"Lie to yourself all the time..."
"It makes you feel better..."

•
.
.

A quiet knock sounded from the door.
"Brother, are you up yet?"

Nightmare rolled over, groaning. His brother, Dream, quietly opened the door and walked over to his bed.

"Brother? Are you awake?" he repeated softly. Another tired moan came as a response. "No, I'm Nightmare."

Dream chuckled as he forced Nightmare off of the bed.

------------------

As Dream slowly ate a blueberry muffin while Nightmare crunched on some cereal, he decided to tell Nightmare of his evil plan. "So... Since it is our day of birth tomorrow, I decided we should have a birthday party here! Like, hang out and such." Nightmare froze, dropping his spoon in his bowl subconsciously and splashing milk on the table. "Brother!" Dream scolded, getting up to grab a paper towel. "Nope, we are not going to have a 'party' here," Nightmare said, exaggerating his words. Dream came back with the paper towel and wiped the milk up, throwing it into the trash can after. He sighed, knowing this would happen. But what he thought was a... a bit more exaggerated. "Come on now, what's the worst that could happen?"

Nightmare shrugged sarcastically. "You said the same thing when you asked me if Ink could come over. " he argued. Dream sighed once more. "I don't even know how that happened. One minute he says he's going to wash his hands, the next he's by the stove with a fire in a pan with even some fresh wet hands."

Nightmare finished up his cereal and dumped the bowl and spoon in the sink. He started to quietly head for the stairs, which were a bit far from the kitchen. The stairs were in front of the living room in a long spiral, which Nightmare hated, with the foyer behind them. The office, two bathrooms, and the spare bedroom were to the right of the stairs while the kitchen and the dining room were to the left. But as Nightmare was a step out of the kitchen, Dream asks, "So what do you think, Nightmare, Brother?". Nightmare freezes midstep and turns 90°. Dream started scrubbing the dishes and washing them, not looking at him. He sighed. "Fine. But it's just going to be a meet and greet and leave, got it?" Dream chuckled. "Sure, Nightmare. Sure."

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A little after, Dream sent a message to one of his friends, Outer. Outer Sans Mi was a chill person. He liked to talk but is very cryptic and mysterious. He likes to crack a joke or two and has an electric buzzer on his hand just in case to greet a new friend.

You: Heya, Outer!

A few minutes later, you get a response.

Outer: Need something, Dream?

You: I was wondering if you have any plans this weekend, more specifically tomorrow.

Outer: I'm free. I don't have much to do.

Dream smiled.

You: That's great! Tomorrow is Nightmare and I's birthday. Would you like to come?

Outer: Sure, I'm down.

You: Great! Can't wait to see you there!

Dream closed the text conversation and started with the others. All but two couldn't make it. Dust said that they were going out with Swap for their third date.

You: That's alright! Treat lil' Blue well! ;)

After getting everyone noticed about the event, Dream turned off his phone and started going downstairs to prepare lunch. It was his turn today, so he headed for the stairs, but heard the faint sound of something hitting...something... Dream wasn't sure. So when he looked to his left toward the kitchen, he was pretty shocked to see Nightmare pouring some cereal in a bowl of milk. Dream walked over to ask what he was doing. "Brother- Why are you-?" Nightmare interrupted. "Don't give me that, 'the cereal is supposed to come first' shiz," he said. "I can do it if I want and when I want. Milk goes first so that when the cereal gets poured in second, only a few of the pieces of cereal get splashed and covered in soggy milk," He continued. Dream couldn't speak, for Nightmare was so stuck on this one subject he could go on for an hour if he pushed it. "This makes the ratio of the cereal that's not covered in milk compared to the ones that are covered in milk larger in number. And I like the cereal dry with milk with it. So with this logic, I can eat my cereal with no soggy cereal pieces in a longer amount of time."

...

Dream blinked. "Brother... I was just going to ask why you were eating cereal during lunch."

...

"Oh."

