Thank you OneGalaxiePen for the suggestion- I hope I got it right! :) Remember to brush your teeth before you cross the road

"I don't want to go to sleep yet!" Dream whined, hiding under the kitchen table.

Nightmare had been trying to get his brother to go to sleep for quite a while now yet he kept refusing. It wasn't uncommon for the guardian of positivity to protest against bed time however something seemed different about it. Usually Nightmare would be able to placate and convince him to go to bed by promising to read him a story but not even that was working anymore.

"Dream, It's 10PM, that's well past your bedtime." 

"I don't care- I want to stay awake longer." Dream mumbled, hugging his knees from under the table. He didn't want to sleep- he couldn't sleep. Not after the horrific dream he had last night.

Nightmare let out an exasperated sigh, crouching down so he was eye-level with his brother. Dream peered at him with sad eyes, causing the other to become somewhat uneasy. Was there something wrong? Now that he thought about it, there did seem to be a bubble of negativity submerged within all of the positive emotions Dream had.

"Are you okay?" Nightmare asked, his voice laced with concern. "What's the matter?"

Dream's eyes widened slightly. He wanted to tell him however he didn't want to cause his brother to worry. Nightmare tended to overthink everything; if Dream told him that he'd had a nightmare about him then he'd probably feel horrible about it- even though he technically had nothing to do with it. Maybe it would be best for the guardian of positivity to just keep quiet. Besides, he can't have the same nightmare again, right?

"I just don't want to go to bed." Dream answered after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

Nightmare frowned, not entirely believing his brother. He narrowed his eyes at Dream and stared at him for a few moments before letting out a breath of defeat.

"Well, you still need to sleep." He huffed.

Dream remained quiet. He knew he couldn't keep arguing, that'd make Nightmare even more suspicious. He let out a sigh and crawled out from underneath the table. Nightmare held out his hand for his brother, pulling him up carefully.

"Do you want me to read you a story?"

Dream nodded and Nightmare turned away, exiting the kitchen and heading up the stairs. Dream trailed after him, trying not to dwell on the nightmare.

'I'll be fine, I just need to focus on something else. A story should help.' He mused, entering his bedroom after Nightmare and approaching his bed. The guardian of positivity scrambled into his bed, tucking himself in the yellow bed cover and peering up at his brother expectantly.

"Story."

Nightmare chuckled quietly, taking a seat on the edge of Dream's bed and humming in response, contemplating on what the story should be about.

"Can the story be about Droom and Nootmare again?" Dream asked hopefully.

"No, I said I'd never tell you another story about them."

Dream huffed.

"I won't go to sleep then." He declared, grinning mischievously to himself while ignoring the nagging fear in the back of his mind.

Nightmare's eye twitched.

"Fine, I'll tell you a story about Droom and Nootmare." He grumbled, smiling faintly when he heard his brother cheer victoriously.

"One day Droom and Nootmare were talking to each other."

"What were they talking about?" Dream urged.

"I don't know- rainbows. Anyway, Droom's two friends Blooborry and oink-"

Dream burst into a fit of giggles making Nightmare grin.

"Bloo and Oink wanted to go on an adventure with Droom so they all left leaving Nootmare on his own."

Dream stayed quiet, listening intently.

"Noot was sad and lonely but then some weird creature appeared called Erroor-"

"Erroor is stupid." Dream muttered. Nightmare glared slightly at his brother.

"Erroor is epic, now stop interrupting me. Anyway, Erroor and Nootmare became best friends-"

Dream frowned. "I thought Droom was Nootmare's best friend." He murmured.

Nightmare faltered. "Uh, Noot and Droom are the best of best friends."

"Is Erroor your boyfriend?"

Nightmare's face flushed a bright yellow and he cringed slightly at the unwanted thought.

"No, what the hell Dream?" 

Dream grinned toothily at his brother.

"Erroor and Nootmare played games until Droom returned and whacked Erroor."

