~The Arcade~DSMP//DNF//fluff

Bringing You Home To Rest

Alex nelt on the ground with the ghost in his lap. He had both of his arms wrapped protectively around him, while his head rested gently on Alex's shoulder. Dream and George had crept closer to the grave and were now sat beside Alex and Karl in a small circle surrounding the sleeping ghost. They sat in silence for what felt like hours, waiting and praying that their friend would wake up soon.

George had all he could do not to sit and stare at his watch as minutes ticked by. Dream had his eyes closed, counting the seconds that passed in a perfect rhythm in his mind. Alex was tense in his seated position, he was careful not to move a single muscle even a bit, and was cautiously taking short and shallow breaths that made less movement. His right hand was wrapped around Karl's right rist, he knew that Karl wouldn't have a pulse because he's a ghost, but it made him feel better just to have his hand there.

More time passed, no one spoke, no one moved. Everyone just sat in a small circle in the dirt infront of the old grave. Alex held Karl close to him in hopes that he would be able to warm him up, but the longer the ghost layed unconscious in his lap the more he felt helpless.

"What time is it?" Alex asked, breaking the long and anxious silence.

George saw this as an opportunity to look at his watch, so he quickly glanced down at his rist.

"7:30." He said.

"It should be dark out now, right?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Yeah, the sun should be starting to set now." Dream responded.

"We're leaving then." Alex said with confidence.

"What? Where are we going?" George questioned, still worried about the ghost.

"Home." Is all Alex said before standing up and putting Karl over his shoulders. The others stood and followed Alex as he walked out of the graveyard and down the path they had come. After an hour of following the path, the group arived at the back entrance of thr arcade. Instead of going in, Alex led the others around the side of the building and down the path out of the woods.

They quickly made their way out of the woods just in time for the sun to be almost set but still just high enough to help light their path. Alex led the group down the trail alongside the train tracks until they made it back on the sidewalk in their neighborhood. The neighborhood was strangely quiet. There was no sign of movement anywhere despite it still being a normal time for the people to be awake. Alex felt especially uneasy about the dark and quietness of the neighborhood as he had often gotten home from work around this time and knew that there should still be people awake.

He chose to ignore it however, and continued on his mission to get Karl safely back to his house. A long walk later and they were finally back at the doors of the house. George unlocked the door and Alex was the first in, carrying Karl up the staircase to his room. He layed the ghost carefully on his bed and covered him up to his chin in thick, warm blankets. George and Dream came in too, and after getting settled in, made some food for the three of them.

They ate in silence. Worry was still clouding Alex's vision, he didn't eat much, and as soon as they were finished he quickly cleaned his dishes and ran back up to his room, being careful to make as little noise as possible. Dream and George cleaned their plates aswell and went up to George's room where they settled in for the night.

Dream and George had fallen asleep an hour ago, but Alex couldn't bring himself to fall asleep knowing that Karl hadn't yet woken up. He felt stupid, as in the room just next door the other two that were with him in the graveyard slept peacefully. But he just couldn't bring himself to relax until he could be sure that Karl was alright. He spent the entire night in the corner of his room just staring at the body that layed limp in his bed. He thought that it was his fault, he did tell Karl to explore that area alone. He did walk away from him when he knew that he was terrified. And he also left his side while the ghost shook with fear infront of the grave. How could he not blame himself?