Chapter 2

I knew you couldn't stay away forever...welcome back, Frisk...

Frisk slowly opened her eyes, groaning, there were the sounds of people speaking around her but she was still half-conscious to really register them and who they belonged to. Her head was pounding like nothing you'd imagine and her stomach kept doing back flips, making her feel worse. The voices grew louder as she became more awake, though unfortunately she still wasn't quite sober and the room felt like it was spinning in circles around her. She felt someone prod her in the shoulder.

"Hey! Hey, punk! Wake up for God's sake!" came the rather familiar harsh demand.

"Don't poke her too much, Undyne! She's still hurt," said another softer, kinder voice.

"Yeah - well she wouldn't have gotten into this mess if she hadn't been out of her mind drunk, Toriel!" said Undyne, frowning.

"I know, I know, but you know how younge people and their drinking can be," said Toriel, slightly chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah - hey, I think she's waking up!"

Frisk groaned again, blinking rapidly to see if that would stop the spinning, she held her head whilst trying to sit up to get a better look at Undyne and Toriel.

"Ughhh, fuck, my head...can someone stop the room spinning?" Frisk mumbled, clutching her throbbing head with one hand.

"Easy, my dear, you had quite the fall!" said Toriel, gently holding on to Frisk to keep her steady.

"Oh God...where am I?"

"You're in the Underground, sweetheart."

"Under...ground? Oh...oh yeah that's right I- oh, oh fuck I think I'm gonna hurl-!"

Undyne quickly pointed to the door behind her, which thankfully led to the bathroom where Frisk had bolted to and was noisily sick down the toilet, some of it unfortunately getting caught in her hair.

"Ughhhh, man...why the fuck did I think drinking that much was a good idea again?" Frisk groaned miserably, she splashed water on her face and tried to clumsily get some of the vomit out of her hair. She stumbled back into the room where Undyne and Toriel waited for her.

"I know we have so much to talk about already - but you really do need your rest, my dear. You're not fit to walk around so much so soon," said Toriel anxiously, 6 years and she still fussed about like the wonderful goat mom she was.

"Naaah man, I'm cool, I'm cool - where are we anyway?" Frisk slurred, stepping towards the door.

"Frisk, I wouldn't go out there-" Undyne started.

It was too late, Frisk opened the door to find they were in Grillby's. All eyes from strange monsters and Grillby himself laid on her, a chorus of cat calls from some sleazy monsters in the back only confused Frisk, she looked down at herself to find why exactly she caused such a reaction: she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties. Her faced turned bright red as she ran back inside the room and slammed the door behind her, casting Undyne and Toriel a dirty look.

"Where are my clothes?!" she squeaked with embarrassment.

"I tried to warn you, punk," said Undyne, folding her arms.

"We had to get them off you, they were soaking wet and covered in dirt and whiskey," said Toriel, raising an eyebrow.

Frisk opened her mouth to respond but was rewarded with another sharp pain in her head, she gasped and clutched her forehead, falling to her knees. Undyne and Toriel rushed towards her.

"U-Ugh, I don't...feel...so super..." her voiced trailed off as she fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Frisk!" Toriel called, anxiously.

Undyne grabbed the blanket off the floor and wrapped it around Frisk, she picked her up bridal style and turned to Toriel. "Let's bring her back to Pap's place, she can rest up properly there as long as Papyrus keeps his voice down."

"Yes, that's a good idea," said Toriel, following Undyne out the door. She thanked Grillby for letting them use his back room and quickly left the place with Undyne, fortunately the skeleton brothers lived close by so they didn't have to keep Frisk out in the cold for too long.

Toriel knocked firmly on their front door and waited for a response. There was a loud voice heard from behind the door, which Toriel only guessed was Papyrus yelling at Sans again over something. The door flung open and there stood the great Papyrus himself, he grinned happily as he saw the two.

"Toriel! Undyne! What a pleasure it is to see you here today!" he beamed.

