YOOOOOOOOO ITS YA BOY!

So, instead of the "after chapter 10" thing, I'm think I'm going to be changing my name to GamerWires627 after January 20th. I think that will allow enough time for everyone to know, plus I'll put the old name in my bio.

For WiggleTron9000: I'm not going to confirm or deny anything just yet, but you'll see later on :).

(self-harm tw)

Also, I just reread my fucking notes and I can'teven I totally forgot what was going to happen this chapter asdfghjjkl-

Frisk tapped her blue fingernails on her binder, anxiously awaiting when the final bell would ring. It was the finally Thursday, the day when cheerleading tryouts would take place. Then, either Undyne, Sans, or Toriel would have to pick herself and Flowey up and bring them to dance, for Frisk, or gymnastics, for Flowey. Speaking of Flowey, while the duo did share the class, they wound up with a seat all the way in the back. They seemed fine with it, though they couldn't see much of what the teacher wrote on the board. Ever.

Right now, there was about 30 seconds left of class, according to her watch. She was bouncing her leg in anticipation, her purple and white running shoes sometimes squeaking on the floor. Anyone going out for cheer was supposed to wear something easy to move around in- something she could practice dance in, which was what she normally wore this outfit for: a white T-shirt with a rainbow heart on the chest, and black capri-length leggings.

If she looked behind her, she would see Flowey making a new friend, the Japanese girl named Aki. Aki was quiet, had a bob-style haircut, and liked video games, but Frisk had seen her at the park. She kept, somehow, climbing on top of everything. Once she managed to get on top of the lockers, which was weird because she was petite (even shorter than Flowey) and didn't have any tall friends to help her.

The bell rang loud and clear. The room was suddenly filled with young teens scrambling to get up, a few girls being especially quick- they were likely going for cheer, too.

A thought crossed Frisk's mind- what was Flowey going to do while she was at the tryouts? Frisk turned as she left the classroom to try and ask, but they had already disappeared in the crowd. Shrugging it off, she began the walk to the gym, a pep in her step. She was going to make the damn cheer team!

She noticed Alex and Sadie on their way as well. Frisk only knew Sadie from Flowey's descriptions (she'd been highly interested in how Flowey made their own friends so soon), but she could tell it was her. Then that Libby girl showed up. I guess she's not so bad, a little airheaded, but her heart's in the right place...

But then, of course, came the standard clique. Tracy Dawson, Anna Kessler, Olivia Wright, and Gabby Chase. Oddly enough, Frisk could see Sam Williams walking droopily behind them. Sam was nonbinary, and they were one of Max's friends. Their mom was probably making them go out for the team- Sam did have the cheerleader (dirty)blond hair and blue (they would swear gray) eyes.

And then there was a boy following. Frisk recognized him easily. Peter Scott, the most flamboyant guy in school. Was he gay? Maybe. Nobody knew for sure. All anybody knew was that he was feminine as fuck. He wasn't annoying, though- at least not to Frisk. Peter was talking to Audrey, the girl with box braids that Frisk had seen at the makeup store about a month ago (or maybe it was more). It was pretty weird to only remember her from there, though... wait, we're in the same Science class.

Even so, Frisk didn't expect Audrey to want to go out for cheer- she seemed to hate being feminine.

A few more girls that Frisk didn't know the name of filed into the gym. The three women- Linda, Ms. Henderson (an older woman), and a woman Frisk had never seen before were sitting at the table. The unknown woman identified herself as Katherine Bell. She's gotta be Gloria's sister-in-law or something. They look nothing alike, but they have the same last name...

Linda squinted at Peter and Frisk, but didn't say anything. Ha.

And with that, tryouts began.

Flowey didn't know how much time passed. They'd made a beeline for the bus as soon as the bell rang, ran all the way home from the stop, burst through the door (startling Papyrus in the process), thundered up the stairs, and then flopped onto the bed on their back.

A loud, resigned sigh filled the room. Their arms were itching, but scratching at the scars would be a bad idea (plus, the bandages were blocking them). Today was not a good day. But they weren't sure why- it just seemed that everything annoyed them...

"Hey, kiddo."

