A/N: I may or may not be re watching Rainbow high right now. Yes. Re watching. ALSO BRO I FORGOT HOW GOOD LAST NIGHT BY THE VAMPS WAS. Damn, I used to be obsessed with them bro.
*TW: Homophobia, panic attack. It's a pretty...rough chapter- so keep that in mind please and stay safe I love you all:)
Dream's POV:
"Clay!?" I turned around immediately and nearly fell off the couch. "Mom?!?" I shouted, George stood up immediately. "Oh my god," he muttered. "WHAT IF DRISTA HAD WALKED IN!" She shouted, which made me jump a little. "I'm so sorry Mrs-" George started but she cut him off. "AND IN MY HOUSE!?! I trusted you to be responsible with George here Clay! It's bad enough that we let this, boy, in our house! Think about what your father would say about this!" I cringed and stared down at my feet.
I was mortified, completely, and the nervous pit in my stomach that's been there since I first discovered eyeliner and trashy pop-punk music, all seemed to...explode, or something. "Mom!" I shouted back because when I get nervous I act out...it's a gnarly habit of mine. I cringed though because I sounded so angsty it made me want to punch my face. She scowled. "Don't say that to me right now! You are so irresponsible! You're supposed to be an example for your sister, Clay! But you're kissing boys on our couch like that!" I rolled my eyes. "She's 14, mom, she's not a fucking kid!" I shouted. I fucking hate it more than anything when she treats Drista like some kid who can't do shit for herself. Drista hates it too, which is probably why it bothers me so much, but I'd never tell Drista that.
"Clay! Watch your language with me, young man!" She said in a stern voice that gave me shivers. "I'm calling your father, this is ridiculous!" I scoffed and stepped forward. "If I were kissing a girl you wouldn't be acting like this!" She rolled her eyes. "Don't even bring up that with me, Clay!" I smirked a little. "Because you know it's right! You're only awful to me because you're homophobic, and you're terrified of one of you're beautiful little kids being gay!" She stayed silent and pulled her phone out then left the room, George put his hand on my shoulder, and my mom noticed, which made me feel nauseous again.
"And you! We let you into our home and gave you a place to live! So you can either choose my son, or this house! If it's my son, then you can leave."
I grabbed my mom's wrist gently and glared at her so intensely that I was scared I would do something regrettable. "Mom. I've done some messed up shit to people after they treated George badly. So I swear to god, say one more thing to him, and I'm leaving." She covered her mouth, then put her phone up to her ear while staring at me, and left slowly. The weight on my chest immediately lifting when she was gone and I could hug George.
Someone told him to get out of their house before, and hearing my mom say it to him as well made me feel so incredibly fucking angry then I nearly screamed at her.
"Hey, come here," George pulled me into a hug, holding onto the back of my neck while I felt tears claw at my eyelids. I wouldn't let myself cry though, not in front of George right now. "I have to leave, you know I do," I broke down after he said this, collapsing to the ground while still holding so tightly onto his hand that my fingers started to tingle. "George..." I started, but he knelt down and hugged me, then pulled away and lifted my head with his hand. "If I don't it'll only make things harder for you." I stared up and him and pressed my forehead against his. "Please, don't go," I whispered, and felt one of his tears drop onto my cheek. "Clay, you can't say that to me or I'll never leave you," I tried to smile, but it hurt like hell too.
"Good, that's the point," he laughed a little, but it was filled with sadness. The kind of laugh your body makes you do because it knows how much you care for that person, even if your heart wants you to run away from them. "We can go somewhere else, we'll get an apartment together, or something!" I said, trying to convince him not to let go of me right now. "Didn't you hear her Dream! It's you, or a place to stay!" I nodded. "So pick me! Or the house, that way I can at least hold you at night if it hurts too bad to be cold," He shook his head side to side. "That won't be fair, Dream. I can't take you away from your family, and I can't stay here knowing how much I love you,"
"But we have to go to prom together." I muttered and wiped my cheek. He half smiled, I think all this time he knew how bad I always wanted to go. "Dream..." he mumbled and held me close for a while, it felt long in the moment, but as soon as he was standing up, I couldn't believe he wasn't in my arms. Honestly, I couldn't believe I wasn't fucking with him in code club, or teasing him when I knew he didn't like me. It all happened so fast but he feels like an eternity. I really didn't want George to be someone I only loved in the in between. He's too magical for the world I don't know in myself to understand. Maybe that's the problem. He really was too good to be true, no matter how much I wanted that to be impossible.
"You're leaving me?" I asked quickly, wanting him to rip the band aid off before I drive myself crazy trying to get it off easily. "Yeah. Clay, i'm...leaving," he said, his voice cracking while he cried into his hand. "Don't be a stranger?" I asked again and turned to look up at him. "Sometimes strangers hold more inside them than our eyes could make sense of," and with that, he left, not even grabbing his stuff before heading off.
