It was a slow Sunday morning, and Sans was getting his cup of coffee. Riley had been living with them for the past couple of days, she was sitting on the couch, watching some sort of anime show. Frankie was sitting at the dining room table, drawing something on a piece of paper, and Papyrus was cooking breakfast spaghetti. Sans walks over to the table, taking a seat across from Frankie,
"Heya, kiddo, whatcha drawin'?"
"It's for my school project!" Frankie grins. "I decided I'm drawing pictures for a timeline of our family! You wanna see this one? I won't spoil it all, but you can see one if you want!"
"Sure!" He smiles, taking a sip of coffee. Frankie quickly finishes the last part of his drawing and hands it over to Sans.
"It's the last one! Me, you, Uncle Paps, Spaghetti, Meatballs, and Justice! All living happily ever after!"
Happily ever after, huh, Sans? Aww… Look how happy you are in that drawing- smiling and everything… tsk. Tsk. tsk… You know you can never be truly happy, right? Not while you're attached like this…
"I-It's a-amazing, kiddo…" Sans smiles, quickly handing the picture back. Shut up!
"Are you al-?"
"Hey!" Riley walks in, "Aw! You're showing Sans your project! It's great, isn't it?"
"I-I… I h-have to go… It's a-amazing." Sans gets up in a hurry, nearly tripping over his chair as he scrambles out of the room, back to his bedroom.
"...Sans…?" Riley follows him, stepping into his room hesitantly.
He sits down at the edge of his bed, his breathing irregular. You know you can never truly be happy, right? Those words echo through his skull. She sits on the bed, but she doesn't touch him.
"Are you alright…?"
"Y-yeah." He lied.
"It's Frankie's drawings? They're triggers?" She frowns.
"...I… yeah… I think so…" He frowns, putting his face in his hands, "I'm fine… It wasn't that bad…"
"It's not real, this is real? You know…?"
"Yeah. I know... " He smiles weakly, "Thanks."
"I'm here for you, Sans. Do you… wanna talk about it?" She smiles. He shakes his head,
"No… I... " I can't tell her about the resets, i can't tell her about what's really going on… He smiles, "No. I'm fine."
"I understand… If you're ready… when you're ready… I'm here for you." She nods. "Okay?"
"Thanks, Ri…" He grins, "You're amazing"
"Hardly." She laughs.
"No way, you are. I don't know why you put up with me," He takes her hand, "Really, Ri… Thank you…" She smiles, squeezing his hand gently.
"You alright, now?"
"Yeah." He grins, "I'm alright."
"And this one is of you and me making spaghetti!" Frankie held up the picture he drew for his uncle to see.
"WOW FRANKIE! YOUR DRAWINGS OF SPAGHETTI ARE ALMOST AS GREAT AS MINE!" Papyrus cried.
"Thanks, Uncle Paps. And this one is the last one. That's me, you, Dad, and all the cats. And we live happily ever after! The end!"
"THAT'S VERY GOOD. I'M SURE YOUR TEACHER WILL LIKE IT A LOT, FRANKIE!"
"Yeah, but Dad doesn't…"
"DON'T BE SILLY! OF COURSE SANS LOVES IT!"
"He wasn't happy yesterday when I showed him. He was scared…."
"SOMETIMES THINGS REMIND SANS OF… HIS NIGHTMARES." Papyrus frowned.
"Why would my pictures remind Dad of his nightmares? They're good pictures…."
"I DON'T KNOW. SOMETIMES THAT JUST HAPPENS." Papyrus said. "IT'S OKAY, FRANKIE, I'M SURE HE'LL BE ALRIGHT SEEING THEM TOMORROW."
"I hope so. I chose this project for him. I love him, Uncle Paps. I want him to know… I love you all. We're gonna be a family forever and ever."
"OF COURSE WE ARE! AND WE'LL MAKE THE BEST OF SPAGHETTI FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES! NYEHEHEH!"
"But… I'm still worried Dad will be upset when he sees my project." Frankie frowned.
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT FRANKIE. SANS IS GOING TO BE OKAY! HE'S GOING TO LOVE YOUR PROJECT! I PROMISE!" Papyrus grinned.
"You think so?"
"I KNOW SO!" Frankie laughed, and pulled his uncle into a hug.
"Thanks Uncle Paps. You're the best."
"I KNOW! NYEHEHEH!"
Sans walks down the hallway, finishing up his mopping. As he passes Frankie's classroom, the family timelines line the hallway. Sans smiles, observing them. I shouldn't worry about the resets. I should be worrying about now. I should be worrying about Frankie and Riley and Papyrus.
