Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy slowly opened his eyes. He rolled over groaning as the sun shined through the window and the birds chirped. He sat up and looked around, finally getting a better look at the guest bedroom of the dream team house.

He stretched walking down the rather dangerous but rich staircase the three had decided on adding to the house, and itched his eyes once he reached the bottom of the steps. Patches hisses at him and quickly runs away hiding under the table.

Tommy had quickly noticed last night that she had conflicting feelings about him to which George was happy to rub it in.

“I guess I am still the favorite!” George had cheered, running around happily gloating.

“Give it a day! She’ll love me!” he yelled back, to which Dream and Sapnap chuckled in response.

But later on, when Tommy had gone to get water late at night, he saw her staring and moving closer. Unfortunately, he messed it up by moving too quickly towards her. She had hissed sharply and ran upstairs. He remembers hearing a certain door open and a quiet deep voice welcoming her inside. It was obviously Dream since he talked to her like she was his child, but looking back Tommy noticed how sharp and scratchy his voice sounded.

He brushed off the thought and made his way to the kitchen, seeing the three already talking about something George had seen on Twitter.

“I would not go to a concert like that!” George quickly said defensively. “You totally would, and you’d be cheering and everything.” Sapnap laughed out.

Tommy took George begging Dream to take his side as a chance to make himself known. Walking in sleepily, he flopped into one of the seats and put his head down, mumbling a good morning. “Yeah, good morning sleepy head. How’d you sleep?” Dream asked, smiling at him, sitting down on a bar stool across from the other three.

“Like a baby,” he answered, “There's no reason for your stupid guest bed to be so comfy.” He rubbed his eyes once again and opened them, feeling them water. “Someone must be exhausted from their flight.” George snorted, sipping from his water glass. “Jet lag must be getting to you.” Sapnap told him, “It’ll get better, once we get out of the house you’ll be waking up.”

“Speaking of which, what should we do today? I mean it's his first day here, we can't just stay inside.” George stated.

“We could always go out to eat? It's like 12 now so we can get some lunch.” Dream suggested. Tommy perked up, “I could totally go for a burger right now man I'm starving.” The three smiled at him and quickly got up, Tommy close behind.

“There's a place not far from here with really good burgers,” Sapnap told the three, grabbing his keys and leading them to the car.

Getting inside Tommy excitedly buckled up. George and Sapnap talked about something but Tommy was more focused on the cool winds blowing on him in 80-degree weather. Rolling down the windows all the way he put his arm on it and watched the neighborhood silently as the three talked.

Making it to the restaurant was easy. Waking inside, the AC drew long sighs from the four and they followed closely behind the waiter. Sitting in a booth they ordered drinks, Sapnap and Tommy ordered a Coke, and George a lemonade.

“Can I just have a diet coke please?” Dream asked the waiter. Tommy scrunched his face up, “Really? Just a Diet Coke dude just get a normal one it tastes better.”

Dream cringed in his seat, “Uh, I prefer Diet Coke, it's better.”

Tommy shrugged it off, you can't blame someone for their weird preferences, right?

The group talked amongst themselves. Ranging from quiet conversations to loud jokes and laughter. Soon food came and Tommy immediately started eating like he had been starved for years.

“This burger is seriously the best,” Tommy told the three after taking a sip of his lemonade. “Their waffles are amazing too.” George agreed.

“See? This is why I should decide where we eat from now on.” Sapnap bragged with a smirk to which Tommy threw a fry at him.

Sapnap and George continued the debate on who could pick the place where they go to eat next time and Tommy turned to Dream who was eating his fries and looking at his phone.

“How’s your food?” he asked the older man, nudging his shoulder with a toothy grin. Dream gives a half–hearted smile, “It's really good, obviously I mean we’ve been here before, Sapnap only knows this place because of me.” He playfully told them.

“Nuh-uh! I found it myself!” Sapnap pauses, “I think.”

“You didn't even find this place on your own!” George laughs out, Sapnap defends himself quickly telling the brunette to shut up. Tommy laughed, “Wow Sapnap, just gonna take all the credit from Dream, just awful I thought you were friends! What would Twitter think?” and Sapnap immediately threw a fry at him.

