The cat sitter

3

"So once more, this is her favourite mouse okay? Trust me when I say, you do not want to lose it." He said while shaking the mouse in-front of my face.

"Okay okay! I get it. Now get the smelly thing away from my nose." I laughed as he threw it behind his shoulder, not caring where it landed. Patches darted after it and we both wheezed together.

"Are you sure I've covered everything? Remember there are snacks in the cupboards and I will venmo you if you need anything essential. Don't set the house on fire, remember to lock the doors and please don't piss the bed like when you told me at the bar." He said, grinning at me.

"Oh my god I was like 5! Please go already! I'm sick of your company." I said while playfully pushing him.

"Oh also, there is a room at the end of that corridor, don't go in it. It's my roommates bedroom and he'll kill me." He said with a smile.

"Where's your roommate?" I asked

"He's at the same place I'm going, our friend Karl's house. He'll be back a day or two after me." He said while walking to the door.

"Have fun! I'll send you updates to show she's happy. Trust me everything will be fine." I said while we shared a small but comforting hug.

"Thank you. Okay bye I'm actually going to be late now." He trailed his suitcase to the car and then it was just patches and I.

"It's so quiet without Dream here isn't it?" I mumbled to patches.

I looked at my duffel bag I packed while I was here. Generously, Dream had supplied me with almost everything I needed- I mean apart from clothes obviously. His cupboards and fridge was full of food for me. He had homemade meals stored in the freezer that he said I could have. He even brought my favourite chocolate that I had previously mentioned at the coffee shop.

I'm supposed to be doing a job for him, but it feels like I'm on vacation.

He did all of this, just for someone who's pet sitting his cat?

—

It had been a few days of looking after Patches and everything was going great. She trusted me more than ever now, clinging to me, following me around.

I updated Dream every time she did something that I thought he'd want to know about, or just trying to make him jealous when we were snuggling.

Dream texted me updates about his holiday. I had learnt that he was in North Carolina with his friends and he was low-key third wheeling the entire time.

Although technically I am just his cat sitter, we were texting a lot while he was there and I mean a lot. He even FaceTimed me a few times, he said it was to see Patches but then continued to talk to me for hours at a time.

The days we're going quickly and I was eager for him to get back.

We planned to visit Dream's coding problem as soon as he got back. I couldn't wait to start it, I missed coding so much.

I planned to practice some this week while I was alone with Patches. I needed to brush up on my skills and make sure I could solve his problem.

—

A few days had paced since I dedicated some time to coding, I made a few plugins similar to the information Dream gave me, so I was used to how it worked.

It was only one day until Dream came home and one day until I can try to impress him.

I spent most of the last day just cuddling with Patches on the sofa, she had been sulking a little since she hadn't seen Dream in so long.

She was easy to look after, especially since it seemed she enjoyed my company. I hope she doesn't get too attached to me once I have to leave her. I really don't want to leave her.

I left the sofa after Patches had left me to have some food and I started cleaning the house ready for when Dream got home.

I hadn't used much to make a mess but I doubt Dream would want to come home to the small dust buildup and misplaced items on the countertop.

I got to work, dusting, hovering, making the guest room look untouched. He must be tired after his holiday and I didn't want to put any stress on him.

—

It was the morning of Dream's return. I felt weirdly anxious about seeing him again. We had gotten on really well on text and we seem to have a lot in common, I don't want to ruin the small friendship that's blooming.

I had thirty minutes to kill before he arrived home so I quickly made sure everything was tidy and sat with Patches on the sofa awaiting his arrival.

I heard a car pulling up to the house and a melody played in knocks coming from the front door. Patches sat up and walked with me to answer it, meowing loudly as soon as she realised it was Dream.

He looked so happy, it seems the trip must've refreshed him and taken him away from the stress of his code not working.

"Hi baby I missed you so much!" He said while nuzzling his face into hers with a sweet smile.

"I missed you too." I joked.

He wheezed, "You're such an idiot. It's nice to see you y/n." He said, pulling me in for an unexpected hug.

I hesitated before hugging him back, I knew we had grown closer but it caught me by surprise.

"So, tell me all about it!" I said as he sunk down into the sofa next to me.

"It was great. Karl's the nicest person ever, him and Sapnap get on so well and it was so nice to see them together. I loved being away from all my responsibilities as well. Honestly I feel great after that!" He said with a big smile.

"I'm so glad! Patches missed you a lot." I said, evidently she hadn't moved from Dreams side since he got home.

"So you didn't stay in the end? You were allowed to." He said while wandering around the downstairs, looking at the seemingly untouched kitchen and living room.

"I did stay." I said with a slight confusion in my tone.

"But it's so tidy? It's probably tidier than I left it. You didn't have to do that." Dream said, following a yawn.

"I'm not going to leave a mess, idiot." I said, "You must be tired, I'll go now and leave you to rest. My roommate is probably missing me anyway." I said while gathering all my belongings and taking them to the door.

"Yeah I am pretty tired. But hey, you wanna work on that code somewhen this week?" He said excitedly.

"Yes of course! Text me when and we'll do it."

"Okay, thank you so much for looking after Patches, I bank transferred you already. See you soon." He said as we said our goodbyes.