It had been a mere week after the incident, but during that time Frisk had been trying to stay determined. It wasn't easy, and nightmares plagued them every night.

Sans had mentioned nothing to Toriel and Papyrus, but the two could still tell something was wrong. Toriel especially. The newly-appointed headmistress of Mount Ebott's school for Monsters and Humans had been a very successful venture. Sans regularly attended the meetings, often snoring in the back of the room whilst Papyrus jabbed him, trying to wake him up. Frisk attended the one meeting, signing to Sans that they'd like something to drink.

"Freak."

Sans jerked at the comment and Frisk flushed. Sans glanced around and saw a mother leading her child away from the pair of them, a disgusted look on her face. Frisk burrowed deeper into their jacket, stuffing their hands inside their pockets. Flowey, who was in Frisk's hands, glowered reproachfully at the woman and the child.

Sans' eyes went completely black and he took a step forward, but Frisk reached out and grabbed his coat. They shook their head and merely pointed to the hall's doors. Sans regretfully turned and followed Frisk inside, watching as Papyrus ate a large plate of French fries in the front row of chairs. Sans led Frisk there, glancing around the room.

"Wow, kid. Not a lot of parents here."

"That's 'cause they hate us, trashbag." Flowey grumbled from his pot, which Frisk had placed on their lap.

They don't hate us. Frisk signed, although their faces said otherwise. We're just early.

"Lies." Flowey hissed, leaning over to snap at Papyrus' plate of French fries. "Feed me." He snarled. Frisk giggled and Papyrus held the plate above his head.

"HUMAN! STOP THE FLOWER FROM EATING ALL MY FOOD!" Papyrus cried as Frisk laughed.

"Aw, c'mon now, Papyrus," Sans winked, "No need to get salty."

"SANS! THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR PUNS!" Papyrus screamed as Flowey latched onto his arm.

"I'm starving! Feed me, peasant!" Flowey screamed as Papyrus got to his feet. Frisk was laughing, tears streaming from their face and Sans smiled even wider.

"Flowey, leaf Papyrus alone." Sans sniggered as Papyrus tried to yank Flowey off his arm. "You're being a lilly bit rude."

"SANS STOP!" Papyrus finally managed to yank the flower off his arm and Flowey hissed, eyes rolling.

"I'm starving!" He cried as Frisk took him back. "I'll die if I don't eat, Frisk!"

But Flowey, we just ate. Frisk signed.

"I'm going to starve!" Flowey moaned, flopping over in his pot. "And the smiley trashbag will turn me into compost!"

"I don't have to wait for ya to die, petals." Sans said, winking an eye. Frisk shot him a look, but he shrugged his shoulders. "I'll get 'im something to eat. I'll be back in no thyme."

Frisk giggled and Papyrus let out a distressed moan. Sans sniggered and picked up Flowey's pot.

"I hate you." Flowey hissed as Sans strode out of the room.

"Aw, c'mon, petals. You're kale-ing me here."

"I will strangle you." Flowey snarled as they stepped out into the hallway. Sans glanced back once at Frisk, then continued to walk down to the small coffee stand that had been set up by one of the parent's. A very sweet woman was manning it and she gave Sans a polite smile.

"Oh, hello!" She said brightly as Sans set the flower pot on the table.

"Hi. He's hungry." He gestured to Flowey, who gave a hiss in the woman's direction.

"Well, we do sell some small pies backed by the headmistress herself!" The woman said brightly. "Butterscotch-cinnamon pies."

Flowey groaned even louder. "No… no…" He growled, flailing in his pot and flapping his leaves. "I'm not eating that trash!"

"We'll take four." Sans dug around for his wallet and brought out some money as the woman bent down and retrieved four small pies from the box below the table.

"Are you going to take long?"

Sans turned sharply at the familiar voice. It was that woman again, a very sharp-faced person with a mass of brown hair in a messy bun. Sans frowned and Flowey stopped flapping his leaves.

"We're just finishing up." He said coldly as Flowey shuffled to glower at the woman.

"Well, can you hurry up? That thing is dirtying the table."