"Well, that's just a whole 'nother can of worms..." Nightmare grumbled. "And it's because you didn't come down for your turn with lunch. You were supposed to get the sandwich stuff a while ago. What were you even doing up there for the past 2 hours?"

Dream chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "Heh heh... I... was busy on my phone," he said. Nightmare sighed. "I thought you- nevermind, just go pour yourself your own bowl of cereal."

Dream laughed. "Of course, Brother... of course."

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"I thought there was going to be food..." Horror whined, exaggerating his tone. Papyrus smiled. "Do not fret, brother! We don't need food! I want to see the birthday children!"

Nightmare gave him a look. "You know we're older than you, right? We are literally turning 19." Dream swatted his arm lightly. "Don't be rude, Nightmare!"

The other shrugged. "I wasn't being rude, I was just telling him." Dream sighed, then smiled at Horror and Papyrus. "I can go get some food if you want." Papyrus beamed. "Really?!" "Sure. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Dream said, before getting up and walking over to the door. "Don't forget the keys, Brother!" "I got it, Nightmare!"

"'Dream seems like a nice person! Wait, was that his name, brother? Or was that Nightmare?" Horror chuckled. "Yeah, that was Dream right here. Over there is Nightmare." Horror gestured in the direction of Nightmare. Papyrus waved at him. "Hello, sir Nightmare! It is very nice to meet you!" Nightmare gave an awkward wave back, then looked at Horror to give a, 'what the hell do I do?' look at him. Horror just smirked evilly back at him, as if saying, "figure it out yourself." 'I didn't major in sociability, you ass.' Nightmare thought.

As Papyrus continued talking to Nightmare, it turns out that Swap insisted to go to the "party" instead, which Dust was completely okay with. (He didn't like going to fancy places, anyway.). So it was at this time the non-official couple arrived. Swap immediately ran over to Horror and asked where Dream was. He had wanted to talk to him, but he said that he hadn't seen him. Horror empathetically insisted on giving him a text to ask where he was. Swap appreciated that, as he calmly walked back to Dust.

"So how are you enjoying yourself, Blue?" Dust asked, smirking at the sight of him. He sighed. "We haven't even been here for half an hour, yet, Dust." The other smiled. "And don't think that I forgot about that conversation we had inside, Dust!" Swap said. "YOU NEED TO STOP LEAVING YOUR LAUNDRY ON THE FLOOR! THAT WON'T MAKE IT ANY CLEANER!"

Dust chuckled. "Of course, bro-"
...
Oh, have I mentioned this? That word was a... A very touchy word, and both knew that.

Silence stretches between the two. After somewhat of a minute past, Swap sucked up some courage to defeat his nervousness and said, "Well, erm... I... I-I am going to go speak with Outer. "

"Yeah..." Dusk said, tilting his head down to look at the other's feet, stuffing his hands deep in his pockets. "...Dust?" "Yeah, Blue?" he sighed deeply. "I-...I'm sorry if I upset you sometimes with my similar... Personality... and I do not know if you are in the slightest comfortable with me being around, and-" Dust immediately sprung his head up, taking his hands out and grabbing one of Swap's. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-! I-I'm sorry, I'm just really emotional- that's my fault, I-..." he rushed. Swap looked back at him with a sympathetic look on his face. Dust flinched, then sighed, letting go. "I'll go hang out on the couch, I'll see you later, k, Baby Blue?"

"Sure... Yes, of course..." Blue said, making his way out of the foyer.

---------------

"C' mon, Broomy, don't be scared!" Ink comforted his paintbrush friend as he got out of his car. He was busy petting and saying kind and encouraging words to Broomie when he bumped into Frisk. "Oh! Heya, Core!" he greeted. Frisk smiled. "Hello. Nice to see you again, Ink." She looked down to see Broomie in Ink's hand, his hand carefully wrapped around them in a tight but comforting, (if it even had feelings), fist. Ink followed her gaze and giggled. "That's just Broomy hanging out, they wanted to come as well! So I brought them with me to the party. Broomy, why don't you say 'hi'?"

