hi sorry it took so long, but im back now with a new chapter!! did you miss me? <3

What am I saying... ofc you missed me 😌🖐

...dear god...

Anyways enough of me being an asshole, read the chapter or whatever

TW: PTSD, anxiety... and fluff???

Previously...

It was weird. Dream seemed to have this effect on me, like his presence was calming. I felt more... solid around him, like I wouldn't waste away at any minute. I don't ever want to be apart. He's my safe place, the person I can trust the most. Hell, now he even knows one of my biggest secrets, and I'm not panicking about it.

Thank you, Dream.

George's P.O.V.

I open my eyes to see Dream's shoulder in my face. Blinking in surprise, I lift my head up, glancing at his sleeping form. His head is back, lips parted slightly as he breathes slowly and steadily.

I lay my head back down on his chest, fiddling with the hem of his shirt a little. His heartbeat echoes against my ear, and it's one of the most comforting sounds I've ever heard. It's almost enough to lull me back to sleep, except I'm not really in the mood to. Instead, I just lay on Dream's chest, humming a random tune while I wait for him to wake up on his own.

I'm not waiting for too long before I feel Dream start to stir, arms curling around me protectively in his half-awake state. He grumbles something incomprehensible, exhaling quickly and turning his head to the side.

"Good morning," I murmur, smiling shyly. My voice is barely above a whisper, but I'm just glad that an actual sound came out. Dream smiles, humming.

"Good morning, George." Suddenly, his eyes shoot open, wide as saucers. "GEORGE!" He gasps, grinning wider than I've ever seen. "You spoke!" I giggle, feeling him sit up, arms around me tightly.

"You have no idea how nice it is to hear your voice... I really missed it. I'm so so so proud of you!" I can't wipe the smile off my face as Dream rambles on about how excited he is. He seems even happier than I am to hear my voice, which I guess makes sense.

Suddenly, my stomach makes a slight rumbling sound, and Dream pauses for a moment. I can feel the slight blush of embarrassment on my cheeks as his yellowish eyes study my face.

"Hungry?" He asks. I reply with a quick nod, not breaking eye contact for a moment. "Let's go make breakfast, then. What do you want? We have cereal, eggs, oatmeal... or we could cook something, if you want," Dream offers. We both get up, me trailing behind him as we go to the kitchen.

"What are you in the mood for?" He questions, opening the fridge and getting out a container of apple juice. I watch quietly as he pours a tall glass, pushing it across the counter to me. I smile, pulling my phone out to answer the question.

Gogy: can we make chocolate chip pancakes?

Looking up, I can see Dream reading the text with a smile. He starts pulling ingredients out of cabinets and off shelves, putting them all out on the counter.

"Here, pour some of the mix in a bowl," Dream instructs, pointing at a large blue bag to my left. I nod, studying the instructions for a moment before searching for a measuring cup. Dream turns around, letting out a soft chuckle.

"You can just pour a bunch in, you don't need to measure it!" I furrow my eyebrows, shrugging. The bag is heavy, a lot heavier than I expected. When I pour it into the bowl, it goes everywhere.

"!!!" I make a strangled yelping sound, struggling to lift the bag back up before more spills. Dream, who was searching for chocolate chips, turns to look, and I immediately hear his signature wheeze.

"George!" He exclaims, laughing hysterically. I look down at myself, seeing a heavy coating of white powder all over me. The bowl is filled to the top with the pre-made pancake mix, and it's spilling over the edge as well, making more of a mess on the counter and floors.

I smile sheepishly, brushing at my shirt to try and get the mix off. Dream is being completely useless, wheezing loudly over in the pantry, doubled over with one arm around his stomach.

"Oh my god, George, how did you even do that?!" Finally, Dream comes over to help me, still laughing. "Hold on, don't move, I'll be right back." He runs upstairs, leaving me to wipe at the mess uselessly.

"Here!" Dream bounds into the kitchen, holding a clean hoodie. He drapes it over the back of a chair, coming over to help clean up some of the mess I made. "Go change, you can just put your shirt in the washer and we can take care of it later."

I head to the bathroom with a nod, grabbing the hoodie on my way. I toss my shirt in the laundry, sighing at my reflection. I have some pancake mix on my nose and chin, which I wash off quickly. Looking back up, I notice how large the hoodie is on me. I looked so... small. It was weird, seeing this new version of myself.

"George? You alright?" Dream called, knocking at the door lightly. I jumped, quickly opening the door. His expression changes, a giddy smile adorning his features.

"I cleaned it up, plus I fixed the batter so that it'll actually make pancakes-" I let out a small scoff, crossing my arms. "-so, if you want to put in the chocolate chips..." I grinned, excitedly running to the chocolate chips.

"Yeah, but this time, maybe we should use a measuring cup," he chuckles, handing a metal cup to me. I can feel the heat on my nose and cheeks from embarrassment, but I ignore it as I roll my eyes playfully, scooping up chocolate chips and dumping them into smooth pancake batter. After mixing them in quickly, the mix is ready to cook.

"You wanna flip them?" Dream offers, holding out the spatula. I hesitate for a moment before shaking my head, shrugging. He shrugs as well, turning back to the pan and flipping the pancakes over.

I sit at the counter while Dream rambles on about some random thing that caught his attention. It all feels so normal, almost like I didn't spill my darkest secrets to him not 24 hours ago. He's good like that.

"-and did you know that Hawaiian pizza isn't even from Hawaii? Just another reason why it's the worst!" He exclaims loudly, turning off the stove with a soft click. "Anyways... let's have some breakfast!" I grin at Dream, stealing pancakes from his plate instead of getting my own. Not that he minded, of course.

"Wanna watch tv?" We head out to the living room with the plate of pancakes, turning the tv on and letting it play.

"-temperatures in the upper 90s all week, then back down to 85 by Saturday. That's our weather forecast, back to you, Dawn."

"Thank you Steven. Last night, seven inmates escaped from Jacksonville county jail. So far, four of the inmates have been caught and returned to the prison. The remaining three are suspected to be in or around Jacksonville. Here are official police sketches of the three escapees-" The tv turns back off with a click.

"George, breathe." Dream is staring at me with worried eyes, and the tightness in my lungs finally registers with my brain. My eyes widen, hands clutching and clawing at my chest as if it would do me any good.

"George. Look at me, ok? Copy what I do," Dream insists firmly, breathing in dramatically, then breathing back out, making a big show of it all. It's almost as if my body's forgotten how to breathe.

"George, please!" My world is spinning a little, edges going dark. Dream grabs my hand, pressing it against his chest and trying to emphasize his breaths. "Please, you need to breathe, ok?" I make eye contact with him, and suddenly my lungs are freed from their airless prison.

"Oh, thank god," Dream mumbles, sighing. I close my eyes, leaning into him tiredly. That little episode really took a lot out of me.

"It's ok. He's still in jail, he can't hurt you. You're safe with me, George, I promise." I know Dream's right. The prison break had been from Jacksonville, Florida, and he was all the way across the globe, in a fairly high security penitentiary. I was safe with Dream.

Oh, if only I could believe myself...

Just a reminder that I do take bribes :3

I really like tears if anybody wants to offer some 😌😌