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𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬

Eris was in silence for a moment, taking in the words. A soft breeze pushed against her hair, almost making the hat placed on her head topple backwards. She didn't move.

He was alive.

In a swift movement she wiped her cheek from the tear that dared to travel down it, trying to hide the emotion from the person behind her.

She cleared her throat, staring at the daisy in her hand, "How do you know?"

"I went back to L'Manberg. I couldn't stand the thought of it-, I had to know." The words came out in an unsure mumble, almost questioning his own words, asking for justification.

Eris sighed, lifting her head to watch over the valley in front of her, the soft wind caressing her cheeks gently, "Tommy wouldn't even have been hurt if it weren't for you."

Her sharp words contrasted the soft environment around her, the initial peace disturbed.

Suddenly the wind didn't feel so soothing anymore, instead it felt like little slaps were given to her face as if to scold her for her cold words.

A strained sigh was heard from behind her as only reaction, before a silence overtook the space again, only to be occasionally disturbed by rustling trees and birds singing hopeful songs.

The smallest pang of guilt shot through Eris' body as the tiny bit of empathy she held in her yearned for her best friend. She however, would not give into such feelings, not yet anyways.

They sat there for a long time. Eris sitting in the middle of the field of daisies, Eret sitting a few metres behind her, both consumed by their own thoughts.

It was only when the sun disappeared behind the treetops that Eret spoke up again, "We have to go back. It's getting late."

Still not meeting his gaze, Eris turned to readjust her hat, before standing up, "Fine."

Standing up turned out to be harder than thought, as her weak limbs wanted desperately to give out from under her weight, but she defied her body, pushing herself up from the ground and walking past Eret, her shoulder almost ramming into his arm.

She refrained from doing so however. Either that, or Eret moved out of the way just in time.

The second she started walking, a feeling of dread overtook every nerve in her system. She was going back, willingly. And not only that, she wasn't going to be staying in Dream's room anymore.

That was not the thing she cared about though, she'd gladly not be in his space. But if she didn't stay in his room anymore, that would mean she had to go back to that room.

Her chest ached, reaching for it instinctively, and coming to a halt.

"Are you okay?" Eret asked as he appeared from beside her, a concerned look in his dark eyes. He wasn't wearing his usual glasses; Eris hadn't noticed that before.

The brunette immediately dropped her hand before letting a frown display on her features, "Fine."

They continued walking.

Once they arrived at the familiar building, Eris was told to wait outside as Eret retrieved someone. For some reason, Eris stood in her place.

She really wanted to run, really, she did. But it seemed hopeless. She had tried so many times before, and every time it ended up by her being injured and being brought back. If she hadn't still been sick however, she knew she would have tried again.

George appeared from the doorway with a small smile on his face, but his eyes were dark and didn't carry the smile, but not in an ingenuine or irritated way, more like something was on his mind.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Better, I think. The walk helped." Eris replied, still holding a single daisy in her hand.

George nodded, "Good, good. You should still go to sleep early though; you look a little pale."

The word sleep and its implications made Eris freeze up slightly and her eyes widened as she stared at George, who seemed to understand her thoughts.

"Oh, don't worry." He started, "I spoke to Dream, and he said you could go back to the old room. Just please don't set it on fire again, yeah?"

The smallest smile appeared on Eris' lips as she had to hold in a chuckle. George shook his head in reply, before he gestured for her to follow him.

And she did.

For once she felt like a regular person as she walked through the hall, not carried or dragged down it, instead she could walk on her own. It was freeing in a way.

George left her in the room with a new set of clothes she could use as pyjamas and the promise of bringing her dinner in a little bit, before leaving her on her own.

Everything was different in the room, like all the furniture had been replaced. Which, to her realisation, probably had been. A dark mark was still present on the hardwood flooring, reminding her of the fire she had set in the house. If everything had to be replaced, the fire must have been worse than she had thought.

She thought back to Dream's words, who had told her a similar thing. She dismissed the memory.

Instead, she looked at the bed in front of her, the fatigue she had been holding off, finally consuming every part of her body. She could eat later, she decided as she dropped down onto the bed. It was significantly less soft than Dream's, but still she gladly slept here if it meant she didn't have to go back.

