ORPHANED

:: one hundred forty-four ::

he opened his wallet like he had a million times before, except now he the brunette's watchful eyes concentrated on his movements. tentatively he flipped through several employer business cards that had been long neglected, possibly for the better, until he found the snapshot that stayed unmoving from between the old cards. when he eventually salvaged the photo from the chaos that was his wallet, the brunette's eyes lit up with excitement when he came to recognize what it had been.

"she hates this picture, so i keep it on me at all times." he tilted the image farther into george's focus. "i use it to torment her, and occasionally for blackmail, but for whatever reason every time i pull out my wallet she starts being nicer to me?" his pretend to be ignorant shrug was followed by the roll of george's eyes.

the brunette carefully took the card from the blonde's hands, like he was scared it would disintegrate into the air if he was too hasty. dream had such a clear memory of the photo he could envision it simply with his eyes closed. it was taken during the mandatory year his mom had insisted each of her kids go through to find their style and further develop their personality, even if it meant they'd regret it in the long run. he didn't like to talk about that year for himself, but when it came down to teasing his sister there was just so much to pick on her about.

just to scratch the surface, for some reason that year she had decided she needed glasses, no matter how many times they took her to an optometrist who disputed her claims. still, every day she'd sit a foot away from the t.v. and refused to eat carrots on any condition. it was bothersome that she was always in the way of the screen, and dream liked carrots but not enough to eat both his and her servings worth.

it was the morning of picture day when she punched out the lenses of one of their old vacation sunglasses to wear, that dream decided he would be generous and step in to try and save her from the future embarrassment, the way he wished someone had for him. however, their mom seemed to get a kick out of it and the entire ride to school she complimented his impressionable sister on the bulky white frames that barely remained on her face.

...looking back on it he was glad his mother was so easily entertained because now he had the best item for bribery.

"oh, i'd kill you if i knew you had this picture of me." george was more invested in the photo than anyone the blonde had ever shown. "how are you still alive?"

"believe me, the first time i pulled that one out i was seriously considering learning how to sleep with one eye open. i don't think she talked to me for the entire rest of that week."

the brunette turned the card between his fingers to read the writing on the back.

"you made her sign it!"

dream had to stop himself from laughing at his evil geniusness, but gave up when george gave in first. "it was a lot easier to get her to agree with my ideas when she was younger." he could still remember the smirk that remained on his face the day they had received their school pictures in the mail.

hesitantly, george handed it back, understanding the meaning for it to be returned to its rightful spot in the blonde's wallet. "remind me to never get on your bad side."

dream rolled his eyes now, but only because he couldn't even begin to imagine a world where the brunette would ever have an embarrassing picture of himself.

**

"now that no one is around, will you please tell me what you want for christmas?" it's not like dream had been keeping a mental note of how many times he had previously asked, but if he had, would it really have been that irrational?

"i don't want anything!" he pulled them to the food court adjacent to where the guys had previously agreed to meet before they split up, what already felt like hours ago.

"seriously george?" dream liked to think of himself with high dignity, but god did this man make it so hard not to pout.

"you are as incessant as ever." he had rolled his eyes again then, but he couldn't help the urge to humor the blonde. he dropped their connected hands to stroke his chin with his head tilted slightly to the sky, observing flickering fairy lights that garnished the mall rafters and reflected back onto his face.

dream bit down on his lip in anticipation when it appeared the brunette would finally give him an answer, but of course, the brunette decided to be funny and returned to his look of brainstorming. "you are such a clown." he gently shoved the brunette's head with the tip of his fingers.

"I want a kiss." and for a second it had caught the blonde off guard, but the 'matter of fact' plainness in how he had stated it brought them both back to square one.

dream rolled his eyes, "you can have a kiss whenever you want, you just have to ask."

george appeared conflicted like he was piecing together wants and things that had gone unsaid. "but i don't want to ask," there it was again, that shy glance that always presented itself when he was unsure if he had done too much or not yet enough. "i want you to kiss me whenever."

for him to finally come out and say it was a giant stride towards what they both were looking for, and the trust he placed in the blonde to even confess such a thing proved to them that they were moving in the correct direction. mindlessly dream took george's hand back into his own, "well that's all you had to say," and he smiles in the brief moments before their lips press together once again.

—

i have no clue why but for the last couple of chapters i felt i was stuck behind plot points just writing chapters to get through them, and now that i've finally passed that hurdle i am excited to be writing these chapters again!! what i've always assumed to be my favorite chapters are steadily approaching, the question is are you prepared? (:<