The Reality Upon A Dream: One
Title: The Reality Upon A Dream
Chapter: One
Author: tie-19
Beta: thepanicgroove
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: PG-13
WARNINGS: None yet?
Summary: AU. His name is Dominic Howard. He is married to Matthew Bellamy. He had a happy family with an adopted child. He is a dull, a normal office worker. Or so he told to himself like that.
Disclaimer: This is all fiction, Muse is never mine.
Feedback: Would really be appreciated! <3
Notes: Another update! :D I don't know what should I say more about this chapter, but I'm quite satisfied with this one. I hope this is not too confusing to read (although I'm a bit confused with this lol) <3
Enjoy!
“As the door of parallel worlds has been opened,
now,
the game is on.”
-x-
Chapter 1: Introduction
-x-
A loud yelp brings Dominic back to the reality.
He moves to sit up from his position, blinking rapidly in confusion as he sees Matthew sitting on the floor. The brunet grinned nervously, saying something about how he slipped on the way to the bathroom before getting up and walking to the bathroom.
It’s 3 a.m.
The fact that Matthew had fallen on the floor wasn’t what kept Dominic awake now, but the voices in his mind from whatever dream he had earlier. He frowned deeply as he tried to remember about the voice, as he tried to remember if he knew that voice or not.
‘I feel like I know that voice well enough,’ he said to himself inside his mind, frowning even deeper. ‘But whose voice is that?’
“Dom?”
Matthew’s voice somehow found its way to snap Dominic back to reality. The blond turned his head to face his husband, who was now standing in front of the bathroom door with a confused look drawn on his face.
“Are you okay? Did you have any nightmares?” Matthew asked; his tone full of concern as he walked to approach his husband. Dominic shook his head, managed to smile when Matthew dipped to the bed beside him once again, the blond’s face in Matthew’s hands.
“It’s nothing,”
“Really?” Matthew asked, inching his face closer to Dominic’s. The blond smiled, reaching out to place his hand on the back of Matthew’s head, moving his nose to nuzzle the brunet’s face.
“Really,” the blond whispered, pulling Matthew’s head closer to his to place a small kiss on his husband’s lips. He could feel the way Matthew’s lips twitched to form a smile, and then he felt a soft pressure in his lips again.
“Okay, then.” Matthew whispered, kissing his husband once again. “Let’s get some sleep. Although tomorrow’s Sunday, I don’t want you to wake up late because of this, okay?”
“Mm-hmm. Of course,” Dominic quickly wraps his arms around his husband to roll them over, so Matthew was the one lying on his back while Dominic hovering just above him. They giggled softly, exchanging small, simple kisses before lying on their backs once again.
“I love you,” the blond whispered, kissing the brunet’s cheek softly before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
-x-
A loud clang could be heard, and Dominic snapped his eyes open.
Instead, it was not the image of his room that was greeting him. It was the image of a bright, spacious white room with no one around, with only a door standing a few meters ahead of him.
‘What, is this a dream?’ Dominic thought, a frown appearing on his face. Curious, he walked closer to the door, lifting his head and moving it around to access the room.
There’s no one there except the suspicious door and Dominic.
“Is this that kind of dream in which you’re destined to die?” Dominic asks to no one in particular, his words echoing in the spacious room. He didn’t expect any answer, so he just sighed softly as he stepped closer to the door.
The blond gulped. This might be a matter of life or death. This might be his last second to breathe in deeply. This might be his last second of living. If he opened that door, it might be heaven that will greet him.
But, what if there’s something else besides death waiting for him behind the door?
“Well, I might give it a try.”
Dominic stepped forward one last time to finally face the door. He breathes in deeply, slowly lifting his right hand and reaching out to grip the wooden door handle. Time seemed to slow down, but Dominic nearly jolted out in surprise when he heard a deep, old voice rumble through the room.
“Are you sure you want to open the door?” the old, suspicious voice asked, leaving a loud ringing voice echoing inside the room. Dominic cringed and look away from the door to access the room once again, he was not surprised to find that he was still all alone. And somehow he felt that the question must be answered.
“Well, yes, I think,” Dominic answered, and he heard a low hum that echoed through the room again. For some seconds, silence fell over the place once more, but then he heard the voice spoke again.
“Very well, then. The great power has taken the world, and the warrior must know the world he needs to save.”
Dominic frowned at the voice. “What was that supposed to mean?”
There’s no answer again, and the blond sighed. He moved his head, his grey irises staring at the door in front of him.
‘That voice mentioned about a world, and…what is it, the warrior?’ Dominic thought, still frowning. Certainly, he didn’t even know what was happening there. This is just a dream, right?
