Confrontation
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In which, if Dream had a nickel for every time he's faked
someone's death, he'd have to nickels. Which isn't a lot,
but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
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-Mithsd_on on twitter

   George's house, which by the way turned out to be a hobit hole, wasn't too far away from Manburg. In fact, you were already able to see the fighting figures in front of the podium after only 30 seconds of running. From this distance, it looked like they were fighting a common enemy rather than each other, but you couldn't be too sure.

   If you hadn't just realized that the world's biggest prick and your old friend, who you thought had died, was one and the same person, you probably would've looked closer. But unfortunately, you had just realized that.

   And you were quite triggered, to say the least. You were feeling everything and nothing all at the same time. So many emotions that they equaled each other out.

   You felt dumb. Humiliated. You can't believe how you could've been so oblivious. You had been a straight-up fool to search for someone who had been right in front of you. A person you had talked with countless times, and yet, you still hadn't been able to put two and two together.

   You felt beyond ashamed. He had been your best friend for over six years. How could you not have been able to recognize him? What, because he was wearing a mask? Bullshit.

   You felt angry. Angry at yourself, for again, being so oblivious. And angry at Dream for not telling you in the first place. For keeping it a secret. Angry, that he had made a fool out of you and led you to believe he was dead. He had manipulated you into thinking that Schlatt was the big bad guy, causing you to lose your mind, lose yourself. The possibility of you having killed an innocent man, despite that man being Schlatt, was haunting you. If it was you that had killed him, you wouldn't ever be able to forgive Dream - or yourself for that matter. Dream would've ruined your life.

   You were relieved that he was alive, but most of all, you were sad. Heartbroken, almost. You had always wanted to reunite with your old friend. It had been your biggest goal for the last five years, but now that you knew you had been reunited with him for several months, you weren't satisfied at all. Because the person you had searched for all this time, wasn't the person you had found.

   Dream was a villain. A murderer. A power-hungry hypocrite. He was everything you feared your friend would turn into. And therefore, a big part of you was still in denial. You didn't want Dream to be your old friend. You wanted it to be anyone but him. You didn't want to face the fact that Dream was so corrupted, he was beyond saving. You couldn't do anything for him anymore. It was like your only purpose had gotten taken away from you. Snatched right for your very eyes.

   Dream had used you. He had taken advantage of you, turned you into someone you weren't. Did he even care about you? Did he still love you like he had done when you were teenagers? Or had you lost him for good?

-

   It didn't take long before you found him. In fact, it was like a magnetic force had pulled you straight toward him. You didn't even have to look at your surroundings to know that Dream was standing on the roof of the tallest building in Manburg. And now that was ironic, cause you could've really used that ability 46 chapters ago.

   Walking up the stairs was almost torture. You could feel your heart pick up its pace, could feel yourself getting more sick with every step. It took forever, yet it felt like you got up there within the blink of an eye. The wind was very strong on the roof. It constantly sent shivers down your spine and made your hands seek warmth in your pockets. Your hair was moving uncontrollably in the wind, and you tugged it behind your ears to get a proper look at Dream, who was standing at the edge, looking at the chaos beneath him with a proud smile. But that smile soon disappeared when he felt the presence behind him.

   As for you, your body reacted far worse than you had expected it to. You felt your heart drop to your stomach. You felt your blood run cold and felt how the simple task of breathing suddenly became demanding. All, just by the sight of his tall figure.

   Even his stance was exactly like back then. How come you hadn't noticed that before?

   You didn't need Dream to confirm anything anymore, because at that second you knew. It was like you saw him with a whole new pair of eyes, saw him as a whole different person, and you knew it was him. Your friend was right in front of you.

   And just like that, tears started rolling down your face uncontrollably. You aggressively tried wiping them away before Dream turned around, but they wouldn't stop. They just kept going.

   Dream slowly turned around, his mouth falling open in shock when he saw you. He hadn't expected you to wake up this soon, and he most certainly hadn't expected George to let you go.

   You thought his expression would then fold back into his usual, cold one but instead, it turned into a nervous frown. He didn't know you knew his secret yet, but he knew he needed to talk with you. What had happened in the van was still carved into his head. He had realized his mistake, and he wanted to make up for it one way or another. He wanted to make you right again. Turn you back into the person you were before he filled you with his lies.

