Hello my comrades and welcome to another chapter of The Reason They Fell! This chapter was hard to write, and I have a feeling they are going to get harder as the story unfolds. So when we left off Frisk and Toriel saw Frisk's human parents and all of our favorite child's hopes and dreams crash and burn. What will come of this meeting? Read on to find out!

Side note: This story will be updated once every week or two.

Previously:

Thankfully the day was over, and Frisk and Toriel were on their way home. Frisk let out a quiet sigh. They were happy that they got through the day, and nothing bad had happened. Maybe their gut feeling was wrong, maybe they were just feeling paranoid. Then that's when their life fell apart. She happened to glance across the street, and that's when they made eye contact. Their wide and terrified, with their astonished.

"Frisk? Is that you?"

Now:

Tears streamed down their face as the gun clattered shakily from their hand, the blood dripping off the walls behind the woman and off their face. The child's parents cackled evilly as their father pulled the gun in his hand from Frisk's head. Their mother squatted down next to them with a soft smile on her face as she yanked Frisk's teary face, to hers so they were looking at each other eye to eye.

"We warned you Frisk dear. If you tell anyone what we do to you then we'll just make you get rid of them," She pulled Frisk in even closer, "So unless you want all your friends to die, I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

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Frisk didn't even pause to consider answering the question. They ran.

Fast.

It didn't matter that their home was a good twenty minute walk away.

It didn't matter that they could hear Toriel's surprised voice asking them to stop.

That old fight or flight reflex had been jammed straight towards flee and they were not stopping anytime soon. They pumped their arms as fast as they could, their jacket flapping behind them wildly, ragged breaths clawing down their throat. They swerved through the people on the sidewalk, didn't stop to hear the voices shouting out to them, just kept running

And running….

And running….

Frisk stumbled into the clearing that marked their and Toriel's house. Frisk struggled to catch their breath as they looked up towards home with blurred vision. They tried to fight the pain and sadness that was welling up inside them and manifesting in the form of tears, but try as they might they couldn't fight it. This was the last time they'd probably get to be inside this house, probably the last time they'd get to see any of their new family, and the worse part was there was nothing they could do to stop it. A ragged cough erupted from their throat and they felt themselves topple forward. Eyes slammed closed tight and arms thrown forward in anticipation of impact, but oddly enough it never came. Instead, she felt arms wrap around her and catch her as she fell.

"Jeez kid, what's up with you? You look like you just ran a marathon."

Frisk slowly opened her eyes and looked up into the eyes of one grinning skeleton, eyes that were filled with worry for their young friend. Frisk tried to open their mouth to reply, but for the life of them they couldn't stop hyperventilating. Sans' worry only increased as he picked them up fully.

"Ok calm down kid, focus on taking deep breaths while I take you inside. I'm sure Tori wouldn't mind me coming in without her there if I'm helping you out. Close your eyes real quick or you'll get dizzy."

Frisk did as was told as they fought to steady their breath and moments later they felt a tugging in their gut, telling them that Sans had 'found a shortcut' into their house. Sans laid them down on the couch in the living room before disappearing into the kitchen and returning a few seconds later with a tall glass of water. Frisk was in the ending process of calming themselves, their breath though still ragged from running a long way was no longer sporadic and had been calmed. Frisk reached their hands up shakily and grasped the glass of water before gulping it down as Sans sat down next to them.

Frisk polished off the glass before whispering a quiet thank you to their skeletal friend.

"Don't mention it kid. Now what's got you so worked up? Where's Tori?"

Frisk froze as memories arose of the one in a million chance meeting they had earlier. It wouldn't be long now before Toriel walked through the door with her human family, and they'd have to go back…to that place. That place wasn't home to them, but they'd go back. They didn't want to go back! By this point tears were freely running down Frisks face again as they latched onto Sans and cried into his jacket. Sans was beyond worried now, Sans was in full blown protection mode. He wrapped his arms around Frisk and rubbed their back as they cried their eyes out and whispered "I'm sorry" over and over.

