Case 404

[ The Better Days ]

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Silence filled the room again. 

George's heartbeat increased quickly. Dream could feel it. He noticed everything after all. It was what he was trained to do. To Analyze everything.

Dream detached himself from George's chest. "Don't do that." He spoke with a hint of disappointment in his voice. 

"W-what? Do what?"

"Be afraid," Dream was stoic now. 

"Why would you think I'm afraid?" George shifted. 

"I felt it," Dream referred to the rapid heartbeat increase.

"I'm not afraid, Dream. You just caught me a bit off guard, that's all." George was genuine. As genuine as he could be.  

"Why aren't you afraid?" Dream lowered his eyes. 

George's expression was now filled with confusion. "Are you implying that you want me to be afraid?"

"It's like..you still see me as the Dream from years ago."

George stayed silent. 

"I'm not just a memory, right? You aren't still clinging on to him?" Dream referred to his old self. 

"No, I'm not." George reached for Dream's hand.

Dream pulled his own hand away. "Did you love me?"

George was shocked by the sudden question. 

"Did I- what?"

"I need to know, George. Did you love me?"

George was flustered now. He rarely talked about his feelings. But now, Dream seemed vulnerable, desperate even. Like the wrong answer could break him into thousands of pieces.

"Of course I did, Dream."

"In love..?" Dream switched the question up slightly, which was even more terrifying. 

George gulped and shifted his head down. "..Yes."

Dream's expression was still stoic, not showing the slightest bit of emotion covered his face. "And now?"

"I-"

"No," Dream cut George off. "Don't answer that."  

George obeyed and stayed silent. 

"Whatever your answer is, it should be 'no'. I'm not the person you loved anymore," Dream admitted. 

"You're right," George broke the silence. 

Dream looked up as if he expected George to disagree with the truth. 

"You're not the same, and you never will be. But that doesn't mean you aren't good." George paused and took a breath. "And it doesn't mean I won't love every version of you." 

Dream shook his head softly. "You still see me as the hero or something. Why?" 

"Because the hero always gets the happy ending," George replied. 

"If I don't?"

"You will, Dream."

Dream had been biting his fingernails now, lost in thought. 

It was clear to George that Dream had once again been fighting every thought in his head now.

Distract the threat, make conversation, cause distractions. Be a distraction. George's fathers' voice rang in his head. 

"The better days," George spoke. "Tell me about them."

"The what?" Dream looked at him, confused. 

"Describe what life was like before all of this, the farthest and best memory you can remember. Tell me about how the air felt, if it was cold or crisp. Tell me how the sun felt, or how the clouds looked. The better days. Tell me about them, please."

Dream thought for a moment. It was clear he had to reach far back. George felt a tug at his heart.

Dream smiled. "The day I went missing." 

George titled his head, waiting for Dream to continue. 

"It was sunny, but the air still cold from the snowfall a few days before. It just smelled clean, if that makes sense. The clouds were out, I remember that. I knew that I was going to be taken that day. The agency never gave me a set date, but it just felt right. I knew it was coming, and I wanted to prepare for it."

George nodded. Dream's instincts were mostly a hundred percent correct most of the time. "How did you know they were even after you?"

'They sent letters. I'm pretty sure everyone here got one unless they volunteered to be here."

"What did they say?" George asked.

"It was so long ago, I can only remember a few lines. Some stuff about 'preparing for war' if you want peace," Dream responded. 

"I don't understand, how was this a good day? You knew that people were after you, and they were going to get you. How was that good?"

"It was because of you." 

George blinked in confusion. 

"I was going to come see you, and tell you everything. I had a plan. I wanted to run away with you. It's what I've always wanted, really. But now, I had a motive to do it. I always knew how much you wanted to travel the world. You were never one for royalty. Technoblade found me before I could make it to your castle's gate though."

George shifted his head down and imagine what would have happened if Dream was there a few minutes before Technoblade found him. 

"The world would've been yours to explore. But it doesn't matter anymore, I didn't even know if you would have ca-"

"I would've," George spoke hastily and cut Dream off. 

Dream smiled. "Of course you would have."

George laughed under his breath then looked up. "I still didn't follow. The more you tell me, the worse it gets." George added.

"I came to terms with everything in my life. I was forced to, basically."

"What did you come to terms with?"

"I guess just knowing everything would be different. I wouldn't ever be able to take my sister to town square, or get my mom a new book on the way home from training. Or play solitaire with Nick and drink our worries away." Dream took a breath. "And I came to terms that I would have never been able to tell you how deeply I fell in love with you."

George's heart had been beating faster than ever before. All the years of waiting, and wondering, and thinking, he heard Dream say it. 

"And now?" George had used Dream's words against him. 

Dream looked up to eye level with George. "I feel like love can fade. But it never really leaves if it's true. Like a really dark room, it stays dark until someone flips the light switch on. Does that make sense?" 

George nodded. "Love can come back because it never left. You just need to activate it..turn on the light."

"Yes," Dream smiled. "Exactly."

"Is the light on?" George pressured the question.

"Oh, come on, Georgie. It was never off."

The two filled the room with laughter that eventually turned into a comfortable silence.  

"Dream," George said in a demanding tone. Like he had something urgent to share. "You said you wanted me to run away with you?"

"Yeah," Dream laughed. "It was pretty crazy how much thought I pu-"

"Dream!," George cut him off with a smile. "Let's run away together."

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