summary: dream loses his last canon life and no one has the heart to tell the reader. the reader is in denial, confused as to why their dream isn’t coming home.
a/n: this is obviously not canon so please don’t take this as such. also i’ve never written dream before so i apologize if this is a little ooc. if y’all have any suggestions on how i can improve writing for dream (or anyone else), please let me know because i’ve only recently gotten invested in the SMP. thank you :))
important links: lizzy mcalpine - means something masterlist
I saw your name on a street sign
In the middle of nowhere
And that has to mean something
You and Fundy had been messing around on the server all day, this being one of your boyfriend’s busier days. You didn’t want to let yourself miss out on any of the shenanigans on the SMP just because your boyfriend couldn’t be online, so you rang up Fundy and decided to muck around a little. The two of you had been sprinting down one of the paths when you had noticed a new sign at one of the many intersections. You stopped and crouched down to read it, Fundy watching you curiously. Suddenly, you giggled. “Hey, it says Dream Street,” you beamed, turning to face him.
“What?” he laughed, stooping down to inspect it. After a moment, he straightened back up. “Huh, I guess it does.”
“Oh, that’s so cool!!” you gushed, bouncing a little. “Would you mind taking a picture of me with it, Fundy? I wanna show him later.”
After laughing a little at your face-splitting smile, he agreed. You struck a cute pose beside the sign and smiled as the Dutch man crouched a little and took the picture.
I know your zodiac sign
Me and Leos get along great
And that has to mean something
“Are you on your astrology shit again?” your boyfriend asked as he laid across from you on the bed, an amused smile curling his lips.
“No,” you giggled, dragging it out as you opened an app on your phone. Co-star lit up your screen as you pulled your knees to your chest. “On a completely unrelated note, your birthday’s August 12th, right?”
Dream playfully rolled his eyes, nudging you with his foot. He busied himself with the strings of his hoodie, fake-ignoring you. Looking up at you, you raised your eyebrows. Well? Your partner huffed and cracked a smile. “Yes, my birthday’s August 12th.”
You hummed, nodding a little and typing some stuff into your phone. “Huh.”
Dream looked up at you, eyebrows furrowed. “What?” You looked up from your phone with the smallest, fond smile on your face. When you didn’t answer, he tried again. “What? What are you huh-ing about?”
Your smile grew a little as you started to speak. “It says that me and Leos get along great.”
“Oh my god-”
“You know what that means?” you asked, cheeks dusting pink.
The boy sitting across from you snickered a little, short puffs of air leaving his nose. “No, what does it mean?” he replied, deciding to humor you.
“Our love was written in the stars!” you exclaimed dramatically, flopping over onto his legs. “It was meant to be.” You beamed up at him, clasping your hands together.
Dream sat up, brushing a stray hair behind your ear. The smile that curved his lips was real this time, not playful or mocking or amused. It was warm and fond and home. “It sure was.”
But for some reason
You’re not here
And I refuse to believe
That means something
You’d been there for hours, waiting. He said he’d meet you at the bench - your bench. He said he’d meet you and you’d go for a walk and watch the sunset like you’d been planning. You had your little picnic blanket and your backpack and your dinner all packed up, probably no longer warm. You’d been ready, giddy all day, excited to watch the sunset with your one love and look at the stars and make up stupid, fake constellations and laugh at each other’s antics. You’d brought the little flower you’d made out of a piece of scrap paper too while wandering around aimlessly earlier, another little paper craft for his collection. You’d been excited. So excited that you couldn’t bring yourself to acknowledge the dark feeling in the pit of your stomach; the feeling that something was wrong.
You refused to leave the bench, even as the breeze picked up and the sun neared the horizon. Sure, it wasn’t like Dream to be so late without giving you some sort of heads up, but maybe he was just this one time. Maybe he got caught up doing business with someone and he’d forgotten to shoot you a message. Maybe he forgot something and he had to run back home and grab it. Maybe he got stuck setting up one of his Classic Dream Surprises and had lost track of time. Maybe-
Many of your friends passed you on the path near your bench, gazing at you sympathetically but not stopping to talk. No one had the heart to break the news to you. Niki and Ranboo had lingered on the path for a little bit, whispering back and forth, debating whether or not they should check up on you. They eventually decided against it and went to go get Phil.