"We're sorry to impose on you two like this but it's kind of urgent," said Toriel, gesturing towards the unconscious Frisk.

"Oh my God! Undyne is that your baby? I'm so happy for you-"

"BABY?! No way!" Undyne spat.

"Oh...then what is it?" said Papyrus, leading them into the sitting room.

"It's Frisk, Pap," said Undyne, laying Frisk down on the couch.

"You mean the human?! Wowie! I haven't seen her in years!" said Papyrus, excitedly. This soon died down when he saw her face. "That doesn't look like the human."

"It is indeed Frisk, she's an adult now," said Toriel.

"Wowie, she's changed a lot! Sans! SANS! Get in here you lazybones!" Papyrus yelled.

Sans appeared at the stairs, stifling a yawn. "What is it, Papyrus? Oh- hey Tori, hey Undyne!"

"Sans! Honestly you're just so lazy - come down here now and see the human!" said Papyrus.

"Which human?" said Sans, walking down the stairs towards them. He looked down at Frisk, scratching his head. "Don't think I've seen this human, before."

"It's Frisk, you bonehead!" said Papyrus, grinning at his own attempt at a pun.

Sans paused, taking in how different Frisk looked. "Well I'll be damned, kid's not a kid any more!" he noticed the cut on her forehead. "What happened to her?"

Undyne and Toriel looked at each other with slight embarrassment for Frisk.

"Well...she got super wasted last night and apparently fell and knocked herself out," Undyne explained.

Sans spluttered with laughter. "Woooow, Frisk on the booze? Never thought this day would come."

"Sans! How dare you laugh at the human's poor condition! We must make her feel better! I shall make the greatest spaghetti she has ever tasted and we'll have a movie night with snacks and I will read her my favorite book-"

"Whoooaaa, easy there Pap, let's take this one step at a time. She's still out cold," said Sans.

"Sans is right, let's just take it easy until she wakes up," said Toriel.

Just as Toriel had said that, Frisk stirred and groaned in response. They all turned to look at her as she groaned some more, slowly opening her eyes and squinting at everyone.

"Ughhhh...my head..." Frisk mumbled, slowly sitting up and rubbing her forehead.

"Still hungover, kiddo?" Sans grinned.

"Yes - maybe - I dunno, and I'm not a kid-" she stopped mid sentence, recognizing that voice. She turned to Sans. "Sans!"

"The one and only," he said, winking.

Frisk turned to Papyrus. "Papyrus! Oh guys, it's been so long!" said Frisk, happily. She looked at Undyne and Toriel. "I'm so sorry about this morning guys, I wasn't really in a proper state for proper hellos."

Undyne folded her arms. "You sure weren't," she paused, bite her lip a bit. "But...I'm glad you're here Frisk. It's been 6 years..."

"6 long years," said Toriel sadly, looking hurt.

Frisk hung her head, feeling guilty. She knew this time had to come eventually, but no matter how many times she went over it in her head it didn't really prepare her for talking about it in person, oddly enough, but it had to be done. She sighed sadly.

"I know, it's been way too long...I'm really sorry guys. I know an apology isn't going to fix anything, I don't really know what happened, high school got very hectic and I actually started making friends and before I knew it I just didn't have time for anything anymore. I know that sounds awful, and I don't blame you guys at all if you hate me for it, but I never fully forgot about you all if that helps. It's why I'm here now."

There was a moment of silence before Toriel let out a sigh of relief and threw her arms around Frisk, holding her close.

"Oh, my dear I know how stressful the years must have been to you and I know you're sorry for how things did turn out - I can't say I didn't expect that to happen, but I'm just so glad you're here with us now. Just promise you won't leave it so long to visit next time! And if you want...you could stay with us here for the summer? You could get a part time job, and you're more than welcome to stay with me of course, only if you would like? I know this is a lot to take in while you're still feeling poorly, but it's just something to consider at least while you're here?" said Toriel, hopefully.

