Over the weekend alone, my sleep schedule became as broken as Dream's. We'd stay up all night and go to sleep around five or six. It depended on the night.

Usually we'd just stay up talking. We'd talk about whatever came to mind. Sometimes nothing in particular. And we'd do that until I inevitably fell asleep first.

But one night I found out where he went at night. He went outside. He drove around the neighborhood. He went to parks and just laid on the hills staring up at the stars. He thinks, and this is in his words, "There's a sense of beauty in the darkest hours."

The stars never interested me. They were just balls of gas just like the sun. The most I'd bother to see of the night sky would be the moon. But the moon was Dream's least favorite part. He preferred nights the moon didn't show at all.

It was two-thirty, and I could hear the soft clatter of him washing the dishes downstairs. Although it was mostly drowned out by Sapnap's snoring. This was usually around the time Dream left. There was a meow, and I lifted my head to see Patches spinning around in a circle before hopping off the bed and wandering out the wide open door. This night, I decided to follow.

The small tabby cat led me down the stairs and into the kitchen with a small meow that instantly caught the tall boy's attention. Yet his eyes shot right to me as if he knew I was close behind.

"What are you doing?" He asked, shutting off the faucet and reaching for a paper towel.

"You completely destroyed my sleep schedule," I said.

"Oh, sorry," He smiled softly.

"Are you going to the park tonight?" I asked, swaying my weight between both my feet.

"Yeah. You wanna come?"

My stomach did a backflip. "Yeah."

His smile widened, "I was just about to leave too."

We slid our shoes on and Dream picked Patches up and rested her into the crook of his arm.

"It's kinda far, but it's got the prettiest view," He said on our way to the car. I sat in the passenger seat, and Dream rested Patches between his legs. He started the car and drove off. Orange streetlights lit the streets and music played faintly in the background. Occasionally, I'd hear Dream hum softly when a song he liked came on. He'd drum his fingers on the steering wheel and would bob his head to the beat.

Everything outside came as a blur as we drove down the desolate street. No other cars were present, and the moment Dream realized, he basically floored it. His car whined as he reached new speeds. He wheezed and cheered, zooming down the freeway.

"George! You're so quiet!" He exclaimed.

"Because I'm mentally writing my will," I replied.

"You'll be fine. I do this every night. Come on! Live a little, George."

He zipped through the lanes like a madman. It was like he was high on caffeine with the way he was driving. The crazy part was, he didn't drink coffee all day.

My heart only stopped pounding against my ribcage when he finally began to slow down. He drove into an empty parking lot of an empty park. There was a playground a ways away, but other than that, it was mainly grass and trees.

"We're here," He said, picking his cat up and exiting the car. I followed suit.

The park was huge. Acres and acres of land of just trees and grass with the occasional picnic tables. There were hills every so often, one of which containing a huge tree so tall I could see it from where I stood. It had to be a mile away. There was a baseball field to the left of where we were. The lights shined blindingly despite nobody being there. Dream grabbed my wrist and led me into the park.

"There's this one hill with the best view. I go there basically every night."

"What do you even do there?" I asked. The grass was soggy as if it had only just stopped raining even though it had stopped hours ago. The only sound was the soft sway of the leaves high above us brushing against one another. It was oddly relaxing. It was like the whole world had become quiet. I could feel the peace down to my core.

"I dunno. Just sit there, I guess. I just get to let my thoughts pass before I go to bed."

We passed by hill after hill. Each hill, from what I could see, had a bench on it. Some had picnic tables. It felt like we were walking forever in a straight line before Dream suddenly jerked me around and we were climbing up a hill before I could process anything. Once we reached the top, I looked down. I could see the whole park. The baseball field that had become significantly smaller, the playground that rested peacefully by several groups of picnic tables. The many other small hills we had passed by before reaching this big one.

