"Darling, I don't know why you insist on sticking all these blank sheets of paper all over your room."

"They're not blank sheets of paper mum! Nightmare drew them, can't you see?"

Jakei sighed and flicked her dark hair out of her eyes, staring tiredly at the paper stuck above her son's bed that he was jabbing at with his finger. "Sweetheart, there's nothing there."

"Yes there is!" Cross cried, looking at the paper in alarm and his pupils scanning across it rapidly. It was his favourite picture Nightmare had drawn; the first one of him. Yes it wasn't as good as some others, or as accurate, but it was still his favourite. "I-I showed it to you a while ago round when he first came, remember?"

His mum sighed, seeing as provoking this more would probably upset the boy. She faked surprise, gasping. "Oh, silly me! I think I see it now."

"You do?" Cross face broke out in a grin, his previously worried expression vanishing. "Isn't he good?"

"Yes son, very good." She pushed her hands through her hair, staring down at her child. This imaginary friend thing was starting to get out of hand. And with school starting again tomorrow, she was worried.

From across the room Nightmare scoffed, staring at the woman pitifully as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. "Well she's no fun, is she?"

"Hey, don't be mean about my mummy." Cross frowned, sliding off of the bed and walking over to him. "You know that's a mean thing."

"You said mean twice."

"And?"

"Nothing." He groaned, sinking down onto the carpet and letting Cross clamber onto his chest and sit directly on his sternum.

It had been a month now since he'd been doomed to this fate of being some child's new imaginary friend. And he was starting to accept it. Not being able to grab onto things at certain times only freaked him out half of the time. And now 1/4 of those times would turn into panicked breakdowns, which is much better than 4/4 if you think about it. He was starting to get used to the whole sleep process, where he just seemed to disappear from everything when the little devil slept. It was as if he was stuck in that moment just when he died in the hospital, nothing but cold blackness swallowing him.

And Cross had kept his promise. He hadn't forced Nightmare to do anything, always anxiously asking if it was okay if he made him do something deranged like a dress-up tea party with all his stuffed animals. That was a frequent event; a tea meeting being held every week on a Saturday at three pm. It was getting tiring, but he dared not complain.

He'd realised now that his main purpose of being here was to just let the smol pour his heart out to him; rant about the people he wasn't looking forwards to meeting at school, the slutty girls in his class that would make fun of him - only he didn't use the word slutty, he said 'silly dressed' - and also about just general stuff.

At first he'd zone out and not pay attention, but that would only make his situation worse. So he started listening to the bean, letting him babble on for ages about pointless child stuff that would never ever be relevant to him as an adult. He never really knew how to respond when Cross asked for his opinion, but tried his best to give answers that didn't involve fighting, killing or yelling. It didn't always work sometimes.

"Nightmare?"

"Mh?" He looked up at him immediately, full attention instantly. He'd developed a bad habit of this, ever since the incident where he hadn't responded right away and Cross had forced his body to move by itself. The memory still sent his blood cold, though it hadn't happened since.

Cross stared down at him, his small little hands gripping onto Nightmare's cheeks and prodding them a bit. "I don't wanna go to school tomorrow..."

"Yeah kid, school sucks, I know. But trust me when I say this," He grunted and rolled to his feet, pulling Cross up in the air with him and earning a delighted squeal. "school is necessary."

He squirmed in his arms as he held him high up in the air, laughing loudly. "Y-You'll drop me!"

"Maybe." Nightmare smirked, walking over to the bed and promptly letting him fall onto all the cushions and stuffed toys.

Cross screamed as he fell but it was more of an excited scream really. He exploded in laughter right after, crying "Again! Again! Again!"

He stared down at him in amusement, wrapping his hands around the smol's waist to hold him up again, only to realise he couldn't. His hands slipped right through Cross and he yelped, the same horrible icy feeling he hated so much washing through his body. Someone was here.

"Cross? What was that scream?"

They both turned to see Cross' mum step in the room, a nervous yet suspicious expression on her face. The smol immediately pointed at Nightmare with no shame whatsoever. "It was him mummy!"

"Excuse me?!" Nightmare hissed, momentarily forgetting that he was completely invisible to the woman until she walked right over to the two of them, her left side sliding smoothly right through Nightmare like a knife in butter.

