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"I had no idea this would happen- I'm sorry." He muttered, looking down at the floor.

"It's fine, just remember what I said, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Good." He flashed a sharp toothed grin as they passed by the all to familiar doors of the training room. Memories of him and Nightmare turning up there late flashed through Cross' mind, remembering how they'd come in to assess all their opponents. Opponents that were now all dead. All of them.

The three of them trekked through all the corridors, passing doors and rooms that sent Cross' body into flashback syndrome. Every step felt so familiar, like he was preparing for the Hunger Games all over again. It was strange, not a feeling he thought he'd feel so much remorse over.

The training room, the ranking hall, the stage where they had their interviews all those days ago. Around two weeks ago? He wasn't sure. It felt like months ago.

They stayed silent until they reached the penthouse door with the large number 12 imprinted on it in bold black font. Lust stepped in front of the two and cleared his throat, a soft yet sad smile on his face as he opened the door. "Welcome back, my champion."

Cross stepped through the door only to be pulled into a tight hug by someone he didn't have time to recognise. He yelped, his face being pushed into something soft and fluffy. It was pink hair. "Em?"

"Oh you had us so worried that whole time!" She said, pulling him into her chest.

"I- Ow- Watch the bandages--" He winced, stumbling back as Em instantaneously let go of him. "O-Oh I'm so sorry!" She said, pressing the palms of her hands together, I didn't think about that Cross."

"It's fine." He smiled weakly at her, earning one in response after. He let her guide him to the sofa where a pair of black shorts with white X's, a black polo top and loose white top were laid out. Upon seeing them he immediately grabbed them, a sigh of relief escaping him as he thanked Emily.

"No problem Cross, you can go into your room and get changed now if you want. We'll wait out here."

"Alright." He scooped them into his arms, giving a quick wave to the three adults before walking over to his room. He paused a second to look at the door to Nightmare's room before shaking his head and going into his one.

Everything was just as he left it, the grey walls, dark dresser, creaseless bed sheets and the bookshelf full of old novels. He trudged over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Quickly, he tore off the horrible hospital gown and pulled on his new ones, shivering at how soft they were.

He sunk down onto the bedsheets, his eyes closing and body slowly relaxing. It was the first time he'd felt like he could properly relax in weeks. Sure there had been the occasional time with Nightmare in that cave where he'd let his guard down, but he'd never fully relaxed to the point of feeling like nothing bad could happen to him. There had always been that thought itching in the back of his mind.

Sighing loudly, he stared blankly at the wall and yawned, sleep suddenly feeling like a really good idea.

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It was nearing eleven pm and Cross was still awake, his back pressed against a cool metal beam and his eyes fixated on the view in front of him. Em had shown him this really nice place at the front of the centre that had a large glass pane displaying the entire Capital.

Currently, all the lights were starting to flick on, illuminating the darkening sky and filling it with a warm glow. They looked almost like stars, except a lot closer and multicoloured. It was breathtaking to look at really.

Earlier he'd been dragged to some 'Therapy Room' where this overly perfumed lady talked in a hushed and whispered voice to him about how he could tell her anything he wanted too and that she was here to help emotionally etc. It had been tedious at first, but then he'd soon found himself pouring himself out to the woman without realising and almost breaking down. Honestly it had helped more than he thought it would, a sort of weight having been lifted off of his chest.

Pulling his legs up to his chest, Cross rested his chin on his bandaged knees and wrapped his arms tightly round them. Sitting here was so relaxing, giving him a chance to try forget the horrific events of the arena. He could have stayed there for hours upon hours, simply taking in the beautiful views.

"I was told I might find you here."

Cross whipped around, his eyes widening as he caught sight of who was leaning against the doorway in front of him.

Nightmare. He was covered in bandages like him, his bones actually looking white instead of their usual black with blue sheen. His ankles were now white, along with his hands, neck, left side of the skull and probably numerous other places that were hidden by his hoodie and shorts. He offered a lazy smirk at the smaller, tipping his head back. "Heya."

