Chapter Text
The following few hours are some of the worst in Sapnap’s life.
Dream’s mom hangs up to start calling for help, and Sapnap returns to the Discord call with George. He explains to him what happened, explains it a couple of times actually, because George has a really hard time understanding how any of it could have ever happened.
“But why would he leave?” George insists. “It makes no sense.”
“I don’t fucking know,” says Sapnap, frustrated. “I guess he forgot he was in that hotel suite with his mom. He already forgot about the whole trip once, so it probably happened again.”
“So, what? He just took the car keys and left?”
“Yeah,” Sapnap says. The theory he came up with makes him feel sick to his stomach, but he tells it anyway. “We don’t know how much time he lost, but probably a whole lot. Fuck, maybe like, days, this time. So imagine you are him, just living your life, chilling at home, and then bam! You find yourself in some random hotel room and you have no idea where you are or what happened to you. Wouldn’t you book it out of there as fast as you can?”
George is silent for a while. “When you put it like that…”
Sapnap runs a hand through his hair. “His doctor was ready to lock him up for 24/7 observation, like that man is sick. He’s a total mental case right now. He shouldn’t be fucking driving around like a headless chicken all on his own out there.”
“And he left his phone too,” George says.
“And he left his phone,” confirms Sapnap.
“I hate him,” George says. ”I hate him, I actually hate him so much.”
Sapnap hears the wheels of his chair scraping against his floor as he pushes himself back in frustration.
“I hate being stuck here,” George continues angrily. “I fucking hate being alone here and just hearing bits and pieces about what’s happening over there, I hate how I can’t do anything. I’m literally stuck. And- and I haven’t even met Dream yet, and he’s- he’s-“
“George,” Sapnap says. He feels tears prickling in his eyes. He hasn’t actually cried about the situation yet, but hearing George break down just might be the final straw that does it for him.
“This is so stupid,” George says miserably. “Oh my god. Why can’t I just be there already?”
“I don’t know,” mutters Sapnap. He rubs his hands against his eyes, over and over again until he sees stars. “Fuck, I don’t know.”
With nothing better to do while waiting, they start playing chess. It’s involving enough to keep their thoughts from spiraling, but chill enough that they can relax into the routine.
“Do you know what they’re gonna do?” George asks after a few mostly silent rounds. “Are they sending out like a search party or something?”
“No fucking clue,” says Sapnap, squinting at the chess game. ”I guess… maybe they can track the car somehow. At least I fucking hope they can.”
“Chase him down?” George muses.
“Yeah, real life Manhunt him,” says Sapnap.
George laughs, short, high-pitched. “Wait… I’m imagining like one of those chase scenes from the movies. With- with like ten cop cars and a helicopter chasing his car. That would be pretty epic.”
It sounds ridiculous, and Sapnap can’t help but smile. “That would be damn epic, you’re right.”
He considers it a moment while he makes his next move. “The only thing is,” he adds then. “I’m pretty sure they don’t actually do anything like that for just a regular person. His mom is probably still stuck listening to elevator music in a call queue.”
George hmm’s, moving his piece. “Yeah… I guess they don’t know he’s Dream. Like the Youtuber Dream, y’know.”
“Fuck, I hope they don’t,” Sapnap says emphatically. “If this became like a media thing, that would be the worst way for him to face reveal. That would actually be so fucking awful.”
“That would be a Dream thing to happen though, don’t you think?” George says. He sounds only half-joking. “He always finds the craziest most idiotic ways to do things.”
“Don’t even,” Sapnap groans. He makes his next move and freezes, stares at the chess board. “Oh, you little bitch-!”
“L,” says George, and makes his finishing move. “Check mate, loser.”
It’s almost five am when Sapnap suddenly gets a phone call from an unknown number.
He’s been laying down on his bed for the past hour or so, occasionally chatting with George while Patches sleeps on his stomach. They both tried to get some sleep, him and George, but quite quickly they had to accept the fact that both of them were way too wired for that to happen. There’s just no way they’re getting any sleep, not before they hear some news about Dream.
But so far, there’s been nothing.
Until now.