Cross giggled happily at first, but those trailed off as he saw him mum's stern expression. He pressed his hands down on his lap, casting his gaze down to the floor. "Sorry mum..."

She sighed, pulling Cross onto her lap and rubbing the top of his skull in circles. "Sweetheart, as much as I know you love this new imaginary friend of yo--"

"He's not imaginary!" Cross protested, glaring up at her suddenly. "He's real and stood right next to you!"

Jakei jolted, looking to her side and almost expecting to see the menacing man Cross had been drawing for the past month stood right there. But he wasn't. It was just the empty room with the two of them.

Looking back down at Cross, she sighed. "Don't interrupt me when I speak, okay? You know that's rude darling."

The smaller winced and looked down at his lap again, nodding solemnly. "Yes mum..."

"Good." She kissed the top of his skull, sighing. "Now, I know you dearly love your new...friend, and he's clearly been very nice to you from what I've heard. But, school starts tomorrow, and you know not all of your classmates are particularly...nice. If they see you talking or interacting with your friend, they might be mean to you."

Cross frowned, not understanding. "Why? Nightmare's really nice, why would they make fun of me for talking to him?"

"Well--" She internally groaned, shifting a bit with the smol on her lap. "How old is your friend? Around your age?"

"Oh no." Cross shook his head firmly. "He's much older than me- How old are you Nightmare?" He stared at him, blinking.

"Ahaa-- twenty five." God had he really died that young? He was only a quarter away from 100.

"Twenty five!" He stated proudly, ignoring how his mum choked in surprise. "Your friend is twenty five?!"

He nodded, blinking. "Is there a problem with that?" Gosh he was so innocent, not seeming to see a problem with it.

"I... Well..."

Nightmare snickered in amusement as he watched her mouth open and close like a goldfish, mumbly nonsense being all she could make. He slid next to Cross, poking his cheek and whispering despite knowing his mum wouldn't hear him even if he screamed. "She doesn't like the thought of you hanging out with an adult."

Cross scrunched his face up in confusion, looking up at her. "Is that true?"

"Is what true?" He asked, looking tiredly down at the boy.

"That you don't like me hanging out with an adult. Why not? You're an adult and I hang out with you all the time!" He glanced over at Nightmare, who shrugged innocently.

"This is different sweetheart... Your friends might not like it if you hang out with someone that age." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "But never mind, just go to sleep now - it's getting late."

"Alright mum." He jumped off of the bed and trudged to the bathroom, dragging out the small little plastic step you always get in cliché children's bathrooms.

Nightmare trailed along behind him, staring at their simple, average-sized bathroom. It had a white toilet in the left corner, a polished marble sink stood next to it, two different choices of soaps being stood proudly next to each other. One was scented jasmine tea, and the other was grapefruit and orange.

A heated rail was attached to the wall by the door, large and plush white towels hung over them snugly and giving the whole room a rather homey look. A bath mat laid out in front of the family bath and shower, being a nice shade of cyan.

A large deep tub was built to one side, a stone rim circling it and holding lots of space for all sorts of bath salts, soaps, scrubs, shampoos and conditioners. There was also a long line of plastic rubber ducks and toy dinosaurs. He assumed they were Cross'. Or his secretive brother that he never saw anything of. Chara? Yes, that might have been his name. He'd call it an honour if he got to see the boy once a day. He rarely left his room as far as he knew, otherwise whenever Cross was in his room he was spending time with their mum and whenever Cross was spending time with mum, the kid would be in his own room. He'd asked the smol about it a while ago, but he'd just said that Chara was "shy".

Standing, Nightmare watched as Cross grabbed onto his toothbrush with zebra stripes, squeezing a pea sized blob onto it before staring at Nightmare seriously. "Count to 120 for me. I can't count that high yet, and my mum usually does it for me."

He blinked, feeling the twitch of a command in there. "I Uh- Okay. One, two, three, four..."

Cross smiled and ran his brush under two water quickly before pushing it up against his teeth and circling vigorously. He frowned in concentration as he did so, his wide pupils staring up at Nightmare admirably as he listened to the taller male mutter his way closer to sixty. Halfway there.

