Hi guys! I meant to update on Tuesday but the week has been taken over by my mysterious chest injuries and parents evenings.
Yep, it's that parent's evening time of year again and the children are suspiciously quiet and well-behaved for the most part. It kinda reminds me of how I'd be as a kid trying to suck up to Santa in the run up to Christmas. Except I'm not giving out presents and they all bloody well know it... *insert evil laughter and thunderstorm effects*

Nah I'm quite nice about all that though (I wish I could go all Roald Dahl on them just for giggles but they're actually too nice to deserve it... most of the time)

Anyway, as a celebration of the upcoming late night at work, I decided to hurry up and get this chapter out tonight. I hope that you all enjoy it and um... sorry for the last chapter... and for bits of this one... ENJOY! :D


You don't wake up the next morning. How could you when you never fell asleep?

You don't hear your phone chime at 2am though. Nor do you hear the sound of pigeons cooing at the first hints of cold morning light.

It is only when the faint, winter sunlight starts to filter into your room that you realise that you've been hearing something for a while.

A soft knock on the door. It's hardly a knock though. It sounds more like the soft patter of rain against a window.

Patter...

You stumble off your bed and hastily pull on some new clothes, rubbing at your face. You- he can't see you like this... he... he...

You don't notice when the knocking stops as you stare at your hands and slowly, hesitantly, bring them up to your chest.

A hiss escapes your lips and you wrench your hand away.

He used magic on you. He hurt you.

He- he didn't mean too...

Your face crumples in on itself as you realise you've had thoughts like this before, when you were a-

But he's a child; he's not like... He's Patero. He... he really didn't mean it...

You suddenly realise that there are no more soft knocks whispering through your room. Silence is oozing under the door and you look up with wild eyes.

"Patero,"

Your eyes blur as you fly towards the door, wrench it open and-

-And he's standing by the front door, dressed and ready for school. He's not looking at you.

The panicked inflation of breath in your chest is punctured, leaving you staring at the child with a flat, uncertain expression.

He's not even looking at you.

"M- morning," you say, wincing at your faint stutter.

His paws tighten on his bag and he. Still. Won't. Look. At. You

The air is strained and stale between the both of you as you gather your things, and walk to the door. You try not to wince again as he dashes away as soon as you unlock it.

The car journey feels longer than usual as you open your mouth to say something so many times, only to close it again, lips trapped between your teeth.

When you drop him off at school, a memory cuts through the fog and somehow you're considering going into the school to talk with the staff, to let them know about the bullying... but Patero meets your eye before opening the door.

"Don't," he simply says as he leaves.

You sit in the car in silence, your lips spilling copper onto your heavy tongue, before silently driving away.


Everyone knows something is off about you when you get to work.

Children are very intuitive and easily know when something is wrong, even if they don't know that they know. They are slightly more rowdy and distractable in response. You have to work hard to keep your cool; it is incredibly easy for you to fall into anger right now and the childre r.

You don't feel real though as you harden your mask, smiling, nodding and parroting information to the children, quietly thinking of many things and nothing at the same time as you go through the motions.

You then discover that you can't keep this up forever as you find yourself cornered in the staff room.

"STAR TEACHER? WHAT'S WRONG?!"

You look up blankly from your empty lunch bag to see Undyne, Alphys and Papyrus surrounding you with concerned gazes.

...Papyrus...? Oh, right, it's a Wednesday...

"I'm fine," you say.

"Y-You're not though," murmurs Alphys, sharing a worried glance with Papyrus.

"You're as far from fine as you can be!" Snaps Undyne, putting her hands on your shoulders, forcing you to meet her gaze.

That bright yellow eye is filled with a genuinely worried expression, her hands softly resting on your shoulders as she gazes at you.

There's a small crack in your mask as you carefully move out of Undyne's grip.

"I- I had an argument with Patero." You murmur.

You look at these people as they circle you with kind, concerned expressions and the crack extends, cutting deep.

Words start to tumble from your mouth.

