Chapter 2

Gameplay

Saturday the 3rd of April.

10:45am

Dream yawned, rolling over onto his side and blinking after visualising the daylight creeping into his room. Last night felt like nothing more but a memory. He didn't even know what to think of it.

Patches meowed and nuzzled her head against Dream's chest as soon as she saw him sit up. He chuckled, patting her slightly before sliding out of bed, already making his way to the kitchen.

Dream tenderly grabbed the box of Rice Bubbles and poured himself a bowl, milk added. Leaning up against the counter, he began to enjoy his meal, the other side of his conscious fiddling around with unspoken matters dug into the depths of his mind.

Upon finishing his food, he decided to take a shower, freshening himself up in hopes for this day to turn out great. Maybe George will have embraced the idea of them being together?

Dream couldn't help but laugh in disbelief once he finished his shower and wrapped the towel around his waist.

The chances of that happening is zero to none. George chose silence last night… A silent confession perhaps?

He sighed when arriving at his room and tugging on a pair of boxers along with navy-blue shorts, white hoodie having his name written in rainbow letters cuddling his skin with warmth. Dream slipped on some light grey socks before plopping himself onto his desk chair, fingers eagerly pressing buttons to bring his computer to life.

At least I know Patches has lots of food and water because of the auto-fillers.

Dream joined the server and immediately smiled upon hearing the cheerful voices welcoming him. His camera was off like usual, everyone except his friends having not seen him before.

"The sleepyhead has arrived!" Sapnap mocked, his Minecraft character standing in front of Dream. Just as a tease, Sapnap dropped an apple. "Here's your breakfast." Dream scoffed, although he took the apple knowing that it could come in hand during his survival gameplay.

Dream moved his gaze over to George's livestream. George had superior lighting making him seem so angelic, the hue of his brown eyes submerged with happiness. For now, everything seemed to be going well, no awkwardness occurring at all.

BadBoyHalo managed to burst out in laughter when George's name came up in the chat, claiming that he died.

"George, having the first death is quite the accomplishment. How do you feel?" Bad teased, a comment that caused all of us to snicker in amusement. George scowled at the camera, clicking furiously to chop up a tree.

"Oh, be quiet. Sapnap will probably die next." George announced, his cheeks flaring with pink colours. Sapnap snapped a hissed "what!?" at George, sparks of an argument beginning to form.

"Boys, we all know that I'll survive the longest anyways." Dream confidently informed, a purposeful move sending more wood into the fire. "Besides, this is the slowest manhunt we've ever done. I haven't even started, and George has already died."

"Blame the creeper that magically found me from in a cave!" George defended; his focus intensely aimed on digging up the grass blocks for a collection. Dream watched, giving his group of friends the benefit of the doubt for once in his life. It was enjoyable seeing how they all scurried away for supplies.

When everyone was ready, Dream began the hunt, immediately chasing after George who shrilled a loud scream. He didn't give his friends too much time to find diamonds or anything of proper use. Only some wood blocks, cobblestone, and George's confused collecting of grass blocks.

Just to leer George into fear, Dream chased him and then turned off that path towards the nearest tree to begin his own collection of resources. Sapnap and BadBoyHalo ran towards Dream in George's defence, already slicing Dream with their swords.

He backed off, claiming use of the few blocks he collected from the tree.

Dream climbed the mountain and then jumped onto the trees, leaping from each one with carefully planned precision. Sapnap screeched a sound of disapproval when he fell down, only BadBoyHalo chasing Dream now.

Out of fun, Dream started to shout, adrenaline rushing through him in real life as he clicked furiously and scanned his environment, thinking of clever ways on how to collect stuff and lose BadBoyHalo.

BadBoyHalo was tailgating Dream with focus, taunting words being said into the mic. Dream continued to flee, up until he purposely dropped down and managed to score one more wood block which would be enough for him to craft a crafting table and have his own sword and pickaxe.

Dream merely dodged BadBoyHalo's sneak attack and dashed towards the water, slyly leaping into it, and diving down. His friends followed him closely, which Dream dealt with accordingly when he lifted up to the surface and quickly made the crafting table, building his two selected tools in a hurry.

He whacked his friends back with his sword, defending himself from losing lives. That stunned everybody for a moment, allowing Dream to get a head start at running again.

Sapnap yelled in anger.

"Let him go. I'm hungry anyways." George mumbled, his teammates sighing and watching Dream leave with the sunset.

Dream laughed tauntingly and eagerly collected food that came into his line of sight. He wasn't stopping for long durations of time, knowing that his friends wouldn't let him get far in peace.

The gameplay carried on for hours, and Dream enjoyed every second of it. He wondered what this bond would feel like if he were in the game. Would he be as brave as he is when playing it?

George laughed as they spoke about how that stream went. Dream could only chuckle with charm and listen in, his heartbeat racing as he remembered that George said that they would talk about more deeper things in person.

With every conversation, Dream started to lose hope when noticing that George hasn't mentioned needing to speak with him.

"I'm going to go take a nap after such a close match." George announced to the three of them. Dream swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, me too." He murmured with dread. "I am pretty tired."

George nodded his head, a soft "goodbye" leaving his lips. Dream repeated the same words, his finger hesitating on the mouse button to press leave. Holding back no more, he clicked and watched the screen go black.

Dream shut off his computer and got out of his chair, exiting his room. He filled Patches' food bowl with fresh wet cat food and checked her water and litterbox, making sure everything was perfect.

He went to the bathroom and did his business, washing his hands with soap afterwards. A lack of an appetite fuelled his system, sock covered feet sliding across the floorboards with tiresome movements as he trailed back to his room.

Dream dropped down onto the bed in deflation, his green eyes staring up at the ceiling. Misery swept through him; a touch that made him curl up to the blankets once he tucked himself in.

He sighed, nuzzling his pillow, warmth setting in around him. Dream found himself drifting off to sleep, George's sweet laugh playing a tune in his mind. He closed his eyes, humming a low sound.

How can I make you love me when all we do is play that game?