Frisk already knew she didn't come here to just explain herself, see everyone again and then fuck off back to the surface never to be seen again, she wanted to spend as much time rekindling old friendships as she possibly could.

"Toriel...I'd love that very much, actually," said Frisk. She felt her heart stop when she realized Warren, Robert and Janet had no idea where she was right now. "Oh fuck! My friends are gonna think I'm dead!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"Who?" Undyne asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"My friends back in the surface, I never told them I was going here and they're gonna be worried sick!" said Frisk, fumbling for her phone. But she couldn't find it. "Ah - shit, where's my phone?"

"Oh!" Toriel reached into her pocket, pulled out Frisk's cell phone and handed it to her.

"Thank you so much!" said Frisk, she tried switching it on but the screen just went white. "Shit..I must have busted it after I fell."

"Hey I'll take a look at it for ya, no problem," said Sans.

"Thanks Sans, I really appreciate it! I hope it's nothing too serious," said Frisk, handing the phone to Sans.

"Shouldn't be, but I'll have a look. In the meantime, I think it's time we got some food in you - and all of us, right Paps?" said Sans, grinning at Papyrus.

"Oh yes! We should have a movie night to celebrate your return Frisk! I'll cook us all spaghetti and I'm pretty sure we have snacks in the house somewhere, it'll be fun!" said Papyrus excitedly.

"I can bake us all butterscotch pie too, would you like that Frisk?" said Toriel, eagerly.

"I'd love that!" said Frisk, happily. It was nice knowing they didn't hate her forever for not being in contact for so long, it made her feel relieved to know she didn't lose the first proper friends and family she'd known for years. She couldn't brush off the feeling of guilt, of course, but she knew she wanted to make it up to them and she'd do just that. Frisk was still worried about Warren, Janet and Robert of course, but that couldn't be helped right now. Papyrus had given Frisk Sans' old vest and shorts so that she was that bit more decent now, thankfully.

Papyrus and Toriel set off towards the kitchen, enthusiastically preparing the ingrediants for the spaghetti and butterscotch pie, Undyne folded her arms and shook her head, chuckling at the two.

"I'm afriad I'm gonna have to pass on tonight's mini celebration, it's date night for me and Alphys and I'm taking her to see that anime movie thing she's been wanting to see for ages. BUT, don't think this is the last you'll see of me punk! We'll have a 'proper' celebration soon enough, don't you worry," said Undyne, winking mischievously.

"What do you mean proper celebration?" Frisk asked, raising an eyebrow.

Undyne laughed. "You'll see! I'll be in touch with you all with the details, for now, later nerds!"

"Awwww, you're missing out Undyne! But hope you and Alphys have fun! Text me later ok?" said Papyrus, stirring pasta sauce so enthusiastically that bits of sauce was flying all over the place.

"Will do! Later!" said Undyne, and with that she left them all to their cooking duties.

Well, moreso Papyrus and Toriel to the cooking, Frisk wanted to help but Toriel insisted that she relax on the sofa while they prepared the food. Sans, on the other hand, refrained from helping as 'Frisk needs company in her fragile state', as he so said himself. Frisk didn't mind, her and Sans had a lot to catch up on too.

"Let's pick out some movies for tonight while these guys deal with the grub, eh?" said Sans, pulling out a pile of different movies from the cabinet underneath the TV.

Frisk knelt next to him and began shuffling through the large list, she spent ages looking at the horror selection - wondering if Toriel (or Papyrus) would be ok with watching some horror movies or would they prefer something less nightmare inducing. Frisk's thoughts were interrupted by Sans piping up all of a sudden, she had no idea he was watching her pick a movie.

"Horror movie fanatic then? Yeah, Papyrus likes to say he isn't afraid of them, but the amount of stories I had to tell him after watching "The Exorcist" was ridiculous," said Sans, chortling.

"Ahh, so that would be a bad idea right?" said Frisk, chuckling.

