When the Stars Die

Chapter 20

(Hey everyone! Um, wow, this book hasn't been updated since when? March? That's... like 3 months. Wow. Uh, sorry for the delay everyone! Um, a lot has been going on in my life. Applying for college while in high school for my senior year, gonna be learning to drive this year, gonna be getting a job this year too. A lot is going on. So sorry if this chapter isn't all that good, I literally just started writing it yesterday.

*rereading the earlier chapters of this point to find out if Crescent is the only Killermare child I have here or if I ever mentioned Angst and/or Merciless*)

The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence. The only thing that was preventing it from being deafening was the beeping of the monitors and machines attached to Ink's body.

Dream couldn't help but feel bad. He wondered if Ink could hear them, though that was pretty unlikely. He didn't know a thing about how Ink's condition worked. The only thing he knew about being in a coma was that you were asleep, or unconscious. One of those two. If Ink was conscious, he would've had someone to talk to at least. He did have Lux, but there was only so much he could talk to her about. She was only a child.

The one who broke the silence was Nightmare. Dream hadn't been expecting that and, judging by how he jumped a bit, Cross hadn't been expecting it either. After his older brother's little... reactionary fit... they'd been stuck in this silence. While uncomfortable, it had been a bit welcomed. It was postponing the moment he'd been dreading.

"So... how long has this been going on?" Nightmare asked. To clarify his question, he motioned to the two. "You two being a thing, that is."

"Well... it's been a few years, to put it simply," Dream replied. "We started dating a bit after the whole fiasco with Cipher. Bill. Whatever you wanna call him."

"I prefer to call him a cunt," Cross pitched in. Dream gave him a nasty glare. "Yes, I know Lux is right here."

"Then you should know she'll repeat what you say," he scoffed.

"She'd have gotten that from you, then," Nightmare sighed. "Just like when we were kids. You heard one or two villagers swear and you wouldn't stop repeating what they said."

"Yeah. Those were... better times, to say the least."

Another brief moment of silence came upon them. Dream looked down as Lux shifted in his hands. At some point between now and when Life seated them all in the room together, she'd fallen asleep. At least now hopefully neither of them would yell and carry on.

"Nightmare, I... I didn't want to keep it a secret from you forever," Dream started up again. "But it never felt like the right time. And then we had Lux and it became even more complicated."

"... He was afraid of how you'd react and, judging by how you did react, he was right to," Cross added in, looking at Nightmare disapprovingly.

"Yes, well, with everything that has happened as of late, I haven't been thinking rationally," Nightmare replied. "Did anyone else know?"

"About our relationship? It took me a few months to tell Blue and Ink," he said. "I had to be sure that they wouldn't accidentally spill anything. I'm surprised Ink was able to keep it a secret. I thought for sure that he would've--"

"Yeah yeah, because Ink's a blabbermouth and doesn't have a filter when it comes to what he says," Cross cut him off. Dream looked at him, surprised. "... I'm sorry, babe, but you know--"

"Yes, yes... I know." He nodded, his smile sympathetic despite being small. "You already told me countless times. How could I forget?"

Cross chuckled at Dream's kindness despite his snappiness just then. A light purple blush dusted his cheeks and he couldn't help but be mesmerized by the warmth coming from his lover. Meanwhile, Nightmare was absolutely disgusted by what he was witnessing. Not only did he cringe at hearing the nickname that Cross used for his brother, but the aura of positivity coming from Dream was nauseating as well. But he brushed it off the best he could, clearing his throat to bring attention away from their little exchange.