WE SPENT SOME TIME trying to put the pieces of The Nightmare together, and before we knew it, it was 20:00. Although I knew I had to stay vigilant, I couldn't stop myself from yawning as I stretched my arms wide. It felt too early to be this tired, but, if we were awake during the day and explored the nightmare world at night, did we ever get to rest?

Thoma noticed me. "Hold up, you're sleepy already? I thought we were gonna stay up all night." That was the plan, but... "If you're the only one to fall asleep, won't you get pulled into the nightmare world alone?"

His words slapped me awake—no way was I falling asleep now!

Without prior notice, Ray set four capsules on the coffee table.

"I thought this might help," he said.

"Adderall?" asked Thoma.

"Oh, I've heard of this," I said. "It's a stimulant, right?"

Subaru leaned forward from the couch. "Don't you need a prescription for that?"

"Perks of being a med student," smiled Ray.

At first, I was a little hesitant, but then we all decided to take the medicine. "I hope this actually works."

"Of course it will," he told me confidently.

But it's impossible to stay awake forever. At some point...

Ray found his way around the table to sit beside me. After some time, I began to feel strange. I looked at the others' faces; no doubt they all realised it but weren't saying anything. Thoma was the first to break the silence.

"Dang, I feel so wired!" He jumped up and headed towards the kitchen.

"Sit down!" Ray called after him, looking annoyed all of a sudden. "Why can't you just keep quiet?"

Thoma returned shortly with a vibrant chuckle while he set down a glass of juice for each of us. That's sweet of him.

"I'm just feeling it, you know?" he told Ray. "Didn't you say we could get high from this drug?"

Subaru frowned. "You make it sound so illicit." He appeared with a book in his hand—I hadn't even noticed him fetching it from the shelf. He held it up and turned to Ray. "Do you mind if I borrow this?"

"Go ahead," he shrugged. "We all need something to keep us awake."

Thoma looked sadly in the direction of the kitchen. "I wish we had coffee, though."

"Well, it's not on the menu."

"What if we get nightmares while we're awake?" asked Thoma, gasping.

I got worried. "Is that even possible?"

"That would be more like hallucinating," said Ray.

Thoma clapped his hands together loudly. He then looked at all of us and started clapping faster. All I could do was grin wryly while Ray asked him to stop. Naturally, Thoma ignored Ray's words and started clapping even more. Was he trying to keep us all awake or was this an effort to irritate Ray even more?

"I need to go to the bathroom," I announced, standing up, and Ray directed me where to go. Maybe I shouldn't have drunk the juice so fast.

On my way back, I felt a cold breeze wafting through the hallway. It was so refreshing I couldn't help but lean on the window. When I tilted my head, I found Ray standing outside on the balcony. I wondered what he was doing all by himself and I propped my head on my arm, watching him through the pane. He looked up to the sky, gazing at the stars as he let out a breath.

Why does he look so lonely?

I worried that if I left him like this he'd go off somewhere far away. Before I knew it, I was on the balcony. He didn't notice me walking up behind him. Without thinking, I held onto the hem of his shirt.

"Don't go anywhere."

Ray turned around, his face glowing radiantly in the moonlight. "What are you doing?" he asked in surprise, looking down at my hand, and when I realised what it was doing, I immediately pulled it back.

"Oh, um... n-nothing," I stuttered. "I just thought you looked lonely, that's all."

He gave me a teasing look. "Oh, were you worried about me?"

"No! Well..." I tried to protest. Suddenly embarrassed, I looked away from him. "I guess it wasn't worth worrying about you. I'm going back inside. You should do the same before you freeze." What are you, his mother?

Just as I turned around to head back to the living room, Ray said, "Sometimes, when I'm looking up at the stars like this... I feel like all my problems are tiny in the grand scale of things." As he looked up, I couldn't help but do the same. Then, he looked at me. "Stay here with me for a bit."

My heart ached when I saw the pained smile on his face—there was something desperate in his eyes, something sad. I stepped closer and watched the night sky with him. We did nothing else for a while, standing over the town and its glittery lights from the top of the hill. At that moment, I was sure I'd ever seen the stars shine so brightly.

"Ray, about what you said earlier... I know what you mean."

"Really?" I couldn't see his face but I imagined it beamed with reassurance. I wanted to nod but I shivered instead against the early autumn wind. Ray noticed and extended his arms towards me. "Come here."

Oh. I inched closer and Ray's arms wrapped around me, rubbing my back through my clothes. "Umm, Ray—"

"Still cold?" He pulled me closer to him, closing the gap between us until I could feel him breathing.

"N-No, I'm okay," I told him, and it felt like a lie.

No one had ever held me like that before. I don't know if I can handle being this close to him! I snuck a glance at him from under my lashes, and he looked right back at me with a teasing smile that snapped me out of my thoughts in an instant.

