Perception {Dreamnotfound}

13 | Stay With Me | 13

The assassin offers me a weak smile. "It's not good for you to block everyone out. Believe me, I've been trying to for so long. Ever since my soulmate died, I lost my best friend too. It's hard to, I get that."

"Look" he holds his hands in the air, away from his scabbard. "I don't know your life story, but I can tell you've seen some shit. It takes the right person to show you people aren't all evil."

His hands remain in the air, showing me he's not going to attack me. Eyes on the sky above, sighing sadly to the wind. "We have soulmates for a reason. Something has to keep us going."

He turns back to me. "Know that someone out there loves you. Maybe they don't know it yet, but they do. Someone still loves you, idiot. Don't push them away."

I roll my eyes, allowing myself to relax a little out of the constricted position I curled into. "If you're talking about Dream, he isn't my soulmate."

He shakes his head sadly. "Dream wasn't my soulmate. Yet he still trusted me. He had my back, whenever I was hurt he was right there to help me." Sapnap snorts, spacing out as if he's remembering something.

"I know that guy can be a pissbaby. He has his moments, we all do. But underneath, he's one of the most caring people around. Dream would've died for me, he almost did once..."

Nick snaps out of his trance, returning his gaze to me. "Have you seen his face?"

Deciding it can't do any damage, I answer honestly. "Yes, I have."

"Then you'll have seen the ridiculous amount of scars he has. Reckless, but loving. My hunter was persistent, attacked us night after night. Dream always stood in to help, and almost died so many times to protect me."

His eyes focus, pupils constricting despite the darkening sky around us. "Don't waste someone like him, even if he's not your soulmate. Dream doesn't trust people easily, he must've noticed something about you."

The stories match up. Dream told me the same thing when he showed me his face for the first time. Not everything he told me was lies, he did that for someone who he knew wasn't his soulmate. Who was unknowingly his hunter, yet he didn't care.

Nick didn't kill him, despite having so many chances to. He could've stuck around, played it off and killed Dream in his sleep. But he didn't, he ran away to protect him. They aren't soulmates, yet they'd have died for each other.

To one boy, his best friend betrayed him. But to the other, he's protecting him. Two different perspectives of the same situation. Miscommunication can really mess things up.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, and over Dream a chance. Nick is right, he's willingly put his life on the line for me. So easily he could've let Techno kill me, but he didn't. Even after finding out we weren't soulmates.

'No, Dream. You don't know what it's like.'

Maybe he does know what it's like.

"Dream won't have seen a medic you know" Nick adds. "He won't even trust them to patch him up. So you probably owe it to him to turn back and help."

There's what my mind is telling me to do, and then there's the other option.

Nick suddenly rises, signalling the end to our conversation. "Oh and by the way" he adds nonchalantly. "There's an assassin watching us from the left street down. Not one of my group, an outsider. I'd advise leaving through the park and not the alleyways."

Shuffling can be heard from behind us as flashes of clothing appear through the shadows. Nick pulls out his sword, jabbing it I the direction of where the assassin must be.

"Yeah you asshole! Don't think I didn't see you!" he yells to the moving shadow.

I snort, turning to leave through the park. Conveniently, it's in the direction I wanted to go. "Bye shortie" he hollers, turning to leave.

"Wait!" I grab his wrist, spinning him back around. Every time I touch someone, I cringe. Human contact is not my thing, it makes me feel even more vulnerable.

Except that doesn't seem to apply to Clay, George...

"Why do you keep helping me?" There's got to be a reason. He wouldn't help me if he wasn't getting something out of it. This is the same person who attacked me this morning.

"I told you, I'm not helping you. I'm helping him." With that the elite assassin leaves, walking into a shadowed alleyway as he knows I'm not dumb enough to follow him.

Talk about reckless...

I head off through the park, knowing exactly where I need to be.

~~~

The tree hollow is just as I expected, inhabited. By none other than Clay himself, who for some reason didn't feel the need to block up the entrance.

Stupid of him...

"Clay?"

He shudders, on indict reaching for his dagger. "Woah! Put the dagger down! It's me!"

"What do you want..." he mutters. Despite his attitude, he puts the blade away. Turning to face me, his eyes widen upon realising I'm actually here.

I hand him his mask, making sure not to break his gaze. "I came to apologise..." Taking a step towards him, I internally sigh in relief when he doesn't move away.

"I'm not sure if it's the right colour. Sorry" I cringe. Slowly, I push the stem of the flower in my hand into his hair. "I'm not very good with red. It's hard for me."

Admiring the flower in his hair, I allow myself a few seconds to recollect my thoughts. I need to get this right.

God he's pretty...

"I think it's the same one as you gave me? Sorry if it isn't, I-" Suddenly he grabs my hands, pulling me down towards him and enveloping me in a tight embrace.

We remain like that for a few seconds, wrapped in each other's arms. There's tears in my eyes and he's smiling so brightly it'd make the sun envious.

"You gave me a second chance, so it's only fair I give you one." He leans a little closer, whispering into my ear. "You scared me. Thought I'd lost you."

I laugh softly, not daring to move. "Sapnap knocked some sense into me." He returns my laugh with a smile. "Good."

"Stay with me, sunshine."