A/n: just a quick message, if I stop updating the book, don't worry, I'll get to it once I can, I'm not in the best mental space right now. :( Enjoy the book tho! :D

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- Third person perspective -

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It was a pretty lively day for practically everyone. Everyone except for a certain someone..that someone..was dream. Yes, the famous dream. Now, if you saw how his day was going, you'd feel for the man. All of his friends, well,, george, sapnap, bad, and a few others..we're all busy. George, went to hang out with sapnap, and didn't invite him. bad went to hangout with skeppy.

And techno..well, you see, techno and dream usually got along. However, dream suddenly stopped talking to him entirely one day. Techno thought he had done something wrong, especially when him and dream ran into each other and he tried to say hello, but, dream walked away. Now, why dream had stopped talking to him, is unknown, even to dream himself.

But, let's skip to current events, shall we?

The wind is cold, the sunlight is what's keeping everything warm this evening and, Dream was sitting on the ground, back against a tree in the woods. Legs against his chest, arms wrapped around them. Head, in his knees. He sighed shakily. He just didn't get why he felt so..so..empty. he couldn't take it. He didn't know why he felt this way..he just, couldn't help it. He lifted his head up, using one of his arms to fix his mask a bit, before returning to his original position.

That was, until he heard a familiar hiss. He swiftly lifted his head up, standing, yet almost falling over, regaining his balance, he realized he was correct. It was a creeper. He grabbed his sword which was right beside him. He began running away, trying his best to get at a good distance from the creeper, that way he could kill it, without it exploding, earning some gunpowder at the end. However, it wouldn't go quite as planned. He continued to run.

He looked back at the creeper, tripping over the grass block. He swiftly got up, trying to run, managing to take a few steps away from the creeper. Suddenly, it exploded, launching dream into the air. His grip on the sword tightened. He would've pearled away, except..sapnap had "borrowed" dreams before. He closed his eyes tightly, fearing the painful fall. But instead of feeling the pain of his body against the ground, he was met with nothing but a slight tug at his hood.

He opened his eyes to reveal that he had now been stuck in a tree. The hood of his jacket was stuck on a branch. There was much shade where he was, not helping the cold he felt. He gripped his sword just a bit tighter. He wondered how long he'd be there for. If anyone saw him, this would be an embarrassing situation. He hesitated, but called out to someone. "Is anyone there?" He spoke, voice breaking slightly. He hadn't spoken all day, and his throat was quite dry.

Ofcourse, there was no answer. He remembered his phone in his pocket, he can message either to a specific person, or everyone at once. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his phone, yet it slipped and he watched as it fell to the ground, cracking. He realized that that could be him if the branch breaks. "Is- is anyone there? Anyone at all? It's dream! I just,.." he paused. "Could really use some help here, and, and, I'll give you something in return- just please!" He called out.

Feeling defeated, not knowing whether or not he would be stuck there all day and end up getting killed by a skeleton, he really didn't want to die. He wasn't ready yet. He began mumbling to himself, trying to keep himself calm. After a few minutes have now passed, he had stopped talking to himself as he heard footsteps. He lifted his arm that had the sword and pointed it into the direction of the footsteps. He feared the worst.

the footsteps seemed as if they were coming from multiple directions. Suddenly, a skeleton along with a few zombies, wandered to where dream was. Was he too loud? "Wait wait wait-" he cursed under his breath, trying to get his bag off and into his hand,he remembered having a bow in his bag. However, the bag slipped from his fingers, saplings, apples, books, and some arrows, along with the bow, scattered across the ground.

Something else had fallen too..a paper crown. Now, it might seem as if it's just a white paper crown, but this holds meaning to the blonde man. "No no no! Please dont-" he stopped as one of the zombies equipped it. That was it- he threw the sword directly into the zombies forehead, causing the zombie to fall over and poof- unfortunately for dream, another zombie stole the crown. The skelton pulled back the arrow that was in the process of firing. But right as it was about to release,

Someone had come out and killed the skelton from behind, slashing at the mobs, until they all fell over. The person looked up at dream "So, this is what you've been up to. Hanging out with trees." the person states, coming out from the shadows and into the little light gap where the trees didn't block out the light from the sun.

"Techno.." dream hesitated "just.. just get me down from here.." techno nodded as he took a moment, trying to get the blonde man down without hurting him. He pulled out his bow, shooting towards dream. Dream would've flinched, but he had to hold back instincts so he wouldn't fall. He almost did, but managed to stop himself.

The arrow hit at the hood of dreams jacket, causing a hole in his hood which ripped further until it released him. His eyes widened from under the mask. As he plummeted towards the ground, techno caught him, bridal style. Techno placed dream onto the ground, making sure he was stable.

"Okay, I can't help but ask, what were you doing up there?" Dream hesitated to answer. "Just an accident with a creeper." He muttered as he picked up his stuff, truth be told, he was actually feeling slightly dizzy from all of that. He put all of his things back into his bag.