"Seventy, seventy one, seventy two..." He stayed fixated on the young bean, attempting to focus on counting as much as he could while still scanning him up and down. Surely it wasn't right for a child to be so happy and innocent. And this was coming from a person that usually despises children with a passion.

He just looked so pure, eyes full of mischievous glee as he stared back at the octopus. "Ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred..."

Nightmare leaned back against the towel rail, unable to feel the warm heat it gave off. Ever since becoming like this, he'd stayed at a constant and maintained temperature, unable to feel the cold or hot. It was disconcerting at first, but he'd gotten used to it now. "One hundred and eighteen, one hundred and nineteen, one hundred and twenty!"

Cross jumped up and spun back around to face the sink, spitting his toothpastey remains into the sink and washing it away along with cleaning his brush. Once having done that he rushed back over to Nightmare, reaching behind him and grabbing a towel to clean his face and hands before grabbing the taller's hand in his own little one and squeezing.

"Thanks for helping me, Nightmare." He grinned, swinging their hands together and pressing his face against his side. The male looked down at him in slight surprise before wrapping an arm around his back and pulling him a little closer.

The boy shivered happily before wriggling out of his grip and jumping up to grab the door handle and swinging the door wide open, accidentally in course to slam into Nightmare.

The man yelped and stumbled back in response, covering his face to shield it from the solid wooden mass that was the bathroom door. Yet instead, it slid right through him cooly, his whole body being flooded with ice.

He tripped on his own feet and fell to the floor, his body flying through no other than Cross' mum and went crashing to the floor. He spat curses and profanities under his breath, his whole body so cold that he felt unable to move.

"Cross?" His mum looked at the boy in surprise, glancing into the bathroom and completely ignoring the groaning skeleton stuck on the floor with half his body stuck through her left foot. "I stood outside and counted, that was exactly two minutes. How did you do that?"

"Nightmare helped me!" He chirped, looking down at his seemingly dying friend. "But um, can you move your foot because I think you're hurting him."

Immediately she recoiled like a snake, jumping in the air and stumbling away from her current position as if a wolf had bit her foot. Cross found that rather funny and giggled to no end, watching his best friend drag himself up to his knees and crawl back to the bedroom slowly. "That's better, thanks mummy."

She yelped as he hugged her tightly, humming. "H-He helped?"

"Yeah! He counted for me!" He nodded before rubbing his eyes and yawning a little. "But I'm kinda tired now..."

"Yes sweetheart, now let's get you to bed okay? School starts tomorrow, remember?" She scooped the tired smol into her arms, marching over to the bedroom and pushing the door and shoving it right through poor Nightmare yet again.

Cross squealed happily and squirmed a little in her arms before being gently placed down in his bed and having the covers pulled over him.

"Which fluffy toys do you want to sleep with tonight?" She whispered, picking up a fluffy pair of geese. "These ones?"

The smol nodded quietly, reaching his arms out to take them and quickly hugging them close to his chest before his mum tucked in the overly fluffy peacock toy. "Thanks mummy."

She smiled fondly down at him and leaned down to kiss his forehead, pinching his cheek. "Sleep now baby, I'll wake you in the morning, okay?"

"Alright, night..." He mumbled, turning his head to stare at Nightmare as the skeleton had the door pushed through his body one final time as his mum walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Sweet mother of Joku..." Nightmare choked, dragging himself weakly over to the bed and curling his fingers around the posts to drag himself to his feet shakily. "I swear she's doing that on purpose..."

"Maybe." He snickered childishly, holding his arms up to the taller. "But come here."

"Huh?" He looked down at him in surprise, blinking rapidly. "I'm uh, I'm here."

"Nooo..." He whined, gripping onto his hoodie sleeve and tugging. "In here with me..."

"Wh- with you? Excuse me?" He choked, trying to pull back lightly from him to no avail.

"Pleeeaaassseeeee..." He tugged more, looking up at him with an almost desperate expression. "I've never asked beforreeee..."

"Which is why I'm questioning this?" He hissed, flushing slightly in embarrassment. He wasn't going to sleep with a seven year old child, that would be so weird. Yet he did look so hopeful.

