A/N: I would like to give a big thanks to Dragonsrule18 on Archive of our Own for the suggestion that led to this part. THANK YOU!


A Lifetime of Love

~*~PART NINE~*~

"SANS! FRISK! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Papyrus pounded on the door to their apartment.

Frisk opened an eye and looked up at Sans. He grunted and pushed her gently.

"You get it," he mumbled groggily.

She shook her head. "He's your brother." She glanced at the window; it was pitch dark outside.

"And he's only been your brother-in-law for two years. You owe it to him."

Another series of hard knocks on the door.

She snorted and pushed him. "He's going to break the door down if you don't go answer it."

"I'm naked."

"And I'm not? Besides, I have boobs."

Sans finally opened his eyes and looked over at her. She immediately covered herself with the sheet. "Hey, I was looking."

"They're my boobs. If you want to see them, go find out what your brother needs."

"You devious little shit." He sat up enough to kiss her before he got up, pulled on some shorts, and went to answer the door. He made sure to shut the bedroom door so Frisk could get dressed.

She pulled on a long nightgown and went out to see why her brother-in-law needed them so badly.

"Calm down, Paps; breathe." Sans patted Papyrus' back and smirked at Frisk when she came in. Her hair was a tousled mess of curls. It was adorable.

"Is everything okay?" She asked as she rubbed her right eye. She glanced at the clock in the kitchen—four in the morning. "What's going on?"

Papyrus was breathing heavily and shaking, his bones rattling softly. "I've made an important discovery!" he all but shouted. "And I need your help!"

"Okay," Frisk said softly as she walked up and hugged him gently. "We're here for you, honey. Come sit down." They sat on the couch, and Frisk took his hand. "Now tell us what's going on."

Papyrus took a deep breath and looked between the two before he smiled. "I want to ask Mettaton to marry me."

Sans' face went blank. "You came up here and woke us up at four in the morning for that?"

"Sans," Frisk chided. Although, she was a bit irritated as well.

"YES!" Papyrus shouted. "I don't know how! What if he says no? What if…what if he says yes?!" He covered his face in his hands. "What if it's not the best proposal I could give him? I don't even know how?"

Sans chuckled. "You could always just tell him you want him to marry you one night after sex." He shrugged at the look Frisk shot him.

"Ignore your brother, Paps." She rubbed his back soothingly. "We'll help you come up with the perfect proposal." She yawned deeply and patted his shoulder blade. "But it's gonna have to be in the morning. Can you let us sleep for another few hours?"

Papyrus nodded. "Thank you, Frisk." He hugged her tightly. "And Sans, I guess. You will help, won't you, Brother?"

Sans couldn't resist the pleading look on his brother's face. "You know I will, Bro."

After another round of hugs, they got Papyrus settled on the couch and went back to bed.


After breakfast the following morning, Frisk and Sans set to work helping Papyrus plan the perfect proposal.

Mettaton had always been an entertainer. From a young age, he and Papyrus would play pretend interview. Mettaton would ask outrageous questions about what Papyrus would do in certain scenarios, and Papyrus would give down-to-earth, simple answers. The robot monster had a flair for the dramatic while the skeleton liked to pretend he did not. In all reality, Papyrus could be just as dramatic—if not more so—than Mettaton.

It had always been Mettaton's dream to be an actor. He wanted to star in his own TV show where he would talk to other people, put on skits, and host celebrities. He was on his way to achieving his dream: his talk show had begun airing only a few months prior to Papyrus' discovery.

"What makes you think you want to marry him?" Sans asked. "And I mean that in a serious way, Paps; I'm not trying to talk you out of it. I just wanna make sure you're coming from the right place."

Frisk nodded. "That's a good idea."

Papyrus thought about it for a moment. "I feel like I can be myself around him," he answered. "He always makes me happy. I never have to hide my enthusiasm for anything when he's near. Even when others are put off by my energy, he stands up for me. He'll do crazy things for me to get the attention drawn to himself so I don't feel so…spotlighted."

Sans nodded. "Those are all good reasons. Why are you worried he'll say no?"

"Weren't you worried Frisk would say no?"

Sans thought about that. "Actually, no. I mean, I did kind of spill the beans early, but even then, I wasn't worried about her saying she didn't want to get married. It was like this feeling of peace that I knew…I knew it was time."

Frisk smiled at him. "Me too."

"How do I know it's time?" Papyrus was desperate for the answer. "I mean, I feel it in my soul that I want to be with him for the rest of my life. No matter what happens with his TV show; if it flounders or if he becomes the biggest star in the world, I want to be his husband. I could support us both with my cooking career."

Papyrus had carved out a nice career for himself as a chef. He was something of a local celebrity since part of his start had been to sell baked goods and entrees around the neighborhood. He'd branded himself The Great Papyrus and dreamed of one day cooking with some of the great TV chefs, or even becoming one himself.

Frisk and Sans looked at each other and nodded. It seemed that Papyrus' discovery was spot on.

"I thought about maybe asking to be on his show and then proposing then, but that seems scary."

Frisk shook her head. "Don't do that. That would be putting a lot of pressure on him, and he'd probably not like that." She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "What does he like to do for fun?"

"He loves to dance. He's one of the best dancer's I've seen. Oh, he's just good at everything."

"Maybe take him out dancing and then cook him a nice meal and incorporate it into that somehow?" Sans offered. "I would probably suggest not putting the ring in something he'd eat, but maybe write something in frosting."

"I like that idea!" Papyrus could see that play out nicely. "But what kind of ring would I get for him?"

Frisk held out her left hand. "Do you want one with your colors like this, or something a bit more traditional?"