They nearly jumped at the voice. They sat upright on the bed in panic, before realizing it was just Sans, leaning in the doorframe.

"Sup?"

"Go away, Trashbag," they growled.

"Nah. I gotta ask you something."

"If it's about the resets then I have no idea."

"It's not about the resets," Sans snapped. A chill traveled up their spine; it dissipated as he sighed and rubbed his face. "Look. I know you've been self-harming. Tori knows too. And she's worried."

"Good for her," they murmured, falling back onto the bed.

"You're also supposed to wear a leotard to your gymnastics lesson tonight," he added. "And it's gonna show all your scars."

"How'd you even find out about that anyway?" Flowey asked, ignoring what he said. They sat up again.

"Well, it's common knowledge in this household that you decided to start doing g-"

"No, you idiot. The self-harm thing."

Sans sighed again. "You wear T-shirts and shorts to bed. Your scars are all over your arms and legs. Everyone in the house knows."

"...oh."

"How long since you did it last?"

There was complete and utter silence. Don't tell him, don't tell him, don't tell him.

"I'm not gonna judge you. How long has it been?" Sans stepped into the room, crossing his arms. "If you don't answer, Tori's gonna have to ask you. And that conversation is not gonna be easy on the emotions for-"

"12 hours," they spat. "It's been 12 hours."

The skeleton seemed taken aback. Flowey's face flushed. "You said you wanted to know."

Flowey curled in on themself. Tears began to prick the corners of their eyes. "This morning, I got up after a nightmare and I went in the bathroom." Their face was barely more than a whisper. "And then I did it."

"...I wasn't expecting that..." Sans said quietly. "Flowey-"

"Shut up. I don't care. Just go tell Toriel what I said."

"I think you care."

"No, I-"

"You're crying."

The sudden silence hit Flowey like a truck. They numbly felt their face. Wet cheeks were all that greeted them. Flowey wiped away the tears and then rested their hand on their leg. "I'm not crying..."

"Jeez, kid..." Sans's shoulders slumped. "I didn't think-"

"Shocker. You didn't think. Do you ever?" they snapped. "Idiot. No wonder you let your family fall apart." They half-regretted it the moment the words slipped out.

"That was highly uncalled for!" Sans shouted.

"Oh, you're yelling now! I didn't know you could do that, Mr-"

"Shut up!"

"You're the one who came in here to ask an invasive question!"

"Toriel wanted to know because she's worried about you! Just like she worries about Frisk, because don't think you're the only person who self-harms in this house!"

"I-"

Flowey stopped talking immediately and raised their hand to their mouth. "...What?"

"Yeah. Where did you think her scars came from?"

"Well, I knew where they came from, I just didn't think she was still doing it!"

"She's been clean for a week, but she might be lying for all I know. Everyone's worried about her. And we're all worried about you."

"Why would you worry about me?" Flowey asked sharply. "You hate me. I hate you. Nobody else knows who I am."

"Because you just so happen to be my dead best friend," Sans growled. "Or did you forget that? Did you forget that you gave me a locket to match yours and Chara's? Did you forget that we literally grew up together?!"

"Of course I didn't-"

"Didn't you help Mettaton with that Chips and Dip Challenge thing he tried for YouTube?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Didn't you start watching Black Butler with Alphys?"

"Yes, but-"

"Didn't you cook with Undyne the other day?"

"I mean, yeah-"

"Don't you still talk to Papyrus?"

"Of course I do-"

"And didn't you help Toriel make a butterscotch pie yesterday?"

"Stop interrupting me!" they yelled. "Yes, I did all those things! That doesn't mean-"

"Then why would you say they don't know who you are?"

Everything went quiet again. Flowey turned away from Sans.

"...Kid?"

They wouldn't respond. There was no way he could care, there was no way Toriel could care, there was no way Undyne could care, there was no way Alphys could care, there was no way Papyrus could care, there was no way Mettaton could care, there was no way Frisk could care, there was no way, no way, no way-

"Hey-"

"Leave me alone."

Sans didn't protest. Flowey heard the soft shuffle of his slippers on the floor as he left the room.

