Dream never made the bed. Dream waited until three in the morning to do the dishes. Dream didn't lock the door when he took a shower (I found out the hard way). Dream was far from the best roommate I could have possibly chosen to marry. It felt more like I was taking care of a child. He forgot to eat all the time, forgot to drink, and I had to remind him every hour, and he even had the tendency to fall asleep in random places. Including draped over me and Sapnap when we were watching TV. But that wasn't even the worst of it. The worst was that he was a literal sloth throughout the day but absolutely exploded at night like nine packs of fireworks launched at the same time. And he didn't calm down until only a few hours before the crack of dawn. At first I didn't mind. My internal clock was still running on London time. Not only that, but I already had the tendency to stay up all hours of the night. But I was never as hyper as Dream was the moment the night owl in him woke up. And as soon as I got used to Florida time, I grew tired of Dream and his frantic bouncing off the walls.

Sapnap never stayed this long with Dream either. Heck, they never even slept in the same house together until now. He was always the first one to crash between the three of us, but his peaceful sleep never seemed to last long before Dream found something so insignificant and absolutely hilarious and woke him up again. And because of that, Dream and I had to be in our bedroom by midnight.

"Are you high right now, Dream?" I asked as we laid in bed. I watched him scroll through his phone and wheeze at videos of cats fails.

"No," He said. "You'd know if I was high. You're practically attached to me."

"Not really." That was a lie. But there was nothing else to do. Sapnap was always attached to Dream as well. It wasn't our fault that he was the only one with the power to do anything here. Neither Sapnap nor I could drive, we didn't know where anything was, and we didn't have any way to play Minecraft aside from Dream's computer. And Dream wasn't very keen on letting us borrow.

"Hey George, I had the weirdest dream last night," He said, putting his phone away. The light emitting was the only light aside from the streetlights seeping between the blinds. I could now only barely make out his outline as he laid down.

"What was it?"

He chuckled before he even started telling the story. "You were riding a chicken."

"What the heck?"

He laughed. "Yeah! And you had, like, a crap-ton of diamonds on you that I wanted. I had to chase you around until I pulled out a bow and arrow and killed your chicken."

"Did you get the diamonds?"

"Yeah, but it was really hard to get."

"Yeah, that's really weird." I looked to my left to see the digital clock. It was three in the morning; thankfully around the time he finally started calming down.

"Do you remember any of your dreams?" He asked. It came off as a more disembodied voice as I could barely see him. I turned over to face him, and I could tell he was facing me as well. I could feel his intense stare cause the hairs on the back of my neck to shoot up.

"No."

"Oh. How's your sleep been?"

"If I'm being honest? Not that great."

"Oh. Why not?"

I tried looking into his eyes despite not being able to see anything aside from the soft honeydew glow of his outline.

"Multiple reasons. They all include you."

"What?" He laughed with a soft shake. "What do you mean?"

I sat up. "Firstly, I can not fall asleep with you going in and out of bed a million times a night. How many bathroom trips do you need?"

"Okay—"

"And! And, once you finally settle in bed, you yank all the blankets to your side leaving me to freeze."

"Because you're a blanket hog!" He sat up as well, and I could hear the smile through his voice.

"I'm not done. You kick. I wake up multiple times a night to you kicking my shins. Yesterday you knee'd my back!"

He laughed, "I do not, George. And you're not the best person to sleep with either, you wanna know why?"

"Enlighten me."

"Okay, first and most obvious, you're a blanket thief. You pull the blankets off the bed every night. I pull them to my side because I know you'll pull them off me later in the night. At least I can fall asleep warm. And, you sleep talk. Loudly. You have conversations in bed all the time, George."

My face burned. I already knew I talked in my sleep. My parents would tell me about it all the time. Same with my friends when I slept over. All I'd hear from them was them mocking me for what I said. And what I said wasn't always what I necessarily wanted to say.

"Anything else?" I asked.

He thought for a moment before laying back down. "No."

I followed suit, coddling myself under the thick sheets.

"Sorry," He mumbled.