"That is definitely something Droom would do."

Nightmare ignored him. "Erroor disappeared into thin air leaving Droom and Nootmare alone. The end."

Dream hummed in content; he liked that story. Nightmare pushed himself up from the bed, letting out a small yawn.

"Goodnight weirdo, sweet dreams." Nightmare lazily smiled down at his brother. Dream smiled back at him nervously, watching him leave the room.

Now he was alone in the darkness. He hated the dark. The memory of the nightmare slowly seeped back into his mind, making him shudder in fear. Maybe he could just try and stay awake.

'No, you're being silly. You won't have another nightmare.' his mind reasoned. Dream exhaled, glancing around his room. The darkness seemed to come creeping forwards towards him. The guardian whimpered slightly, shutting his eyes tightly in an attempt to block it all out.

He seemingly had them shut for too long because before he knew it, he had succumbed to the darkness, drifting away into sleep. 

When he opened his eyes, he was outside. The sound of laughter made him turn around; there was Nightmare being happy. Dream smiled widely, rushing over towards his brother with outstretched arms.

But he blinked, and everything suddenly altered. They were in the village. Nightmare seemed distressed, glancing around rapidly at all of the villagers that had circled them. Dream frowned, reaching a hand out towards his brother.

Another blink and everything changed. Now they were back outside by the Tree of Feelings- but Nightmare was leaned against the tree trunk with his head buried in his hands, sobbing. Dream felt his breath hitch; he stepped towards his brother and crouched down, calling out his name.

He blinked and nobody came. 

He was surrounded in an inky blackness- like a void. He stood back up and spun around frantically, crying out Nightmare's name. His breathing had quickened now and golden-yellow tears welled up in his eye-sockets. He was confused- what's happening?

He looked down as the teardrops fell and as he looked back up, he was in the village again. Nightmare was surrounded by villagers and they were all tormenting him with hateful words and throwing stones at him. Dream yelled out Nightmare's name, pushing past the villagers and rushing to his brother's side, standing in front of him protectively. The guardian of positivity yelled at the monsters, tears cascading down his cheekbones like waterfalls... 

and just like before, he blinked and was back at home. 

He was outside of Nightmare's door now; he could hear his brother crying heavily and letting out uneven breaths. Dream twisted the door knob forcefully, pushing open the door hastily.

But when he stepped through, he was back outside. He couldn't see Nightmare this time; the sky was overcast with dark clouds and the wind howled as it swept past him, causing him to shudder and the leaves and branches of trees to shiver.

"Night?" Dream called out, still crying. He hugged himself for warmth and began to tread forwards, glancing around for any sign of his beloved brother. The further he strayed away from the house, the harsher the wind became until it felt like ice against his face. The guardian whined and sniffled, about to turn around until the Tree of Feelings came into view. 

There he was- Nightmare was on one of the branches. Dream smiled slightly, teleporting up onto the same branch to see what his brother was doing.

"Night? What are you.." Dream trailed off, his eyes widening. 

The guardian of negativity turned around to look at him in surprise, dropping a dark apple.

"I'm sorry." Nightmare stammered, stepping back from his brother with panic written across his face.

Dream could only stare, frozen in shock. He didn't want to blink- he knew it would all change and he didn't want to know what he would see when it did. 

Yet he couldn't help it, the need to blink made his eyes sting.

When he reopened them, he was by the lake him and Nightmare often visit together. It was midnight and the full moon was out, reflecting on the waters. Dream smiled slightly; this wasn't so bad- his brother loved it here. However when he gazed down into their reflections, he saw a completely different Nightmare. He had tears streaming down his face and was clutching his stomach, a strange black tar liquid oozing out from one of his eye-sockets and mouth.

"Dream." He choked out, regurgitating the same inky substance. 

