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Dream had nightmares. Night terrors , really.
He’d had them for as long as he could remember—dreams of being chased and hunted by something . Of running as hard and fast as he could possibly run until his muscles stung, and his feet bled, and his lungs ached in a way that felt so real . He would try to scream, but nothing would come out, as if his voice was gone completely.
So instead, he would keep running, and running, either through forest or endless hallways or nothingness, but eventually, it would catch up to him—some tendril, or arm, or claw grabbing him, pulling at him while he punched and kicked back with all of his strength, and then, all at once, it had him.
When he was a child, or even a teenager, he couldn’t go back to sleep afterward until his mother came into his room, because somehow she could just tell if he was having a nightmare, and hold him. And she always did, easily, and with no frustration, no matter what time of night it was. She would speak to him softly, brush his hair from his face, and reassure him that he was safe , and eventually, he could sleep again.
The nightmares came fewer and farther between as he got older, only really reoccurring when he was particularly stressed or anxious, but the need to be held after had seemingly stayed. And because, well, he lived alone , nightmares now meant no sleep at all.
Such was the case for the past few nights.
Dream and Sapnap had planned to meet up, and as excited as he was to see his friend, the stress of hosting another person in his house for a week was getting to him. Every night, the dreams came, and he would jerk awake, shivering and sweating all at once, and for a moment, between the blood pulsing loud in his ears and the pitch black of his room, he would think he was dead.
Then, when he remembered where he was, he would curse, and his grip on the sheets would loosen, and he would take a slow, deep breath and try his best to go back to sleep.
Dream had planned on getting a good night’s rest and waking early the next morning to pick Sapnap up from the airport, but his nerves had gotten the better of him again , and he found himself standing outside the airport gates running on nothing but fumes and one too many cups of coffee.
Despite his anxiety and tiredness, he was genuinely smiling in anticipation. How couldn’t he; he was meeting his best friend of years in person for the first time. He was excited, jittery, and not just because of the caffeine. He’d made a sign, even. Well, it was a paper with “SAPNAP” and a smile scribbled in sharpie, but a sign nonetheless.
The large clock in the terminal changed to 6:55, and Dream pulled out his phone, checking for any texts from Sapnap.
6:47
plane abt 2 land :)
6:54
plane landing 0_0 see u soon
Dream’s smile widened, and he pocketed his phone, holding up his sign in front of him. What was realistically a few minutes felt like hours, but soon, people came pouring out from the gate, and Dream spotted a familiar head of brunet hair among them. He resisted running through the crowd towards his friend, and instead waited for Sapnap to come to him, their eyes locked with goofy smiles on both of their faces all the while.
“Dream! You’re even hotter in person, what the hell!” Sapnap exclaimed, and as soon as he dropped his luggage next to him, he pulled Dream into a hug.
“Hello,” Dream said on a laugh, his arms wrapping around Sap’s. He rested his chin on his head— god, he was short —and melted into him.
“ Hi, ” Sapnap said into his chest, and that was that.
They talked on the drive home, and it felt no different than being on a call, except that he could see him and touch him, whether to hit him playfully in the arm or to gently shake him awake once they’d arrived at Dream’s house because eventually Sapnap had fallen asleep , arguing that a two-hour drive is enough to tire anyone out, and really, Dream couldn’t agree more. He’d been the one driving, but when he looked over at Sap, sleeping peacefully with his head resting against the passenger window, and he considered pulling over just to sleep, too.
Once they’d set Sapnap up in the guest room, Dream felt exhausted , but not enough to keep him from spending the rest of the day with his friend, who was, by the way, as touchy of a person as one would expect. They went to the mall for their first stop, and when they watched some movie with terrible reviews just to make fun of it, Sap insisted on lifting the armrest between them. “What, you don’t want to cuddle with your homie?” he’d pouted when Dream had questioned it, leading Dream to wheeze and scoot a little closer to him.
