Let's Play Pretend - by seasandsalt

Chapter 5: Day Five

The ding of the elevator is loud, louder than normal, and he hears it through the soft music playing through his earbuds. It's late, just past midnight, and he's on his way back to the room he shares with Dream.

Nerves and anxiety eat away at his mind as he fiddles with the items in his hands. He's not sure if Dream will still be sleeping when he gets back. He's not sure if he'd prefer him awake.

Walking down the hallway feels different; it's late and it seems ominous - the lights are bright and daunting and the rumbling of the ship's engine feels louder than normal.

And he's alone.

Nick is painfully aware of the empty space beside him, the space where Dream usually resides. What was once a warm body, warm hand and warm arm and warm shoulder, is now nothing. He exhales slowly.

The hallway seems longer and his footsteps appear to echo in the air. Doors line the walls on either side of him and look like they stretch on for an eternity. His feet pad across the scratchy carpet as he makes his way to their room at the end of the hall.

He exhales shakily when their door comes into view and he mentally prepares himself for anything that could happen once he's on the other side. Best-case scenario, Dream is awake and willing to talk about what's been bothering him. Worst case scenario... well, everything else is the worst-case scenario. Nick doesn't know which one he'd rather have.

He wants to talk things through with Dream, obviously; he wants closure, and whether that means Dream doesn't want to be his friend anymore or not, a solid answer will bring him a semblance of peace of mind. He just wants his friend, his Dream back, but he'll settle for losing him just to see Dream happy again. Nick misses his smile.

The face of their door stares directly at him as he makes his way towards it. Artificial lighting glints off the metal numbers plastered beside their door and Nick takes one, two, three deep breaths. With his free hand, Nick gently tugs his earbuds out of his ear and shoves them in his pocket. He digs around and pulls out his room key, holding it up to the door apprehensively. After another few deep breaths and more wandering thoughts, Nick slides the keycard through the door and watches as the small light above the handle blinks green.

He pushes the door open.

Dream is still curled up on the bed, except he's facing the other way now, facing where Nick would be sleeping. His arms are still wrapped tightly around the pillow, holding it close to his chest as if he's trying to protect it from something - or someone, Nick thinks. His knees are curled close to his chest and Nick thinks he looks small, scared, sad.

Nick closes the door behind him quietly, terrified of waking Dream up. He tiptoes across the floor and over to Dream's side of the bed.

Looking down at his friend, Nick feels a wave of... something wash over him. It's similar to the warm and tingly feeling he gets whenever Dream touches him, yet still different. It's all-consuming, burning white-hot in the pit of his stomach; the feeling is intense and when Nick peers over Dream's shoulder and sees almost dry tear tracks rolling down his cheeks, it grows stronger. The urge, the want and the desire and the need to... to hold him and protect him and wipe the tears off his face is overwhelming and suffocating and Nick has to tear his eyes away from the sleeping form of his friend to take a deep breath.

They're friends. For now, Nick reminds himself. They might not be for very long.

Instead of looking back over Dream's shoulder, Nick glances down at the items in his hand. He sets them both down on the nightstand beside the bed and goes to turn away. Something stops him, though, and he spins on his heel before he can even get two feet away from the nightstand. He walks back over to it.