A What Now? A Nightmare X Reader Story

Chapter 18: Of My Very Own

[Y/N POV]

Kyle looked at me for a moment, then looked at the ground sheepishly. "I- ... I can't. I'm sorry, but you'll be better off for it."

I took a moment to process his response.

"So he's telling the truth?"

Kyle flinched. "I didn't say-"

"AAAND," I interrupted him, "AND you've got something to do with why my memory is all ker-fuckled."

He sputtered for a few seconds before he frantically replied, "We did it to protect you!"

I felt my heart drop. "We?"

His eyes widened, "D-did I say we?" He took a step back.

"He helped send me away?" I heard the pain in my voice, and Kyle's face softened.

"It's not like that (Y/N). Cole and I agreed that it would be safest for you to be far away from here. Of course he didn't want to send you away, but he put your safety above that."

I flinched a bit when he said his name. Ink, however, was entirely oblivious.

"Who is Cole?"

Kyle looked at him with an expression of borderline disgust. "Cole is... was (Y/N)'s brother."

"Oh! That's right!" Ink exclaimed. "I forgot. He's the dead one right?"

I nearly launched myself at him, but I was distracted by a nearby portal sound.

"(Y/N)!"

It was Nightmare's voice, and I, now completely distracted from Ink's offensive comment, turned to look for him. When we made eye contact, I felt myself visually light up, and I could see the relief spreading across his face. He was back in his corrupted form, which I was a little glad for. As cute as he was in his passive form, I hadn't really had the chance to get used to it yet.

"Nightmare!"

I ran to him, and he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me protectively. His tentacles were lashing angrily as he glared at Ink.

"Did he hurt you (Y/N)?"

I shook my head. "Just my dignity."

Nightmare quietly growled, tightening his grip on me. Ink and Kyle approached the group, which I now noticed included Dream, Blue, and Papy. I hadn't expected them.

Ink looked irritated, and Kyle looked apprehensive.

"You're getting in the way Nightmare." Ink said it bluntly, clearly not in the mood for this.

"Of what, exactly?" Nightmare all but snarled at him. "I don't see any good reason for you snatching (Y/N) and dragging them off to some backwater AU-"

"This is their AU, Nightmare." Ink interrupted him, now returning the King of Negativity's glare in equal measure. Nightmare wasn't in the mood for any shit, however, and scoffed.

"Yeah, right. They're from Underswap."

And just like that, things got a bit awkward.

"As much as I don't want to agree with the sociopath, Ink's right."

Nightmare looked at me incredulously. I jerked my head in Kyle's direction. "That's Kyle over there. I told you about him." Nightmare looked in his direction, then back at me.

"Apparently he and my brother wiped my memory and sent me to Underswap to protect me from something."

"We did," Kyle piped up. "And it worked." I tugged at Nightmare's grip, and he released me. I walked over to Kyle and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Kyle," I said, "Tell me what happened."

His eyes dropped to the ground. "It's- It's a long story, and it'll probably upset you."

"Well, we can make time to hear it." He looked up at me. "I need to hear this Kyle, if for no other reason than so I can have some peace of mind." Kyle held my gaze for a moment longer, then sighed. He nodded.

"Alright. I'll tell you." He looked at Ink, his face briefly flashing with rage. "But only because it might give you peace of mind, (Y/N). Otherwise I would send you back. You're safer far away from here."

Kyle walked to the center of the garden, and sat beside a huge amber stone that was nearly half his height. He leaned against it, closing his eyes for a moment. As he sat, I instinctively sat myself opposite to him, and the others subsequently sat around us. Nightmare took his seat at my side, and Blue ended up sitting on my other.

Kyle opened his eyes and sat up, meeting my gaze. He glanced around at everyone before speaking.

"This won't really make complete sense until I've finished, so please wait until then to interrupt me."

He took a deep breath.

"Okay. Here it is."

Hey everyone, I'm very sorry for the long wait between chapters. I've honestly just been completely uninspired to work on this. But, good news, I've got a good idea of how I want to finish this out, so I should be able to do that reasonably soon.

Also, A What Now? hit 1k views a while ago!  Totally pog!  Thanks everyone for reading, and to everyone who's left comments, seeing your feedback always makes my day!

Sorry again to everyone who's been waiting, and thank you all for being patient.

Love, Author-chan. <3