You started to feel like life hated you at that point.
Literally everything that could wrong does.
Sans smiled at you widely, chuckling to himself. The others looked at you with very, very confused expressions on their faces. You were sure your entire face was a bright red color – like goddamn ketchup almost.
"I," you started, not even knowing what to really say, "I, um."
Undyne glared at Sans, "Sans? What the hell, punk?"
He kept smiling throughout it all, even though Undyne was almost literally throwing daggers at him, "it's funny, 'cause..."
Sans put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "i wasn't expecting to see you here."
You then realized he was talking to you and you forced a weird smile, "H-hi, um, Sans... I'm still really sorry for last night."
Undyne whipped her heads towards you, her ponytail flying along with it, "_? What the hell?"
It was time for Undyne to be glared at, this time by Toriel, "Undyne."
"it's cool, kiddo," Sans smirked, "besides, i'm sure you got more ketchup on you than i ever did."
Your face flushed, "...I-I'm still really sorry!"
"OKAY," Undyne groaned loudly, "_, come with me right now!"
Undyne didn't wait for your response, she pulled you by your sweater sleeve roughly and you practically ran to the kitchen nearby.
The fish monster crossed her arms together and took a deep breath. It was only then when you really noticed how nice she looked that night.
"_. What the hell?"
You laughed a bit nervously, trying to ease your nerves, "I-I... Um, well. Last night when I was buying groceries, well..."
Undyne raised an eyebrow but said nothing, letting you continue on with your story.
"I saw someone in the aisle and they seemed to be struggling with grabbing something off the top shelf and," you took a deep breath, staring at the ground, "I went to go grab it for them since I was a bit taller. It didn't really work out though, because I accidentally kind of chucked it down on the ground and it exploded. And. Ketchup might've gone everywhere?"
Undyne stared at you for a moment and then began snorting, shaking her head wildly, "You punk! I thought something bad might've happened to you! Dude. You worried me!"
You felt yourself smile in spite of yourself, "W-well, I'm okay. T-thanks for worrying, I guess..."
She stopped laughing for a moment and looked at you, "That's what friends are supposed to do, right?"
"Y-yeah," you wiped your palms on your jeans.
Undyne made a tsk sound, "Geez. I wonder what kind of puns Sans made on your poor soul."
"Is he known for that?" you asked, "I didn't know whether or not that was just something he did when he was nervous. I... I tend to laugh really loudly when I feel awkward or anxious."
"I've noticed, punk," Undyne smiled, "So. Like. What happened afterward?"
"What happened afterwards?" you frowned, "What do you mean?"
She gaped at you, "WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS? LIKE. What happened after the stupid ketchup mistake!"
You stared at her for a moment and started giggling, "Undyne, oh my gosh... I just talked to him for a little while, I guess? I still feel kind of bad for spilling a bottle of ketchup everywhere..."
"Sans loves ketchup. Really. You don't need to feel sorry for that at all. He might've been in heaven when it all happened."
Before you said anything, Undyne quickly added, "You'll just see what I mean when I say he loves ketchup."
You smiled, "I guess so?"
Undyne and you walked back to the living room, and everyone seemed to be sitting down. Alphys was the only one standing and you guessed that she had been waiting for Undyne.
You assumed that Sans had told them all about your little mishap last night, as Toriel and Alphys looked at you with a bit of sympathy while Papyrus just smiled widely at you.
You had no idea where to sit, so you stuck close to the two girls' seats. Everyone seemed so nice, though, so it wasn't like it would've been a tragedy if you had to sit next to someone you didn't know. It was still a bit nerve-wracking, your stomach feeling like it had a million butterflies in it.
"It's time to eat, you nerds!" Undyne yelled unnecessarily loud.
Everyone began to pass dishes to each other in a surprisingly controlled manner.
There was a wide variety of dishes on the table. It ranged from the more typical dishes (cheesy potatoes) to the bit more tropical (Toriel's escargot). Surprisingly or not, there was at least three huge bowls filled with different types of pasta. Two of them held spaghetti in them.
Even less surprisingly or not, the only thing Papyrus had on his plate was spaghetti. If you had known everyone better, you might've laughed. But you didn't so you kept your mouth shut, feeling for the umpteenth time that night very awkward.
