December: A DNF Novel

Chapter Nine

*CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS IN STORY DESCRIPTION*

At nearly midnight, Dream made his way into his aunt's apartment, where everyone had gone to sleep- except George. He laid in Dream's bed, aimlessly scrolling on his phone, waiting to get a call that Dream is missing or passed out somewhere. When Dream walked into the apartment, he tried to be as quiet as he could. He took off his shoes at the door and was surprised to see Sapnap laying fast asleep on the couch.

Dream wasn't drunk anymore, the alcohol wore off hours ago and the three cups of coffee he ended up having at Emma's apartment helped a lot. He and Emma had just sat and talked for hours. Dream's phone was dead and he didn't really think to charge it at her place because he was going back home soon anyways. Dream enjoyed catching up with her: he found out she's single, but was in a relationship for about a year that was very toxic. She explained to Dream that one of the reasons why she wanted to spend a semester away from home was to get away from her insane ex, who was quite literally stalking her all around Orlando back home. She got a restraining order on him several times, but he still kept coming back. Thankfully now, she said, he was legally bound to stay in Florida for at least a year while on probation.

Somehow, in the midst of Emma catching Dream up on her life, Dream didn't get much of a chance to talk about his life: his job, visiting London, George. Dream hadn't once mentioned George. He didn't do this on purpose, it just never was the right time to bring it up, and he knew how much Emma loved to talk, so he just kept letting her lead the conversation. And frankly, he liked listening to her talk. Her voice was soft and slow, and she was an amazing story teller. This made sense to Dream why she was so captivating when she speaks, because her major in college is Elementary Education with a minor in English. Dream could imagine her being an amazing school teacher- she adores kids.

It was refreshing for Dream to be able to talk to someone who he knew from back home. As much as Dream felt horrible about the whole George and Danny situation, it was all George seemed to talk about anymore. And with the day that Dream had, running around doing 'errands' and confronting Danny, even getting threatened with a knife, it felt amazing for him to just sit, chat, and drink some coffee with an old friend.

But now as Dream was sneaking into his aunt's apartment trying to be as quiet as he could, he was hit with a wave of guilt, anxiety, and regret. He knew that George would be incredibly mad at him, not only for being home so late, but for not answering him, and for keeping him up on a weeknight when he knew George had to work in the morning. He didn't regret going to Emma's apartment in the first place, but he definitely regretted staying for as long as he did, because there was no way he'd be able to justify his previous lie. There was no way Dream was just 'out running errands' until midnight- very few places were open right now, especially not any grocery or convenience stores.

"Shit." Dream said, now realizing how fucked he was.

He didn't realize he said this out loud until he heard movement on the couch. Sapnap had woken up. He sat up from the couch and met eyes with Dream.

Sapnap smiled a sleepy, groggy smile. "Hey, man. What's up?" He whispered.

"Hey, Sapnap. I'm so sorry I'm so late." Dream said.

"It's okay, man, I don't care. George has been up all night though- he's not happy at all."

Dream sighed. "I figured. Is he in my room?"

Sapnap nodded, then went back to sleep. Dream entered his room and shut the door. The lights were out and George was laying in the bed, but he wasn't sleeping. He was on his back, arms crossed over his chest- just staring up at the ceiling. He didn't even look at Dream as he came in, even though he both heard and saw Dream enter.