The sound of his ring tone cuts through the silent room like a whip. The phone is sitting next to his pillow, and Sapnap reaches for it with dazed curiosity, blinking and staring at the caller id in confusion. His brain is only working at half speed, at this point. He’s so tired he almost feels like he’s floating, laying down in his pitch-black room.
“Who’s calling you?” George asks through his headphones.
“I… dunno,” says Sapnap sluggishly. “It’s an unknown number.”
“Well, answer it!” George says urgently. “What if it’s about Dream?”
Dream.
Sapnap shakes himself, snapping out of his dazed state so fast it makes his head spin.
“You’re right,” he says and sits up abruptly, accidentally making Patches roll down his stomach and onto the bed. She dashes away with a rigid tail and an offended hiss. “Fuck, sorry Patchy-“ Sapnap splutters, before pushing down his headphones. “Hold on a minute, George, I’ll call you back.”
He clears his throat, his previous anxiety suddenly back at full force, and answers the call.
“Hello?”
There’s a short pause, before,
“Hey, Sapnap!”
Sapnap’s mouth opens, but no sound comes out. He coughs, and coughs, and then, “Dream?”
“Sorry,” says Dream, and chuckles nervously. “I know it’s like, ridiculously late, or I guess early, but... um. I dunno really how to say this…”
He sounds casual. A bit anxious, or jittery, but casual. Sapnap doesn’t understand what’s going on. He doesn’t understand what in the fucking parallel universe fuckery is going on.
“Sapnap?” Dream asks. “You there?”
“Dream,” Sapnap chokes out. “Dream.”
“Yeah,” Dream says, and it sounds like a question. “Uh. Are you… okay?”
Sapnap tries to get himself back together. This was the last thing he expected, but also… now that his head is clearing a bit, he realizes maybe it shouldn’t have been. After all, he has no idea in what state of mind Dream is right now. How much he’s aware of the past few hours, days, or weeks.
Maybe, just maybe, he should have expected Dream to forget there was any problem to begin with.
He needs to pull himself back together. He can lose it later, privately, after he’s made sure Dream’s safe.
“I’m good I’m good,” he hurries to reply. “Dream, buddy. Where are you?”
Dream clears his throat. “That’s why I, um. That’s actually why I called.” He’s silent for a moment, and meanwhile, Sapnap puts the lights back on in his room and starts gathering up his stuff. Shoes, watch, car keys.
“Don’t freak out, okay,” Dream continues cautiously, and Sapnap almost bursts out laughing from the irony of it all. “But I’m… actually not very sure where I am, or why. I think I zoned out while driving, or something. Maybe I was like, sleep driving or- or- fuck, I dunno. The point is…”
“Uhuh,” prompts Sapnap, while pulling on his shoes.
“The point is, I’m somewhere on the bank of the- the lagoon I think, and I had to borrow th-this nice man’s phone and… I have my mom’s car here but it’s almost out of gas. S-so…”
“I’m on my way,” Sapnap says, already half-way down the stairs with his backpack slung over his shoulder.
“I didn’t wanna worry my mom, cause, y’know. So I called you,” Dream adds, reluctantly. “Sorry, man. I dunno- I really dunno what the fuck’s wrong with me. This is actually so embarrassing.”
All of this would be hilarious, Sapnap thinks, if the situation wasn’t so absolutely shit.
“It’s gonna be fine,” he assures. “Just, Dream. Try to chill out, and… can you send me your coords? Or maybe, hey, can you give the phone back to the person you borrowed it from, just for a few minutes?”
“What? Um, I guess…” Dream says, sounding puzzled. “Here-“
A second’s pause, and then, “Hello?”
It’s an older man’s voice, low, scratchy. Sapnap takes a deep breath. Information. He needs information.
“Heyy,” he says cheerily, picking up two water bottles from the fridge and stuffing them into his backpack. “My name’s Sapnap. I’m Dream’s roommate.”
“Yeh, that’s what I heard,” the man says. He has a thick, deep accent. “I’m Alfie.”
He sounds calm, and friendly. It makes Sapnap feel marginally better, as he looks around the kitchen for easy-to-carry snacks to take with him.