Frisk walked out of the gym about an hour later feeling droopy. She wasn't sure she'd managed to make the team. Alex offered her a comforting smile as they split, Frisk heading to the parking lot to be picked up and brought to dance. Adjusting her backpack straps, she changed her tired slink to a brisk strut to keep up appearances. Sans and Flowey were standing on the sidewalk waiting for her, the latter, oddly enough, wearing the former's trademark blue jacket. They'd also put their hair into a short ponytail.

Sans extended a hand casually. "Hey. You ready for dance?"

"Yeah." Frisk took his hand, and then the trio teleported to the parking lot of the building. The place where Frisk got her dance lessons also had a big area for gymnastics. The lessons there were good, though Flowey had to either wear a leotard or tank top and shorts, since it was normally somewhat warm in the area and they would have to wear something that wouldn't fly up.

The three of them then headed inside. Frisk tossed her backpack at Sans and watched as he exaggerated a recoil. There was a counter and stools in front of a big window, for parents to wait in front of the gymnastics area. Sans set her backpack on one of the chairs. Flowey unzipped the blue jacket and tossed it over to Sans, showing that they were wearing black tight shorts that reached to just above their knee and a black tank top with wide straps tucked in, to make it look like a leotard maybe. There were bandages around their arms, but none on their legs- letting the scars there be fully seen. They seemed to disregard it, breaking into a run, pushing the door to the gymnastics area open, and then going off to find their class.

Sans raised his hand and Frisk nearly flinched, but then she noticed he was wearing a black hairtie around his wrist. He removed it and tossed it to her. "Figured you might need this."

"How'd ya do that?" Frisk teased, pulling her hair into a ponytail. It had gotten everywhere during auditions- this would definitely be better.

"Saw Flowey with one, realized you might need one too because of that crazy hair of yours."

Frisk gasped in mock offense. "Well, my class started two minutes ago. Gotta bounce!"

If Sans said anything after, she didn't hear him.

Flowey realized the moment they walked in that this might not have been a good idea. Everyone looked nice enough. They knew the instructor had already been informed of their scars, but the other kids hadn't. There was a tiny, bouncy girl with dirty-blond hair. She immediately dashed over and introduced herself as Piper. The instructor introduced herself as Ms. Z, and she seemed nice enough. The other kids all eyed Flowey with an air of disgust, or maybe it was pity instead (they must have looked a mess). Two girls- Flowey later learned that their names were May and Selene- whispered to each other and were promptly smacked by Piper, as she was standing near them. Then there was Leo and Jane- two normal kids a little younger than Flowey.

They looked behind them- Sans was leaning on the counter, sitting on a stool. He waved lazily when he saw them look. No, no backing out now.

Flowey forced a smile and introduced themself. The instructor proclaimed that it would be an easy day and led everyone to a trampoline on a platform leading to a bit of foam cubes. There was a rope above the cubes, but everyone seemed to ignore it. Flowey heard Selene giggling behind them at what May had just said- "Better keep Flowey away from the rope."

They brushed it off. The instructor announced that they would just be introducing Flowey to things today, so they would be on the same level as everyone else soon. She decided to start with a simple front handspring and called on Piper to demonstate. "After all," she pointed out. "Piper, you've made friends with her nicely."

"Them," Flowey corrected automatically. Everyone seemed to stare at them.

"What was that?"

Nothing. Nope, they didn't say anything, nothing at all. Zero. Nada.

"I prefer 'they'." What the fuck are you doing?!

"Oh. Well, Piper, show them how to do a front handspring."

The tiny girl was beaming. I can't tell if Ms. Z's mocking me or if she's actually not going to misgender me.

...guess I'll just have to see how this goes.

Time: 8:34 PM.
Location: Bedroom.
Status: Tired as fuck.
Flowey's Status: Quiet.
Sans's Status: At Grillby's.
Mom's Status: Unknown- likely grading papers or reading.
Alphys's Status: Watching Anime.
Papyrus's Status: Unknown.
Mettaton's Status: Sleeping or filming a vlog.
Undyne's Status: Somewhere.

Something about thinking of Undyne's status as just being 'somewhere' was funny to her. She snickered.

"Shut up," Flowey mumbled.

"Rude."

"I am trying to do my homework. Shut up."

