If Sans Undertale can bleed then Sans Nightmare can bleed. Idc if you say it's ketchup not today buckaroo.

You all better be looking after yourselves while we're in quarantine or I will aggressively pat your head. I love all of you. Brush your teeth while in quarantine. This is a request from Emeraldgaze18 and I hope you like it :)

Nightmare sighed. Dream wasn't home at the moment, he was out on his crazy adventures with Ink and Blueberry doing god knows what. Hopefully he doesn't bring back another sword. Nightmare shuddered at the thought. He usually didn't mind the loneliness- he was used to it by now and he actually kind of enjoyed the solitude.

Yet Nightmare can't explain why he felt a pang of sadness and emptiness clawing at him. He blinked, glancing around the living room, eyes searching for something that wasn't there. He missed Dream. It had only been half an hour however that was still long enough to lower Nightmare's spirits.

Dream was his only source of light at this point. Everyone pretty much hated him- hell he'd even seen Ink give him a subconscious glare before realising and apologising sheepishly. So it made sense he'd want Dream to be around at all times- he needed a light to help him fight off the darkness that desperately tried to slither its way into his mind- tried to envelop him.

The loneliness was killing him.

Sighing once again, Nightmare begrudgingly stepped towards the window, peering through. It was a beautiful day outside as Dream would say. Nightmare didn't so much as care if the sun was out. It hurt his eyes.

He could make out the pleasant song of birds chirping, watching with small wonder as a few flew past the window gracefully. It made him smile slightly. His eyes drifted down to the grass, admiring all of the blooming flowers of pinks and yellows. He liked flowers. It was the perfect weather for a game of catch-

Nightmare frowned, his mood dampening almost instantly. Dream's not here. Can't play catch.

He was becoming restless, overwhelmed with the feeling of isolation. Sparing one last glimpse outside, Nightmare trudged towards the kitchen, eyes focused on the refrigerator. He was hungry. With an almost harsh pull, the fridge door swung open, revealing the contents. The first thing Nightmare noticed was the severe lack of apple juice. Both brothers loved regular apples- especially apple juice. If it was anything else, Nightmare wouldn't care so much. 

But he knew how much his brother loved apple juice and the image of a sad Dream when he realised they were all out of the delicious beverage was enough to make him clench his teeth. He needed to get more for Dream's sake.

But that means going outside on his own. Into the village.

Fear pricked at the back of Nightmare's mind, hopelessly trying to tell him this was a bad idea- the villagers would torment him without Dream there.

'Dream can get apple juice himself when he returns,' his mind tried to desperately reason with him. 'He won't mind at all, he likes to enter the village.'

Nightmare tried to suppress the low growl he could feel coming. "I don't want to see that distraught face when Dream discovers there's no apple juice. I'll just go and buy us some." he mumbled to himself.

Deep down, he knew this was stupid. He was going to risk his sanity and safety for some apple juice.

But it was for Dream.

Taking a deep breath, Nightmare shut the fridge door with a little less force than when he opened it and turned away, slowly making his way towards the front door. He couldn't believe he was going to do this to himself. He opened the door, taking his time as he stepped outside, the cool breeze sending a chill down his spine. Ignoring the nagging fear within, Nightmare hesitantly began to tread towards the distant village.

He tried not to think about the villagers, instead, choosing to focus his interest on the many butterflies that fluttered elegantly around the pretty flowers. The small smile from before returned to Nightmare's face as he paused momentarily to stare in awe. A few peaceful minutes passed before he tore his eyes away from the sight, resuming his trek to the village.

It didn't take long to get there Nightmare realised. 'Less than an hour' he mused. Usually it'd take him and Dream an hour or more to arrive, but then Nightmare recalls how Dream would get distracted quite often. 

He didn't realise Dream intentionally made Nightmare focus on other things.

Nightmare closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm himself before properly entering the village. Of course, the villagers noticed him instantly- the dark aura wasn't undetectable. He tried to ignore them as best as he could- ignore the glares, block out the whispers, stay calm.

Nightmare realises it becomes increasingly hard to do all that when you're forcefully pushed against the jagged edges of a brick wall. His eyes go wide and he sputters in surprise, staring uneasily at his attackers. A tall wolf monster and two smaller ones beside it, their arms folded and teeth bared aggressively. Behind, a group of villagers begin to form, watching intently.

Nightmare's breath hitched as the wolf pushed him harder into the wall, pain evident in his expression. The wolf smirked, towering over its prey.

"Strange to see you all by yourself out here, Nightmare." The wolf snarled, venom dripping off its tongue as his name was spoken. Nightmare shivered, unresponsive.

By now the crowd of villagers had rapidly grown, some of the monsters grinning and others remaining grim. No one wanted to help.

