A merman's tear (dreamnotfound)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Over the next few days, when Dream wasn't with him, like when he went to the bathroom or had to talk with someone, George would practise his walking.

There wasn't anything wrong with Dream helping him walk, but George was trying to do it without the cane, and he didn't need Dream laughing at him every time he failed.

He told himself that was the reason, but really he just wanted to surprise Dream. He wanted to become perfect at walking and show off to the blonde, who he knew would be excited.

The cane was great, that was true, but he didn't want to rely on something. He wanted to be able to do it himself, with absolutely no help.

So every moment Dream wasn't there, George would sneakily walk around, making sure no one was there, and try to leave his cane propped up on the wall.

There were always people around almost everywhere, so he'd usually just go into Dream's room, which had somehow become his room now too, and do it. That way, he could fall onto the bed if his legs failed him, which was an added benefit.

He found he was quickly getting better at it, and the next time he saw Dream he was going to show him just how awesome he was.

George sat on the corner of the bed, sighing slightly after working for a bit. Dream was off somewhere, he wasn't really sure, but this is the longest he's been gone since they became friends.

He yawned, falling back onto the bed and staring up at the roof. He thought back to a few days ago, when he'd been telling everyone the stories, and when he'd made his decision on what he was going to do.

George thought long and hard about it before, and even after deciding what to do, he kept second-guessing himself.

He had to remind himself that it was the right decision.

He just needed to figure out what to say to Dream.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dream had just spent two hours on deck trying to fix the steering wheel. The bloody thing had broken, and him, Sapnap and Ranboo were trying to get it back on.

He sat down on the stairs after achieving his mission, rubbing his face tiredly. He had to get used to it, not wearing his mask. It'd been a long time since he'd had the confidence to do that, but something about George's words had made his heart flutter. When he looked in the mirror now, he didn't hate it as much. 

He still didn't like the look of it, but it didn't leave the same ache in his heart when he saw himself. Before the scar, he'd considered himself to be relatively attractive, but ever since, he'd really not felt comfortable in loving his face. He'd grown to resent the scar, and it's constant reminder that he wasn't good enough.

So for George to call him beautiful, and all these other amazing things...well, they made him really happy.

George had really changed him. For the better, he hoped. Dream had never expected anything like this to happen. He'd never thought he'd grow attached to the very person he technically kidnapped. He winced at the thought. He wished him and George had met in a different way, in a better world. He constantly felt guilty at the circumstances, but George was slowly starting to forgive him for that, at least he seemed to be.

It was amazing to see George coming out of his shell. Dream had expected him to stay hostile and wary the whole time, but as their time together grew longer, he was becoming increasingly affectionate. He'd even gotten to the point where he was joking around with other members of the crew, even scolding Tommy, which certainly was a huge growth from just weeks prior.