AN: i know i don't usually put these at the beginning of chapters but this is a reupload!! i posted this yesterday and for some reason wattpad glitched out and deleted half of the chapter. i know some of you have read this already, so i apologize for the false alarm upload lol but yeah ok enjoy

TW: Mentions of death

It'd been a week since the girl died.

George, Dream, Karl and Sapnap spent lots of time with Niki. Apparently the girl was her friend. She was still shaken up over the whole thing, but it was nice to have the boys around.

George had introduced Niki to Wilbur the day after it happened, and since then they had practically been attached at the hip. He was happy that Niki had someone to comfort her, but he did find himself feeling a little jealous.

No other groups had been tested on since, so George's group still had yet to see what the tests even were. Bad and Skeppy's group had been tested on the day before the incident, which irked George. The whole situation seemed unreal.

Bad explained to George that when he was tested on, all they did was ask him some questions and check his blood pressure. Skeppy and Ant said the same. So what did they do to the girl? There was no way that she died from a blood pressure machine.

All of their classes had been cancelled too, so the boys had been spending a lot of time in their room. Their friends cycled in and out, but there was really nothing much to do. Nobody seemed to be in the mood to go to the yard or the rec room. It was boring, but what else were they supposed to do?

George was even more tense because Schlatt had yet to talk to Dream. He'd looked so mad in the lab that George was afraid he was going to kill him right then and there. Dream didn't seem to be worried about it, which only made George more nervous. He didn't even want to think about what Schlatt could do to him.

George was sitting next to Dream on his bed, talking to Ranboo and Karl when they heard a voice echoing through the door. It sounded like a PA system, which George didn't even know they had.

"Attention, everyone. Starting tomorrow, the tests will resume. Don't worry, we've been looking over them, double and triple checking to make sure they are completely safe. What happened a week ago was a tragic accident, but we've been doing everything in our power to make sure it doesn't happen again. We'll pick up where we left off in the rotation, so tomorrow we will study groups A4 and B4. Thank you."

George recognized the voice as Quackity's. He suddenly felt mad at him. They'd barely seen him at all over the past week, and the way he was playing off that girl's death as a "tragic accident" made George's blood boil. But then he registered what he had said at the end of the announcement.

It was his group's turn tomorrow.

Karl seemed to realize it at the same time as George, because his mouth fell open and his eyes went wide.

"What?" He whispered, clearly not being able to say anything else.

"Hey, don't worry. I- I'm sure you'll be alright. Think positively." Ranboo tried, putting his hand on Karl's shoulder.

"We'll be alright?" George yelled, standing up. "Someone fucking died, Ranboo! What if one of us is next? What if something else goes wrong? What if-"

He was cut off by Dream pulling him into his chest. He felt arms wrap tightly around his back, trapping him in the embrace. Dream rested his chin on George's head and started rubbing his back.

"Don't worry, George. We'll be okay. Just calm down. Please." Dream said quietly, his voice slightly breaking.

George just stood there, dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Dream was hugging him right now. He kept his hands at his sides, looking over to Karl and Ranboo. They looked back with equally confused faces and they both shrugged.

"Freaking out isn't going to help anyone." Dream said, pulling away. George looked him in the eyes and saw that they were slightly red and a bit puffy.

"Dream..." George started, unsure of what to say. How had he not noticed that he'd been crying? He was sitting right next to him.

"Just, please George. Stop yelling."

George slowly nodded, not wanting to set the taller boy off. Suddenly Ranboo and Karl both stood, walking towards the door.

"I- uh, I should get back to my room before Wilbur comes looking for me. Bye guys." Ranboo said, pulling the door open.

"Yeah, um, Sapnap's been in the bathroom for a while, I should go check on him." Karl said, quickly following after Ranboo.

Dream sat back down on his bed and laid down. George didn't know what to do. He debated sitting with him, but he didn't know if it was the right thing to do. But when Dream put his hands over his face and George saw his lip quiver, he caved and sat on the end of his bunk.

