Dream put his phone down on his desk. He couldn't stop thinking about what Jared had said. Even if it was just to push Dream away from George, he couldn't deny it made him question himself again. Was he bi? He wasn't sure of it; he could be straight. He didn't even know he liked men before George came around. Maybe it was just because George was attractive.
Everyone would want to have that man. But would everyone want to hold his hand, listen to his voice for hours, hold him, kiss him? Probably not, because even if Sapnap jokes about those things to Dream, he would never want to actually do it. So, George really had the power to make someone realize they were gay. Usually, that only happened to celebrities. George was a celebrity in Dream's eyes.
Dream was sitting at the park bench, putting his skates on. He was going to learn how to do the flip by tomorrow. So, he was back at practicing to flip on the ground, it took him a few tries to get him caught back up but once he was, he learned to flip easily.
"That's the kind of progress we need. Now, lets go to the ramp." Techno said as he led Dream to the small ramp.
"We'll practice on this one first since it has no rail on the back for you to get caught on." Techno said. Dream watched as Techno made sure that it was still possible and after a running start, he was able to do it. He smiled and gestured for Dream to try. Dream was scared, he could get seriously injured if he were to fall on his back. The metal bar's glare was intimidating. He looked over at Techno, who was standing next to the ramp. His hands were held together in front of him and his face bore no fear. Dream thought that he shouldn't be afraid either.
He breathed in deeply and exhaled. Dream ran up to the ramp, going up smoothly, right hand grabbed onto the coping a split second before the left. He swung his legs up anyways, his grip faltered, his foot slipped, and he could feel himself falling. That coping wasn't going to welcome his fall either. But his back never hit the coping. He continued to fall back and then slide down the ramp.
He saw Techno's hand where his back would have hit the coping, he cringed as he held his wrist with the other hand. Dream quickly stood up to inspect the injury. It didn't look like that bone was supposed to be there.
"Fuck. That looks bad." Dream said.
"Yeah, you took a pretty hard fall." Techno tried to joke but then the shock of it went away and he felt the pain.
"Damn it, Techno. Is your brother here?" Dream asked. Techno nodded, looking down in attempt to hide how weak he felt. He's broken bones before, but he hasn't broken one in a while. He had forgotten how much it had hurt. He skated over to his brother with Dream.
"Hey, what's up?" Techno's brother asked. Techno looked up at him, tears streaming down his face as he held up his wrist. He felt just like a child again, not able to get any words to come out of his mouth. Techno's brother reacted quickly, knowing that Techno wouldn't cry for a silly injury.
They went over to his car, Dream and Techno sat in the back as his brother started the car. As they were driving, Dream put his shoes back on and even if Techno insisted that he could put his shoes on himself, tying his shoes with one hand was difficult. He let Dream tie his shoes for him. The hospital lights blinded Techno behind his glasses and tears. He took his glasses off to wipe the tears and he saw his brother talking to the receptionist. Dream was beside him, he could see his shoes, he never really noticed how bad his shoe taste was. He internally laughed.
"Techno, why did you do that? I would have been fine." Dream said.
"It was my fault, Dream. I should have taught you better before you attempted to do it. I rushed." Techno said, voice sloppy from the crying.
"Techno, if I thought I wasn't ready, I wouldn't have gone up that ramp. My hand just slipped on the coping." Dream said in an attempt to comfort Techno. Of course, he was lying. But it was good to lie sometimes.
Techno nodded and then he was called to get x-rayed. Dream followed him, explaining to the doctors and nurses what had happened and showing the skates as evidence. They did the routine for broken bones, giving him a cast for his wrist.
Then, they were on their way back home.
"That was a pain." Techno said.
"And I used to think that hospitals were comfortable." Dream said.
"Hospitals are terrible." Techno replied.
"I was like five, Techno." Dream argued.
"When I was five, they were putting staples on my head." Techno replied. Dream didn't say anything further except directions to his house.
He had them drop him off at the corner so that his dad wouldn't hear him come back. He snuck back into his house and sat on the couch. He held the part of his back that Techno had saved. He was really considerate for no particular reason.
George woke up with the feeling of warmth still present on his wrists. He placed them to his cheeks, but there was no heat radiating from them. He sighed as he dropped them to his sides. He got out of his bed to get ready for the day. He had to pack up his stuff, since he was going to be leaving the next day. Then he heard his phone start to ring.
He picked it up, "hello?"
"'Ello George." Dream greeted.
"Dream! It's like two in the morning over there, why are you awake?" George asked.
"It's barely two thirty, George. Anyways, I just wanted to update you." Dream replied. George rolled his eyes to the word, 'barely.'
"What's going on?" George asked.
"Well, I was skating with Techno, and he was trying to teach me this trick. But I ended up falling and he broke my fall with his wrist." Dream explained. George stopped what he was doing.
"And is he okay?" George asked.
"Yeah, his wrist is just broken." Dream replied.
"Dream, I think that's the opposite of being okay. His wrist is broken." George replied. He was confused at how calm Dream was about the whole thing.
"But he has a cast now, so it'll be fine." Dream responded.
