A/N I was listening to the greatest showman and tbh this book is tightrope and Inbetween pages is giving rewrite the stars (prepare yourselves)
Suddenly, the trio heard the opening of a door. They all whipped around, each on the defensive. In front of them, bagel in mouth, balancing way too many things since women's clothes don't have pockets, stood a very confused Blossom.
Dawn sighed in relief and gestured for everyone to be at ease. Blossom carefully walked in as the others eyed her with unease. She cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at Dawn.
"I know that your name is the one on the lease, but I'm pretty sure I just walked into our house. Care to explain why your two friends here look ready to impale me?"
Cross immediately felt awkward. Of course Dawn didn't live alone in a house like this, it was too much to assume. Nightmare relaxed as he remembered that Dream had mentioned a roommate. Still, he couldn't help but feel wary of this strange human. Dawn chuckled awkwardly.
"Sorry Blossom. I may have forgotten to mention I had a roommate. Plus, I didn't realize so much time had passed. Let me introduce you to my friends."
She gestured at the couch where Nightmare and Cross were sitting.
"The charcoal toothpaste is Nightmare, and the yin yang guy next to him is Cross. They're my classmates."
Blossom smiled mischievously.
"It's nice to meet you two. Especially Nightmare; I've heard a lot about you."
Dawn choked and turned to stare at Blossom. She quickly put the older girl in a headlock and laughed awkwardly.
"Don't think about that too much okay? She's over exaggerating. She's just heard your name more often since you and Dream come over a lot. If Cross came with us all the time she'd say the exact same thing."
Cross squinted his eyes. He was dubious about that- he was pretty good at telling when people were hiding things. Dawn had an awful poker face and an objectively worse excuse. He glanced over at Nightmare, who had leaned back into the chair. He was usually better at it than Cross, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything. It seemed like the shippers had the right idea here.
Dawn turned to face Blossom, releasing the girl from her grasp. Blossom was still grinning ear to ear, and Dawn flushed and glared at her.
"Anyway, I'd make sure we have replacement doors and windows. We might have a surprise guest soon; I didn't tell our address but I have a sneaking suspicion that somehow they already know."
Blossom scrunched her eyebrows together in both confusion and concern. That didn't exactly sound like a good thing to her. Then again, Dawn wasn't panicking or preparing any sort of defense so it must be okay. She shrugged and figured they'd cross that bridge when in came to it.
Dawn turned to the two skeletons who were still sitting on the couch, probably feeling like they didn't belong in this conversation. She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Sorry guys, I know it's gotten pretty late. You should probably head home; luckily that's right next door. I hope you can sleep well tonight."
The two skeletons nodded and quickly headed out. Cross dipped his head as he left, and Nightmare nodded in farewell. Dawn sighed and fell back on the couch once the two had left. She looked over at Blossom tiredly.
"I told them about everything. As it would turn out, they don't seem to have had good pasts either. Still, I guess it was kind of a relief finally getting that off my chest you know? Everyone who's been in my life for the past few years was involved in the incident, so I didn't have anyone trustworthy to open up to. I really like it here."
Blossom nodded and smiled, putting down some groceries on the table and beginning to unpack them. She placed her phone on the counter and took out her earbud so she could pay full attention to whatever Dawn wanted to say. It was a great relief that Dawn wasn't absolutely miserable in this new place.
"Oh yeah? How about you tell me about it. How has your day at school been today?"
Dawn leaned forward excitedly, like a kindergartener sharing a story about their first day at school. She even began to swing her legs slightly.
"It's been great! I've made a lot of new friends. In fact, I'm friends with almost everyone in the class! There are these two outliers though, two boys. Their names are Error and Fell. I'm really getting to understand everyone's personalities."
She was practically glowing as she quickly rambled about her school life. Blossom smiled to herself as she began packing away the groceries she'd bought today. Dawn had been so silent for the past few years according to those who stayed in town with her. It was good that she was growing past that.
"The responsible ones are called the Stars, and the boys who are more troublesome are the Bad guys. It's kind of emo though, so everyone just calls them the gang. They're Nightmare's group of friends, and he's too caught up in his sense of confidence to just call them that. I usually hang out with them like every other day. Oh, and also! There's going to be a big sleepover next door! Am I allowed to go? Pretty please? It's this Saturday!"
Blossom chuckled and pretended to ponder. In reality, she had absolutely no control over whether or not Dawn could go. She liked to think that maybe Dawn had taken to her like some sort of mother figure. It made her really happy, so she embraced that role. She had always been more of the mother of the group.
