Flustered, shocked, Callie found that she couldn't bring herself to move. The revelation that her boyfriend, the skeleton, had a tongue was only beginning to register in her mind. To her, what was more prevalent was the way her body was reacting to said tongue. Well... to him as a whole.

Catching herself in the act of trying to undress Papyrus was... unnerving, to say the least. Callie's hands had worked without her even thinking about their actions, pulling up his shirt and pulling down his jeans. But she hadn't gotten too far, so that was a relief. Only one hip bone and part of his ribs were visible.

He pushed harder against Callie. Their bodies were close together at this point, so much that if the barrier of clothing wasn't there, he could easily...

But did he... if he had a tongue...?

She found that the thought only made the throbbing between her legs intensify.

Finally, Callie was able to shake herself out of the shock. She pulled back.

Papyrus slipped his tongue out of her mouth. Glancing down, Callie found she couldn't see anything.

"...Y-you... you have a tongue?"

His expression was confused. "Of course I do. How else would I be able to taste?"

"I-I just... I thought you said you didn't have organs?"

He pulled himself onto his knees.

"I did say that. And I wasn't lying. I don't have organs in the same way you do. It's all magic!"

Not in the same way she did? But...

"I- I'm not understanding."

He nodded. "I see, I see. I have inadvertently confused you. That was an error on my part. Allow me to explain. I don't have organs, by all technical terms, but the magic that powers me acts as a supplement!"

"So it's like... invisible organs?"

"Precisely! They can't be seen or touched until I need them. Usually I just make them touchable. It conserves energy and... well... it's just more polite. As far as I know, nobody wants to see a floating stomach every time they eat."

Callie nodded. That was certainly a strange concept, but she could at least make sense of it. It certainly explained a lot. Not seeing food once it was inside of his mouth, and his ability to swallow. His vision. His voice. And now, his tongue.

But... it still didn't answer the question burning on the tip of hers. He could choose what he wanted to be corporeal, but did that entail... well... that? Would he consider it necessary? Did he... did he even know about that?

"Callie, are you well? You're much more pink than usual!"

Oh if only you knew, she thought, glancing down at her still spread legs.

"Yeah Pap, I'm well. I'm just... you're... just a really good kisser."

The grin on his face sent another wave of heat down below.

"I will have to do it more often, then!"

Callie smiled, giving a nervous chuckle.

"Sounds good, Pap."

The girl moved back into a sitting position. Finally, it seemed, the shameful sensations were starting to die down. In order to hide the last of her arousal, Callie pulled her coat back over herself.

"So..." Papyrus began. "...Are you ready to ask your question now?"

Her head snapped up.

"...W-what?"

"Before, you had said that there was something you were afraid to ask. But instead of asking, you kissed me. A clever tactic to distract me, no doubt! But I have not forgotten. I am still ready to answer this mysterious question you have."

Callie felt her whole body reject the question before she could even think of it. Her face reddened, her muscles tensed, and her eyes cast themselves to the floor.

"I..." She sighed. "...I... I don't think that..."

The words just weren't forming. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ask her question. That's what she wanted to say. But Callie was also trying to think of a way to explain why she wasn't sure. One, it was an embarrassing question. A question she didn't even know if he would understand. Two, she feared the answer. If it was yes, then she'd have to ask why the topic interested her in the first place. Well, no matter the answer, that was still important. And then Callie would have to tell him about the thoughts she'd been having. That was a whole case on its own.

Callie wasn't even sure if she wanted to act on those thoughts. Most of it was just curiosity, speculation, combined with her own lack of physical contact. The idea of actually having him... well...

... She was just a ball of uncertainty. The whole topic was terrifying. But Callie knew, without a doubt, that it had to come up.

What would prolonging it really accomplish?

Her mind flashed back to what Sans had said quite a while ago, back in his car. It was going to be uncomfortable no matter which way she sliced it.

"Pap... remember a little while back, when we were talking about humans and monsters?"

"Of course I do. I have a photographic memory for conversations!"

"Well, remember when I... when I said..."

She sighed, lowering her head.

Silence.

Papyrus waited.

Callie didn't speak.

She only sat on the bed, acting as if the floor was suddenly very interesting.

"Callie..." He said.

His tone struck her. Callie had never heard his voice that serious before.

"...I wish you weren't afraid to talk to me."

"Oh Pap ..."

He sighed. "I try really hard to be the best, the greatest boyfriend I can be. But no matter what I do, I never meet up to my own standards."

Callie felt a pang of guilt run through her. The feeling of inadequacy was something she knew far too well. From early childhood, she'd always been passed up by her peers. By teachers. By people in general. Simply because she didn't meet up to their ideas of what a person should be. Because she was different.

And now here she was, making one of the few people who didn't pass her up feel that same inadequacy. Because she was afraid to have an uncomfortable conversation and admit her feelings.

... But what were her feelings?

Now that was question she hadn't asked herself in a long time. Sure, there were the sexual thoughts, but that didn't really account for what her actual emotions were.

At least she didn't think so.

Callie shook herself out of that train of thought. Now was not the time. She needed to just... spit it out.

Say something.

She bit her lip.

Come on, Callie, say something.

She closed her eyes.

Say something.

She sighed.

"I'm not good at this stuff. I don't know how to talk about it. I'm sorry. This... it's not that I'm scared to talk to you, I just don't know what I'm doing. This is all new to me."

Both were silent for a moment. Callie decided to continue. If she was going to open up, now was the time to do it.

"I can tell you care a lot about what... what I think of you. And it hurts you when I don't open up. But... the reason I don't is because... well... I care a lot about what you think of me, too. I'm terrified of saying the wrong thing. I..."

Another pause.

"I'm terrified of losing you."

Though it came out rather plainly, as if it was just fact, it felt more like a revelation. It was something she'd been afraid to admit to herself for quite some time. She didn't want to lose him. Not just because he was the only person willing to date her, and breaking up with him could mean loneliness again. It was because losing him meant... well... losing him.

"... Callie..." He said, softly.

She glanced up at him. His expression was an indescribable mix of emotions.

"I can assure you, that is one thing you will not lose."

"...Thank you."

"And if you're not ready to ask your question, that's okay too! Just remember, I'm always prepared to answer when you are ready to ask!"

She smiled. "Thanks, Pap."

This was a relief. She didn't even have the right words to ask yet. She wasn't even entirely sure what she wanted to ask. Did he want to be with her that way? Did he even know what 'that way' was? Did he even have the equipment to try?

Though it was a topic she needed to bring up, now was not the time. There was a whole other mix of emotions she needed to address first.

... Like why she was even thinking this hard about it. Why she didn't want to lose him. And why a small part of her kept repeating the words "Sara was right" over and over.

A.N.: This chapter took a while to write. I debated and debated over how to let it play out, and I came up with this. Hopefully you all liked it. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and for all the wonderful feedback! Let me know how I'm doing!