Stone Cold

Chapter 12

*Dream's POV*

When I woke up, I regretted a lot of things. The fact that I woke up in the first place was the biggest. I had a terrible headache. Probably from all the crying I did yesterday. I could tell I slept in which is less then ideal. I sat up and looked at my phone. 11:27. Dang.

I sigh. Where did I put those painkillers again?

After taking painkillers for my headache, I decided to relax today. I need to collect myself. I have been way too obvious this past while and that needs to change.

I put on my first believable smile in a while and go pick up some cookies from a surface timeline. I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye but when I turned, nothing was there. Whatever. I go home and decide that I will spend all day watching cartoons. Disney is my favorite. It always calms me down.

I decide to watch Wall-E. That's a cute show. Three hours later, I get a call from Blue. I wonder what he needs.

"Hello?"

"HI DREAM!"

"Hi, what's up?"

"DO YOU WANT TO HANG OUT WITH ME AND INK TODAY? IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE DONE SOMETHING FUN."

"Sure, sounds fun. I was just going to relax today anyways so I'm free all day. Have you already talked to Ink?"

"SWEET! I'M FREE AS WELL. I'M GOING TO TALK TO INK NEXT. IF HE CAN'T, WE CAN JUST HANG OUT."

"Ok cool. What were you wanting to do?"

"WELL, I WAS THINKING ABOUT HAVING A PICNIC FOR LUNCH IF YOU GUYS WANTED TO HELP MAKE SOMETHING. THAN MAYBE WE COULD GO HANG OUT ON THE BEACH."

I almost said yes but then thought of my arm. That would not turn out well...

"A picnic sounds really fun! I can't do the beach though. I don't have a swimsuit. Maybe another time..."

I heard what sounded like a groan in the background. Blue immediately shushed the person.

"HEHE SORRY. STRETCH IS BEING DRAMATIC ABOUT SOMETHING..."

"Oh, uh, that's ok."

"I'M SURE WE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE TO REPLACE GOING TO THE BEACH."

"Yeah... Sorry again..."

"IT'S FINE DREAM. UH, I GUESS I'LL ASK INK NOW. TALK TO YOU SOON!"

Blue hung up and I sighed. Good thing I watched the Disney movies. I'm going to need all the help I can get to keep a real looking smile if I'm going to be hanging out with Ink all day.

I get up from the couch and get ready for the day. At least I get to hang out with Blue.

*Blue's POV*

Blue was worried. He was trying so hard to save everyone. Error, Nightmare, Cross, Killer, Horror, Dust, Stretch, Dream. Everyone close to him. And look at what's happening to them. Error and the bad sanses forced to overwork themselves with the balance and hated by the entire Multiverse. Stretch is depressed from the seemingly neverending resets. And Dream...

That's the worst part. Blue doesn't know what's wrong with Dream. What happened? How can he help? What should he do? Why is this all happening? Dream very obviously has something wrong. Hate was involved somehow. Enough to make him cry in Haventale. Ink may be involved? The balance could be? Depression? Anxiety? PTSD? Other mental health problems? Overstressing? Overworking?

So many possibilities for one person.

Blue is not the only one who is worried. Nightmare looks awful. Staring off into space and looking sad. If he wasn't covered in goop, Blue was sure there would be bags under his eyes despite being a skeleton. Error was mad. Muttering about Ink and Fate.

The murder trio and Cross were mad and talking about adoption. If someone is sad, they must be adopted or something like that. Blue wasn't paying enough attention to know exactly. Fresh was here. He was sitting silently in the corner glancing between everyone. He didn't know how to handle stress very well. Geno was sitting next to Fresh offering comfort.

It may seem overkill to some for all of this worry over one skeleton. But this was different, Dream was Nightmare's brother, one of Blue's best friends, Dream was a balance holder. These were the bad sanses. The most broken skeletons in the multiverse. They refused to let others become as broken as themselves and if they found another broken soul, they would adopt it to try to become more whole.

What to do? What to do.....

And then Blue had an idea. Act normal. Hang out with Dream... And Ink too. Get close to see if he can figure something out. Get Dream in a position to see what's under the arm coverings.

Everyone liked it. It was simple and wasn't obvious. It was even better then spying with a portal. They had done that earlier. Dream was buying cookies and looked genuinely happy. Blue didn't believe it. Killer being Killer almost fell through Error's one sided portal. That wasn't even possible but Killer pulled it off. He was almost caught by Dream too. Luckily, Dream shrugged it off.

They all crowded close for the phone call.

"Hello?"

"HI DREAM!"

"Hi, what's up?"

Dream sounded normal. If Blue didn't know any better, he would've thought everything was fine.

"DO YOU WANT TO HANG OUT WITH ME AND INK TODAY? IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE DONE SOMETHING FUN."

"Sure, sounds fun. I was just going to relax today anyways so I'm free all day. Have you already talked to Ink?"

"SWEET! I'M FREE AS WELL. I'M GOING TO TALK TO INK NEXT. IF HE CAN'T, WE CAN JUST HANG OUT."

"Ok cool. What were you wanting to do?"

"WELL, I WAS THINKING ABOUT HAVING A PICNIC FOR LUNCH IF YOU GUYS WANTED TO HELP MAKE SOMETHING. THAN MAYBE WE COULD GO HANG OUT ON THE BEACH."

Everyone held their breathes. There was a short moment of silence.

"A picnic sounds really fun! I can't do the beach though. I don't have a swimsuit. Maybe another time..."

Killer and Cross groaned. Blue shushed them with a glare.

"HEHE SORRY. STRETCH IS BEING DRAMATIC ABOUT SOMETHING..."

"Oh, uh, that's ok."

"I'M SURE WE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE TO REPLACE GOING TO THE BEACH."

"Yeah... Sorry again..."

"IT'S FINE DREAM. UH, I GUESS I'LL ASK INK NOW. TALK TO YOU SOON!"

They said their goodbyes and it was over. Blue sighed in disappointment. That was the best excuse he could come up with the get under the freaking arm coverings. Whatever.

Now to call Ink. Everyone winced when Blue clicked on his contact.

Blue sighed. 'I can do this. It's not a big deal.' He pushed call.