Work Text:
"Twenty questions," he prompts.
George gives Dream a funny look. "Huh?"
"I'm sure you know how the game works," Dream raises an eyebrow. He can't be bothered to explain it.
George seems thoughtful, hopeful. He nods to show he understands, and Dream smiles before letting his gaze travel back to the party's attendants.
"Are they a girl?" he starts off easy.
George shakes his head, shyly answers, "No."
Dream makes a humming sound, to pretend he's thinking. "Is he tall?"
He can almost hear George swallow next to him. "Yeah," he answers. "Pretty tall."
Dream doesn't even try hiding his smile. "Does he have dirty blonde hair?"
"Mm-hm."
"Freckles?"
Just a nod this time.
"Green eyes."
George looks up at Dream, his eyes wide, and Dream can't help his snicker.
"What question am I on again?"
George blinks, looking completely lost. "I dunno," he admits, eyes darting around Dream's face. "Lost count."
Dream snorts. "This is gonna be question six," he helps out. "Try to keep up."
"So your amazing plan was hiking."
"Yep," Dream confirms, parking his car at the entrance of the nature trail. He chose this place specifically because he knows exactly what lies in wait at the end of the trail. He can't wait to show it to George. "You've never been here before, right?"
"No," George admits, looking uncertain. "I'm not much of an outdoors person."
"Don't worry," Dream laughs light-heartedly as he climbs out the car, "that's why I'm here! Have you put on any sunscreen yet?"
George shakes his head no, and Dream grabs his backpack from the back to fish through it for a bottle. "Here we go," he uncaps the lid, "want me to put it on you?"
George doesn't assent, but he doesn't refuse either, so Dream squirts a sizable lump into the palm of his hand. George hums noncommittally as Dream takes his arm and lathers some sunscreen on.
"This is an interesting place for a first date," George notes factually.
"I just thought it'd be good for us to have a change of scenery," Dream half-lies. He puts two dollops of sunscreen on George's face, one on each cheek, and he chuckles at George's miffed expression.
"Is all this really necessary?" he mutters, his face already looking pink. Dream knows it's just blush, but he thinks it'd be funny if he brought it to George's attention.
Dream tries to keep on a straight expression. "Your face is already looking super pink, George."
He barely holds in his laughter when George scrunches up his face in realization. "R-really?"
"Yep. And we've only been outside for a like, a grand total of two minutes, so you obviously need this."
George raises his brows, and then giggles. "You're making fun of me," he suddenly realizes.
"What?" Dream grins. "I would never."
"You really do have a habit of lying," George rolls his eyes, and Dream snorts.
'"Stop exposing me," he jokes, gently punching George in the shoulder. "I'm helping put on your sunscreen, and this is the thanks I get?"
"I could've done it myself," George reminds him.
"But then you wouldn't have my hands all over you."
"D—" George blushes heavily. "Dream."
Dream wheezes. "You're welcome," he grins, deftly popping the lid of the sunscreen bottle shut.
With their little sunscreen side-quest finished, Dream grabs the things he prepared and leads them to the beginning of the nature trail. "You ready?" he asks.
George plops his sunglasses down over his eyes and gives two thumbs-ups. He looks so comical in his weird glasses that Dream can't help but chuckle.
So their pleasant hike begins. It's actually a very cool day, so their trek isn't hot at all. Gentle breezes rustle through branches of trees, dappled sunlight trickles through sparse clouds and translucent leaves. George, much to Dream's fascination, appears to actually enjoy being outdoors. He stops to point at every single plant and rock, laughing and admiring at even the most mundane of things.
"Hey look, this tree has berries growing on it!"
"Dream, isn't this rock shaped like a heart?"
"Oh my god, I think I just saw a lizard!"
It makes Dream happy to see George so excited. He'd been a bit worried that picking an outdoor activity would be too much out of their comfort zones, but it seemed being introverts actually helped make going outdoors all the more refreshing.
"Dream, is this also part of the trail?"
Dream looks where George is pointing, and sees a small path branching off from the main trail. He remembers passing by it before, but he's never actually tried seeing what lay at the end of it.
"It's not part of the trail," Dream confirms. It isn't exactly paved, and it isn't labeled with a sign either, so Dream assumes it must be an off-road route caused by people continuously trampling over the same path.
"Where does it go?"
"I don't know."
"We should see where it goes to," George suggests, looking intrigued. "I bet we'd find something cool if we followed it."
Dream looks mildly concerned but he doesn't push it, merely poking George's cheek with a finger. "Wanna go to Roxanne for breakfast?"
"Roxanne?" George's heart does a weird little jolt as he tilts his head, trying to control his expression. "Who's that?"
Dream barks out a sudden laugh. "George," he grins, "Roxanne is a cafe."
"Oh," George blushes, suddenly feeling silly for assuming wrong. He vaguely recalls seeing something about it on Dream's timeline before, and he silently berates himself for forgetting. "Right. Of course."
His boyfriend wheezes. "Aww, George! Were you jealous for a second there?"
"No," George lies, very unconvincingly, and Dream only wheezes harder, pressing a chaste kiss next to George's eye.
"Aww, you're so cute sometimes~"
"Sh-shut up," George blushes profusely, lightly shoving a laughing Dream off of him. He's trying to sound annoyed, but him grinning like an idiot just might be ruining his front a little. "Come on, let's just go already."
As Dream parks their car on the curbside, George squints his eyes at the structure covered in yellow warning tape. "You drove us to a construction site," he observes interestedly.
"Yup."
"...Can you still call it a secret hideout if I know about it?"
"I don't mind showing it to you," Dream shrugs.