Later, they visited the beach, and while they didn’t swim, they walked along the shore together, and if Sapnap’s fingers brushed against his a little more than they would have on accident, Dream pretended not to notice, just as he pretended didn’t make him go pink. For dinner, they visited a seafood place—”Florida’s good for this, at least,” Dream had said—and afterwards insisted they stopped by a small ice cream shop he swore by. When Dream got chocolate sauce on the side of his mouth, Sapnap had licked his thumb and wiped it off.
“Ew, what are you, my mom?” Dream had groaned in exaggerated disgust, but really, he found it kind of endearing, especially when Sap scrunched up his nose as he giggled in response.
Now, after they’d stayed up late in the living room on a call with George, mostly making fun of him for being stuck in a different country, they’d both headed off to bed.
It was a long day , and after almost 24 hours awake, Dream had fallen asleep just moments after his head hit the pillow. He dreamed of gentle smiles and chocolate brown eyes at first, comforting and full of something warm, but soon, not unexpectedly, the nightmares came again.
It began as usual; he found himself suddenly in an open, empty void, a suffocating blackness surrounding him. He walked forward, towards what he wasn’t certain, and became aware of something in the distance behind him. He walked a little faster, and it moved faster with him, staring at him, and something told him that it was going to get him. All at once, he began to run, feet hitting hard against some semblance of ground. After some time, he felt as if he’d outrun it, moved fast enough to dissuade it, and he began to slow, but the moment didn’t last before it was right behind him , and he felt the heat of its breath on his back.
He gasped, jabbing his elbow back into what felt like some kind of flesh, and he ran again. He didn’t dare turn to look. Something willed him against it, and he pushed on, running until his chest heaved with each breath. He ran for what could be minutes or hours, until his fear and frustration had built to the point of tears, and it was gaining on him. His vision was blurring as he felt it nipping at his back, his calves, either with teeth or claws, and he started to slow against his will. He tried to push forward, move faster, but he couldn’t , and as his senses overwhelmed him, he knew it finally-
“Dream.”
His eyes snapped open as he startled awake. He sat up abruptly, flailing. “Wh-!”
“ Hey, Dream, baby, you’re okay . ” The voice was soft, soothing, and when the lamp switched on beside him, wide green eyes met brown.
“S...Sapnap,” Dream said stupidly. His breath was ragged, and his cheeks were wet with tears. “I- What are you- Where is-”
“You were screaming,” Sapnap said, “Having a nightmare.” He sat on the edge of the bed next to Dream, and his hand was warm against Dream’s shoulder. “ You’re okay, ” he said again, “Breathe.” He used his thumb to swipe a newly fallen tear from Dream’s cheek, and Dream’s hand came up to cover his instinctively. Sapnap smiled, and for a moment they stayed like that, breathing together, Sapnap’s touch gentle and sturdy all at once.
Suddenly, Dream’s vulnerability became apparent to him, and he withdrew. “I- Sorry. I just have-” he drew in breath “-have bad dreams sometimes; it's not- I didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to bed,” he rambled, and Sapnap frowned.
“No, baby, you didn’t wake me,” he said. He put his hand over Dream’s, squeezing reassuringly. “I couldn’t sleep anyway; I just overheard and came to check on you. It’s fine.”
Dream looked at Sapnap’s shadowed face, illuminated only by the yellow light of the lamp. “Okay,” he sniffed. “Okay, thank you, then.”
“Yeah, ‘course,” Sapnap said, his head tilting slightly. Dreams breathing was still a little jittery, and when he ran his fingers back through his hair his hand was shaking. “Do you wanna talk about it? The nightmare, I mean,” Sapnap asked. His expression was sympathetic, but it didn’t feel like pity; it was comforting in a way only Sapnap could make it.
Dream stared for a moment, considering, and then shook his head lightly. “No, it’s nothing,” he said, “Just a bad dream—you can go back to bed.” His voice sounded weak to his own ears, and he looked away in embarrassment.
“You already said that,” Sapnap reminded him. “And I told you I can’t sleep. And besides, it doesn’t really seem like nothing. You’re shaking.” He gestured to Dream’s hands, and he immediately folded them together to hide it.
