WARNING:

Verbal Abuse, gaslighting, body horror, yelling, avoidance issues, toxic behavior

Nightmare is unsure of what to do and ends up returning to bed finding Dream waiting for him looking sleepy. He makes grabby hands at his lover wanting cuddles. Nightmare chuckles softly obliging him climbing into bed for cuddles. Nightmare lets out a soft purr when Dream snuggles into his chest hugging him like a teddy bear. They both fall asleep shortly after snuggled together.

The next day Nightmare is roused when he senses Cross return. He sits up quickly careful not to wake Dream. He has every intention of nipping this in the bud before it can even begin. He pulls on the robe that was given to him last Christmas. His soul tugs when he remembers who gave it to him. Shaking it off he leaves the room before teleporting to his office. He finds a sealed vessel containing the relic and a sealed mission report.

Nightmare discovers that as it turns out Cross is extremely good at hiding when he wants to be left alone.

Nightmare grudgingly admits defeat after turning the castle upside down without locating him. He returns to his office finding Cross's report to be well written as usual. Details such as times, places, who possessed it and when, altercations that occurred before he took possession and sealed the relic in the vessel etc. Nightmare takes the relic to the vault and files it before heading down to make coffee finding Killer.

"Oreo sulking again boss?" Killer leers.

"At least Cross succeeds without much hassle unlike you brat." Nightmare quips back pouring a cup once the pot brews.

When he returns to his bedroom Dream is up rubbing his sockets looking sleepily at him.

"Nighty?" He softly yawns his pajama top falling off one shoulder.

"You sleep well?" He replies going over to their bed after setting his coffee down on the desk coaster. He joins Dream on the bed deciding it's better not to tell Dream that Cross returned until he's more awake.

"Mmm. Morning kiss?" Dream asks sleepily making grabby hands at Nightmare making him laugh softly.

"So, demanding~" He teases moving to oblige his lover.

"But you love it." He replies once Nightmare comes over to kiss him.

Nightmare kisses him pulling away murmuring, "I do sunshine."

"You were gone when I woke up. Did someone come home earlier than expected?"

Nightmare's split second of hesitation tells Dream everything he needs to know.

"Cross?" Dream whispers.

"Cross." Nightmare agrees just as softly. "Don't bother he's not anywhere we haven't already searched."

Dream deflates looking upset making Nightmare is even more determined to deal with Cross's avoidance even if it means ordering him to attend meals.

They cuddle for a while before getting out of bed and dressed for the day. Dream checks the hiding spots while Nightmare makes brunch. He still can't sense Cross at all, which is much more worrying now that he can focus on that empty static he senses instead of emotions. None of the hiding places yield the missing soldier and Dream knows not to touch the tower stairs as they are more decrepit than the rest of the castle. Still as he passes the door, he pauses looking up the shadowy stairwell. He focuses his senses to expand up the staircase.

He feels a dark presence repel his senses but pushes past it finding a distressed ball of anxiety that HAS to be Cross. Before he can probe further an ear-splitting screech echoes from the staircase as a shadowy apparition appears lunging and scaring the shit out of him. Dream jumps back as the shadow solidifies into a man with a clearly broken neck.

"THIS IS MY TOWER AWAY WITH YA!"

His voice rattles the windowpanes. Dream clutches his chest, his soul pounding heavily against his ribcage. The man does not follow him when he retreats from the stairwell much to Dream's relief instead just watching him with an angry glare. He hustles away not wanting to provoke the entity further.

Well THAT most certainly explains the weird aura block on the clock tower.

Dream is shaking as yelling is quite triggering for him never mind an aggressive spirit roaring at him with a violently negative aura to match. He returns to the study, the door slamming open.

Nightmare nearly impales him looking like a cat with its hackles raised.

"Dream what-"

"The clock tower is haunted, and the ghost is NOT friendly."

Dream flops onto his lap still shaking, "And I hate being yelled at because the villagers yelled at me a lot when I was too tired for their bullshit."

"Okay. First glad I dusted those assholes hundreds of years ago and second, I have a ghost that isn't a hallucination?"

Nightmare looks ruffled by the revelation of the villagers being assholes to Dream but glad he said something. He rubs Dream's back to help calm him a little. Dream sighs,

"I think Cross is up in the tower. That ghost feels angry not anxious and distressed."

"There is an angry ghost that guards the one place you think Cross is. That can't be a coincidence." Nightmare grumbles.

"It explains the presence keeping us from sensing him without using a significant amount of effort."

Dream replies still a bit shaky. Nightmare rubs Dream's back to help chase away the lingering chill from the angry dead man's soul. Once Dream stops shaking Nightmare asks what the villagers did,

"They treated you like a god though that was probably just me being envious."

