𝗞𝗜𝗦𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 // mcyt apply fic // ᶜˡᵒˢᵉᵈ

⁰¹⁶ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅʀᴜɴᴋᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴғᴇssɪᴏɴs.

𝟶𝟷𝟼. [𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.]

𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜

-

Iris isn't sure what makes her walk into town on that chilly afternoon, but she's glad as hell she did when she walks into the convenience store. She freezes in the doorway, watching the scene in front of her unfold with a smug smile on her face.

Dream is at the counter, arguing with a frazzled-looking cashier, who's holding a fake ID. There's a bottle of Tito's in between them.

"You can't take that!" He says, swiping his hand through the air in an attempt to snatch the card out of the cashier's hand. The cashier pulls his hand back and glares at him. "That's my real ID!"

"Like hell, it is," Iris pipes up, dropping a bag of Doritos on the counter. She smirks, looking up at the cashier. "He's only eighteen by the way,"

Dream smacks her arm. "Iris!" Dream says, exasperated. "What the fuck?"

"I, however," She says slyly, ignoring Dream completely, handing the cashier her ID, "Am twenty-one."

He stares at her blankly. She just smiles back confidently.

"Yeah, I'm going to need to confiscate this,"

"You're kidding."

Dream wheezes, clearly the only one finding the situation funny. "That's karma," He says through a choked laugh.

"Oh, fuck you," She spits. Her eyes flick back to the cashier and then, in a moment of impulsiveness, she snatches the bottle and the chips and dashes out the door.

"IRIS!" Dream yells as both he and the cashier sprint after her. Dream is out the door first, gaining on Iris as they race down blocks of busy sidewalks. He's nearly stepping on her heels when the cashier finally gives up, watching the two teens slip around a corner into the sunset. At some point, she stops running, reducing to a walk when she gets within sight of her house.

She falls backward onto the porch swing and lies there for a moment. "You," Dream says, standing in her front yard, staring at her and gasping for breath, "Are unhinged,"

"Maybe," She grins, "But I have vodka and Doritos and you have nothing," He just shakes his head and climbs the porch steps, sitting himself down next to her. "Mind opening this?" She asks, passing the Tito's to him.

He laughs hollowly. "You gonna share?" He asks as he pops the bottle open and takes a sip.

She waves him off. "Not like I'm finishing it by myself,"

He passes the bottle and she takes a swig.

-

It's two hours later and the chill is seeping through her hoodie. She's curled into Dream's side for warmth — just warmth, she promises herself — and her memory's too foggy to remember much of anything from the past few hours.

Dream's not sure just how wasted he is, certainly not as bad as Iris, but enough that the confession slips out of his mouth way too easily: "I never really hated you," His words fall heavy and thick in the air.

"I know," Iris says knowingly from where she's nuzzled into his side, a half-finished bottle loosely hanging from her hand. A moment passes, and Iris lets drunken words spill from her mouth in a slurred mess. "I used t' like you," She pauses, "Like, really like you, Dream,"

He's drunk, but not as bad as Iris, and certainly not enough to forget this. He's glad for that if nothing else, as he responds. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," She confirms, watching soft tufts of snowfall dust the lawn. "I..." She trails off. "I still kinda do, I think," She's wholly unsure of this, and she lets her thoughts float around her head for a second.

He's looking at her now, really looking at her. "I know," He says, soft and comforting. She raises her head, eyes meeting his. Her lips — bright red from the cold — are undeniably close to his, alcohol-tinted breath mixing in the chilled air, coming out in cloudy puffs. She feels like she's spinning.

She turns away from him, "If only you weren't such an asshole," She resolves, nestling her head deeper into his chest, nearly burying her face in his hoodie, and letting her eyes flutter shut.

He leans down, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face, and presses a chaste kiss to her forehead.

Iris can't see him, her eyes closed, but she exhales deeply when she feels his warm lips against her head.

-

[𝟶𝟷.𝟶𝟽.𝟸𝟹]