   And the only way he could possibly do that, was by feeding you with even more lies. Lies, to cover up the lie he had already made. He had thought of a plan that would explain to you how Schlatt wasn't the one who killed your friend, and without telling you that he was your friend either. Little did he know that ship had already sailed.

   He had wanted to talk with you in George's house after Manburg had gotten blown up, but this rooftop worked perfectly fine as well. As long as it was somewhere the people fighting against Technoblade weren't able to see the two of you.

   Once you had gathered up enough courage, you decided to ask your first question. The question you needed to know the answer to, before you said anything else. "Did I... Did I kill him?" Your nose began running and Dream noticed how your voice was trembling. "Was it me?"

   Dream made his way over to you, but you stepped the same amount of steps back as he took forth. He stopped. Slowly shook his head. "Schlatt? No, (Y/n), you didn't. He died from a heart attack."

   You let out a sigh of relief, a whole ton of weight getting lifted from your shoulders - but that didn't mean it helped the other 99 still resting on them.

   You heard distant voices desperately screaming Techno's name, but they soon got drowned out by Dreams voice. Whenever he spoke, you couldn't hear anything else but the words of a person you used to love so much it hurt.

   "(Y/n), I need to tell you something-" Dream started. He stepped closer, and this time you let him.

   You held a hand up. It was shaking vividly, and it wasn't because of the cold. "Don't." Your fragile voice spoke. It sounded like it could break any second. "I already know."

   Dream rose a brow, but you weren't able to see. He felt pearls of sweat appearing on his forehead and his heart skipped a beat. "You know what?"

   And by seeing your reaction, he figured it out. When he saw the look in your eyes, looking at him like you had used to before all of this, he knew. He knew that you saw right through his mask, and you recognized the face under it. His arms fell motionless to his sides.

   "I-It's you... Isn't it?" You cried, voice cracking. You weren't able to control the sadness and agony that was now overwhelming you. That made you want to curl up into a ball and cry for eternity. Because by saying those words, it all suddenly became true. The horrifying truth became reality. And you couldn't bear it.

   It was him. It always had been. And look what he had turned into.

   Dream didn't know what to say. He clenched his jaw and fists for them not to start shaking. He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't prepared for you to know.

   "It is." You whispered, still trying to convince yourself. Your hands found their way to your hair. You started pulling it harshly as a way to cope. "I've been so blind..."

   Dream was beyond confused. He didn't know what to. He doubted that his frozen body would obey him even if he did. And he was scared. He didn't know how you would react once the shock was over. Would you embrace him and refuse to ever let him go again? Or would you try to kill him for everything he's put you through? Either way, he knew he couldn't lie himself out of this one. There was no point in making matters worse. "H-How long have you known?"

   The pain in his voice hit you hard. You shook your head rapidly, eyes pinched so hard that it made your head hurt. You didn't know what to say or what to do. Your body couldn't even begin to register all the feelings or thoughts that were appearing and disappearing in your mind at the speed of light.

   You kept your eyes closed because you knew that once you opened them, you would face him. And you weren't ready for that. You did a couple of breathing exercises, trying to calm yourself down. To pull yourself together. And finally, you managed to open them, only for your blurry eyes to be met by Dream's stupid mask. You only asked him one word, but it was enough to break both of your hearts.

   "Why?"

   Dream's heart was beating fast and his eyes were betraying his usual cold facade by tearing up too. You weren't able to see, but you didn't need to. You could hear it all in his broken voice. "I was trying to protect you."

   Guilt and so many other feelings he's never felt before were consuming him. When Dream had seen you again for the first time a few months ago, he had been able to play it off. But now that you knew who he was, it was different. He couldn't hold any of his feelings back anymore, and they were hitting him hard.

   "No. You were trying to protect your title. Your power." Even saying the words broke your heart.

   And you were half-right. Power had always been important to Dream. It was the reason he had left you in the first place. He had kept his mouth shut for your safety but also so no one would have anything on him. Loving people was the greatest weakness of them all. The secret behind his success was to use people's attachments against them. He couldn't let anyone do the same thing to him.

   And you knowing his true identity now, made that weakness even bigger.

   He knew what he had to do, even though it hurt. It was for your safety as well, not just his own.

   This was the only way.

   "You almost made me kill someone." You whispered to yourself. "I would've done it. I-I was so close to-" Your voice died out, leaving room to cry even more.

