Forever

Chapter 15

"I said, if you don't like it, then leave, Dream."

Dream was surprised by the words, and as he registered them fully, he took a step closer to George. He knew exactly what George was trying to do, because it was something he had done himself not too long ago.

"Is that what you want, George?" Dream spoke quietly, and George kept his eyes fixed to the spread of cotton covering Dream's chest, "do you want me to leave?"

There was silence, and Dream's stomach turned because for a second, he wasn't sure George would answer him. But then dark eyes crawled upwards to meet Dream's waiting gaze, and George shook his head in place of speaking the actual words aloud.

Relief flooded Dream's chest, because he had no intentions on leaving unless it was truly what George wanted him to do. He stepped even closer, and his hands moved to gently tilt George's face up towards his own. There were tears just beginning to form behind the umber of his eyes, and a couple ran down his cheeks as he quietly mumbled, "I'm sorry, Dream. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Dream kissed his forehead, and then pulled George closer to him as he wrapped his arms around his shoulders. George sank into the touch, resting his head against Dream's chest as the blonde muttered back, "there's nothing wrong with you, George. You've been through a lot recently, I just think you're maybe taking it out on the wrong people."

His mind flashed back to the image of Sapnap and George fighting from about an hour earlier, and he heard George quietly mutter, "Sapnap hates me. I know he does."

"He doesn't hate you," Dream tried to reassure him, but he could feel George shake his head in response.

"He does," George responded, "you heard him. He blames me for all of it, and he has every reason to. I've been horrible to him from the very beginning."

Running his fingers through George's hair soothingly, Dream answered, "but you're not horrible to him anymore. You're one of his best friends, and he cares about you. He was just upset. He hasn't really been leader for that long, and this is the first big issue he's ever dealt with so he's probably feeling overwhelmed."

George didn't answer, and after a moment, Dream pulled back so he could look down at the brunette. George's hands moved to wipe tears away from his face, and he kept his eyes cast down as Dream carefully asked, "why did you do it, George? I know you know it was a mistake to shoot him, so why do it?"

George didn't answer right away, and Dream feared that he was pushing too hard. He was running the risk of George shutting down and blocking him out again, but George only sighed quietly before looking up at him.

"I don't know," George spoke quietly, "I wasn't thinking. I knew it was a mistake before I did it, but all I could really focus on was getting back at Wilbur and Philza. I'm just...I'm so angry at both of them."

Dream nodded in understanding, and a few more tears slid down George's face as he quietly added on, "Wilbur isn't even his real son, but he got an entire year with Philza. And I didn't get anything. Even now, he hasn't tried to call me or anything."

Dream's chest tightened at the pain in George's voice, it was the same pain he kept seeing flashes of ever since they had stepped foot in Philza's office. He tried to imagine what he would do in George's shoes, and in almost every scenario he pictured, Wilbur was bloodied, bruised, or something much worse. George may have been lashing out, but Dream knew he was capable of things that were far worse than anything Dream was picturing.

"I'm sorry this is happening," Dream spoke in quiet tones, using his thumb to brush tears from George's face, "I wish I could fix it."

George turned into Dream's touch, and his eyes closed for a second as he mumbled back, "I know, but there is something you can do."