Novelette {Oneshots}

Comfort ✧ 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖

𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍

𝚃𝚆𝚜: blood + slight violence?

𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚌: Dream can't find George one night, and enters the school bathrooms to a nasty surprise.
High school au.

𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔
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Red is all I see as I knock Jason to the floor. He spits blood on collision with the tiles, and I relish every second of it. For all the pain he's put George through, he deserves every second of this.

"You never, ever-" I spit, venom coating every syllable I breathe. "-Come near George again. If you do, you will regret it."

Jason shuffles away, wide-eyed in terror. He smirks for just a second as his eyes lay over something behind me, and I hit the smile right off of his face. More blood and more anger, coating the room and staining the once white tiles below us.

Blood pours from my nose, everything aching from the many bruises Jason managed to inflict before I got my chance to strike. There shouldn't be any more, he doesn't look to be debating another round. It'd only go in my favour, he may as well leave.

My attention turns back to George, laying in the corner of the room with a steady stream of blood spilling from his cheek. Jason must have got in a few more punches before I arrived. No where near as many as he landed on me, but the bruises will still be just as nasty.

"George!" I yell, dropping to my knees beside him. He flinches, curling into a ball at the sound of his own name. "Please don't hurt me..." he whines, in a tone so pleading it makes my heart shatter.

"I'm not going to hurt you. It's me" I whisper, reaching my hand out towards him. He manages to open his eyes, adjusting his position ever so slightly with a pained groan so he can face me.

"Clay?" he asks feebly in disbelief. "What're you doing here? Where's Jason?"

Jason stirs at the mention of his own name, still slumped against the opposite side of the room. He wipes blood on his varsity jacket, staining the royal blue a nasty shade of purple.

"You little-"

"That's enough from you" I cut off. "Leave. Before I make you." George's eyes widen as he looks from me to Jason, realising what just happened. We wait patiently for Jason to leave, and it thankfully doesn't take him that long.

"You-you-" George stutters, looking from me to the door in which Jason just left through. "I know, it's ok" I respond quietly, trying to fake a smile in hopes of comforting him.

He scrunches up his eyes, hissing at the pain as blood pours from his face. My hands find their way into his hair, curling the dark strands around my fingers.

With my help, George manages to sit up. It's then I get a better look at how much damage Jason really did. His shirt is folded up a little, exposing a deep purple bruise across the left side of his stomach. Nothing except his face seems to be bleeding at least, but the bruises look pretty sore.

"You look-"

"Awful" George finishes, forcing a strained giggle. "I know, and it fucking hurts." His eyes trail down my face, taking in each of the little bruises across it. We both look a mess, two beaten-up college students sat in the main bathrooms. Bloody.

At midnight.

"We should probably head back" I mutter, checking the time on my watch. George nods, attempting to get to his feet. I gently rest a hand on his arm, the other on his waist as I help lower him back to the floor. "Don't bother, I'll carry you."

"But-" George protests, wary of my own injuries. "You look really hurt-"

"Save it" I cut in, reaching towards him to settle my hands on his waist. Carefully I pick him up, slowly in hopes of causing the least amount of pain possible. Which still seems to be quite a lot, judging by how George yells.

My heart aches for the smaller boy, who holds on to me desperately. His hands cling to my sweater like it's a lifeline, resting his forehead on my shoulder. I help him wrap his legs around my waist, earning more pained yells whenever his stomach brushes against my own.

"Ow" he gasps, burying his face in my shoulder to suffocate his screams. I kick open the bathroom door, carrying him back to our room. The hallways are hard to navigate at this hour, but I manage. Repeating 'shh, it's ok' and 'I'm here' to George over and over again as the broken boy sobs helplessly into my chest.

Once we reach our dorm, I waste no time putting George down on his bed. Slowly, which is just about as unsuccessful as when I first picked him up. As soon as my arms are free, I wrap them around the smaller boy.

"It's okay" I whisper into his ear, holding him tightly. "I'm here now, it's okay. You're okay." I try to pull away, but George keeps a tight hold on my sweater.

"Stay" he pleads, embarrassed by the sobs he can't choke back. Reluctantly I give in, laying us down together as I worry about the colour that's swiftly draining from his face.

George instantly curls into me, whatever embarrassment he used to have drowned by his feelings. He's very much one of the 'cuddling with your best friend is not normal' sort of people, and I do agree, this is more than just a platonic intimacy sort of embrace.

The smaller boy has his head against my chest, knees tucked up with as much of his body pressed against my own as possible.

Deciding we've ditched the best friends barrier a while ago, I wrap an arm around him, holding him close to me. With the other I run a hand through his hair, curling the dark strands around my fingers.

George is shaking violently, and it's then I realise just how cold he is. Reluctant to move, I pull off my own hoodie, giving it to him. "Here" I blush awkwardly. "You're cold, and so is the blanket that's out of reach. My hoodie is already warm."

George pulls away for a few seconds to pull on the hoodie, and my heart aches at the tear streaks down his face. Tears still pouring, eyes red and blotchy. Something sends him over the edge, and he bursts into a violent round of tears on the spot.

I pull him back into a tight embrace, caressing his back with gentle motions in hopes of calming him down. He gasps for air between the sudden bursts of pain, trembling from fear. "It hurts..." he whines in a broken voice. "So bad."

"I know, Georgie." He buries his head back into my chest, clutching with white knuckles at my shirt. "I'm sorry. It'll be okay soon."

He nods, pulling me closer of that was even possible. "Please, stay with me" he begs, holding on so tight I wonder if I can actually move away if I wanted to. Which I don't, here with my crush is somewhere I'd happily stay. Minus the tears and the pain, it hurts me to see him like this.

"Of course Georgie, of course" I soothe. "Go to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" he sobs.

"Promise."

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 1220