Daemons
Chapter 8

Suicidal warning

Once again Dream found himself wandering around the food court, looking for the familiar blue hand sticking up to wave him over to their table. Milling about, the golden skeleton checked all of their usual spots but found no sign of Blue, Ink, or anyone else. As the number of people running around started getting to be too much, Dream pushed his way out of the crowd and along the outskirts where he could actually breathe.

He pulled out his phone, sending a text to Blue asking where he was. As soon as he put the phone back in his pocket, a hand fell on his shoulder, causing him to jump and shriek from the surprise contact. Whirling around, Dream found himself wielding his wrap like a weapon and holding his tray like a shield. Yet he instantly relaxed seeing that the person who’d startled him was Geno.

He was standing on his own for the first time since he last left the hospital, albeit with the assistance of his cane that he was heavily leaning on. It was also the first time he’d been seen on campus around lunch since then, meaning he was likely all caught up and ready to go back to class. His hand was still partially outstretched, though he pulled it back a bit as Dream’s panicked face met his own. “Easy Dream, didn’t mean to spook ya. You can put the wrap down now though.”

Realizing he was still holding his lunch as if it were a knife, he giggled a bit before putting it back on his tray before giving the other a hug. “It’s great to see you Geno! I’ve missed seeing you around the past few weeks. But, shouldn’t you be at home resting?” He felt a little nervous with how Geno was relying so much on his cane. Even though the dark piece of carved wood could easily support his small weight, Dream couldn’t help but worry about the other, especially with how he still seemed a bit shaky.

“I feel fine Dream, honest! Look!” To emphasize his point, Geno shifted his position so that he was no longer using the cane. He managed to stand like that for a few seconds before his one leg began to violently shake as if it were about to buckle. In a panic the golden skeleton raced forward, supporting the other before he could properly fall. “Okay, maybe sitting down wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he relented, chuckling a bit as he regained his balance with the cane. “So, where is everyone sitting?”

“I’m still trying to figure that out myself. I already checked most of our usual spots but nobody’s there. I sent a text to Blue right before you scared me, so hopefully he’ll be able to tell me where he is soon.” Just as he said that, his phone vibrated. Pulling it out revealed a message from Blue. Sorry, running late, save me a seat. “Speak of the devil, looks like Blue didn’t manage to get us a seat.”

“Wait really? But Blue’s always the first one here, he always grabs our table.”

“Not recently though.” Looking over, Dream wasn’t the least bit surprised by the look of confusion on Geno’s face. “Guess you have missed a lot, huh. Let’s see if I can sum up all the important bits. About a week and a half ago, Ink got a boyfriend, spent the first week practically ignoring us while glued to his phone, and now he’s just gone completely. And Blue started running late and getting distracted by everything around the end of last week. He says he made some new friend and that’s why he’s always running late. Plus I’m pretty sure something happened to Sci too, since he’s been almost as spacy as Ink recently.” He looked back over the past week, trying to make sure there was nothing he was forgetting. “I think that’s pretty much it.”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said I missed a lot,” Geno chuckled.

“Yeah, you kinda did,” Dream laughed with him until a thought pinged in the back of his head. “Oh yeah, where’s Cross?”

“Oh, he’s just off grabbing our lunches, didn’t want me trying to fight my way through the crowds just yet. He should be here soon... oh there he is!” The scarfed skeleton waved his hand in the air, flagging down their taller friend who briskly walked over with two trays of food. One with a healthy salad and protein shake, the other stocked with a burger and some pizza that were pure calories. It was obvious which tray was for who, as Cross kept to a very healthy diet to maintain his physique and Geno needed a lot of calories to make up for his low energy reserves.

“Heya Dream,” Cross said, nodding his head to the instantly flustered skeleton while he thankfully remained blissfully unaware. As Dream stuttered out a greeting in response, Cross was about to ask a question before they were interrupted.

“I’m here!” Blue yelled at the three of them, running at full speed only to come to a dead stop. He stood there for a moment catching his breath, breathing heavily as he rested his hands on his knees. About a minute passed before the hyper skeleton hopped to his feet, his earlier fatigue almost non-existent as he excitedly asked, “So, where’s our table?”