"Why did you come here?" The wolf growled lowly, seething. "You're not welcome here."

Nightmare let out a small whimper, unable to answer. His mind was racing and he could feel the familiar feeling of tears pricking at the edge of his eye-sockets. 'Should've stayed home' he thought to himself pitifully. 'I couldn't even do that right'.

The hostile wolf seemed to grow frustrated with the silence, firmly grabbing Nightmare's arms and yanking him forwards, causing the skeleton to stumble to the ground, a choked sob escaping him. The wolf snickered, crouching down and fiercely lifting his face up to glare down into wide, watery eyes. The other two wolves beside grinned devilishly, stepping forwards to peer down at the agitated Nightmare.

One of them snatched his crown, inspecting it with a sneer before hurling it at the ground. No damage was done much to the wolf's dismay however it was now dirtied, making Nightmare sniffle.

The bigger wolf eyed the crown before shifting his focus back to the defenceless skeleton, smiling wickedly.

"It's a good thing Dream isn't here, is it?"

Nightmare cried. The wolf let out a maniacal laugh, proudly admiring it's sharpened claws before pulling his arm back and swinging viciously. Nightmare managed to put his arms up in a last defence, shielding his skull. The wolf easily razored through his midnight-purple attire, cutting into the bone and drawing blood. Nightmare yelped and released a tormented wail.

The crowd watched the barbaric act, not interfering. He deserved it. He's the reason for their nightmares and fear, right?

The three wolves howled and cackled in amusement, glaring down at the wounded skeleton.

"Dream doesn't deserve such a pitiful, weak, twisted brother as yourself." The tall wolf barked, kicking Nightmare in the side. Nightmare instinctively curled up, wheezing in agony.

'You deserve this' Nightmare told himself, clenching his teeth to prevent himself from sobbing. 'They're right- You know they are.' 

The wolf's cynical cackling increased in volume, pulling his arm back to throw a punch. Nightmare shut his eyes tightly, succumbing to his attackers and waiting helplessly for the pain to hit him.

It never came.

A few agonising seconds passed before Nightmare timidly opened his eyes, widening at what he saw.

"Dream?" He stammered.

There Dream stood, grasping the tall wolf's arm in such a tight hold it made him howl in pain. Dream's eyes were black and empty, his grip never loosening. Nightmare could only watch. 

Dream stared at the wolf with his empty eye-sockets. it was unnerving. He moved with ominously slow speed, until he was right in front of the whining wolf. 

"Dream!" The wolf stuttered, his eyes avoiding the glowering skeleton at all cost. "I didn't realise you were here." He nervously laughed.

Silence.

The wolf gulped, trembling slightly. He had no reason to be fearful, he was much stronger and could easily overpower the skeleton, right? But this is Dream. If he laid one hand on the skeleton he'd be resented by the villagers. He didn't want to know what it must be like to be hated by everyone. His eyes flickered to Nightmare.

The eerie silence stretched on until Dream spoke, his voice tainted with bitterness. 

"Don't you dare touch my brother ever again." 

Before the wolf could even register what was said, Dream swung his fist at the wolf's jaw. Everyone's eyes widened in shock- Dream had never displayed such hatred before. The wolf whimpered, falling to the ground before clumsily pulling itself up, skittering away with a whine.

The other two wolves could only stare, dumbfounded. The wolf that had previously thrown the golden crown on the ground gave a harsh glare at Nightmare, about to say something snarky before he let out a cry of distress. Ink had jumped out of seemingly nowhere and whacked his massive paintbrush on the wolf. The wolf wasted no time escaping, rushing through the crowd of monsters and disappearing from sight.

The other wolf was frozen, watching as Blueberry stormed out from where he was hiding.

"You're a really mean wolf, mister!" The small skeleton exclaimed, throwing a bone at it's face. The wolf yelped, turning on its heel and darting away. Blueberry grinned proudly.

Dream's sight lingered on the last wolf before he turned back towards Nightmare, bolting forwards and crouching down, tears building up in his eye-sockets and overflowing, a dull yellow light returning to his eyes.

"Night, are you okay?" He choked out.

Nightmare's eyes were wide and fearful as he stared at his weeping brother before lilac tears began to flood out of his own eye-sockets. He could only whimper.

Dream broke down then and there, leaning forwards and gently wrapping his injured brother in a warm, comforting embrace. Dream's sobs broke Nightmare's heart. 'This wouldn't be happening if you just stayed at home' his mind yelled. 'Look at the mess you've made.'

Ink and Blueberry exchanged looks, unsure of what to do. 

"Hey Dream, me and Blue are going to go now." Ink eventually spoke softly. "Bye."

Ink knew he wouldn't get a response so he simply sighed, grabbing his paintbrush and painting a portal to Underswap.

"Let's go, Blue." He mumbled, jumping into the portal with Blueberry.

