Ring Around My Heart (DreamNotFound +) Completed

Please Pretend To Love Me

TW// Mentions of self-h*rm

George pulled his arm away defensively. "It's none of your business, stop looking at me like that."

Dream wiped the look of terror off his face and took a deep breath. "George...why? What are you gaining from cutting yourself to pieces like this?"

George was offended that Dream wanted to play dumb. Dream had aided George through these situations before. He knew it was George's way of coping. "The adrenaline rush, helps me snap out of my bad thoughts...you don't need to care anymore, since you don't love me."

Dream could hear the sour tone in his husband's voice. "I still care about you...you have to stop doing this, I'm not there to take care of you anymore. You need to be independent and mature." He acted like George could simply turn off his destructive tendencies.

"I am independent, you think you're the only one that can take care of me?!" George tried to take down Dream's ego, but ended up crumbling. "You're right! Be mature and work this out with me."

Dream didn't expect to have his argument turned back on him. Part of him wanted to work out the marriage, but it sounded like an exhausting task. Mentally and physically exhausting. "George... we're not together anymore. Just find someone else, and get over it."

George teared up when he heard his husband tell him to go find a new love. "I don't want anyone new! I want you, why can't you just pretend to love me?!" George picked the photo up off tbe desk and shoved it in Dream's face. "Don't you remember this?! Did all of this mean nothing?"

Dream grabbed the picture from him and looked at it fondly. "I loved you." He put the frame back down. "Look we just don't have the same connection that we used to have. Please just leave me alone!"

George started crying totally now. Tears dripping, nose running. "Dream...please, I don't want to do this. I just want to come home. Everything is so scary, our friends are dead. I just want to come home please...I promise I won't cut, I won't cry, I won't even panic. I'll just be quiet, and you won't even know I'm there!" George begged like he was a child begging their parent to pick them up early from school.

"George!" Dream was uncomfortable to see his husband so messy in front of him. A customer walked in, immediately staring at them with confusion.

Dream quickly led George to the back room, so the customers didn't need to be bothered by his sobbing. "Shh, just calm down. I'll talk to you once this customer is gone." Dream left him to cry in the back, while he took care of his business.

George sat at Dream's desk and brought his knees to his chest. It felt pathetic to beg for a partner back. Yet, Dream was all he knew when it came to love. Dream was the only one that ever made him feel like love was real. Not just a movie concept, or a gimmick in a song.

Dream returned to the back after about 15 minutes. His customer was a regular, and didn't take long to decide on what they wanted.

"Dream..." George whined, looking up at him.

"George...I love you like a friend. I know it's hard, I'm suffering too. This is good for us though..." Dream tried to hold on firmly to his decision to stay separated from his husband. At least this way they were less of a target to the cult. Dream had a strong gut feeling that they would eventually come back to their town.

"But why?! If you cared about me, you'd want to fix this!" George slammed his fist down on the desk. "before Snow Chester everything was going good, we can get back to that! If we were fixed once, we can fix us again!" George argued passionately.