Hello again, you lovely people.

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but there's one more part coming! This one was getting a little long, so . . . Yeah, now I've got an epilogue in the works, which will be written from Sans's perspective. The Sans part is a tad head canon-y when concerning the mysterious 'machine' and Gaster and stuff, but only briefly.

I am still waiting for this damn game to loosen its grip on my soul, but at this point I'm not sure that will ever happen. This has probably already been said by somebody somewhere, but I have an Undertale-shaped hole in my Undertale-shaped heart, and I very well might write another story or two after this because of it.

Thanks for reading, everyone :)

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Papyrus is making pancakes in the kitchen.

It smells good, you think. Thank goodness he started taking cooking lessons from Toriel instead of Undyne. Undyne has a lot going for her, but her cooking skills are not one of her better qualities.

You had initially tried to take everyone out for breakfast. (You totally slept in. Like a boss.) However, Papyrus would not hear of it. He wanted to make up for falling asleep before the movie had even ended.

"AND I TOOK UP THE WHOLE COUCH, TOO," he had said. "WHICH MEANT YOU HAD TO SLEEP IN MY BROTHER'S ROOM."

For whatever reason, he didn't ask why you hadn't just slept in his own bed. Or woken him up. Or why Sans had slept in there with you. Not that you mind. You aren't very good at lying, especially not to your friends.

When you protested that you wanted to have breakfast with everyone, he simply chided you and proceeded to phone everybody to tell them about the pancake breakast at the skeleton brothers' home.

You say 'everybody' because Mettaton was back in town now. Nabstablook would have come with as well, but they still have a great deal of social anxiety. Also, they have no corporeal body, and therefore cannot actually eat the pancakes.

So Mettaton is on the way now. Undyne and Alphys are already here, and you guys are watching some morning cartoons. There's this one show that Alphys swears by, but you think the plot is greatly lacking. It is meant to appeal to children, after all. Maybe you would have liked it when you were younger.

Undyne isn't really watching either. She's grumbling to herself and shooting glares at the kitchen. She had initially tried to help prepare food with Pap in the kitchen. When she had (somehow) caught the ceiling on fire trying to set the table, and gotten a variety of knives and forks jammed in the wall in the process, Alphys had suggested meekly that she just sit on the couch with her and let Papyrus do his thing.

You, for one, are sitting on the side of the couch. Sans had teleported into the spot next to Alphys before you could take a seat, and you had almost sat down right on his lap. Your face burning, he had simply grinned and suggested you do exactly that. "i don't mind," he told you with a wink. Refusing to do anything like that in front of everyone, you had resolutely flopped down on the arm-rest instead. It's uncomfortable, but it's better than giving away your relationship before the announcement.

You groan inwardly. Now you have to make the big announcement with Mettaton in the room. Dear god, why?

As you ponder the possibility of karma and what you may have done in the past to deserve this, Alphys grabs her girlfriend's arm suddenly. "Look, look! This is the best part! Yuki's about to confess her love for Sakura, but the whole magic school is watching!"

Undyne's grim glaring turns to surprise, then just as quickly to affection for Alphys, who had very effectively ruined the rest of the episode for you all.

Undyne watches the screen a moment longer, then turns to you.

"Hey, Frisk, what ever happened with that chick from the bar?"

You tense up. "Er - you mean Alice . . . ?"

She nods. "Yeah, that's the one!"

You've already told everyone about who Alice really worked for, but since the job offer from the secret society of magicians or whatever only came up yesterday, you haven't had the chance to say anything about it.

You take a deep breath and are about to tell her when Sans interrupts you.

"yeah, she was cute. who cares if she would have tried to rope you into a society that hates all of monsterkind? call her up. ask her out."

You glare at him, and Undyne punches him in the arm. "That's not what I meant, you boney bastard, and you know it."

Sans shrugs. You know he's probably a weird mixture of pissed off and jealous right now, but you're dating him for god's sake! Hell, you two just slept in the same bed together all night. The memory of waking up in his arms, with him softly snoring behind you, is enough to make you blush. Undyne mistakes the reason for your red face though, and quickly apologizes to you.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Frisk. Don't wanna make you uncomfortable. What I should have said was why haven't you tried getting over that yet? You had been saying all that stuff about being kind of lonely, and then that whole thing with her happened, and now you seem totally unfazed by it."

Your face gets hotter, and you realize you're trembling a little.

Alphys takes some of the pressure off you when she reminds everyone how flirtatious you had been as a kid.

"You practically seduced a whole fleet of Moldsmals by wiggling your hips at them."