Ink liked to talk to his paintbrush as if they were a human being, similar to how a person would treat their dog.
...
I think it would be better to compare it to how a person would treat their pet rock.

Nonetheless, Frisk smiled and waved at them. "Heya, Broomie," she said. Ink smiled at that, but it seemed more of an awkward smile than a genuine smile.

"So are we gonna come inside or what?" Frisk laughed. Ink perked his head up. "Oh yeah! Su-"

His sentence was interrupted when they heard a car pulling up to the driveway. Ink immediately started waving at them, only to have no response back. Turns out Error had arrived, and he was now getting out of his car. He started walking up the walkway when he saw Frisk. They stared at each other for a second before Error tilted his head."Heya, Frisk." He said threateningly, giving a good glare at them. Frisk flinched. They were a bit afraid of Error, but they tried to play cool. "Hello, Error. It's nice to see you again."

Error tugged his hoodie, (y-yes, his hoodie. I am tired of everyone not respecting Error's new clothing but it best fits this time and place), over his head and grabbed Ink's wrist, grumbling something that Frisk heard as, "Bullshit..."

...Error would murder Frisk Grey Core.

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Swap casually chatted with Horror when the topic of Error sneaked its way into the conversation and Outer mentioned something about him. "You met Error once, right?" He asked. Swap nodded. "I'm friends with him, actually! Error is nice to be around with, and he is also pals with my boyfriend Dust, so we really enjoy each other!" Outer looked surprised for a second. "Woah, that's surprising. I heard and can tell that he doesn't like being around people; how did you guys meet?" Swap opened his mouth to respond when he heard the door open. He was excited that more guests had arrived and started to walk over and greet them when he heard grumbling and intense talking from there. Swap peeked from the stairs to see Frisk between the outside and the mansion still in the doorframe with Ink and Error. He saw him grip Ink's wrist until retracting it quickly, looking like he was mumbling something to Ink. Ink laughed and turned to Frisk, speaking to them as Error shuffled away. He spotted Swap and waved at him, making his way over.

Swap smiled excitedly and hugged his friend tightly. "Heya, Error! How are you?" they asked. Error froze for a second before awkwardly hugging back- no, not even a hug. He just clutched his shirt is a weird way. In my book, that's not a hug. (whoops I broke character *ahem*)

Blue finally let go as Error let out a big sigh of relief.

"Hey, Swap." Error greeted, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"What were you and Ink talking about?" Swap asked, trying to strike up a conversation. "Oh-Oh, nothing important. Just quick chatting." Blue smiled. "Would you mind if I spoke with him for some time?" Error shrugged. "Sure, go ahead." Blue's smiled widened as he waved goodbye at Error and ran off to find Ink.
-----------------
"Dude, noooo... no, you didn't...!" Cross laughed. "Oh, I totally did!" Killer replied proudly.

"How did you even get away with it without at least a broken bone?"

"Well, simple!" Killer said matter-of-factly. "I blamed it all on Dream! Ink would never hurt Dream in a million years!" Cross laughed. "Even if he really was the one who broke his little paintbrush?" Killer pushed him. "I told you, it was another! It wasn't his, what was it, *ahem*..." Killer put up his hands as they stood at the entrance of the mansion and raised two fingers, making quotation marks. "'Broomy-'"

Someone opened the door as the two good friends began a laughing fit. "Oh, hello Cross; Killer. C'mon, get inside. You can laugh all you want and not disturb the neighboring homes."

Cross gave a playful glare at Frisk. "First of all, those houses are, like, what, a football yard away? They wouldn't hear us unless we screamed bloody murder at the top of our lungs."

Frisk smirked. "Well if you laughing asses are going to hang out here all day, that's fine by me." Frisk pretended to look at someone inside and call, "They won't come in. Oh, hey, could you give me some of that chocolate over there?" Frisk couldn't hold back her widening smirk as the two looked at her.