"W-Well I'm nervous..." He mumbled, looking down at his stuffed toys. "Tomorrow is my first day back at school and... I-I don't really know if I wanna go..."

"So, please...?" He looked so goddamn hopeful, twisting his normally emotionless soul.

"Ugh, fine." He grunted, mumbling under his breath as he tugged the blankets off and hesitantly eased himself in next to him. He was definitely far too large for the bed and had to curl his legs in to stop them from hanging off the end of the bed.

Cross immediately dug his face into his chest, purring silly nonsense and throwing his small arms around Nightmare. "Mm, you're really warm..."

"I am?" He slowly wrapped his arms around the smaller in return, letting him snuggle right up close to his chest and shifting aside some of the overbearing stuffed animals. He'd always felt dully cold over anything else, his temperature never changing otherwise.

"Yeah..." He smiled wildly and eyes fluttering shut. "And comfy... And nice... And so so kind..."

Despite those being no more than the words of the clueless kid, Nightmare felt his face go hot. No one had ever called him that back when he was alive. His brother might have occasionally called him nice when he was in a sweet and sickly lying mood, but not actually meaning it. The whole process of being complimented was so new and confusing that it stunned him a bit.

"I- Thanks..." He whispered, gently nuzzling the top of Cross' skull and draping his tentacles over him loosely. "That... That means a lot to me..."

The small boy sighed softly and pressed himself as close as he physically could to the adult, loving the feeling he gave off. Soon enough he started drifting away and Nightmare glanced around, seeing the world around him starting to fade into nothingness like it did every time Cross slept.

And then it all slipped away, into total blackness.

——————

Morning started to the feeling of ice being stabbed into his back, a voice calling a name he couldn't hear properly.

"Cross?"

"Mngh?" Nightmare lurched to his feet drunkly, falling off of the bed and crashing to the floor for the umpteenth time. "WhAT?!"

Of course Jakei ignored him completely, gently shaking her son awake and pulling back the curtains. "Cross sweetheart, it's time for breakfast."

The young child groaned loudly and looked up at him mum sleepily, his small fists rubbing at his eye sockets. "I don't wanna..." He reached a hand out to feel for Nightmare, only to find his favourite octopus wasn't there. "Mh, Nightmare?"

"No, don't be silly. It's me, your mother, not that...man." She sighed and pulled the sheets off of him, earning a loud sleepy groan in response.

"Noooooo... I don't wanna..." He grumbled, throwing blind swats at him mum and trying to hide himself under the mountains of soft toys.

"No sleepy attitude Mr." She scolded softly, shaking her head. "Now I want you downstairs for breakfast in five minutes, you hear me?"

"Yes mum..." He muttered, stuffing his face into the pillows.

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes, walking out of the room and leaving the door open behind her.

Grunting, Nightmare stumbled to his feet and stared down at the smol in amusement. He could remember not wanting to get out of bed himself on a bad day. "Still don't want to go to school?"

"No..." He whispered, turning his head to look up at him. "Not really..."

He leaned down and wrapped his arms around the smol, scooping him into his arms with multiple protests. "But I can't do all your exams for you you know, you'll have to learn. But I'll help you, okay?"

He weakly tried to shove him away, but soon gave up as Nightmare spun him round in the air and momentarily threw him. That always excited Cross to no end, shrieking in surprise before bursting into a fit of giggles as always.

"Now c'mon, get dressed and then have your breakfast." He said, gently pressing their foreheads together and grinning down at the boy.

Upon being put down on the ground again he nodded and ran to the wardrobe and flung it open, looking through it before dragging out two completely identical black sweaters. "Which one should I wear?"

"I uh--" He stared at the two, searching for any kind of difference between the two. None. "Um, that one?" He pointed at the one in his left hand.

"Really?" Cross raised a brow and looked down at it in surprise, almost seeming disappointed.

"Wh- I mean that one--" He blurted, pointing at the other one quickly, sweating.

"Yeah! I was thinking that one too!" He said happily, pulling off his night top and wriggling into the new one instead. He didn't bother asking Nightmare's preference for shorts, dragging a pair out himself and pulling them on.

