ORPHANED

:: thirty-three ::

dream propped himself up on an elbow and stared back at george, neither of them broke the contact. dream licked his lips, he was going to kiss george if one of them didn't look away. he watched as george's eyes trailed to his lips. dream felt his hands move against his will. he watched as his thumb met the corner of george's mouth. george got off of dream dusting himself off.

rejected.

dream wasn't allowed to feel upset about it. george is his friend, nothing more. dream blinked at the now empty space. he laid back on the cold tiles, trying to distract his mind. he held his eyes shut.

"dream?"

he didn't respond, scared to open his mouth.

"dream? oh my god."

he felt hands on his face. he couldn't help reacting to the touch, let alone the worry in the mans voice. he opened his eyes.

"i thought you passed out." george frowned, retracting his hands.

dream missed the cold feeling as soon as it was gone. he frowned back.

"you're laying on the floor of a public bathroom right now."

dream thought for a second. "it's cold."

"it's gross."

dream smiled. "i'm glad you can hear me now." he sat up from the floor and walked to george catching a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. he stopped, furrowing his eyebrows and stepped back into view of himself. blood trickled down his face from his nose. this entire time his face was gushing blood. his hand reached up to wipe it from his face.

the blood smeared. he frowned at his reflection. the blood on his hand was warm. he turned on the faucet, rinsing his hand of the red stain. dream could see george frowning at him.

"i'm fine, nothing i'm not used to." dream turned back to his reflection, watching as arms wrapped around him. george was hugging him, burying his face into the fabric of dream's t-shirt.

"i'm sorry."

dream chuckled, "george, i've broken my nose plenty of times before, it probably just got knocked out of place."

"i feel bad, i should've warned you."

"there was nothing you could've done, i wasn't paying attention." george pressed his face harder into dream's ribs. the blonde wrapped an arm around him haphazardly, trying not to wet him with the water from his hand.

"george i've got this under control, you're wasting your time being in here and not out there." dream gently wiped his nose, careful not to apply pressure to the certainty bruised area. george shook his head. dream smiled, he was secretly glad to have george in his company. it's no fun treating a bloody nose with no one to talk to.

dream tapped george on his head, "can we get out of here, the lights aren't helping my headache."

george removed his head from dream's side, eyes wide. he unwrapped himself from the blonde and pulled him in the direction of the door. urgent for them to leave. dream grabbed a few paper towels before they exited the room. george dragged him back to the dodgeball court.

he sat against the wall and threw his head back to stop the flowing blood. he pressed the paper towels to his face. he felt heat in his fingertips. dream could hear george walk away, but he didn't bother paying attention. he turned to see the lady staring at him.

"you're luck to have someone like him." she spoke softly.

"who?" dream felt the letters vibrate off his lips.

"your boyfriend?"

dream felt a blush settle onto his face, he was hoping she would pass it for his injury. dream turned at the sound of footsteps.

"you look disgusting." his sister flopped down beside him.

"thanks. what are you out for?"

"a foul."

he chuckled, "how'd you manage to do that?" his eyes focused on the high ceiling.

"it wasn't that hard, you weren't paying attention."

the words processed in dream's brain several times before they pulled a reaction.

"you hit me?" dream turned to her. he watched as she scooted away from him.

"depends on whether or not you're going to be mad at me."

he smiled.

"i knew a normal middle schooler couldn't knock me off my feet." he offered a high-five.

she obliged hesitantly. "you're not mad?"

he shook his head, "i'm super proud of you actually, you knocked over an entire six foot man."

"shut up, you're so dumb." she rolled her eyes beside him, but they both wore smiles.

"you're not going to tell mom, are you?"

he was sure his laugh could be heard around the building.

sapnap and karl stepped off of the trampolines drenched in sweat. they asked dream questions he didn't have the answer to. george showed up with a can and handed it to dream, only for it to get intercepted by sapnap.

"thanks george i'm so thirsty."

george stared at him for a good minute or so. everyone shuffled in their clothes, frightened by the man's silence.

"that was for dream you idiot." george rolled his eyes speaking through clenched teeth, and turned back around.

"dream can't even lift his head to drink anything though?" sapnap shrugged sipping from the can.

"it was supposed to be for his nose." karl stated into the silence between the three.

"oh."

dream turned to watch george walk away. he was lucky. even the thought of the other man brought a smile to his face. he was rejected, but dream tried to convince himself it was because of the blood trickling down his lips.

he shivered when he remembered how close he was to risking it all. he remembers the warmth he felt in his fingertips, the way his brain tried to search for reasons to stop his actions. maybe george didn't know what he was doing, maybe he didn't want dream to embarrass himself.

either way the thought ate him up.

he felt cold on his forehead and opened his eyes that he hadn't remembered closing.

—

20k reads. i left for two days and i receive the most beautiful gift when i return. i love all of you so much, your support, and your loyalty warm my heart, and my dm's are always open if you need someone to talk to. thank you so much <3