Hide and Seek - Dnf

5-Trauma

[George's POV]

I woke up the next day feeling considerably better than I had the night before. Hearing echoing footsteps, I looked up to find that Dream was already awake and pacing back and forth across the small room, looking for an exit of any kind with the flashlight on his phone. It seemed he was unsuccessful. He sighed loudly and sat down on the cold stone floor.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Jesus christ!" He spun around in alarm."When'd you wake up? Have you just been watching me the whole time?"

"No."I assured him, "I just woke up."

"It's 7:30."

"Why are you awake then? It isn't even a school day!"

"I just couldn't sleep for any longer."

"Weirdo." I turned away and laid down again, prepared to go back to sleep, when he spoke up.

"So what was out about? The nightmare you had last night?"

I flopped on my other side to face him. "I forgot."

"No you didn't," was all he said.

I deadpanned. "I told you, I forgot."

"No you didn't."

"Well, maybe I just don't want to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because I just don't want to." I was starting to get the tiniest bit frustrated.

"You have to at least give me a valid reason." He knelt before me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It's just... I just...I can't."

The blonde gently pulled me up to a sitting position. The two of us were now facing each other. A few moments passed before either of us made our next move.

"Look...," his voice was barely above a whisper, "I'm not going to force you to tell me anything. Just know that I'm always here if you need anyone, okay?"

I was surprised at how nice he was being to me, but I nodded all the same.

It was extremely cold down there in that little room, and the cold concrete of the floor wasn't helping at all. I shivered, wishing that I'd worn something warmer.

Dream, it seemed, had noticed this, as he immediately took off his hoodie and offered it to me. I refused to take it, but he kept on insisting. Eventually, I gave in, and took it from him with a thankful smile.

"Better?"

"By so much, but won't you be cold now?"

"Not if you sit here next to me." A smirk crept onto his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, but only because you're being weirdly nice to me."

He smiled and held out his arms. "C'mere."

I dragged myself across to him, already feeling considerably better. He enveloped me in a comforting embrace and laid a heavy head on my shoulder.

Just as I was getting comfortable, I realized that I'd not yet heard his story.

"Hey, Dream?"

"Hmm?"

"I know it's a bit unfair to ask you this on my part, but what happened to you?"

He froze, a million different emotions flashing across his face. Then, he collected himself, and pulled me closer, before beginning.

"My father was an alcoholic. He would always get angry at the tiniest things, and beat me to channel his anger. I still remember that look of intense hatred on his face and that glint of malice in his eyes." He shuddered at the thought.

"Why didn't you run away?" I asked in a gentle voice, taking his trembling hand.

"Believe me, I tried. But every time, he'd somehow find me, drag me back to the house, and beat me even more." He stared up at the ceiling, and I could only imagine how terrible it had been.

I waited patiently for him to continue.

"One day, I came back home to an empty house. I was confused, but happy and relieved at the same time. I thought they'd finally been captured and taken into police custody, but it seemed I was wrong. As soon as I reached my room, a hand grabbed me by the collar and pull me roughly inside. I tried resisting, but failed. I was then shoved against the wall, a knife pressed, hard, against my throat. Through the darkness, another figure could be seen stood leaning against the wall. Without a doubt, the two people were my parents. I'd recognize that maniacal cackle anywhere. My mother coaxed my father on, laughing as the knife drew blood. I felt my skin split and let out a scream. Blood trickled down my shirt and onto the floor. He turned the knife around and used the blunt side to press down on my windpipe. I was starting to lose air, and felt dizzy from blood loss. Yelling for help didn't work, either."

I inhaled sharply, tears forming in my eyes just imagining how painful it must've been. I'd never be able to handle that kind of pain.

Dream, too, seemed to be fighting back tears.

"There was a scream from next door. My parents' attention was suddenly diverted, and I took my chance. I delivered a right hook to his face, then kicked him, hard, between the legs, and kneed him directly in the stomach. He let go of me and I jumped out of my bedroom window, landing in the garden. I ran, not stopping until I reached my grandparents' house, where I rang up the police and both my parents got arrested. I convinced my grandparents to let me transfer to this school on a football scholarship. I stayed at their house for the rest of the summer, and they took me to school on the first day. And now...here I am. "

I was quite literally in shock, completely at a loss for words, just gaping at him. The more I thought about what he'd been through, the more stupid I felt. Here I was thinking that I had it bad, when all he'd ever known from his parents were pain, violence, hostility, and attempted murder.

"I'm so sorry," I eventually stuttered out, "I just realized how much worse you had it. Here I am making a big deal of some stupid nightmare, when you've been through things that I can't even begin to imagine."

He flashed me a warm smile, before his expression turned serious again. "Thank you, but whatever had you hyperventilating like that was not just any normal thing."

1049 Words

(Current Read Count:37)

It's literally been almost 6 weeks. I cannot express how sorry I am for not uploading. It's editing for goodness sake, and it only took me about 2 days to write the chapter.

That's all for now. Thank you so much for reading this chapter, and have a very nice day/noon/night!😁