“So, my buddy Dream there. I’m coming to pick him up,” Sapnap says. “But I’m currently in Orlando, so I gotta know where exactly he is, y’know. You got Google maps, or something you can use to send the location to me?”
The man, Alfie, hums in confirmation. “Yeh, I got Google maps.”
It takes a few minutes for them to look through the app to find the coordinates, and for Sapnap to insert them into his phone. He looks up the suggested route. They seem to be somewhere on the bank of the Indian River Lagoon north of Miami, around a two-hour drive away from the house.
Sapnap can make that in hour and a half.
“Okay,” he says, mostly to himself. “Okay.”
He gets in his car, phone on speaker, and sets it into the phone mount on his dashboard.
“Just warnin’ you boy, I can’t stay with your friend until you get here,” Alfie says apologetically. “Y’see, I was on my way to work when I saw him wanderin’ around next to the road lookin’ way out of it, so I stopped to ask if he needed any help. I do got a bit of extra time still, but soon I gotta go.”
“Thank you,” Sapnap says, turning onto a bigger street and pressing down the gas pedal. “Thanks for helping him, seriously.”
“Oh, he was very polite,” Alfie adds. “Askin’ for a lift to Orlando, or a number for a taxi service. But with a little bit of proddin’ I got him to call for a friend or a family member to pick him up. It’s always safer, y’know how it is nowadays.”
“And I am… so glad you did,” Sapnap says emphatically. “You don’t even know, man.”
“Yeh, though I gotta say, you seem like you were already prepared,” Alfie observes. “I was thinkin’ at first that he was on drugs, but then I wasn’t so sure after a minute. I can’t really tell.”
Sapnap barks out a laugh, trying to imagine the look on Dream’s face right now.
“He’s not on drugs,” he snorts.
Alfie hums, understanding. “Do events like this… happen to him often, then?”
“Recently? Yes,” Sapnap says, deadpan. He looks at the map. Hour and fifty minutes until destination. “Hey, one last favor,” he adds. “Could you write down something for me? There should be pen and paper in his car, if you ain’t got any.”
Alfie follows Sapnap’s instructions writing down what he wants to say and tapes the message onto the driver’s seat window of Dream’s car.
DREAM, WAIT HERE. SAPNAP IS COMING TO PICK YOU UP.
Just in case. If Dream’s gonna get left on his own, Sapnap hopes it’s at least gonna be enough to stop him from getting back into his car and driving off aimlessly, if he forgets what the fuck’s going on again.
After he’s done, Alfie gives the phone back to Dream for quick final words.
“I’m fine, Sap,” Dream says, sounding annoyed. “And I’m not on drugs, that’s ridiculous. I dunno why you’re making this such a big deal.”
“You’ve been missing for over three hours,” Sapnap says bluntly. “Damn right I’m making it a big fucking deal.”
It’s not fair. He shouldn’t snap at Dream; the poor dude doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. But he can’t help it.
He’s so tired.
“What?” Dream hisses. “I’ve been missing? What are you even saying?”
The highway stretches wide and empty in front of him. Sapnap stares ahead, into the tunnel of arched lights of the streetlamps.
“You’ve been missing,” he repeats. “Gone. Lost. Chaménos. And now I finally found you. So don’t fucking move an inch, you hear me?” He inhales deeply, trying to calm down. “I’m on my way. So stay. There.”
“Fine, okay? Fine,” Dream says, miffed. “Jesus. I didn’t know I was your fucking lost dog or something. But sure, I’ll wait for you. Fucking hell.”
Sapnap scoffs. “Good boy.”
“I’m so fucking confused,” Dream mutters, and it breaks Sapnap’s heart a little.
“I know, dude,” he sighs. “It’s okay.”
“Anyway, I think this Alfie guy needs to go now, so…”
“Yeah,” Sapnap says, stomach twisting. It’s gonna be painful, to not be able to talk to Dream for the rest of the drive. “Dream, I love you dude, okay? Just…”
“I love you too,” Dream says, almost like a question. “I’m sorry if I… scared you, or something. I just dunno… um.”
“You’re good, don’t worry,” Sapnap says. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”
“Yeah,” says Dream. “See you.”
After they end call, Sapnap calls Dream’s mom. He tells her what happened, and that he’ll bring Dream back to Miami in a couple of hours.