"Nightmare!" He jumped to his feet and ran over, shoving himself onto the taller and hugging him, his face digging into his chest.

"Someone's happy to see me." He snickered, his hands raised up in the air for a minute before he slowly let them down to wrap around Cross' waist and return the hug.

He didn't answer, content with being pressed up against the goopy octopus. Even when Nightmare started shuffling over to the large window Cross didn't let go, inching backwards with him slowly.

They sunk to the floor together, Cross finding himself pulled onto Nightmare's lap despite the few hisses of pain it earned. They kept their arms wrapped tightly around each other, Cross' face in his chest while Nightmare's rested in the crook of his neck.

"You look like shit..." Nightmare whispered softly, brushing a hand over Cross' skull playfully.

"So do you..." He mumbled back, running a finger down the bandages on Nightmare's neck.

"Thanks, sweetheart." He smirked as Cross' cheeks slowly darkened a little, his pupils wide and slightly sleepy looking. "You tired...?"

"Mh, no." He shook his head, sinking into Nightmare's embrace once more. "Just happy..."

"Happy? Wow, I'm not that impressive." He joked, rubbing gentle and slow circles on the smaller's back. "Shut up..." Was his response along with a lighthearted shove.

"I just got back from some therapy, you know." He hummed, resting his chin on his chest. "It was kind of awkward at first, not gonna lie."

"But then you opened up and poured your heart out?" Cross mumbled. "Same here."

"How'd you know?" Nightmare laughed softly and nuzzled him, taking note of how Cross already seemed like he was on the way to falling asleep. He gently pushed him off of his lap, finding the sleepy whines and protests he earned rather cute. "C'mon, you. You're practically falling asleep on my lap."

"Is that a bad thing?" He huffed.

"No, not really. But still, I think it would be best if we took the opportunity to actually sleep in a bed instead of on the rocky floor in a cave." He hauled himself to his feet, pulling Cross up with him after with a little difficulty. "Surely you can agree with that."

"I guess..." He stumbled after the dark skeleton as he pulled him out of the room and into the corridors. The two of them could barely walk straight for whatever reason, both giggling as they bumped into walls and doors every thirty seconds. Cross laughed every time they did so, clinging to Nightmare's arm and staggering along by his side.

When they eventually made it to their penthouse suite, Horror, Lust, Emily and Kieran were all splayed out asleep on the couches, snoring. They drunkenly whispered "shh!" to each other every three seconds before Nightmare managed to trip over a fold in the carpet and go crashing to the floor.

They both whisper-screamed at each other, dragging the octopus off of the floor and pulling him to the familiar doors of their bedrooms.

Nightmare went to step over to his room, only to feel a tug on his wrist. He looked down, seeing Cross still gripping onto his sleeve. He looked up at him shyly biting his 'lip'. "Can you stay w-with me, please?"

The teen stared at the smaller for a few seconds before smirking and nodding, pushing the door to Cross' room open. "Alright then, I suppose there's no hurt in snuggling for a bit."

Smiling, Cross led him over to his bed, tossing the sheets back unceremoniously and flopping down on it, Nightmare following suit. The two immediately tangled limbs, their legs locking together and arms wrapped around each other. The smaller sighed happily, snuggling closer to his partner as he pulled the blanket up over them with his tentacles.

"Are you comfy?" Nightmare whispered, rubbing the back of Cross' skull softly and poking his nose.

"Mm, yeah..." He yawned, hiding his face in Nightmare's hoodie and closing his eyes. "Very comfy..."

"That's good."

Nightmare had at first planned on going to sleep in his own room after Cross fell asleep, but after ten minutes of silent debating while he snored softly into his chest, he decided that maybe staying would be nicer.

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I wrote two chapters in a day lmao

Ahahahahah sin tomorrow?

P o s s i b l y

:33333

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I hope you lieked the floof :D

-Jess-