Chapter 18: Difficult Conversations

Chara approached Kris's house in the morning. She knocked on the door and was surprised when Frisk answered. It took one step out of this whole venture, so Chara ran with it. "Hey…"

"Hey," Frisk replied.

"You… busy or anything?" Chara shuffled her feet.

Frisk stepped back. "No. Come in."

Inside, Chara looked around the living room. "Anyone else home?"

"Kris is out with Susie right now. Asriel and his mom went grocery shopping together."

"Oh."

This back-and-forth of short replies was maddening. Chara didn't know how to proceed. Frisk glanced towards the kitchen. "Do you… want something to drink?" At least they were both terribly awkward.

"I'm good," Chara answered. "I… actually wanted to say sorry to you."

"Chara, you did plenty of that the other night. You don't need to keep apologising. I'm just glad that you're back again."

"I know, but… There's more that I haven't apologised for yet."

Chara sat down onto the sofa. She stared at her fidgeting hands as Frisk took a seat beside her. "Do you remember… back at the orphanage… when I left with that couple?"

Frisk hung her head. "I do."

"I remember fighting with you… and running off with them after." Chara swallowed hard. "I'm sorry I did that. First, we lost Kris; and then I up and abandoned you at that place. I wasn't thinking clearly."

Frisk nodded. "I'm sorry that we fought in the first place."

"Is it worse that I can't remember why we fought?"

"Maybe," Frisk chuckled. "Maybe not. I don't know. It doesn't matter anymore."

Chara felt no better about it. "What were we fighting about?"

Frisk sighed. "It's been so long… But I remember some of it." She was silent for a while. Chara could see Frisk physically preparing herself to relive that moment. "It was a couple of months after Kris was adopted. You were still upset that the caretakers gave him away all by himself. We talked about going out to find him a few times. Never actually did anything about it, though."

"Right…" Pieces were starting to resurface in Chara's memory.

"But after a while, I stopped believing it was possible," Frisk curled into herself. "I thought that maybe Kris was happy with his new family, and that we should try to move on with our lives without him. You got angry when I told you how I felt."

Chara could scarcely believe it. Yet, she heard the screaming again and saw Frisk crying on a bed in the room they shared. "You thought I had given up," Frisk sniffed. "And I had. Next thing I knew, a family took an interest in you and you went with them. I tried apologising but that didn't stop you from leaving."

"I'm really sorry, Frisk." Chara wiped her sleeve across her eyes.

"It was my fault, though. We made a promise to find Kris and I broke it. I thought he was happy, but you were right. Asriel told me that Kris was abused by his father before he was brought back to the orphanage." Frisk began weeping. "If I had known that, I wouldn't have…"

Chara slipped an arm around her. "You couldn't have known." She tightened her embrace. "If anything, I'm just as bad for giving up on you. I should have been the one to try and bring us all back together."

After a few choked breaths, Frisk dried her tears. "I didn't know what to do after you left. I just went through life trying to forget about it all. But when I bumped into you at the café, it felt like I was being given a second chance. That's why I started looking for Kris again. I felt like I had to make up for losing faith all those years ago."

"And you could have saved us all a whole heap of trouble if you just asked your boyfriend if he knew any humans named Kris," Chara smirked.

Frisk smacked her on the shoulder. "Shut up!" she laughed. "But we finally did it. We brought our family back together. All I really did was set out to do what you started for us."

"That still doesn't make leaving you right," Chara sighed.

"It doesn't, but… Please don't worry about it anymore, Chara. Let's just put it all behind us. Now that you're here, I want us to stay like this from now on."

Thinking on it briefly, Chara nodded. "Sounds good to me," she said. "So… did I miss anything while I was gone?"

"Well, there is one thing." Frisk twiddled her thumbs. "After you left, I also started thinking about my parents again. Even though we fought, I didn't want to lose them from my life, either. So, I called my mom. We talked for a while."

"And?"

"My parents told me that they want to meet Asriel. They want to get to know him and give him a chance."

"Frisk, that's huge!"

"I know. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through with that. But I did think that if I went home to Ebott to see them, I could have maybe gone to see you as well." Frisk shook her head. "I guess I don't need to worry about that anymore."

"No, you don't. Also… you should probably stay clear of my old neighbourhood from now on. I pissed a few people off when I left the gang," Chara warned.

"Noted," Frisk smirked. "So, what are you and your girlfriend going to do now?"

"Asgore's still letting us crash at his place for the time being. The rent's pretty good out here, so Mew and I might find somewhere else in town to stay. We need to work out how we're going to make a living, though."

"I'm sure you'll figure things out."

"Yeah. Thanks."

Shuffling around in her seat, Frisk then pulled Chara into her arms. "I love you, Chara."

Chara almost cried again. She buried her face into her sister's warm shoulder. "I love you too, Frisk."

The morning sun warmed Susie's scales. She exhaled in contentment as she basked with her eyes closed. A cool, gentle breeze ruffled through her hair. Susie's chin rested atop Kris's soft head. His scent filled her nose like a freshly made pie on the windowsill, tempting her for a little taste.