George's POV:
As soon as I shut the front door of Dream's house I broke down, crying into my hand while I knelt down in the grass. This doesn't feel right, but what choice do I have? It'd be selfish to try and work through this when the universe clearly doesn't want it to happen. I didn't know where i'd go, really, but i'd figure it out, right?
The gross feeling still lingered from the impact of his moms words, and I wanted to cry so hard that I didn't have to feel it anymore.
"George?" I looked up and saw Drista walking in with her backpack slung over one of her shoulders. "Are you alright?" I stood up quickly and went in for a hug. "I'm going to leave, Dris, take care of Clay?" She pulled away immediately. "What? You're leaving?!?" I nodded and felt more wet and hot tears fall down my cheek. "But! You made it so much happier at home," I smiled a little then ruffled her hair. "Don't let Dream loose himself, ever, even if I don't come back and help him search for it again," she nodded, and I noticed a tear flow down her cheek, which she wiped away quickly so I wouldn't see. "I don't want you to go back though," I nodded and headed down to my car, "I don't either." She covered her mouth with her hand and nodded before crying more. "George!" She shouted before I got inside my car and shut the door quickly.
Dream's POV:
I walked into the kitchen and heard my mom and my dad arguing over the phone. You'd think this would be the one thing they agree on, but I guess they found something to fuck the conversation up. "I'm going to bed." I mumbled and walked past her. "Hold on- Clay! It's 4:00, you can't go to bed just yet!" I ignored her completely and shuffled myself down the hall and into my bedroom. "CLAY!" She hung up the phone and went after me, making everything inside me want to burst into flames. "Don't ignore me when i'm speaking to you!" She shouted when she got into my bedroom. I groaned under my breath and pulled my blanket over my head.
My sheets smelled like George which made everything hurt way more.
"Are you crying??" She asked, switching on me completely. "What's wrong sweetie," she sat down on the edge of my bed and started rubbing my shoulder, thinking she's comforting me or some shit. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" I shouted angrily, shoving her hand off of me and sitting up, glaring right at her. "Clay!" She said and covered her mouth like shes the fucking victim here. "Mom?" Drista walked in, completely in tears. I wondered if she knew, or if something else happened. But based off the look on her face I could tell she knew. "Mom what the hell is wrong with you!? You kicked him out didn't you!? WHERE'S HE MEANT TO GO! HE'S JUST A TEENAGER AND YOU KICKED HIM OUT!" She was screaming at this point, making both me and mom go dead silent. Part of me wanted to cheer her on, but she looked so stressed and upset that I couldn't even think of that right now.
"HE'S A KID MOM! A KID! YOU DIDN'T SEE HIM CRYING IN THE GRASS! WHAT IF HE'S LEFT ON THE STREETS NOW! YOU MAKE ME SICK!" She shouted so loud that my ears started to hurt, maybe that was my imagination though. She fell down on the floor and clutched at her hair, rocking back and forth while shouting random things about George. Mom tried to get up and help her, but I glared at her before running over and holding onto Drista so tight I nearly forgot about mom.
"It's your fault mom! It's your fault he left Clay! It's all your fault..." she mumbled while sobbing in my arms. "Hey!" I grabbed her face. "I'm okay!" I said then smiled. "I'll call Wilbur and have him find somewhere that George can go, alright?" She nodded with a sniff. "But what about you?" I laughed a little. "I'll be okay, I have an awesome little sister, and some pretty cool friends," she smiled a little and shoved my shoulder. "Let's go have a spa day and watch movies until midnight, alright?" She nodded and tried to smile then leaned her head against the wall and sat to take a few deep breaths for a minute. "I'm sorry," she mumbled in a tired voice and brought hands to her face. "Don't say sorry Drista. You don't have to apologize for the things your heart makes you feel," I told her then let her calm herself down.
Now I had to deal with mom.
I gestured for her to follow me out, so she did.
"I shouldn't have to do that." I told her right away. "It's not right, my baby sister shouldn't be screaming on the floor because of her own mother. Now get your shit together, because i'm done taking care of this family. That's your job, and I will not let you get away with making me do your dirty work." I said sternly then left her in the hallway so I could check on Drista.
A/N: I'm physically just...not okay, after writing this chapter. Like I had a physical reaction. It's truly just an issue how much I relate to Drista right now. If you know what I mean, then just know you aren't crying in a ball on the bathroom floor alone, we have your back my friend:) Again, feel free to text me at all if you need to rant, I know family's can be shitty and this chapter was a little family heavy. I tried making it as real as possible, especially for a family in their situation. I'm here for you, as always, and nothing will change that.