Dream sighed, about to explain before Cross spoke up. “Lust and Sci are wondering where we are. What should I tell them?”

“Tell them to meet us here since we don’t have anywhere to sit I guess.” The monochrome skeleton shrugged his shoulders and set to replying to the message while Blue shot Dream a questioning look at his annoyed response. When he asked why they didn’t have a table, the golden skeleton couldn’t keep from snapping, frustrations from the past few days boiling over and out of his mouth. “Because you’re always the one who gets us a table! None of us can get here fast enough to get one that’s big enough for all of us. You never seemed to have an issue getting here before all of us in the past, so what happened?”

The childish skeleton seemed a bit taken aback by the harsh tone used, responding in a far more timid manner. “I told you, I met someone and I keep talking to him. He’s just so much fun to talk to that I get sidetracked.”

At this point Sci and Lust had managed to replace them, wandering over with their lunches in tow. Though they clearly were not expecting to see Dream and Blue having an argument as they looked to Cross in confusion. No one seemed to notice however the winded expression on their weakest friend’s face, how his struggles to stand were becoming more pronounced. “Oh, so because you met some random guy that we know nothing about, you’re gonna just show up and expect us to be able to replace a seat for you?”

Now Blue was starting to get angry as well. “Well why do I always have to be the one to get our table? You all took it for granted that I had time to do that every day, but now that I don’t you get mad at me? Since when is it my job to get our table?”

“Then don’t show up here and expect us to have found one already!”

They went back and forth for a while, neither one backing down as the argument slowly got worse between the two friends. They would’ve kept going even longer, but eventually Cross shouted, “Enough!” The anger in his voice was crystal clear, stalling both of them as they looked over, only to be filled with guilt. In Cross’ arms was a heavily breathing Geno, eye closed and leaning against the taller skeleton as he was unable to stand any longer on his own. “Geno needs to sit. Now. So I suggest you two stop bickering and start actually looking for a damn table!” Not wanting to anger Cross further or make Geno wait any longer, both Dream and Blue raced off to replace a place to sit.

With the two looking, it wasn’t long till they managed to replace something that could work, even though they had to grab two random chairs from elsewhere in order for them all to have a place to sit. Cross helped to move their weak friend into one of the nicer chairs, allowing him to lean back in the soft seat and rest while the monochrome skeleton fussed over him as usual.

You did this to him. If you had kept your mouth shut you could’ve found a table before Geno needed it. What kind of selfish excuse for a friend are you?

Did you see how angry Cross was? You did that too with your selfishness. You hurt the person that he cares about the most, still think you have a chance with him?

On top of all of that you managed to get into an argument with Blue! He’s been one of your best friends since childhood and is one of the nicest people you know, and you still managed to get him mad. Congrats, that takes some serious talent to screw up that bad!

Shaking his head, Dream tried his best to block out the voices as he took a seat. He made sure to leave the better ones for the others, taking one of the random chairs they grabbed that kind of forced him to sit on the outskirts of the table. It wasn’t like his wrap really needed the table anyways.

After that, lunch calmed down considerably. Geno was able to recover and dive into his food, though Cross still kept a close eye on him. Lust was teasing both Blue and Sci about their mysterious new friends, while Blue and Sci seemed unwilling to part with any significant details. That left Dream, quietly eating his lunch while watching his friends chat amongst themselves.

Wow, they’re acting as if you’re not really here. Guess they wouldn’t miss you that much if you actually disappeared.

Why are you still here? It’s obvious they don’t want you around. Just save them all the trouble of dealing with you and go kill yourself.

He couldn’t help but gasp a bit, as that was the first time any voice had ever suggested suicide. And such a distinct voice too, one he’d never heard before. It was almost sweet and inviting, yet there was a dark undertone to it, unsurprising given the words it had spoken. Was that a sign he was getting worse? Should he tell someone?

“Dream?” Said skeleton snapped his head up, only to be met with Geno’s worried gaze. His frail friend hadn’t gotten up yet, but was as close to Dream as his chair would allow. “Is everything alright?”