The taller looked down at the floor as he did so, not about to be caught watching a seven year old change. Yes no one else could see him, but that wasn't the point.

"Let's go have breakfast!" He grabbed onto Nightmare's hand and smiled gleefully, dragging him out of the room and down the stairs despite the spluttered protests.

The octopus stumbled down the stairs behind the boy, his eye darting around the now a lot more familiar surroundings of Cross' house. It was quite simple and plain, the walls all painted the same faded peach colour, and the decorations minimal. A few family photos hung on the landing corridor that showed pictures of Cross, Chara, their mum and dad all smiling at the camera. Nightmare had met all of them except the dad who, according to Cross, was never around and only occasionally visited. He didn't really care much about seeing him, he sounded like a right scum bag anyway.

Hopping into the kitchen Cross pulled out a little plastic step like he had in the bathroom and pulled open a draw full of boxes of cereals. Eyes scanning across them intently, he grabbed onto his favourite one and pulled it out.

Coco pops.

"Oh nononooo you don't." Nightmare grunted and plucked the box from his grasp, shaking his head. "This stuff rots your teeth kid, do you have any idea how much sugar is in these?"

He cringed, remembering the days when Dream used to snarf down a whole box in an afternoon then complain of serious tummy aches when they were kids. The doctor had warned him that if he carried on like that, he'd most likely loose his teeth all together.

Cross frowned and jumped, trying to grab it. "But it's my favourite!"

"It rots your teeth." He hissed, placing the box on the kitchen counter and out of reach. "Have something healthy liiikkeee..." He scanned the draw full of cereals, his eye focusing on one. "Wheetabix."

"But that's boorriiinngggg..." He groaned, tugging at Nightmare's sleeves.

"Don't care kid. And trust me, you'll be thanking me later." He popped two wheetabix into a sparkly, clearly hand painted bowl with messy handprints plastered all over it in poster paint. Spinning to the fridge he pulled out a carton of milk and quickly poured it over the two rounded oblong wheet-things. They quickly started absorbing most of the milk and he grabbed a spoon, dripping it in the bowl and handing it to Cross.

"Now eat."

Huffing, the small boy gave him a weak glare but nodded, sitting down at the breakfast table stood in the middle of their kitchen. Taking the spoon and stabbing at the wheetabix, Cross took in a mouthful and chewed slowly.

Nightmare nodded proudly, feeling rather good for saving a kid from possible tooth rot. Leaning against the kitchen counter, he put the milk back away and was about to move the cereals back when Jakei walked in, making his fingers slip helplessly through the box.

"Cross?" She looked at her son, slightly surprised to say the least when she saw him eating a bowl of wheetabix instead of his favourite coco pops. "Sweetheart why are you eating those? I thought coco pops were your favourite."

"Oh they are mummy." He nodded, swallowing. "But Nightmare said that they'll rot my teeth because of sugar, so he made me eat this instead."

She blinked, staring as he semi-happily finished off his bowl and walked over to the sink to drop it in as carefully as possible. "I guess he's actually good for something, then..."

Nightmare snorted and flicked a finger through the back of her head, knowing it didn't affect her in any way but wanting to nonetheless. "Yeah, maybe I am."

Cross giggled silently and ran out of the kitchen to the living room where his fully packed bag was waiting, stuffed full of books, pens and colourful school appliances. The bag was a light shade of grey with some sort of abstract white splatters across the fabric, making it look like someone had accidentally tripped and spilt milk all over it.

He slung it on his back and jumped up and down, seeming to forget his earlier school panic jitters. Taking his mum's hand happily, he followed her out to the waiting black car parked in the gravel driveway and happily let her lift him onto his booster seat in the back.

Behind them, Chara trudged along reluctantly with his bag dragging on the floor, clearly not excited for school at all. He climbed into the car and sat at the front, much to Cross' whiny protests.

"Mum how come he gets to sit in the front?"

"Cuz I'm older, loser."

"Mum Chara just said a bad word!"

"That's enough, both of you!" Jakei raised her voice before sighing and sinking back into the car seat with a hushed tone. "Please you two, I don't want any arguing."

Chara and Cross both mumbled an apology, the two of them casting their eyes down to the floor in shame.