You're not sure why you end up telling them. Maybe it's something to do with the way their eyes won't leave you, intent and intensely focused on you.

You don't tell them all of it though. You can't.

Alphs gives you an odd look, obviously spotting where you skipped part of the story but the others don't notice. Undyne even smiles at you and tells you it's about time you two had a fight. You don't know how to correct her on that one so you don't try. You just shrug and keep on talking.

When Undyne realises why you argued she offers to go beat up the bullies, leaving a faint look of horror on your face.

"I- I'm just joking, I wouldn't really hurt those brats," She quickly backtracks when she sees your expression, looking down at her hands for a moment with a complex, contemplative look in her eye.

"I- I wouldn't..." she trails off with a huff and glares at her clenched fists.

A small yellow claw gently rests itself on her fists, shaking her from her contemplation and drawing her into Alphys's steady gaze.

"IS THAT ALL HE SAID THEN STAR TEACHER?" Interrupts Papyrus, startling all three of you as you turn to look at him.

"No," you say, before frowning faintly at the slip of your tongue.

"What else did he s-say?"

You sit in silence for a moment, brow furrowed.

The crack splinters into a fracture.

"He said something about my soul... something weird..."

"Well yeah, you have like a super weird soul, cool but weird," comes Undyne's helpful response.

"...What do you mean?"

They all exchange a glance at this

"You mean its subconscious?" Alphys blinks rapidly behind her thick glasses. "You don't know you keep changing your soul colour?"

By the blank look of dull surprise on your face, it becomes obvious that, while you knew about the monster's view of souls in general, you didn't know about this little fact.

"W-well it used to look purple all the time, which means perseverance mainly (and um sometimes it's for a uh 'poisonous personality') though l-lately, after we a-all got to know you, it often shines green... not today though. Today you're purple again and a- a bit hard to see so that's w-worrying..."

"ITS HOW WE KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING NOT RIGHT STAR TEACHER. YOUR SOUL ISN'T CLEAR TODAY!"

"Yeah punk! Cheer up and go back to my favourite colour!"

You lips almost twitch into a semblance of a smile at that but a dark thought quickly consumes your face.

"...So I really am fake,"

"Did he say that to you?!" Undyne asks with an unhappy grimace.

"IT MUST HAVE BEEN A MISTAKE. YOUR SON MUST HAVE- HE UM- HE USED THE WRONG WORD! YOU'RE NOT FAKE STAR TEACHER!"

You're silent. You don't respond.

"You think I should smile, don't you? I smile."

You didn't notice. You didn't notice that he was forcing those grins, forcing those laughs. You didn't realise that he is in so much pain that he-

You've become something you never thought you would be.

You shouldn't have called him your son. He's not ready for that. What if he doesn't want to be with you anymore? What- what will you do? Will you go back to those days of living alone in a one-bedroom flat, eating single microwave meals and doing nothing? Go back to being alone? ... o-

-And suddenly you're seeing red. No, you're not angry. You are literally seeing red.

"P-Papyrus?" You ask, blinking rapidly, his vibrant scarf burying your face as he pulls you even tighter into his body.

"IT IS GOING TO BE OKAY. YOU UNDERSTAND? IT WILL BE FINE!"

... You can deal with most things. Someone yells at you? A good steady stare can set them down. Spit balls? A stern word. Anger, hatred, pain, just suck it in and get on with it... but a hug?

Your eyes swim as your body tenses, you feel your brow furrow and your teeth grit as a hiss of air whistles through them. His arms only tighten around you at that.

"W-we're here for you," came a soft voice and the warm pressure of a scaly talon on your shoulder.

"Yeah punk! Don't worry. We got your back."

The warm voices of these people surrounding you, the weight on their support on your shoulders and through your chest; it makes you feel...something you never thought you could feel for anyone but your children...

You find your body relaxing into Papyrus's arms as you bring up your own, pressing your leaking eyes into his shoulder. Your chest hitches and heaves as you cling onto his strangely comforting, bony body.

