I bleed for you ~A sequel to I bleed Red | An Ink x Reader~

(Before getting onto the chapter I just wanted to say I hope everyone in Texas and Flordia is holding up alright. LGBTQ+ rights 🏳️‍🌈)

~Night's POV~

I portal-ed a little ways away from the Malus in case he was already here waiting, I didn't want to accidentally scare him. Not that it could've been anyone other than me. There were only three remaining people in this multiverse who had access to this place. Me, Dream, and now Cross. It's been sealed and blocked to anybody else.

It was currently nighttime, the same exact time it was the last time I came here. Time didn't pass here anymore unless someone was currently inside this broken, decrepit universe. I took a deep breath before continuing through the dead forest I was in. There were barely any leaves on the dark trees, and if there were they were dried and yellowed. Several of the trees had been uprooted or slashed down, while others only carried scars from the horrible fight.

A shiver ran up my spine as I gazed at a tree that was barely hanging onto its rigidity. I remembered attacking that tree so long ago, the newly formed tentacles not yet strong enough to take it down. I shook my head and pressed onward without looking at anymore carnage, my eyes focused entirely on the ground. The grass wasn't in a much better shape, overgrown yet still dry. You could see my footprints left behind as I walked through. 

Finally I caught a glimpse of the clearing where it resided, 'the Malus'. It was a code name that corrupt-me and Cross had come up with whenever we wanted to meet up here. 'Malus' referred to the genus for apple trees- it was fitting for the stump of the tree me and Dream protected. I know that this stump had a real name, but it was lost on me now. Sad, wasn't it? I can't even remember my own creator's name.

As I got closer, my view of the area expanded. Ah, he was already here.

Sitting on the edge of the stump was Cross, sitting slumped forward as he looked off into the distance. He was messing with the hem of his scarf, previous memories emerged of him doing that while he was nervous. It was... cute. He hadn't noticed me yet, despite me now standing clearly at the edge of the tree line. 

Maybe this was a bad idea. I shouldn't of been as impulsive as I was when I made that portal. I probably made Y/n worried over my abrupt exit... but no, I had see what Cross wanted. That's the only reason I'm here, right? Definitely. No other reasons at all. That's what I'll keep telling myself.

I took a silent deep breath and knocked on the side of a tree I was next to. It seemed like it had echoed across the entirety of Dreamtale (why was the universe named over just him anyway?). Cross flinched and stood up immediately, straight as a board. Our eyes met.

Complete and total silence between us. The only thing I could hear was my pounding SOUL as it threatened to burst out of its confines. It was clear neither of us knew what to say. After several more beats of silence, Cross sat back down but was still holding eye contact. Did he want me to sit with him? I felt my SOUL race faster at the thought. 

Like he could read my mind, he pat the spot next to him. I took a shaky breath and made my way over with only slight hesitance. The logical part of me was screaming it's skull off. This is a mistake. You shouldn't be here. But my emotional side was... something else entirely. In an attempt to compromise the two, I sat down next to Cross but kept a bit of distance.