He looks around a bit before finding Frankie's, starting at the beginning. The first picture was of Frankie standing on the side of the street with a frown. Poor kid. He's been through so much. Sans moves down the line, the next was a picture of Frankie asleep on the disgusting orange couch. Sans smiles. I would have never met the kid if my window wasn't broken… So I guess, in a way, I'm lucky it got smashed.
The next picture was of Frankie meeting Sans, and how he didn't leave him at the orphanage. The little skeleton has a huge grin on his face. It felt like so long ago now… Look how happy he is, Sans. Look how happy you make him. It's funny, 'cause when it resets, your own selfishness is going to get in the way of your happiness. What's gonna happen when it resets and you wake up and he's not there, huh Sans? The voice chuckles menacingly in his skull. Sans does his best to ignore it, continuing. The next picture was when Frankie ran away. He looked scared, but he found Luis. The next after that was Sans and Riley finding him again, and the grin returns.
You'll miss him, you know. It's all your fault. When you wake up in Snowdin. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna cry, Sans? Because you no longer have a son? Oh- And Riley! Your girlfriend. The voice sneered, What about her, Sans? She makes you so happy. What will you do without her to comfort you from your nightmares? Huh? Idiot… But… you do know… There's a way you can stop the resets… right? How do I know if that will even work…? You don't. But if you're so keen on keeping these memories, it might be worth a shot.
No. There's no way Sans is going to waste his life on something that might not even work. Just shut up. Let me live. This isn't living you idiot. This is a lie. Everything you "live" for right now, might not even be there when you wake up tomorrow! Sans backs away from the timeline, fear striking his soul. Shut up! What's that, Sans? Am I scaring you? The voice giggles, Good. That's what I'm here for. Tomorrow could be the day, Sans. Go away! Get out of my head! Not a chance.
Sans clutches his skull, shaking, "Get out!"
I'll get out, soon as you realize what a big mistake you're making.
The skeleton retreats to his supply closet, leaving the hall of family timelines behind him. He couldn't look at them. He couldn't breathe.
It was lunch break, and Riley was looking for Sans. I've got a date. She smiled at the revelation. Sans had promised to meet her by the library doors, but he was nowhere to be found. She wasn't concerned at first, perhaps he had been caught up with something. But after a while of searching, she couldn't find him in any of the halls. Alright… maybe he's just putting his supplies away… I mean… Where else….? She rushed towards the supply closet- surprisingly the only place she hadn't looked. It seemed silly to look there, since the only reason he would go there would be to put things away or to grab something and then he'd leave. But she might just catch him. When she finally got there, the door is shut… Sans wasn't inside was he…? She quickly opened the door, and there he was, sitting on an overturned bucket. She could tell right away something was wrong.
His face was void of emotion, he was shaking.
"S-sans?" She frowned. It's just like his nightmare, just like the other day… except… Oh god, so much worse…. "Sans!" She rushed over to his side. "Sans!" He didn't seem to hear her. He rocks back and forth muttering.
"Never happy…. Can never be happy… never happy… They won't remember… Why do I even try…. Why can't I give up?"
"Sans! Please, tell me what's wrong?..." There are tears in her eyes. "Please… can you hear me?"
He looked up at her slowly. "Ri...ley…? Why do I love you so much when I know I can't have you? How can I be in love with you? Why...?"
She shook her head quickly. "No, Sans, no! I'm right here. I'm yours, see. I'm. Yours. Forever!" She quickly wipes away her tears. I can't touch him, not when he's having a flashback. It could end badly…
He looked back down at his hands. "giveupgiveupgiveup... Why can't I? Oh god it's going to end. I can't let it end. I don't want it to end."
"Sans, it's n-not going to! And, look, even if it were, even if we were only to have a few more minutes left of this life... I would want to spend every second with you. Whatever happens, I don't want to waste a second on...this. Please... If we focus on the good…" She can't stop her tears now.
Recognition slowly comes back to his face. "Riley...? I... Why are you crying? Did I…" He lifted his hand to his cheekbone where he felt a tear. "I did... I'm s-sorry!" He pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry I did it again... I'm sorry…"
"No…" She sobbed, "No... Sans, stop. It's not your fault!"
"I... I've always been like this but… this… this… w-was bad…. I-if you weren't here just now... It could've been H-hours before I recovered. T-thank you so much…"
"I didn't do anything…" She was so relieved that he was alright, she held on to him tightly.
"Riley... I could have... N-nevermind. I h-hope I didn't say anything horrible when I was... Gone…?"
"No, no…" She shook her head quickly."Nothing bad…. Nothing horrible…" She kissed the top of his skull gently and then held him tightly. "It's alright now… shh… It's alright!"