You feel light as quiet tremors whisper up your body.

The mask breaks.

"Oh no..." Alphys gasps and Undyne is pulling you from Papyrus's arms to stare at your chest with an alarmed eye. "What happened to you?!"

You blink at her uncomprehendingly as water drips down your face, over loose trembling lips.

"Your soul! It's been damaged! Who could have done that? Did a monster attack you?!"

You're starting to feel tired, head pounding as water dries upon your cheeks. You open your mouth, not quite certain of what you will say to your friends' expressions of horror and worry... They look so much like his...

Then your eyes focus on a movement behind them, noticing someone you do not expect to see.

Sans stands at the staff room doorway, frozen in the act of putting away his mobile, face immobile but for the movement of his eyes.

Those eyes flicker across your chest but he makes no outward sign of acknowledging it. He seems to smile even wider for some reason, the pin-pricks of light in his eyes dimming for a moment before attaching themselves to your face and not leaving it once as he speaks.

"there's a phone-call for ya teach, some school's asking you to come pick up your kid."

"SANS? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Asks Papyrus, finally tearing his frozen gaze away from your chest to look at his brother with bewilderment.

"it sounded pretty urgent," he adds on, ignoring Papyrus and Undyne as she starts to puffs up and hiss something to him.

"I- I've got to go," you say, pulling in a shaking breath, smiling at your friends with wavering lips. "Thanks you guys,"

Again they all share an uncertain glance, obviously not wanting to let you go.

"i'll go with, don't worry about them," comes Sans's soft drawl.

"... I'll cover your class," Alphys says, turning to give you a quick hug before looking away with a wet sniff.

"I'll be calling you later punk. Be careful!"

"I ALSO WILL BE CALLING YOU. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF STAR TEACHER."

You smile weakly at them all before taking in a deep steadying breath and walking away.


As you gather your things from the classroom you vaguely notice someone slouching in your peripheral vision. Picking up your bag, you take a deep huffing breath and face him.

"You don't have to come with me Sans, I'll be fine."

Sans is silent for a moment, following you as you turn and leave the classroom.

"dunno bout that," he mumbles, looking at his phone again as he matches your quick strides. "fri- tori thought you could use some extra back up by the sounds of it..."

You're quiet for a long time as you both make your way along the hall.

"...Thank you," you finally, quietly murmur.

"s'no big deal," he mutters, putting away his phone with a sigh as you both walk along. "...y'know... i like your kid- really i do. they kinda remind me of Frisk."

He looks at you as if expecting some sort of response to that. When nothing comes he looks away and continues to talk.

"me and frisk... well let's just say we've got a- uh- complicated relationship. they're a good kid and all but both of us have messed up, cut each other deep so to say."

He takes a deep, huffing breath and continues.

"you'd be amazed what beings can do to each other when things're bad- well 'praps 'amazed' ain't the right word- but kids y'know, they're just like adults, very good at keeping secrets, just like us, only they find it harder to know which ones to keep. they've gotta lot more lessons left t'learn, a lot more mistakes left to make but they've gotta have the chance to own up to it. you hearin' me teach?"

You finally look down at him, there's something about how he said all that, something about the dim lights of his eyes that made you pay attention. While your mind is still preoccupied by the numb buzz of undefined thoughts, you find yourself silently putting your hand on his shoulder, startling him.

"h-heh- thanks teach but i think i'm not the one who needs a pat on the shoulder right now... tell ya what, i've got somethin' better than that: a short-cut, c'mon,"

Mildly confused, you follow him around a corner just outside of the school- and find yourself walking along the path to Patero's school. You stop dead.

You open your mouth then close it, spinning around and looking behind you.

"...Huh."

"c'mon teach, thought you were in a rush,"

You close your gaping mouth with an audible click and hesitantly nod. Yeah, you need to see Patero.

You hurry after Sans, easily catching him up as you both make your way to the head teacher's office, where Patero is sat outside on one of the cold, metal chairs.

