Dream didn’t move away when Sarah struggled to hold her gaze. If anything, she leaned in a little more, hands still gently holding Sarah’s face like she was trying to keep her grounded in the moment instead of drifting off into the spiral of guilt she always seemed to fall into. When Sarah finally looked up and whispered, Dream nodded immediately, her expression soft but certain. “I do,” she said quietly. “I really do.” Her thumbs brushed lightly under Sarah’s eyes as another tear slipped down. “You’re scared,” Dream added gently. “That makes sense. Anyone would be.” There wasn’t a hint of blame in her voice, only patience. When Sarah leaned into her touch and admitted she was terrified, Dream’s hand moved instinctively to the back of her head, holding her close for a moment. “Hey, that’s okay,” she murmured. “You don’t have to be brave about this right now. Things will all work out." When Sarah said she needed her, the words clearly landed somewhere deep. Dream’s expression softened even more, something protective settling in her posture as she stayed right there with her. “I’m here,” she repeated quietly. “I’m not going anywhere.” She meant it in a way that sounded less like reassurance and more like a promise she’d already made to herself. When Sarah hugged her, Dream wrapped her arms around her immediately, holding her steady when her knees seemed weak. Her hand rested between Sarah’s shoulder blades, rubbing slow, calming circles while she let her cry against her shoulder. “You don’t have to thank me,” Dream murmured near her hair. “You never have to thank me." When Sarah pulled back and asked if they could go inside, Dream nodded right away. “Of course,” she said softly. “Let’s go sit down.” She kept one hand lightly on Sarah’s arm as they moved, not controlling, just making sure she was steady. She shared a polite smile towards Lennon. When Sarah hugged Lennon and said she didn’t deserve them, Dream shook her head almost immediately. “You do,” Dream told her. Her hand rested lightly against Sarah’s back again. “You’ve been through more than most people ever will,” she continued quietly. “Needing people, leaning on us both, that doesn’t make you a problem. It makes you human.” Once they were inside, Dream made sure Sarah got to the couch before anything else. She stayed close, guiding her gently until she sat down, like she didn’t quite trust Sarah’s legs to hold her yet. Lennon sat on Sarah’s other side almost immediately, instinctively leaning in and resting her head against her sister’s shoulder. Dream sat down on Sarah’s other side, close enough that their knees touched. For a moment she just watched Sarah carefully, making sure she was breathing a little more evenly now. Then her hand moved, resting gently on Sarah’s leg, warm, grounding, not gripping, just there. “I’ve hit rock bottom before,” she admitted. “The kind where you’re sure you’ve ruined everything and there’s nowhere left to go.” Her thumb shifted slightly against Sarah’s leg in a small reassuring motion. “But the thing about rock bottom,” Dream continued quietly, meeting her eyes, “is the only place from there is up.”
sarah was grateful to have dream and lennon there with her. neither of them had called her stupid for ending up in that situation — if anything, they had only been incredibly gentle with her. she was still crying against dream’s shoulder, and she would’ve understood if the other had pulled away. after all, they had been seeing each other, and now dream had just found out sarah was pregnant and didn’t even know who the father was. when dream suggested they sit down, sarah nodded, trying to keep the tears from spilling again. as dream guided them inside, sarah sat on the couch and stayed close, still clinging to her side like she needed that contact to stay grounded. the feeling of dream’s hand resting against her thigh soothed her in a way she couldn’t explain. as dream talked about hitting rock bottom herself, about feeling like there was nowhere else to go, sarah took a shaky breath. she nodded. there was nothing else to do but find a way through it. “thanks, dream,” she whispered, her voice breaking again. she leaned in and wrapped her arms around the girl, holding onto her tightly for a second before pulling back just enough to look at her sister too. “thanks, lennon,” she sighed softly. “i really didn’t think this was how you two were going to meet.” she tried to laugh, to lighten the heaviness in the room, but it came out fragile and sad. she was trying to rebuild her walls already, even when everything inside her felt like it was crumbling. she turned slightly, still pressed close to dream like she was afraid of moving too far away. “dream, this is my sister lennon,” she introduced softly, glancing between them. then she looked at lennon. “and lennon, this is dream.” a faint, sad smile tugged at her lips. “the only good thing that came out of me sleeping around, apparently,” she admitted, trying to joke through the pain. then she exhaled and looked between them again, cheeks flushed from crying. “is this awkward?” she asked with a weak little laugh.




