"I know… I know…" He presses his skull into her shoulder, holding her close. "Thank you…. Thank you…"
Frankie began gathering his work books from his desk. His teacher had put all the assignments from throughout the year in a large bag and now he could take them home. But not to show his dad apparently, since his dad couldn't look at something he made without having an attack. Why do I have to think like that? It's not dad's fault that he has attacks. I shouldn't resent dad for them he should resent the attacks themselves. But he didn't feel better about it. In fact, recently he hadn't felt very good about anything. As he finished packing up, reason number two to be upset came right up to him.
"Hey, Frankie." Wren…
"Hey…" He sighed.
"I… uh… I finished packing all my stuff up in my class. I thought maybe I could come see how you're doing?" She smiled. He frowned, looking down at his hands with a sigh.
"Not good."
"What's wrong?" Wren frowned.
"I… Lots of things!" He gasped. "My dad's freaking about everything and you're leaving!"
"I don't want to leave, Frankie… It's not my fault." She whispered.
"I know… I'm sorry." He glared at the floor.
"Frankie… you'll make new friends."
"I don't want to make new friends! I just want you!" He choked.
"I know…" She murmured. "I don't want to make new friends either. But Frankie, we have to. And… It's alright. We can still write letters and emails, and… I'll call you lots. We can talk on the phone. R-remember….?" He looked up at her to see tears in her eyes. "R-Remember, Fr….Frankie? We'll always… always be b-best friends forever, r-right?" She was crying. Frankie quickly stood up and pulled her into his arms.
"Yeah! Of course! Best friends- always!" He hugged her tightly, tears rolling down his cheekbones.
"Promise me you won't be lonely. You'll make more friends?"
"...I promise." He frowned.
"And promise you'll write me? Lots of letters, and I'll write you."
"I promise. I promise, I promise!" He gasped, hugging her tighter.
"I'm going to miss you so much, Frankie."
"I'm going to miss you too."
REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE:
Ed's. Curious. Kitten: Yay! More story goodness! XD That had to be the cutest date ever! Stay with Sans, Riley! He'll protect you! Red x won't know what gave them a bad time! Keep it up!
Yay! Yes, the date was the best. It took us a while to think of what song he should sing, but we got it right I think. :D
MachUPB: Great chapter. You and your cousin are amazing authors with amazing ideas. You both have developed this story so well, introducing new conflicts and fluffing it up a bit where necessary. Now if you excuse me, I have a call to make.
...Meanwhile in Red X's top secret base...
*Ring ring... ring ring... the phone anwers itself and is put on speaker for everyone to hear.
"Hey, Red X. Do you guys know what time it is? It's a BAD TIME! Sans is gonna dunk you all sooooooo bad if you show your faces again. Why don't you all get an occupation before that happens that doesn't involve you getting dunked on... and one that pays better, because I can't imagine this job paying well, or at all."
*Click.
Oh my gosh! Thanks so much! Heheh! That's awesome. And, yeah... Red X should probably be pretty careful when dealing with Sans. :P
HourglassMadness: To Frankie's situation: uh oh... it really isn't fair, but his thing is justice, right? That means that he might do something... drastic. On an off note, wouldn't it be super cool if Alphys and Undyne adopted Wren? Of course this would mean that it would be like a Matilda thing, or something bad would happen to her parents...
To Sans's situation: welp... we've got a problem. I REALLY hope that he doesn't have a breakdown in front of Frankie, because that might cause him to have a breakdown, leading to Sans feeling guilty, which might lead to him leaving to "protect" Frankie.
To Riley's situation: ****. Right when she found true love (AAAAAAAAAAH SANSLEY IS IN PERIL!) Red X just comes and decides that now is a good time to ruin everything. Really hope she doesn't take that running thing ON THE ROAD (get it? Cause she's pretty good at running and could try to leave Sans behind forever to try to protect him but would actually lead to him having a mental breakdown which would spiral into disaster? No? I'll show myself out.)
Well, I think Frankie knows that this isn't anyone's fault- there's not reason to go all JUSTICE on anyone. It's a fact of life. He needs to deal with it. :( But he will be alright.
Well... Sans' attacks are getting worse... :( Soo... you'll just have to see what happens. As for Riley, she could never leave Sans- I don't think. She's finally found that one thing that makes her feel whole. She's never thought much about herself, Sans opens her eyes and makes her realize that she's worth something.
TranscedentalNerd: That. Ukulele. Scene. Honestly, it was pretty perfect. Hit me in the romantic feels so hard asdfghjkl
I also feel that Wren moving away will eventually mean more that it seems...
Anyway, keep writing your amazing story, can't wait for the next chapter :)
-TN
Aaaaah! Yas! I loveee the ukulele... 3
Yes, hehe... stay tuned for what may perhaps be a planned sequel...? Oh boy!
Awesome! Thanks so much for the review! :D
anthonyabc268: This chapter was awesome great date oooooo and when red x happened wow perfect timing I wonder if sans can help her
Of course Sans can help her. Red X is totally gonna get dunked on (again- geez, when will they learn?)
trvlsize23: Yay! Thanks to you, I have have discovered a new song! Thank you! And of course, as always, beautiful chapter!
