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Dream had finally found someone. All his life, he was alone. Hurt. No one stayed. Everyone wanted him for what he could offer- except for him. His love. His darling. Dream had began opening up, relaxing, trusting himself to love and his lover to love him unconditionally. It felt so nice, so good. It was a special kind of warmth, one that came from his heart, one that lifted his mood, a guiding light even in the darkest of moments.
Dream loves Swap.
Dream loves feeling safe in his embrace.
Dream loves burying his head into Swap's hoodies, and letting soft nicknames wash over him.
Swap finally found someone. All his life, he had to perform. No one saw him for who he was really. Everyone just underestimated him, saw him as naive- except for him. His love. His sweetheart. Swap could finally act the way he felt and not the performative facade he put up for everyone else. It was so nice, having someone with who he could be his true self.
Swap loves Dream.
Swap loves the confidence Dream gives him.
Swap loves being able to be cared for and to care for someone, letting his shields down.
Dream loves to come home to Swap with a warm cup of chocolate and some comfort. Dream loves being able to feel without having to perform.
Swap loves to come home to Dream waiting there for him. Swap loves being able to be his real self without being underestimated.
Dream loves Swap. Swap loves Dream. Their love is reciprocated by the other. They are not simply happy. They are healing. They finally found home. They finally found their soulmate, their other half. Everything was good, perfect even.
But the multiverse isn't known for letting happiness persist
It was a normal day. Dream was home, taking a break - his darling had suggested it after Dream collapsed one too many times after long days. He was sipping tea, focusing on his own emotions. He was calm for once. The sweet aroma of peach tea and honey filled their shared home, along with the subtle scent of cookies. Dream relaxed on a plush armchair. He slowly let himself relax until he fell asleep.
Swap was fighting. It wasn't unusual for him, with all the recent activity from Nightmare's group in the multiverse. This time tho, it was him against Horror, Dust and Killer. He couldn't focus. All he could think about was his sweetheart. What had he said last? Had he told Dream he loved him? Did he tell him to take care of himself?
Dream's thoughts were cut short as he fell asleep.
Swap's thoughts were cut short as he was turned into dust.
Dream didn't feel it at first, too deep into sleep. But something was wrong. No hug or kiss to wake him, no soft chuckles coming from his darling's mouth. He woke up on his own. Something is wrong. He kept thinking it, over and over. He had to go. He trusts Swap, he does. But he needs to make sure he's ok.
Swap's clothes lay in a pile of dust.
Dream went to where Swap was supposed to be. The AU was.... so negative. If Swap was here, he was hurt. Dream needed to help him. He wandered, and again, and again. Nothing but dust. Nothing but dust. Nothing but-
Swap's armor lay on the ground.
Dream gasped. No. No. NononononoboNONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-
Swap couldn't have died. He was strong. Yeah. Surely he just gave his armor to someone to help them. He wasn't dead. Probably just off somewhere a bit hurt. Yeah. Dream would find him and heal him. Of course
But nobody came.
Dream searched all day, all week long, anywhere, anywhere to find his love, his sweetheart, his soulmate. Where was he? Where was Swap?
No, no no no. He was dead. He was dead. He was dead. Dream failed. He had once again failed. His lover. His one guiding light. Gone. Gone. And all because Dream allowed himself to relax.
He'll find his love no matter what.
The scent of peach tea felt wrong in Ccino's Bakery. Swap wasn't there. But that wasn't a problem. Dream would find him. Dream will find him. No matter what it takes.
The cookies tasted like ashes in his mouth. Dream had to make this right again. If Swap was back with him, he would be ok. Everything could go back to normal. Yes. Yes yes yes yes...
Dream travelled. He travelled, he searched far, far, far- until he reached another multiverse. His Swap, his love, his dear one, he was alive.
Dream searched and searched- He only wanted his baby, his darling boy, being happy. He only needed to have some closure.
The moment Dream found Swap- he was dying. He was dying, and no one was there, no one, no one, no one no one no one no one no one
Dream sprinted. But he was too late. Just like in his multiverse. He was too late. Swap didn't get to say his last words.
Swap didn't die a hero, a fighter, a lover- he died alone without having the comfort of closure in his last moments.
Swap died crying. Shaking. Sad.