Nightmare slid next to Cross and laughed, feeling his fingertips phase through the seatbelts uselessly. "Don't worry Cross, I'll make sure you get the front seat next time."

"Thanks Nightmare..." He whispered, his voice hushed and quiet as he stared thankfully at the taller.

Feeling rather proud again he nodded, resting his head back against the car seat and closing his eye. He was about to go through preschool all over again - a time he despised almost as much as secondary school. Oh what fun this would be.

Jakei sighed and stared the car, glancing out the wing mirror as they backed out of the driveway and pulled out into the road. Then the journey to school started, with Chara moody and silent, Cross slowly getting quieter and Nightmare staring dully out the window.

He frowned and stared as buildings, shops and people rushed past. Leaning closer to the window, he tried to see if he recognised any, wanting to know if he'd been reincarnated near his old town. He rarely got to see the outside world much currently, being bound to mainly the house, garden, park play areas, central pool and the one zoo their mum had taken them to. Cross went ballistic over flamingos, stating very firmly that they were the best animals ever to strut across Earth, and he wanted one for his birthday. He'd also spotted the similarity between Nightmare and an octopus, and hadn't dropped that comparison since, constantly asking if he came from the ocean and where his other four tentacles were hiding. The amusing factor wore off pretty quickly and Nightmare found himself growing tired of the constant comments.

A flash went by and he blinked rapidly, having sworn he could have seen something familiar. And then they drove past something else, a shop which's signs and flowers outside looked so recognisable that he nearly choked. Where were they?

He looked around quickly and swallowed harshly, his fingers trying desperately to dig into the car door and tug it open. But alas he couldn't, his hands clawing at thin air uselessly.

"Nightmare...?"

He flinched, looking over at Cross to see the smol bean looking at him anxiously. "What?"

The word had come out harsher than he'd meant and the boy winced, his eyes looking down at his lap quickly. "N-Nothing, sorry."

Internally shooting himself in the foot, he leaned closer to him and sighed, failing to take his hand. "I didn't mean to sound so rude Cross, I'm sorry. I just, I just had something on my mind."

He shifted on his seat a little, as if uncomfortable before he looked up at him timidly. "I-I'm scared to go back to school again... Before I lost some of my nervousness, but now it's all coming back..."

"Cross, you'll be fine." He stared at the little boy. "And besides, you'll have Chara to look after you, wont you?"

He shook his head solemnly. "No, he's in the year above me. And he always hangs out with some pink girl at break instead of with me..."

"Oh." He blinked, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to hide the fact that he was paying more attention to the rushing past surroundings than Cross. "Well you'll have me."

Eyes widening slightly, the bean smiled a little, his cheeks rosy. "That's true! I'll still have you!"

He caught sight of both Jakei and Chara glancing back in confusion to see who he was talking to, but ignored them and smiled back. "Yes Cross, you'll have me."

Five minutes later they arrived. Jakei parked the car and looked back at her two children, smiling. "Right now kids, make sure you have lots of fun at school and get lots of new friends, but be careful around the roads. You don't want another nasty accident happening like last month.

Nightmare froze, slowly turning to face her and blinking. A nasty accident?

She slipped out of the car and pulled the door open for Chara first, helping him out before doing the same for Cross. The whole time Nightmare was numb to it all, falling out of the car and staggering out into the road. It looked so familiar...

"Have fun kids!" Jakei called, making him turn to see her guide Cross and Chara to the school gates, double checking they had their packed lunches and books. "I'll pick you up at four!"

"Okay! By mum!" They both called, doing the same as many other young kids were doing at that moment.

If he'd been paying attention Nightmare might have thought back to a time when him and Dream had done similar things with their mum, but right now his mind felt full of cobwebs.

Turning to look around he noticed a spot far down the road where a single bunch of flowers lay, their colour a rich dark purple. And stood next to them stood someone that made his stomach flip in summersaults.

"D...Dream?" His voice came out raspy and quiet, barely even heard to himself over the chatter of parents and excited and or anxious kids.

"Dream?" He couldn't tell for sure if it was his brother stood there by the flowers, but something in his mind was screaming that it was. It was stupid assuming such a thing, but he still wanted to rush over as fast as he could and tackle him into a hug.