Everyone else grabbed bits of each dish, and it turned out your casserole was popular. More than half of it was gone, and only Papyrus had gotten seconds thus far (on spaghetti).
You, on the other hand, had grabbed only a spoonful of everything. You barely felt like drinking your water, much less eating anything. The food was delicious, though, and you felt awful you had to pass it up.
"_?" Toriel looked at you curiously, almost a bit worriedly.
You forced a small smiled, "Y-yes?"
"Didn't you make this casserole?" She asked, you nodded hesitantly (did she hate it?), "This is exquisite. Do you mind if I have the recipe?"
You took a deep breath and felt a natural smile come on, "Yeah... It was my mom's old recipe. I can give it to you later, if you'd like."
Toriel's mood seemed to brighten, "I would love that! Wouldn't you, Frisk?"
Frisk ate a huge mouthful of the pumpkin to show their feelings, smiling with food stuffed in their cheeks. You laughed a little at the kid, thinking they looked a bit like a chipmunk carrying nuts.
You felt Sans staring at you throughout almost the whole dinner. Although you felt a bit more comfortable with the group of friends than at first, you still felt yourself sweat. You hardly could remember anything from last night besides you making a fool out of yourself.
There was a huge bottle of ketchup near him too. Maybe this was all a cruel joke.
You took your glass of water and began sipping it, stealing a glance at the hooded skeleton.
Sans grabbed the bottle of ketchup, and before you could truly respond, he placed it in his mouth and squoze.
You choked on your water.
Sans chuckled at you like a high school girl as you struggled to stop coughing. Everyone, however, seemed oddly normal with this behavior and just exchanged glances at smiles at each other.
Undyne was the first to truly say anything, "_... I warned ya, Sans loves ketchup."
"i relished to see your reaction," Sans joked, "it was a nice pesto change around here."
You tried to stifle a laugh, "I don't really feel bad about last night then."
Sans shrugged, smiling widely, "it mustard to regret meeting someone like me."
"SANS! STOP WITH YOUR PUNS THIS INSTANT! YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY BOTHERING THE NEW HUMAN HERE!" Papyrus yelled at his brother.
From what you had gathered, this was a cute almost family. Alphys and Undyne were (obviously) dating at had been for almost a few years now. Toriel had adopted Frisk once they had broken the barrier, but with many hardships. And Sans and Papyrus were brothers.
It was nice.
It wasn't anything you were used to, for sure.
"aw, pap," Sans pretended to pout, "you're being too saucey."
"SANS!" Papryus groaned. You noticed a bit of love behind his words, and you could tell that the taller skeleton actually might've enjoyed Sans's puns. It was cute, though, how he pretended not to enjoy them.
"P-Papryus," you tried to direct his attention, "Did you make this spaghetti? I-It's literally the best spaghetti I've ever had. You should tell me how you make it, if-if you'd like."
Papyrus's face lit up with bright orange, almost like Sans's had with blue (weird?) last night, "HUMAN! YOU FLATTER THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I KNOW I MAKE THE BEST SPAGHETTI BUT UNDYNE WAS THE ONE WHO ORIGINALLY HAD TAUGHT ME HOW TO MAKE IT."
You turned towards Undyne, and all she gave you was a proud and shy smile. She reminded you of mom on your graduation day.
"AHAHA!" Papyrus took a deep breath, "IN ORDER TO GAIN MORE FRIENDSHIP WITH THE NEW HUMAN. UNDYNE AND I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO MAKE SPAGHETTI ALMOST AS GREAT AS OURS!"
"I-I don't know, I don't think I'll ever be able to match up to either of your greatness," you said shyly.
Papyrus shook his head, "NO! DO NOT THINK THAT WAY, HUMAN! I BELIEVE IN YOUR COOKING SKILLS. WE CAN SET UP A COOKING LESSON SOMETIME SOON. I PROMISE."
You flushed, "Well, t-thank you! I only can hope to make something as great as this."
To emphasized how you felt, you took a bite of Papyrus's spaghetti. It actually was pretty damn good, you'd admit.
You noticed Sans staring at you again, this time with a small smile. You felt too shy to smile back at him though.
Toriel and Frisk snickered a bit to each other, but didn't say anything. Frisk had a wide, childish smile on their face like a kid who just stole candy and got away with it. They were just so adorable!