“Warrior, you must open the door now. Your dream will end soon, and if it ends while you are here, you might not wake up again.” the voice rumbles once again, and without thought Dominic snapped his hand and opened the door.
He certainly wasn’t thinking about what would greet him behind the door.
Dominic stood in a cave, and he could hear the sound of door clicking shut. He looked back, finding that there was no door like before there. Instead, never-ending darkness reaches his eyes, greeting him and crawling under his mind like venom.
It was so dark around him. It was cold. When he turned his head back to the outside of the cave, heavy droplets of water rained down from the grey clouds, the liquid was soaking the hard ground below. For a second, Dominic wondered if there was no color in this place, but then he spotted a bright color of red from afar.
Dominic squinted, and he realized that it was not just red. It’s a blend of yellow, orange and red.
Fire.
He took a step forward, attempting to walk away from the cave, but then a gush of strong wind blew through him. He winced as a loud shrieking sound found its way to his ears, and when he opened his eyes, he was surrounded in the darkness.
Dominic struggled to get away from the darkness that chased him, but he could feel something grip his limbs so he was unable to move anymore. Dominic grunted, and his eyes widened in surprise and a bit of fear seeing the bright, white teeth showing on the shadow that surrounded him, crooked into an eerie grin.
Dominic had never been a coward before. He was a very brave and a strong man, ambitious and all. But now he could feel the way fear gripped his heart.
Just when he was about to give in and succumb to the darkness that seemed to eat him, a loud shriek reached his ears once again, but this time the darkness was lifted away from him.
Dominic slowly opened his eyes, and he could see a man standing in front of him. He was wearing black, from head to toe, but Dominic could see a glimpse of bright blue eyes glistening in the darkness of the cave. Too bad Dominic couldn’t see him well because of the dark hoodie that the man was wearing, but he swore he could see the man’s lips twitched into a smirk.
But then, their eyes met. And somehow, the man’s face fell.
Dominic frowned. The man’s reaction was strange; it was like the man actually recognized Dominic when he didn’t even know the man with the hoodie. But then a strong wind gushed through them, and the man’s hoodie flipped over, revealing a crown of dark brown bangs and a pair of sapphire blue eyes.
This time, Dominic’s face fell, too.
“… Matt?” the blond whispered, his eyes still wide as he stares at the man in front of him. The man-Matthew, probably, flinched away as he accessed Dominic from head to toe.
“… You…”
A loud rumble from nowhere interrupted them, and within seconds the world shook, and Dominic loses his footing as he toppled on the ground. The blond tried to stand, but a loud buzzing sound cut through the air and sent him cringing. The sound grew louder, and the world started to crumble. Stop. It’s too loud, it’s-
“Dom, wake up!”
Dominic jolted awake when he felt a pinch in his left cheek. He blinked, finding that his gaze is full of his husband’s concerned expression.
“… Huh?” Dominic mumbled, dumbfounded as he stares deeply into his husband’s sapphire blue eyes. Matthew looked deeply concerned.
“Are you okay? For the first time, you didn’t wake up five seconds before the alarm rang,” Matthew said, taking the blond’s face in his hands as he nuzzled Dominic’s face. “I was afraid something was happening to you through your sleep.”
Dominic didn’t answer his husband’s question; instead he traveled the room with his eyes. White ceiling, spring wallpapers, neatly packed books in a bookshelf, a dark brown nightstand with an alarm resting on top of it. Definitely, it’s his and Matthew’s room.
“So it all was just a dream after all,” Dominic mumbled to himself, but loud enough for Matthew to catch up on his words. The brunet frowned, his thumb moving to stroke Dom’s cheek before slowly turning the blond’s gaze back to him.
“What’s that supposed to mean, love?” Matthew asked; his expression still full of concern. “Did you have a nightmare, or a strange dream?”
“It’s…” Dominic trailed off, his gaze falling from his husband’s eyes to the bookshelf ahead of them. Should he or should he not tell Matthew about his ‘dreams’ earlier? “It’s…nothing, dear. Probably it’s just too much thinking about so many things before falling asleep again.”
“Are you dreaming about me being a fresh cabbage and you nearly ate me again?” At Matthew’s question, Dominic laughed softly and moving in closer to capture his husband’s lips in a small kiss. The brunet responded with a small giggle, and then he returned the kiss softly.
“Mm, aren’t we supposed to wake Allen up now?” Dominic asked with a whisper, moving to place a small peck on Matthew’s nose. Matthew moved to kiss his husband too, before nuzzling his face once again.
