Here you go, a freshly cooked chapter with a thin, crispy crust and extra cheese. I may or may not be hungry right now. This chapter came out longer than I had expected, which I'm pleasantly surprised by. The reptiles say hi, even though they're both asleep right now.

Hope you enjoy and I hope you're all doing well.

Arby

"pap! papyrus! open up!" Sans yelled, finally stopping his fist from bashing against his brother's front door.

"Sans, its been an hour. He ain't opening up." Undyne told him, a worried look upon her.

"its been a week. i dunno if he's eaten, i dunno if he's-"

"This is Papyrus we're talking about, the great CP. He wouldn't act so drastically." The fish Monster spoke, both trying to calm Sans and herself.

"but he's never been through something even close to this before. i know him enough to know that he has no idea on how to handle this. he's probably in there trying to apply reason to emotions that he doesn't understand."

"He's not an idiot though. He's probably just in bed sleeping the pain away. I'd be doing that too, so would you." Undyne placed a hand on his shoulder, the short skeleton letting out a loud sigh.

"i guess..." While they had been talking, little Impact had been scratching at the front door and whining, desperately missing his companion and owner. He had even tried to fly, but simply wasn't strong enough yet. Undyne picked him up and cuddled him as a form of comfort. Impact fell silent and snuggled into her. "why the hell would she say no to him?!"

"Sans..."

"seriously! is she too good for him or something? does he need to be best friends with her, to be close with her, to be there no matter the time or place? oh wait a minute, he's already done all of that!"

"Sans! Enough!" Undyne commanded, her discipline training coming into use. "I know you're upset and angry, but shitting on Alphys isn't gonna solve anything. We need to know her side of all this."

"i'd ask if you let me talk to her, you know."

"I told you before, and I'll tell you again; you need to calm down first so that you can talk to her and not scream at her." The guard-in-training reminded him while she gently pet the small-ish dragon in her arms. "Look, we're getting nowhere by just standing here. Let's head back to the Lab, yeah?" Sans let out another sigh, something that he had been doing a lot of this past week. Still, he nodded and reluctantly followed her back to Coldland.

Meanwhile, Papyrus laid upon his messy bed. Sheets were tossed around, partially on the floor from his restless nights. He let out a sigh of relief when the front door went quiet, realising that the pair had left again. The Captain stared at the ceiling, his mind deep in emotional chaos as he tried to make sense of it all. Why was he this upset over a relationship that he never had? Why couldn't he just get up and be normal and get back to his job? Why did it hurt so damn much? These questions had plagued him while he was awake, but morphed into nightmares when he slept. Sans was right; he didn't understand any of it. To Papyrus, this was an illness, like a cold or a fever, that needed a lot of bed rest and hydration so that the immune system could conquer it. The tall skeleton had no idea how to cope with this, never mind actually get over it.

Reluctantly, he summoned his soul within the palm of his hand. Oh, how pale and fragile it looked. While normally bright orange in colour, it was now so lacking that it seemed almost grey. It shocked him, frightened him even, that emotions alone could change a soul so drastically.

This would continue on for another week, with Papyrus surviving on what food he had in the fridge and eating as little as possible. Sans would be watching the cameras obsessively, hoping that Papyrus would emerge, while Undyne decided to stay at the Lab with him to make sure he was alright.

Alphys had actually dared to visit the Lab, wondering where Papyrus was. She was deeply worried and hoped that Sans could inform her on whether or not he was okay. Sans however, had lost it the moment he saw her, causing Undyne to step in and use green magic on him to keep him from running and doing something that he would regret later.

"You d-don't understand. The people h-have to come first." Alphys tried to tell him, her efforts to try and halt her stutter failing miserably.

"don't give me that crap!" Undyne was quietly shocked. She had never heard Sans yell this loudly before. "you know damn well that the people down here would be supportive of you both! hell, they'd be celebrating! it'd be a spark of hope!"

"S-Sans, you aren't m-making this any easier..." Alphys spoke, her voice shaky as her hand fiddled with the edge of her sleeve.

"good! maybe then you'll see what you've done! you hurt my brother! badly! he's been locked up in his house for the past two fucking weeks because of you!" Upon hearing this, Alphys seemed to gain some form of confidence, a stern look upon her as she looked at him.

"I need to go see him." This however, only ticked off the skeleton more.

"like hell you are." He growled, his voice suddenly low and hostile. "i won't let you near him. you've done enough."