Soon after eating Dream cleared his throat, “I need to use the bathroom,” He scooted out of the booth, “I’ll be right back.”

The three split the rest of Georges's waffle, to which he was grateful for the help. Tommy stared at his phone clock showing Dream had been gone for 10 minutes. “Do you think he’s okay?” Tommy asked, chewing on his fork worriedly. “Eh don't worry about it, sometimes he takes a while we don't mind,” Sapnap assured him calmly. Tommy nodded before continuing to eat, but his stomach turned with concern.

Soon though, Dream emerged from the restroom. Sapnap and George welcomed him back and before Tommy joined in, he looked closely at a detail that anyone would've missed.

His knuckles were red and scratched.

Dream smiled, joining in on the conversation, chewing on ice from his glass, and pushing the rest of the food towards them. It almost seemed like he was much happier, it was odd.

It didn't seem like Sapnap and George even noticed, they never flicked their eyes to his sore-looking knuckles, or how his voice was a little raspier.

(like the night with patches)

He tried to brush it off. His knuckles were already red before! Maybe he picks at them! Or maybe he got in a bathroom fight or something! It's not his business. So why did he feel something bad building in his stomach?

“So! I was thinking maybe we can show you around the outlets.” Dream suggested, grabbing another piece of ice, “It's basically like outdoor shops you can shop in.” Tommy shut off those thoughts and nodded, “I'm down! I'm sure I’ll find everything easy considering my amazing map skills.” Tommy grinned, jumping from the booth and running to the car.

The outlets were actually nice. Outdoor stores, some places selling snacks and drinks, and even light music was playing and setting the mood. “I need a new blanket,” Sapnap informed them. Dream gave him a confused look, “But you just got a new one?”

Sapnap turned and glared at George, who was looking everywhere but at them. “Someone decided to run it in the wash wrong after using it for a week and it shriveled up and burned.”

George looked around before clearing his throat, “Whatever I’ll pay for it so you can finally let it go.”

They made it to a certain store and walked in, once again feeling relief from the AC. “Okay, I’m gonna grab one of the blankets, George can pay and then we’ll head home.” Sapnap grabbed George by his wrist, demanding he pull out his wallet and walked to the section with warm colorful blankets.

It left Dream and Tommy to wander around.

“Look at this hat.” Dream called out smiling. Tommy walked to where he was and laughed at the animal crossing cap. He took it and slipped it on, “Take a picture! We can post it after we announce the meet-up.” Dream nodded and pulled out his phone, chuckling as he told Tommy to pose and took the photo. “People are gonna freak.” Tommy laughed out, already preparing a caption as he drafted the post. The two looked around some more, smiling and laughing at little things like dumb signs that you would see in restaurant bathrooms.

“People make the dumbest things.” Dream commented, picking up another sign and handing it to Tommy. The boy laughed and took another photo posing with it, “I bet your mom has this somewhere in her house.” Tommy joked, letting out snickers as he teased him. Dream smacked his shoulder, “She does not! That's just an insult.”

They made it to another section that had sweaters and jackets. Tommy immediately put a red one on him and put a green one on Dream, guessing his size as a Large. It slightly swallowed Dream as it was a little too big but to Tommy, it didn't matter as he played dress up with different hats. But as he looked at Dream with a smile, he saw the older was lost in thought, staring at the mirror. He looked almost sad as he turned from left to right in front of his reflection. Stretching the clothes almost like he's trying to see how… skinny he looked.

No, but that's absurd, right? Why would he be doing that? Dream never cared how he looked, he even said that himself. So why did it seem like he was almost sad the large jacket slightly fit him?

“Hey! We bought the blanket.” Sapnap hopped over and smiled at them, a sulking George following behind. “Cool, let's head home I'm tired.” Dream told them, chewing on his nails after taking off the jacket. The three followed behind, George fake crying over spending $20 on a weighted blanket. Tommy only focused on Dream though, he couldn't help but stare at his red sore knuckles.

***

Tommy walked out of the shower, happy to wash the hot day away, and made his way downstairs in warm pajamas.