“It’s Sunday, Dom. We can let him have enough fun with his sleep, for once in awhile.” Matthew whispered, giggling when Dominic lifted his body up and flipped them over, leaving the brunet lying on his back before starting to kiss him passionately.
“Well, is that your simple language of ‘we could have some fun in this morning’, hmm?” Dominic asked, and a giggle from the brunet was enough for an answer.
-x-
When Allen woke up, it was around 10 a.m.
It was strange. His parents usually tried to get him out of the bed before it reaches seven thirty, even on Sundays. ‘Did Papa finally let me sleep in peace through the morning today?’
Allen Samuel Bellamy-Howard might still be ten, but he is a clever child, nevertheless. He might be still…pure, but he knows what was going on in his parents’ room. Judging from there’s no noise from the living room’s direction; he knew that his parents were probably still doing…something.
Which means that he could go back to sleep and doze off until Matthew or Dominic tried to make their adopted son bid his goodbye with his lovely bed.
Allen likes to sleep, nearly addicted to it, even. Having parents like Matthew and Dominic, it is a bit hard to sleep more than nine hours per day, and in Friday nights, Allen usually only got six hours of sleep because they used to stay up late to walk around, play games, watch movie or just talk about their week together. That’s why he liked extra hours of sleep on Sunday mornings, which he rarely got because of Matthew’s strict scheduling.
Well, it is a bit sad, indeed, but what can he do, now? Anyways, Allen was already used to it.
This time, Allen didn’t feel sleepy anymore for the morning. So he got up from the bed, walking to the bathroom to wash his face and teeth before walking out from his blue-painted room to the kitchen.
Since he expected that Matthew and Dominic were still doing…something in the bedroom, he was surprised to see his Daddy standing in front of the fridge.
“Daddy?” Allen called out, walking to approach the blond that turned his back with a carton of milk in his right hand and a mug of steaming coffee in his left. Dominic smiled at Allen, putting the mug and the carton on the dining table before ruffling Allen’s hair.
“Good morning, kiddo,” Dominic said, smiling wider when he saw Allen pouted a little at the word ‘kiddo’. “How was your sleep? Good?”
“Umm, yeah, it was good,” Allen said, walking away from Dominic to fetch a pastel green mug from the kitchen counter. “Where’s Papa?”
“Papa’s, um, still…asleep,” Dominic said, turning his face away from his adopted son so Allen won’t see the faint pink tinting the blond’s cheeks. It seems like Allen didn’t notice at all, since the kid with the short blond strands said nothing as he grabbed the milk carton and poured some to his pastel green mug.
“Do you want some pancakes?” Dominic asked when Allen moved to sit in one of the dining chairs. The boy’s face lit up with excitement at hearing the last word uttered from his Dad, bright sparkles filling his blue eyes as he nods excitedly at Dominic. Dominic smiled at his son’s reaction, chuckled a little as he moved to ruffle Allen’s hair.
“You’re really like your Papa, hmm?” Dominic said, still chuckling a little as he walked to fetch some ingredients from the fridge and the cupboard beside the cooling machine, “Getting excited over pancakes.”
“Are you talking about me?” A voice that came out from the door got both Allen and Dominic’s attention, and eventually they found a certain brunet standing beside the door. Matthew smiled at them, yawning a little. “Good morning.”
“Morning, Papa!” Allen greeted with an excited voice, and he can’t help it but frowned in confusion seeing the way the clothes that Matthew wore is a bit oversized for him. “Is that Daddy’s shirt?”
Matthew clearly didn’t expect the question, so when Allen asked, a faint blush quickly covered his cheeks. “Oh, it’s-um,” Matthew stuttered, moving his gaze to his husband who was blushing too while mixing the pancake’s ingredients, “Well-it was… Lying around and I just… Picked it up then wore it…”
“Oh, I see,” Allen said, focusing back on his mug and started sipping his milk once again. An awkward silence settled between them as Matthew filled a mug with coffee, and Allen raised one of his eyebrows. He blinked innocently at his parents, but his gaze was locked on his Papa who was slowly sipping his coffee.
“Is it wrong for me to know about it, Papa?”
Matthew choked.
-x-
After a day full of playing games, watching TV together and planting a few of fruits in the backyard with his family, Dominic flopped down to the bed tiredly. It was a long day, but it’s short enough for him to have enough fun with his small family.
“That was,” Dominic breathed out, pausing when Matthew collapsed to the bed next to him with the same reason as the blond; exhaustion, “Pretty refreshing, huh?”