Frisk rolled her eyes. She was currently laying on the bed on her back, enjoying a homeworkless night. The blond was sitting on the bed with damp hair from a shower and wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. Frisk's laptop was on the bed- they were using the online version of their algebra book for their homework. Their red math notebook was already battered from just carrying it around (it wasn't the best quality anyway, and besides, math is a blue subject you can't convince me otherwise).

"How was your gymnastics class?" Frisk asked.

"Fine."

And then back to Flowey writing stuff down in their notebook.

"Why'd you think Sans immediately ran off to go to Grillby's after the lesson?" she wondered.

"Because he probably thinks Grillby's kinda, yaknow... hot."

"I thought you hated puns!" Frisk half-shouted.

"Nah... Just puns coming from Sans. Besides, I know for a fact that when we were kids, Sans had the most innocent crush on Grillby ever. Which seemed to be bad news for him when that flamer came out as gay."

"Why would it be bad news for him?" Frisk squinted.

"...Uh, nevermind. I still have homework to-"

Frisk hardly knew it was happening until it was over. The ground seemed to shake underneath her, though she was laying in bed, and Flowey felt it too, snapping the laptop shut and hunching over in fear.

Earthquake.

It was all over in just a moment. Frisk sat up the moment the tremor stopped- she'd grown up in this area, she was used to the occaisional earthquake. But then she saw Flowey, still hunched over. They were shaking. They finally sat up again, trembling, and then their SOUL emerged.

The small crack that had been there a few days ago had now expanded. Their SOUL was split in two.

Automatically, Flowey lept up from the bed, threw the bay window open, and snatched The Branch, disappearing into the night. "Wait, Flowey! Where are you going?!"

Frisk had no choice but to follow them.

"My head is killing me," Sans complained tiredly. "I've barely gotten any sleep for days."

"As opposed to your normal 12 hours?" a warm voice teased lightly, a small chuckle in his voice. The firey bartender was leaning over the bar, his fingers intertwined with Sans's.

"Shut it, hot stuff," the skeleton said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth nontheless. Sitting on the barstool, he lowered his head calmly.

"In all seriousness," Grillby began. "Is it nightmares? Are you relapsing? Panic attacks? Are you okay, Sans?"

"'M fine. Just worried about the kid."

"You always say you're fine. Which one?"

"...Flowey."

Grillby was silent for a moment. Sans let the noise of the rowdy people that came to Grillby's at night fill his mind.

"I thought you didn't like them."

"Yeah... well, things got a whole lot more complicated the other day."

"How so?"

Sans was silent this time.

"Sans, please, I want to know what's bothering you."

"Yeah, I know. You're just trying to be a good boyfriend, I know, I know. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize."

"Habit."

"...oh, right."

Grillby hummed to himself.

"So, what is bothering you then?"

"Some things they said. It's nothing, really."

"I don't think it's nothing."

"They told me something important."

"...Important, like these?" Grillby asked softly. He rubbed Sans's wrist, and it didn't take the skeleton long to figure out what he was talking about. Sans's sleeve was rolled up, revealing the chips along his radius and ulna.

"Sorta," he responded, pulling his sleeve back up. "...Grillby, the other night I found out that... they're actually As-"

And then the tremors came. Sans nearly fell to the floor in shock as nearly everyone in the bar ducked or yelled or something. When it was over, his head cleared and the pain was gone. He slipped out of his seat and dashed out the door.

The air outside was crisp. For some reason, he knew he had to go somewhere- like a subconscious feeling of some sort.

"Sans? What are you doing?"

"I gotta go somewhere, I'll see ya later, hot stuff!" Sans yelled behind him as he started running.

"Sans! Wai-"

What Grillby was trying to say was lost to the wind. Sans knew where he had to go.

The forest on the mountain.

And with that finishes chapter 10! You all know the situation with reviews by now, so I'm not gonna make myself a broken record. I got kinda rushed at the end, sorry guys.

Let's see, self-harm stuff was touched upon, Flowey alluded to something Frisk doesn't know about Sans, and Sansby confirmation!

Just saying, Sansby and Torigore are what will be shipped instead of Soriel or something (I personally heavily dislike Soriel for many reasons, the most major being that I just see them as close friends or something).