'Okay, Papyrus, right hand on red.' I say. The gangly skeleton lets out a squawk as he twists his body into a contorted position.

'MUST... WIN...!' he splutters, thin arms shaking at the effort of holding himself up. Sans and I have it easy, standing in a beeline, my back to Sans' front; left feet on green, right feet on blue. Sans keeps nudging me in the ribs from behind, the dirty great cheat.

My turn. Sans flicks the spinner idly, a lazy grin on his face, which only widens as he says, 'Right hand on green, Luce.'

'Yeah, yeah. Smile a bit wider, why don't you.' I mutter darkly, before bending down to touch the green spot, keeping my legs straight. As Sans had predicted, my ass was right up in the air- right in his line of vision. He laughs and I look up at him upside down, from between my legs, narrowing my eyes at him. He just laughs harder.

'WHAT IS SO FUNNY, BROTHER?'

'Nothin', bro, just enjoying the view.'

Oh it is so on, bone boy. I smoothly swing my leg into his, kicking it out to the side and causing his whole body to topple. He yelps before collapsing onto the ground, taking me with him, and we land in a heap; his body on top of mine. He pushes himself up onto his hands and realises that I'm directly underneath him. For a moment we look at each other, eyes locked, barely breathing, his hands either side of my face, our legs intertwined, both of us blushing- for a moment, no one on the entire earth exists but us. Then, it is broken.

'I WOONN!' Papyrus screams, before crashing to the ground with a groan of pained relief. 'I LIKE THIS GAME, HUMAN!'

'I told you, it's Lucie, Pap.' I murmur, Sans' eyes still fixed on mine. He closes them and smirks, before reluctantly getting up. He holds out a hand to me as I sit up, and I eye it warily.

'If that has a whoopie cushion in, Sans, I swear to God.' He snorts with laughter and grabs my arm, yanking me to my feet.

I check my phone, and realize that I've been with the skele-bros for nearly three hours. It's midnight, way past Papyrus' bedtime, and the thought of walking back in the dark makes me feel like my stomach has shrunk to the size of a pea. I can ask to be walked back, but what about those thugs? What if they see me with Sans again?

'I'M GOING TO BED. GOODNIGHT, HUMAN ! GOODNIGHT, BROTHER!' Papyrus waves formally, before bounding up the stairs like an excitable puppy.

'Lucie, it's late. You wanna crash here?' Sans says, smiling. I freeze.

Does that mean sex? Because I don't want that. Well I do want that, well at some point I do, but not now. Not right now, I'm not ready now, but does he know that? Will saying yes imply that I am ready? Is there a dictionary I can buy that will explain the meaning of 'wanna crash here?'

'On the couch!' Sans says quickly, seeing my expression. 'No big deal.'

I breathe a sigh of relief, and nod. 'That would be grand.'

'I'll get you a blanket.'

It's 3am. Sans has lent me his shirt, which is like a dress on me; it smells of charcoal and old-fashioned cologne. Sans and I are curled up together on the couch, his hands around my waist, having a good ol' fashioned DMC.

'Do you believe in God?' I ask. 'Do monsters have Gods?'

'Sure, some of us believe in God. Seems pretty close to Christianity's ideas, from what I've read. But I don't believe in that, really.'

'How come?' He laughs quietly, his breath sending shivers down my neck, but it seems forced.

'I've… seen too much.' I don't push it, and we lie in silence for a few minutes, before he speaks again.

'I do believe in demons, though.' His voice is darker, almost haunted, and he sounds like he's speaking from experience. I roll over so I'm facing him.

'Demons? Why?'

'Because I've seen one.' He closes his eyes, as if in pain. Reliving a memory. I take his hand and kiss the bony fingers, waiting for him to go on.

'I'm… scared. Scared you won't believe me.' He smiles bitterly.

'I'll believe you,' I say, squeezing his hand, and I mean it. Whatever he has to say, I'll gladly listen.

'I… Back in the underground. The kid who broke the barrier, who saved us all… they had this power.' Sans' brow was furrowed, and I could see the cogs in his brain turning, trying to figure out how it was possibly tangible.

'Power?' I ask, playing idly with his fingers.

'Yeah. Any time they wanted, they… They could reset the timeline. They could take themselves, the whole WORLD, back in time.' He looks at me, gauging my reaction.

'Any time they died, or got hurt, or wanted to do something over, they could push the entire underground back, a few minutes, or months, or… or years, and… I'm sorry. I get that it's hard to believe.'

