Not all Nightmares are Bad (Nightmare Sans x Reader)

It's just a dream...

As you finally sat down on the cold, hard basement floor, you studied and sized up the wounds you had been given from your last "punishment". A few large, purple bruises along your left arm. One on your right collar bone. A red ring around your right wrist from where she grabbed you. And fifteen lashes across your back. You should know. You counted. You examined the lashes with the broken shard of mirror you had stolen from the dumpster around the corner and down the street from your house. You remember the fear and adrenaline coursing through your blood as you snuck through the house to hide it in your room. Well, you called it your room but it's actually just the basement. The fear of your parents finding you before you could make it there, and the rush that fear gave you. You remember hiding it behind a piece of the peeling gray wallpaper. You were careful to move your fingers around it gently, so as to not cut yourself. Adding new wounds was the last thing you needed right now. Carefully, with gentle fingers, you moved your soft, H/C hair out of the way so you could reapply the same, tan bandages to your back. You had used these same bandages far too many times to remember, but they had never let you down. You weren't scared of infection because you knew that every day you cleaned these bandages. It was a daily rountine. Get up, make breakfast for your parents(or as you liked to call them, the "beasts"), go to the park, remove the bandages and clean them in the stream in the woods, and sit under the tree as you reapplied them. All the other kids at school made fun of you for going to that same tree everyday, but the truth was, everyone else was too scared to go near it. No one really knows why, but it was directly associated with extremely bad luck. The tree never seemed to wilt. Even in the winter, when the snow blanketed the world around, the cold white plant-death never rested on its branches. Never seemed to shrivel the odd fruit that it bore. The strange apples. Instead of being red or yellow or green, they were gold and black. The gold apples shone in the sunlight, and glimmered like jewels. The black apples on the other hand, seemed to draw in the sunlight and not let it escape. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that it seemed as if an entire galaxy swirled inside the black apple, and the gold shone with the dull glimmer of real gold. You were much more entranced by the black apples though, and preferred to sit under the side of the tree where they grew. You found it comforting to talk to the tree, as if it could understand you. Often, you took naps under the shade of the leaves, and woke up feeling calmed and relaxed. You never knew why, but whenever you were around the tree, you felt safe. And for you, safety was hard to come by so you cherished every moment of it that you could get. But, when you slept under the tree, you had...odd dreams...but today? Things were a bit different....

"Hey! Wait up!" you called as you chased the figure before you. You didn't know where you were, as usual, but you did know that there was someone else here with you. Maybe they had answers. You followed them through a series of long corridors, full of twists and turns. All that was visible was the heel of their purple boots as they disappeared around the turns. You chased the figure through long, dark hallways, calling out to them to stop or just slow down. You followed them past the last turn and saw a light at the end of the hall. Their figure was silhouetted by the brightness of twilight that seemed blinding compared to the darkness of the building you just ran through. As you emerged from the darkness, you saw yourself in a familiar place. It was the park. The park with the tree. The tree that you confided in and told everything to. Your only friend. The figure you were following was gone. You quickly looked around for them but it was as if they had disappeared without a trace. You shrugged your shoulders and turned your attention back to the tree. Slowly, cautiously, you walked towards it. You tilted your head out of curiosity. You lifted your hand to touch the black bark. It seemed to vibrate with life. You felt like this whole time, it had been listening to everything you told it. Like it heard the secrets you confided to it.

"Who are you?" a voice called. You looked around to find the source of the voice and soon located it. It was a skeleton. You noticed the purple boots he wore and recognized him as the one you were chasing through the building. You took into account what he looked like for the first time. He wore the memorable purple boots with golden straps, along with a pair of baggy black pants that were tucked into the boots, and a long sleeved loose purple shirt with a golden hem at the collar and the cuffs of the sleeves. On top of his head rested a golden crown with a black crescent moon engraved into it. Inside his eye sockets glowed two purple lights that you assumed were his eyes. They gazed at you, full of curiosity. You realized you had been staring for a while when his gaze shifted from curiosity to concern. You shook your head to clear your daze.

"H-hi. I-I'm Y/N. I-I'm sorry if this is y-your t-tree. I-I can leave. I-If you w-want me to that is." you stuttered. Your social skills were never very good, seeing as your only friend was an inanimate object. You decided you weren't welcome here anymore so you got up and started to leave. You began making your way back down the other side of the hill until you heard a laugh. This confused you. You've heard people laughing before, mostly at you, but you've never heard a laugh like this. One that wasn't mean and mocking. You turned around to see the skeleton quietly laughing to himself.

"Come on back up here Y/N. It's okay. I-I'm Nightmare. It's n-nice to meet you." he said with a shy smile. "I was just a bit confused seeing someone else here. It's usually just me." he continued, scratching the back of his skull.

"Where are we anyways?" you asked with a small smile of your own. You barely knew this skeleton, but you already felt somewhat comfortable around him. You didn't know why, but you felt the same around him as you did around the tree.

"Um... well, this is the Dreamscape. But, this is... MY dreamscape... so... I'm not really used to seeing other people here... heh." he answered awkwardly.

"Well I-I guess I'm here now right?" You offered with a small giggle. He laughed in return.

"Yeah. I guess you are." He smiled contentedly. "Come over here. I want to show you something." As you walked over, you felt yourself put your trust him. In that moment, you made your first friend. He pulled you with him to the tree. He let go of your hand and started climbing. You were filled with curiosity as he scaled the branches and ascended further up the tree, but you were also kind of sad that he let go of your hand. "You coming?" he called from above your head. You said nothing, but began to climb up after him, chasing him through the tree. When you reached the top, you saw him sitting on a black branch looking out over the plains. Night had fallen and the stars shone bright against the midnight blue sky. You sat down next to him as he pointed out across the landscape. "Look" was all he said. As you followed his gaze you saw a stunning picture of beauty in nature. The moon was just starting to rise over the few trees in the distance and illuminated the grassy hills of the plains before you. It was breathtaking. The two of you sat there for what seemed like hours before you started to get tired. As you closed your eyes and the world turned to black, the last thing you remember was looking into his eyes and saying "Goodnight, Nightmare." He smiled softly at you as you drifted off to sleep.

You woke with a start. Looking around, you realized with sorrow that you were still on the ground where you fell asleep earlier that day. It was dark out. The moon was high in the sky and the stars were sparkling like diamonds, but none of that mattered. Right now, the only thought in your mind was 'Oh jeez. My parents are gonna kill me if I'm not careful'. And you rushed home. Not even stopping to notice the black figure in the branches that disappeared moments later in a flash of blue light.

(A/N: Okay guys! It's done! Chapter one is officially finished! If you have any questions about this, don't worry. All will be explained later. If you have any suggestions, tell me I'm the comments below. This is my first story so constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks for reading and I'll try to update as soon as I can!)