No, he couldn’t tell anyone. This was his problem, his burden to bear. If he told any of his friends, then word would eventually get back to Geno, and that would just lead to the scarfed skeleton worrying about him and trying to help until it landed him back in the hospital, or worse. Besides, this wasn’t really something any of them could help with. Shaking his head, Dream put on the best smile he could manage. “Oh don’t worry, I’m fine. I just remembered I have an assignment due tomorrow that I haven’t started.” It wasn’t like similar things hadn’t happened in the past, he just hoped that he’d been believable enough with his lie to possibly fool even his extremely observant friend.

While Geno didn’t appear convinced, Blue saved him the trouble of coming up with a better excuse. “Oh, is that so? Well then, perhaps I should host a group study session at my house tonight! My brother will be out with friends so we’ll have the place to ourselves all night! Everyone can come and we can work on homework and eat dinner and have fun! It’ll be great! What do you say?”

“Everyone’s invited? Does that include your new friend?” Lust leaned over, smirking as he used this new plan as a perfect excuse to continue pestering Blue.

A bright blue blush erupted on the energetic skeleton’s cheeks as he tried to replace a way around Lust’s comment. Thankfully Sci stepped in, providing an excuse. “Well, he’s not a student right? He probably wouldn’t get much out of a study session, but I’d definitely be interested.”

Beaming, Blue looked to Lust who quickly agreed as well, before turning his attention to the three remaining skeletons. Now Dream realized just what he’d gotten himself into. He couldn’t say no, not when Blue had come up with the idea because of his lie. So Dream found himself congratulating Blue for a great idea, silently hoping that Geno wouldn’t be able to come.

Luck however was not on his side though as the scarfed skeleton shot him a knowing and concerned look for a brief second before sending Blue a smile as well. “I totally agree with Dream, it sounds like way more fun than just studying at home. Count me and Cross in!”

Ooh, look what your little lie did. Now you’re stuck with the one person you wanted to avoid. Great going Dream, really solid problem solving skills.

Oh how he wished he could tell the voices to shut up.

The rest of the day was utter hell. He could barely concentrate over the voices, all of which had become much louder and more vocal ever since lunch. The only voice that remained quiet was the one from earlier, the one that had told him to kill himself, which he was definitely grateful for. He could deal with most of the voices and their idle threats, their cruel taunts, but that one was simply too terrifying to deal with. Dream didn’t even want to consider what would happen if that voice grew as loud as the others currently were.

Thankfully his mind had quieted down significantly, reducing the voices to nothing more than a whisper at the edge of his consciousness, when the time came to meet the others. Though truth be told he was quite nervous, especially when the thought of spending the evening with Geno came up. His observant friend was already catching on to him, so he would have to be extremely careful tonight to not set off any more alarms with the scarfed skeleton.

As he approached the house he’d visited so many times before, Blue threw open the door before he had a chance to knock, just as he always did. The eager skeleton threw his arms around his slightly taller friend, pulling him inside before either even said a word in greeting. Once both skeletons were fully inside, Blue closed the door behind them before wrapping him up in another hug. “Dream! Glad you could make it!”

“Why would I not come? You did this all because of me anyways.” He sent the smaller skeleton the best smile he could manage, though it faltered a bit at the sight of Geno already present. Upon further inspection he was actually one of the last to arrive, with Lust being the only one missing. Then again, he did say he’d be late since he had practice tonight.

Thankfully Blue remained blissfully unaware of his struggles, and Geno was too involved in his work to notice. Blue piped up, a constant beacon of positivity that was unable to catch the slightly depressed tone he’d used earlier. “Nonsense, work is way more fun when it’s done with friends anyway! Now come on, we’ve got plenty of snacks and space for you to work at.” Chuckling, Dream let himself be dragged over to the empty spot at the corner of the table, pulling some work he actually did have to get done out as Blue plopped back down on the floor in front of his work.

Of the five skeletons, Blue, Dream, and Cross were currently sitting on the floor, working on the coffee table. Sci and Geno were working on the sofa and reclining chair respectively, both using computers while the others worked on paper assignments. Despite only three of them sitting at the table, Blue’s chaotic cluttering of papers covered over half the space. Luckily Cross was quite organized with his work so there was still plenty of room for the golden skeleton’s stuff.

The next hour passed in relative peace, allowing all the skeletons to make some progress on their work. That was until Blue got bored. “Guuuys, whatcha all working on?” He hopped up, running to the person closest to him, which happened to be Sci. The blue ball of energy simply stared at the other, waiting patiently for a response to his question.

