Beyond The End [Dream team x Reader]

Chapter 12

Nick's POV

Morning came in the way mornings always did here.

Quiet at first. Then suddenly real.

Light spilled through the gaps in the dirt walls, cutting across the sleeping area in soft squares. The fire from last night was nothing but warm ash now, faint smoke curling upward like it didn't want to leave.

For a second, no one moved.

Then George shifted.

"Why is there dirt in my face," he muttered.

Dream, without opening his eyes, replied, "Because you're on the ground."

George paused. "Oh right. That's still a thing."

That alone was enough to make Y/N laugh from where she was sitting.

I opened my eyes properly after that.

She was already awake.

Of course she was.

Sitting cross-legged near the dying fire, hair slightly messy, watching the rest of us like she'd been up for a while. There was a small pile of sorted items beside her: food, tools, a couple of spare blocks, already organized.

"You sleep at all?" I asked quietly.

She glanced at me. "Enough."

"That's not an answer."

"It is if I say it confidently."

I couldn't argue with that logic.

Dream stretched loudly. "I'm starving."

George groaned. "I exist."

Y/N stood up immediately. "We've got food. Sit up before you start complaining properly."

"I wasn't complaining properly?" George asked.

"You were warming up," she said.

That earned a small snort from Dream.

I pushed myself up off the floor, brushing dirt off my sleeves. The early morning air was cool enough to make everything feel sharper, more awake.

Y/N handed out food without thinking twice. Bread, a couple of cooked pork chops, whatever we had left from yesterday.

She kept nothing for herself at first.

I noticed.

So did Dream.

He didn't say anything right away, just took his portion and then held the rest of his out toward her.

"You forgot something," he said.

Y/N blinked. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

George leaned in slightly. "She did."

Y/N looked between all three of us like she was being unfairly ganged up on. "I was getting to it."

"No you weren't," I said.

That made her pause.

Then she sighed dramatically and took the food.

"Fine. Happy now?"

"Thriving," Dream said.

George nodded. "Emotionally fulfilled."

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling a little as she ate.

And weirdly, that felt like progress.

⸻

We stepped outside once everyone had eaten.