Eris had just enough time to place her precious hat on the side table before falling asleep. Soft snoring caused by her still stuffy nose was the only sound that remained.

Eris was not one to be given the reward of peaceful sleep however, she had never been. And so, she woke up not long after. What was strange however, was that instead of laying on the covers of the bed, she was placed under them.

The fact that she was alone must have been the reason for her inability to sleep, of course it was.

Looking over to the side, she found the window to be slightly ajar, letting cooling air into the room. It was fully dark now.

She sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Something shook her.

"Eris?"

An instinctive grumble left her as she turned around, "Fuck off."

It was silent for a moment, and Eris was at ease, knowing she could go back to sleep.

That was however, until a finger poked her cheek.

Eris opened one of her eyes, glaring daggers at whoever dared to wake her from the sleep she had worked hours for, coming face-to-face with two dark brown eyes.

"What the fuck, George?" She whispered groggily, opening her other eye as well.

She glanced at the window and saw that it was starting to get lighter again. It was probably around sunrise.

"We can't have you just hanging around not doing anything here." George mumbled, his voice still husky, he mustn't have woken up much earlier than Eris, "I need an extra set of hands in the garden."

Eris sat up straighter, "Why me?"

George frowned, turning his voice to a whisper, "Well, you're with us now. Might as well be useful."

You're with us now.

Eris was given no time to think the words through as George pulled her from the bed, telling her to put on a coat and meet her outside in a few minutes.

She obeyed; washing her face in the sink of the bathroom that was attached to her room before heading out.

"You forgot your coat." George began as Eris stepped outside.

Eris shrugged in reply, "I'll be fine."

The brunet in front of her frowned, unimpressed, "You just recovered from hypothermia. I'm not taking care of you again. Get a coat."

Eris didn't feel like arguing, her tired mind too fuzzy to come up with a good reason as to not listen to his reasonable advice. She stepped inside once more and put on the first coat she could find, it was actually a cloak, but she thought it would do the job.

A small smirk appeared on George's dry lips as Eris stepped outside again, noticing the dark red cloak, "You've got some balls."

"What?" The brunette replied in confusion.

"That's Sapnap's. Can't imagine him being happy you're using his cloak."

Eris returned the smirk.

"I'll make sure to make it extra dirty then."

For the first time, Eris heard George laugh. It wasn't much, more a snort than a proper form of laughter, but Eris decided she liked it. George usually was more one to be serious and quiet, an absent glance in his dark eyes with almost equally dark backs he carried under them apparent wherever he went.

The two set off in a new, unknown direction to Eris. It was a walk of a few minutes but soon the two brunettes found themselves in a small field, rows of crops and plants displayed on either side with a small wooden shack placed at the back of it.

George quickly hurried her over, giving her some tools and instructions on various tasks. And so, Eris spent the next hour or so weeding potato plants and picking tomatoes from a different plant.

Honestly, she didn't mind the work, it took her mind off things. She had sitten still for far too long, her anxious limbs begging for movement, and now, she finally got it. The work also made her realise how much strength she had lost over the time she had been here - which also wasn't a surprise.

She made a mental note to work on that.

With a sigh, Eris leaned back, still sitting on her knees as she looked at the carefully weeded potato plant in front of her, a small smile of satisfaction falling on her lips.

"Hey, Eris," George shouted from the other side of the garden, she immediately turned her head to find him standing next to a tall apple tree, "Come here."

She obeyed and made her way over, wiping her forehead from any sweat as she did so, "What's up?"

George looked conflicted, staring up at the multicoloured apples hanging out of reach in the tree in front of them, "I need green apples. Yellow ones suck. Which ones are Green?"

Eris was perplexed, a confused frown appearing on her features, before letting out a laugh, "You failed your colour theory, George?"

George narrowed his eyes.

"I'm colourblind, dumbass." he deadpanned in reply, waving a hand in front of his face, "Can't tell them apart. They're both yellow to me."

A slight pang of guilt waved through Eris' veins at the words, she shouldn't have laughed, "Oh, sorry."