For a moment he forgot he was invisible to everyone and shouted, trying to run towards the hooded person. "DREAM!"

He made about five steps before an invisible cord tugged him back and sent him sprawling across the floor. People walked through him aimlessly, sending his body into ice cold shock.

Footsteps coming up behind him rang out louder than the rest and Cross crouched down next to him, concern showing clear in his voice. "Nightmare? Nightmare are you okay?"

The octopus choked and lurched to his feet, ignoring the boy's questions and scanning the crowd desperately for any sign of his brother. He saw none. The figure by the flowers was gone, nowhere in sight.

He took in ragged breaths, only listening to the boy when he raised his voice over the crowds.

"Nightmare stop! Y-You're scaring me!" Cross cried, trying to tug on his arm and gasping in frustration as it didn't work.

The taller snapped out of his trance, his teeth grinding against each other as he stared down at him probably a little to harshly. At this point he didn't really care.

"Cross!" Jakei ran over and grabbed her son's hand, scolding him and looking embarrassed as people constantly gave him odd glances. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Somethings wrong with Nightmare." He tried to say, but was cut off as his mum dragged him back over to the school gate despite his protests.

"I don't want to hear any of this 'Nightmare nonsense' anymore okay?" She said, slapping him lightly on the wrist and shaking her head. "Go to school and make some real friends."

"But--"

"No buts." She nudged him towards the entrance where Chara was still waiting with a blank expression.

Cross glanced back at Nightmare helplessly but nodded, slowly trudging over to his brother.

"Love you!" She called, waving.

"Love you too." They both called back, Cross being a little more enthusiastic while still looking as concerned as ever.

The skeleton stayed motionless staring at the crowds, his hands clenched into fists as he tried to catch any sight of Dream. He knew it was pointless, and what he saw was probably from his imagination, but he still clung to it like a needy child. He had to have been there. He had to have been.

A few more moments passed like that before he felt a sharp tug at his soul and he flinched, looking behind him to see Cross had outstepped the twenty metre radius he could move freely around in.

He resisted the pull for a second before he was sent stumbling through the school gates, forced to catch up with Cross - who was constantly looking back at him like a worried mother as he walked - and stick by his side.

"Are you okay, Nightmare?" He asked softly, his wide and innocent eyes telling Nightmare he'd listen to anything he'd say.

He wanted to tell him everything right then and there, break down onto the floor and pull the smol close into his arms and clutch him tight. But he didn't. "No."

Frowning, Cross tried to reach for his hand, but it fell through like always. Nightmare stared dejectedly at the ground, his mind buzzing with far to many complex emotions. He didn't want this. He didn't want any of this.

They walked inside a tall and long building, the taller barely paying any attention as Chara gave his brother a quick hug and good luck wish before disappearing off to his own class and leaving him alone.

Cross bit his sleeve nervously, looking around with a helpless expression as he tried to figure out where he was supposed to go.

The octopus stared blankly at all the rushing kids screaming and yelling as they ran through the corridors, his own ghastly preschool memories clouding over his worry for Dream. Starting a new year had always been an absolute horror that he dreaded with every night it came closer. And when the day came somehow everything would have to go wrong and it would turn into the worst day of the school year. He couldn't have the same happen to poor small innocent Cross.

"Don't panic kid-—-" He blurted, looking down at him. "Tell me what class you're in, and I'll get us there, okay?"

He nodded softly and pulled now his slightly damp sleeve out of his mouth. "I-I'm going into year three... And m-my teacher is called Miss Love..."

He snorted at the generically fake name, thinking back to the only teacher he'd ever liked in Secondary School that had a similar name. Mr LoveDay. He'd been his Physics teacher and was the only teacher that had ever made learning fun for him, making lessons actually bearable and efforts in class easy. He was the reason that he'd got an A in Physics. Lord, all that learning in school wasted by a stupid car accident. What would Mr LoveDay say if he saw him now (not that he could anyway).

His eye flicked over the different labelled classrooms before he noticed one that caught his eye. It was a deep crimson colour with yellow painted flowers surrounding it, white italic writing printed in the middle. Miss Love.