Eventually Sci responded, seeming a little unnerved by Blue’s constant presence over his shoulder. “Oh, I’m writing one of my research reports. We have to keep a document of our replaceings throughout the semester.” The scientist then proceeded to launch into a full explanation of his work on miniature robotics. It seemed to interest Geno, who finally looked up from his own computer, but everyone else’s eyes started to glaze over as they were bombarded with too much techno-babble.

“Boring!” Blue declared, quickly leaving Sci alone and hopping to the next person, Dream. Said skeleton shot a quick glance at Sci, though he didn’t seem phased at all by Blue’s statement, instead smirking as if his intention was to chase off the hyper skeleton so he could get back to work.

Realizing he was now the subject of interest, Dream showed his papers. “Nothing very interesting from me, just some psychology stuff I have to work through. It’s pretty much all biology though, looking at how different drugs affect the brain.”

“Drugs are pretty neat.” Cross piped up, causing Dream’s soul to involuntarily speed up. “Had to take a class last year that looked into steroids and misuse in athletes. Way more interesting than this stupid math class I’m forced to take.”

Geno shot the monochrome skeleton a look. “Cross, that’s a first-year math course. Why are you complaining? That stuff is easy.”

“Maybe for you, but I hate all this stupid numbers stuff. Why do you think I went into phys-ed? No numbers!”

“Then why are you taking a first-year math course in third year? It wouldn’t be mandatory if there were no numbers like you said.”

“Okay, maybe there are some numbers, but not this crap, look! There’s more letters in this question than numbers! Letters don’t belong in math! And I’m somehow expected to turn all these letters into a number? I’m not a wizard, what do they want me to do, pull a rabbit out of my ass?”

“You don’t have an ass, you’re a skeleton.”

Everyone burst out laughing as the two went back and forth, though Dream couldn’t help but notice the course number on Cross’ assignment. “Hey, I’ve taken that course,” he blurted without thinking.

Instantly Cross’ gaze was on him, a pleading look in his eyes as he held the piece of paper out to him. “You did? Do you remember how to do this stuff? Could you help me? I’ve been stuck on the first question for the past hour and I think it’s safe to say I have no idea what I’m doing.”

This was it, his chance to help his crush and impress him. “W-Well, I did take the course a c-couple years ago, but I’ll s-see what I can do.”

Dream surprised himself with how much of that class he actually remembered. The two of them were actually making progress, though Cross was in too much of a focused state to notice the many bashful looks sent his way, or the bright yellow blush adorning the smaller skeleton’s cheeks. They were also spared from Blue’s pestering, as the hyper skeleton had taken great interest in Geno’s coding. Apparently one of his classes involved designing a small video game, so of course it was the most interesting thing that anyone was working on.

Everyone was having fun and being productive, though that last part only lasted a while longer before Lust finally arrived, a ridiculously huge grin on his face. “Guys! You’re never gonna guess what happened at practice!” All eyes were suddenly on the loud skeleton as he flung the door open, barely waiting long enough to close the door before racing into the room and practically bouncing in place.

“Easy Lust, keep bouncing and you’ll jump right through the ceiling,” Cross joked, though it didn’t seem to calm him down in the slightest. “Alright, I’ll bite, what’s got you so excited?”

“Well, during the practice today, one of the lead dancers misjudged her step and ended up falling off the stage! She ended up completely wrecking her ankle to the point she needs surgery!” Everyone gave Lust a look of horror as he excitedly proclaimed this.

Sci was the first to speak up following the short period of stunned silence. “Oh my god, is she okay?”

The purple skeleton blinked a couple times, as if some part of their friend’s question didn’t make sense. “Oh she was bitch that made everyone’s lives miserable backstage and totally deserved it. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone had pushed her.” Some nervous looks were exchanged at their friend’s flippant attitude towards the situation, with Sci shooting him a serious look that he definitely didn’t miss. “I promise I didn’t push her, now can I get to the really exciting part?”

Now Blue was bouncing too, as if he was feeding off of Lust’s excitement. “Oh yes! What happened? Something good I hope!”