With a towel behind his neck, he grabbed onto his stomach as it rumbled and looked around for something to eat. “You hungry too?” He spun around and was surprised to see Sapnap sitting on the couch. “Uh yeah. Do we have dinner ready?” he asked, flopping next to him.

“Well, I was just gonna recommend pizza to everyone.” He told him. Pulling out his phone he sent a message to all of them, “Aw I'm a part of the group chat now.” Tommy cooed, smiling as Sapnap rolled his eyes. Soon George and Dream walked downstairs and met with them, sitting on the couch.

“I’ll order a big meat lover's pizza.” George piped up from his seat. Sapnap scoffed, “Of course, you want a meat lover's pizza.” George gasped and threw a pillow right at his smug face, making them all laugh.

“Can I choose the movie?!” Tommy asked, The three nodded and gathered around. Sapnap grabbed his new blanket and wrapped up in it. “I'm not sharing with anyone!” He stated. But George made his way to the brunette and squished his way next to him and wrapped the blanket around his legs, “Who cares what you say!” George stuck his tongue out at him while all Sapnap could do was feel offended.

Dream walked over to Tommy with his blanket, Sitting down next to the blonde he wrapped it around the both of them with a smile. “Guess we’ll make do with our own blanket then!” Tommy shouted, sticking his middle finger at the other two. “That's not fair! Dream switch with me I don't wanna be with George! He stinks.” Sapnap whined, “I do not!” George rolled his eyes, slapping his shoulder, and Sapnap slapped his back.

“No can do Sapnap. My couch buddy tonight is the Tommyinnit.” Tommy gave the two a toothy grin and started flipping through different movies.

He chose a comedy and turned it on, snuggling up closer to Dream.

After a while, the doorbell rang and George flew up to get it. “Pizza’s here!” He cheered. Tommy smiled and grabbed two slices for himself and Dream. “None for me, I'm still full from lunch and I shouldn't have even eaten that burger anyways, it's against my diet.” Dream informed them.

“Oh dude come on! Today can be a cheat day! Forget about your diet.” Sapnap pouted.

“Don't worry about it! I'm too full.” Dream smiled at them and curled up more on the couch.

“Wait, you're on a diet? Wow, I didn't take you for a health guru, Dream.” Tommy giggled. George nodded, taking a bite from his slice of pizza, “Yeah, he’s really taking his diet seriously too, being all healthy and stuff.”

Tommy watched as Dream suddenly looked uncomfortable, He frowned and immediately changed the subject to which the older looked grateful for.

He didn't comment on it, he just cuddled up to him again and ate his pizza slice. And he wouldn't comment on how when Tommy went for another piece Dream watched him closely, or how his stomach quietly grumbled and only he could hear it.

No Tommy kept quiet. But deep down he knew something was seriously wrong.

Chapter Text

Tommy wakes up to heat on his face. Opening his eyes he noticed the sun was shining on him.

He gets up slowly and starts to remember where he is. The Dream Team House. He smiled brightly and hopped up, making his way out the door.

He hears arguing and gets concerned. But before he can go try to split it up, or ask what's wrong, he walks into a very messy kitchen and two very messy men.

“Sapnap I swear, why would you add that much flour?!” George asks, yelling and trying desperately to clean up the flour all over the counter but fails miserably, causing it to fall on the tile floor.

“Look, How was I supposed to know that dumping the flour in the mixer and hitting start on maximum power would make this much of a mess?” George rolls his eyes, before throwing flour at his face.

Before Sapnap can fight back, Dream appears behind Tommy and puts a stop to the fight. “My kitchen is completely ruined.” He dramatically says. Tommy shakes his head with a smile and takes a seat by the counter that wasn't covered in flour.

“What were you two even trying to do anyway?” He asks, trying to help them clean the flour. He scooped some up and places them in the trash bin next to his chair, but it really just made his hands covered in powder and left streaks on the table. Flour was evil in his opinion.

“Well… we wanted to make pancakes but the idiot over here didn't put this lid cover over the mixer and now we're here!” George explained, holding back a sneeze when Sapnap flicked more flour at him, which resulted in the two flicking flour back and forth towards each other.

Tommy nods with a laugh before lighting up with an idea, “Maybe we should just try again but all of us together!”