   "I stopped you." He desperately reminded, trying to convince you, as well as himself, that he wasn't a bad guy. He could bear with you hating Dream, but he couldn't bear with you hating him. He didn't want the relationship he's once had with you to die. It was all he had. "I didn't mean to hurt you in any way. I didn't think you would go as far to..."

   "To what, get revenge?" You let out a hurtful laugh. Your fists were shaking in anger, and you had to use all of your willpower in order not to punch him. "You were everything to me! And you led me to believe that Schlatt killed you! How did you expect me to react!?"

   Dream reached out for your hands, but you didn't let him touch you. "You don't care about anyone but yourself, Dream! You've turned into the most selfish and sadistic person I've ever met! I don't even know you anymore!"

   "(Y/n), please listen-"

   "How could you just stand by and watch as I slowly lost my mind!? Do you even know what I went through because of you? What all of my friends went through? All that bullshit that led me to think you cared about me. I can't believe I've been so stupid! So naive!"

   Dream's heart stopped. He was losing you despite his attempts to hold onto you. "I never stopped caring, (Y/n)! Ever! I always used you as a focal point, I always kept you close to me so I didn't lose sight of who I am. I never meant to hurt you, (Y/n), believe me! Remember what I said, about how I've never taken anyone's last life? It was all because of you, because I didn't want to let you down and-"

   "You know, it's funny." You slowly uttered, shutting him up. You looked at the ground, eyes wide. His words meant nothing to you anymore. "All I ever wanted was to see you again. It was my only goal for so long. But now that I finally have, I feel like you've never been further away."

   "Don't-"

   "You were right in a way." You said monotonously. Your tear-stream had come to an end. "You did die. You died the second I let you go, five years ago."

   Dream's voice was shaking. "No, no, you're only saying that because you're confused. I'm right here, (Y/n). And I promise everything will be okay. We'll fix this, okay? Everything can be like it was before! We could be together again, live together! Just like you always wanted! I can be better, I- I can be good. You just have to give me some time to finish all of this, then we'd-"

   "I hate you,"

   And with that, Dream stopped shaking. Stopped crying, stopped breathing. Emotionless, he looked through his inventory until he found a black cloth. It appeared into his hands, and he returned his gaze to look at you.

   "Don't worry, I'm going to fix everything." He assured, before using advantage of your shocked state to take a hold of the back of your head and pressed the cloth to your mouth and nose, blocking your airways.

   Your eyes widened as you tried pushing his hands away, but it was too late. You had already inhaled whatever cloth was soaked in, and it was now in your system. Your eyes flickered confusedly around as your knees went weak, your legs refusing to support you anymore. You fell to the ground, and Dream caught you.

   "What... What are you-" You tried, but Dream hushed you. He looked around as to make sure you were still alone. The screams from the podium had come to an end. It was almost time.

   "You'll be alright. We'll be alright. I'm sorry," He whispered. With your last bit of strength, you reached a weak hand up to his mask and took it off. He didn't stop you.

   And the last thing you saw before your vision turned black, was the familiar pair of green eyes, you've once been so in love with.

   Once Dream knew you had lost consciousness, he let out a shaky breath, trying to get a hold of his emotions. He's always hated crying. Ever since he left you, he's always hated showing any emotion at all actually, and it was almost scary how you had the ability to make all of those feelings he thought he had hidden well-away, overwhelm him just like that.

   He picked you up and began to carry you bridal-style.

   And then a loud BOOM was heard in the distance, followed by many others. A chain reaction. Manburg was blowing up around him.

   Dream would continue to set fire to the world around him. This conversation hadn't changed that. But he knew he would never let a flame touch you, even so.

   He jumped off the roof. He was going to take you home.

   He was going to fix everything with you, while still maintaining all of his power. Wilbur had just done his part of the deal. Tubbo, a young boy who was easy to manipulate, had just become president. He couldn't let that go to waste, even if he did love you. He still had a secret reason behind all of this. And he wasn't going to stop any time soon.

   He still needed a plan so your friends wouldn't come looking for you though. Dream was the last person they had seen you with, they'd easily figure out he'd taken you somewhere. And if there was something Dream didn't like, it was resistance.

   So, therefore...

   (Y/n) (L/n) tragically lost her last life in the explosion of Manburg when she so heroically had been on her way to stop Wilbur. Dream had rushed to her side, did everything he could to save her, but it had been too late.

   The smile returned to Dream's face. Now that was a lie he could work with.

(Epic music starts playing in the distance)

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