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Dream’s worst nightmare reared its ugly head on one normal Tuesday evening.
His day had been going perfectlyーhe had passed his science test with flying colors, Tubbo had snuck some cookies he had attempted to bake into Dream’s bag for him to find during lunch, and Techno had let him hold his hand in the library. Puffy had told them earlier that week that she had planned on making this afternoon a “family night,” which really means getting takeout and watching stupid movies in their living room.
When he arrived home, he fully expected to drop his bag onto the ground and stroll up to the living room, where he knew he would find Tubbo and Ranboo de-stressingーwhich usually meant talking loudly or having a pillow fightーafter school. However, when he walked through the front door, he was met with absolute silence.
He furrowed his brows, setting his backpack down near the door slowly as if something was about to pop out and attack him. He toed off his shoes before kicking them to his usual spot, his eyes roaming the little-amount-of-house he could see from the entryway, before tensing when he felt his shoes be blocked by something. His eyes shot down to where his shoes were supposed to go, and in his space were a pair of dirty boots, well-worn and practically falling apart. The silence, the boots, the tense air that he’s practically suffocating in can only mean one thing:
Fuck. His dad’s home.
His relationship with his father has been strained ever since the man left him and Tubbo with his sister, Puffy, while the man went off and did who-knows-what. Dream’s warmed up to the woman over the years, eventually calling her “mom” without a problem, but he’s still technically Schlatt’s son. Puffy has tried to get custody multiple times, providing proof that Schlatt leaves his children for months, sometimes years, at a time, but to no avail. Nobody really knows where Schlatt goes, but no matter where it is, it garners him enough money to be able to buy the best lawyer in a thousand mile radius.
“Dream?”
Puffy’s voice sounded from the kitchen, laced in an underlying anxiety that could only be picked up on by someone who has lived in close proximity with her for years now. Dream cursed under his breath before walking towards the kitchen, rolling his shoulders as if it would dispel the tension coiling in them. As he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he was met first with his mother standing at the island, then with Ranboo and Tubbo who were sitting on the barstools close to Puffy, and then finally, with the man himself, Schlatt, rummaging through their fridge.
He emerged from the appliance with a beer that’s been in there since his last visit, popping open the cap with his teeth before taking one long sip. When he set the bottle down on the countertop next to him, he sighed loudly, before setting his sights on Dream, who could already feel his heart-rate speeding up. “Dream.” He nodded his head slightly, and the blond, not knowing what to do despite going through this same process way too many times, nodded back.
The man walked towards his son, his steps slow and deliberate, as if the heavy alcohol Dream can smell on him doesn’t make him even slightly tipsy. Dream tried his best not to flinch when a hand came up to grip his chin, setting his sights on the cabinets behind the slightly taller man, but the grimy fingers digging into the skin made him want to be anywhere-but-here.
Schlatt rotated his head with his hand, not being gentle in the slightest, and Dream used all his willpower not to react. He made eye-contact with his brothers, who were staring at the two in poorly-hidden worry, and Dream would’ve smiled reassuringly if Schlatt wouldn’t have noticed. His head was pushed roughly away from the view of his siblings, and he couldn’t contain the flinch as Schlatt kept pushing, feeling as if his neck was about to snap. One of his hands subconsciously raised up, making a loose fist, and Schlatt scoffed when he noticed.
“What? Gonna hit me?” Dream didn’t respond, only sighing quietly in relief as Schlatt brought his head back forward. The blond stubbornly kept his attention on the intricate carvings on the cabinet handle, not giving Schlatt the reaction he craved. “Huh? Gonna be a man for once?” Dream wouldn’t have winced at the words, typically, but Schlatt’s fingers were digging into his jaw, and he couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath. Schlatt laughed bitterly, almost mockingly, finally letting go of Dream’s face.
“You couldn’t hit me even if you wanted to, huh.” Dream noticed out of the corner of his eye that his brothers had disappeared, and he internally thanked his mothe- aunt for her consideration. He was glad his brothers didn’t have to deal with Schlatt, due to Tubbo being so young when the man left and Ranboo being a new addition to the family, but some deep, selfish, part of him wished that he didn't have to experience this all on his own. Schlatt landed a punch, which would’ve been seen as playful from an outside view, but it was way too forceful to be good-natured, on Dream’s shoulder, but he didn’t react. “Come on, hit me.” He landed another punch, this one on the blond’s side, and he would’ve fallen over if it weren’t for his feet being locked in place. “Dream, hit me.”