Sapnap gave him a knowing look.
“Alright,” Dream said reluctantly, and he inhaled. “It’s this dream...where I’m being chased. I’ve had it for, like, as long as I can remember, which makes it even more stupid that it feels so real every time. I never realize I’m dreaming. I’m really running for my life , you know? And I always think I’m..It feels like I’m really going to die-” his voice broke and he looked away. “Ugh, sorry, I-”
Sapnap’s brow furrowed as he cut him off. “Hey, you don't need to apologize,” he soothed. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He was brushing his fingers idly against the skin of Dream’s forearm. Dream’s stomach flipped for a reason he didn’t understand.
He shook his head. “No, I…I think it’ll help,” he assured Sapnap. “When I was little,” he carried on, “I used to dream it every night, or at least that’s how I remember it. And every single time, I’d wake up shaking and- and panicking, and I’d stay like that, terrified, and I couldn’t go back to sleep until… Well, until my mom came in my room and laid with me. She’d hold me until I felt safe again, always , even when I was like, eighteen, which I’m thankful for, but now, since I live alone, when I wake up from a nightmare panicking I just...” he trailed off. He was oversharing. “Anyway, yeah, uhm…Yeah.” He looked up at Sap, whose soft expression made him want to hide away.
“You just what? Can’t sleep?” Sapnap asked, and Dream nodded slowly.
“Well, yeah, but it’s fine, I-”
“Do you want me to lay with you?”
Dream blinked. It was a simple enough question, but the cogs turning in his head had come to a halt. He couldn’t tell if Sapnap was joking or not, but he didn’t really care. Yes, lay with me, please, I’m so cold, stay-
“Please,” Dream said, feeling a little pathetic, but Sapnap didn’t give it a second thought.
“Okay,” he replied so softly , and after switching off the lamp, he climbed over and nestled into the empty side of the bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Dream settled back against the pillows and turned towards Sapnap who snaked an arm under his side, pulling him close. His other hand came up to brush Dream’s hair away from his face before settling against his jaw.
His hands were almost hot against Dream’s chilled skin, and his index finger traced the skin just behind Dream’s ear.
Sapnap was comfortable . He was already warm as it is, but with his hoodie and fleece pajama pants, he was practically a human furnace, heating Dream to his core. He hummed in content, burying his face against the younger’s chest and folded his arm around Sap’s side, grabbing onto the soft material of the hoodie at his back because despite laying down, he felt like he was falling, tripping over the warmth he felt.
Nonetheless, Dream still shivered with the adrenaline running through his veins, and Sapnap raked his fingers so carefully through the short hair at the nape of Dream’s neck.
“You’re safe,” Sapnap said, his voice low and soft. “It’s not real, baby. Just a nightmare.”
Baby.
It was the third time he’d called him that, but it had felt so normal Dream hadn’t even given it a second thought. “Yes,” he said, unsure of what he was responding to, and tears stung in his eyes for a reason he couldn’t place.
They lay there silently, Dream in Sapnap’s arms, and eventually, their legs tangled together, and they were completely wrapped around one another. Dream’s heart was beating loud in his ears, but it wasn’t bad. He was drowning in it, in the intimacy.
Finally, his tears fell again, and he sniffed, causing Sapnap to tilt Dream’s head up and look at him. “ Baby, ” he said again, and Dream shuddered, “Hey, I’m here, I’ve got you.”
Dream laughed at himself, at the both of them. “No, I know, I just…” I love you. “Thank you for this.”
Sapnap stared, searching. “Yes,” he said, just as Dream had, with something desperate underneath, “Always.” Dream smiled and all but sunk back into Sapnap’s embrace, and a comfortable silence rested around them.
He wasn’t sure how long it took him to fall asleep again, the love he felt blurring with the peace of sleep, but in time, he drowsed off, and he swore he heard a muffled “ love you” . Whether it had been mumbled by the other or it a product of his dreams didn’t matter; it was true all the same.