"Dream, what's wrong?" George asked, folding his hands in his lap.

"George, please leave me alone." Dream groaned, peeking up at the older boy through his fingers.

"No, Dream. If you're upset that's okay, but talking about it will make it better."

"I- I'm fine. I'm just tired. And I'm worried about Niki. That's all." Dream said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Dream..."

"George. I swear I'm okay. Now get off of my bed, idiot." Dream said, smiling while nudging at George's thigh with his foot.

George sighed but obliged, getting up and climbing onto his bed. He sunk into his pillow, immediately closing his eyes. He just wanted to sleep everything away. He wanted to wake up and be back home, wherever that was, away from all of this craziness.

He heard Karl and Sapnap come back into the room, and shortly after he was asleep.

Two hours later George awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the door. He sat up and saw Quackity walking in.

"Hey boys! Rise and shine! Big day today. Come on sleepyheads, get up!" He yelled, walking over to Karl and shaking his shoulders.

"Shut the fuck up." Dream groaned, rolling onto his side to face away from the shorter boy.

"Damn, someone woke up on the wrong side-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll cave your head in." Dream interrupted, putting his hand up in the air to flip Quackity off.

"Got it." Quackity said quickly, turning away from the blond boy.

"What? What time is it?" George asked, squinting his eyes to try to read the clock hanging above the door. 

"It's 7:30 A.M. man. Breakfast is soon. I'll be back in 30." Quackity responded, walking out the door just as suddenly as he came in. 

"How is it already 7:00 in the morning?" George mumbled groggily.

"You slept through the night, nimrod. Come on, get out of bed." Karl joked, already full of energy. George didn't understand how he always seemed to be wide awake.

George slowly climbed out of his bed, too tired to shower. He grabbed clothes from his dresser, moving to walk to the bathroom to get changed.

"George, you don't have to go to the bathroom every time you change. You can do it in here. We won't look." Sapnap said, rolling over in his bed.

George flushed, quickly glancing over at Dream who was staring back at him with a smirk on his face. "No, I have to pee. Uh, thanks, though? Um, I'm gonna- yeah." He stuttered, backing out of the room and quickly walking towards the bathroom.

The four boys were sitting in their room, waiting for Quackity to escort one of them to the lab. They had gotten back from breakfast half an hour ago. It mostly consisted of their friends telling them that they would be alright and not to worry, but the reassurance did nothing to ease any of the boys' nerves. 

Quackity strolled into the room carrying a clipboard a few moments later. Everyone looked at him nervously. "Alright boys. Let's see who goes first." He said, looking at the paper clipped to the clipboard.

"Karlos! Let's go." He said, grinning at the taller boy. Karl's mouth dropped open. Sapnap jumped down from his bunk and quickly enveloped him in a hug, rubbing his back.

Sapnap whispered something that George couldn't quite decipher into the other boy's ear before reluctantly letting go of him, taking a step back. George could see Karl's hands shaking all the way from the other side of the room. 

As he and Quackity went to leave, George called out "See you later, Karl." to try to comfort him. He felt awful for him. He couldn't even imagine how he was feeling. He was the first person to be tested on since the girl died. 

The three other boys fell into an uncomfortable silence after Karl left. None of them felt like talking. George could hear Sapnap quietly sniffling in his bed, and he sat up to look at him.

"Don't worry, Sap. He'll be okay. He has to be." George said, trying to console his friend. He knew Sapnap and Karl were close, and hated that Sapnap had to go through this. But Karl would come back. He'd be alright.

After 30 gruelling minutes of worried anticipation, Karl and Quackity walked through the door. George and Sapnap both jumped down from their beds and ran over to hug him. He giggled, his face turning red when Sapnap gave him a friendly peck on the cheek.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. It was really nothing. They just asked me a bunch of questions and took my blood pressure. I promise." Karl said, pulling himself out of the other boy' grasps.

"George, you're up next. Let's go." Quackity said, already halfway out the door.