“Yeah,” Matthew responded, yawning as he stretched on the bed. “You were so busy lately so we hadn’t got the time to do things like this, right?”
“Yeah, right,” Dominic answered, shuffling closer to Matthew. The brunet’s eyes were closed, and Dominic suspected that his husband was really exhausted that day, even though he wasn’t sure why. Matthew didn’t play too much that day, and he looked way more exhausted than Dominic or Allen.
“Are you okay? You seem to be overly exhausted,” Dominic said, reaching out to brush the brunet’s right cheekbone. Matthew hummed in response, nuzzling Dominic’s palm as he moved in closer to rest his head on Dominic’s chest.
“Just feeling a bit not well today,” Matthew murmured, taking a deep breath before drifting off to sleep. Dominic blinked, looking down to check on his husband and finding that the brunet was already fallen asleep in his arms.
Dominic sighed, pulling his husband closer to his body as he rests his chin on the top of Matthew’s head. He started to feel a bit sleepy too, now, and slowly, he was pulled into a deep slumber.
At first, his dream was peaceful. But then something was tugging on him continuously, and slowly he becomes annoyed, so he dared to open his eyes.
The blond expected to see his husband or his room. Instead he’s staring at a cave’s roof.
Someone tugged his shirt, and he looked around. Sitting right beside him, there was a man with a messy dark brown hair and bright sapphire blue eyes. Dominic remembers him; it was the man in the dreams before, who looked so much like Matthew. When he realized that Dominic was staring at him, the Matthew-lookalike stares back at him, wide eyed and relief filling his expression before he shouts, “Dominic’s alive!”
Dominic frowned. Clearly, he wasn’t dead before.
The Matthew-lookalike turned his gaze back to the blond before he slapped Dominic hard enough for Dominic to feel the sting burns in his cheek. It hurts, really. It wasn’t supposed to be hurt. This is a dream, right? “What was that for?!”
“I thought you were dead, you idiot!” the Matthew-lookalike yelled, his face red with rage but Dominic could notice the hint of tears in the brunet’s eyes. Clearly, he was holding back his tears. He slapped Dominic once again, ignoring the loud yelp from the other man before yelling again, “Why don’t you dodge or something when that Nightmare attacks you? Why don’t you fight back or something?!”
“Wait-what?” Dominic asked, confusion filling his face within seconds. ‘Nightmare? It was a term for bad dreams, right? Why did this man say the word as if it was actually a thing, not a bad dream? Besides, attacking?’ “What-what’s a Nightmare? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“What do you mean you don’t understand?!” the man yelled again, anger filling his expression once again. “Nightmare, Void, Darkside, and all the dark creatures in this world? Don’t tell me you don’t remember!”
Dominic stares at the man with a confused expression again. What…creatures was he talking about? “I-it’s not like I don’t remember about it, I don’t even know what it is!”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You don’t even know? You’re a slayer! It was a fundamental thing to kno-” the man cut himself off, his face fell as it was replaced with an expression of horror. “… Wait. Don’t tell me-you-”
“I heard yelling. What’s going on here?” A male voice suddenly interrupted them, and Dominic turned his head away from the gaping brunet to the source of voice. He was a man, definitely taller than him with dark brown curls and a pair of hazel eyes standing a few meters before him.
“Christopher,” Matthew-lookalike’s voice interrupted, and in a split second their attention is focused to the brunet. “Do you-do you remember what my father told about The Parallel Worlds?”
“What, that story? Yes, I remember. What about it-” the man with the name of Christopher stopped as his face fell, his expression now matching the Matthew-lookalike. “… Matthew, don’t tell me-”
“I haven’t confirmed about it yet, but I think the answer is yes,” the Matthew-lookalike-or, Matthew, Dominic’s mind provided now as he heard Christopher said Matthew’s name like a confirmation for the blond-said, as his whole body trembled. Dominic frowned, clearly not following their conversation or understanding it.
“What? What are you guys talking about?” Dominic asked, feeling like the dumbest person that existed in the world right now. He was confused.
“Oh, God,” Christopher breathed out, running a hand through his short hair in frustration. “Matthew, please don’t tell me it’s real.”
“Too bad it might be,” Matthew said instead, his gaze still fixated on the stunned blond beside him. “Christopher, I know I didn’t believe that this can happen, but-”
“Matthew, no-”
“-too bad, the Dominic that we once knew is gone, and will never be back again as his soul is already gone,” Matthew paused, glaring at Christopher to silence the tallest man in the place. Dominic could hear the way the tallest man took a deep, shaky breath as Matthew spoke once again.