Dream sat down on the plump dewey grass and rested Patches down in his lap. I couldn't stop looking out, though. It felt like I was top of the world. The cool wind brushed against my clothes, it blew my hair right out of my face. I could see the parking lot with Dream's lonesome grandma car and the suburban houses surrounding the park. The park lamps created tiny little balls of light that reminded me of fireflies.

"George, look up," Dream said. I listened, gazing up at the sky to see dozens upon dozens of bright white stars against the dark sheet of the night sky.

"Whoa," I exhaled. They all lit up the sky like tiny little diamonds. Or maybe like angels light years apart working together blindly to light up the late night sky in the most beautiful way. The best part was that no matter where my eyes glanced over to, there were brand new stars to look at. Each was as shiny as the last. Since when were stars so pretty?

"What do you think?" Asked Dream.

"It's beautiful," I replied, turning around to see him watching me as he mindlessly pet his cat. "So you just watch the stars all night?" I sat down beside him, not caring that the grass was so wet and cold.

"Yeah," He replied. "Just me and Patches. And now you. That is if you want to come back."

"Yeah, definitely."

He let himself fall back, resting his head down on the plump grass. His eyes gazed up even shinier than any number of the stars above.

"There's Orion's Belt." He pointed up, although I wasn't sure where exactly he was pointing. "It's the easiest constellation to find. I find it every night." Patches curled up on his stomach.

"What do you think about?" I asked. "You said you let your thoughts pass. What do you mean?"

"Well, you know. Just..." He glanced at me, "I think a lot, you know? I'm constantly playing out different scenarios to everything I do every single day. I think about dying, I think about sleeping and never waking up. They're not really pleasant things to think about, but I can't stop." He stared at me, his breathing shallow.

"Do you?" I didn't know what else to say, but I definitely could have said something better than that.

"Sometimes," He quickly replied. "But when I come here, all those thoughts just disappear. I can focus on where I am now. Not what might happen or what will happen. And right now I'm here with you, and right now I'm not worried about saying the wrong thing or somehow hurting you."

"That's how you always think? You're worried about what to say? But I'm your best friend. You can say anything to me. You shouldn't be worried."

He laughed as if what I said was a joke. Like I didn't mean a word I just said.

"You don't understand, but it's okay. It's a-okay," He chuckled.

"You know, you said you'd tell me and Sapnap the things you looked up when you were younger," I said, figuring now was a better time as ever to ask. "So did you hide everything you looked up, even just normal things like Reddit?"

"Pretty much. I love my parents, I really do, but they constantly hovered over me. Ever since I was fifteen and all that crap went down trying to get into online school, they never really trusted me much after that." He sighed. "They checked my search history just about every week making sure I actually did my work. And every single time they found anything that wasn't school related, they went on another twenty minute lecture. I can remember it pretty much word per word, it was the same lecture every time."

"Well what were you like as a teenager? I don't think we actually became that close 'til you were already out of your parents' home."

"Yeah. I was stupid. That's really it. I did stupid things with my just as stupid friends."

"Hasn't every teenager?"

"I guess." He gazed up at me. "What about you? What did you do when you were sixteen?"

I shrugged. "What every other sixteen year old did. I was really average."

He chuckled, "Yeah, so was I. I'm still average now."

I rolled my eyes with a soft smile, "You've got to be joking. You are the last person who'd think of themself as average. Come on."

"You're right, you're right," He said, but there was something about the way he said it. It seemed so sideways and not right. The way he said it was like slate gray. His smile became more strained before it disappeared entirely.

"Wait, do you seriously think you're just average?"

He scoffed, letting out what I think was supposed to be some sort of chuckle, "No. I was just kidding. I know how great I am, no need to tell me."

Patches purred faintly, and Dream stared up at the stars. He was thinking. I wish I knew about what. His mind always amazed me. You can see in his eyes the small little gears and mechanics inside his brain turning and moving. How could he ever think of himself as average when he was the most extraordinary person I ever met?..