The seconds seem to stretch as you stare at each other. His eyes are blank and unreadable and your eyes are rimmed with red and the shadows from a sleepless night.

He doesn't look at you for too long, turning his head away, paws clenched tight. A flash of bitterness bites at your throat. You put it to the side though; not to be forgotten but to be dealt with later.

You go in, expecting Sans to come with you, only to stop and look at him blankly when he doesn't.

"you've got this one covered," he tells you as he lazily slouches into the seat next to Patero.

You hesitate, hand twitching for a moment, almost as if to reach out before you stop it and simply nod, turning away and walking into the Head Teacher's office.

As you enter the Head teacher stiffly greats you by name, waving at a seat opposite to him, across the table. Standing next to the man, just to the right of them is a person you don't remember by first name but you do remember by role.

Mrs. Richards, the child safeguarding officer, gives you a tight, brittle smile as you take a seat.

The head teacher starts to speak.

You know you won't like what you hear.

"Your foster child attempted to maul a classmate this morning," the head teacher tells you, going straight to the point.

You were right.

"...Maul?"

"He attacked a child in his class today. According to both the child and the teacher, he was unprovoked," Mrs Richards quietly informs you, eyes opaque and unwaveringly fixed on you.

The head teacher coughs, bringing your attention back to him as he flicks through a pile of papers on his desk.

"We have been noticing a downward trend in his work and, more importantly, his behaviour at school lately. He has had an increased number of time-outs, has caused severe disruptions in class- often encouraging others to mimic his misbehaviour- and has had three detentions in the last month. This is the first time he has attacked anyone and, frankly, we are very concerned."

You are silent, not sure exactly what expression is on your face as you watch the two professionals exchange glances.

"We have to ask..." Mrs Richards speaks slowly and calmly, fixing you with a firm look. "What is life at home like for both of you...?"

"... I believe this is the point where I explain that home life is good and you don't believe me," You say, voice as hollow and lifeless as your eyes as you survey the two professionals before you. "I won't do this though until you explain to me why. Why are you questioning my ability to take care of Patero?"

They exchange glances again and you fight the urge to grit your teeth and clench your fists.

"We... have been given several concerning reports concerning your past- and recent conduct. With this, and the sudden change in Patero's behaviour, you understand why we have to investigate this further,"

You take in a sharp, hitching breath.

"It was Bradare wasn't it? She told you-" you start to speak, looking down at your clenched fists, only to be interrupted by the stern, sharp words of the head teacher.

"We are not at liberty to reveal who gave in the report, you know that. Now, are you going to comply or would you rather we called in your social worker for... your additional support,"

You feel empty.

"Before you- before we do anything like that, I would like to hear Patero's side of this." You simply state, looking both of them in the eye

"...Very well, you can go get him,"

You steadily stand up and open the office door, trying not to listen to the low pitched whispering behind you.

When you step out to get him, Patero starts, staring avidly at you with wide unblinking eyes, gulping down short lungfuls of air as his body slowly turns away from Sans's grinning form.

You look down at the floor, then back at him and quietly murmur that he should come in.

Sans sidles in first, giving you a wink and ignoring the protesting head teach as he props himself up against the office wall.

"He was sent by my school to accompany me," you tonelessly inform them.

"They're still teaching?" the headteacher not-so quietly asks Mrs Richards with raised eyebrows.

You ignore him. Sans doesn't though as he gives the guy an assessing glance.

The head teacher finally settles down though as Patero takes a seat next to you, looking uncertainly at Sans then at you as you turn to face him.

"Why did you hurt that kid?" you simply ask.

He stares at you with wide eyes, mouth firmly shut.

You're silent for a long time, patience bleeding through your steady gaze until he eventually opens his mouth to-

The head teacher starts talking.

"He struck the child across the face with his claws without provocation. He should be deeply ashamed of himself for using his strength like that on a child and scaring all the normal children,"

... And you snap. You no longer feel nothing as you turn to look at this person before you with wide, fire filled eyes.

