based off a prompt from tumblr

Today is not your day.

First of all, your alarm doesn't go off in the morning, and you wake up late – yes, it's cliché, but it's a very real problem, especially for someone like you. And even though you know you're running late, you struggle to find any motivation to get up, feeling drained and exhausted before even getting out of bed. When you eventually do, you decide to skip breakfast and head straight to work, which ends up being a bad decision. Your boss is feeling particularly irritable today, and your being late doesn't help matters. She has you work through your lunch break, which means you won't have time to eat anything until you get off in the afternoon. On top of everything, some of your co-workers are being a little too passive-aggressive for your tastes, and you honestly don't want to deal with any of that today.

When you finally make it to the little café right by your workplace and buy some food, you actually get a chance to relax, and it's an incredible relief. But relief is short-lived, because when you look out the window after finishing your food, you're greeted with the sight of a torrential downpour. And you don't have an umbrella.

So, yeah. Today is really not your day.

Now you stand just outside the café, underneath the little covering, and stare at the pouring rain with absolutely no clue of how to proceed from here. You normally walk to work, because it isn't too far and you need the exercise, but the distance seems much greater when the weather is bad, and you'll be damned if you're going to walk that far in the rain. And you can't really afford a taxi, either.

It's actually quite pretty, though, if you're trying to be positive. It's late March, and the trees are covered in pink and white blossoms, and the grass is an incredibly vibrant green. You always forget, during the winter, how green the world really is, and every spring it takes your breath away when the colors return. The rain makes the air fresh, too, and you like the smell.

You inhale deeply, then sigh, steeling your nerves and preparing yourself to step out into the rain, when you hear a voice from beside you.

"hey there, pal. everything all right?"

Surprised, you turn to face the owner of the voice, and honestly, the last thing you expect to see is a skeleton. Yep, that's right. A skeleton, shorter than you by maybe a couple of inches and a bit stocky, with a seemingly permanent grin affixed to his face and wearing a worn-looking blue hoodie over a white T-shirt, black gym shorts, and, oddly enough, fluffy pink slippers. His bony fingers are wrapped around the handle of a blue umbrella.

Cute, your brain supplies, and you mentally smack yourself.

It's not like seeing monsters is uncommon these days, not since the Barrier was broken six months ago, but it's a little startling to see a humanoid skeleton.

The skeleton in question tilts his head at you, white pinpricks of light in his eyes dimming and grin faltering just a little. You realize you've been staring, and you blush, mortified.

"Oh, I'm sorry," you babble, waving your hands apologetically. "I didn't mean to stare at you! You just surprised me, I was in a totally different world."

"good to know i didn't freak you out," the skeleton says, seeming a little more relaxed now. "sometimes humans don't react well to us monsters showing up outta nowhere."

"I'm not one of those humans," you tell him, hoping you sound sincere.

He shrugs, and you can't tell if he believes you or not. He still seems a bit on edge. "well, anyway, i'm sans. nice to meet ya."

You hold out your hand, and he seems a little startled at the action, so you smile reassuringly. "I'm _," you introduce yourself. "It's nice to meet you too, Sans."

He shakes your hand after only a slight hesitation, and you beam at him, hoping to show him that you mean no harm. "I'm sorry again for staring," you say. "I promise it wasn't because you're a monster."

"heh, thanks, kiddo." Sans appears to be warming up to you. "but you seem a bit bonely here by yourself. waiting on someone?"

You snicker at the pun, and he looks utterly delighted, his eyes lighting up, and wow, that should not be as cute as it is. "No," you say, "actually, I'm just trying to get up the nerve to go out in that. I don't have an umbrella, and I can't call a cab or anything, so I'm going to have to walk back to my apartment…"

There's a pause in which Sans regards you intently, and you can practically hear the gears turning in his (nonexistent) brain. "tell you what," he says after a moment. "i'll walk ya home."

"What?" You blink. "Oh, no, we've only just met, you don't have to do that –"

"i don't mind. look, i got an umbrella and everything." He holds up the umbrella in question, tilting his head and giving you a crooked smile. "i couldn't be so heartless as to let a cute human like you walk home alone in the rain."

Is he – flirting with you? You feel yourself blush again, and you're so caught off guard that you find yourself agreeing.

That's how you find yourself walking side by side with a skeleton, sharing an umbrella. This all seems like the beginning of some romantic love story, and you're trying to wrap your head around how exactly your day switched from horrible to, well, not.

Yeah, it's romantic until you realize just how damn bad he is at holding the umbrella.

Your shoulder is getting damp from the rain dripping off the edge of the umbrella, and you shift closer to Sans, trying to stay dry. It doesn't work, and you bite your lip before asking. "Hey, sorry, can you move the umbrella a little more this way?"