George and Sapnap think it through before nodding in agreement, the three turn to Dream, “Oh well I guess I can help, but I'm not really hungry.” Tommy feels something in his stomach twist at that, how wasn't he hungry? He didn't eat dinner last night and it was already 11 am.

“You can still help though!” George happily suggests, He hands him the batter in a bowl, “Plus I'm pretty confident our pancakes will be much better than yours.”

With that Dream’s eyes widened, before turning to determination, “Oh you're on.”

So the morning turned into a pancake competition, George and Sapnap against Dream and Tommy. It was a very messy yet perfect morning for the group.

In the end, they made two stacks, and got to eat each others, since there wasn't another person to be the judge.

“You want some Dream?” Tommy tries asking, wanting to get anything in his stomach at least. Dream looks at the pancakes, covered in butter and cinnamon icing that Tommy found in the pantry, it looks absolutely delicious, yet, “Nah I'm good, I'm still full from dinner.”

It's not that serious, Dream could just not be a breakfast person! But still, it makes worry cloud over Tommy’s thoughts. He nods and goes back to eating, but notices how Dream will look from his phone every so often, and stare at him eating his meal.

————

“We should start planning what to do with Tommy’s time here.”

The group turned to look at Dream, who was still scrolling on his phone when he announced this.

“Well, I was thinking about doing some vlogs while I'm here.” Tommy shrugs. George sits up, taking a sip from his water before peeking up, “Hey, we should go to Disney or something! It might be a far drive but I think it's a perfect idea for a video!”

“We have to go, I can't wait to see Dream cry like a baby on the rides.” Sapnap snickers, yelping when a pillow is thrown at his head by Dream.

“We can also go to a water park too,” Tommy looks up a location on his phone, “I think soon Wilbur and the rest of the group might come to visit too actually.”

“Hannah and Sam and them might come as well, we can all plan to go to some places around here together.” The group hums in agreement with George's idea, and falls into a comfortable silence.

Sapnap perks up and breaks the quiet, “We should go see a movie today.” Tommy brightens at the idea.

“But which one? I don't know any good movies right now.” Sapnap ponders on George's question before Dream suggests a horror movie. “Dream we have children here, Tommy might start crying.” Again Sapnap is hit on the head by a flying pillow sent by Tommy this time.

“Besides Sapnaps statement, I'm okay with horror! But I have to get extra buttery popcorn.” Tommy smiles when Sapnap agrees that extra butter is very important for popcorn, but Dream remains silent.

George and Sapnap keep talking, making plans and telling jokes. But Tommy remains watching Dream, who is fidgeting with a frown evident on his face.

Tommy sighs and gets up, before leaving upstairs he states, “Alright well if we're going, then I'm off to get dressed out of my pajamas.”

He heard the three agree and talk about something but he was already upstairs before he could hear what they were discussing.

In the shower, he felt like his body could calm down. He released tension he didn't even know was building in him, and started to wash his hair properly. His shower wasn't long, but it felt like hours from the warmth that comforted him.

He got dressed in a simple light black sweat shirt and some simple jeans and made his way to the hallway. He paused by Dream's door and listened in. When he heard some faint music he knocked on the door.

After a small moment, the door opened and Dream smiled at him. “Hey, what's up?” he asked, letting Tommy enter the bedroom. He smiled and flopped backward on the incredibly comfy bed.

“Your bed feels like a literal cloud, I hate you rich people.” He adds the last part in with fake anger and smirks seeing Dream roll his eyes at him.

He sits up as Dream starts fixing his hair up and spots patches. When he tries to beckon her over, she runs away to her owner. “Dream,” the man hums, “I think your cat hates me,” he says pouting and wiping a fake tear away.

Dream chuckles, “She just hates British people.” the response makes Tommy gasp before he kicks at Dream's legs, making the older laugh loudly. Tommy thinks for a moment before realizing something, “But she likes George?”

Dream looks up for a moment, silently thinking before he smirks, “I guess she just likes him better.” Once again Tommy gasps even louder and kicks him, making them both laugh.

After a moment later, with Tommy scrolling on his phone and Dream finding a sweatshirt to wear, he suddenly grasps onto the dresser and holds his head. Tommy looks up as the older takes a moment and sits down on his chair. “Woah dude, are you okay?” he asks, lightly laughing to ease the tension in the room.