She kissed Kris's hair, giving in to the urge. He responded with a tender squeeze of her hand. His touch was soft and smooth. Anyone else would never think that his hand once held a sword, facing down cruel kings and malicious knights.

The riverbank was the perfect spot to be alone with someone special. Susie could let the rest of the world drift by with Kris dozing in her arms. He fitted so snuggly within her larger hold. Occasionally, Kris would reach up and scratch Susie behind her jawline. She melted in bliss, angling her neck to expose that sweet spot she craved for him to tend to.

All good things had to end eventually. Kris's phone chimed, calling him away. "Looks like it's time to head to work," he sighed.

"Can you stay a little longer?" Susie complained.

Kris snickered. "You know that if I do, I won't want to leave, and we'll stay like this for hours? Then Dad will be wondering where the heck I've been?"

"So?"

"So, no." Susie frowned as Kris crawled out of her arms. He turned to face her and smiled. "But I can't wait to do this again soon. So, raincheck?"

"Fine," Susie relented. "But you're bringing snacks next time to make up for this."

"Deal." He then sealed it with a kiss. No matter how many times they'd done that so far, Susie always felt her heart turn to mush. "Later?"

She smiled warmly. "Later."

Kris helped Susie onto her feet. They made their way back through the park when Susie sniffed something in the wind. It was a scent that she knew well. "Hey," she lagged, "I think I'll stick around here for a little longer. Call you after work?"

"Sure," Kris answered. Although perplexed, he did not say anything further to Susie. She waved as he wandered out of sight.

Susie closed her eyes and inhaled. That scent was still there. She followed the wind towards the trees. It didn't take long to find someone tucked between the roots of an old trunk. "Hey, Noelle."

Noelle flinched as she looked up to face Susie. Her eyes widened into perfect, frightened spheres. Susie continued to loom over her until Noelle unfroze and hung her head. "Hey, Susie…"

"Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing."

"Really? Back here? There's nicer places to sit if you want to do nothing."

Noelle pulled her legs tighter into her chest. When she didn't answer, Susie jabbed a thumb towards the riverbank. "Wanna do nothing over there with me?"

A flash of cheer lit Noelle's face before it vanished completely. "I don't know… You looked like you were just leaving."

"Didn't have anything better to do," Susie shrugged. "So…?"

Finally, Noelle gave in. They walked from the shadows towards the river side by side. It was much nicer out in the sunlight. Susie and Noelle sat down together and watched the stream gurgle by.

"Better?" Susie asked.

Noelle smiled to herself and nodded. "Yes… This is better."

Minutes rolled along with a good amount of nothing getting done. "Are you okay?" Susie asked.

"Oh? Sure, I'm fine." Noelle said with a start. She gave a nervous laugh.

"It's not like you to be sitting around by yourself. Something on your mind?"

Susie watched Noelle's expression waver. "No… It's nothing."

"Can I ask you something?" Noelle turned rigid in an instant. Susie knew to be gentle with her. "Are you okay with Kris and me dating?"

"Ah… Sure! Of course, I am!" The smile Noelle wore was too forced for even Susie to believe.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I…" Noelle faltered. "Well… I guess…" She wilted in a single, drawn-out sigh. "No… I guess I'm not, really."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Noelle became quiet. Susie then questioned whether she was tackling any of this in the right way. "I guess I was hoping that you and I could get back together," Noelle admitted. "But now that you and Kris are an item, I…"

"I'm sorry, Noe," Susie huffed. "I'd have liked things to go back to the way they were for us before. But when I look at how much your life was different from mine; I just can't do it anymore. It's too hard for me to watch your family support your dad when I spent so long scared that my mom could die any day. It's made me feel like my family's life is a joke."

Tears started to leak down Noelle's cheek. "Susie… I'm so sorry that I made you feel that way."

Susie's throat constricted. Her breath came out in a shudder. "It's not your fault. But it doesn't make it hurt any less. Don't get me wrong, though. I still care about you. I just can't be anything more than friends with you, is all." Susie watched a leaf drift alongside another in the current. They disappeared together.

"With Kris, though, it's a level playing field. There's not much for us to compare each other with. Plus, we've gone through some stuff together that I'll never forget; things that I can't really talk about with you. He and I trusted each other with some really heavy personal things, and we became best friends because of it. Now that we're dating, it feels different to what you and I had. I'm not saying it's better or worse, but it just feels right for me. I'm really happy with Kris."

Noelle dried her eyes. She offered a small, pained smile. "I'm glad for you, then. The two of you did look kind of cute together."

"So, you were spying on us," Susie smirked. Noelle blushed and began fidgeting nervously. "Don't worry about it," Susie then laughed. "Thanks, though. I just want you to know that no matter what, we're still friends. That okay with you?"

Susie opened her arm in invitation. Noelle stared at her uncertainly for a long time. In the end, though, she scooted closer to Susie and wrapped her arms around her.

"Sounds okay to me."