“The Dominic in front of you is the Dominic from the other world.”
Chapter: One
Author: tie-19
Beta: thepanicgroove
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: PG-13
WARNINGS: None yet?
Summary: AU. His name is Dominic Howard. He is married to Matthew Bellamy. He had a happy family with an adopted child. He is a dull, a normal office worker. Or so he told to himself like that.
Disclaimer: This is all fiction, Muse is never mine.
Feedback: Would really be appreciated! <3
Notes: Another update! :D I don't know what should I say more about this chapter, but I'm quite satisfied with this one. I hope this is not too confusing to read (although I'm a bit confused with this lol) <3
Enjoy!
“As the door of parallel worlds has been opened,
now,
the game is on.”
-x-
Chapter 1: Introduction
-x-
A loud yelp brings Dominic back to the reality.
He moves to sit up from his position, blinking rapidly in confusion as he sees Matthew sitting on the floor. The brunet grinned nervously, saying something about how he slipped on the way to the bathroom before getting up and walking to the bathroom.
It’s 3 a.m.
The fact that Matthew had fallen on the floor wasn’t what kept Dominic awake now, but the voices in his mind from whatever dream he had earlier. He frowned deeply as he tried to remember about the voice, as he tried to remember if he knew that voice or not.
‘I feel like I know that voice well enough,’ he said to himself inside his mind, frowning even deeper. ‘But whose voice is that?’
“Dom?”
Matthew’s voice somehow found its way to snap Dominic back to reality. The blond turned his head to face his husband, who was now standing in front of the bathroom door with a confused look drawn on his face.
“Are you okay? Did you have any nightmares?” Matthew asked; his tone full of concern as he walked to approach his husband. Dominic shook his head, managed to smile when Matthew dipped to the bed beside him once again, the blond’s face in Matthew’s hands.
“It’s nothing,”
“Really?” Matthew asked, inching his face closer to Dominic’s. The blond smiled, reaching out to place his hand on the back of Matthew’s head, moving his nose to nuzzle the brunet’s face.
“Really,” the blond whispered, pulling Matthew’s head closer to his to place a small kiss on his husband’s lips. He could feel the way Matthew’s lips twitched to form a smile, and then he felt a soft pressure in his lips again.
“Okay, then.” Matthew whispered, kissing his husband once again. “Let’s get some sleep. Although tomorrow’s Sunday, I don’t want you to wake up late because of this, okay?”
“Mm-hmm. Of course,” Dominic quickly wraps his arms around his husband to roll them over, so Matthew was the one lying on his back while Dominic hovering just above him. They giggled softly, exchanging small, simple kisses before lying on their backs once again.
“I love you,” the blond whispered, kissing the brunet’s cheek softly before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
-x-
A loud clang could be heard, and Dominic snapped his eyes open.
Instead, it was not the image of his room that was greeting him. It was the image of a bright, spacious white room with no one around, with only a door standing a few meters ahead of him.
‘What, is this a dream?’ Dominic thought, a frown appearing on his face. Curious, he walked closer to the door, lifting his head and moving it around to access the room.
There’s no one there except the suspicious door and Dominic.
“Is this that kind of dream in which you’re destined to die?” Dominic asks to no one in particular, his words echoing in the spacious room. He didn’t expect any answer, so he just sighed softly as he stepped closer to the door.
The blond gulped. This might be a matter of life or death. This might be his last second to breathe in deeply. This might be his last second of living. If he opened that door, it might be heaven that will greet him.
But, what if there’s something else besides death waiting for him behind the door?
“Well, I might give it a try.”
Dominic stepped forward one last time to finally face the door. He breathes in deeply, slowly lifting his right hand and reaching out to grip the wooden door handle. Time seemed to slow down, but Dominic nearly jolted out in surprise when he heard a deep, old voice rumble through the room.
“Are you sure you want to open the door?” the old, suspicious voice asked, leaving a loud ringing voice echoing inside the room. Dominic cringed and look away from the door to access the room once again, he was not surprised to find that he was still all alone. And somehow he felt that the question must be answered.
“Well, yes, I think,” Dominic answered, and he heard a low hum that echoed through the room again. For some seconds, silence fell over the place once more, but then he heard the voice spoke again.
“Very well, then. The great power has taken the world, and the warrior must know the world he needs to save.”
Dominic frowned at the voice. “What was that supposed to mean?”
There’s no answer again, and the blond sighed. He moved his head, his grey irises staring at the door in front of him.
‘That voice mentioned about a world, and…what is it, the warrior?’ Dominic thought, still frowning. Certainly, he didn’t even know what was happening there. This is just a dream, right?