'No! I…' I think about Sans, the walking skeleton with flames in his eye. It's not so hard to believe, in the context. As a fan of the multiverse theory, I guess it's not so hard to wrap my head around.

'I believe you. But, how come I haven't noticed? How come Papyrus hasn't talked about this?' Sans sighs.

'For some reason… I'm the only one who remembers.' He looks at me, and blue tears are welling up in the darkness of his eyes. 'I've lived through… everything.'

I pull him close, wrapping my arms round him. I can feel him shake, and I think that maybe we are not as different as I thought. Maybe he's fragile, too.

'The first kid… who fell down into the underground. Their name was…' Sans takes a deep breath in, as if terrified to even say it. 'Chara.'

'Chara…' I murmur, testing it on my tongue. Fear burns in his eyes for a second, and he says, 'Don't… say it too much. And only around me.'

'Superstitious, huh?' I smile.

'No. This is something… this isn't just some old wives' tale. It's big, bigger than us, bigger than anything in this little town. Chara… they're the demon. Corrupt, twisted, vicious, destructive.They… they possess things that fall into the underground, and use them to hurt… so when they found the human, with all that power…' He sighs quietly. 'The kid was strong. Sometimes, in fact most of the time… they won against her, and we were happy, and safe, but… sometimes…' I let out a breath through my teeth.

'They lose?'

'They lose. Chara's anger and their… their determination… it's unstoppable. They kill everything in their path, and then they reset. And I…' He lets out a shaky breath. 'I feel myself die, a knife in my chest… and it's dark for a while. Sometimes a few hours, sometimes days. Once I think it was weeks. Then I can feel myself being pulled by something, and it's… excruciating. And suddenly I'm back in my bed, and Papyrus is asking if I want pasta for breakfast. It's like nothing ever happened.' I let him talk, running my fingers up and down his arm in comfort. As his words wash over me, I'm filled with horror. The things he's been through…

'I've watched my friends die, hundreds of times. I've watched Papyrus die a hundred times.' A single tear, burning blue, rolls down his bony face.

'Sans…' I whisper, cupping his face with my hand.

'There's no end. I'm so scared… all the time. Scared they're gonna reset. Scared they're gonna lose to Chara, scared they'll kill all my friends… again. Scared I'll…' More tears fall. 'Scared I'll lose you.'

I look into his eyes, seeing his anguish and desperation and terror, and I feel an immense need to protect him.

'You won't. Not ever. I promise.'

He gazes at me, and I back at him, still holding his face in my hands.

Then he closes the gap and we're kissing. Passionate. Furious. I wrap my arms around his neck and we roll over, until I'm lying on top of him, my knees either side of his body, kissing his mouth, his bony neck, his collarbones. He moans quietly, stroking his hands through my hair. I move back to his lips and we kiss again, sharing heat, bodies locked in embrace. His hands move from my back to my stomach, and I feel his fingers playing with the hem of the shirt. I break the kiss, still sitting on top of him- to pull the top over my head. I toss it to one side, enjoying his lust-filled gaze, and fit my lips to his once more. His hands trace up my body as we kiss, feeling my hips, my spine, each rib, fluid under my skin. He's fascinated with my human form- he's fascinated with me. He begins to touch my chest, cautiously, as though worried I might break. When he's worked out that I'm enjoying it, he grins into the kiss and fluidly unclasps my bra. I slip out of it and he starts to kiss my throat, moving down towards my breasts. I try to hold back a moan, feeling all the blood rush down… there, before gasping because he has started to suck my breast, while pawing at the other.

Jesus, he knows what he's been doing.

'Did you…' I gasp. 'Look up how to do this?'

He grins up at me, poking out a tongue that seems to glow blue. Skeleton anatomy. 'I did my research.'

'N… nerd.' He laughs, and his breath against my skin only adds to the pleasant sensation. A few minutes pass, filled with my quiet moans and the sound of magic tongue against human skin.

Finally, he stops, gently kissing the skin just above my breasts, and moves back up to kiss my mouth, before whispering, 'It's late.'

'Yup.' I say, fishing around for the shirt, discarded on the floor. 'And I have work tomorrow.' Sans kisses my hairline tenderly as I slip the shirt over my head.

'Be my big spoon?' I pout, batting my eyelashes. He sniggers.

'Always.'

His arms slip around my slender flame, and I lean into his warmth. He puts his chin on my shoulder, and whispers, 'You're beautiful, Luce.'

Which I think everyone should hear right as they're drifting off to sleep, at least once.