“No-” Dream cut himself off, coughing into his fist as if he could get rid of the shakiness of his voice. “No, sir.”
Schlatt tsked, shaking his head with a smile laced in exasperation, taking a step back from Dream’s space. “Of course, I forgot how much of a pussy you are.” The words meant nothing to Dream, and if Schlatt could tell, he didn’t make it obvious. The man laughed bitterly, walking back near the blond. “You know, I tried to make you a man, I tried my best, you’re just so incompetent, that you turned out like this.”
Dream can distinctly remember Schlatt taking him out to the woods near their house, a pistol in his hand and a cigarette in the other, the nine-year-old eager to learn something new. The boy had been young and naive, and he believed his father’s tales about how learning how to protect yourself is what a man does. Everything that came out of his father’s mouth was the truth, it had to be. Even when the man didn’t give Dream any ear protection, and when asked, told the blond that the noise wasn’t too loud, Dream still believed Schlatt when he told him he was proud. Even when he couldn’t hear anything besides a ringing for a minute straight, and even though he still can’t hear perfectly now, Dream had still believed he was impressing Schlatt.
“You were more interested in books and sucking up to your aunt to learn real life lessons.”
Dream can remember Schlatt pulling him out of bed one night when he was ten, the boy bleary-eyed but following intently. His dad had brought him to the backyard, where a large bonfire was lighting up the sky. He was memorized; he had walked over to the flame without a second thought, the heat burrowing into his skin. He remembers Schlatt taking Dream’s favorite book out of his pocket ー the one the blond had read more times than he could count, the pages covered in smudged inkーand promptly throwing it in the fire. “This is where books get you.” He remembers hearing before Schlatt left him crying on the dewy grass.
“You were never smart enough to be anything useful.”
Dream remembers when he brought home his first report card, eagerly showing his father the “A” he had gotten in English. He didn’t fully understand why there was a scowl on Schlatt’s face when he first saw it, but he chalked it up to the man having a bad day. He can remember the brunette ripping the paper from his hand, staring intently at something before turning it around, showing the “C” he had gotten in math. He remembered the man making him sit at his feet for an entire week after that, barking orders for him to bring him stuff or to take out the trash. “If you want to get terrible grades like a bitch, then act like a bitch.”
“I left because of you. You needed to learn how to be responsible, because a man can take care of himself without any problems.”
He remembers standing in his front doorway when he was eleven, his brother in his arms, watching as Schlatt shoved everything into his rundown car, not even sparing the two a glance as he sped away from their house, away from his sons. Dream had stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do, before Tubbo tried to escape his hold, babbling about wanting cookies. Dream had shut the front door before calming the small boy down, spending the rest of the day staring out the window, waiting for Schlatt’s return.
“Tell me, you still interested in that brunette guy? What’s the name- George?- y’know, it doesn’t even matter, because he doesn’t matter. Focus on finding a nice girl to settle down with.” Dream was snapped back to reality by Schlatt’s words, the man walking back over towards his bottle. “Lord, help whoever gets stuck with you.” The last part of his words were a mumble, but Dream heard them nonetheless.
He could feel his breathing starting to become erratic, and he desperately tried to remember what Techno had told him to do when he could feel a panic attack coming on. Right, think happy thoughts. His mind was filled with images of Techno, and he could vaguely register his breathing starting to calm down. He ran through what he can remember from all the dates they’ve gone on in the past two years, and if he wasn’t overly careful, he probably would’ve grinned at the thoughts.
“I truly pity whoever has to deal with you, especially if they have to pretend to care about you.” The images in Dream’s mind started to distort, turning from late-night walks to the time Dream had accidentally cut some of Techno’s hair when they were opening a box. The smile that crossed his boyfriend’s face at the time was one chock- full of poorly-hidden anger. Would he be happier without Dream? Has everything been one big lie? Should Dream stop pestering him?
“Are you even listening? I didn’t know you were this incompetent.” Dream could feel his breathing beginning to pick up, again, and he couldn’t find anything to grasp onto to calm himself down. His mind was crowded with insecurities and doubt, and he couldn’t even think of Techno without wanting to rip his own soul apart. “Oh, I forgot, you could never pay attention correctly.”
Schlatt’s words were the last straw, and Dream couldn’t stop his feet from bringing him out of the front door, having enough consciousness left to put his shoes on, before the rest was all a blur.
-
He doesn’t know how he made it to Techno’s house.