You bounced your leg and clutched the blanket a little tighter. It’ll be fine, he’s just running late.
I felt the way that you hugged me
When I was broken inside
And that has to mean something
He was gone. Wilbur was dead.
Your ears were ringing. The news had been on loop in your head since you’d received it. He’s gone, Y/N. He’s gone.
You and Wilbur had been relatively close - one could even go as far as to say that he was one of your best friends. Although you loved him dearly, you couldn’t say that you didn’t see it coming. Unfortunately, that didn’t dull that shock that came with the news. Dream had been out on business when you’d heard, and you’d been laid up in bed ever since. You refused to look in the mirror, already well aware of how rough you probably looked. Your eyes were swollen and red from crying, and you’d been wearing the same big hoodie all day. For the past two hours you’d been doing nothing but staring up at the ceiling, replaying every little moment you could remember from your friendship in your head. It hurt. Everything hurt.
You hadn’t heard when the front door opened. Or when Dream called out into the eerily quiet house, announcing that he was home. Or even the steps of your boyfriend approaching from down the hall. He opened the door, confused to see you in bed, puffy-eyed and motionless. You sat up in bed when you noticed a blur of green standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
The two of you stared at one another for a moment, the tension nearly palpable. Dream’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as he stared at you in a vain effort to assess the situation, neither of you breathing. He blinked and your bottom lip began to quiver. Concerned, he look forward and you let out a wail, tears spilling down your cheeks.
He caught you, kneeling awkwardly over you on the bed to hold you tight against his chest. “What’s wrong, baby? What happened?”
“He’s - gone,” you managed out between sobs.
“Who’s gone, honey?”
“Wil-” You hiccupped. “Wilbur’s dead.”
I felt the way that you kissed me
When we got too drunk that night
And that had to mean something
It was a good night; you and your boyfriend were sat around your candlelit coffee table having a celebratory drink. Celebrating what, you may ask? Well, no other occasion than Dream successful negotiating with a business partner. You couldn’t quite put your finger on why this negotiation was more important that your partner’s other successful business ventures, but his excitement was enough for you to give in.
You’d started drinking and talking around sunset. It was now nearing midnight and the two of you found yourselves dancing, slowly swaying to the tune of Dream’s humming. He lifted his chin from the top of your head, and you looked up to meet his gaze, curious. Leaning down, he rested his forehead against yours. “Can I kiss you?”
His breath fanned across your face, warming your already pink cheeks. Your lips curled in a lazy smile. He smelled like red wine and something smoky. You loved him like this, all close and vulnerable and yours.
Scrunching up your nose, you scoffed. “Can you kiss me?” you mocked playfully, leaning into him a little more. “Of course you can kiss me; we’re dating, love.”
“I just wanted to make sure,” he replied breathily, leaning down to lock your lips. Your noses brushed together, your eyelashes fluttering against his cheek. You clasped your hands behind his neck, leaning up the slightest bit on your tiptoes, and he held your elbows. The kiss was timid, but it warm and him and love and home. It was soft and sweet and comfortable. He kissed you like he was promising you the future, that everything would be okay. Like he was telling you he would always be there to take care of you.
When you pulled away, he moved to cup your cheeks, keeping your foreheads pressed together. For a good, long while, the two of you stayed standing like that, just swaying and smiling at each other.
But for some reason
You’re not here
And I refuse to believe
That means something
You’d curled up on the bench by now, knees pulled up to your chest and wrapped in your picnic blanket. He’s coming, you assured yourself, chin tucked into your hoodie. The sun had long since dipped below the horizon and you’d resorted to tapping your foot against the wood of the bench in the awkward position. You didn’t bother checking your clock; you didn’t want to know how long you’d been waiting anymore. You just wanted to sit there and wait until your boyfriend showed up.