“Better than good, Blue! Guess who was that bitch’s understudy? Me! Now I get to have one of the lead roles in our performance!” Both Dream and Blue were now on their feet, excitedly congratulating Lust and jumping along with him.

The happiness ground to a halt with a single word. “Performance?” All three energetic skeletons stopped, turning to look at a very confused Geno.

Lust shot him a look, as if he couldn’t believe their scarfed friend right now. “Um, my midterm performance? You know, the dance performance I’ve been working on for the past month and a half? It’s only one of two major performances this semester responsible for a big portion of my grade. Any of this ringing a bell?” It certainly was for Dream, a sickening dread washing over him as a memory of being handed two tickets surfaced in his mind.

Geno on the other hand simply shook his head, a look of guilt on his face even though it wasn’t his fault. “I’ve been in the hospital for most of this semester, so this is the first I’ve heard about it. Guess I really did miss a lot, sorry. I can still come though, right?”

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense,” Lust thought aloud, now as confused as the other skeleton. “Did I not mention it at all anytime I visited? It’s been the biggest thing I’ve been working on recently, I wanted to make sure all of you were there. I even got you a ticket... that I gave to Dream to give to you.” As the revelation peaked, the purple skeleton whirled on Dream. “You gave him the ticket... right?”

The second the golden skeleton looked away, Lust knew of his guilt. Before his anger got the better of him, Sci stepped in and tried to help their forgetful friend. “Wait, didn’t you shove it in your bag when Lust gave it to you? Maybe it’s still there.”

When Dream heard that, he wasted no time in flinging open his bag, sifting through the contents and ripping things out that he chucked in every direction. Though even when he dumped the entire contents of his bag out on the floor, the ticket was nowhere to be seen. “It’s... It’s not in here... But I never took it out!”

Uh-oh, if I were you I’d look at everyone’s faces right now! Lust looks ready to kill you, Crossy looks so disappointed, and oh look, you’re worrying Geno again!

As his gaze scanned his friends, everything the voice said turned out to be true. He honestly didn’t know which one hurt more between the three, though it seemed like Lust wanted it to physically hurt as he stormed over and ripped Dream to his feet. “You lost his ticket?! Two days before the performance and you lose his ticket! I can’t believe you Dream!”

Guilt welled up in him, unbearable and crushing, allowing more voices to come in to the center of his mind. Tears built up, threatening to overflow from all the chaos currently happening. “Wait,” Geno’s voice rang out, drawing both skeletons’ attention as they saw him slowly getting up from his seat. “It’s okay Lust, I can just go buy a new ticket. Then everyone will be able to-”

Lust’s laughter cut him off, dark and without any humor. “I get that you’re trying to replace a miracle solution to all our problems like you always do Geno, but it won’t work this time. The tickets sold out over a week ago. Dancers like myself had first dibs a couple weeks ago when I grabbed everyone’s tickets, but when they opened up to the public they were quick to disappear. Unless someone manages to replace that ticket, one of you won’t be able to go.”

Dream couldn’t even look at anyone anymore, unable to hold his emotions back any longer as tears readily flowed. All the voices yelling at him that he screwed up were right. He needed to fix this, but there was only one thing he could think of that would work. “It’s okay,” he called out, voice choked with emotion. “Geno c-can just have m-my t-ticket. Only f-fair since I-I lost his.”

That answer seemed to satisfy Lust, as the purple skeleton promptly dropped him and stalked off. Dream collapsed to the floor, smiling despite the tears. Everything would be okay, even if he missed his friend’s performance, because at least Geno would be able to go. He deserved it anyways, he was a way better friend than Dream could ever hope to be.

That didn’t stop the frail skeleton from hobbling over and kneeling down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Dream, it’s okay. We can replace some other way, or you should go, or-”

“No!” He blurted out without thinking, much louder and more panicked than he was intending. Dream was somewhat aware of the strange looks the others were giving him, but right now he couldn’t help but focus on Geno’s critical stare. It was as if he could see the cracks that were beginning to spread through the golden skeleton’s façade, the cracks that were slowly allowing his inner turmoil to leak out for everyone to see. “Please, I... You deserve to go more than me...”