"But... how come?"
"I trust you," Dream admits, and at George's surprised expression, Dream looks away. "Come on, follow me. I'll show you how to enter."
The base of the building is raised to about the height of Dream's waist, but several planks are already positioned in a way so that they can walk in without having to climb.
"Did you guys put those here?" George asks, following Dream up the boards. The thin wood jiggles when they step on it.
'"A long time ago, yeah." It looks about the same as Dream remembers it, though it does seem a little more crusty and worn-down. Dream looks over the familiar etchings in the columns, the lined-up wooden planks and chain-linked fences, and he feels a small surge of nostalgia at the sight. "I can't believe it's still here though."
"This place is nice," George approves, gazing at the make-shift furniture sitting near the center of the floor. Dream remembers when he and Sapnap knocked over columns to make tables and rolled giant boulders over as substitutes for chairs. "Why'd you guys stop coming?"
Dream frowns in thought. "Don't know," he admits. "I guess we all just became too busy."
"Too busy going to parties," George mumbles, and Dream laughs.
"At least I got to meet you," Dream quips, and he chuckles when George blushes.
"Is there a way for us to go upstairs?" George asks, quick to change the subject, and Dream smiles.
"There's a flight of stairs, I think." Dream peeks around a concrete wall, and he grins when he sees that he's correct. "Come on, we can go up this way."
George peeks his head over. "There's no railings," he comments, and Dream snorts.
"Yeah, there isn't," he laughs. "Amazing job, Sherlock."
"Oh my god, just shut up."
He parks his car at the very top level and steps out. The sky is starting to look cloudier already, the breeze increasing in velocity, whipping against Dream's arms.
Just looking at the ledge where he jumped off of makes him shiver. Even still, he slowly creeps over to the ledge and gingerly sits himself down.
Just don't think about it. Just focus on what he needs to do.
Dream tilts his head back and stares at the sky. It's a shame he can't see the stars with all the clouds blocking the way. Dream thinks that, in another timeline, he and George may have enjoyed sitting up here together.
The minutes tick down. Dream is too nervous to find himself a distraction. He's waiting for the moment when George will appear and then—
"Dream?"
And then what?
George is standing there, looking breathless and breathtaking all at once. Dream isn't sure what he planned to say or do. All he'd known was that he had to get here before George did.
George smiles as he approaches. "Dream, what are you doing here?"
Dream gives back an uneasy smile. "I could ask the same thing to you," he manages weakly.
"I just wanted to get a breath of air," George starts to answer, making the move to sit down next to Dream, but Dream quickly stands up and herds George away.
A confused frown. "Dream?"
"We probably shouldn't be here," Dream mutters. "There's a storm coming."
"Oh."
"Come on," Dream forces on a grin, protectively grasping George's hand in his. "I drove here — we can get in my car."
There's shadows above their heads. Leaves. George knows that they're in the forest, but the situation they're in isn't one that he recognizes. His legs are throbbing with what feels like bruises, and tears sting his eyes from trying to dispel the pain.
"We're stuck here?" George guesses, peering up at Dream. The taller gives him a sad smile, his fingers resting at George's nape.
"Yeah," Dream admits, parting a portion of the leaves above them. When George sees the cliff in the far distance, he feels his heart drop into his gut. "We're, uh, kinda stuck."
"We fell from there," George summarizes quietly, tone full of disbelief. They fell from all the way up there and lived?
'"Yeah, it's... it's a long way down."
George shuffles around with his back against Dream, so that he can raise his arm. "Huh," he breathes, reaching his hand past the shadowed leaves.
As curious as he is to know how they survived a fall like that, or how they ended up in this situation in the first place, George has places he needs to be.
"Decline it," she commands, "Or I'll shoot you right now."
George lets go of Dream's hands, fumbles for his phone, his fingers shaking. "George," Dream whispers, his heart thundering with apprehension, "make sure you—"
"NO TALKING," the woman nearly screams, and at that very moment, Dream's warning goes unheard and George misclicks.
Sapnap's voice comes out from the receiver. "Hey, what's up—"
The sound of a gunshot. Screams ring out. The phone goes skidding out of George's hand, glass shards go flying, and blood. So much blood. But this time, it isn't George's.
George's face is pale with horror. "D-Dream?"
Dream laughs weakly, feels the sickly, red liquid running through his fingers. He had jumped in front of George, and now George was safe, but he was going to die.
"I'm sorry," Dream chokes out, his eyelids fluttering.
"I wish there was another way too," Sapnap's voice is quiet. "But we need to come to terms with it eventually. He's... he's gone, Dream. And he's not coming back."
Dream's breaths feel heavy. The drop below him has never looked as terrifying as it does now. "Sapnap."
"What?"
'"There is a way," Dream whispers, "But I... I can't do it. Does that make me a coward?"
"A... what? No, you're— that's not something you can decide for yourself? We're all in the same boat here, Dream, so don't... don't beat yourself up over it anymore."
"I don't know," Dream mutters. "Can I really do that?"
"Yeah," Sapnap sighs from the other end. "We'll get through this together, and move on together. Okay?"
Dream chokes on a sob he hadn't even known he was holding back. "Okay," he echoes, backing away from the edge of the railing. Stepping away from his last chance to save George.
"...Talk to you later?"
"Yeah. Talk to you later."
They hang up. As Dream stares out at the wide expanse of water before him, he finally understands his own reasons for why he had called Sapnap.
It was his own cry for help, an indirect way of getting someone else to convince him that it was time to give up.
It was time to give up on George.
Dream lets out a shaky breath, and with his entire being filled with grief, he cries.