Slight blood warning below, nothing explained too much, just letting y'all know.

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Dream must have sat on those stairs with Sapnap for hours. His back ached and his fingers felt stiff from the cold.

Dream let out a heavy breath as it swirled through the dark night air.

"Sapnap?"

"Yes?" the other murmured, not moving to look at him.

"What did you mean earlier, when you said I wouldn't believe what you had to tell me?"

Sapnap looked over at the man for a minute, before sweeping his gaze back to the water.

He did not answer Dream.

The blonde let out a huff but did not continue the conversation.

Sapnap looked down at Dream's mask.

He pointed to the crack on the bottom.

"I can get Sam to fix that, if you want?" He offered. Dream held it up in front of them.

"Actually," the blonde admitted, "I kind of like it."

Sapnap let out a little laugh.

"Elaborate, please."

"Well, it makes me look cool. Shows that I've been in battle," Sapnap raised an eyebrow, "as Tommy would so kindly say, it makes me look like a 'big man'."

Sapnap snorted, punching Dream on the shoulder playfully, while the other let a tired grin slip onto his face.

Sapnap was great. He always knew just how to distract Dream from the things that worried him. He was the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

Dream let out a tired yawn.

"I should probably head to bed so I can catch even a wink of sleep before I need to get up." he stated, looking over at Sapnap who was sat by his side.

The man with the bandana nodded and stood up, stretching with a yawn, before giving Dream a pat on the head.

"Goodnight, Dream." he murmured, before turning to the side and walking down the stairs to his room.

"Night, Sap."

Dream had half the mind to follow him and go to his own room for the night, but he knew George would be startled in the morning if Dream wasn't there, so he stood up, cracking his back and joints, and walked towards the hallway.

He put his mask back on gently as he walked down to the room.

Cries filled the air. What?

The sound of crying and muttering was heard from George's room, and he quickly opened the door to see the merman, his eyes scrunched up as he shook.

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A flash of light pierced through George's vision. It lit up the water like something out of a horror story. A large shadow loomed above, as yelling voices were all he could hear.

He swam through the water blindly, as his mother grasped his hand tightly.

She was ripped away from him through the thrashing waves. He scrambled forward trying to find her, only to latch onto Karl.

"George!" the other teen screeched, as another boom echoed throughout the water.

Karl held his hand tightly as they swam, trying to find somewhere to go, somewhere safe, away from the noise.

Karl let out a cry as something hit both of the boys, causing them to part away as they pushed through the water from the shock.

Blood stained the water.

"Karl?!" George yelled, rubbing his aching shoulder.

"George!" George whipped his head up to see Karl closer to the surface, blood pouring out of him- from where, George wasn't sure.

The brunette's eyes were blurry with tears, he couldn't think- couldn't even see straight.

The faint outline of a boat from above shadowed over them.

George tried to swim upwards, letting out a hiss of pain as his tail throbbed in agony.

He glanced down at it, seeing blood swirling around him too. Just as he went to look up, to go help Karl, something filled his vision.

He didn't know what it was- it was big, and metal, and it hit him on the head with a thunk.

He sank, down and down and down and down as the yells from Karl blurred into the yells from his pod, before sound faded.

Black dots clouded his vision, and then there was no more.

George woke up the next morning to blood wafting through the water. His shoulder and tail pained him so much, so he took some time to conjure up the energy to make healing tears. He watched as his skin sowed together, leaving a faint scar, and let himself breathe.

He was on a rock, underwater, but not too far down.

He looked around him for any sight of a mer.

There was nothing.

No movement, no voices, no ripples in the water.

Just eery silence.

"Karl?" he whimpered, "Mother?"

He got no answer.

George brought a hand to his mouth, letting out a choked sob, curling into himself.

He sat there for a few minutes before movement in the water caught his attention.

His head snapped up, hopefully, but his hopes were just as quickly crushed as he saw it was just a shark.

Then two sharks.

Then four.

He knew they didn't usually attack merfolk, but with all this blood in the water...well, he didn't want to take any chances.

He turned from the scene, slipping behind a rock as he swam, swam from the last place he'd seen his family.

He would never see them again.

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Dream ran over to George, who was whimpering and shaking like a leaf.

He rested a hand on the merman's shoulder, who didn't respond to it.

Dream peered at his face. George was still asleep. He was having a nightmare.

"George," he said, "George, wake up."

The merman let out another cry.