Papyrus shrugged. "I don't know! What would Mettaton want? He'd want something…fabulous. Can you help me, Sans?"

"I'll give you the information for the place I had hers made at. Dad helped me design it, Bro; I'm not good at that."

Frisk kissed his cheekbone. "You thought of the eternity symbol."

"True." He kissed her back. "I guess I'm decent at it."

"What if I chose the colors of our magic?" Papyrus asked. "Although, I'm not sure that pink and orange would go very well together."

Sans laughed. "He's definitely rubbing off on you. What if you did matching rings; yours being orange and his being pink? Or vice versa?"

Papyrus smiled widely. "YES! I LIKE THAT!" He stood up and began pacing as he talked about how the proposal would go and what the rings would look like.

Once he'd calmed down a little, they drew out what they thought the design could look like. It took a few different tries, but they finally settled on one that Papyrus thought they'd both like. Sans gave him the contact information for the jeweler he'd used.

Papyrus was much calmer, and much surer of his decision, by the time he left that evening after dinner.

After he left, Sans shut and locked the door and breathed a huge sigh.

"I love that skeleton with all my soul, but my god he can be a handful."

Frisk smiled from her spot on the couch. "He sure is enthusiastic about life. He and Mettaton are going to be so happy together."


"Relax, darling," Mettaton cooed. "It's just a dance." He held Papyrus a little closer, worried that his love was uncomfortable in such a large crowd.

Not that anyone was even looking at them; most people in the room were minding their own business, paying more attention to the dates they'd come with.

"I know; I'm sorry." Papyrus took a deep breath and told himself to relax. If all went well, Mettaton would be his fiancé by the end of the night.

"Don't apologize to me," Mettaton chided soothingly. "I'm having a lovely evening; I just wish you the same." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Papyrus' cheekbone. "I love you."

Papyrus smiled and kissed him back. "I am having a wonderful evening, and I love you, too."

He managed to relax a bit more as the evening went on. They danced and shared kisses until they both felt tired and hungry.

"Are you sure we can't get something here?" Mettaton asked. "I know you love to cook, but I feel bad making you—"

"You are not making me do a single thing," Papyrus interrupted. "If I truly didn't want you to have a home-cooked meal, I'd give in. However, a masterpiece such as yourself deserves the culinary work of myself, The Great Papyrus."

"I suppose I can't argue with that."

Once at Papyrus' place, he was nervous again. He let Mettaton help in the kitchen simply because his presence helped to keep him calm. He knew at some point in the evening, his rattling bones would give something away, but for now he chose to enjoy having Mettaton close to him.

"You've outdone yourself, darling," Mettaton moaned as he took a bite. "This is truly glorious."

Papyrus grinned. "Thank you, although it's not nearly as glorious as you are tonight." He could feel it starting. His bones heated up as he imagined Mettaton's reaction to his inevitable question. He was confident that the answer would be yes, but in the back of his mind, he wondered 'what if'.

"Are you okay, dear? Your bones are rattling again." He reached out and put a hand on Papyrus' phalanges.

"I'm great! I have something for you. I'll be right back." He got up and left the room without another word.

Mettaton stared after him for a moment. Papyrus had been acting strange this evening; he hoped he hadn't done anything wrong. Then again, he'd also been far more charming than normal. Perhaps everything was fine and Papyrus was nervous about something unrelated to their date. He made a point to ask him about it later.

Papyrus pulled the box with the rings out of the drawer in his room and took a deep breath. This was it. He would have to ask quickly; he didn't want Mettaton to doubt that he was okay. He was just nervous.

He all but ran back out to the dining room and stood next to Mettaton.

Mettaton looked up. "What's going on, Papyrus?" he asked sincerely. His boyfriend's cheekbones were stained orange and his bones rattled harder than before; something was certainly going on.

Papyrus knelt down and took Mettaton's hand. "I have a question for you, Mettaton. I promise you, everything is perfect. Your answer is what I'm nervous about."

Mettaton tilted his head. "Okay. What's your question?"

He cleared his throat, pulled the box from his pocket, and opened it. "Will you marry me?"

Mettaton stared at the two rings nestled inside the box. They were both thick bands of white gold with a line of gems in the middle. One had pink sapphire gems and the other had fire opals. It wasn't until he heard the question that he realized how nervous he had been himself; he'd never been in a relationship before Papyrus and they rarely had arguments. Somehow, he had convinced himself that meant something was wrong. Apparently, everything was very, very right.

"Mettaton? Are you okay?" Papyrus put the box on the table and took Mettaton's hands. "What is it?" he reached out and wiped a pink tear from his boyfriend's face.

Mettaton met Papyrus' eyes. "I am so good," he whispered. "And yes, I will marry you. I'm so sorry for crying; this is just perfect. I love you so much!" He lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Papyrus.

They both toppled to the floor, giggling. Mettaton sniffled and kissed Papyrus.

"You cannot apologize for crying," Papyrus said, his voice strained, "because I'm going to cry, too. I'm so happy!"

The couple got up after a few more kisses, and Mettaton picked up the box from the table.

"This is my color," he pointed to the pink sapphires. "And the fire opal is yours. Is the fire opal my ring?"

Papyrus nodded. "I had hoped you would understand the meanings." He pulled out the ring with the orange stones and slipped it onto Mettaton's finger. Mettaton did the same with the other.

"I do have one question," Mettaton said with a grin. He looked at Papyrus through his lashes.

"Yes?" He took Mettaton's hands.

"What's for dessert?"

Papyrus grinned. "You are."


A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think! Also, let me know if there's anything else you'd like to read about here before I end the series.