"SLUT!" | dreamwastaken

066. future

MARCH 5 .

They had been lying in Dream's bed all afternoon. Even though it was spring, the heat felt more like summer. The only sound in the room was the low hum of the air conditioner.

Dream always ran warm—his skin burning to the touch, his hands making hell itself feel frigid—but Lani didn't seem to mind. She still stayed close, their knees brushing, fingers loosely laced together as they quietly scrolled through their phones.

So when Dream suddenly asked, "Do you, um, ever want kids?" it caught her completely off guard.

"Now?" she replied, turning her whole body toward him, her head lifting from his chest. She caught the subtle way his shoulders tensed, and it was too late to hide the surprise written across her face.

She figured they'd have the 'do you want kids?' conversation eventually, but not now. Not like this.

"No, no!" Dream said quickly, flustered. "God, no. Not right now. We're way too young. I was just..." He trailed off, staring past her as he began to mess with the rings on his fingers, a nervous tic he never got rid of. Lani knew that.

He kept his gaze on the curtains as he spoke again, a little quieter this time. "I don't know. I was just thinking about, like... someday. When I'm older and shit."

Lani softens, her initial shock melting into something gentler as she watches him.

"Oh," she says, quieter this time, turning back onto her side to face him properly. Her fingers gently trace the back of his hand, grounding him. "Yeah, I get that."

Dream finally glances down at her, a flicker of uncertainty still lingering in his eyes.

"I think I do," she says, almost to herself. "Someday. When we're not, like... still figuring out everything."

That earns a small laugh from him, and she smiles.

"Why'd you ask?" she adds after a beat, voice low.

He shrugs, then sighs. "I think I was just picturing things. Like... a future. And you're always in it."

"Are you having an existential crisis? You're too young for that." Lani says with a grin.

"Okay, alright, I get it, I can't be serious without you thinking something's wrong with me." He chuckled.

Lani nudged him playfully. "You were literally just talking about kids and the future. That's like, prime existential crisis material. I can't help it."

They smile at one another, Dream brushing a strand of her raven hair behind her ear. It's a familiar feeling. Warm and fuzzy. She holds him close, her hand softly running through his hair.

Neither move towards their phones, abandoned somewhere in between tangled gray sheets and black licorice colored duvets. She knows, really, that their conversation hadn't finished; they'd just given each other an out, a moment to breathe in the middle of thick air.

"I, um, talked to my mom the other week," Dream began, his voice a little hesitant. "She was doing some cleaning and found a bunch of old photos and videos of me and my siblings as kids." Lani didn't say much, just gave a soft hum to let him know she was listening.

"I don't remember if I ever told you- but, like, she had my eldest sister pretty young, younger than both of us. And when she showed me the pictures and stuff, she told me about how having kids at a young age was, like, terrifying because, um, she didn't know what she was doing and I realized, like, 'oh shit, I don't think I wanna have kids' but then again I do, just not at this age, y'know?" He spoke in a bit of a rush, but Lani followed along easily, understanding the feeling beneath his words.

"But at the same time, I don't wanna be the dad that doesn't go out to play and teach their kids football because his knees hurt, I want to do stuff with them—teach them football, give shoulder rides. I don't wanna be too tired or sore for any of that. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I get you." Lani said softly. She wanted to say more, but the words didn't come out right, so she left it at that. 'I get you'.

Dream let out a quiet sigh, wrapping his arm around her.

"Anyway, whatever. It's a me thing, I was just curious. Don't worry." He smiles.

Lani shifts just slightly, resting her chin on his chest so she can look up at him. "It's not just a you thing," she says softly, and this time, she means it more than the quiet 'I get you' from earlier.

"It's... valid. All of it. Wanting to be young enough to be present but old enough to be ready. That's not weird. That's just... being thoughtful."

Dream looks at her for a moment, eyes a little softer now, like her words actually landed somewhere deep.

She continues, a little more sure of herself now. "You'd be a good dad. Like, I've seen you with Patches. And me. And the cats. You've got that soft spot, even if you try to act cool all the time."

He chuckles at that, tilting his head back against the pillows. "Yeah, but being a cat dad is different. They don't talk back or wreck your car after they turn 13."

"It's inevitable. They're gonna.. say and do what they want because they're becoming their own person and everything."

"Exactly," Dream says, his voice a low murmur. "And like, you want them to be their own person—but at the same time, you want to protect them from everything. Even the stuff they have to go through."

Lani nods, resting her head back on his chest. "You just gotta hope they'll still come to you."

"God, I was the worst kid," Dream groans. "If my kid's anything like me, I'm fucked."

Lani laughs softly. "Nah. You'll be good. You've got enough self-awareness now to catch yourself before you repeat anything. Tell them not to run from the cops when you commit truancy and don't shove random things in their mouth so they don't end up in the ER every other week."

Dream chuckles at that, before thinking once more. "What about you? You think you'd be good at it?"

"I don't know. I think I'd try really hard. And I think I'd love them an insane amount, well, obviously. Even when they're stubborn and weird and impossible. So... I think that's something."

"It's everything," he says, and he means it.

"Let's talk about this in a few years, when we're not in our early twenties, but our knees still work," Lani says, her voice fading into a laugh.

Dream just smiles with her. "Okay."

Maybe it was silly, but hearing him talk about the future—about their future—made something click. She didn't know when it happened, but she couldn't imagine it without him either.

Years from now, maybe they'd be laughing about this conversation. Maybe by then, they'd be sitting in a backyard, watching their future unfold in bare feet and scraped knees and little high-pitched giggles.

I can't believe it's over omg 😭😭 I figured this book's ending was waaaayyyy overdue lmao

I've grown so attached to dream n lani that this chapter actually hurt to post because I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I won't be writing about them anymore

If I'm being frank, I don't want this book to end because it's so fun to write 😭😭 if I feel motivated enough, I'll post one final (I know I've said that like two times but I promise this time ) oneshot (possibly) about a glimpse into their future (if you all want me to, of course)

I'll probably focusing on my other book now, 'closure', which is also dwt based!! 🥳🥳 I'm so excited to write it once more and even more excited for u guys to read it ! please go check it out :)

thank u for making it this far !! <3 i love u forever