I sighed with a soft smile. "It's fine. I'll get used to it."

He chuckled, "You've been here for a week. I'm pretty sure anything you would get used to you've gotten used to already."

I shrugged. "I guess."

We fell silent. The only sound in the room was the soft white noise of the fan above us spinning around and around again. I could still feel Dream's beating stare.

"Are you happy?" He abruptly asked.

"What?" For some reason, my heart hit a dead stop when he asked. It wasn't like I wasn't happy or anything. I was. I was really happy. I was living with my best friends. I was getting married to one of them. I was so close to getting my visa. I was in America. How could I not be happy? I had everything I would have ever wanted right here.

"Well, I just mean the whole drastic change. You're away from your family. You're away from your entire life. I can't be away from my family for very long. Is coming here even worth it if you're not happy?"

"I am happy, Dream. I'm here with you." I bit my lip. My face was on fire and the palms of my hands were growing sweaty. He laughed softly. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. But be honest. Will you be okay? I can't replace your family."

"Yeah. I'm actually really excited. I've been wanting to see you again since you left the UK last year. Now we have at least three months together."

"You're not homesick?"

I shrugged, "I mean, I am. But you and Sapnap keep me distracted." I yawned, covering my mouth with the sheets.

"You're sleepy?"

"Only a little bit."

"I'll let you sleep."

"Alright, goodnight," I mumbled, turning over so my back was to him. I let my eyes flutter shut.

"Actually, George?"

"What?"

"I have to pee."

I laughed, "Just go."

He shuffled, kicking the blankets off and getting out of bed. I felt the mattress shake slightly as the weight distribution changed.

He walked to the door before turning to me. "Night, George."

"Night."

He lingered around for a bit. He turned back to me, and I thought he was going to say something else. He inhaled sharply before backtracking back to the door and throwing it open.

And then he left.

                                                  *******

It was the shuffling and the bouncing of the bed that would wake me up. Light spilled into the room and into my eyes like a large collection of tiny daggers right into my retina. I forced one of my eyes open to check the time, and through the blur of my drowsy vision, I could vaguely make out the time of nine fifteen.I didn't even realize some of the layers of the blankets were missing until I felt the thick blanket get thrown back on top of me over my head.

"Oh oops," I could vaguely hear as the blanket got pulled off my eyes. I reached over and pulled it back over me.

"Crap, did I wake you up?" Dream's voice was soft— the quietest I had ever heard it. I felt him weigh down the mattress as he sat down.

"A little bit," I managed to croak out. He laughed.

"Go back to sleep. I'm going to my parents' house. Unless you want to come?"

"I thought they didn't know I'm here." I sat up, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Not only were the blinds up allowing the morning sunlight to spill in, but the lights of the room were on as well.

"No, they do. They just don't know we're getting married." I rubbed my eyes and squinted up at the boy in front of me. He was already dressed. He had on a yellow shirt over a white long-sleeve as well as jeans. Something told me the heat didn't faze him.

"Why not?"

He laid down across my legs and gazed up at me softly. "Listen, if we were getting married because we were in love, I'd tell them with no problem. It's just that we're not. We're getting married for your visa. My parents would force me to send you back because we're 'not getting married for the right reasons'." He used air quotes. "But they know you're here. They just think you're here to visit for a while."

"Why not just tell them we're in love then?"

Dream laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not doing that."

"Why not? You're already lying to them."

"I am not! I'm just withholding information. There's a difference." He bit his lip softly. "Saying we're in love is just... it's straight up lying. Making up information."

"I'm pretty sure they're going to find out anyway when I never leave."

He sat up and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll take my chances. You coming with me or not?"

"Meet my future in-laws? Hmm." I thought about it. The only person I had ever talked to in Dream's family was his mother. And even then, it was all jokes. I never actually held a serious conversation with her. "Do you visit them often?"

"I mean... yeah. They come over sometimes as well. It's only going to be my parents, by the way. It's nine-twenty in the morning on a Tuesday. My brother and sister are at school."

"Will Sapnap come?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. My parents have already met him."

"Alright, I'll come."

