry."

so the blonde watched the brunette stand from his lap, grinning playfully as he walked into the kitchen.

"what a tease." he mumbled readjusting his sweatpants before he stood from the couch to meet the brunette in the other room.

**

together they sat on either side of the couch, quietly munching away at their well deserved breakfast during what was actually lunchtime. dream couldn't help but watch the brunette, still slightly frightened that the other would eat too quickly and he'd send himself to the bathroom only to throw up again.

he handed george the fresh cup of ice water that was previously sitting on the coffee table, watching as the brunette took it in his hands gratefully.

"thank you."

something kept floating around in his mind. "george?"

the brunette set down his water, turning to the blonde to signify he was ready for him to continue.

"since you're feeling better...are you really sure you don't want to come to mine for thanksgiving?"

they both averted their eyes.

"i don't want to replace sapnap. you've known each other much longer than we've known each other."

dream wasn't exactly sure why he was so keen on trying to convince the other to change his mind. "sapnap won't mind."

george shrugged, setting his plate beside his cup on the coffee table. the air growing more awkward the longer they spoke about it.

"i've never talked to your mom before dream, i don't want that to be my first impression." he played with his hands as he spoke, not wanting to face the blonde. dream's heart warmed at the idea of george getting along with his mom.

"george she'll love you, i promise. my mom is the least of your worries, my sister is who you should be scared about, and you've already got her to like you."

george didn't say anything and the silence began to get to him. "say you'll go?"

"i think i'm tired again."

"okay," he sighed standing from the couch, and collected both of their plates to bring back to the kitchen. "alright."

it was okay.

george didn't have to come, it had been a while since he had spent the holiday with just his mom and his sister anyway.

when he was done he slid in behind george on the couch, wondering if he dared moved his arms from his sides.

"can i hold you?" his voice was timid in the anxious radio silence of the room.

george nodded.

—

kept seeing soft dream on twitter and i couldn't help myself. also i'm stuck in a dilemma; i want to update a lot, but were staring to get closer to the end and i'm terrified of this book ending