Alex was sitting alone on the park bench, watching some kids chasing each other on the playground. Normally, he'd be as happy as they were, running around, laughing, smiling, enjoying life. But, he couldn't, not at the moment anyway.

You see, Alex lives at the orphanage in the small town of Ebotton, on the base of Mount Ebott. He lost his parents at when he was only 4 years old when they were killed in a plane crash. They were flying back home from a four day getaway to Hawaii when the one of the engines malfunctioned, causing the plane to crash into a field in upstate Oregon, only 30 minutes before landing. About 5 other unlucky passengers were killed in the crash, but this left Alex, who was left with a babysitter at the time, an orphan. He moved into the orphanage when none of his relatives wanted to take him in, and now, 7 years later, he's still at the same orphanage, still waiting for someone to take care of him. After today, he'll be the only kid in the orphanage, since the last friend he had there was adopted and was getting picked up today. Alex started thinking to himself, was there something wrong with him? He was a nice person, he didn't get in trouble often, he always tried to be honest, what made people not want him? Thinking about all these things made his head hurt, so he broke himself free from his thoughts. He looked back over to the playground to see a familiar face that he hasn't seen for a long while. Smiling for the first time the whole day, Alex stood up and walked over to the playground, approaching the one person he'd never thought he'd see today.

"Frisk, hey!" Alex greeted with a smile. The brown haired girl looked behind herself to see him. She immediately turned around and gave him a warm hug.

"Alex! I haven't seen you in forever!" Frisk broke the embrace and smiled at Alex, who reciprocated her actions.

"I know. Where have you been? It's been almost two weeks." Alex asked her curiously.

"Okay, it's kinda a long story." Frisk started, looking at Alex with a smile. She explained how she fell into Mount Ebott, how Toriel found her, how she met Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, and Asgore, how she had to battle Asriel, everything. While she was explaining her amazing adventure, Alex looked at her with an unbelieving face. But towards the end of her story, he had begun to believe her.

"...and now I live with all of them in this big house and everything! It's so cool!" Frisk concluded, beaming with happiness. Alex's smile faltered for a moment, letting what Frisk just said sink in. 'Even she found a home?' Alex thought to himself sadly before putting a fake smile on his face.

"That's great, Frisk." Alex said trying to hide the pain he currently felt on the inside.

"So, enough talking about me, what you been up to?" Frisk asked, changing the subject. Alex hesitated before answering her question.

"Oh, u-uh, y'know, same old same old." Alex said, trying to hold back the pain.

"That's good. Are you still at the orphanage or did you get adopted?" Frisk asked, not noticing Alex's weird behavior. Alex's smile almost completely vanished, a pained smile replacing it.

"I'm still...at the orphanage...yeah. I'm the, uh, only one there now." Alex said, trying to hold back tears at this point.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Alex." Frisk said sympathetically, frowning slightly at her friend's misfortune.

"Yeah," Alex muttered, a short awkward silence following. "I gotta go Frisk. You know how Mrs. Fischer gets if you're late." Alex lied, and Frisk seemed to believe it.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you around. Bye." Frisk waved to him, no longer smiling. Alex gave a small wave before turning around and walking away from the playground. Only then did he let warm tears to flow down his face, not even bothering to wipe them away. A barrage of thoughts flooded his mind, causing more tears to fall. 'Everyone has a home! Everyone but me! What's wrong with me?' Alex balled his hands into fists, anger settling into his body. He saw a garbage can on the side of the path he was taking, and with one powerful kick, it was knocked over, the contents of it spilling onto the grass. He kept walking, not caring that he just littered. Alex continued his trek out of the park and towards the orphanage. He might as well memorized where it is, he's been there for seven long years. As tears continued to roll down his tanned cheeks, he finally arrived at Ebotton Orphanage. Alex walked through the front door of the orphanage, looking at the ground as he started walking towards the room he stayed in.

"Alex? What's wrong?" Mrs. Fischer's concerned voice rang out. She stood up from the front desk and went to comfort the boy.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Alex said, trying to walk past her. Mrs. Fischer stepped in front of his path, making sure he couldn't advance.

"I know it's not just nothing, Alex. I know something's wrong." She looked at him sternly, not wanting to play games. Alex sighed, knowing that she wouldn't give up until he finally said something. He wiped the fresh tears away, ready to explain himself.

"Everyone seems to have a home but me! Everyone! I'm the only one here, everyone else is with their new families! Even Frisk has a family now!" A new wave of tears rolled down Alex's cheeks. "What's wrong with me?" Alex buried his face into his hands, crying his eyes out. Mrs. Fischer wrapped the boy into an embrace in an attempt to comfort him.

"No, Alex. There's nothing wrong with you! No one is looking to adopt a child your age right now. You just have to wait." Mrs. Fischer reassured him.

"I've been waiting for seven years! If no one wanted me then, why would they want me now?" Alex looked down at the floor, tears plopping onto the white tiles.

"Because you're a nice kid. You're kind, well behaved, you respect others. Did you forget yourself?" Mrs. Fischer said with a small laugh at the end, which put a small smile on Alex's face.

"You always know how to make me feel better." Alex told Mrs. Fischer, who smiled back at him.

"I should know by now, I've known you long enough." She said, laughing a little.

"I'm gonna take a nap, okay?" Alex said, letting a yawn loose. Fatigue had caught up to him quickly.

"Alright, but don't sleep too late, dinner's served at 6 o'clock as always." Mrs. Fischer reminded him and he nodded, heading down the hall to his room. As Alex walked down the hall, he let out a relaxed sigh. Mrs. Fischer was an amazing woman, always knowing what to do. Alex had asked her once if she could adopt him, but she said that couldn't afford handling another person in her home. She could barely afford paying for her husband and herself, so another mouth to feed was out of the question. Alex was saddened by this, but respected Mrs. Fischer's decision nonetheless. It's a shame, she would've made a great parent. Putting these thoughts in the back of his mind, Alex finally made it to his room, which had 4 beds inside, the one in the back left corner being his. Alex felt a pang of sadness go through him when he saw those empty beds, but he reminded himself. Someone will come soon, he knows it. He lies down on his bed, these calming words allowing him to drift off peacefully.

He doesn't know how right he actually is.