Dream wouldn't let that happen again.
Another multiverse. Another chance to make this right. Dream just wanted his love to be safe. Even if everyone else died, it wouldn't matter. He wanted to smell the scent of peach tea and freshly baked cookies again. Wanted to bury his face in his lover's hoodies. Wanted to feel his embrace again.
He found Swap. He was fighting, but he was alive. He was alive. Yes. Yes yes yes yes-
Without much thought, he threw himself in the middle of the battle, and with all the strength he had left, he managed to make a portal to bring Swap home. Home. Yes. That sounds so right.
And then, everything was back to being right. Dream was home. Swap was home. There was the soft scent of peach tea and cookies and something that felt..... wrong. Out of place.
It didn't matter. He wouldn't fail. He'd make sure this Swap wouldn't die. Even if it wasn't his love. He'd protect him. He'd make sure he was loved and cherished.
Dream didn't understand: it was never about lack of love. It was about lack of mercy.
Swap was a fighter. Dream should have known better. His lover, in every multiverse, wasn't one to just stay still. He quickly grew restless trapped in the house. He needed out. He needed more.
Dream was a guardian. Swap and Dream had never been too close, but Dream was acting weird. Swap could never have a moment alone now, with Dream hovering everywhere. He was- afraid. But of what?
Dream couldn't stop him from leaving the safe nest he created. Couldn't stop him from leaving a home he never lived in full of memories that weren't his.
Swap couldn't stay trapped in that house, away from his home. Away from his brother, from his loved ones. Dream was soft, gentle, just like always, but he kept looking at Swap, trying to see something that wasn't there. Swap had to leave
And so the multiverse did what it knew how to do best. It reminded Dream, in every cruel permutation, that safety is borrowed, and love is never enough to hold back the inevitable.
Swap died, and he died like the Multiverse would always make him die.
Alone.
Afraid.
Wishing to be home.
Wishing to be with his brother.
Because this wasn't Dream's Swap.
This was another Swap.
The silence where laughter should be is louder than screaming.
The house still smelled like him. Grief was not loud; it lingered like perfume on fabric.
The space beside him still belonged to Swap, even when Swap no longer did.
Soft things hurt the most. They were the texture of memory.
Dream no longer slept. It wasn't safe. He couldn't sleep. Not when his darling was dead because of rest.
Dream couldn't drink tea anymore. Not when he prepared two cups by habit, only to have one always full.
Dream couldn't go to bakery's anymore. His lover used to bake for him. His one and only. Dream would never love anyone like he loved Swap. And no one like his Swap would ever exist.
But since nothing could be done about it, Time didn't wait for Dream to move on. Days passed and the scents faded. Every time he made tea it felt wrong. Different.
Weeks passed, and Dream started forgetting what kind of cookies Swap always made. Every time he baked, the biscuits never tasted like they used to.
Months passed and Dream couldn't remember how tall Swap was. When anyone hugged him, Dream would quietly wonder in dawning horror if Swap was taller or shorter than the person in front of him.
The multiverse didn't want him to simply grieve. It wanted Dream to be haunted by something that could never be right.
His lover wasn't coming back.
And neither were Dream's memory of him.
He was starting to lose the outline of the man he loved. And once the outline vanished, nothing would remain to prove he had ever existed at all.
The multiverse killed him once, and every version Dream would try to save would suffer from the same fate.
Then the multiverse killed him twice, by erasing his memories in the mind of the one who lived him the most.
And then-
Had Swap ever even existed at all? What if Dream had just made him up to be his personal comfort? His god.... His whole universe... Was he just a fabrication made to hunt Dream, made to remind the guardian that he would never be safe, no matter what?
He could no longer remember where Swap ended and where he began- so when memory unraveled, Dream unraveled with it.
But it didn't matter. None of it mattered. Real or not, it was real to Dream. The pain he felt was real. He grieved, as he best could.
But in the end, none of it mattered. With Swap, died the part that Dream gifted to him. And so the guardian that had healed and became strong also died that die. Alone. Shaking. Crying. In front of his lover.
The body may have belonged to Dream once, but it was just an empty shell without the love Swap gave him. He couldn’t even tell if the ache in his chest belonged to love or to a phantom limb of himself.