"Sort of, we could watch one and maybe something less intense so Papyrus doesn't start thinking there's demons hiding in the house again, wasted a lot of salt that week," said Sans. He paused. "You could say he was afraid of getting assalted by a couple of ghouls."

Frisk narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you just..."

Sans winked at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Hey, let's not get salty now," Sans responded, sticking out his blue corporeal tongue.

Frisk spluttered with laughter, shaking her head. "Oh my God, I'm gonna murder you...you haven't changed a bit."

"And I never will."

They eventually settled with "Halloween", "Labyrinth" and "Tangled" as their movie choices for tonight, Sans and Frisk sauntered into the kitchen to fetch the snacks and drinks to lay out on the coffee table, and to check and see how Toriel and Papyrus were doing with the rest of the food. The pie was still baking in the oven, but the spagetthi was all done and ready to be laid out on the plates for everyone to finally tuck in, Sans and Frisk grabbed the snacks and brought them out to the coffee table while Papyrus and Toriel scooped the spagetthi onto the plates and carried them out to the living room. Sans had brought down the thick, fluffy blanket he kept away upstairs in his room for everyone to snuggle under while Frisk popped in "Halloween" first in the DVD player, Papyrus insisted on sitting in the middle so he could easily hold onto everyone, 'in case anyone gets scared', he had explained. Of course, Papyrus. Toriel stayed sitting on the outside so it was easier for her to get up and check on the pie when she needed to, so that left Frisk squashed in between Sans and Papyrus. She wasn't complaining, though, as it meant she'd be warm.

They all stuffed their faces with spaghetti and snacks while they watched the movie, every so often Toriel would leave the room to check on the pie but Frisk wondered if it was just because she couldn't stomach the violence "Halloween" had to offer. Who knows, either way, she eventually came back with pie for everyone and was busy cutting the pie into four pieces, which only made Papyrus wary of the knife she was holding and how it "looked an awful lot like the knife the villain was holding". His worries were soon gone once they started watching Labyrinth and Tangled. At some point during the movie, Toriel had to leave as it was getting late, Frisk thought this was her que to go as well but Papyrus insisted that she stay the night, so that was settled.

"Do come by in the morning, Frisk, and if you need to get some clothes and stuff back from the surface I can come with you," said Toriel.

"That would be great, Tori, I'll see you then!" said Frisk.

Toriel bid everyone goodnight and left the house, leaving them to watch the rest of the movie. It wasn't long before it was over and the three were stretching and yawning, clearly ready to turn in for a good night's sleep.

Sans cracked his neck and stood up. "Right, well, guess it's time to get some shut eye. Frisk, you can take my bed for the night, I'll just bunk with Papyrus."

"Oh yes, now you can read me a story before bed!" said Papyrus, clapping his hands together happily.

They looked at the dirty dishes and empty bags of crisps still laid out on the coffee table.

"Welp, we can just leave that 'til the mornin'," said Sans, gathering up the fluffy blanket.

"For once I agree with you, Sans," said Papyrus, advancing up the stairs to his room.

Frisk followed Sans to his room as he laid the blanket on the bed.

"Might get pretty cold tonight so you can totally have that, have a good sleep!" said Sans, patting Frisk on the head and heading out of the room to tend to Papyrus's demands for his bedtime story.

Frisk hopped in the bed and pulled the covers over her, feeling the softness of the blanket tickle her cheek, sleep was the only thing on her mind right now and she was happy to not be passed out on the cold ground this time. Her eyes drooped and soon enough she drifted into a deep sleep...

She plunged the dagger deep into Warren's stomach, blood pouring uncontrollably from the open wound as he spluttered and staggered forwards, clutching his stomach as he fell to his knees. The woman laughed maniacally, smiling wickedly down at Warren's limp body.

"W-Why...why are y-you doing this?" he choked, coughing up blood.