"What was that?" The pinkette asked "it was just an accident with a creeper." Dream spoke up, suddenly pausing all of his movement as he realized he sounded quite angry when he spoke up. He quietly continued to look for some of his things that had fallen into some tall grass. He didn't feel like losing his stuff today. "How did you manage that? You know what, don't answer. You are dream after all." Techno was calm, as dream was having a miniature anxiety attack inside. Ofcourse, techno didn't know.

The blonde stood , realizing he had forgotten something important. His breaths quickened just a tad. Although they were quiet breaths, they were speeding up. Techno had noticed and realized something. "Picked this up from a skeleton. I remember when you wanted a crown like mine, so I made one for you" he chuckled, handing the paper crown to other, becoming nostalgic.

Dream looked down, grabbing the crown. He quickly slid it into his bag once he got his hands on it "Yeah.." techno could feel the tension in the air. "dream, why have you been avoiding me?" He asked the shorter one.

"I-" the blonde paused. "I don't know what you're talking about." He slid his bag on, looking down at the broken phone. He picked it up and threw it far, far away. Like, 90 blocks away and into a tree. He turned to walk away but techno stopped him.

"Seriously?" The calmness within him quickly turned into irritation, guilt, and the fact that he was holding back on all of his anger and it slowly started sleeping through the bottle.

his voice became louder with each five words as he spoke. "Dream, you keep ignoring all of my messages, you walk away when I try and talk to you. And even now, you're walking away, clearly upset." Dream had been much more emotional lately, but it didn't help that loud sounds or raised voices always scared him. He stiffened up before turning around to face techno and speak up.

"I..I don't know , T-Techno, I just needed space" you could hear just how hoarse his voice was, it was already dry before and then he had to go and yell for help.

"Dream, I'm sorry for raising my voice. But, hey, are you free today? We could go back to the artic empire or take a walk or something." Dream didn't know exactly what he was supposed to say. If he said he was busy, wouldn't that just upset techno? He didn't want to disappoint everybody even more, he already thought he was disappointing enough.

He took in a deep breath. "I..I guess we could go to the antarctic empire..haven't been there in a while. " Techno nodded. "It's a pretty far walk,." He paused "luckily my horse isn't too far from here. Oh, here's your sword." The pinkette handed the other the sword which Dream took and followed the pinkette through the woods until they made their way to a clearing, where techno's horse was, connected to a lead attached to a fence.

Techno helped dream, whom was struggling, onto the horse before getting himself on it and grabbing the (bear with me) thingy that horses have to lead them. His horse was pretty fast, had amazing health, could jump high, but was incredibly stupid. The horse got spooked by a spider, kicked it's legs up, neighing loudly. This caused dream to slightly jump and grab onto techno's waist without thought.

Techno was used to his horse getting scared of spiders, he would've gotten a new one, but deep down, he was kind of attached to it. When he felt dreams arms wrap around his waist, a light pink rushed over his face as he chuckled lightly Dream getting scared by the slightest of things always made the other laugh. Dreams face turned extremely pink when he realized he was holding onto the pinkettes waist. He was about to let go, until the horse almost threw him off again.

Luckily, techno wasn't looking, and he had his mask on. After a few minutes passed by a few minutes ago, they were almost there, you could see the snowy biome just ahead. Techno signalled for the horse to go faster. That was it, there it was. The antarctic empire. Dream, however, wasn't focusing on that. He was focused on not falling off the horse. Ofcourse, he was holding onto techno, occasionally getting tighter or looser.

Techno rode the horse into a small hole he made to contain the horse. Dream released his grip on techno as he got off the horse and helped the shorter male up. He then led dream inside of the building. "Here we are, the antarctic empire." He looked down at the blonde, shorter, male. "You alright?" He noticed dream was completely zoned out. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Just spaced out for a seconds..sorry.." now dream just felt like he was even more annoying than before, he couldn't take his self hatred.

"Are you hungry? I have some leftovers or..fruit.." he thought for a moment. "Yeah, that's all I got" the pink haired male didn't take his eyes off of dream, he was slightly concerned for the blonde. "Oh..I'm not hungry..thanks." techno nodded in response as he and dream took a seat on some chairs. Dream fiddled with the strings on his jacket, not knowing what to say. "How have you been? Probably should've asked that before.." techno had asked the blonde.

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- Dreams pov -

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When techno asked me if I was hungry, I couldn't stop thinking about how I'd have to lift my mask up even the slightest. I'm just not ready for that. The anxiety is too much. "How have you been? Probably should've asked that before.." Techno asked. "I've been," I paused. I can't think of anything to say, how am I supposed to answer if I don't know what to say? My heart began to beat faster. "I've been good..how..how have you been?" Something felt off.