"More like a walking power cell."

Dream huffs softly turning to face his brother.

"I was their pick me up and of course the excuses they had to keep me from seeing them beat the shit out of you."

"Pride and fear of you getting hurt are what drove me to being deceitful."

Nightmare murmurs nuzzling Dream who hums softly nuzzling back.

"I was not in fact a bottomless pit of raw positivity. I got tired and often wanted to cuddle with you for a nap. When I refused to do what they rudely demanded they gaslight and yelled at me. I hate people yelling at me as a result."

The explanation upsets Nightmare as he often saw Dream tired out or upset when they were children. He never questioned his brother wanting affection and realizes he should have. He cuddles his lover close making Dream purr softly.

"What did Dust say the other day that got you so upset?" Nightmare asks softly.

"In blunt terms he told me I told Cross to fuck off despite clearly seeing Killer being an asshole to him."

Dream sighs softly his breath tickling Nightmare's neck.

"Nothing you say will change the fact that is exactly what happened. Now he's back to avoiding us."

"While that may be true, the discussion we had before this happened stands. Cross hiding from us solves nothing."

"We pushed him away when he was already hurting!"

"Why is his response to hide then?"

The twins continue to bicker unaware of the ghost watching them argue over Cross's decision to hide away from the sources of his bleeding heart.

"Idiots."

He leaves them to argue over it. If they approach the tower again, he'll scare them away again to give Cross the time he needs to process his emotions. He returns to the tower finding Cross curled up with a plate of half-eaten food beside the mattress he brought up here when he's extremely upset or needs space from the team.

"Scaring Dream was mean though I appreciate it."

Cross looks at Licht his voice hoarse from crying.

"Maybe if they would stop trying to force ya to talk to the after that disaster of an evenin' I would not have ta be scary."

Licht replies sitting on the chair near the makeshift bed.

"That said I know goldy does not fancy being yelled at."

Cross sighs softly knowing Licht is just looking out for him like Jude does.

"I'm still a coward in the end Licht. Hiding instead of manning up and facing my problems."

"You ain't a coward lad. They hurt ya very badly for no reason other than their own personal issues blinding them."

Licht fixes Cross with the look of parental disapproval which gets a tiny smile from the soldier. Cross stretches before preparing to shower in another AU as he's not at all willing to be around Killer or the twins right now. Licht told him that Error straight up refused to give him jambalaya for being an asshole and that Nightmare told Killer not to insult the cook.

The team being petty for his sake makes Cross feel a little better, but his heart still hurts after being snapped at for apologizing. He knows Killer is probably living it up with him being "invisible" as he should be.

Back in the office the twins finally stopped going in circles about the situation.

"We're the reason he's hiding regardless of it not being the response you want from him Night."

Dream pinches his nasal aperture frustrated with the cycling conversation.

"We both seriously hurt him by lashing out over his good intentions even though they were poorly executed. Killer won't learn anything from being forced to clean aside from having even more ammunition to attack Cross with."

Nightmare rubs his temples,

"What should we do about the ghost of the clock tower? He's clearly protecting Cross's hiding spot."

"We respect Cross wanting space to deal with the harm we just caused him. Him needing to hide up there means he knows he will not be left alone in the castle. We should be more concerned about him being driven to feel that he has no privacy in his own room."

Dream flops onto the couch wrapping himself in the blanket feeling sad when he realizes how much effort Cross put into the gifts, he gives to everyone. Nightmare sits beside him knowing Dream is right, but still frustrated that Cross's behavior will inevitably cause his beloved stress.

"We've made a huge mess of this Night. Error and Dust are right to call horrible partners." Dream says nothing more as tears begin to run down his cheeks. Nightmare feels guilty for being hard on Cross over several misunderstandings. A tear runs down his cheek as he revisits what Error told him the night before. It fully hits him how badly they've fucked up all while enabling Killer's toxic behavior.

We truly are horrible partners…

End Notes:

Ahahaha here come the non hallucination ghosts in Noot's castle

Licht and Jude the ghosts of the clock and bell towers. Both are protective of Cross as their only friend

Dream is slowly opening up, BUT it only happens after something bad happens first.

Nightmare still won't admit he's in love lmao

KILLER WILL NOT CHANGE UNTIL CONSUENCES OCCUR.

Feel free to rage in the comments I enjoy seeing y'all mad at he/the twins lol

Cross has the toxic trait of thinking himself a coward for running away instead of disucssing his hurt feelings.

REMEMBER: needing space after an argument is valid and completely normal.