The paper flower you’d so carefully made for him had been cupped between your palms for hours now, probably sweaty and wilted. You’d thought about setting it down - but what if it blew away? What if you accidentally lost it?
You lost yourself a little staring out into the distance, trying to make out some kind of constellation in the inky darkness of the night. Sighing you slumped a little, trying not to let your paranoia get the best of you. At least you were both under the same sky. It was admittedly getting pretty chilly, but you didn’t care. You’d wait at your bench until Dream got here.
A hand gently met your shoulder, and you jumped. You smiled excitedly, relaxing. “Finally-” you started, turning to face him. Your smile dropped when, instead, you turned to be met with Phil’s sad smile. Confused and somewhat disappointed, you cocked your head. “Hi.”
“Hi, Y/N,” the older man greeted softly, moving around the bench. “Can I talk to you about something?”
Your brows furrowed once again, concerned. He seemed really serious. Scooting to one side, you patted the space beside you. “Yeah, of course. Whatever you need.”
He sighed sadly at that, taking a seat next to you on the bench. “I have some news,” he started carefully.
“News?” you echoed, sounding a little empty.
Phil inhaled deeply, sensing that you already knew that something was wrong. “Yeah, I have some news for you.”
You blinked slowly, turning to face him better. “Okay, what is it?”
“Let me start by saying however you react to this is totally okay, alright?” he began softly, watching as you nodded numbly. “So, uhm.” He paused, wringing his hands. “Dream’s gone.”
“Yeah,” you said as if it were obvious. “He’s on his way here.”
“No, Y/N-” He paused again, trying to figure out how to word it delicately. “He’s not with us anymore.”
You scoffed in disbelief at Phil’s stubbornness. “Yes, Phil, I know. He’s away on business.”
“Y/N.” A sigh escaped his lips as he covered his mouth with his hand, now genuinely afraid of how you were processing things. “Y/N, he’s dead.” He waited for you to respond but, instead, you just blinked at him. “There was a disagreement during their meeting and things got out of hand-” Another pause. “He’s gone. I’m so sorry.”
Every time I think too much
It ends up crazy
I don’t know how to not think about you
Every time I trust my gut
I think I’m crazy
‘Cause I don’t know how to put my trust in you
It had been a few hours since you’d gotten the news, and the denial has slowly faded away. He would’ve texted you if he’d been running late. He wouldn’t have left you there for hours and hours, waiting for him on a little bench.
After the initial shock had worn off, you’d gone home to process things, and to say that things didn’t turn out pretty would be an understatement. Once you had gotten home, you went straight to your shared bedroom and made a mountain out of his clothes. Grabbing a case of beer from the fridge, you sat on the floor and stared at his stuff for a long while. You only had two bottles, knowing that drinking yourself out of feeling probably wouldn’t be the best solution right now, but you still sat there nursing your drink as the tears silently rolled down your cheeks. You couldn’t help but feel like you’d been here before.
By the time you’d heard the knock at your front door, the house was a mess. Picture frames were shattered, anything that belonged to Dream or reminded you of him was scattered about, his snacks were piled up on the kitchen counters, his shoes were stacked up behind the bedroom door - the entire house was in a state of complete chaos. And there you were, wailing and dragging yourself through the mess towards the front door. You swung open the door, which bounced off of an overflowing box of trinkets Dream had collected from you, and there was Sapnap standing awkwardly on your front porch.
You were suddenly aware of how rough you looked, red nose and puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks in all of your grieving glory. You’d put on a pair of his sweats and a random hoodie he’d gifted you for one of your anniversaries, both of which were obviously too big for you. You sniffled, looking up at the man sadly.
“Hey, you doing okay?” Sapnap asked softly, wondering what exactly was and wasn’t okay to ask someone who’d just heard that their partner had passed away.