Dinner had passed with idle chit-chat. Sans drank more ketchup, almost wiping out the entire bottle. You were almost sure he tried to finish it to shock you, but you kept pretending that it didn't bother you anymore. Although, you did snicker here and there.
You actually had finished your entire plate for once. You didn't know if it was because of the food or just because you felt rude about not doing so. It was delicious though, so you could hardly find yourself to care.
It was really nice to be in this type of environment for once, especially after spending years stuck alone in your apartment.
Sometimes, days like these, you realized how much you'd been missing out on.
Papyrus seemed dead set on those cooking lessons and you two ended up switching numbers.
You felt like monsters had an affinity for silly names, as he named himself THE GREAT PAPYRUS with a lot of cute smiley emojis. This time, it was a bit more expected though.
You actually got everyone's numbers. You felt a bit famous, although a little overwhelmed. It wasn't like you were used to this much attention – ever.
Toriel and Frisk insisted on your mother's recipe and you promised you would send them it when you got home that night.
You felt a bit, well, at home with all of these people. You were sure you were jumping the gun a bit (or a lot a bit) and you were surely going to get abandoned again, but you decided to just enjoy the moments before it all came crashing down. It always did.
Everyone had sat in the living room after cleaning up dinner. You gave your bowl and the rest of the casserole to Undyne and Alphys, feeling like they'd get more use out if than you ever would.
All of you sat there and talked about silly things. More stories about the Underground, Frisk's wild adventures, jobs, etc... You didn't really add much to say, but you found it nice to just feel welcomed like this.
Finally, though, you checked your phone and realized how late it was. It was almost one in the morning. Frisk had fallen asleep on Toriel's lap and Papyrus was knocked out on the ground.
You took a deep breath and smiled at everyone, "I, um, it's getting really late. I should probably start heading home now; I'd hate to be any sort of bother. Thank you for inviting me and making me feel w-welcomed."
Undyne stared at you, "Dude. It's super late, like really. Just stay the night, it's good."
You shook your head slowly, "N-no, but thank you. I'd hate to be a bother."
"S-sometimes people c-can be d-dangerous at night. We'd j-just hate to see you get hurt, _-_..." Alphys added.
Toriel looked at you with concern, "Child, we just want you to be safe. It's also been a delight making your acquaintance."
"yeah, kiddo," Sans smiled at you, "stay for a little while?"
Every molecule of you wanted to say yes and be like an actual normal person, but you shook your head and faked a smile, "My house isn't too far away from here. I'll be okay. Besides, t-thank you for letting me come over and steal some of your time away. It was very nice meeting all of you."
The four looked at you with wide concern in their eyes (eyesockets for Sans), but you didn't notice it.
You sat up from the couch and thanked everyone again. They all seemed hesitant to let you go, but you all said your goodbyes and you headed out the door.
The air stung your cheeks and your nose the minute you headed out there, closing the door behind you.
Your heart had been racing a million miles a second the whole time you were there, but you eventually had been able to calm down and make conversation. Small victories, you assumed.
You had lied to the monsters, but not without a guilty conscience. It was just that you didn't want them to worry about you. It seemed silly but you felt like, in these circumstances, it would just be better if they knew a little white lie than the entire truth.
Although the night air was freezing, the breather from the commotion was certainly welcomed. You began walking towards the subway station which was almost a mile away. Although you felt tired, you decided you'd just buy coffee when you got on the subway rather than risk taking a nap on it.
Even if you'd hate to admit it, the city could be dangerous. No one lied to you about that.
About half way to the station, you heard footsteps coming towards you. They were fast and determined, catching up to you sooner than you'd like.
Your heart felt like it crawled up to your throat and you checked your phone. Dead.
Scenarios ranging from bad to worse began playing out in your mind, and you felt your breathing get faster.
If this was the time you were going to die...
Oh god, you thought anxiously, I don't want to die! Please, please, please. For the love of god, let there not be a serial murderer following me.
You began hyperventilating, walking fast enough to almost call it a run. You became a bit light-headed, unable to focus on anything else besides your own footsteps.
Finally, the footsteps stopped and a hand landed on your shoulder.
Out of instinct, you screamed.