Muted

Chapter 37

"Let's go." Aaron smiled. George nodded and awkwardly followed him into the zoo.

"Alright what do your friends look like, what are their names?" He asked. George thought for a moment then slowly responded.

"Sapnap and Dream.." he quietly mumbled. "Dream is as tall as you and Sapnap is a few inches shorter." George slowly explained. Aaron looked down at him and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. They continued walking but George stopped in front of the store. He glanced around in the windows, looking for them but eventually realized they weren't there.

"Something wrong?" Aaron asked. George furrowed his eyebrows at the store then turned to Aaron and shook his head. Aaron hummed and nodded. After a second they both simultaneously turned away from the store and continued walking. They eventually stopped walking as a child ran up to them.

"Mommy! Mommy! I want a balloon!" The child beamed, pointing at George. The child's mother turned and her eyes widened as she spotted her child. She quickly ran over and grabbed his wrist.

"I'm so sorry!" She nervously laughed, trying to pull the kid away from them.

"Mommy!" The child yelled.

"Don't worry about it. And if you want a balloon just go to the front and ask for Mary. She'll give you one." Aaron smiled. The woman smiled and nodded then pulled her child away, gently scolding him as they walked. Aaron chuckled as they walked off. "Mary is gonna be happy with that." He chuckled. George was going to hum in response but stopped as he heard his name being yelled. Both he and Aaron spun around at the sound. George smiled as he could see Dream andSapnap running over to them, Sapnap a little bit ahead of Dream. Once Sapnap was almost 2 feet away from George, Aaron snaked his hand around George's shoulder and gently pulled him back toward himself and away from Sapnap. Sapnap froze and stared up at Aaron. A few seconds later dream caught up to Sapnap and stared at Aaron in confusion, the two were at eye level. Aaron stared at the two, analyzing them. Aaron glanced down at George to see him furrowing his eyebrows at him confused.

"Um...who are you?" Sapnap bluntly asked.

"Security." Aaron blankly answered. Dream squinted and furrowed his eyes at Aaron then reached his arms out, gently grabbing George. Aaron cleared his throat and pulled George closer to himself.

"Dude. He's our friend." Sapnap mumbled, frustrated.

"Yeah get your hands off him." Dream growled, reaching out for George once again. George looked up at Aaron in confusion.

What are you doing? These are the people I'm looking for!
He internally cried.

Aaron looked down at George, possibly for some confirmation. George nodded at him and Aaron nodded back, finally releasing George. Immediately, Dream grabbed George and pulled him protectively into his chest.

"What the hell?" Dream asked, angry.

"You can understand for safety reasons I can't just hand you someone like that without confirmation from them." Aaron explained. To Sapnap and George, this was a reasonable explanation, but to Dream it made no sense.

"But we obviously knew him. He obviously knew us." Dream spat.

"I still needed confirmation." Aaron glared. Dream scoffed and shook his head, tightening his grip drastically on George's shoulders as his anger and need to protect George grew. George cringed and winced a bit as it hurt a little, it was possible it would leave a bruise. Aaron took notice of this."I can see you tightening your grip on him. You're hurting him." Aaron simply said, looking down at George. Dream's eyes widened, he looked down at George and slowly let go of him. George looked up at Dream with slight guilt. Slowly, Dream stepped back away from George by a few inches and stared at him with slight shock and hurt in his eyes.

"We should..we should get home." Sapnap awkwardly smiled. He reached over and grabbed George, pulling him over to him. "Thanks for helping us find him." Sapnap weakly smiled. Aaron raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"You're okay with going home with them?" Aaron asked. George slowly nodded, which made Aaron raise an eyebrow.

"Yes." George answered, catching onto Aaron's suspicions. Aaron smiled and nodded.

"Alright then. Goodbye, get home safe." Aaron smiled, he then turned and walked away. The three stood there in awkward silence, Dream continued to stare at George with a very hurt and pained expression, finally, Sapnap said something

"Okay let's go home. I'm hungry." Sapnap nervously smiled, attempting to take away the tension.

It didn't work.

The three drove home in silence.

Dream couldn't stop thinking about it.

"You're hurting him."
Aaron's sentence rang in his ears.

I was hurting him....

He was in pain....

George was in pain because of me....

I caused George physical pain....

Dream's heart sank. They just got together and he was already hurting him. Dream remembered years ago. His promise he made to himself.

Whatever happens. He was never ever going to hurt George or put his hands on him.

Ever.

He thought that was an easy enough promise. He wasn't one to put his hands on others unless he absolutely needed to. Especially, someone, he loved so dearly.

He could feel his heart in the pit of his stomach as he stared blankly at the road listening to his internal thoughts.

Finally, they were home. Dream immediately got out and walked over to the house, he quickly unlocked it and walked inside, locking himself in his room.

"What happened?" George asked, completely oblivious to the fact that Dream had been beating himself up over what he had done. Sapnap, however, was less obvious.

"He feels bad George." Sapnap frowned.

"What...?" George slowly asked

"I think you should go up and talk to him." Sapnap suggested. George thought for a moment then nodded. Quickly, he made his way up the stairs and to Dream's room. He gently knocked on the door and waited. After a moment the door creaked open. Dream peeked out of the small sliver to see George.

"Dream?" George asked, placing a hand on the door.

"Yeah?" Dream whispered, his voice cracking as he talked.

"Can I come in?" George softly asked. It was silent for a moment but Dream eventually opened the door enough for George to walk in. Slowly and cautiously, George walked in. The room was a little dark, curtains were drawn and the light was off, but there were some small lights around fromDream's monitor lighting the room a bit. "What's the matter?" George asked. Dream hesitated, attempting to gain his composure.

He failed miserably....

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