Graffiti Hearts

12.

Dream was overpowering him to the point it was almost hilarious. To be in the dominant grasp of Dream is to sink and wallow in defeat. Nick bit his lip in despair, glancing at Dream's teasing eyes.

He could tell that Dream was amused by Nick's futile actions.

Nick moved a pawn, taking a risk.

A mistake.

The enemy quickly dominated the board, moving in a frenzy. As Nick tried to grasp the flames of victory, Dream would take out another one of his men.

Nick groaned in annoyance, leaning over the board in agony. He sighed a breath of defeat. He was close to surrendering until a spark of an idea appeared in his mind. An opening that could make him win.

Nick's eyes lit, the corner of his mouth lifting into an all-knowing smirk. He surveyed the board, picking and choosing his next moves.

"What could possibly be so funny?" Dream questioned, leaning back in his chair. "I don't see why you should be so," Dream paused with an eyebrow raised, "happy."

Nick moved a piece, smiling to himself. Dream responded to his actions with defensive tactics.

Useless.

Dream's pointless attempts continued, and with each swift move from Nick, another opposing piece fell. Dream was starting to panic, taking longer to calculate his next move. His eyes were frantic, zipping through the board like a scared cat.

The war continued on, until at last the final piece was in place. "And done. Checkmate," Nick announced, leaning back with a grin.

Dream stared at the finished assault in shock. His lips were parted comically, his eyes looking between the raven and the board. "Where the hell did you learn this from?"

"Myself," Nick declared, proud of himself.

"This is so stupid. I was literally winning," Dream hissed, beginning to clean up the chess pieces and place them back into their box.

Nick laughed while sipping his soda.

Ever since his vacation with his friends, he'd been so much happier. He regained his hyper energy and fixed his hygiene. He built better habits for himself and got excellent results. Dream and Nick had hung out together a lot more and visited around the city. However, they hadn't hung out with the others in a while.

He missed Luke. He knew he should fix himself first before pursuing a relationship with Luke, but he still missed him. Though, he could tell he was almost to the point where he could start focusing on wooing Luke. With a clear goal in mind, he had been getting a lot better. He felt proud and happy for himself.

He only had one more thing to do before he could fully become a better version of himself. He had to repair the relationship between him and his graffiti. He loved his hobby with all his heart, but he never realized it was hurting him from the inside out. He wished he recognized it sooner.

He hadn't visited his hideout in months. Internally, he knew he was avoiding it. He pretended like it wasn't there. It was like ignoring the sun that always shined down on your face as soon as you stepped outside. He was just attempting to avoid the inevitable.

He helped Dream clean up the chess game, and he sat down on the couch. He stared at the floor, pondering what he should do next in his healing process.

"You alright?" Dream asked, peering into his vision with a soft smile. He had two cookies in his hand and he passed Nick one.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," Nick responded thoughtfully while slowly chewing the cookie.