Mark My Words || DNF Soulmate AU

Chapter 13

The first hints of sun slowly peek through George's half-open blinds and pull him from the cushions of sleep. He helps himself up, hair tousled and shirt wrinkly from sleep, as he tiredly rubs his face and hangs his neck for a few more moments of trying to fall back asleep. He sighs in disappointment when he realizes that he's still awake as he places his hand down from previously putting it through his hair. It comes in contact with something cold and metal sitting just beside his thigh.

George flinches from the sudden cold sensation and looks down in irritation at his phone, which has turned itself on at his contact and tells him cheerfully in big block numbers that it is now 11:07 in the morning. He yawns as he takes it and holds it up to his face, still half-covered with blankets and warmth as he looks through his notifications.

Nothing of importance, a few Gmails and tweets that indicate the night wasn't particularly exciting. George yawns again.

He clicks open his phone and suddenly his eyes widen comically as he stares at what it presents him: his texts with Dream from last night, displayed in full with green and gray blobs from both ends. His eyes draw themselves down to the last message.

Dream

mark my words, you wont regret this.

George feels a sense of dread as nothing from last night comes to his memory. His clouded sense of consciousness must have forgotten to remember itself. Judging by his lack of response, George must have fallen asleep before he read this message, seeing as it was 2:10 in the morning by that point.

Oh god, George thinks as he throws off his covers and heads toward the bathroom, I might already regret this.

He grabs his toothbrush and smears the bristles with toothpaste before shoving it into his mouth and aggressively scrubbing his teeth. As he does so, he holds the phone in his left hand and reads through their exchange.

George

i know

and i want to go too

Dream

then come! we've waited for so long, why not now?

George rinses his mouth and thinks of a million reasons for "why not now," but quickly returns to his text messages to see his own response.

George

there's so much planning and isn't it too sudden?

Dream

it's been years george, and you don't even know what i look like yet

George

and whose fault is that?

George curses as he accidentally splashes water onto his phone, and curses again when he reads the message from last night. Why'd he suddenly revert to the kind of teasing reserved only for their past relationship? When things were transparent and not strange and made sense? It must have been the night getting to his head, and George wants to smack himself for not being careful about talking to Dream.

Dream

mine

so let me fix this

Remnants of the tingles from last night rush through his body, and George wants to roll his eyes for being such a lovesick teenager.

No, he corrects himself, just a teenager. Not lovesick.

He frowns. He's not even a teenager anymore.

George looks at the time on his next message and sees that there's a 3-minute gap between Dream's text and his response. Did he fall asleep? Was he too starstruck to come up with a reply? Did he want to make Dream wait for a reply? Even George can't guess his own mind when it's drenched with the darkness of the night.

George

by having me go to florida?

Dream

exactly

everything is easier in person.

In person. The two words send a sense of anticipation and apprehension trickling down George's spine. Somehow he doubts it'll be easier to face Dream when he's face to face with the man, unable to blanket himself behind a screen of toneless words. He imagines staring into Dream's eyes and has to resist curling into himself.

George

there's so much to figure out though

when do i come over?

where do i live?

how do we handle the finance side of things?

what do we tell the fans?

Dream

you'll live at my house

It's only one question answered, but for now George lets it slide. His mind is too preoccupied with the question of "What about your soulmate?" George's eyes glide down to look at his next message.

George

what about your soulmate?

He winces at how directly he asks the question. He shouldn't have brought up Dream's soulmate at all, that's a topic that edges toward awkward conversations George is not prepared to think about.

He sets his phone down on the marbled surface of his kitchen counter and places his elbows on top of them. He doesn't want to look at Dream's response yet, and he doesn't want to know how the rest of their conversation goes.

From their last message, George can deduce that he agreed to something he probably should not have. He can barely talk about soulmates with Dream through text, can barely contain his emotions on-stream, can barely fall asleep each night before he's sliced open with loneliness and a sense of loss. How is he going to handle being in Dream's presence?

George chuckles humorlessly, I give it two days before I cry in front of him and embarrass myself permanently.

He has to cancel. He can't go to Florida. Not now, when his wounds have barely closed and beads of blood still slip through the stitches when he's not careful. Going to Dream would either be like rubbing salt into those wounds or tearing them completely open until he's collapsed with exhaustion and pain. He's not ready yet.

With that thought in mind, George clicks open his phone again. Unwillingly, his eyes graze through Dream's response before he can scroll away.

Dream

he'll be away during that time, visiting a friend

and he doesn't live with me

George feels his jaw slacken as he holds the phone closer to his face and rereads the message. He read it right the first time. Dream is indeed referring to his soulmate. George almost combusts on the spot.

He?! Dream's soulmate is a guy?

Slowly, George sinks to the floor of his kitchen as he contemplates the new developments. He doesn't know why he's so struck by this fact, but he can barely wrap his mind around it.

When Dream announced that he had a soulmate, George had imagined a pretty blonde, someone cute and elegant and stylish enough to match Dream's personality. Perhaps it was due to the rejection, but George eliminated guys from Dream's category of interest completely.

But now... but now...

George's head snaps up as he realizes something else.

"He'll be away during that time, visiting a friend."

---

Kang's Note: Detective George is on the case! Thank  you for reading, as always, and have a nice day!