He doesn’t remember leaving his house, doesn’t remember stumbling down his driveway, doesn’t remember the entire walk here, but he does remember knocking on the Minecraft’s door with his hand in a weak fist. He remembers Tommy opening the door, and then there was Phil, and then finally Techno. He doesn’t remember moving at all, but when he finally managed to become aware of his surroundings, he noticed his face was tucked up against something soft and there were fingers running through his hair.
When he tried to sit up, the hand gently scratching his scalp suddenly held his head down, stopping him from going anywhere. He tried to figure out what was happening from what he could see, but his vantage point in somebody’s chest didn’t give him the best view. He could feel his hands, which had somehow gone numb during the entire thing, trapped between his own chest and somebody else’s, but he couldn’t find the strength to try and dislodge them. He can feel the right side of body resting on something soft, and he assumes he’s in someone’s bed.
“Calm down.” The unmistakable deep voice of his boyfriend drifted into Dream’s ears, and he finally decided to stop his struggling. The hand on the back of his head moved to his jaw, and he involuntarily flinched when cold fingers touched his chin. The fingers backed off for a moment, hovering near his skin but not touching, before a soft pair of lips replaced them. Techno placed small kisses on the skin Schlatt had held in a deadly grip, two small circles on his jaw and a longer one under his chin, no doubt red from the pressure applied to them.
Dream knows there’s probably gonna be bruises tomorrow, and he winces slightly at the thought, before fully flinching when he could finally feel the ache from the places where Schlatt had punched him. Techno pulled away from where he was splattering kisses on Dream’s jawline, looking at Dream’s face with poorly-hidden concern. The blond shifted where he was laying, wincing again when Techno’s arm, which had apparently been resting around Dream’s waist this entire time, jabbed against a spot where Schlatt had hit him. “Hey, Tech.”
“What happened?”
“M’ dad’s home.”
Techno cursed under his breath, his hand going back to scratching through Dream’s hair. Dream closed his eyes, not wanting to see pity on the pinkette's face, even if he knew it would never be there. He stuck his face into the crook of Techno’s neck, taking a deep breath before going boneless against his boyfriend.
He had told Techno about his father soon after they started dating, but this is the first time Schlatt has shown up since the two became an official couple. He didn’t go into too much detail about Schlatt, only telling the pinkette that the man was “a piece of shit who takes it out on others.” Schlatt’s earlier words reappeared in the forefront of Dream’s head again, and he tensed, gently removing Techno’s hands from around him and sitting up. He could see the pinkette looking at him in confusion, and he avidly ignored the look, sitting at the edge of the bed, his legs dangling off the side with his back slouched forward.
“Dream?”
The aforementioned boy flinched at Techno’s voice, curling in on himself from his spot at the edge of the bed. The mattress shifted behind him as Techno moved closer, sitting directly next to him, their shoulders close but not touching. Dream so desperately wanted to lean into the boy’s side, but he needed to be sure of something first. “Techno, do you care about me? Like, actually?”
“What?” Techno’s words were appalled, as if Dream had just said something completely impossible. Part of Dream knows it isn’t impossible, that Techno could lose attraction any time, but another part of him tells him to stop being a child again, to stop believing every little thing Schlatt says.
“Like, you like me, right? You aren’t dating me out of pity, or anything, right?”
“Dream- what- no, I love you. I’ve been in love with you since we were fifteen, and I don’t plan on stoppin’ anytime soon.” Dream nods, finally closing the distance between their shoulders, almost slumping into the pinkette. “Did…” Techno trails off, squinting at his desk as if he’s trying to find the words to say. “Did your dad say somethin’ to you? ‘Cause if so, he’s a grade A liar, and a ‘piece of shit,’ as you so eloquently put it.”
Dream smiled, his eyes shutting once again in contentment as he leaned more against Techno’s shoulder, basking in the warmth that spread from an arm being slung over his shoulder. “Yeah, he did, but it doesn’t matter now.” The “‘cause you’re here” went unsaid, but Techno placed a kiss on his forehead anyway, and Dream felt a sudden wave of exhaustion lull over him, the past few hours of panic and pain finally catching up to him.
He could feel Techno guide him to lay down, Dream’s sleep-muddled brain whining at the loss of warmth, before a body laid down next to him. His mind was conscious enough to mutter a small “love you” to the pinkette who was currently recreating the first scene Dream woke up to earlier, receiving a quiet “I love you too, Dream, sleep well” before he was succumbing to exhaustion.