The crowd of villagers gradually began to disperse until it was only Dream and Nightmare. 

"I'm so sorry." Nightmare whispered, eyes still wide and tears still streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls. "I'm so sorry." He repeated.

Dream gazed down at his brother in melancholy. Why is he sorry?

"You haven't done anything wrong, Night." Dream managed to choke out, voice wavering.

Nightmare closed his eyes, guilty thoughts clouding his mind. 'You're the reason he's sobbing like this.'

Dream snivelled, wiping away some of his tears and looking down at Nightmare worriedly. His breathing had quickened and more tears were cascading down his cheeks. Dream gently wiped away the lilac tears, only for them to return like a never-ending waterfall.

"Please stop crying brother." Dream murmured, sniffling. He hated seeing Nightmare so woeful. His eyes shifted to the blood that had stained the dark purple of his clothes. Dream shakily stood to his feet, scooping up Nightmare in his arms carefully in the process, teleporting them away from the village.

When Nightmare opened his eyes, he noted how they were now in their bathroom. Dream placed Nightmare down, leaning him against the bathtub so that he was propped up. Hastily, Dream opened the first-aid cabinet, tears never stopping. He searched around the cabinet with trembling hands, grabbing bandages, some disinfectant and a cloth.

He closed the cabinet and knelt down besides Nightmare.

"Night, are you able to take off your jacket?" Dream asked, his voice cracking slightly. Nightmare felt a pang of sadness hit him as he heard the voice crack.

"yeah." He mumbled quietly, before squinting in pain when he tried to move his arms. "no."

Despite everything, Dream couldn't help let out the smallest breath of laugh. Nightmare noticed and a small grin etched its way onto his face. Dream assisted Nightmare in removing the purple jacket, leaving him in a short sleeve shirt thankfully safe from blood. Dream tossed the article of clothing in the sink, muttering something about washing it later before opening the disinfectant, pouring a good amount onto the cloth.

"This might sting a little." Dream spoke apologetically. Nightmare simply blinked in response. Taking a shaky breath, Dream began to rub the cloth onto the wounds, earning a hiss from his brother. 

"Sorry." Dream mumbled.

Nightmare remained quiet, letting Dream rub the disinfectant on his arm before he switched to the next arm. Once he'd cleaned both wounds, he grabbed the bandages, beginning to securely wrap them around the wounds.

Nightmare sighed, glancing up at Dream with sad eyes. 

"I'm sorry." Nightmare said, voice barely above a whisper. Dream furrowed his non-existent eyebrows, giving his brother a perplexed expression. 

"Why are you sorry?" He asked, tilting his head. Nightmare looked down before speaking. "I shouldn't have gone into the village alone."

Dream's frown deepened. "It's not your fault this happened, Night." He voiced softly. "Why were you in the village, anyway?"

Nightmare decided against telling Dream it was because they were out of apple juice and he didn't want to see Dream's sad face.

"I can't remember."

Dream hummed thoughtfully, continuing to wrap the bandages around the first arm before moving onto the next one. Both their tears had halted, but the sadness remained. Nightmare gazed at his arms before looking towards his brother, thinking about how lucky he was to have Dream as his brother. Tears once again pooled in his eye-sockets. 'You don't deserve someone as great as Dream as your sibling.'

Dream finished with the bandages and surveyed his work, nodding in approval then proceeding to heave himself up, putting away disinfectant and bandages and tossing the cloth into the sink. He'd wash it later.

"I don't deserve you." Nightmare stated, the tears that had built up in his eye-sockets eventually spilling. Dream's eyes widened slightly. He crouched down again, facing Nightmare and forcing him to look at him.

"I don't ever want to hear you say that again." Dream stammered, though his tone serious. "You deserve much more than just me. What you don't deserve is all the abuse the villagers give you. You've done absolutely nothing wrong to them and yet they despise you and blame everything on you but you don't deserve it!" Dream cried out, tears returning. He didn't mean for his voice to grow louder.

"Nightmare I love you, you're the best brother I could ever ask for and I don't know what I'd do without you!" He sobbed, hugging his brother close. Nightmare weakly returned the hug, closing his eyes and letting his tears flow freely. They stayed like that for a while, releasing all of the hurt and sorrow.

Finally, Nightmare broke the silence. "I love you too, Dream." He whispered, smiling through his tears as he pulled away from the hug. Dream felt himself smile too and let out a fit of broken laughter, still sobbing as he pulled Nightmare in for another hug. Nightmare exhaled.

His smile fell- though he didn't let Dream see. There was a growing emptiness within him and it was beginning to scare him. He wouldn't tell Dream.

Not yet, at least. They both needed time to calm down and fix things. For now, they'll just stay in each others company until there are no more tears to shed.

--End--