Something was seriously wrong, and Sans was going to find out what. He knew this kid, he'd watched them along their journey in the underground, and he knew they were made of tough stuff. So for them to be reduced to this state meant something was seriously wrong, and he was going to hurt anyone that hurt this kid, badly, but first he had to calm Frisk down. Unfortunately, it seemed like nothing he said or did would calm them. The only thing he could do was sit there with them.

It took twenty minutes for Frisk to tire themselves out with crying. Frisk sat up and whispered a quiet sorry to Sans. He shook his head, his normal grin still in place if a little strained,

"Don't sweat it kid. You mind telling me what that was all about though?"

Frisk just looked down and smiled sadly before standing shakily and turning away from Sans and to the stairs before replying,

"You'll find out soon. I…I need to go…grab some things from my room…s-stay here and greet m…Toriel for me…ok?"

Frisk didn't wait for an answer as they slowly walked up the stairs and to their room, locking the door behind them. If Sans was beyond worried before, he was to the moon with worry now. The kid always called Toriel mom, no matter what. Ever since they'd met, Frisk had always thought of Toriel as their mom, so for them to call her by her first name, something was seriously whacked. He would wait though for Toriel to get back and talk with her. Maybe the two got into a fight, though that was highly unlikely. Either way, Toriel would know what to do.

About five minutes later Sans saw the front door open. He stood up to greet Toriel, but stopped short when he saw the strained smile on her face, and the two humans that entered the house after her. Sans knew that this, and the way Frisk was acting were connected, and he wanted answers, now. His grin widened slightly, though the gesture didn't quite reach his eyes, his left one glowing blue at this time.

"Hey Tori, I let myself in on account of Frisk being outa whack when they got here and they needed help getting inside. Who are these guys?"

Toriel's smile turned genuine just for a moment as she looked down at Sans, but quickly turned back to its strained state,

"Hello Sans and it's quite alright, I understand. As for who these two are," she waved her hands to the two as her eyes darkened in sadness, "These are Frisk's parents."

Frisk had to fight from crying a second time as they paced through their room, collecting their clothes and throwing it into a large backpack. They were trying to prolong the inevitable, but there was no way that they could stop it. They'd heard them enter the house with Toriel, could hear them talking downstairs. Frisk's wrapped their arms around themselves as old memories resurfaced, memories of dark days and bitter nights, of tears and heart ache, and of feeling nothing at all. Honestly, the times where they felt nothing at all scared them the most.

It was times like those that they just didn't care. They didn't care what happened to them, they didn't care what anyone said, they didn't care whether they lived or died, they just didn't care. They didn't want to go back to that. Suddenly in their head, a small voice they'd though they were done hearing popped up, and it froze them in their tracks.

'Just reset…'

That's really all it would take.

'You won't have to worry about it then…'

A slow smile spread across their face. The voice was right. They could start all over.

'All your troubles would go away…'

Just as quickly as it came, the smile disappeared. They couldn't do that. They worked so hard to get everyone to the surface, worked so hard to free everyone, to make everyone happy!

'Stop it…"

They couldn't take that away, not even if it helped them.

'You're making a mistake…It's not too late to reset…'

A depressed sigh escaped their lungs as they zipped up their bag, finished packing everything. They walked over to the door and paused, hand clutching the doorknob.

'You know what happens if you go back. What they did to you, what they'll do to you…'

This was it, the moment of truth. They'd go back, if it meant her new family was happy, then they'd go back. They would suffer, but at least everyone would stay happy.

'Don't you deserve to be happy to?'

Frisk turned and looked at the small yellow glow that sat on their desk, before walking over to it, and saving one last time. They turned back around and after a breath slowly twisted the knob and swung the door open. They nearly jumped out of their skin when they saw Sans standing on the other side of the doorway, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets and a smile on his face, but this smile was far from friendly. This smile was sharper, more deadly, a smile that brought nightmarish ghosts from the past and memories they wished they could forget, and his one glowing blue eye seemed as if it was peering straight through them. Frisk took a step back, and Sans must've seen the fear on their face, because his smile eased up, though his eye never stopped glowing, before he spoke.

