Love Bites

Chapter 8: Basking in the Sunlight

warnings: blood, angst, guns, burns

Things could be going a little bit better for George right now.

After leaving so suddenly the day before, having just a bit of an existential crisis, and then swearing to himself that what he saw was almost definitely him overreacting, that Dream probably just had sharper canine teeth. I'll explain myself later, George had told himself. This was probably all in my head. Yeah. We'll talk again, and it'll be fine.

George just didn't expect his talk with Dream to be in the middle of a forest, staring up at the lanky blond caught in a vampire net with blood dripping from his hands.

George's words, heavy with dread, make his chest clench and feel as if he's going to explode. "Dream..?"

Dream doesn't respond.

The lack of reply makes George want to believe it's all in his head. He tries again.

There was no way his eyes were working correctly right now. Nope. This was not happening. Dream had a reason for this. He had to. "What are you doing out here?"

The blond just stares at him, uncomfortably shifting in the half-sitting position with his legs awkwardly bent to his chest, before finally parting his bloodied lips. "Geo-"

"What is that?" George interrupts shakily, pointing to the dead rabbit in his hand.

The silence swarms them like angry bees, air thick and hard to swallow. The forest is quiet, save for the sound of the pairs heavily increasing breaths.

"I'm.. just hunting." Dream tries, eyes flicking back and forth from George to the dead rabbit in his hands. "I-I didn't bite this! It's bloody because I killed it. and- and then i slipped. A-And I fell on it. With my mouth." Dream's words grow more unsure and frantic as he continues to explain himself, George can almost see the embarrassment in Dream's face as he continues. "I wouldn't- I don't- that's gross, I-"

George swallows. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

A moment of silence hangs in the air between them. It feels like the world stops moving.

"Vampire?" Dream lets slip a weak and humorless laugh. "No. I'm- I'm not a vampire."

It all makes sense. All the times he's never eaten human food in front of me. He always played it off and pretended he was sick. He keeps leaning in, smelling my neck, and hesitating when he gets too close to me. In the park, in my kitchen, in my bed.

George's mind makes so many connections a second that it's enough to cause a headache.

He burns in the sun, that's why he keeps the living room dark. Maybe that's why he built the fort. He doesn't have a house because he lives in the woods. Ever since that stupid masquerade party he's just been trying to get a taste of me. Of course he didn't comfort me that night because he actually cared.

He did it because he wanted to kill me.

I was right.

The thought makes him nauseous. There's a kind of pain in his chest that he's never felt before. Is it possible to be so upset and scared and frustrated that your body could explode? George thinks he could do that right about now.

How could he let himself be taken advantage of?

Dream had started talking at some point while he was thinking. "-hy would I pursue you all this time? It doesn't make sense. That's... Just ridiculous." He's gently picking at the fur of the rabbit in his palm, almost as if it was a toy to fidget with.