You laugh softly. Sans interjects. "yeah, didn't you flirt with toriel right after calling her 'mom'?"

Ah. Yes. That.

You don't remember all that much of your foster mom, or any of your life before the Underground really, but you know you got that from her. You have vague memories of her many boyfriends. You remember her flirting with your teacher in second grade. Flirting her way out of a speeding ticket. You . . . you thought it was normal. It took you an embarrassingly long time to figure out that it wasn't. It was a good thing everyone thought it was cute, you guess.

Papyrus busts into the living room with about thirty pancakes stacked on three different plates, one plate being balanced precariously on his head.

"BREAKFAST," he cried, "IS READY."

Your rumbling stomach reminds you how hungry you are, so you jump up off the couch (relieved to sit anywhere but that lumpy armrest) and have a seat at the kitchen table. Then you remember that you have to tell everyone soon. Your stomach suddenly tightens at the thought, and you hesitate in piling the pancakes onto your plate. Would it be too late to back out now? You're sure Sans would understand.

"Thanks, Papyrus!" everyone says in a chorus. He bows dramatically before taking a seat.

"Wait, sh-shouldn't we wait for Mettaton?" Alphys asks.

No one says anything, but Undyne shrugs and continues to stuff her face. After a moment, Alphys shrugs too.

"WORRY NOT," Papyrus says after swallowing a highly impressive mouthful. "METTATON SHALL BE HERE VERY SHORTLY."

And indeed, the moment these words have been uttered, the front door swings open.

"Hello, darlings!" Mettaton's sing-song voice booms.

He strides right into the kitchen without stopping, heels clicking on the tile floor. He's carrying shopping bags with very pricey tags poking out the top. "I have brought you some presents, my lovelies," he says, "but no one is opening them until after breakfast."

He drops into the remaining chair gracefully. Every movement of his looks like he's posing for a nonexistant camera.

"Frisk, darling," he says to you. "Be a dear and pass me the syrup?"

You oblige, and he smiles at you. You would describe it as 'seductive' if you didn't know all too well that that was just how he acted all the time, with everyone.

"Papyrus, thank you so much for inviting me over. It's such a pleasure visiting everyone after being away for so long. Ah, me. The life of a celebrity can be so hard sometimes."

"NO PROBLEM. IT WAS FRISK'S IDEA, REALLY."

"Oh?" Mettaton blinks at you with what he probably thinks looks like innocent curiosity. "I thought they looked like they were hiding something. Dear, do you have something important you want to tell us?"

You freeze, startled at how on the nail his observations were. Your lack of a reply causes everyone else to turn their attention on you. Sans stops drinking from the syrup bottle.

In the moment, you panic, and stand up.

"I have to go to the bathroom!" you cry, and run off.

You are about to slam the door shut when Papyrus puts himself in the way. You're amazed he reacted fast enough to get to you so quickly.

"FRISK! WHAT IS WITH YOU TODAY? YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING SO STRANGELY. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

You nod furiously and ask him to get out, but the door is open now. Everyone else has followed to see what was happening. You shoot Sans a desperate look and he nods, then waves his hand. Papyrus is engulfed in blue magic and pulled back out of the bathroom.

"bro, if they wanna be alone them leave them be, 'kay?" Sans says, and makes to go back down the hallway.

Papyrus looks outraged at his brother using his magic on him like that. "YOU'RE ONE TO TALK. YOU'VE BEEN ACTING EVEN STRANGER. DO YOU KNOW WHY THE HUMAN IS ACTING THIS WAY? I'M NOT AN IDIOT. I KNOW YOU TWO ARE HIDING SOMETHING."

"nuh-uh."

"YEAH-HUH!"

Sans's eye lights up with magic. "what makes you say that?"

"YOU TWO SLEPT IN THE SAME BED TOGETHER. YOU WERE HAVING A SECRET SLUMBER PARTY WITHOUT ME."

" . . . "

Sans's flames die away. Now he's just standing there, stunned. Everyone else is silent, too shocked to move or say anything, and you are no exception.

You wanted to be the one to tell everyone.

"Papyrus . . . " you say, hurt. He doesn't know what he's done, so you stop there. You don't know what to say now.

Interestingly enough, no one else is saying anything. Undyne looks like she's (barely) holding back a surprised, but delighted, grin. Alphys is blushing, looking away from you and Sans. Mettaton is watching the proceedings with a cool disinterest, but his arms are crossed and his eyes flick from you to Sans to Papyrus.

