Dream stared at the intruder. Of fucking course it was him.
"Damien?" George said, voice laced with disbelief.
Damien didn't answer as his gaze kept bouncing between George and Dream. His eyes ultimately landed on Dream, who saw the rage that was blooming behind them. Dream suddenly found himself forced against a wall with an arm pressing on his airways. George began protesting but Damien shouted at him to shut up and threatened to hurt Dream further if he didn't comply.
Dream felt how his own anger started to overtake his body. Damien kept staring at him as the pressure against his throat increased.
"You got some nerve. Showing up here again AND bringing your victim with you." Damien spat, increasing the pressure even further. Dream decided that he'd had enough. Damien had an athletic frame and was nearly as tall as Dream. But it didn't take many minutes for Dream to bring the guy down.
He drove his knee straight up in the guy's forbidden parts. Damien grunted in pain and fell to the floor. Dream took a shivering breath before he kicked the guy in the jaw hard enough for it to hurt but leaving him conscious. His right hand gripped the guy's collar and threw him against the wall. Damien's head slumped to the side, showing clear signs that he was in pain.
Sapnap must've heard the incident as the ravenette stormed out of the bathroom. However, Dream was consumed by an unreasonable amount of rage and didn't hear George and Sapnap's panicked voices as he reach for his knife.
Strong arms then harshly pushed him to the floor and broke him free from the trance-like state.
"You moron! The guy is barely conscious, why the fuck did you pull out your knife? Were you planning on stabbing him to death or something!?" Sapnap shouted.
Dream looked down on his right hand that still gripped the knife. What was he really planning on doing? He glanced at George's whose face was pale with a mortified expression. Shit. Dream was confused by his on action. It was unusual for him to lose his temper so quickly.
He mumbled a quiet excuse and stood up. Sapnap continued to glare at him. George pushed past Dream and crouched down next to Damien and took a sturdy hold of the guy's jaw to examine the damage. Dream felt the anger return, although he didn't act on it this time.
It was like he didn't know himself anymore. Something about the outburst of anger felt off.
"He seems to have a mild concussion." George concluded. Damien mumbled something incoherent. George rose and his gaze landed on Dream for a short second before he exchanged a worried look with Sapnap. Dream hated that it felt like his two companions were hiding something from him.
"We need to get to Wilbur. Now." George stated with a strained voice.
Dream cleared his throat. "Right. Let's go then." But just as Dream motioned towards the door, he felt a hand on his chest, stopping him from moving. His eyes drifted from the hand to George and shot him a confused look.
"You can't follow; besides, someone needs to stay with Damien." George said.
"Oh c'mon. Why do I have to be the babysitter?" Dream whined.
George rolled his eyes. "One; you caused his injuries. Two; Wilbur doesn't trust you."
"And you think he'll trust Sapnap more?" Dream countered.
"Dream! Stop being difficult." George words were laced with annoyance.
Dream was about to protest before Sapnap interfered, clearly tired of their arguing. "You two are the worst combination I've ever encountered. Dream, shut up and stay here. It won't take long."
Dream gave his friend a sour look but caved and sat down on the bed. Sapnap and George swiftly left the room afterwards, leaving him alone with the half unconscious guy.
He couldn't help but replaying the scenario that took place just before Damien had interrupted. After their little fight, it felt unbelievable that it had even happened. His relationship with George was complicated to say the least. Sometimes he felt like George knew him too well and therefore knew how to trigger him. Yet, Dream craved the brunette's company more than anyone else's. When they weren't fighting, then George awoke the most intoxicating feelings ever. Feelings that didn't come close to anything Dream had felt before.
Was it love? Maybe. Not that Dream would know though. Love wasn't exactly something that worked well with his occupation.
A faint grunt brought him back to present time. His attention switched to Damien, who slowly sat up. Dream glared at him, once again questioning how George could've found him desirable. The blue eyes landed on Dream who gave him an unimpressed look.
Damien brought a hand to his jaw and hissed. "You're a fucking psycho. You know that?" Damien spat. Dream raised an eyebrow at the pathetic insult.
"You know what?" Damien said.
"No, but please enlighten me." Dream responded condescendingly.
"You ruined everything for me." Dream tilted his head as the furious blue eyes kept glaring at him.
"I would say that I'm sorry, but I think we both know that it would be a lie." Dream smirked as his words angered the other even further.
"I had George right where I wanted him, wrapped around my finger. Longing for me from a distance. I could've asked anything, and he would've agreed–" He paused for a second "–at least until you entered the picture." Dream's smirk fell and was replaced by disgust at the horrible confession.
"Who's the psycho now?"
Damien chuckled. "Oh, stop trying to play the "good guy". I know that you're not a good person, in the same way that I know that you hated me from the moment you saw me."
Dream squinted his eyes and felt the familiar rage bubbling up again.
"– You know what they say: Takes one to know one." Damien stated with a smirk.
Dream stood up and walked over to the brunette and hunched down besides him. His right hand took and harsh grip of Damien's jaw, who whimpered in pain.