George promptly rolled his eyes in return, dismissing the apology, "It's fine. Just tell me which ones are green."

Eris looked up, eyeing the several apples that hung in the tree, before coming to an unfortunate conclusion,

"Piss."

"What?"

"The only green ones are all the way at the top." Eris replied, pointing at a particularly shiny apple that was far out of both of their reach.

A defeated glance was visible in George's eyes as his shoulders slumped, before he straightened them again, turning to Eris fully, "Get on my shoulders."

Eris narrowed her eyes, quickly realising his plan, "You're insane."

"I really need those apples." George replied, nothing but determination visible in his eyes, and mischief in his voice, "Come on."

Eris groaned, tilting her head back in annoyance, before nodding, "Fine."

George lowered himself to the ground far enough so that Eris could sit on his shoulder, before he stood up again.

The brunet was decidedly not very strong, his physique very much suggested so, which caused Eris to have a difficult time holding onto him as he wobbled around, trying to find his balance.

"You're heavy," he commented with a grunt, waddling closer to the tree.

"I'm not," Eris replied, taking a hold of the tree in front of them to stop herself from falling off the brunet's shoulders, "You're just weak."

He huffed from underneath her, quiet for a moment before he came up with a reply, "Just get those apples, alright?"

"Yeah yeah." Eris mumbled, reaching for the first apple, which she actually managed to get with ease, "Got one."

"Good, good. Can you get one more?"

Eris looked around, looking for another green apple, before quickly spotting one hanging even farther up the tree.

"It's gonna be difficult, go a bit left." Eris commanded, steadying herself on George's shoulders.

As they moved around, Eris finally managed to get sort-of in reach of the shiny green fruit, her fingertips barely grazing it.

Eris reached over even further, leaning forward perhaps a bit too far, but her efforts had been rewarded as she got a hold of the apple, pulling it from its stem, "Got it!"

She had expected her victory to be celebrated, but instead her ears were met with an awkward shout as George lost his balance, sending Eris to the ground with a thud.

Both brunettes fell down into the grass, which luckily caught most of their landing, besides the fact that Eris had to cough and take a good few breaths to refill her lungs.

The two managed to sit up, looking at each other with wide eyes.

"I hope it was worth the trouble," Eris said, tossing the brunet in front of her the apples, who accepted them with a humorous glint in his eyes, "What'd you need them for anyways?"

George shrugged, the most evil and mischievous look overtaking his entire demeanor, before taking a bite of the fruit, "Was hungry."

Eris' mouth fell agape as she caught the second apple that George threw back at her, "You rat-bastard-bitch."

The brunette wanted nothing more than to smack the smugness of George's face as he took another bite. So, she did the closest she could think of to get revenge; picking up a handful of dirt and throwing it in his direction.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise. He looked down at his, now filthy, apple and tossed it to the side in defeat, before picking up a handful of dirt on his own and throwing it at her as well.

And so the two found themselves in a dirt battle, meeting Eris' promise of absolutely ruining Sapnap's cloak, which she still wore around her shoulders, and getting every other piece of George's clothing dirty as well.

Laughter was heard and for a moment Eris forgot where she was, the barking laughter of Tommy ringing in her mind as his icy blue eyes flashed in front of her. Immediately she was brought back to reality and the dirt fight slowed down, ending in a peaceful silence between the two brunettes, where Eris looked at the green apple she still had left in her lap.

She took a bite of the green fruit, the sour juice of the apple flowing into her mouth, making her cinge. She decided she didn't like sour food and handed the apple to George, who took it gingerly and munched down on it, leaving the two in another silence as Eris stared up at the blue sky above, wondering if this would be her life.

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A/N:

I very much am incapable of a consistent writing schedule it turns out- so here, take some fluff with George - please forgive me

thank you guys sm for the 38k reads! ur all insane and ily

I don't have much else to add today beside the fact that I've been thinking about a new story, which is going to be very poggers, but don't worry I'm still gonna be writing this one - I'm too far in anyways hahahah

did you guys like the lighter chapter?

I love you,
blue