"what? oh, yeah, sorry," he says, adjusting the umbrella a few inches toward you.

For about forty-five seconds, it helps, and then you're back to getting your shoulder rained on. And some of your hair. This is actually worse than before.

You feel terrible for complaining. After all, he didn't have to walk you home. And it's not like you don't appreciate it or anything, because you absolutely do, but it's a little… uncomfortable.

Well, you don't want to appear ungrateful, so you keep your mouth shut about it.

"So…" you begin, wanting to know more about the skeleton beside you. "How are you finding life on the surface?"

Sans glances at you. "actually, it's not too bad. better than i thought it would be. most humans are surprisingly tolerant of us monsters," he says. "although there's the odd monster hater here and there, my brother and our friends and i live pretty peacefully."

"Oh, you have a brother? What's his name?"

"papyrus." Sans seems to come to life at the mention of his brother, his permanent grin widening into something real, and oh, god, he's fucking adorable. "he's just happy to be out of the underground, i think."

You nod in understanding, hiding a wince as a drop of cold water trickles down your neck. "What's he like?"

Sans chuckles. "overly enthusiastic and kind of obsessed with spaghetti," he says, his voice full of affection. "you'd like him, i think. he's a pretty cool guy."

Something occurs to you, and you frown slightly. "Will you be late getting home? Is he going to be worried about you?" you ask anxiously, mentally berating yourself for taking up his time.

"nah." He shrugs. "i come home late all the time. anyway, if he gets worried, he can always text me."

"If you're sure," you say skeptically.

Another droplet of icy rain runs down your collarbone, and you yelp in surprise. Sans immediately pauses, looking up at you in concern. "hey, you okay?"

"F-fine," you say, shivering.

All at once, he notices your damp shoulder and the water caught in your hair, and his eyes widen. "shit, i'm so sorry," he blurts out, and his cheekbones turn blue in what you think is a blush. "i'm really bad at this. i don't usually, um, share like this."

"It's okay, really," you say, but he's having none of it.

"here, hold it for a second." He passes you the umbrella handle, and you watch in fascination as he removes his fluffy blue hoodie. Grinning apologetically at you, he drapes it gently around your shoulders. "there ya go. now i'm keeping you dry even if the umbrella doesn't do the trick."

Oh. Is there anything more attractive than somebody sharing their jacket with you? Blushing and smirking, you hand back the umbrella and slip your arms through the sleeves. "Thank you," you say, pulling the hood up over your head. It smells like snow and old books and something dry, like bones and magic.

"don't mention it, kid." Sans winks at you, and a moment later you feel skeletal fingers lace with yours.

Oh, sweet mother of Mary. He's holding your hand. Are you supposed to acknowledge it? What would you say? Would it be weird to ask him why his bones are so warm? Yes, that would be fucking weird, don't ask that.

There's a second of silence in which you feel the weight of what he's just done hanging over your heads before you urge him, "Tell me more about your brother and your friends?"

He laughs, giving you a look like he thinks you're adorable, and you know you've made the right choice in not saying anything about the impromptu hand-holding. "i'd love to, but right now you're gonna have to give me directions, because i'm not sure where your house is."

"Oh, right…"

You can't decide whether it's fortunate or not that you get back to your apartment in less than five minutes. Sure, it means you get to go inside out of the rain, but it also means that you have to say goodbye to Sans.

"Um, this is me," you say hesitantly, stopping in front of your apartment building and shoving your hands into your pockets. It's weird but you kind of want to kiss him. This feels like a date.

God, this shouldn't feel like a date. You literally just met him. He probably doesn't even like you like that.

"right." Sans looks awkward as well, rubbing the back of his skull with his free hand, blue staining his cheeks again. "uh, see you around, i guess."

You bite your lip, watching him turn and start to walk away, feeling distinctly unsettled with this ending. You look down at your feet, and the blue fabric of the hoodie you're wearing catches your eye. Shit, Sans's hoodie.

"Hey, Sans," you call after him, and he halts, glancing back over his shoulder at you. "You forgot your jacket!"

The skeleton holds your gaze for a few moments before his grin stretches wider, and he begins to walk away again. Waving a hand, he calls over his shoulder, "well, that just gives me a reason to come back, doesn't it, pal?"

Oh, man, you think as you stand there beaming like an idiot. You are so fucked.

But you love it.

alternate ending:

sans teleports back five seconds later with his eye glowing menacingly. "just kidding. give me my hoodie back." he rips the jacket off you. you get dunked on.

(i'm absolute and utter garbage for the hoodie sharing trope)