Razderona • DNF

7 ︴protection

"Are you okay?"

George looked up. Sapnap was looming over him, looking over the top of the book he was reading with a concerned expression. He didn't know how to answer, because no matter how much he said he was, the dark eye bags and lack of energy only made it obvious that he wasn't.

"I'm fine, Sap." George assured. A weak reassurance that he knew Sapnap wouldn't believe. He pulled his book back to his face, pretending to continue reading, despite his eyes just skimming over the lines and not intaking any information. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I don't know what happened when Dream wanted to talk to you, but you guys haven't spoken to each other in a week." Sapnap stated, slumping down beside George in the grass, staring out across the field. "I know you're going through a lot right now, with Otis, with all the new suggestions we've unloaded on you... And I know I haven't been a help at all, but really George, if you need me I'm here."

George felt his fingers dig into the cover of his book, creating small crescent shaped indents in the leather. "I can't. I don't know if you're real, I don't know if any of you are real." His voice held a slight tremble. "I'm so scared of telling someone something, and then it turns out they were a hallucination, or an illusion."

Sapnap's lips curled downward, and a sigh slipped from his lips. He leaned back on his hands and thought for a moment, before smiling. "How about we have a password?"

"A password?" George asked, tilting his head toward the pyromaniac.

"Yeah!" Sapnap adjusted his position so he had swivelled entirely around to face George, legs crossed. "What's your favourite drink?"

George frowned, confused. "Um, water? I guess."

"Boring, but alright." Sapnap nodded. "Mine's root beer, so if you ever see me, say water and i'll know to say root beer, it's a way of you to be able to tell if I'm real or not."

George felt his eyes welling up with tears, and it was only a couple of seconds before they came rolling down his cheeks in hot streams.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sapnap panicked, reaching out to touch George's shoulder.

George pushed forward, into Sapnap's chest. "You don't know how hard it's been Sapnap," he sobbed, voice shaking. "I can't do this, I don't feel safe— I feel like I'm constantly in danger, and I can't even say anything because I feel as though nobody around me is real anymore!"

Sapnap's wide eyes soon softened, and he brought George closer with arms snaked over his back. The raven-haired didn't say anything, though a soothing hand running through George's hair coaxed him to continue.

"I just want to give up." Sapnap felt George's body weaken in his hold, laying almost limp against his chest, as if he was just holding a hollow corpse. "I feel like all I do is fuck things up, for myself, and with everyone else— I don't even know what I did for this Otis guy to hate me enough to make my life hell."

George's sentence dissolved into quieter mumbles, until it fell into complete silence, replaced by soft snores and heavy breaths. "You're so strong," Sapnap whispered, lips hovering over George's hair. "You need to hang on a little longer, not just for me, but for yourself. You've got this, George."

Footsteps approaching them made Sapnap's grasp on George tighten ever so slightly, eyes narrowing as he waited for whoever it was to reveal themselves.

"Is he asleep?"

Sapnap turned his head, noticing Karl and Dream approaching them with bottles of water in their hands. He nodded to Karl's question, "he is, yeah."