Becoming the Luna

Chapter 316

"Don't stare at me so hard, I'll choke on my meal." Dream scolds. "What's on my face anyway that you haven't seen before?"

Dale averts his gaze in record time, looking everywhere but at Dream - he was pretty sure Dream wouldn't want to know the answer to that question.

It couldn't possibly end well if he told the other, that staring at him was quite an enjoyable pastime, how his eyes seemed to shift from blue to grey with the lighting and how his brows furrowed ever so slightly while he was trying to get food on his fork, cheeks bulging with each bite so he went for what anyone else would have said

"You've got a fleck of food on your lip." He mutters.

Dream's eyes widened at this, disbelief clearly written on his face as he reaches out a leg under the table to hit Dale but the Alpha easily grabs his ankle and Dream's eyes only gets wider.

"Dale, Dale, let go of my leg." He whispers furiously to him, trying to pull his leg back but it was no use, Dale's grip is firm.

So, naturally, Dream tries to kick with the second leg only to have Dale's hands wrapped around both of his ankles, a blank expression the Alpha's face.

A waitress chooses this very moment to walk over, a polite smile on her bright face. "Is everything to your liking?" she asks, beaming.

Dream has to swallow back the snappy retort dancing on the tip of his tongue.

"Just fine, thank you." Dale replies politely, his thumbs rubbing slow circles on Dream's bare ankles which makes him hiccup and nearly chokes, good thing the waitress is already gone.

Eventually, Dale lets go of his legs and he tucks them so fast under his chair, expression petulant, next time he would go with his whims and douse the other in cold water.

To his relief, Dale doesn't pick up their unfinished conversation that was interrupted with the Alpha and the rest of the meal is quite pleasant, Dale wasn't bad company when he wasn't trying his hardest to get under his skin.

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through with the girls." Dale apologizes after a lull in conversation.

Dream glances up at him to see something dark lurking in the depths of his green eyes and he has a feeling that there will be more to this.

"You don't have to keep apologizing for something you probably had no control over." He says, taking a sip of water.

Dale stares across the room, quiet conversation humming in the background as people ate their food and enjoyed their partners company. "Maybe I did but I neglected them because I kept hoping they wouldn't cause any harm, keep feeling guilty because this is all my someone else's fault and hardly theirs." 

"We're not only talking about the girls again are we?" Dream cuts him off, voice calm and steady.

Dale's gaze snaps back to him like he didn't realize that he had been talking out loud. "No." 

"Want to talk about it?" Dream offers, eyes kind.

Dale studies him briefly, reaching a hand up to push through his hair. "It happened a while ago, I was still a teenager and I dated this girl who I knew wasn't exactly mentally healthy and I neglected all that still just because I felt guilty and didn't come to terms with reality till she killed my younger sister and nearly killed the person I loved, and now, it's repeating itself." He trails off.

Dream reaches out a small hand to cover his without even thinking about it, the pain in Dale's eyes draws him in.

Dale draws his hand back after a while, he hadn't told this story because he wanted pity, he just needed Dream to understand why he would keep apologizing. "So, yeah I'm sorry"

This time Dream catches him off guard and lands a particularly vicious kick to Dale's shins. "Bring your hand back here." He orders, making grabby hands with his now empty palm. "You'll accept my comfort and like it." He continues sternly.

Dale's eyes grow wide at this, a small smile building at the sides of his lips, even as he puts his hand back out and Dream grabs onto a couple of his fingers, the best the width of his hand could achieve.

Dream kicks out again and this time Dale yelps, confused. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"It's not your fault that you are too much of a nice guy and people take advantage of that, you need to stop piling up guilt on yourself." Although he could understand now why Dale was so bothered that he hadn't told him about the girl's bullying.

He was also shaken by the death of his sister, she must have been so young, he hoped whoever the psycho date was, they had their necks ripped out already and weren't existing anymore, he was also curious about the person Dale loved but he would rather lick the floor of the restaurant than ask.

"Sure." Dale says with a smile, eyes distant - only Dream had the ability to make a comforting statement come off as a diss.

"Good, now eat up, if you're too much of a sissy to tell people off, I'll do it for you, free of charge too." Dream reassures him, still gripping his hand.

This makes Dale chuckle, Dream's comfort was nothing like Hayden's yet it was working so well. "Thank you."

Dream just waves him away, trying to concentrate on his meal.

Dale just watches the adorable Omega struggle slightly to eat with his left hand, granted he was quite skilled at it but the difference of ease was clear. "You know you don't need to keep holding my hand."

Dream glares at him, stubbornly holding on. "Am I complaining?"

"Well no."

"So hush and eat." 

Dale faces his food once more, both eating in relative comfortable silence, the quiet noise of the world rolling over them.

"Jade." Dale says after a while.

Dream glances up at him, blinking. "Huh?"

"My sister's name was Jade."