"Ah, without the others coming to try and bother me thirty four seven..I've been alright. Bu- hey hey, you okay?" Techno's concern rose. "I-" I tried to say something but I couldn't breath. Techno's eyes widened. He got up from his chair and leaned down beside the one I was in. "dream, dream, hey dream, listen to me, okay? You'll be just fine. Just follow my breathing. You'll be fine..okay? Just relax"

The fact that I couldn't get outside of my own head and that that weird feeling came back as techno tried to help me, wasn't helping. "I-..I.. can't- t-t-techno I- I can'-" techno placed his arm on my shoulder. "You can. It's okay. Just keep trying" 'god, I just feel so hopeless. It's embarrassing, having to sit there as techno tried to "help" me. I just want a better lif- no. I want to be better. ' I thought.

I tried following his breaths, succeeding mostly, and failing a little bit. I was beginning to calm down. The silence stood between us, the uncomfortable silence. "You alright now?" 'He doesn't really like me' I thought as he waited for my response. I nodded as he sat back in his chair. "Sorry.." I just can't stop feeling so guilty most of the time. "It's fine, dream, you don't have to apologise." He stood up. "I'm gonna get you a glass of water for that throat of yours."

Once he left to do that, I couldn't stop the voices. They were everywhere. They just wouldn't..shut up. 'everyone pities you' 'techno just feels bad for you' 'even bad hates you, and he likes everyone.' 'you'll never truly be "loved"' 'you're such a disappoinment.' 'can you ever not mess up?' 'you should just-' snapping. The sound of snapping snapped me out of it. I looked up to see techno. "Here's the water." He handed me the glass.

I hesitated. "Hey-.." He was sat back in his chair. "What's wrong?" I think for a moment. Might as well be honest. " I uh..I'm not thirsty.." techno seemed to somehow know that it wasn't the case. "Your throats dry. You gotta drink something." He sighed. I hesitantly move my mask up, drinking the water.

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Techno's pov

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I studied his freckles for a moment, his posture, his..well I would look at his face, but the mask is covering it. Even though dream and I have been great friends, I've never seen any part of his face before. He almost choked on the water, making me worry slightly more. Although I remained having my monotone voice and usual facial expression as I watched him drink the water from the glass.

Something I noticed very well, was the tear stains on his face. They came down near his mouth. I also caught the fact that his skin on his face was bit more..red? He looked embarrassed, yet, also like he had had a very..rough time today. He slid his mask back down, look away and placing the glass onto the table. "Dream, I-" lightning striked, causing the other to slightly jump. "Oh, that sounds like a snow storm." I stood up and walked over to the window.

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Third person pov

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Dream had stood up as well, standing beside techno as he opened the curtains. dreams eyes widen. "Yeah, that's a bad storm." Techno said as he closed the curtains and looked at the shorter male. he knew dream would most likely attempt to walk back during the storm. "You can stay the night." Dream looked up at the other. "I can walk." Techno sighed deeply, knowing this was how dream always was.

"It's dark out, there's a bad snow storm, you got stuck in a tree earlier, you're staying." Dream looked around himself while standing there. "It's not that bad. I probably have a torch or two somewhere in my bag." Techno wasn't going to just let dream risk his life for whatever stupid reason was going on in his head. "Dream, you're not going. It's too dangerous." Dream remained as calm as he could. "You can't stop me." He made his way to the door, techno blocked his way. "t-" techno cut him off.

"No, dream. It's to dangerous. I'm not gonna let you just run around out there in a dangerous snow storm in the middle of the night just to see "dream was slain by a skeleton"" He raised his voice. Dream really would've stayed, but he didn't want to cause trouble for techno. After all, Techno's done so much for him, and he can't even name one time he did something for techno. "Fine." He backed up, he really wasn't great with loud noises.

Ever since he was five, and his parents argued and argued, Eventually they both left dream. they argued over who would take the child. And eventually they both just left. Tears fell from dreams eyes. But he pushed through it as much as he could. "You can stay in one of the extra rooms." Dream refused to make eye contact with techno, it was too horrifying for him. Techno was taller than him, and just, had that look on his face.

Always scared dream when he got angry. Since dream didn't say anything back, techno took that chance to break the silence again. "we could sit back down and talk, try and see if I have any bored games around here, or..if you're tired, you can just go to bed. Dream didn't say anything, just walked over to the chair he sat in originally. Techno followed, doing the same. "Dream, somethin' happened. I know somethin' did. You can talk to me"

"Where's that extra room you were talking about?" Dream completely dodged question. Techno took a minute before responding. "Follow me." Techno stood up, making his way up stairs and over to a guest room. "Here." Dream nodded and opened the room door, stepping inside. He swiftly turned around. "Goodnight, blade." He shut the door right in his face, immediately making his way to the bed, and letting himself fall face first into it.

Techno on the other hand, walked to his room, not saying anything more. He'd find out eventually..right?

Word count: 3138

The next chapter will be even longer :) I haven't written in a while, so bare with me.