Your eyebrows knit together and something inside of you broke. You tried to choke back a sob, but it came out as a sputtering cough as a waterfall of tears poured down your face. “No,” you wailed, slumping in on yourself and grabbing fistfuls of the extra fabric of the hoodie you were wearing. Losing a little bit of your self-control, you lurked forward and threw your arms around the other, who didn’t hesitate to pull you into himself. Rubbing circles into your back, he walked you back into the house. Navigating the mess of you trying to sort out all of Dream’s things was no easy task but, eventually, he led you to your living room.
The both of you sat down on the couch, you still hugging him and him still rubbing circles into your back. He would hold you for as long as you needed, humming a little in a vain attempt to try and make you feel better. “I know it’s hard that he’s gone now,” he started, trying not to start crying himself. “But it’ll be okay, Y/N. I’ve got you.”
Do you think it means something
That I wrote another song about you?
You sang softly, kicking your legs from where you sat at the edge of the cliff you’d found. It was some coping and recovery exercise Bad had recommended - writing songs or poems or stories or whatever about things you were struggling to come to terms with. You had to admit that it had helped some. When you’d first started with the writing, you’d chosen to start writing songs because you’d seen how happy Dream had been when he used to write music. You wanted a part of that. You wanted to understand what had made him so happy.
So you gave it a shot and here you were, singing a song you’d written for him, sitting on your picnic blanket and watching as the sun set, painting the sky with oranges and pinks. It almost felt as though he were right beside you, swaying along to the tune no matter how good or bad it was. You could feel him smiling down at you from wherever the hell he was. You were okay now. You were safe and recovering and taking care of yourself. Wherever he was, you’d make sure that he knew. He means something to you.
it’s so funny when pansexuals say shit like “go outside...touch some grass” like babygirl u run a tumblr account where you ship aspects of a vine star’s personality with each other which one of us isn’t living in reality
it takes place in the same universe, just from Korra’s perspective. This one is inspired by Lizzy McAlpine’s song “Means Something” if you wanna listen to the song, I totally suggest you do !!! i followed the song a bit more loosely in this fic but i hope you guys enjoy it
read it here on ao3
or here on tumblr :)
The corner of her mouth curled up in a smile as she snapped a picture of the billboard passing by. Korra was with her basketball team, traveling to Ba Sing Se for a game. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that on the drive there she’d seen a third Future Industries ad. This one had Asami posing with a confident smile on her face as she was surrounded by smiling Future Industries employees. Without a thought, Korra sent the picture to Asami.
One with your face on it? Look at that goober
After a few moments, Asami replied:
Goober? Oh yeah, you in the reflection? Glad to see your face :)
Kuvira peered over Korra’s shoulder and started laughing. The girl quickly put her phone away and turned around to look at Kuvira sitting behind her. Korra gave her a stare and Kuvira leaned back in her seat, putting her hands up, but laughing lightly to herself.
Korra couldn’t keep count of how many times Kuvira poked fun at her about Asami. Korra had to constantly remind her the two girls were, in fact, just friends.
“I’ve seen the way you two get along,” Kuvira would say. “That’s not nothing.”
Korra knew she was right though, that there had to have been a reason for the state of their relationship. They worked in tandem, Korra would put down the place mats just as Asami would put the plates and utensils. While Korra would pick the Netflix movie, Asami would somehow bring every single snack Korra wanted to eat. When Korra would walk down the street, Asami would be right by her side, in step. (Even though Asami had longer strides, Korra knew she would take smaller steps so she could keep up.) When Korra was about to sneeze, Asami would be ready with a tissue for the girl to take. There had to have been a reason for it all.
The stars must’ve aligned: two girls who dedicated their lives, thus far, to their respective crafts decided after meeting they would set aside time for each other. It was like the movies, the few years they’d known each other passed by in a montage. Korra refused to believe it was an accident that Asami was leading a student tour of Republic City University when she was visiting in regards to a basketball scholarship. Sure, it may not have been the tour group Korra was assigned to, but she heard her voice, the velvet smooth, the sweet sound of music, how could she not be drawn to it? It could not have been by chance that Asami pulled her aside when the tour was over and questioned the lost look in her eye. While Korra first stumbled through her words, she found her footing after making the girl laugh. It was no fluke that the girls quickly fell into rhythm, talking about their interests and dislikes then moving to personal matters and lifelong dreams without batting an eye.