“Warrior, you must open the door now. Your dream will end soon, and if it ends while you are here, you might not wake up again.” the voice rumbles once again, and without thought Dominic snapped his hand and opened the door.
He certainly wasn’t thinking about what would greet him behind the door.
Dominic stood in a cave, and he could hear the sound of door clicking shut. He looked back, finding that there was no door like before there. Instead, never-ending darkness reaches his eyes, greeting him and crawling under his mind like venom.
It was so dark around him. It was cold. When he turned his head back to the outside of the cave, heavy droplets of water rained down from the grey clouds, the liquid was soaking the hard ground below. For a second, Dominic wondered if there was no color in this place, but then he spotted a bright color of red from afar.
Dominic squinted, and he realized that it was not just red. It’s a blend of yellow, orange and red.
Fire.
He took a step forward, attempting to walk away from the cave, but then a gush of strong wind blew through him. He winced as a loud shrieking sound found its way to his ears, and when he opened his eyes, he was surrounded in the darkness.
Dominic struggled to get away from the darkness that chased him, but he could feel something grip his limbs so he was unable to move anymore. Dominic grunted, and his eyes widened in surprise and a bit of fear seeing the bright, white teeth showing on the shadow that surrounded him, crooked into an eerie grin.
Dominic had never been a coward before. He was a very brave and a strong man, ambitious and all. But now he could feel the way fear gripped his heart.
Just when he was about to give in and succumb to the darkness that seemed to eat him, a loud shriek reached his ears once again, but this time the darkness was lifted away from him.
Dominic slowly opened his eyes, and he could see a man standing in front of him. He was wearing black, from head to toe, but Dominic could see a glimpse of bright blue eyes glistening in the darkness of the cave. Too bad Dominic couldn’t see him well because of the dark hoodie that the man was wearing, but he swore he could see the man’s lips twitched into a smirk.
But then, their eyes met. And somehow, the man’s face fell.
Dominic frowned. The man’s reaction was strange; it was like the man actually recognized Dominic when he didn’t even know the man with the hoodie. But then a strong wind gushed through them, and the man’s hoodie flipped over, revealing a crown of dark brown bangs and a pair of sapphire blue eyes.
This time, Dominic’s face fell, too.
“… Matt?” the blond whispered, his eyes still wide as he stares at the man in front of him. The man-Matthew, probably, flinched away as he accessed Dominic from head to toe.
“… You…”
A loud rumble from nowhere interrupted them, and within seconds the world shook, and Dominic loses his footing as he toppled on the ground. The blond tried to stand, but a loud buzzing sound cut through the air and sent him cringing. The sound grew louder, and the world started to crumble. Stop. It’s too loud, it’s-
“Dom, wake up!”
Dominic jolted awake when he felt a pinch in his left cheek. He blinked, finding that his gaze is full of his husband’s concerned expression.
“… Huh?” Dominic mumbled, dumbfounded as he stares deeply into his husband’s sapphire blue eyes. Matthew looked deeply concerned.
“Are you okay? For the first time, you didn’t wake up five seconds before the alarm rang,” Matthew said, taking the blond’s face in his hands as he nuzzled Dominic’s face. “I was afraid something was happening to you through your sleep.”
Dominic didn’t answer his husband’s question; instead he traveled the room with his eyes. White ceiling, spring wallpapers, neatly packed books in a bookshelf, a dark brown nightstand with an alarm resting on top of it. Definitely, it’s his and Matthew’s room.
“So it all was just a dream after all,” Dominic mumbled to himself, but loud enough for Matthew to catch up on his words. The brunet frowned, his thumb moving to stroke Dom’s cheek before slowly turning the blond’s gaze back to him.
“What’s that supposed to mean, love?” Matthew asked; his expression still full of concern. “Did you have a nightmare, or a strange dream?”
“It’s…” Dominic trailed off, his gaze falling from his husband’s eyes to the bookshelf ahead of them. Should he or should he not tell Matthew about his ‘dreams’ earlier? “It’s…nothing, dear. Probably it’s just too much thinking about so many things before falling asleep again.”
“Are you dreaming about me being a fresh cabbage and you nearly ate me again?” At Matthew’s question, Dominic laughed softly and moving in closer to capture his husband’s lips in a small kiss. The brunet responded with a small giggle, and then he returned the kiss softly.
“Mm, aren’t we supposed to wake Allen up now?” Dominic asked with a whisper, moving to place a small peck on Matthew’s nose. Matthew moved to kiss his husband too, before nuzzling his face once again.