"Woah, kid. Look like you've seen a ghost."

Frisk didn't like how close to home that statement hit. It could be coincidence, but they knew better. Sans always seemed to know things that he shouldn't, and on previous runs back in the underground….well let's just say Frisk would never want to fight him. Not again. Not after what happened last time. They let a smile cover their unease as they shook their head indicating that everything was fine. Sans shrugged his shoulders, but you could see that he wasn't appeased in the slightest.

"So those your folks down there…they seem…ok."

Frisk just shrugged in turn.

"So I'm guessing that you're going to…go live with them now am I right?"

Frisk lowered their head and looked at the ground, only giving the tiniest of nods as an answer. Their hands gripped the straps of their backpack even harder now.

"Yeah I figured. Toriel says that you took off when you saw them when you two were walking back. Wanna tell me what that's all about?"

Frisk's grip tightened even further. This was their final chance. All they had to do was open their mouth and tell him about all the horrible things they did to them. How they made them feel, all the bruises, and cuts, and tears they caused, but Frisk didn't. Frisk was terrified. Terrified of what they would do if Frisk ratted on them. They'd already done that once, and it cost them so much. It put blood on their hands, and silence on their tongues. So instead of speaking the truth, lies flowed forth.

"I…I just didn't want to see how upset mo…Toriel would be with me when she found out. I knew I'd have to leave when I got back up here…I just didn't want to abandon you guys…so I didn't say anything about my parents."

Sans was quiet for a few moments, his large smile seemingly fake as he stared into Frisks downcast eyes. He knew there was something else going on, something that Frisk wasn't telling him, but right now he couldn't stand seeing Frisk's sad face. He hated seeing them sad, and even worse hated being the cause of that sadness. He reached up and tousled Frisk's hair as he let a soft chuckle out.

"Cheer up kid. Yeah were gonna be sad that you aren't living close to us, Tori especially, but it's not like we won't see you again. Plus you'll see Tori at school, she is your teacher and all. So cheer up, we aren't gonna hate you or anything for going back to your family. Just come visit us every once and a while, and give us a call from time to time. Ok kid?"

Frisk gave a watery smile. They probably wouldn't be seeing much of each other anymore if their parents had anything to say about it. They walked forward and wrapping Sans up in a large hug. Sans hugged her back just as tight, and the two stayed in their embrace for a few moments before they separated. Frisk took a deep breath before them and Sans descended the stairs, the entire time, his eye hadn't stopped glowing.

There was no going back now.

'You really are an idiot you know that…'

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Frisk cried out as they slammed into the dirty tiled floor, their arm taking the brunt of the force. They turned around and looked up at the enraged look on their parents faces. A small whimper escaped their throat.

"You really tried to replace us…didn't you Frisk?" growled out her dad.

"Did you think we weren't going to find you daughter? Did you really think you could hide with those freaks?" their mom sneered.

"It seems in the month or so you've been gone, you've forgotten your place SON." Muttered the father, putting emphasis on son as he glanced over at his wife, "Well that's fine. We've got all the time in the world to remind you."

Frisk wasn't fast enough to block the first kick. It smashed into their chest and sent them sliding further across the floor. They curled into a ball as they groaned in pain and tears sprung to their eyes. Seconds later blows began raining down on them, from all angle. They didn't try to run, just curled up and took it. They knew running wouldn't help. They just thought about their other family.

They thought about cooking with Undyne and Papyrus as the pain began to numb.

'I told you what you have to do to stop this…'

They thought about telling jokes with Sans while their vision began to blur.

'Are you sure you can live with this again?…'

They thought about picking flowers with Asgore as the pain completely disappeared.

'Fine then. Live on the floor like the trash you are…'

They thought about that last warm hug they got from Toriel as they left the world of the conscious.

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'This is the life you chose…'