As he cast his gaze downward, Dream could feel Geno’s glare burning into him. Suddenly two hands latched on to his shoulders, forcing him to sit up straight and meet the scarfed skeleton’s eye. “Enough Dream, I won’t stand by anymore.” His tone was commanding and full of power, completely different from the one he typically used. Honestly, the intensity from his usually relaxed friend was starting to scare Dream. It made Geno impossible to ignore, everyone in the room giving him their full attention. “Something is wrong, I can tell. So please, just tell me what it is so I can help you.”

Oh look, Dream’s screwed up again everyone! The one thing he didn’t want to happen is finally happening! You’ve got Geno worried about you, how long till you get one of your best friends literally sick with worry?

Wow, you’re such a fuck up! Can’t you do anything right?

Die...

His eye widened as the voices grew in volume, calling out his various failures until it was almost painful. Yet he completely froze as the horribly sweet voice he dreaded the most spoke up, far quieter than any of the others yet still there. A slight whimper escaped him, low enough that no one heard, no one except the skeleton right in front of him.

“Dream please,” Geno pleaded, his grip tightening on the other’s shoulders. “Tell me what’s happening, because I know something is seriously wrong. Just let me help you.”

There... there was no escape. With Geno’s words he could feel everyone’s eyes latched onto him, the tense atmosphere thick with worry. Everyone knew that the scarfed skeleton was never wrong about these kinds of things, as most of them had experienced his knack for replaceing hidden problems first-hand. With every passing second it grew harder to breathe as the voices kept getting louder. They were screaming in his head by this point, too loud for him to hear the worried shouts from the others as he doubled over, hands gripping his skull as if to keep it together. Tears fell relentlessly from the pain he was in, yet there was nothing he could think of to stop it.

“Stop,” he muttered aloud, earning concerned glances from the other skeletons as he visibly trembled in Geno’s grasp. But the voices wouldn’t stop, they only got louder. “Please, just leave me alone.” Dream at this point was completely disconnected from reality, unable to register anything but the constant screaming in his skull. Louder and louder, the screams bounced around in his head as he kept screaming back for them to stop, to shut up. When he felt an unknown hand on his face, that’s when he snapped. Grabbing the wrist of the hand touching him, Dream ripped it away from him with as much force as he could, as if this physical presence was responsible for his suffering. “JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!” He screamed as loud as he could, hoping that by removing this assailant his mind would finally stop tormenting him.

It worked. As he gasped for air, the ringing of voices in his ears began to subside, only to be replaced with a muffled and panicked shouting. A force collided with Dream’s side, throwing him roughly to the ground. It took him a second to gather his thoughts, as if a thick fog were blanketing his mind. Yet as it slowly began to clear, Dream opened his eyes only to be filled with a dreadful scene.

Lust was standing in front of him, seething in rage as his purple magic flared in his left eye. Meanwhile everyone else was crowded around a white lump on the floor. Cross seemed to be in a state of hysteria, frantically shaking the unmoving lump. “Geno!” He kept screaming the name over and over again, and it wasn’t until a piece of red fabric fluttered into view that Dream’s muddled mind could comprehend what happened.

He’d hurt Geno. One of his best friends, the one that everyone loved, and in his panic he’d thrown him as hard as he could into the nearby coffee table. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Lust screamed at him, tears visibly pooling at the edges of his sockets. “Geno tries to help you and you did this to him?! Look at him!”

Of course Dream was looking, he couldn’t look away. All he could see was his dear friend, crumpled on the floor and visibly in pain. Everyone froze as a groan came from Geno, the white lump slowly shifting his position so that he could see everyone with his good eye. The scarfed skeleton stretched out a hand, visibly trembling as he called out, “Dream...” in such a broken voice laced with pain. As his position shifted, a fresh crack could be seen on the right side of his skull, wrapping around the side and disappearing underneath the glitch covering his socket. A thin trickle of blood was already oozing between the split bone, trickling down his face and dripping onto the carpet.

The golden skeleton couldn’t take it. All this suffering, because of him. Unable to look away at the damage he caused, Dream slowly pushed himself to his feet, barely noticing the audible growl and protective stance coming from the purple skeleton in front of him. He hesitantly took a step forward, hand outstretched as if there was something he could do. “G-Geno... I-I’m so s-sorry...”