"Sans, I understand that you care deeply for your brother, and I also understand that your opinion of me is a negative one, but you cannot stop me from travelling to Sandfall." Alphys told him clearly without a stutter to be heard. Sans was just moments from losing his temper with her once again when he heard the door behind him open. The fish and skeleton glanced at each other with confusion before looking. Shock appeared of the faces of all three when they saw a tall, armoured skeleton stood in the doorway.

Impact was the first to react, getting to his feet from his little bed in the corner and sprinting across the room like a small rocket, before leaping up at CP, who caught him with one arm as if it was second nature to him. The dragon snuggled into him, his tail now a blur as it wagged so fast.

"Papyrus!" Undyne greeted, smiling at him, only for it to slowly vanish as he walked in and the lower half of his face became visible under the bright laboratory lights. Sans had remained silent the entire time, completely forgetting that Alphys was there. CP approached the pair, doing nothing except giving them a nod before walking past them and to the Queen.

The little lizard tried to hide it, but she was intimidated by him now. After such a painful conversation, Alphys had no idea how he'd react to seeing her again, even after two weeks, so having a 7ft skeleton dressed head-to-toe in armour walking towards her was quietly terrifying. His face was blank. It was impossible to tell if he was angry, upset, neutral or a mix of them and others.

"I have patrolled Burnin and Sandfall, your Majesty. All seems to be well with no crimes to report." Papyrus spoke in a serious voice. Alphys' jaw hung a little. Of all the things she expected him to say to her, a report was not one of them. Where was the anger? The resentment? Any emotion at all?

"P-Papyrus? Are you okay?" She quietly asked, looking up at him with concern clear on her face.

"I am on my way to Greener Home now to inform the Lieutenant that I am no longer on leave." Alphys blinked a few times. Did she actually ask where he was going? No. No she hadn't.

"Papyrus-"

"I shall report to you at the castle when you arrive." It was as if he wasn't hearing anything she was saying, or he was choosing to ignore her. Regardless, she was extremely worried about him. He handed Impact back to Undyne, who had since released Sans from her magic. He petted his companion before leaving the lab.

"Pap-" He didn't even acknowledge that she had called his name again, and just left without another word. Alphys had never felt hurt like it. Was this how Papyrus felt? It was as if their close bond had just been reset back to zero, and the trust they had built together was nothing more than smouldering ashes upon the ground. She slowly turned to Undyne and Sans, the former looking back at her with worry, while the latter didn't look at her at all. Impact whined whilst in Undyne's arms, clearly noticing the silent distress that his master felt, but wouldn't dare show. Alphys said nothing else and quietly left the Lab.

Alphys rushed back to the castle in a manner that she hoped wasn't obvious. The last thing anyone needed was the public to realise that something had happened between the pair of them. It would only spread like wildfire, and Grillby would over-exaggerate every little detail for more views of his show, making it all sound so much worse than it actually was, not to say that it wasn't awful right now.

Her footsteps echoed through the long corridors as she approached the throne room. She smiled at the guards as she walked past, entering the two huge doors and stopping when she saw a familiar figure stood next to the throne.

Papyrus stared at her. It was unnerving to say the least. Still, she approached and sat down, the Captain moving so that she stood a short distance in front of her. Try as she might, she couldn't look him in the eye sockets.

"Y-you may speak..." She eventually said, her voice quiet.

"Greener Home has had a few minor crimes, all of which were robberies. A jewellery store, an electronics store, and a grocery store. The last one worries me the most. All that was taken was food. It would seem that the amount of Monsters here in the city is starting to get too much now." The Captain explained, though Alphys was well aware of this already.

"I am already d-doing everything I can. M-more apartment buildings are being built as we speak."

"Even so, I fear that the overflow will be too much, even if many were to move to other areas of the cavern. Coldland and Sandfall would be far too hazardous due to the quicksand pits and falling stalactites respectively, which would place the homeless population in Burnin, where there is very little room. My suggestion would be to cut down trees. They are long since burned anyway. However, the locals still seem to like their dead forest so they may not be pleased to have it taken, only to be replaced with building after building just like in the city. The wood we gain from it would be of little use also, due to how charred it is." Alphys, though she wouldn't admit it, wasn't fully paying attention to what he was saying. Instead, she was trying to read his body and figure out what he was feeling. He stood straight and still, while his arms were folded across his chest. He was closed off with a stern look that acted as a warning to her to not push her luck.

"I see..."

"Still, just a suggestion. Do what you want. I'm just the Captain, after all." Alphys immediately looked up at him. He had never spoken to her like that before and had never brushed her off in such a way that she felt it in her soul.