"YOU BROKE TECHNO'S WRIST, DREAM! How is it just, 'fine?'" George asked.
"Well, he said that he was fine. He broke his left wrist so he can still write." Dream replied.
"Ugh, and I'm stuck over here for another day." George whined.
"At least it's one more day, I miss you Georgie." Dream said.
"Shut up. You know when I come back you have to do whatever I tell you, right?" George replied.
"Yes, your majesty. I still eagerly await your return." Dream replied. George smiled at Dream's stupidness.
"Okay, Dream. I have to start packing." George said.
"NOOOO! Talk to me while you're packing!" Dream demanded. George sighed. He put the phone on his dresser and tried to facetime Dream. Dream accepted it and George started to walk around his room and pack up his things. All the while Dream kept talking to him, both complimenting him and making fun of the way he packed his things.
Then George found one of his uncle's sweater in the pile of clothes. His uncle was around Dream's height, maybe taller, so the sweater fit him big. He put it on and stood in front of the camera with it.
"George, what are you doing?" Dream asked, laughing a little.
"This is how one of your sweaters would look on me." George said, spinning around to give Dream a full view of himself. Dream giggled at the view.
"You have sweater paws." Dream pointed out. George looked at them and smiled brightly. He continued packing with the sweater on. George could feel Dream's eyes on him as he talked. Whenever he looked up, he could see the admiration in Dream's eyes. He could feel his cheeks burn at the thought.
Soon he was done, and he checked on Dream since he hadn't heard him in the past few minutes. The area where George would usually see Dream was black, so he turned off his camera and put the phone to his ear. He could hear Dream's gentle snoring and assumed that he was asleep. George sighed and put his phone back on his bedside table.
Then he heard a voice through the phone, "George?" George sat next to the bed and picked the phone up.
"Yeah Dream?" George asked quietly to the phone.
"Love you George." Dream replied. George smiled and rolled his eyes; Dream would even joke like that in his sleep.
"Love you too, Dream." George replied. "And I actually mean it." George hung up and Dream and went downstairs to eat.
Dream stared at the phone on his desk. He was falling asleep on the call, he was going to say, "I love you George, goodnight." But he was too tired to get all of the words out. Then he expected George to just say goodnight and hang up. What he didn't expect was whatever the fuck just happened. He just lost a bet to Sapnap thanks to him. Damn it George, couldn't wait a week? Dream was too worn out to think about the implications of what George had said. So, he wrote it down and fell asleep, hoping that when he woke up, he would understand.
George took one last look at his childhood park. He had two more hours before he had to go back to his family to stuff into two cars and head to the airport. He sat on one of the swings, swaying back and forth slowly. Then he heard footsteps approach from the rocks behind him. He turned around to be unpleasantly greeted by the face of Jared.
George turned back around, "what do you want, Jared?" Jared took the seat beside George, swinging slightly higher than him. George kept at his pace.
"C'mon George, I bet you can't swing higher than me." Jared challenged. George looked at him, a face of pure happiness. A face of his childhood. George started to swing higher, remembering the past where they would do this as kids. Jared laughed at the challenge as he swung higher than George. George tried to challenge him still, but his height gave the illusion that he was swinging higher than him. He declared Jared the winner as he slowed down his swing.
"Now we have to jump, remember?" Jared said, slowing his swing down a little to ensure he doesn't break anything, then he jumped, landing on the dirt/sand in front of them. George jumped off as well, landing next to Jared. Their childhood was great, it was always fun, and they never argued. He liked to hope that the Jared next to him was the Jared from the past.
But then Jared climbed on top of him and pinned his hands above his head.
"We aren't the same as when we were kids, George." Jared said. George glared at him. He hated the hope he had. He should have known that Jared wouldn't change overnight.
"And I noticed that, even if I changed to like you; I liked the old you. The you that would bend to my every command and request just to keep me as your friend." Jared said. George didn't blink, scared that if he did, Jared would use that as an opportunity.
"And now you're the new you. The one that has friends at home, who actually care about you. I know they care more than I do. Because if they didn't-" Jared tightened his grip on George's wrist making him cringe and try to squirm away.
"If they didn't; you wouldn't be fighting back." Jared said, loosening his grip once again.
"So, I just wanted to show you how much I care, one last time before you leave." Jared said.
George's mouth finally opened, "Jared, no." But Jared leaned in and let go of George's wrist. Instead, he moved to wrap his arms around George. George tried to push him off, but that made Jared just hold on tighter. Then he felt Jared shake as his shoulder dampened.
"FUCK! WHY WON'T YOU JUST LOVE ME!" George froze at the sound. Jared looked up at him with a face covered in tears.
"I love someone else, Jared." George said calmly, as not to provoke him further.
"It's that Dream bitch, isn't it?" Jared said, voice finally cracking.
"Yeah." George replied. Jared got off of George and sat up, wiping the tears from his face. George sat up as well.
"You know, you don't have to be homophobic to fit in. That's actually a stupid way to try and fit in." George said. Jared looked at him, only some tears remained.
"Ha, can't really change now. I've been stupid since the beginning; I have to keep up the act." Jared replied. Then he stood up and wiped the sand off his pants.