"Sweet! Be down by nine-forty." He picked Patches up from the foot of the bed before leaving the room.

The moment the door clicked shut, I flopped back down on the soft mattress and sank just a little bit deeper. I didn't actually think about how the run in with Dream's family would be like. For so long it was like he didn't even have one. It was as if Dream was some entity that randomly spawned into the world one day. I never saw him with his family nor did he ever talk about them.

And now I was getting thrusted head first into his family life— An entire aspect of his life I had never seen.

Why did I even agree to come?

I was down within ten minutes in a plain grey shirt and jeans. Dream and Sapnap were already sitting at the island eating pancakes.

"Your pancakes on the counter. You like syrup, right? Because if not, we're going to have issues in this marriage," Dream said.

"I prefer sugar."

His eyes widened and Sapnap laughed. "How about sugar on top of syrup?"

I walked past them and over to the plate of pancakes. They were already drenched in syrup.

"Do you just assume you know everything about me?" I asked as I grabbed the plate and sat across from the two.

"I basically do," He replied. "I don't mean to brag."

I chuckled as I took the first bite. My mouth exploded in sticky syrup and fluffy dough. It almost gave me a headache it was so unbelievably sweet. Both of them watched me closely. I wasn't sure who made the pancakes, but whoever did was about to pay for my dental bill because my teeth were decaying by the second.

"No, I'm serious," Dream said, ignoring my straining smile. "Try me. Ask me anything."

"Fine," I said after swallowing what felt like the entire boardgame Candyland in my mouth. "What's my middle name?"

Silence. Absolute silence.

"You..." He said slowly, a smug smile growing ever so gradually on his face. "Don't have one."

"Fuck," I laughed. "I thought that'd trip you up."

"I told you, George! My turn!" He said.

"What? I never said I knew everything about you."

"George, if we're getting married, you have to know everything about me. Now, what's my favorite candy?"

"Sour Patch Kids," I said with no hesitation.

"Yeah!" He grinned. "Your turn."

I sighed. He was such a dork. "What's my favorite... no, what's my least favorite thing about you?"

"What!?" Dream gasped. Sapnap laughed.

"Yeah, Dream! Answer the question," Sapnap giggled.

"I don't know!"

"Ah, so you lose?" I raised an eyebrow.

He scoffed, "No. I know you hate my... my laugh."

"What? No. I hate—"

"Wait, no! I've got it. My sleep kicks."

"I mean, I hate those, but it's not my least favorite thing. It's—"

"Hold on, hold on!" He grinned. "You hate how I'm better at Minecraft than you."

I rolled my eyes. "I hate how competitive you get."

He gaped, "Oh come on, I'm not that competitive. Right Sapnap?" He turned to Sapnap, who stared right back. "Sapnap?"

"That is not true!"

I snickered, "Sure, Dream. Your turn."

He stood up. "What's my least favorite thing about you?"

I thought it over. What was every single flaw I knew of myself? Well there was a lot. "I'm really lazy."

He laughed, "You are, but no."

"I'm really awkward."

"No. One more try."

"Uhh I'm colorblind?"

They both laughed, and Dream said, "No, you hate my competitiveness! I can't believe you, George."

"What? That doesn't count!"

"Yes it does! That's, like, my best quality."

"No, it's your worst! You always take friendly competition too far and it's always when you lose!"

His ears flared red as he laughed quietly. He sank down into his stool and spread his syrup around the otherwise empty plate, "Fine then, sorry. I guess I'll stop then."

"No, don't," Sapnap replied. "I mean, yeah it gets annoying, but it's you. You're not Dream without your competitive nature."

"Yeah. Here, do you want to know my favorite thing about you?"

His emerald eyes lit up, "Yes!"

I thought it through for a moment. "Your laugh is really contagious."

He laughed, and I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"That's really stupid."

"What's your favorite thing about George?" Sapnap asked.

He looked at me with a lopsided grin. "He's an idiot." He got up to his feet and grabbed his keys that sat in the middle of the island. "Anyway, let's go. Mother Dream is waiting."