She'd really messed this up...

She should have never let Papyrus manipulate her into agreeing to this challenge; of befriending The Human. She should have never let The Human into her house to begin with. In FACT she should have killed them right there! At the door! Despite Papyrus! If The Human hadn't entered her house, they wouldn't have been her guest and she would never have gotten carried away.

But as it was...

Everything was in shambles.

Her house was in flames.

Her pride.. unsalvageable.

The Hangout hadn't STARTED out so horrible. Not that it ever felt like it was going WELL either though. Papyrus had left (via the now BROKEN window), and Undyne had sworn to herself that she would show him! And the pipsqueak! She would show both of them! Undyne would not be bested like this! She'd show THEM who couldn't make friends!

But she really couldn't make friends...

The Human had drank the tea in silence at first as Undyne had spoke.

Somewhere.. ugh! Somewhere, Undyne had even begun to let her guard down! Somewhere between Papyrus jumping through the window (and The Human had laughed, actually laughed. It was warm and sweet...) and them flirting with her as they were offered their drinks (even as Undyne could see their arms trembling as they pointed the blue spear towards her, unsure it was a good idea but clearly needing a distraction. Trying to keep up momentum. Trying to play along). And Undyne had just started talking! And it all just!

But she had talked about... Asgore.

That's where it all started to go down hill, wasn't it? With Asgore?

The Human had tensed, holding the teacup too tightly between their fingers.

(Collapsing. Water. Cup.)

Undyne should have talked about something else.

No! She shouldn't have talked about anything! THIS SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED! ANY OF IT. She had let herself be beguiled and tricked into giving in to them!

And now everything was on fire! Undyne's pride was utterly destroyed!

But at least... At least! Now that everything had fallen through.. Undyne could correct it. Undyne could make it right... If they weren't her house guest... Then there was no more reason not to FIGHT!

Undyne growled, rolling her shoulders as she waited for The Human to take their turn. Rolling them as if that physical action could get this creeping feeling off of her. This... This doubt..

"Come ON!" Undyne ordered. "Hit me with everything you've got!"

The heat of battle was what Undyne needed (though perhaps not this literally, she supposed). But she needed the adrenaline, the clashing of intent. She had let her guard down and she had played into the uncertainty despite knowing she shouldn't. But as soon as she felt it again, that intent! She could fight back! There would be no doubt! They just needed to swing.

But they weren't.

The Human stood across from her... trembling. Gulping, actually. Gulping for air and Undyne realized they were crying. They said something but Undyne couldn't hear it over the crackling flames.

SPARE

"What?" Undyne raged, insulted even. "NO! We're doing this! You've avoided taking this confrontation serious for too long!"

But... hadn't she just told them that they reminded her so much of Asgore...? Of Papyrus..?

Hadn't she-

Undyne could see that The Human wanted to run but had nowhere to go, Undyne blocked the way...

The flames were growing hotter, the air thick, Undyne could feel her scales drying out-

The Human closed their eyes, Undyne's stomach turned as she was hit with an incredibly dizzy sensation as the world seemed to blip-

But whatever it was soon passed and The Human gasped loudly in front of her.

"Papyrus." They breathed in horror, as if realizing something. But as they breathed in, they began to cough violently from the smoke they had inhaled. Undyne looked quickly over her shoulder, expecting to see the skeleton, but he was nowhere in sight. Undyne turned back towards The Human angrily.

Had they... tried to trick her, so they could run past? But in the end they had only sabotaged themself by not taking care in breathing in the air and smoke around them. More tears were streaming down The Human's cheeks, some of it crying, some of it from the smoke. Undyne felt the slightest pang of guilt, but ONLY the slightest.

But The Human's eyes were now frantic, looking, Undyne could see them thinking, trying to find a way around this. The Human closed their eyes again and brought out.. a frying pan.

Finally...

The Fight.

The Human screamed and Undyne jumped in honest shock as they charged her, swinging the pan forcefully to let it fly through the air. Undyne staggered as it struck her directly in the face and needed a moment to collect herself.

To understand the several sensations racing through her.

But The Human wasn't waiting around for her to do that. The Human was racing past her as Undyne caught her footing, and they were headed to the door, and out...

Undyne stared at the open door, and as the shock worked itself out she laughed...They'd-! She'd...

The intent Undyne had been counting on to help spur her forward... hadn't been there one bit. The intent to hurt her... just wasn't there. Even after everything Undyne had done, they just couldn't bring themself to hurt her. They'd once again found a way around it.

The uncertainty in Undyne's chest had given way to something giddy and Undyne was smiling helplessly. Relief, she realized. She was feeling an intense sense of relief.

If they couldn't bring themself to hurt Undyne, then... it was doubtful they would be able to bring themself to hurt anybody. And if that was true then... Then there was no need for Undyne to Fight them, to protect everyone from them. And thank goodness, because... she didn't want... Undyne didn't want to hurt them anymore, either.

"HUMAN!" Undyne called as she raced out of the flaming house. The fresh air was sweet and she took several large gulps. She had not even realized how much the flames and smoke had been affecting her as well.

But it had obviously been worse for The Human. What with all their crying.

Undyne let herself acknowledge that she did indeed feel something that was a bit more than just a pang of guilt.

"Human!" Undyne coughed as she raced ahead, away from the house.

The Human hadn't made it far before collapsing onto their hands and knees, struggling to breathe. But even so, they looked like they were still trying to crawl.

"Human!" The Human jumped, panic helping them move faster across the ground. Undyne could see herself, back when she had been chasing them to Hotlands; stuck in her armor but still so determined to get them. To just get to them!

But their determination came from the need to get away...

To not have to hurt her...

"Hey!" Undyne grabbed them by the shoulders from behind and The Human squealed in terror, "No! Hey, punk, no! It's okay!" Undyne said through her own series of coughs. The Human thrashed in her grasp but Undyne pulled them closer. She held them against her tightly as they continued to struggle. "Stop! It's okay!" She tried again. "I'm not going to hurt- I'm not going to hurt you. Hey!"

The Human stopped kicking and trying to elbow her as Undyne secured her grip on them, draping an arm across their chest as she put a hand on the top of their head as it rested against her and they continued to breathe in, frantic and uneven.

"It's okay." Undyne kept repeating into their ear. "I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay."

The Human let out a loud sob, shaking against her as they crumbled in her arms with what Undyne would call relief, but she suspected that... that word was not strong enough to describe whatever it was they were truly feeling.

"It's okay..." Undyne said softly this time. "It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you... A-Afterall.. I can't hurt my new bestie, right?"

The Human lifted their arms and buried their face in their hands as Undyne continued to hold them in a tight hug.

"It's okay... I'm sorry, punk... It's okay..."

It's okay.