"P-Papyrus?"

"I must go. I have things I need to do." The tall skeleton turned and headed for the door. The Queen was at a loss. It was as if he had done a complete one-eighty. He had been in love with her before, but now he suddenly felt nothing? All in just two weeks? No. She knew him better than that. After some thought, she knew that he was in a lot of pain and there was no way she was going to let him leave while knowing this.

"Papyrus!" She cried out to him, causing him to halt in his tracks, his back to her still. It was how her voice sounded that had stopped him. He could hear how emotional she was, he could hear the pain. She got off her throne and approached him until she was stood behind him. "P-Please... turn around... t-talk to me..." The little lizard begged, tears already running down her face as she looked up to the back of his helmeted skull. After a few seconds, he did turn around, still with the same look upon him.

"About what?" He asked, his tone suddenly low.

"About... about h-how you're feeling. D-don't hide from me... please..."

"Why? What's the point? You've already made it clear that nothing can happen."

"I-I know... but that doesn't mean our friendship up until now is suddenly dust. W-we may not be together, but th-that doesn't mean that y-you don't mean the world to me. D-do I still mean anything to you?" Truthfully, she was scared to ask that, fearing that he would turn and say that she could die for all he cared. Of course, that was her anxiety talking, and Papyrus, even now, would never say that to her.

"Of course you do." The Captain's expression finally softened. He even took off his helmet, revealing just how tired he actually looked. Alphys wondered if he had slept at all in the past two weeks. "I'm just hurt. Maybe I got my hopes up too high, but I really thought we'd be great together. Every dream I have had of you was a good one. We would be cuddling each other in bed. The room would be dark and all either of us would hear was the other breathing. I would always feel a sense of peace whenever that dream came along, and it gave me hope that there was something more to life than just work and sleep. I admit that I had feared being rejected for a long time, but I was never truly prepared for it. Maybe in time I'll fall for another? But as of right now, I see myself with no one, except for you." It hurt. All of it hurt. She felt awful for what she had done to him. There was so much guilt upon her soul that she fell to her knees and hid her sobbing face within her hands.

"I'm s-sorry! I'm so, so s-sorry!" She cried, her voice muffled and broken. Papyrus seemed shocked by her reaction, but then sighed and knelt down, picking her up in his arms and holding her close, allowing her to cry into his armoured chest. He walked over to her throne and sat in it, resting her on his lap while he held her and rubbed her back comfortingly. He said nothing for now, allowing her to let out all of those horrid emotions that had been eating away at her.

After some time, she looked up at him. Papyrus smiled and brought a hand up to wipe away any stray tears upon her face.

"W-was... was I wrong?" She asked, causing Papyrus to raise a non-existent brow.

"Wrong about what?"

"About turning you down." He sat there, completely silent for a few long moments.

"I don't understand, Alphys." He spoke honestly.

"I mean... the people down h-here w-will always come first. Th-they have to, but... but losing you, even in just that moment hurt more than anything I have ever gone through in my life. My soul felt heavy and it ached knowing that you're hurting, especially when I had caused that. I don't want to lose you. Ever. I sh-should have realised that sooner instead of putting you through this. I'm so sorry..." Papyrus was speechless. His soul wanted to interpret her words as a change of mind, but his brain wouldn't let him get his hopes up, not yet anyway. "Y-yes, the p-people come first, for both you and I, but maybe... maybe w-we can put them first t-together?" She smiled up at him for a split-second before blushing and hiding her face in her hands. "I'm so s-sorry, that sounded s-so much better in my head. I'm n-not good at this. D-damn it..." His soul pounded in his chest as he heard her say those words. He couldn't believe it. Was he dreaming? Had she really changed her mind?

The throne room doors burst open as one of the guards came rushing in. He was panting, nearly collapsing on the floor with how exhausted and panicked he looked. Both Alphys and Papyrus looked at him with confused faces until he spoke.

"Captain! Sir! Human! In Burnin! Killing everyone!" Papyrus immediately went into Captain mode.

"Is Sans aware?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. He's already ordering the evacuation as we speak."

"Gather as many as you can and aid in the evacuation. I will head to Burnin." He ordered. The Guard nodded and ran out of the room.

"P-Papyrus?" Alphys spoke, fear now on her face knowing that her dearest Captain would have to face a being stronger than everyone down here combined. He placed her gently on the throne and smiled, lifting her hand and planting a soft kiss upon it, causing her to blush deeply.

"Do not fear, my Queen. I will be back before you know it."

"Be careful." She told him before he got up and teleported out of the room.