Oh that's it. That is enough! Your body goes ridged, something inside you burns and you open your mouth ready to chew out this joke of a human- only for a boney hand on your shoulder to stop you in your tracks. You turn to see Sans (no longer slouching against the wall but standing right behind to you) raise his eyebones and look pointedly towards Patero who's...who's face paints a searing picture of distraught fury.

Oh.

"…Y- you got something you want to say about that Patero?" you ask him, swallowing down the burning icy feeling in your throat.

Patero starts at your voice but, hesitantly, he nods all the same.

"Sir, you're wrong, there's a reason I hit him, and... and you shouldn' say the word normal."

The headteacher blinks twice at this and starts to say something, but Patero doesn't give him a chance.

"I don' like the word normal. It- it puts a label on the pers'n who uses it. People only want things to be 'normal' if normal is wha' they are. Tall, small, fat, thin, whatever is you, the one in charge: tha's what's normal. Then others try'n copy it and if they can't or won't they're not normal... and I'm not normal to you. But I'm also not to everyone who knows tha' normal isn' a real thing." He pauses and looks at you, meeting your wide startled eyes with the shining inky blackness of his own. "The- the kids in my class didn' all know that though. But with an adult like my- like them teaching..." He trailed off again, watching you as you joltingly pull your mind out of the fog consuming it and nod at him to keep going. "Well things were a lo' nicer in this school before you fired them for tryin' to help me,"

You feel Sans shift behind you at that last bit but pay it no heed as you fall into those words tumbling from Patero's lips.

"I was bein' bullied. I know tha' now. They would steal things from me, tip my bag out over the school fence and say it was a joke, they put gum in my fur when they preten'ed to play tag. You- you prob'ly don' know they once tried to cut off my claws with safety scissors. They said- they said they were playing vets..."

You don't notice the head teacher's blanched face or Mrs Richards's sharp intake of breath. You don't even notice the tightening of Sans's hand on your shoulder. All you see is Patter as he continues his hushed speech.

"I- I though' this was normal. Tha' friends play like this and it was normal for me to feel like I did. I don' know how or why I thought that but I did. Then they told me it wasn' normal, that there's no such thing as normal. They taugh' all my classmates that it's a bad thing to do. They helped them and me realise it was messed up. They're the reason I have all the friends I do now. Do you know that now I am always first pick for PE? That I'm now the volleyball captain? That almos' the whole class want'd to vote me in as the class cap'? But- but you got rid of them for this, because of me they lost their job and because of you I got Miss Bradare instead." He stops talking there and the small office falls into silence.

"... how long's this bradare been teaching?" Sans's voice quietly breaks the strangled hush.

The Head teacher looks pale. Mrs. Richards looks sick. But you don't see this.

For the first time since Patero first opened his mouth, you speak.

"I've taught in the same school as her before. She called a child of mine a word I will not repeat here. She encouraged the class to exclude classmates who wore headscarfs and told those children that they were being brainwashed by their families... I reported it but nothing ever came of it,"

"What?!" Exclaimed the headteacher, his eyes widening at your quiet words.

"Patero, can you tell us what has been said to you?" Mrs Richardson interrupts the head teacher with a frown, forcing her own voice into a neutral and calm tone.

Patero looks up at this calm voice, then at all the adults surrounding him. The head teacher has collected himself and is gently nodding at him with a serious expression.

He takes another shaky breath, steadying himself, trying his best to stay calm like you.

"Not much... She ignores me mainly, pretends like I'm not there... she said I'm like the class pet once and tha' I should stop showin' my teeth when I smile. But I'm not listenin' to her! I'll smile how I want. I- I can deal with her most of the time. Me and Zaayn and my friends told her not to say stuff like that and she started being mean and saying stuff like we're dumb so we should be quiet or- or that I should get a haircut coz I look like a- like a... and Jo- um this kid- who came after you fired my- well- they heard her and he started sayin' the same things but worse."

Patero stops talking, hissing deep breaths between his teeth.

You slowly take his hand in yours, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.