"Karl? Karl?" The brunette muttered, his eyes snapping open but looking fogged like he wasn't actually there. Tears streamed from his eyes thickly.

Karl? Who was Karl? Dream wondered.

George let out another sob.

Okay, Dream could worry about that later.

"No, no George, it's not Karl." The merman shook.

"Karl?" he asked again, "Karl where are you?" he sobbed.

"I don't know George, he's not here. It's Dream, remember? Dream." Dream murmured, moving George's hair that was plastered to his skin from his face.

"Dream?" the merman croaked, his eyes looking slightly clearer now.

Dream stroked his hair again.

"Yeah Georgie, it's me."

George leaned over the side of the glass quickly, pulling Dream into a crushing hug.

This was the most contact they'd ever had. Dream wished it was under different circumstances.

Despite Dream's clothes now being wet, he gripped onto George just as tight.

"It's okay, George," he soothed, as the brunette shook in his arms, "It's okay."

At some point, they must have fallen asleep, because Dream woke up, his back in even more agony than before, and George half in his arms as they leaned over the glass.

He carefully pried the brunette from his arms as he helped him prop up again the wall of the glass.

George blinked slowly, waking up, his face still blotchy from the night (or morning, Dream guessed, as he'd been outside for hours).

Dream looked down at George, who stared up at his mask, before the merman looked to the side, biting his lip.

"Sorry." George murmured, letting out a heavy breath.

Dream's eyebrows pinched in confusion.

"What are you sorry for?" he questioned, and the brunette gave him a look.

"I woke you up because of my stupid nightmare."

Dream smiled at him slightly.

"You didn't wake me up, George."

George moved his gaze from the water up to Dream.

"What?"

"You didn't wake me up. I was already up." he repeated, elaborating a little bit more.

"Oh." George nodded slightly at that.

Dream let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head.

"Are you alright, George?"

George bit his lip.

"I'm okay now. Nightmares like that just happen sometimes." he admitted, and Dream scooted closer to the glass.

"What was the nightmare about?" Dream asked, quickly rushing to add on: "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

George rubbed his arms self-consciously before shrugging.

"Just a bad memory. My brain likes to make me relive it a lot." he confessed, biting the inside of his cheek.

Dream felt a pang of sadness shoot through his heart. He didn't know what happened in the memory, but it must have been really bad. George did not deserve that.

"It was of my friend," George said after a moment, "Karl."

Oh. That made sense. The brunette was calling out that name when Dream had found him. Dream bit his lip, he wondered just what had happened to Karl.

George let out a shaky breath.

"It wasn't just him. It was my mother, my pod, too," he continued, "on the last day I saw them. The day they died." he muttered, and Dream reached out to put his hand over George's.

George flushed slightly, but Dream ignored it.

"I'm sorry," Dream murmured, causing George to gaze up at him, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

George shrugged, trying to play it off, but the sad look on his face was evidence of him failing in that.

"I try not to think about it too much, but sometimes it just catches up with me."

Dream nodded his head in understanding.

"I think you're very brave, George." he murmured, after a minute of silence.

George's mouth parted open in shock, before snapping it shut.

"Brave?" he echoed.

Dream nodded.

"The bravest I know."

George let out a hesitant smile, before laughing.

"Brave, like, big man Tommy brave?" George joked, as the tension in the room eased.

Dream let out a snort, nodding his head enthusiastically.

"Exactly like that."

George's laughter was contagious, and soon the both of them were giggling together like teenagers.

Something thudded underneath them. It was the sound of someone smacking the roof.

"It's way too early for that noise," Bad's voice rung out from his room below deck, "be quiet!"

Both of them were silent for a moment, trying to hold their laughter, before they burst out laughing together, clutching their sides.

It was a stark difference to a mere minute ago.

They heard Bad let out an annoyed groan, and laughed some more.

When they grew tired, and their cheeks ached, Dream looked over at George.

George gazed back up at him, a gentle smile on his lips.

Dream's heart fluttered.

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Hello friends!!! Boom, a chapter :D

As usual, sorry for the angst, but actually not sorry.

hAH.

Anyway, thanks so much for the support uwu

I love all of you so so so so so so so so much!! Your comments bring me joy and I immensely love reading them. If you've been here from the start, thank you, and if you're new here, thank you. EVERYONE, THANK YOU

Happy reading!!

-Bee

(31/1/21)

Co-posted on ao3