heart monitors-dreamnotfound

eleven

Dream woke up staring into the blazing sun, neck hurting from being pushed against the wall the whole night. His phone was on the ground beside him.

The blonde slowly opened his eyes, taking grasp of the bright sunshine and a figure standing in front of him, hands crossed across his chest.

"Dream, what did I tell you about sleeping on the roof?" Ranboo laughed, "When was the last time we did this?"

Dream mumbled a couple of incoherent words and stretched his arms from being sore the whole night. "I don't know, maybe eighth grade?" He looked beside him and checked his phone. It was only on 12 percent now, seeing as he and George didn't hang up yet.

The light outline of '8:42:18' haunted him.

Had it already been this long?

The answer was yes. Of course, it was. They both called each other, they talked about stars, they fell asleep, none of them hung up.

That actually happened, it wasn't just one of those imagined realities Dream always thought about. The time on the screen was living proof of it.

Holy shit, he thought to himself, He had just called George. All night. That fact bubbled a sense of pride in him. It made him happy that he was a person worth calling all night, even when they didn't talk at all during the seven hours that took up the majority of the call time.

"You good, man?" Ranboo asked, giving a confused look to Dream. "You look like a mess."

"That's reassuring," the blonde mumbled as he gathered his phone and stood up.

"C'mon, let's get you something to eat."

—————

"Oh, what. You cant tell me that you guys are just friends. There's got to be something more than that," Ranboo said, sliding a fork to Dream.

"No, there really isn't."

"I'm not giving up just yet, you don't put that much commitment for a so-called friend."

Dream chuckled, taking a sip of water and poking the food on his plate. "Sure I do, first of all, we're friends. I care for you, it's the same."

"Hm," Ranboo said unconvincingly, but let it go nonetheless. "Your parents must be worried that you didn't come home yesterday, did you tell them?"

"They won't look for me."

"Oh," he replied sympathetically. "That's all right, at least you won't get in trouble, right?"

"Yeah," Dream stole a glance at his phone which was charging on Ranboo's kitchen counter, the invisible but existing call still flickering on the screen.

"Is George getting better?"

This was Dream's turn to hesitate. As much as he wanted George to get better, he felt bad if he lied for something that wasn't his to decide.

"I-" he stopped for a bit, attempting to collect his words. "I don't know," Dream admitted. "I hope he does."

"Oh," Ranboo paused, stealing a short glance at the blonde before continuing. "I'm sure he will, he seems like a strong person."

"He is," Dream smiled, looking back at his food. "George- He's probably the strongest person I know, I can't imagine how I'll handle it if I was him."

They both laughed softly, the still tension in the room lifting. He didn't know what was so nerve-racking about their conversation, especially when it was with Ranboo.

They've been friends since Pre-K, when Dream accidentally stepped on Ranboo's painting project during art class. After that, nothing was ever still or awkward. How was this different?