Oh well. Even if you don't get the full surprise reaction from everyone now, you can at least clear up any confusion. The way Papyrus had said it could be taken a very different way. In fact, telling from Undyne's face right now, you think she at least has already made that assumption.

"Papyrus, it isn't like that," you hear yourself saying. "I'm your friend. Sans is your brother. We would never exclude you."

"THEN WHAT IS IT?"

Sans shakes his head. "you don't have to answer if you don't want to, frisk."

"No, I do," you say. You don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. It may not be any of their business, but they're your friends. You want them to know.

"Papyrus. Everyone. Sans and I are, well . . . we're dating. We have been for the past week now. It isn't too serious yet, but I wanted to tell you myself."

Undyne starts hollering immediately. "Hell yeeeaaaaah! I so knew it! You little turd, why didn't you tell me?"

You laugh, relieved. Alphys is still blushing, but now she's smiling up at you. Mettaton has a sly grin on his face, like he's proud of you. Papyrus's eyes have gone wide, and Sans is patting him on the back.

"WAIT. SO. ARE YOU SAYING THAT . . . YOU'RE OVER ME?"

You laugh harder. "Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry, Papyrus."

The 'sorry' does it. He recovers and straightens up, placing one hand over his ribcage valiantly. "I WILL ALLOW IT. AFTER ALL, BESIDES ME, THERE IS NO ONE ELSE I WOULD RATHER YOU BE IN LOVE WITH, FRISK."

You clap a hand to your mouth. Now it's Sans's turn to laugh. "nah, bro, i don't think it's quite there yet. at least for them, anyways."

The internal screaming in your head increases in pitch. Did Sans just . . . ?

Undyne wasn't listening, and Alphys is trying to calm her down, but Mettaton is openly smirking at you. Oh, hell no. You are not about to say the L word in front of everyone. There's no way. That was way too personal. You think Sans probably thinks the same way, because he gives you a wink and shrugs, as if to say 'sorry, but it's true.'

"So have you two been on a proper date yet?" Mettaton asks you. You shake your head timidly, still a little bit rattled from everything.

He beams at you. "Perfect. In that case, I would like to invite you two to the next show. You'll get VIP seating, backstage passes, and everything!" He leans in and wiggles his metal eyebrows conspiratorially. "There might even be a kiss-cam."

"NO FAIR!" Papyrus says, overhearing. "I WANT TO GO, TOO!"

Mettaton rounds on him. "Papyrus. Baby. You can absolutely come next time. But for now, I think Frisk deserves to have a real date with your brother." Papyrus is blushing slightly from being called 'baby,' so Mettaton takes advantage of this and puts his arm around the tall skeleton's shoulders. "If you like," he says, slowly, "I can show you my dressing room instead."

"REALLY?" Papyrus yells excitedly. Behind him, Sans has a murder-y look on his face as he watches Mettaton flirt with his brother so blatantly. Sans, despite being the younger of the two, is still very protective of Papyrus. You wonder if he'll threaten Mettaton the same way he threatened Alice. You can't be sure. Especially since he knows how obsessed Pap is with the robotic celeb.

After, when the pancakes have been consumed and the plates cleared away, everyone opens Mettaton's gifts. The holiday season is almost upon you, and you think maybe he should have waited, but that doesn't stop you from tearing open the bag he has for you.

Of course.

Everyone is holding MTT merchandise. There are band shirts, hats with Mettaton's face on them, and so on. You don't think anyone is truly surprised. Then Mettaton starts laughing like a maniacal villain.

"You sillies! I'm not giving you any real presents until next month! Until then, though, do feel free to wear this everywhere you go. All publicity is good publicity, after all."

Papyrus is already wearing the Mettaton-themed baseball cap. "I LOVE IT!" he shouts.

Mettaton blows him a kiss. "Of course you do, darling."

You grin. You have stuck a number of stickers to your face. There are ten of Mettaton, four of Nabstablook, three of Shyren, and you have one of Burgerpants on your forehead. The others laugh at you and do the exact same thing, pasting the stickers to each other until it's almost a game. Funny enough, Mettaton himself loses (or wins?), with a total of thirty-five stickers on him.

Undyne keeps pestering you for questions about you and Sans. She wants to know "how far" you two have gone, if he has been a gentleman, if YOU have been a gentleman - you laughed at this one and jokingly said that no, you were definitely taking advantage of him, and you got a punch in the arm for your sarcastic ways - and, finally, as she and Alphys are leaving to go thrift shopping for the day, she whispers one last question in your ear.

"Do you love him?"

