The reluctant caretaker AU (smg4 fanfic)

Day 2: Do You Hate Me?

4 woke up in a cold sweat, once again frightened by his nightmares. This time, he had dreamt of events he doesn't remember happening between him and daddy. They were awful and scary and Daddy must hate him if these nightmares were anything to go by! While 4 was confused by himself being an adult in all his dreams, he was too busy being distraught over the events in his dreams to really think of what his age difference meant.

In his dreams, he saw numerous events where he and Daddy were fighting. He saw his daddy nearly stab him after saying 'goodnight sweet prince' during some big fight before some red and blue clothed dude stopped the fight. He saw himself destroying Daddy's studio and Daddy swearing to be the villain if that's what everyone wants. And, he saw when Daddy erased him from existence only to be later dragged through a portal after some lady took the remote from him. It was safe to say 4 was confused, scared, and terrified. Why were he and Daddy fighting so much in his dreams? Was he responsible for Daddy being here? Was this why Daddy was so distant towards him? Did... did Daddy hate him?

Smg3 woke up only to hear soft crying. Groaning, he grabbed his phone off the bedside table to check the time. He groaned again when he saw it was 3:08 in the morning. Because of course 4 would have more nightmares. At least the kid didn't purposely wake him up. Smg3 put his phone back and glanced down at the child that was silently crying and hiccuping.

4 seemed to be even more distraught than earlier if that was even possible. 'What the fuck did he dream about this time? He looks like his dog just died.' Smg3 thought.

"You alright, 4?" Smg3 asked softly. Smg3 didn't want to make the crying worse so he went for the gentler approach for once.

The toddler stiffened and glanced up at Smg3. He didn't say anything, instead, he tightly hugged Smg3's arm and buried his face into his arm. All the while he never stopped crying.

"Was it nightmares again? Was it the Clock man?" Smg3 asked, trying to figure out what's going on.

"N-no. It wasn't the b-bad man." 4 sniffed.

"Well, what was it? I can't do anything if I don't know what's bothering you." Smg3 sighed.

"D- does Dada hate me?" 4 asked, sending a jolt of shock through Smg3.

Out of all things he expected to hear, THAT was not one of them. He was caught off guard by the question and who wouldn't be? Most 4-year-olds don't ask that question!

Smg3 sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get any sleep til he sorted this out. He sat up and pulled the crying child into his lap. 4 immediately wrapped his arms around him and cried into his chest.

"Now, where's this coming from?" Smg3 questioned.

The child started spilling out his worries. "D- Daddy and I fought a lot in my dreams. We were so angry at each other! Why were we mean to each other? Why did Daddy try to kill me? Why doesn't Daddy like me? Am I a bad kid? Is it my fault Daddy's alone here?"

'Oh... so it was memories of our past that plagued him this time... no wonder he seems so distraught. I may loathe him, but even I know that's gotta be too much for someone his age to deal with.' Smg3 reflected.

"I don't hate you. Well, I strongly dislike the adult version of you, but I don't hate you as you are." Smg3 reassured the child.

4 sniffed before asking, "adult me? I remember me being an adult in my dreams but I'm 4! I'm not an adult..?"

'Aw, fuck. And here I thought I could avoid explaining this to him.' Smg3 sweatdropped.

"Actually, you are supposed to be an adult. But that evil clock man turned you into a child." Smg3 tried to explain, hoping 4's fear of the Clock man wouldn't worsen.