"I didn't want them to know," Patter whispers, his hand tightening on yours, "I thought I could do it myself this time, tha' they won' get in trouble coz of me. I have friends and they're helping me but... I didn' wan' them to know..."

You finally turn your gaze away from Patero and turn to look at the head teacher.

He flinches as he meets your gaze.

Mrs Richards starts to talk.

"I'm sorry. We will report Natasha Bradare and have an official investigation. I promise you both, it won't be swept under the rug this time. We will also speak with the children involved with this and their parents. We won't let this happen again... I'm- I'm so sorry Patero,"

You blink at her, finally turning away from that man, surprised as you realise that she is; she really is sorry.

You nod silently, too tired to even look at the stuttering head teacher, and stand up, gently leading Patero away, his hand still in yours.

The office door clicks behind you as Patero pulls his hand from you and quickly starts to speak again, voice trembling.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I- I..."

Silence reins. Then he looks up at you.

"I thought that if you knew I made you loose your job, that if my magic hurt you again, you want to leave me... I- I thought if I called you Mahd you'd wanna stay but... then you found out about the the new teacher and I- I thought..." His breathing hitches as you take his paws in your hands and he looks up with shining, panic filled eyes.

"You're going to leave me. Just like he did. I hurt you, I messed up and you- you're g-going to leave me..."

You find your voice.

"...I- I could never leave you Patero. Don't you understand?" your whisper almost echoes as you bring up your left hand to cradle his face, your broad thumb wiping away the hot tears beading down his cheek. "I love you. Oh god. I- I love you so much and I-I'm so sorry you thought I-you thought-" your breath hitches and catches in your throat. You don't feel the warmth spilling down your face. You don't hear your wavering voice as your head bows and sob escapes from your trembling lips.

You don't know who reached for who but in the next moment you are holding and being held tightly and desperately, ragged breaths heaving into each other's shoulders.

You try to speak, voice cracking and stumbling but you say those words anyway. You need to say this:

"You're so brave and I am so so proud of you for saying all of that, an- and I'm sorry I didn't see all these things hurting you. I just wanted to keep you happy, to keep you from being sad... but that was wrong." You pull in a deep, shuddering breath as you feel the dampness seeping into your shoulder. "Oh I'm so sorry Patter. You- you don't have to feel like this alone," you breathe into his ear, water steaming down your face once again as you hold onto your boy as tight as you can.

His returning words are lost in echoing sobs as you both fall to your knees, his arms wrapping like a vice around you, as if he is scared you'll somehow slip from his grip; as if you ever could.

How long you both remain like that, hissing out soft painful sobs and murmuring hushed truths, you do not know. You just know it feels both like forever and a second at the same time. It is only when Patero shifts slightly and looks around, that your grip loosens and you remember that there is a world outside of Patero.

"...Thanks, Sans," he says, eyes intent on the awkward looking skeleton, who had been standing a little way off, acting as vigil to your moment of consolidation. You blink rapidly, looking from one to the other, taking in the sincere and thankful tone in Patero's voice and Sans's stiff but kind smile as he reluctantly shuffles closer.

"s'okay kid,"

The pieces snap together, clearing the haze from your mind: you leaving them alone together, Sans helping you to let Patero speak, Patero thanking him... You face Sans, staring up at him with shining eyes.

"Really, thank you Sans," you tell him, eyes bright and warm with unending sincerity.

Sans coughs, the white irises of his eyes turning away for a moment then back at you both with a brighter light than you've ever seen in them before.

"you two, stop giving me diabetes with your sugary sweet feelins,"

You both laugh, eyes fixed on him as he looks away again, mumbling something about how he's going to go disappear to Grilbies, as he tries to brush past you both and leave.

He doesn't succeed though as (united as one) you and Patter grab both of his arms and pull him into your smiling, tear-filled embrace.

He tries to (unsuccessfully) get out of the bear hug, squirming slightly in your and Patero's arms.

It doesn't feel like he's really trying though, you note as you and Patero tighten your hold.