His advance was quickly cut off by Lust, stepping between them with a look of pure rage. Dream squeaked and jumped back a bit, retracting his hand as if he’d touched something hot. “Sorry? Sorry?! You threw him into the fucking table! You cracked his fricking skull! You think a ‘sorry’ is gonna fix that?! What if he has to go to the hospital again?! He could be in there for weeks, all because of you!”

Lust is right, you screwed up too badly for a sorry to be worth anything.

Why are you still here? They clearly don’t want you here! They only care about Geno, not you!

Just go before you screw something else up.

They... they were right, he was only making everything worse. Dream took a few hesitant steps back, muttering constant apologies before spinning on his heel and running out the door. He couldn’t bear to stay, to watch as everyone tended to Geno’s injuries, the injuries Dream gave him. No one made a move to top him as he left, slamming the door closed behind him as he ran into the night.

At least, that’s what he thought, until a voice screamed out his name. Turning back revealed Cross racing out the door, jumping off the porch as he raced to stop Dream from going any farther. If it had been anyone else, he might’ve kept running, but Cross had come, his crush cared about him.

“Please Dream, don’t run off on us. Just come back inside, we can sort all this out. Everyone’s worried about you. I’m worried about you.” His words were so genuine, causing Dream’s soul to flutter despite the grief and guilt he was feeling.

“Y-You a-are?” His voice sounded so hollow and broken to himself, and Cross clearly didn’t miss it either. A look of pity flashed across his face before he wrapped Dream up in a wonderfully warm embrace, holding him tight against his chest.

“Of course, I care about you. Why would you ever think otherwise? We’re friends, after all.”

Friends. The word stuck in his soul like a knife, twisting at it and adding to the pain he already felt. But... maybe all he needs to do is confess, maybe Cross is just too scared to do it first! With a newfound bravery spurring him on, Dream did what he wanted to do for the past year. “W-What if... I-I want to b-be more t-than friends?”

Instantly Cross pulled back, a mixture of confusion and concern on his face. “Dream, please we need to go back. You’re clearly not thinking straight, and something is-”

“No, I’m sure about this Cross! I’m not just saying something random, I love you!” The words tumbled out of his mouth without restraint, though the reaction from the monochrome skeleton was not what he was expecting. He’d been hoping for the other to return the words, not simply stand there in a state of shock. Thinking he hadn’t been clear enough, Dream kept speaking, trying to get the message across. “Cross, I-I’ve been in love with y-you for the past y-year. I-I love how brave a-and caring and f-funny you are! I-I’ve never felt t-this way about a-anyone else, no one e-except you! So please... say something...”

“I-I...” Cross looked away, biting at his lip as he hesitated. The taller skeleton took a deep breath before opening his eyes. The harsh coldness in them threw Dream off, they weren’t the eyes of someone in love. “Dream, I don’t know what’s going on in your head right now, but you need help if you’re saying stuff like this all of a sudden. And even if your confession is genuine, I don’t feel the same way, and I doubt I ever will. So please, let’s just go back inside and move past this.”

Dream felt like a knife was driven through his soul, shattering it into pieces. He stumbled back, Cross’ blunt rejection replaying over and over in his mind, the voices laughing at him and calling him pathetic or naïve. The monochrome skeleton reached out a hand, aiming for his wrist as if to forcefully bring him back. “Don’t touch me!” He screamed, slapping the hand away before turning and bolting down a random road. Dream refused to look at the other skeleton, not seeing the look of surprise on his face as Cross remained frozen in the street until it was too late.

With his soul in pieces, Dream ran as far as he could, ignoring the ache growing in his bones, and the screams and laughter in his head. He’d hurt someone he cared about, he turned all of his friends against him, and he was rejected, all within the span of fifteen minutes. Too much, it was all too much. They thought he was crazy, or some sort of freak. They hated him, they didn’t want to see him again. They didn’t care about him.

Dream kept running blindly, ignoring the few strangers on the street as he ran away from his problems, his friends, his mistakes. He only stopped when he couldn’t run anymore, almost collapsing at the beginning of a bridge. There were many bridges that crossed over the river that cut through the heart of the city, though this one was rarely used by pedestrians. The walkway was old and rickety, and while it was said to be completely safe to travel on there was always that lingering fear that you’d fall through at any second. Still, his feet led him across the bridge without any thought from himself, leaving him completely at the mercy of the voices once again.