Dream gasped, turning to look at his brother in fear. His surroundings had changed again; he was back outside the Tree of Feelings. The clouds were almost entirely black and the wind was screaming, snapping branches and twigs from trees and ripping their leaves off. All of the golden-yellow apples from the tree were gone- there was only negative ones. Dream swiftly spun around at the sound of gargling and he covering his mouth with his hand at the sight that greeted him.

Nightmare stood before him- yet it wasn't Nightmare. This wasn't his brother. His usual form was slowly consumed by the thick, tar-like liquid. Dream couldn't move; he was paralysed in fear. 

"You did this to me." Nightmare choked out, pointing an accusing finger at his brother with trembling hands. 

Dream felt the tears build up more and soon he was hiccuping and breathing raggedly. He glimpsed at the tree, noticing how all of the apples had vanished. He turned back to his brother and yelped. Nightmare was right in front of him- no, this wasn't Nightmare. It couldn't be his brother.

"This is all your fault!" He yelled, breaking into maniacal laughter. Dream managed to regain control of his body and took a step back, falling into the grass and scooting away from the creature before him.

This seemed to make Nightmare laugh even more, his only visible eye impossibly wide with cyan tears streaming down that mixed with the inky mess.

"Night- please, this isn't you!" Dream cried out, sobbing hysterically. His dismal cries rang out and echoed throughout the land and rain started to pour down, getting faster and faster with each gasp for breath. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" 

Nightmare stepped closer to him, continuing to laugh. He was sobbing though as well- like he was fighting with himself. He stumbled slightly, half of him trying to run away while the other half stalked closer to Dream with a malicious glint in his eye. Dream desperately tried to edge away however it proved futile; he couldn't escape. He tried blinking however nothing was changing anymore.

Nightmare was soon towering over his brother, black, gooey tentacles outstretched from his back and pointing threateningly down at the guardian of positivity.

"I don't love you." He growled, and just like that, the tentacles pierced Dream through the ribs twice.

Dream gasped, coughing up blood. His eyelids grew heavy and his vision dimmed. Nightmare cackled and bawled simultaneously, gripping his skull hysterically.

"Well I will always love you." Dream whispered, feeling himself disperse into dust.

Dream's eyes flung open and he sat up in his bed, breathing heavily. Golden-yellow tears gushed out from the depth's of his eye-sockets and he released a loud, strangled cry. The guardian covered his mouth with his hand to muffle the sobs that wracked his body.

His bedroom door suddenly swung open and Nightmare came barging into the room in worry, rushing towards his brother and pulling him into a comforting hug.

"Dream?" Nightmare whispered in bewilderment. "Dream, what's wrong?"

Dream didn't answer- he couldn't answer. He moved his hand away from his mouth and buried his face into his brother's shoulder, weeping woefully. Nightmare's eye-sockets glazed over with tears. He could assume his brother had a bad dream though he didn't know what it could've been about. He began to gently rub his brother's back soothingly, copying what Dream would do whenever he had a night-terror. 

"It's okay, I'm here." Nightmare mumbled quietly. "Whatever happened isn't real- it won't hurt you."

Dream let out a sorrowful cry, clinging to Nightmare tightly as if he'd slip away if he let go.

"Don't leave me." Dream repeatedly begged, sniffling and hiccuping. A stray lilac tear slipped down from Nightmare's eye-socket as he held his melancholy brother closer.

"I promise I'll never leave you." He vowed, closing his eyes. 

They remained like that for a while until Dream's wailing gradually came to a stop. The guardian of negativity cautiously pulled away from the hug and opened his eyes, peering down sadly at his brother.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Dream pondered about it before shaking his head 'no'. He couldn't do that. Nightmare would never forgive himself- even if he didn't actually hurt him. Nightmare sighed softly, pulling Dream back into another warm hug.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." He mumbled. "Whatever it was wasn't real."

Dream exhaled shakily. God he hoped it wasn't real. It can't be, he knew Nightmare would never do something like that...

right?

--End--