Back in her Highschool days, when Dawn and her friends were just about entering 5th grade, she had quite the strange friend group herself. Her best friend, a slime named Eight, had been an absolute agent of chaos. She really brought out the crazy in everyone around them. Then there was the shy friend, Cappuccino. They all called him Ccino, but he had been a skeleton.
Of course, he often stayed home instead of going out with everyone. There had also been the more involved friends; Memory, Regret, Doodle (Sphere), and Time.
Blossom sighed sadly. Everything had been so fun back then; if only they had caught on. Everyone figured Doodle just took his sister's name to honor her. In reality, he had been obsessed with avenging her in any way, bringing innocent children into harms way because of it. She turned to Dawn, who was waiting anxiously for her answer.
"Well, it would be your first time wouldn't it? Plus, it's only next door, so if you get uncomfortable you can always come home. I suppose I'll allow it this time, but you have to come rushing home the second you feel uncomfortable. We can have a movie marathon or something fun instead okay?"
Dawn practically flew out of her seat. She rushed over and pulled Blossom into a big hug. Blossom laughed and hugged back, ruffling the girl's hair. Blossom was actually shorter than Dawn, being only about 5'2. Don't mention that to her, at least if you want to keep your knees.
Blossom had been on the marching band with Memory and Regret in Highschool, and she knew how vital knees could be to a person. It was best to just respectfully pretend you were her height.
"Thank you! I'll bring my own food of course, since they'll probably order pizza. Prepackaged food isn't really fun to eat at a party, or convenient. I'll probably just say I don't like pizza or something-"
Dawn stopped mid sentence and pulled away from Blossom. She took a deep breath and smiled at Blossom, eyes getting a little watery. Blossom was of course, very concerned about this. That was, until Dawn began to speak.
"Today, I did it. Blossom, I took a drink from Nightmare without worrying about poison."
Blossom grabbed Dawn by the shoulders and pulled her in, tears rolling down her face as well as Dawn. She couldn't believe it- she had been trying so hard to help her poor friend work on that trauma. They'd never been able to get over it together, and everyday Blossom was left wishing she was able to pack a more satisfying meal than just processed food. She pulled Dawn in for another hug, this one much tighter.
"I am so, so proud of you. I hope you know that. I guess maybe love fixes a lot huh?"
She poked fun at Dawn, but returned back to her more somber state.
"Seriously though, I can't be more grateful. Nightmare must be a very special guy; because I remember when all you did was complain about some jerk who sat next to you when you thought I wasn't paying attention. He's been mean to you, but I suppose somehow you two have formed a bond. I can tell he cares too- he bought your ridiculous lie. Unlike Doodle, he never even questioned it."
Dawn deflated slightly at the mention of her former friend's name, but she quickly brushed it off, backing up and wiping her face with the back of her hand.
"I know it's a school night and all, but how about a movie night to celebrate? I promise I'll still get enough sleep for school tomorrow!"
Blossom chuckled and ruffled the other's head.
"Only if I get to pick the movie."
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Nightmare was barely paying attention to the movie playing in front of him. He was lost in thought, trying to figure out why Dawn had taken a drink from him, and what did it mean? He tapped his fingers against the armrest of the couch, not noticing the uneasy glances his friends and brother were sending his way.
Cross had taken this opportunity to scoot closer to Dream, and was holding the other close with his arm draped around the other in a side hug. He couldn't help but feel nervous as the other rested his head on his shoulder. Still, it was also calming and comforting.
Killer wouldn't stop cracking jokes about it, much to Horror's chagrin. He chided Killer for not letting the two focus on the movie- Dust just rolled his eyes and passed his popcorn to Horror, who began eating it absentmindedly. It was comfortable, almost like this is how the world was meant to be. The only thing that was missing was Nightmare's commentary on how lame the movie was and his scolding of Cross for getting close to his twin.
It set everyone on edge, since there had been no movie night where he hadn't had something to grumble about. In fact on days that he was super frustrated, this was a great way for him to vent his negativity.
Yet there he sat, his eye seemingly looking straight through the TV. The constant sound of fingers tapping against the armrest was also extremely unnerving. Nobody could really focus on the movie, so they all reverted back to doing normal things for them. Still, it almost felt like they were all suffocating in the silence from their resident angry Charcoal.
Nightmare just remained that way through the movie, absentmindedly heading up to his room after he was done. The only response his friends got was a disgruntled "Goodnight." As he headed up the stairs.
They could only speculate what was going on in his head as he collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Not much was making sense right now, and Nightmare was left with his confusion in silence.