He took a deep breath and Sapnap clapped him on the shoulder. Karl took a hold of his hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. "You'll be okay. I promise. It's not bad." He said, and George offered him a small smile. He wasn't really in the mood to talk.

Right before he left, he looked back at Dream who was still on his bed. He was staring George down, but George couldn't read his expression. He turned and left, following after Quackity.

Karl was right. It really wasn't bad. The lab was rather cold, but that was probably the worst part of it. A woman in a lab coat asked George a bunch of random questions while she took his blood pressure, and after that he was free to go. Nonetheless, he still spent the entire 30 minutes fidgeting with his hands out of nervousness.

When the woman said he could leave, he practically sprinted out of the door and didn't stop until he got back to the room. Quackity jogged after him, shaking his head fondly. He knew he wasn't supposed to, but he considered his group to be his friends.

When George walked through the door he was met with Karl and Sapnap. They hugged him once again, Karl leaning his head on George's shoulder.

"So?" Sapnap asked.

"Karl was right. All they did was take my blood pressure and, like, interview me." George confirmed, looking between the two boys.

Quackity walked through the door for the upteenth time that day, calling for Sapnap to follow him. Karl gave him a quick hug goodbye and George nodded at him as he walked past.

George and Karl sat together on his bed, waiting for Sapnap to come back. They were pretty confident that he would, but there was still a bit of fear buried deep within them. 

Like the previous two boys, Sapnap walked through the door half an hour later, and their fear evaporated. George smiled at the boy as he went to sit in between him and Karl. But then George remembered that Dream still hadn't gone yet. When he looked over to his bed, he was already gone. George immediately felt guilty for not sending him off like he did Sapnap and Karl, but Dream probably wouldn't have liked it anyway.

They boys waited patiently for Dream to come back. They made small talk as they all watched the clock, watching the hands tick by. When 30 minutes had passed, they all looked at the door, expecting Dream to walk through it any second.

But he didn't.

Maybe they just had more questions for him. George thought to himself, trying to keep himself calm.

Another ten minutes passed. Still no Dream.

The boys all got increasingly anxious. Something was wrong.

Another twenty minutes passed. Dream wasn't back.

"Alright, I'm going to find him. This is ridiculous." Sapnap said as he stood up, heading towards the door.

"Wait! We should- we should go with you." Karl said, his voice trailing off towards the end of his sentence. He didn't need to explain why. George and Sapnap knew that he was afraid of what Sapnap would find if he went alone.

They all rushed toward the lab, stopping dead in their tracks when they reached it. Quackity was nowhere to be found, and all of the lights in the lab were off. No one was inside.

"Looking for someone?" Came a voice from behind them. They all whipped around to see none other than Schlatt towering over all of them.

"What did you do with him?" Sapnap snapped, stepping in front of Karl.

"What did I do to who? Oh, do you mean Dream? Ah, yes. He decided to be a brat and refuse to answer any of our questions, and he threw a fit when my workers tried to take his blood pressure. So, we sent him to solitary." Schlatt explained with a smirk.

"Solitary?" George asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, George, solitary. But don't worry. He'll be out in a week."

"A-a week?" Karl squeaked, ducking behind Sapnap when Schlatt glared at him.

"Yeah, a week. Are you fucking deaf? Jesus christ." Schlatt said as he rolled his eyes and turned, walking back the way he came.

The boys all looked at each other with shocked faces. They were confused and upset. Why would Dream refuse the tests? What did Schlatt do to him?

Suddenly they all knew what they had to do.

They had to find the solitary wing.

AN: okay lets try this again lol ok um yeah so

sorry for all of the time skips in this chapter i just wanted to move it along a bit. also this was supposed to be a filler chapter but i added a major plot point bc why not lol. the second half of this chapter was a bit rushed bc it was mostly me just rewriting what i had down before it got deleted, so i apologize for any grammar mistakes

anyway thanks so much for reading! we hit 3k reads today POGCHAMP!!

the next chapter obvi got a bit delayed so it will probs be out sometime within the next 2 days. i love you all <3

word count: 2510