"Because this world doesn't need pathetic humans...it doesn't need anyone...in this world...it's KILL OR BE KILLED!" she cackled.

"You're...you're not the friend I knew before..."

Frisk? Why are you doing this?

WHY ARE YOU KILLING EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT ...?

Frisk sat bolt upright, suddenly awake. She was drenched in cold sweat and her heart was pounding in her chest, the nightmare felt so real. It was like she could almost feel Warren's warm blood on her hands. She flicked on the bedside lamp to look down at herself, nothing there. There was a packet of cigarettes and a lighter on the table beside her, sleep was far from her mind right now after that horrible dream. She needed something to calm her nerves, and this was something she needed right now. Frisk grabbed the packet and jumped out of bed, she carefully opened the door and listened, Papyrus and Sans were sound asleep. She made her way quietly down the stairs, through the kitchen and out the backdoor. Once she was sure everyone was still asleep, she pulled out a cigarette from the packet, lit it and raised it to her lips; taking a long drag from it.

Frisk felt herself calm down a little, but it didn't stop the sick feeling in her stomach as she remembered how vivid the nightmare was. How pained the expression on Warren's face was, it was heart wrenching and she hated it. She just couldn't shake this cold feeling that had suddenly washed over her, not because it was actually freezing outside, but something else. A feeling of dread, like something just wasn't right here...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a suddenly sound behind her, causing her to gasp and jump. It was only Sans.

"Hey, didn't mean to scare you," said Sans, holding up his hands. He raised an eyebrow at the cigarette in her hand. "Didn't know you smoked."

Frisk laughed nervously. "Y-yeah, um, I don't always. I...I just couldn't sleep."

"No worries, I getcha," said Sans, putting his hands in his pockets.

There was a moment of silence while Frisk took another drag from the cigarette, before Sans spoke again.

"Hey...I'm glad you came back, Frisk," he paused. "We really missed you down here. Six years of silence from you was a bit of a drag to be honest."

"I know...and I still feel really bad about that. I guess things just got hectic and I shouldn't have let that stop me from staying in contact with you guys," said Frisk, sadly.

"Sometimes these things happen unfortunately, I get it. I'm just glad you're back. And boy, you've really changed," said Sans, he found himself glancing at her cleavage while Frisk wasn't looking. "A lot, actually."

He steered his vision away from her bust and blushed a little, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, I'm no longer the little kid you first met. You guys have changed a bit too," said Frisk. "Well, except for you with the puns and Papyrus' love for spaghetti."

Sans grinned and winked. "Hey, you can't say you don't love my puns."

"Hmmm, I can't say I do now," Frisk joked, sticking her tongue out at Sans.

"I'm hurt, really, I can feel it in my bones," Sans joked back.

They both laughed, Frisk really wanted to tell Sans about the nightmare she had, but decided against it. She didn't want to freak anyone out, and that would NOT make a good impression on her first day back here. She just wanted everything to be as normal as possible and to not worry anyone further. Besides, it was probably nothing. Everyone gets bad dreams anyway, even messed up ones like these right? Right. It wasn't anything worth mentioning to Sans anyway, it would probably pass and she'd feel better in the morning.

Sans stretched, breaking the silence. "Welp, I'm heading back to bed here. And looks like you should too."

"Yeah, I'm feeling hella sleepy now anyway," said Frisk, stubbing out her cigarette and following Sans back inside.

"Hey, Sans?" she piped up as Sans opened the door to Papyrus' room.

"Mm?"

"Thanks for checking up on me."

Sans grinned. "Hey, what are friends for? 'Night, Frisk."

"Goodnight, Sans."

Frisk headed into Sans' room and closed the door behind her, she felt a lot better now that she and Sans had that little talk. Ok, it was about nothing in particular but even so just talking with him made her feel less horrible and more in touch with the real world, and not some crazy nightmare she'd just had. Like she thought, it was nothing, and in the morning she would forget all about it.

But...why did this cold feeling still linger while she slept...?