"Are you trying to make fun of me again?" I pushed him away playfully.

"Ah, you're learning."

"You better keep up, then," I smirked at him, but Ray didn't give in to me. Instead, he sighed and looked over the neighbourhood.

"You know, sometimes, I feel strangely empty inside," he began. "I ask myself, 'What am I living for? Why should I bother trying things out?' I always try to think back, wondering if what I'm doing is really something that I want. I keep hoping that, maybe, if I regain my memories, I'll find the answer."

I bit my lip, taken aback by his transparency. Ray and I may have been very different people, but I felt like I understood him. Without our memories, we felt lost, but the present had a way of filling that emptiness, too.

"Maybe all we need is just someone to accept us." I pressed my lips together, then took a sharp breath of air. "I mean, whatever we've done in the past, whatever we're doing here in the present, I think we'd like it to mean something for others, too, not just ourselves."

"Ah, so that's how you see it," said Ray, and I didn't know if he meant that as a good or bad thing.

He pulled me close once more. This time, I had no chance to react. There was a gush of warmth in my chest. It dispelled the coldness, forcing heat to rise to my face. I tried to look up and saw his face hovering above my forehead.

"Ray..?" Did he just kiss my forehead?

"It would be nice to have someone like that," he breathed. "Someone who'd accept you, knowing you did your best."

I wasn't sure what he was implying, but I wished I could tell him that nothing was stopping us from being that for each other, friends who accepted every flaw and stood by each other's side. However, I somehow felt like I shouldn't say anything, in case I ruined the moment. Because, honestly, I was enjoying that moment far too much. Usually, Ray would get us all back on track and focussing on the nightmare world, but he was here with me. One of us had to say it—that we should return to the others—but neither of us wanted to.

Of course, it wasn't long after that we heard Thoma call from inside, and we decided to investigate.

"Look what I found!"

When we arrived in the living room, he had pulled a box out from under the coffee table. It was a board game, one I recognised instantly.

"Ohhh! Snakes and Ladders? That's a classic."

Thoma smiled excitedly, "Come on, let's play. Board games are fun, and can help keep us from dozing off, too."

I giggled at the notion. Well, he wasn't wrong. I noticed that Subaru still had his nose buried in that book and asked him if he wanted to join us instead. He closed the book and looked at me blankly.

"I don't really know how to play that."

"Seriously?" asked Thoma. "Who doesn't know how to play Snakes and Ladders?" He got up and pulled Subaru to sit with him.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Now listen up," continued Thoma. "Lucky for you, the master is in the house."

"Master?" Ray scoffed. "This game is for little kids. It doesn't take any effort to master."

"Come on, Ray," I tried. He didn't seem to budge, so I caught him by the wrist. "It'll be fun."

Ray sighed and picked out a player token from the box.

"Yeah! Alright!" Thoma cheered before giving Subaru a rundown of the rules.

Naturally, he caught on quickly.

"So with the ladder, the token goes up. And if it's the snake, then we have to go down, right?"

"You got it, Subaru," I nodded. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips. He seems to be enjoying this already, and we haven't even started yet. That's so cute.

"Alright, alright, let's start," grinned Thoma. And then, he and Ray spoke together: "I'll go first."

Oh, boy... They both looked at each other competitively.

"It's my game. I'm going first." Ray reached out for the die, but Thoma slapped the back of his hand.

"I suggested we play, so it should be me."

"Guys, that's not really—" I interjected, but Thoma talked over me.

"Besides, you didn't even want to play," he pointed out.

"I'm playing now, aren't I?"

Before I could finish what I was saying, Subaru reached out to the board. He picked up the die and started rolling it. And the heated game of Snakes and Ladders began. Luck pushed Subaru's token ahead from the very first roll, but Ray and Thoma had caught up to him by the third. Although I was the most relaxed about my strategy, I couldn't help the ridiculous pride in my grin when I was the only one to dodge the snakes in the seventh row and take the lead, however briefly.

In the end, Subaru beat all of us. Thoma was distraught, his mouth hung open as he stood on his hands and knees like a battle-wounded soldier.

"I can't believe this. I demand a rematch!"

"Stop bothering me," said Subaru. "I've had enough."

"Nooooo!" Thoma clung onto Subaru, pleading for another round.

All I could think of was how glad I was to see Thoma back to his playful self after being upset with Ray. Subaru seemed like a good median between the two; they never truly got mad at him or accused him of picking sides like they might have with me. Although, by the looks of it, he might just prefer a rivalry over whatever Thoma is doing right now.

"Come on, guys," I said in amusement. "He doesn't have to play..."

Thoma didn't stop immediately, but my laughter came to an end once my vision started shaking violently. As I attempted to focus on the guys, the ringing of bells resounded in my ears, a painful reminder that the fun was over.