"Show us the way." they said in sync.
-----------------
Nightmare turned on the TV to soothe his boredom. But almost like on cue, a news report set on. "69 news live to you, here to deliver your 6:09 news." the lady said. Nightmare rolled his eyes, tuning out everything the lady said until something caught his attention. "... a very severe-looking snowstorm is on its way at these locations." At first, Nightmare didn't think any of it... Until he heard their town name. "... L E A F Goggle, AU Alternate, NightKill Empire..."

Nightmare's eyes widened. His head flicked to the TV. "Right now, we are expecting a very dangerous 5 feet of snow and advise not to be outside at around 8 P.M. Driving is not recommended, for the snow would be very thick and icy and could cause accidents. We can agree that this is an unusual amount of snow, but our weather forecasters say that this is most likely to happen. Back to you, Jim." Nightmare could beat the Flash in a race to get to his phone and dial Dreams' number. "C' mon... C'mon...!" Nightmare grumbled under his breath. The ringing was getting to his head. Right now it was 6 o'clock and the grocery store was about an hour away because of how far their mansion was from civilization to have peace. Well, at least the grocery store Dream liked to go to was.

Finally, someone picked up. "He-?"

"Dream, you gotta get home quick. There's a-"

"Wait-? What-? What's going on?"

Nightmare huffed. "Dream, there's a bad snowstorm coming at 8. By the time you should come back, you'll be covered in snow. So you gotta get back now."

"Nightmare, wait, I gotta finish up first-"
"WHO CARES ABOUT THE DAMN GROCERIES, JUST GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Nightmare yelled into the phone. Error, Ink, and Blue looked at Nightmare weirdly. And you could never believe the glare Horror gave as Papyrus gave a saddened look at Nightmare. "Ah- mm- gah- just get home quickly..." Nightmare stuttered more quietly.

"Okay, I'm checking the items out, I'll be home soon. " Dream said calmly.

--------------------------------------------

Nightmare started getting anxious as the minutes passed by him, flying and wooshing past him not saying a word or acknowledging his existence. Sweat formed on his forehead as the clock ticked. It had been probably an hour and Dream still wasn't home yet. Nightmare almost jumped and hissed like a cat when he heard someone yelling... Something. He couldn't hear.

He heard the door open and close, and, thinking it was Dream who had finally come back home, he ran over to the foyer, only to see Frisk leading Cross and Killer to who knows where. Nightmare was immediately disheartened, but as he was making his way back to the couch, the doorbell rang. Nightmare could beat Quicksilver in a race to reach the door. He opened it and there he was... Dream. Nightmare sighed of relief and ushered Dream inside. "You finally arrived." Nightmare breathed. "Heheh, sorry, I guess everyone was rushing to get back home, too." Nightmare raised an eyebrow as they reached the couch. "There was a traffic jam?"

"Yeah, it took, like, I don't know, at least half an hour to get through it?" Dream guessed, plopping himself comfortably on the couch.

Nightmare sighed once more. "I'm just glad your safe, Dreamy."

-----------------
As night neared, everybody one by one decided to go to bed.

Dust and Swap stared at each other before excusing themselves to the guest rooms.

And as night fell, it was expected that the snow was peacefully falling to the ground to pile up 5 feet from the ground.

...

But what wasn't expected was them to be trapped by what was presumed to be that very snow.

..............................................

MY GOSH, I AM SO HAPPY TO FINALLY PUBLISH THIS!

This was edging so close to 3000 words that it's my new record on word count. (2904), not including this note.

I hope I make chapters as long as this one but not take too long on them so I can publish quicker, but here is the prologue!

I hope you liked it, and the next chapter is (hopefully) coming when the first month of school is finished!

Thanks for reading!

~Jazz

(also this a/n made this surpass the 3000-word mark I'm so happy, it's literally at 3033).

*edit: August 20, 2019
Lol is this chapter too long? I'll make sure to make the others shorter if it is.