Then, he calls George back.
“Thank god, finally,” George says, as he answers the call. “Who was it? Did they find Dream?”
“It was Dream,” Sapnap says, just to hear the stunned silence from George. “And yes I’m dead serious. He called from someone else’s phone.”
“What, how? Wait…” George pauses. “Are you driving?”
“Yup,” Sapnap says. “I know where he is. So that’s where I’m going.”
He keeps talking to George for the whole rest of the drive.
It’s scary, how hopeful they suddenly feel. It’s surreal, almost. After hours and hours of anxiety for their missing friend, they finally have a location.
But there’s still a chance that by the time Sapnap gets there, Dream will be gone.
And that. That is fucking terrifying to think about.
“How long until you’re there?” George asks, voice rough from an unslept night.
Sapnap glances at the map, pretending like he hasn’t already been constantly checking it, watching the number of miles left steadily ticking down.
“Like five mins,” he says breathily. “I mean the GPS could’ve been a bit off too. This is already like a side road, so I dunno how much farther this way he would’ve gone. None of the cars I can see parked here look like his mom’s, though.”
“Isn’t it still night there?” George asks. “Like really dark?”
“Yeah, pitch fucking black out here. About to be sunrise soon though.”
“This is so messed up,” George mutters. “How are you gonna see him? What if he’s not even there?”
Sapnap makes a face, eyes scanning the dark bush next to the road. “Stop. Fucking stop, George.”
“Sorry.”
Sapnap squints at his phone. The map is useless now, the location on it too inaccurate to help him anymore. He’s on his own.
There’s a dirt path branching from the main road, heading towards the coast of the lagoon, and Sapnap almost misses it before spotting a shadowy shape bit farther down the path from the corner of his eye. He hits the brake, and reverses back, heart suddenly pounding, eyes fixed on the shape of an unlit, parked car.
“Oh shit,” he breathes out.
“What?” asks George, urgently.
Sapnap turns his car onto the path and lets it crawl towards the parked car. As soon as his headlights illuminate the license plate at the back of the car, he knows.
It’s Dream’s.
“Sapnap?” George demands. “Talk to me.”
Sapnap can hardly speak, astonished by his luck. ”It’s- It’s,” he chokes out. “I fucking- I found him, I think.”
In a dazed state, he parks his car, going through the motions in lightning speed, and jumps out. Last minute, he remembers to grab his phone from the mount, taking George with him.
“You found him?” George’s voice sounds thin and crunchy through his phone speakers. “Like actually? Where? Do you see him?”
“The car,” Sapnap says numbly. “I found the car.”
It’s empty. There is the hastily scrawled message taped on the driver’s seat window, just as Sapnap had instructed, and just to make sure he also peeks into the back seat to check if anyone’s there.
Nothing. It’s completely empty.
“He’s not here, though,” he says. He looks around, feeling very alone and very small in the eerie darkness, surrounded by nothing but plants and quiet, unfamiliar roads.
What now?
“Then where is he?” George asks, frustrated. “There must be some sorta sign that tells you where he went, right?”
Sapnap walks slowly along the dirt road. “I dunno. I honestly dunno. I’m not some fucking bloodhound, George.”
“But it’s just Dream,” George says. “You don’t have to be.”
Sapnap looks around, gnawing his lip.
Where would Dream go?
Through the overgrown bushes, Sapnap sees the first signs of a sunrise, a pale light in the horizon. It illuminates a break in the bush lining, revealing a thin trail that snakes through it to somewhere. Most likely, to the bank of the lagoon.
“Maybe…” Sapnap mutters. He ducks into the growth, and starts carefully wading through it. It’s been raining recently, and droplets of water spray on him from everywhere, making him swear under his breath.
“What is it?” George asks. He sounds so small, a tiny voice in his phone. “Sapnap, you gotta keep me updated.”
“Dream, buddy?” Sapnap calls out. “It’s me. You here?”
“Did you see him?” asks George.
“Not yet.”
Sapnap breaks through to the other side, and the riverbank stretches in front of him, mostly open land, covered in grass and sand. And a bit farther away, a person sits on a low, half-broken stonewall, unmoving, facing the lagoon.
