Passing Notes

Chapter 19: Sussus amoungus

A/N sorry it's so short I just spent time writing Dawns summary

As the bell rung, everyone packed up and left for the day. Dawn stood up as well and headed outside, only to be stopped by Cross and Nightmare. It wasn't a day with the gang, so Cross was rather unexpected.

Chara of course floated there arms crossed, but Dawn was pretty sure most other people would have no idea about that. Dream stood waiting outside, nervously glancing back but not moving. It was odd, but Cross and Nightmare said this was very important to be a private discussion. He wished he could eavesdrop but not only would Nightmare know, it would be an awful breach of trust between his friends.

Dawn sighed and shifted her backpack on her shoulder. It would be pretty awkward if this was about what she thought it was, but it was highly unlikely they'd figured anything out. Jokes on her, they hadn't got the full truth but they were only missing a few important things.

"Dawn, what's really happening? You can trust us. Me and Chara noticed your ghost and you having some sort of conflict when you were awake, which basically equates to something more serious happening."

As Cross spoke nervously, Nightmare squinted and analyzed Dawn. There was no telling if she'd actually end up telling them the truth, especially because he could never get a solid read on her. She nervously messed with the strap of her bag.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Me and Balance were just disagreeing on normal matters, like school. We could've been talking about anything."

"Except you didn't talk. It was a silent exchange. Kinda gives the vibe of you'll talk about it later."

Dawn cursed under her breath. Cross must have been paying better attention than she thought. That or Chara, which she should have accounted for since they didn't need to focus on playing a silly match of volleyball.

Nightmare leaned against the doorframe, blocking out Dawn's only viable method of escape. She gritted her teeth.

"You don't understand what you're asking me to tell you! It's not safe for any of you to know."

She clenched her fists and glared, before pausing in shock at what she had said. She hadn't meant to give away so much information, especially not that easily. She glanced away, hoping they'd overlook it.

While Cross was shocked into silence trying to process all of this, Nightmare took this opening to speak up.

"So it's dangerous? Doesn't that mean it's unsafe for you as well? What happened there Dawn, it wasn't just nothing. I couldn't feel your presence at all, it was as if you didn't exist."

Dawn sighed. She should've known Balance was right. They had warned Dawn. She may be mostly immune to empaths but she still needed to tread carefully around them. There were some things that just couldn't be hidden.

"I wasn't all here. I was transported back to some interesting memories of my past. In a way, it was someone else's past. Something I had tried to let go and forget by becoming someone else, somewhere else. Now, my memories are warning me. If I had to guess, she was unable to keep him in one place anymore."

Nightmare went to say something, before going confused in silence. It was clear these people she was talking about were very important, but either she didn't mean to tell them or she was being vague on purpose.

Cross however wasn't going to let these questions be unanswered. She was acting the way he had when Dream asked him about Dr.X; she was answering even though she didn't want to. Looks like everyone was right and she did have quite a soft spot for the angry boy. He hated to do this, but he'd have to use this to his advantage.

Dream had been able to help him out by getting information out of him, and if his friend was in danger there was no way she was letting her make the mistakes he did. He'd spent years as an experiment, he wasn't about to run away in the face of danger.

"Slow down. It sounds like someone has the ability to make you remember things, and they're using the ability to warn you. Someone dangerous they were watching is on the loose, right? So who are these people?"

Dawn grimaced. Cross really was too good at this. Based on the fact he had a ghostly companion as well though, she figured he must've had a pretty rough past as well. She could probably trust him, but what if they tried to get involved?

Nightmare had already managed to gain her trust, no matter how much she was lost to how on earth that could have happened. He also seemed to have a dark past, given some of the old photos she'd seen around the house.

Photos from when Dream had been just a kid, standing next to someone who was clearly his twin. If it was true Nightmare was his twin, then his appearance and attitude had taken a full turn in the opposite direction. She crossed her arms.

"You're right. You already know too much, so I should probably just tell you. I just... need time to determine if it's the right thing okay? Please just wait for me on that."

Dawn fidgeted and glanced up at the two. Nightmare didn't seem too happy about it, but he and Cross shared a look and he stepped out of the way. The exit was wide open, but she wouldn't be avoiding him. She had the afternoon to hang out with him still.

She smiled and bowed slightly as a sign of appreciation before rushing over to Dream and getting a worried hug and a lot of questions. Chara leaned over and whispered a lot of things to Cross. They really could have just said them out loud but Dawns ghost pal could be anywhere. Cross nodded, and turned to Nightmare.

"I think she'll say something about it eventually. I know you guys hang out, so just don't bother her about it. That would make our chances worse. Plus, it seems her phantom doesn't want us knowing whatever's going on."

Nightmare nodded and awkwardly pat Cross on the shoulder.

"Thank for the advice. See ya tomorrow."

With that he waved and walked away, leaving Cross to himself. He really needed some time to study up on all of his love related things. There were a few hours before the library closed, so he set off.

Nightmare slowly walked up to Dawn and Dream, and was surprised when Dream grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him aggressively.

"What did you guys talk about? Dawns being all silent and secretive about it!"

Nightmare and Dawn shared a glance and both shrugged. Dream narrowed his eyes before gasping.

"I've figured it out!"

"You have?"

Both Dawn and Nightmare were confused at how he could've possibly guessed.

"Nightmare, you got rejected by Dawn!"

Both of them took a second to mentally buffer before turning to each other in shock.

"Wait WHAT?"