"We aren't the same as before, George. And you just happened to get the lucky end of life. You have family and friends that support you through every decision. They all have your back, no matter what you do. Meanwhile, I was taught to hat people like us my entire life. And I made friends with people who had the same beliefs. That's why I fell for you George, because you cared."
Jared stuck out a hand for George to take. George refused and got off the ground himself. Jared cringed and pulled his hand back.
"I'm sorry that I took that care for granted." Jared said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Then he left, without any farewell from George. George watched as him, Andrew and Avery got into the car. He dusted himself off and went back home. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to relive his past.
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GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF BEFORE AND THE AFTERMATH OF A CAR CRASH. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW IT TURNS OUT THEN READ BUT ILL PUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END NOTES TOO SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
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"Dude, what the fuck was that over there?" Andrew said, pushing at Jared's shoulder. The car swerved a little from the push.
"What are you bitching about now?" Jared replied.
"You, motherfucker." Andrew said.
"You think we didn't hear you? 'Why won't you love me?' Like you're George's bitch." Andrew mocked him. Leaning on Jared's shoulder, causing the car to swerve again.
"Don't be a dick, Andrew." Avery said. Andrew got off Jared's shoulder.
"What? How am I being a dick? This fag thinks it's right to just go around professing his love to every other fag he sees." Andrew said hitting him again.
"Andrew, fucking stop! We're going to crash." Avery yelled.
"Andrew, just quit bitching about it while I'm driving." Jared said.
"Aw, Jared can't handle a few shoves. Do you want me to drive you two babies?" Andrew said, grabbing the wheel from the passenger's seat.
"Andrew, what the fuck?" Jared asked as he tried to shove Andrew off the steering wheel.
"C'mon Jared, just let me take the wheel." Andrew teased, moving the steering wheel from side to side.
"Andrew, we're on the highway! Don't you know when enough it enough?" Jared screamed.
"JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL," Andrew sang as he leaned the car to the right side of the road.
"ANDREW WHAT THE FUCK!" Avery screamed as he tightened his seatbelt.
"TAKE IT FROM MY HANDS!" Andrew sang loudly again as he swerved back to the left side.
"'CAUSE I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!" Andrew swerved back to the right.
"ANDREW LET GO!" Jared yelled.
"I'M LETTING GO!" Andrew sang as he let go of the steering wheel. Then he looked up and saw a light approaching them quickly. He couldn't find the voice to speak. And neither could Jared as he followed Andrew's line of sight. Jared smiled in the light, maybe now, something would change. Something would come out of all of this, right?
Avery woke up and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt, falling onto the roof of the car and climbing out of the window that had shattered in the crash. As he escaped, he cut his palms on some of the glass.
Once out, he looked at the other two in the car. Andrew had never worn his seatbelt, so he crashed headfirst into the window. Then Jared, he was unconscious, but maybe not dead. Avery looked over to Andrew who was sticking out his window, then he dragged the corpse away from the car.
Avery didn't care about the gross feeling of the body, or the stinging pain in his palms, he had to help Jared. After the corpse was far enough away, he climbed back into the car, cutting his back on the glass above him. Once he was in, he reached over to Jared, unbuckling his seatbelt and catching him before his head hit the roof.
He grabbed his sleeves and pulled him out of the car, apologizing for cutting him on the same glass. Once they were out, he dragged both of them a safe distance away from the car.
Then, Avery inspected himself. Other than the pain in his side and right leg, he was relatively unscathed. Andrew was long gone; Avery couldn't bring himself to look at him long enough to give a good description. But his face no longer looked like a face. Then he looked over at Jared, his arms had shards of glass in them, shards that Avery was too afraid to take out.
Then, Avery did the thing he was dreading to do. He put two fingers to the side of Jared's throat. Avery waited a few seconds for a heartbeat. None. Another few seconds? None. Avery's vision was blocked by tears as he switched to put his other hand's fingers against Jared's throat.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Avery repeated the word over and over. He hoped that one of the times he said it, Jared would suddenly spring up. But he didn't neither of them did. Avery laid his head on Jared's chest, trying to evaluate what had just happened.
Avery picked himself off the ground and to the other car, every step made his right leg sting more. He eventually made it up the hill to check up on the man in the other car. His head was on his dashboard. Avery made it to the open window on the driver's side and went to check his pulse. He could feel the beating of the heart. He quickly went to shake the man awake. He awoke with a groan, then he looked over at Avery with wide eyes.
"Are you okay, you're head's bleeding." The man said. Avery wiped the blood off, it wasn't too much.
"Can you call an ambulance sir?" Avery asked. The man pulled out his phone and called an ambulance to come pick the four of them up. Avery rode in an ambulance with Jared, not wanting to see Andrew's face again. Though, he couldn't see Jared's either but at least he wasn't the one that almost killed them all. After everything that had happened, Avery didn't actually feel that bad. They were gone, but they were always terrible to him.
Good riddance.
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End notes:
Rip: Jared, nineteen probably never learned how to read.
Rip: Andrew, he was a dick anyways.
Avery ended up living and reforming himself without his toxic friends to persuade him not to.