It was Asami who was able to get through to Korra on the way to Tonraq’s funeral. The news struck suddenly, he died on impact after his car swerved off the road on a particularly icy evening in the south. To everyone else, Korra made sure to seem fine; she stayed quiet but would be responsive, nodding, shaking her head, mustering up all her energy to put a small grin on her face. But when she found herself alone with Asami in the back of the Future Industries jet flying them south, Korra knew she could let go. Asami wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulder and Korra began to cry, falling into the girl’s chest and bawling for what felt like hours.
At the wake, Korra stayed cooped up in her childhood bedroom, holding the picture of her father teaching her how to take a foul shot. Senna opened the door and was followed in by Asami. Korra looked at them both and sighed, gripping the frame to her chest. Senna gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead then left the room as Asami stood to the side. When her mother was gone, Korra stood up and fell into Asami’s arms.
It may not have been her father’s bear hug, but the feeling of Asami’s chin on her head brought a comfort she’d never felt before. Of course Asami’s hugs would feel like home, because she was Asami Sato and while Korra couldn’t find the right words to explain the sentence, she knew the sentiment was right. She was Asami Sato and it was no accident everything felt right with her.
It was a cruel twist of fate that at the biggest party of the semester, hosted by esteemed Beifong twins, Wing and Wei, Korra and Asami found their way to each other when the night was finishing up. They’d spent most of it apart, Korra felt challenged by Mako after he stated he was better at pong than her, so they were off playing round after round while Bolin scooped Asami up to be his wing woman in impressing the twins’ sister, Opal. The girls found a secluded room and recounted their nights to each other whilst slurring their words. They sat on the ground next to each other, using the wall to prop them up. Asami had her head on Korra’s shoulder. It got quiet and suddenly Asami’s hand was on Korra’s cheek and their lips were pressed together.
The kiss lasted for a moment and despite the intake of alcohol, Asami tasted like sweet cherries. Korra thought the tides were changing, that their relationship was shifting, and she was going to accept it with open arms but when Asami pulled away her eyes began to flutter and she fell asleep on the girl’s shoulder. The boys found them, Korra running her fingers through Asami’s hair, and they helped each girl get into the car. Designated driver Bolin brought Asami to the Sato mansion and Korra brought her inside. She stayed over that night.
In the morning, Asami had no recollection of the kiss.
It was a cruel twist of fate that shook Korra’s soul. The kiss was short, but it ignited fire in the girl’s heart. Suddenly every other person was just fine, but none of them were gorgeous like Asami Sato. No one made Korra’s heart speed up, no one made Korra’s head swim, no one made Korra feel anything that came close to the feeling of that kiss. She never told anyone about it. It was a secret just for her, one she replayed night after night, hoping if she thought about it hard enough, she’d taste the sweet cherries again and see the sparks when she closed her eyes. There was no way fate would play such a trick on Korra, at least she thought so.
“It’s too bad your little girlfriend can’t make the game,” Kuvira said, putting her chin on the headrest of Korra’s seat.
Korra shook her head, it was just circumstantial. Ba Sing Se was too far out for her friends to make an appearance. After the game, the team was to clean up and shower then hit the road again to travel to Omashu and return to Republic City by Monday. Korra didn’t expect a single one of them to make the trip. (Even though she prayed to Raava that Asami would somehow show up in the stands of the University of Ba Sing Se Arena, if she couldn’t spot those emerald eyes, the two girls would still be best friends.)
At that moment, Korra’s phone pinged again and showed a message from Asami. She sent a picture of herself in the RCU Fire Ferret’s jersey she bought, the one she ironed Korra’s number on, and in her message said repping my number 6, i’m there in spirit! Korra felt her cheeks blush, the world must’ve had plans for the two of them. Even if the thought was totally, absolutely, outright insane, she held onto it, her grip would not let up. It had to of all meant something, it had to.