You know she whispered, but you still look around wildly in case anyone heard her. She sniggers at the response, but you hesitate. The only one who is maybe in earshot is Alphys. "I . . . I can't be," you answer her at last. "It's been, like, a week."

She looks at you strangely, looking very sage for once. "Frisk, you should know by now that monsters love differently than humans. We fall hard and fast, whether it's platonic or romantic or what. If we form a bond with someone, it's for life."

"Yeah, but I'm human, Undyne," you tell her, exasperated.

"Yes," she says seriously. "But he isn't. And he's loved you for a very long time." She pauses, then adds, "and hey, you are an honorary monster. You're one of us whether you like it or not."

"He hasn't been in love with me! And I've loved all of you for a long time, too."

She nods. "I know, kiddo. I'm not saying you haven't loved him for a long time. But just like you, he might have started loving you a different way without even realizing it himself."

Your heart is pounding so hard, you think she might be able to hear it from where she's standing. "But . . ." you protest, weakly. "Even . . . even if I do feel that way. It's only been a week. It's not like I can say anything yet. I'll look desperate. And inexperiences."

Undyne shrugs. "Fine. Have it your way. I'm just saying, putting it off for too long might freak him out. Monster-human relationships are very complicated, you know."

You frown. What is that supposed to mean?

She shakes her head at you like you're the one being confusing, not her, and she pulls you in for a bear hug. "Call me later, okay?" she asks. "And you should come over soon. I think Alphys is dying to have girl talk."

Alphys must have been listening, because she whirls around with a guilty and embarrassed look. "W-what? No way!"

You give her a hug too and promise to come over at some point over the next few days. That way, you can also tell them about all the crap with Alice, and your new plans for the future. You wave as they walk away, noticing that it must have snowed at some point in the night. There's a thin layer of white coating the world, though it will melt soon under the sunlight. For now, everything is glittering beautifully, and you feel happy.

You turn back and go into the house to escape the biting wintry air, to find Mettaton staring at you.

"You are one sly little troublemaker, Frisk," he says, tutting. "You always were a flirt, but this was quite the show. If I had known you would have such a talent for drama I would have gotten you on my show sooner."

He comes closer and pecks you on the cheek, and with that, breezes out the door. Over his shoulder, he calls back. "I'll call you, and we can set up that date of yours, okay? Toodles!"

You shut the front door behind him. This time, when you turn around, Sans has appeared in front of you.

"i think that went well," he says, deadpan as always.

You raise your eyebrows at him. "Are you serious?"

He rolls his eyes. "no, of course not. but hey, it coulda been worse, right?"

Instead of answering that, you change the subject. "So I guess we can't go on that double date, now."

"huh? how come?"

"Uh, because now we're apparently going to Mettaton's concert instead?"

Sans gives you a sly look. "what, we can't do both? i'll have you know, i plan on going with many dates with you, frisk. not just one or two."

He knows you meant for your first date, and is just messing with you, but his words make you think.

You look down at your feet. You're very self-conscious suddenly. Undyne's advice comes back to you, and you start wondering about the implications of a monster-human relationship. Sans is almost definitely going to outlive you, as he does pretty much stay the same age. And monsters do love differently than humans. What if, one day, you weren't in love with him anymore? What if you broke his heart? What if he couldn't be your friend anymore because every time he sees you it causes him pain?

But what if you're just flattering yourself, and he isn't that in love with you already? He could have been joking around when he said that to Papyrus earlier. Maybe you could still get out of this and stay friends.

"frisk."

You look up at him. He's studying you, his hand reaching out ever so slightly, like he wants to hold you.

"I'm going to delete Alice's number," you blurt out. "I'll block the number from my phone, too. If they try to contact me again then I'll ignore them, or you can kick their asses."

You laugh, but it sounds empty to your own ears. You should go home soon, you think. Toriel will be home in about two hours.

"frisk," Sans says again. "are you overthinking things again?"

You let out a sigh. "No."

"frisk."

"Okay, maybe!" you give in. "Undyne might have said something that has me worried."

"and that is . . . ?" he coaxes you.

You think for a second. Papyrus is upstairs, putting away the stuff that Mettaton brought. You can do this now, or keep putting it off and just stress yourself out more.

"Sans, are you in love with me?"

You ask him that instead of telling him how you feel because, as scared of his answer as you might be, you're more scared of your own.

The question hangs in the air between you. Sans rubs the back of his neck bones. "wow, frisk. straight to the point, huh?"

You wait for him to answer the question. After a minute, he chuckles.