Coward! Pathetic! Weak! Horrible!

Each voice seemed to have a different word to call him, with each slowly beginning to ring true in the poor, broken skeleton’s mind. He shivered and sobbed uncontrollably, just wanting the pain to finally stop.

Oh Dream, look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself into now. Lust hates you, you betrayed Geno, and Cross thinks you’re insane. Oh and let’s not forget how Ink has left you and you even managed to get sweet Blue mad at you. That only leaves Sci, but I’m pretty sure he won’t trust you after tonight either. Tell me, little Dream, how are you going to get out of this mess?

The sickly sweet voice from before spoke up, all others going silent as it asked him a question. The problem was, he didn’t know. He had no idea how to fix this, seeing as how he’d ruined everything.

You’re right Dream, everything’s ruined. Honestly, the way I see it, you only have two options. Option one is for you to go on living your miserable life. Your friends of course will be gone, and I seriously doubt you’ll be able to ever make any more. You’ll spend the rest of your life all alone... or, you can take option two, which is right over that railing.

Dream didn’t understand, there was nothing over the railing on his right. That railing was the only thing keeping him from falling into the river below.

Exactly Dream. You’ll never get another chance like this, to have such a peaceful end to your horrible life. Just think of it, drowning would be so peaceful, and from this height you’d be unconscious the second you hit the water. You wouldn’t feel a thing! It’d be over, quick and painless. No more suffering, no more mistakes. You’d be free from all of that, doesn’t that sound nice?

It... it did sound nice. To be free of the pain, to never have to worry about hurting the others again. He could finally stop making mistakes. Almost as if in a trance, Dream looked over the railing with dull and lifeless eyes. The dark waters below almost seemed to call to him, promising to swallow him up and take away all of his pain.

One little jump, that’s all it takes to put all of this behind you forever.

As the wind picked up it pulled at the skeleton’s jacket, sending a chill through him as the tails flapped in the breeze. When the wind died down, one of the tails thumped into his leg faster than the other, reminding Dream of what was hidden inside. Reaching his hand in, the golden skeleton pulled out his phone, safely protected by one of those nearly indestructible cases. It had been Geno’s suggestion, as Dream had accidentally forgotten to remove several phones before doing laundry in the past. This phone would survive even the plunge into the river, completely fine even if he died.

A single thought played in his mind as he unlocked the phone, ignoring the several messages and missed calls on the device. He opened the voice recorder, determined to leave his former friends a final message.

“My dear friends, if you’re hearing this message then I’m already gone. I’m so, so sorry that it took me this long to do what I should’ve done so long ago. I never wanted to burden any of you, but it seems that was all I was capable of doing. You especially Geno, I made you worry so much about me no matter how hard I tried to hide my problems from you. I never wanted to hurt any of you... so, with my last words I wish you all the best, and I hope that you can replace a better friend than me. I’m sorry.”

He stopped the recording, setting up a note on the lock screen of the phone so that whoever discovered it would know who to give the message to. This was the last thing he would do with his life, so he was not going to screw this up.

Your time is running out Dream, better hurry before someone shows up and tries to take your chance away.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket, zipping it shut to prevent the contents from flying out.

Over the railing, nice and easy. Oh look, you can even see the stars from here. If you fall backwards, you’ll get such a pretty last sight. That’s way more than most will ever get.

He mindlessly followed the voice’s instructions, now standing on the opposite side of the railing and looking in to the empty road.

You’re almost there, no more pain, no more suffering. All you have to do is let go and you’ll be...

“Free,” he whispered, hands releasing the metal in front of him as he fell backwards. The bridge fell away from him quickly as he plummeted towards the dark waters below. Despite his death approaching, Dream felt no fear. Instead he almost felt light, as if the wind rushing past him was taking all of his worries, his problems and struggles along with it. A smile worked its way across his face as Dream stared up at the stars above. His body relaxed as the beautiful sight imprinted itself into his mind, which was completely silent for the first time in years. Sighing, Dream closed his eyes and waited to embrace his end.