“It’s Sunday, Dom. We can let him have enough fun with his sleep, for once in awhile.” Matthew whispered, giggling when Dominic lifted his body up and flipped them over, leaving the brunet lying on his back before starting to kiss him passionately.
“Well, is that your simple language of ‘we could have some fun in this morning’, hmm?” Dominic asked, and a giggle from the brunet was enough for an answer.
-x-
When Allen woke up, it was around 10 a.m.
It was strange. His parents usually tried to get him out of the bed before it reaches seven thirty, even on Sundays. ‘Did Papa finally let me sleep in peace through the morning today?’
Allen Samuel Bellamy-Howard might still be ten, but he is a clever child, nevertheless. He might be still…pure, but he knows what was going on in his parents’ room. Judging from there’s no noise from the living room’s direction; he knew that his parents were probably still doing…something.
Which means that he could go back to sleep and doze off until Matthew or Dominic tried to make their adopted son bid his goodbye with his lovely bed.
Allen likes to sleep, nearly addicted to it, even. Having parents like Matthew and Dominic, it is a bit hard to sleep more than nine hours per day, and in Friday nights, Allen usually only got six hours of sleep because they used to stay up late to walk around, play games, watch movie or just talk about their week together. That’s why he liked extra hours of sleep on Sunday mornings, which he rarely got because of Matthew’s strict scheduling.
Well, it is a bit sad, indeed, but what can he do, now? Anyways, Allen was already used to it.
This time, Allen didn’t feel sleepy anymore for the morning. So he got up from the bed, walking to the bathroom to wash his face and teeth before walking out from his blue-painted room to the kitchen.
Since he expected that Matthew and Dominic were still doing…something in the bedroom, he was surprised to see his Daddy standing in front of the fridge.
“Daddy?” Allen called out, walking to approach the blond that turned his back with a carton of milk in his right hand and a mug of steaming coffee in his left. Dominic smiled at Allen, putting the mug and the carton on the dining table before ruffling Allen’s hair.
“Good morning, kiddo,” Dominic said, smiling wider when he saw Allen pouted a little at the word ‘kiddo’. “How was your sleep? Good?”
“Umm, yeah, it was good,” Allen said, walking away from Dominic to fetch a pastel green mug from the kitchen counter. “Where’s Papa?”
“Papa’s, um, still…asleep,” Dominic said, turning his face away from his adopted son so Allen won’t see the faint pink tinting the blond’s cheeks. It seems like Allen didn’t notice at all, since the kid with the short blond strands said nothing as he grabbed the milk carton and poured some to his pastel green mug.
“Do you want some pancakes?” Dominic asked when Allen moved to sit in one of the dining chairs. The boy’s face lit up with excitement at hearing the last word uttered from his Dad, bright sparkles filling his blue eyes as he nods excitedly at Dominic. Dominic smiled at his son’s reaction, chuckled a little as he moved to ruffle Allen’s hair.
“You’re really like your Papa, hmm?” Dominic said, still chuckling a little as he walked to fetch some ingredients from the fridge and the cupboard beside the cooling machine, “Getting excited over pancakes.”
“Are you talking about me?” A voice that came out from the door got both Allen and Dominic’s attention, and eventually they found a certain brunet standing beside the door. Matthew smiled at them, yawning a little. “Good morning.”
“Morning, Papa!” Allen greeted with an excited voice, and he can’t help it but frowned in confusion seeing the way the clothes that Matthew wore is a bit oversized for him. “Is that Daddy’s shirt?”
Matthew clearly didn’t expect the question, so when Allen asked, a faint blush quickly covered his cheeks. “Oh, it’s-um,” Matthew stuttered, moving his gaze to his husband who was blushing too while mixing the pancake’s ingredients, “Well-it was… Lying around and I just… Picked it up then wore it…”
“Oh, I see,” Allen said, focusing back on his mug and started sipping his milk once again. An awkward silence settled between them as Matthew filled a mug with coffee, and Allen raised one of his eyebrows. He blinked innocently at his parents, but his gaze was locked on his Papa who was slowly sipping his coffee.
“Is it wrong for me to know about it, Papa?”
Matthew choked.
-x-
After a day full of playing games, watching TV together and planting a few of fruits in the backyard with his family, Dominic flopped down to the bed tiredly. It was a long day, but it’s short enough for him to have enough fun with his small family.
“That was,” Dominic breathed out, pausing when Matthew collapsed to the bed next to him with the same reason as the blond; exhaustion, “Pretty refreshing, huh?”