"okay. i was kind of waiting for a better moment, but this clearly needs to be said. otherwise, you're just gonna keep beating yourself up about it."

He's stalling now. You just keep looking at him expectantly, until he's blushing too. If you weren't so scared right now you would think he was cute like this.

"yes, frisk."

You're holding your breath. Your eyes are wide. Is that his answer? Does he-?

"it can't come as a complete surprise to you. of course i'm in love with you. you're, well, you."

You keep staring at him, blankly.

"what's with that look? buddy, you have no idea how obvious you were, do you? i mean, yeah, you flirted with all of us at one point or another. but for the past two years or so, i dunno if it was your hormones just goin' off the charts or what, but you were crazy nervous every time i was in the room. if i said anything even remotely funny, you howled with laughter. and god forbid if i made a dirty joke. you blush real easily, kid, always have, but suddenly you were sweating and twitchy too. so, yeah. i got to thinking. at first i just entertained the idea of like, holding your hand or something, just to see how you'd react. but then i wanted to see that reaction. i wanted to make you blush."

Your laugh is surprised. "What, so you were messing with me?" A few things made a lot more sense that way.

But Sans shook his head. "not exactly. or, maybe a little. but i started thinking about what it would be like to take you on a date. what it would be like to kiss you. before i knew it, i couldn't get you out of my head. you've always been a good friend, but i didn't know if it would work, with me being a skeleton and you being flesh-and-blood. i was worried that whatever you had was just a crush that would go away with time, and i would be stuck loving you this way forever."

He stopped abruptly after this, like he had shared too much. For all that he tried to be so easygoing, he really did torture himself a lot.

This time when you laugh, it's half laughter, and half a deep, shuddering sigh of relief. So he had been just as scared as you, huh?

"I was worried too," you tell him. "I know a lot of human couples are fairly casual in dating. Some of them never even fall in love. And a lot of relationships are pretty brief. But I never want to lose you. So what if I do stop loving you? What if . . . if . . . "

"i won't leave you," he says quickly, stopping your line of thought. "not ever. kid, you're stuck with me. for life. even if you ever decide to stop loving-"

He broke off in sudden realization, and your blood runs cold.

"oh," he says.

You watch his face, but he's just smiling, so you take the chance.

"I love you," you say.

And for better or worse, you do love him. Your emotions are running wild, and you don't know if you want to laugh or cry or scream or what else, so instead you kiss him. He kisses back, but he can't stop smiling against your mouth.

All relationships are complex, you think. This one won't be any different. But damn it if you aren't determined to give it your all.

Sans pushes you against the wall and grins wickedly. You're so surprised though that you don't realize at first what he's doing. Then you look down at yourself. Or rather, you try. But your body is blue, and you're stuck against the wall.

Well. This is just not where you thought this was going at all.

Sans winks at you and goes upstairs, leaving you like that. You watch him go, outraged, a little confused, and a little bit breathless, unable to move. Then, before disappearing into his room, he flicks his wrist and you're released. Oh, he is going to get it, you think, and chase up the stairs after him. You can hear him laughing, and when you go into his room, he is nowhere to be seen.

Baffled, you turn around and see him below, in the living room.

"you see what i mean?" he asks you.

You start down the stairs but then he's gone again.

"you're so easy to mess with," he says, and his voice is coming from right beside you.

You spin, expecting him to disapppear on you again, but then he's kissing you, and pushing you down slowly, until you're half-sitting, half-lying on the steps.

"say it again," he tells you. A smile spreads across your face as you take in his meaning.

"Say what?" you ask playfully.

Sans's eyes shimmer. "you know what i mean."

"What are you gonna do, punish me if I say no?"

You're already slipping back into your flirtatious ways without realizing it. The meaning of the words sinks in, and you immediately want to take it back, but Sans shifts above you, and he tugs on your hair a little, sparking a very interesting reaction in you. You push back against him softly.

"you want me to punish you?" he asks.

Your heart skips a beat as he leans in close. His eyes are half-closed, and one of his hands is travelling down your back in a tantalizingly slow line.

"i love you a ton," he whispers. "a skeleTON."

He leans back. You stare at him dully.

"what? i said i was going to PUNish you."

"Oh, my god, Sans. Oh my god. Oh my god, I love you."

He gets up and offers you a hand, but you're laughing too hard. You snort, and that make him laugh too. You're laughing so hard that you're crying a little, and when Papyrus comes out of his room and demands to be told what's going on, you laugh harder.

Yeah. You two are gonna be just fine.

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