It’s Dream.
“Oh shit, I see him,” Sapnap tells George. He picks up speed, rapidly approaching his target. He yells, sharply, “Dream!”
Dream jumps violently, almost falling off the wall he’s sitting on. He turns to stare at Sapnap, eyes wide and startled. He looks exhausted. There’s dust on his hoodie, and leaves stuck in his hair.
“What-“ he chokes out. “S-sapnap?”
“Yeah dude, it’s me,” Sapnap says, as George yells through the phone speakers, “Dream! Hey Dream!”
Dream stands up shakily and quickly looks around like he’s seeing his surroundings for the first time. “W-what are you… doing here?”
“Oh, y’know,” Sapnap says, and gets real close to Dream, so close that he could almost reach out and grab his arm if he wanted to. “Just taking a walk into the bushes at seven in the morning, as you do.”
Dream blinks. He blinks a couple of times.
“I- I don’t get it,” he says weakly.
Sapnap sits down on the stonewall, and taps the spot next to him, looking at Dream expectantly.
“So, what are you doing here?” Sapnap asks, as Dream cautiously sits back down next to him.
“I’m… um. I don’t…”
“Sapnap!” George’s tinny voice demands through the speakers. “What’s happening?”
Dream squints his eyes at the phone. “Is that… George? Hi George!”
“Hey Dream!” George says back, excited.
“What’s going on?” Dream asks. He looks from the phone, to Sapnap, to their strange surroundings. “How… Where the hell did you come from?”
Sapnap smiles softly. “You got no idea what went down today, do you?”
Dream’s eyes widen a bit, and he quickly looks away. The sun has risen enough now, painting his hair golden, the shadows on his face red and orange. “I mean…” He mumbles something that Sapnap can’t make out, and then, “to be honest, Sap, I’ve been feeling kinda off lately. It sounds- it sounds kinda crazy, but… I feel like it’s been hard for me to, um, remember stuff recently.”
He looks back at Sapnap, and hurries to add, “But it’s not been like this before, y’know? It’s just been little things. It’s probably been like stress or something. But right now, I’m- yeah. I dunno. I’m lost. I’m totally lost.”
“Not lost,” Sapnap says. “I just found you.”
Dream huffs. “You know what I mean. I’ve been kinda spacing out a little. Honestly I was pretty sure I was dreaming a minute ago, it was so weird. But I guess I wasn't. That’s probably a bit concerning.”
“A bit,” Sapnap repeats. “Yeah, you might say so.”
“You’re an idiot,” George says. “Sapnap, tell him he’s an idiot.”
Sapnap chuckles. “You’re an idiot, Dream.”
“What the hell?” Dream says, and grins a little. “No, I’m not. I’m the most epic person there is, actually.”
Seeing his smile, bright in the early morning light, almost makes Sapnap want to cry.
“I love you, dude,” he blurts out, and Dream looks at him oddly. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“I love you too,” Dream says slowly. “You too, George.”
George hums. “Obviously.”
Sapnap stands up. “Come with me, okay?” he says. He reaches out his hand, and Dream takes it, and he pulls the other up. Dream tries to let go, then, but Sapnap just squeezes his fingers tighter. He starts pulling Dream along, back towards the car.
“Come on.”
Dream follows after him, confusion clear in his eyes as he looks around.
“Wait… where the hell are we?” he asks.
“Doesn’t matter,” Sapnap says. It’s getting brighter now, and he can see sunlight glimmering in the droplets of moisture on the leaves, everywhere around them. Painted green and blue and sunrise orange, it suddenly feels like a completely new place. Sapnap would almost call it pretty, now.
He looks over his shoulder, and tugs on Dream’s hand. “You’re gonna get help, Dream,” he says. “You need it, it’s necessary. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s gonna be tough. Actually, it’s gonna fucking suck for a while. Not quite sure for how long but, y'know.”
Dream just nods. He’s clearly not following, but he nods anyway, trusting Sapnap’s word.
Sapnap heads forward. One hand around Dream’s, one hand holding the phone still connected to George’s.
“But it’s gonna be okay,” he says – a promise. “We’re not letting you get lost again.”