Dream voice was low when he spoke. "You're right. I'm not a good person. But there's a difference between you and me–" He paused to inspect the brunette's face, which was twisted in pain and fear. Satisfied with the reaction, Dream continued. "– I wouldn't use George's feelings against him." He said as he harshly let go of Damien's jaw and stood up. Although the statement wasn't completely true, Dream still didn't find it appealing to use someone's feelings against them. Not in the way that Damien seemed to do.
Damien was panting from pain. Yet, he wasn't done tormenting. "As if. You wish nothing more than for George to adore you. You want him. Want his lips pressed against yours. Want him to look at you with his doe-eyes, trace his body with your hand–" But that's when Dream reached his breaking point. He pressed his arm violently against Damien's upper body, forcing him against the wall while his hand once again grabbed his jaw, even harder this time. Damien groaned in pain.
"You listen really carefully now. The only reason that I'm not slitting your throat right now is because of George. However, don't push your fucking luck, pal." Dream spat.
He gripped a chunk of Damien's hair and smacked his head in the wall.
The brunette's breathing pace increased, and the pain was visible. Still that annoying bitch seemed to never know when to shut up. "You're selfish. You admitted that you're a bad person, yet you yearn for George's affection. If you actually cared about him, you'd leave him alone."
Dream clenched his jaw. He wouldn't let Damien know it, but what he said really got to him. George deserved someone who didn't hurt people for a living. Someone that could guarantee a safe and stable future.
Then it occurred to him that thanks to Schlatt, it was chance that George would never have a normal life. Schlatt wouldn't give up until he had what he wanted.
Dream might not be the most innocent person, but he knew that he could protect George if necessary. So maybe, maybe he had a chance.
The door quickly flew open. In stepped George followed by Sapnap and Wilbur.
"I surprised that you two didn't kill each other while we were away. " Sapnap said with an amused tone. George smiled slightly and glanced in Dream's direction. Butterflies erupted in his stomach but died the second he spotted Wilbur.
He rubbed his neck and attempted to break the awkward silence that fell. "So, what did you find out?"
All three of the sat down on the beds. Sapnap and Wilbur on one and George sat next to Dream.
A glimpse of betrayal shone from George's eyes. "Well, turns out that dad apparently have been using Wilbur to keep an eye on me." Wilbur, for once, seemed uncomfortable.
"I know that it doesn't justify his actions, but he believed that you couldn't handle the truth."
"So, instead of being honest, he chose to keep it a secret only for me having to be kidnapped for the truth to reveal itself." George stated, his voice a few octaves higher, hinting about how he felt regarding his dad's decision.
"I don't know what to say besides I'm sorry." Wilbur said.
George waved dismissively. "Doesn't matter now. What matters is the fact that I have a maniac after me."
Wilbur nodded. "Yeah, Schlatt is not to be underestimated."
Dream furrowed his brows. How did Wilbur know about Schlatt? His only guess was that George must've told him.
"What now then?" Dream finally asked. Wilbur's attention switched towards Dream and the brunette's expression hardened.
George was the one to answer. "We need to get to one of my dad's labs. Wilbur gave us an address."
"So, we need to travel to England?"
George shook his head and the blue and brown eyes met Dream's. "No, there's a few of them in the US as well. He's supposed to be arriving at this specific one in a few weeks."
"What the hell is going on?" Everyone's attention landed on Damien. It was as if they all had forgotten about his presences.
Wilbur was the one to answer, to Dream's surprise. "Nothing that you want to get involved in. It in the best of your interest to remain quiet about everything you've heard today." Wilbur's tone was calm, yet it held a silent threat.
Damien suddenly looked unsure of himself. "So what? Am I just gonna have pretend like tonight didn't happen?"
"Correct." Wilbur responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Damien looked like he wanted to protest, but Wilbur didn't let him. "If you fail to do so, I can promise that you won't remain alive for long."
Wilbur's words clearly startled Damien and Dream couldn't help the smirk that crept onto his face. Wilbur then stood up and walked over to Damien and offered him a helping hand to get up from the floor, which Damien surprisingly accepted. The blue-eyed brunette swayed a little as he stood up and held a hand against his head.
"You need to leave. The sooner the better." Wilbur stated and glanced at George, who nodded approvingly. "– me and this guy will continue to play oblivious, right?" Damien seemed weary, but he appeared to have respect for Wilbur as he agreed when he met the taller brunette's gaze.
"Take care." Was the last thing Wilbur said before leaving the room, pulling Damien with him.
Sapnap sighed and leaned backwards when the door closed. "So, what now?"
George was nervously picking at his cuticles. Dream placed his hand on top of George's, who first gave him a quizzing look but then relaxed. And to Dream's surprise, even intertwined their fingers. Sapnap squinted his eyes as his gaze spotted their hands.
"The lab will take about a week to reach. So, I think that we should find a place to sleep tonight and begin our journey tomorrow." George suggested, to which both Dream and Sapnap agreed.
Time for a little hiking-trip.