There's a pause, but soon Dream nods and shakily laughs, “Yeah I'm fine. I guess I just walked around too fast.” He shrugs and grabs a gray sweatshirt from his closet. When he turns and sees Tommy's worried expression he smiles, “Seriously, I'm okay I swear.”

Tommy smiles, but it disappears when Dream turns. “Hey let's head downstairs, the movie should start soon I think.” Tommy nods, and joins him out of the room.

————

The car ride was nice at least.

The wind was peaceful tonight, and the moon shined brightly since the sun went down early in summer. They listened to whatever playlist Sapnap and filled the car with light banter and conversation. He was really happy here.

They walk inside the big building, filled with multiple other people. It was loud with laughter and talking, and once or twice someone wanted a photo which the four were happy to give.

They walked to the concession stand and George smiled, “Dude I can't wait to get a blue slushie, I've
been craving it since we decided to come here.”

Sapnap wraps himself in a blanket he decided to bring, “I think I'm gonna get a red one, It's better than blue.” he jumps when George lightly elbows him in his side, and Tommy laughs.

He turns to a very concerned looking Dream who is biting his nail. “So, Big D—” “please do not call me that.” Tommy rolls his eyes playfully, but continues, “What are you gonna get?”

Dream shrugs, he turns to the tv showing food and drinks, and shakes his head. The three turn to him, “You don't wanna get anything?” George asks. Dream rubs the back of his neck, “I don't know…” he trails off when they move up to the front.

“Hi, how can I help you four today?” A man asks at the front, looking pretty tired but a smile remains anyway. The three make their orders, before Tommy turns to Dream, “Are you sure you don't want anything?” He asks.

“Um, can I get an order of Diet Coke please?” He asks. Tommy bites the inside of his cheek, maybe he’s just overreacting, it's totally normal to get diet drinks!

But was it completely normal to skip out on all meals of the day? He watched the three smile, Sapnap going on about how excited he was to see the hype of this movie but he watched as Dream looked almost worried, but worried about what?

Their food and drinks arrived and they said thank you. They made their way to their seats and started eating.

Dream just sipped on his coke. Tommy stared at him and decided to offer him a piece, but before he could offer his buttered popcorn, George beat him to it.

“Hey Dream, you want some of my French fries?” He asked. Dream looked at the basket with temptation, Tommy looked at him closely and it looked like he wanted to just dig in right there.

“Nah I-I shouldn't, it's yours!” George shook his head, “I really don't mind, seriously have some!”
Dream frowned, but caved and took a fry.

Tommy watched closely as Dream looked like he took a bite. He hummed and commented on how well seasoned it was. George laughed and agreed and turned to Sapnap to offer him one. But what they didn't see was that the older carefully and quietly took the fry he didn't even take a bite of, and hid it in his pocket.

Tommy felt the worry he had before coming back with force, why wouldn't he just take a bite of the fry? He hadn't eaten anything all day and it was a singleFrench fry! It appears though his worry was evident on his face, Dream tapped him on the shoulder softly, “Hey are you alright?” Tommy almost wanted to ask him the same question, but instead, he simply nodded and sat back.

Throughout the movie he couldn't get rid of his racing thoughts about the incident. It continued on the way home and persisted as he bid the three goodnight and went to the guest bedroom.

He was worried about Dream, seriously worried but he couldn't stop thinking that maybe he was just overreacting. It's not weird to not eat a French fry! But it wasn't just the French fry was it? It was also the fact he hadn't eaten all day.

Tommy sighed out when he couldn't sleep. He quietly got out of bed, and slipped out the room. He could only hear snoring from the three other rooms and knew he was in the clear, and made his way downstairs.

He pulled out a glass and filled it with cold water and took a few sips. He sat down on a chair and rested his head on his palm, letting his thoughts swim in his brain.

He heard a noise of a jingle and turned to see patches so close to him, like she was inspecting him. When he went to pet her though she jumped back and ran away back upstairs.

He frowned and sat back down. He finished his glass of water and rested it In the dishwasher, and slowly made his way back upstairs finally ready to go to sleep.