“Yeah,” Matthew responded, yawning as he stretched on the bed. “You were so busy lately so we hadn’t got the time to do things like this, right?”
“Yeah, right,” Dominic answered, shuffling closer to Matthew. The brunet’s eyes were closed, and Dominic suspected that his husband was really exhausted that day, even though he wasn’t sure why. Matthew didn’t play too much that day, and he looked way more exhausted than Dominic or Allen.
“Are you okay? You seem to be overly exhausted,” Dominic said, reaching out to brush the brunet’s right cheekbone. Matthew hummed in response, nuzzling Dominic’s palm as he moved in closer to rest his head on Dominic’s chest.
“Just feeling a bit not well today,” Matthew murmured, taking a deep breath before drifting off to sleep. Dominic blinked, looking down to check on his husband and finding that the brunet was already fallen asleep in his arms.
Dominic sighed, pulling his husband closer to his body as he rests his chin on the top of Matthew’s head. He started to feel a bit sleepy too, now, and slowly, he was pulled into a deep slumber.
At first, his dream was peaceful. But then something was tugging on him continuously, and slowly he becomes annoyed, so he dared to open his eyes.
The blond expected to see his husband or his room. Instead he’s staring at a cave’s roof.
Someone tugged his shirt, and he looked around. Sitting right beside him, there was a man with a messy dark brown hair and bright sapphire blue eyes. Dominic remembers him; it was the man in the dreams before, who looked so much like Matthew. When he realized that Dominic was staring at him, the Matthew-lookalike stares back at him, wide eyed and relief filling his expression before he shouts, “Dominic’s alive!”
Dominic frowned. Clearly, he wasn’t dead before.
The Matthew-lookalike turned his gaze back to the blond before he slapped Dominic hard enough for Dominic to feel the sting burns in his cheek. It hurts, really. It wasn’t supposed to be hurt. This is a dream, right? “What was that for?!”
“I thought you were dead, you idiot!” the Matthew-lookalike yelled, his face red with rage but Dominic could notice the hint of tears in the brunet’s eyes. Clearly, he was holding back his tears. He slapped Dominic once again, ignoring the loud yelp from the other man before yelling again, “Why don’t you dodge or something when that Nightmare attacks you? Why don’t you fight back or something?!”
“Wait-what?” Dominic asked, confusion filling his face within seconds. ‘Nightmare? It was a term for bad dreams, right? Why did this man say the word as if it was actually a thing, not a bad dream? Besides, attacking?’ “What-what’s a Nightmare? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“What do you mean you don’t understand?!” the man yelled again, anger filling his expression once again. “Nightmare, Void, Darkside, and all the dark creatures in this world? Don’t tell me you don’t remember!”
Dominic stares at the man with a confused expression again. What…creatures was he talking about? “I-it’s not like I don’t remember about it, I don’t even know what it is!”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You don’t even know? You’re a slayer! It was a fundamental thing to kno-” the man cut himself off, his face fell as it was replaced with an expression of horror. “… Wait. Don’t tell me-you-”
“I heard yelling. What’s going on here?” A male voice suddenly interrupted them, and Dominic turned his head away from the gaping brunet to the source of voice. He was a man, definitely taller than him with dark brown curls and a pair of hazel eyes standing a few meters before him.
“Christopher,” Matthew-lookalike’s voice interrupted, and in a split second their attention is focused to the brunet. “Do you-do you remember what my father told about The Parallel Worlds?”
“What, that story? Yes, I remember. What about it-” the man with the name of Christopher stopped as his face fell, his expression now matching the Matthew-lookalike. “… Matthew, don’t tell me-”
“I haven’t confirmed about it yet, but I think the answer is yes,” the Matthew-lookalike-or, Matthew, Dominic’s mind provided now as he heard Christopher said Matthew’s name like a confirmation for the blond-said, as his whole body trembled. Dominic frowned, clearly not following their conversation or understanding it.
“What? What are you guys talking about?” Dominic asked, feeling like the dumbest person that existed in the world right now. He was confused.
“Oh, God,” Christopher breathed out, running a hand through his short hair in frustration. “Matthew, please don’t tell me it’s real.”
“Too bad it might be,” Matthew said instead, his gaze still fixated on the stunned blond beside him. “Christopher, I know I didn’t believe that this can happen, but-”
“Matthew, no-”
“-too bad, the Dominic that we once knew is gone, and will never be back again as his soul is already gone,” Matthew paused, glaring at Christopher to silence the tallest man in the place. Dominic could hear the way the tallest man took a deep, shaky breath as Matthew spoke once again.
“The Dominic in front of you is the Dominic from the other world.”