Yessss! That song is just so good! :) Thanks so much!
Mr. Indigo...( I'm pretty sure...?): Going to be brutally honest here, I went through an emotional roller coaster this chapter. First it was happiness at seeing Sans kiss Riley, then it was fury at your decision to break up my second OTP of this story, Fren. This, of course, quickly turned to brooding and then quickly to humor because I just remembered that Sans can teleport, and I could just imagine Wren sitting on the couch watching TV and Sans and Frankie both
appearing out of thin air and scaring the life
out of her! :) Of course, more warm, fuzzy feelings came when Sans and Riley went on there date... they are just so freaking cute together! Then, finally, came the unbridled fury at the return of Red X, who is essentially this worlds equivalent of the KKK... Trust me, they'll get their just deserts, however, that's the problem with hate groups, you can't get rid of them, because there will always be hate, and those who hate will form or join groups to express their hatred towards something. So even if Red X is destroyed, it would either be revived by former members who gathered a decent following of people and form a sub section called the RRX (Revived Red X) or separate into smaller hate groups, essentially becoming five different organizations all aimed at the same goal, to eradicate monsters. Then of course, you have the problems of these groups gathering a following and actually being elected into a position of power, like mayor, governor, Congressmen, or even President! If you have enough of the bigot racists in power, than they can vote to have the monsters either forcibly moved to a reserve (like we did to the Native Americans under Andrew Jackson called the Trail of Tears) or have them put back underground, where Red X believes all monsters should be, below the Earth, unfit to call themselves even sentient beings on the same level as humans. To paraphrase a quote from Mr. Martin Luther King Jr., I close by saying, "We must realize that so many people are thaught to hate us, they are not fully responsible for heir hate."
Okay, yes. That chapter was 100% definitely an emotional rollercoaster. Happy, sad, happy, sad. This one I think was just plain sad. Wow, you have a lot of amazing thoughts on this. That's so neat that you've thought so much about this- that this story by itself is though for this review! Wow!
iamdaraptor: *sees nadiahardar's review* WOAAAH It's just like the Tantabus from MLP (yes I was once a brony deal with it). Luna's nagging guilt and fear of Nightmare Moon manifested itself into a sentient entity which haunts her dreams every night because she believes she needs to be punished for her actions ohmigosh omigosh omigosh.
Ahem. Nostalgic nerdiness aside,this was a really good chapter. I definitely wasn't expecting the quick transition from super fluff to really heavy angst and the callback to the soulless pacifist ending. And,of course,lots of Sansley. To sum it all up... GOOD SHIT GOOD SHIT THAT'S SOME GOOD SHIT RIGHT THERE.
Yes! nadiahardar may be on the right track! But I can't tell... shhh!
I'm so glad you liked the chapter! I hope you liked this one too! :D
Guest:
AHHHHHH IVE HEARD THAT SONG!
I HEARD IT FROM AN AMV FOR UNDERTALE!
This chapter is just making me suspect more that the nightmare is gonna become part-true
(The one with Red X in his house, then proceeding to kill his family.)
Aaaaaah I love this fic so, SO much!
Hehe... I heard this song first in Moulin Rouge. Ahh... Ewan McGregor! Anyways! It's a gorgeous song, and it works perfectly!
Aww! Awesome! I'm so glad you like it! :D
I guest as much: Hey! Awesome last two update! Sorry I didn't review, I was taking a break from the Internet for a while. But anyways, I love how you're showing all of these characters' problems! Frankie and Sans' breakdowns have seemed entirely in-character, and Riley's worries about Red-X totally feel like something she would have! But yeah, thanks and I can't wait for the next update!
Awesome! that's always something that worries me- not being able to get the characters right the way they should act. Keeping characters in character. I'm glad we've accomplished it, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :)
Monopolop lover: If Undyne and Alphys change the name of the child they adopt, if it has something to do with MewMewKissyCutie I will actually cry.
Hehe... That's awesome. Well... I can't give away anything... so... you'll just have to keep reading... :P
SilerofWorlds: The plot thickens! Great chapter as usual. I am wondering, will there be a scene where Sans shows off a couple of his powers, to put Riley at ease that he can take care of himself?
Maybe...? I dunno. Sans has shown Riley teleportation. So she knows about that. but I don't think any amount of magical showing off will ease Riley's worries. She's falling in love with him, so it will be hard not to worry.
Oito Y: Oh my lord
Is that good or bad, I'm not sure. lol :)
THANKS ALL SO MUCH! Reviews are probably our favorite parts of the day! It's always great to hear from you about the chapter! :D
-MH_C