"Found it."

"You have?" Cross looked at him in awe, following along as the taller marched over to the class and nodded. Through the pale clouded windows, he could already make out the outlines of people sat down behind desks.

"C-Can you knock?" He whispered softly, wringing his hands tightly.

"Oh I would if I could." He said, attempting to knock for the boy and watching as his hand fell right through it.

Watching hopelessly Cross sighed, shuffling towards the door and inhaling sharply before giving two knocks so soft that Nightmare didn't think that anyone had even a hope of hearing it.

But to his surprise the door swung open and a woman matching her name exactly stood in front of them, a sweet and calming smile on her face. "Oh sweetheart, who are you?"

"Cross..." He mumbled shyly, glancing up at Nightmare for reassurance as she offered a hand. He simply nodded, urging the bean on as he slowly took it and smiled a little.

"Well Cross, I'm Miss Love, your new teacher. I hope you find your time here both fun and educational."

Nightmare rolled his eye and stepped in behind the two, his gaze sweeping over the class that had arrived so far. He could instantly categorise what groups they'd be in when they were older.

Three girls were crowded round one table, all gushing over their friend's new phone with their hair tangled up in messy buns with hundreds of sparkly pink hair clips shoved in them. Their nails were painted and lips pouty, already dressed in non-uniform appropriate clothes. They'd definitely grow up to be the school sluts. The ones that believe for whatever reason that everyone adores them when really, they think they're fucking annoying.

The majority of the other girls were sat silently at their desks, either doing nothing, reading, drawing or staring jealously at the three plankton brains. They were dressed in at least appropriate clothes, lots of them hidden under hoodies and long trousers that hid every inch of skin possible. Two girls were sandwiched together on one seat, clearly catching up with what they'd been doing over the past few months of glorious summer holidays. They probably felt insecure, but they had a big chance of growing up to be the actually smart ones of the class.

The jock group of boys all stood at the back of the class, trying so hard to look cool and gangster with new shades and seemingly expensive clothes, bragging about their new Ben Ten watch that glowed in the dark when they pressed a button. To themselves, they probably felt like the coolest guys in the planet, lady magnets. But really they just looked retared (in Nightmare's opinion).

A few shy boys stayed hunched over their desks silently, eyes darting all over everyone while other boys were jumping about happily and shaking hands with their new arrivals, seeming cheery enough. They'd grow into being the class clowns that the teachers all say they despise when really they found them just as funny as everyone else.

Cross slid into an empty seat and pushed his bag under his desk, back to biting his sleeve and staring at everyone.

"Cross, relax. You'll be fine."

Nodding softly he shivered, relaxing in his seat as Miss Love stood at the front of the class and stared writing her name in large curly letters on the whiteboard.

Nightmare groaned under his breath but not loud enough for Cross to hear, slumping into an empty seat and watching boredly. This was his hell punishment for sure; having to relive all of school from year three all the way to college. What torture. He could already tell this year would be the complete opposite of fun.

"Good morning children, I can already tell this year will be absolutely wonderful."

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6,694 words damn longest one so far

Ahaha I'm actually unhealthily obsessed with this concept but imma have to give it some time and try other things before I write more XD

So Nightmare is pretty familiar with his new life now, but still has those moments of panic etc. And ngl he's pretty helpful.

Don't rot your teeth, eat wheetabix.

Yes I will probably be doing some stuff for when Cross is older than seven etc, such as him being a teenager and how still having Nightmare there affects his life (which is quite a bit).

Honestly this whole thing is just uwuwuwuwuwuuwuwuwuwuwuwu apart from that one angsty little bit but like Cross as a clueless kid is just so Jdhzhsjsjxhsjsj I l o v e i t. I hope you do too :'D

School will be a horror for Nightmare tho because 1). He's already gone through all that bullshit. 2). People are constantly around 24/7 so he's permanently unable to touch anything, which will drive him crazy.

Jakei's patience is wavering-

And uh yea I think that's all I have to say.

If you have any suggestions for events to happen in this oneshot series (Imaginary Friend) then please do comment! :D

Okie bye, more Oneshots coming soooooon

-Jess-