His Mask || DNF

Chapter 7

Guess I was wrong about the whole, "he'll keep coming back" thing.

George slowly munched on his bread, sitting at his table. The Crowned Knight was open in front of him, and he read it a little while eating.

"Hey Georgie," his mother walked slowly into the kitchen area, her shoulders slumped and tired.

"Morning," he mumbled, and she leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed, "one, it's like, 7AM, shouldn't you be asleep still? And two, you know what today is, right?"

"Yup." George still kept his eyes trained on his book, hoping his mother would get bored and change the subject.

"Are you seeing them off into the portal?" His mother came over and sat down beside him.

He thought for a moment. He really did want to see Dream off, but he was still really mad at him.

Seeing the portal would be cool too.

"Yeah, but I'm only going to see what the portal looks like," George muttered. His mother shifted in her seat, "if you say so."

After he finished eating, he shoved his book in his backpack, waving goodbye to his mother, he ran to the big gathering area.

Guards, family members, and friends were gathered, and chatting. George could tell everyone was tense and nervous.

"Hey! George!" Karl pushed his was through the crowd to meet his friend. Ranboo was behind him, nervously looking around.

"Oh wow, you... are much taller than I thought," George said to Ranboo, "I have to literally look up at you."

"You have to look up to Dream too," Karl pointed out.

"Yeah, but Ranboo... Wow."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you with my height," Ranboo apologized, and then somehow shrunk.

"Um..." George stared at Ranboo in awe, who just responded with, "I get nervous in big crowds, hence my height."

"Ugh, when are the boys coming out?" Karl stood on his tippy toes to try and see near the portal.

"I think 7:30?" George murmured, and then copied Karl, "yeah definitely not out yet."

"Why are they leaving so early?" Ranboo yawned, and George shrugged, "from what I've learned, there's like, no sense of time in the Nether."

"Is Dream going to the Nether with his mask? I feel like he'd need to see better... no?" Karl asked, and George shrugged, "what would I know?"

"You guys are best friends," Karl reminded him.

"Best friends know almost everything about each other. I have no idea what he looks like under that stupid mask, or why he wears it,"George protested.

"Best friends would wait until the other was comfortable to share that type of information with them," Karl pointed out, "you can't just force something out of someone, it'll just scare them or make them mad at you."

"Whatever," George crossed his arms.

"Hey, I think I see them!" Ranboo exclaimed.

Ranboo grabbed Karl's wrist, who grabbed George's and the boy led them through the crowd to the front.

Just as them found a spot where them could see their friends, a royal guard began a speech, "On behalf of the Kingdom of Alynthi, we would like to give you a very sincere and genuine thank you, and grant you time to say farewell to your friends and family before officially leaving to explore the Nether."

Sapnap immediately ran over to Karl, and they hugged for what seemed like forever.

Dream slowly came behind him, awkwardly standing there when the two were hugging.

George glanced at Dream, his stupid mask did not betray any emotions from Dream though. Why would it? It was just a cover for his face.

When Techno called them over, because it was almost time to leave, George got an overwhelming feeling of sadness and desperation.

He quickly threw off his backpack, to which Ranboo picked up for him, and ran to Dream, practically jumping in his arms.

"I don't care if you hate me with every single bone in your body, or vice versa, I needed to say good bye," George whispered.

"George, I... I don't hate you," Dream replied, hugging him back, "there's just a lot to think about. You confessed you have feelings for me, and it's a lot to take in."

"I know..." George smiled sadly.

Dream chuckled, "this is not a farewell, my dear prince, merely just a see you soon." They let go of each other, now just standing face to face.

George was shocked, "you read The Crowned Knight?"

"Eh, I had some free time," Dream shrugged.

"Well then, my knight, we'll see, the future isn't always set in stone," George grinned and Dream reached out and ruffled George's hair.

"It's time to go kid," Techno nodded towards the portal.

"I miss you already," George waved good bye, and also snuck a quick hug from Sapnap.

He watched as his friends walked into the portal, as well as several people after them.

"Well... I guess we'll see them later," Karl smiled sadly, and then walked away towards the library.

Ranboo handed George his backpack and followed the boy.

George knew things were not fully resolved with Dream yet, but hopefully by the time he came back, his feelings would be gone, and they could just go back to being best friends.

WC: 890

not me accidentally publishing chapter nine before chapter 7/8 😀✌️