Flowey's face turned into that cold, creepy smile that he'd worn when he'd trapped all the monsters in his vines. He looked completely insane.

"On the contrary, lady, you're dirtying the corridor." He hissed. The woman's face hardened.

"You're all freaks. All of you. Especially that little monster-loving kid."

Sans' eye flickered. "Excuse me?"

The woman who'd been sitting down looked frantically between Sans and the woman. "Merida, don't-"

"Stay out of this, Helen!" Merida snapped, her face screwed up with a dangerous look. "They're freaks! Especially that Frisk child." She gesticulated in a very insulting manner, mimicking Frisk's signing. "I can sympathise with mutes, but that child isn't even human!"

There was a whoosh of energy and a gaster blaster appeared next to Sans, his left eye flickering with blue flames. "Lady, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'."

"I agree, trashbag." Flowey snarled, bullets appearing next to his pot and spiralling around his face. "Frisk might be stupid, but they're my friend."

"Exactly that," Merida said, not at all troubled by the enormous, dog-like skull that Sans had summoned out of thin air. "They're stupid. No wonder their poor parents abandoned them. They had every right to!"

Sans readied a blast, but at that moment he felt a small hand tug at his jacket. He turned and looked down, right at Frisk.

Their face was indifferent and they shook their head. It's ok. Don't make it worse.

Sans ground his teeth hard enough for them to actually hurt, but he dispelled the gaster blaster and stuffed his hand into his pocket, the other grabbing Flowey. Merida gave Frisk a positively venomous look.

"I hope you know that you're a blight on this school. Ever since that goat started teaching here it's all gone downhill."

Flowey let out a scream and before Sans or Frisk could stop him, a hail of pellets sailed toward Merida. The woman's face paled and she raised her arms to defend herself, but a femur popped out of the ground, stopping the bullets from hitting the woman's body.

"BROTHER WHAT HAPPENED?" Came Papyrus' voice. Flowey snarled and screamed as Sans grabbed his pot, the flower straining his petals toward the woman.

"I'll kill you! That woman was my mother!" Flowey screamed, his pot quivering as Sans held him back. "No one gets to insult her but me!"

Papyrus mad the femur disappear and Merida stared at the angry flower with utter hatred. "Freaks! All of you!"

She turned on her heel and bolted away, her high heels clacking sharply against the floor. Sans glanced at Frisk and saw that their face was downcast. The held out a hand and he handed Flowey to them. The flower was breathing heavily, but stiffened when Frisk clutched them close to their chest. Frisk said nothing and merely turned around, walking quietly to the meeting room. Sans felt embarrassed, more so than usual. He groaned and pulled the strings of his hoodie, encasing his skull in the soft material.

"G-goodness gracious." Helen gasped, looking after Merida. "I-I thought she'd be angry, but not t-this angry."

"WHY WOULD SHE BE ANGRY?" Papyrus asked, glancing at Sans. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS SAVED HER!"

Helen looked confused as Sans emerged from his hoodie. "Ignore him," He insisted, shaking his skull. "Hey, buddy, go check on Frisk, alright?"

"INDEED, BROTHER!" Papyrus said, taking off down the hall toward Frisk. Sans sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry about that-" he began.

"N-no, it's alright." Helen giggled. "Although, I must say I don't blame Merida… she um… she had a child who went to the mountain. They… didn't come back."

Sans dipped his head a little. "I didn't know."

"It's alright. Not many people do." Helen glanced at the corridor, then back to Sans. "Frisk's parents… I hear they abandoned them on the mountain?"

Sans raised an imaginary eyebrow, "Yeah…"

"Oh, goodness." Helen clapped a hand to her mouth. "S-so the rumours are true? About Rookwood Road?"

"Wait, wait." Sans held up his hands. "What rumours?"

"You don't know?" Helen looked slightly shocked, then her face fell a little. "Oh… It isn't really my place to say, but… there were rumours about a family that left their child on the mountain. But it could be anyone, I'm sure-"

Sans leaned forward, hands on the table. "What else can you tell me?"

Helen swallowed. "W-well, I don't know the full story, but…" Her eyes turned dark. "Apparently the family tried to kill their child."