(a/n: Hey guys... This chapter gets pretty heavy.

Trigger warnings for: alcohol misuse, mentions of cancer, and mentions of suicide.
I love you all and I want you to stay safe.

I'll be summarizing this chapter in next chapter's note if you need to skip over this one.
Happy Valentine's day, by the way!)

You gaped at Sans, practically burning a hole into his skull, "Vodka?"

Sans turned his attention back to you, his expression almost unreadable, "yep."

"Why did she give us vodka?" you said.

"i prefer whiskey," Sans chuckled, "it tastes better."

You asked Sans if you could see the bottle and he gently placed it in your hands. It was cool, probably from sitting outside in Undyne's car all night. The liquid was clear as water and was likely easily mistaken for so. You'd seen vodka before, of course, but it was years ago. You didn't even really understand what alcohol was at that point.

The bottle was pretty looking though, you'd give it that.

Sans stared at you expectantly, waiting for you to say something.

You looked back at him and sighed, "I've really never tried alcohol before."

He raised an eyebone at you, "really?"

You slowly shook your head at the skeleton, "It's never been something that I've wanted to drink, I guess. Never had the opportunity?"

Sans made a humming noise and then shook his head, "are you planning on staying the night?"

You felt yourself flush, "I'm not sure... I wouldn't want to be intruding on anything."

"like i said before," Sans winked, "paps would be pretty happy to see you tomorrow."

You smiled softly, "Alright... I'd be pretty happy to see both of you in the morning too."

There was a brief moment of silence. Sans face hinted blue and he smiled at you, looking quite pleased with himself. You couldn't help but feel your smile grow bigger too.

Sans spoke up again before you could, "what should we do with this?" He was hinting at the bottle in your hands.

You laughed awkwardly, "I don't know. I could give it back to Undyne on Monday... That might seem a bit rude though."

"i have a better idea," Sans said with a blue hue smothering his face, sounding a bit awkward, "you said you've never tried alcohol right? do you wanna try some?"

You felt like all of your blood was going to your face, "S-Sansy? I-I don't... Know... Honestly, I'm a little scared..."

Sans smiled at you, "it's okay if you say no. i was asking if you want to try it, just in case you were curious."

You looked at him, feeling nervous, "I mean... I'm a little curious, but I don't know if it would be a great idea."

"look," Sans mood went considerably down, "if you're worried about anything, i-

"Oh my god, no!" You said way too loudly, for once knowing exactly what Sans was going to say, "I didn't even think about that, Sans. I don't know if this might mean a lot to you, but... I trust you. I don't think I'd like to try something like this with anyone else."

You looked away from him, too embarrassed and nervous to say anything else. You felt like burying your face into your hands and fading away. Although you were being completely honest with the smaller skeleton, you still felt like you might have said too much.

Then, Sans started chuckling, "_? oh god. you're amazing. i know you didn't mean it, and i appreciate what you said, but. that sounded awful."

You slapped your forehead once you realized what he was hinting at, "...You're awful, Sansy..."

Sans smiled at you warmly, "i would say i'm quite opposite, in every way. you're a human, i'm a skeleton. i've got no bones about it."

"i've got quite the funny bone, huh?" Sans said as you laughed at his god awful puns.

This skeleton...

"I wouldn't mind... Trying it, I guess," you said quietly, "Besides, I don't think anything too bad could happen."

Sans kept chuckling, "alright, _. your funeral."

You walked with him back into the kitchen, cradling the bottle nervously against your chest.

Sans grabbed two plain shot glasses out of the cupboard, placing one in front of him and one in front of you. You placed the vodka in between both of you, a bit shakily.

"Does Papyrus know you have those?" You teased, talking about the glasses in front of both of you.

"paps thinks it's for small humans," Sans shook his head, "he tried to get frisk to use 'em last time they were here... it was a mess, to say the least."

You giggled in spite of yourself, "Papyrus is a sweetheart."

"i'm real lucky to have him," Sans said with a tone of sadness in his voice, "if it wasn't for paps, i don't know what i would do."

You understood his feelings, "Yeah... My dad and I are the same way. I don't talk to him as often as I would like to, but... I couldn't see myself without my dad."

Sans's expression softened.

You took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Well, I guess this isn't going to drink itself?"

"maybe we could get mettaton to drink it?" Sans teased.

"I don't know if Papyrus would appreciate that," you said, making Sans roll his eyes dramatically.

"let's not talk about that," Sans huffed, grabbing the bottle and popping off the cap.

You were expecting a strong smell to fill the air, but it smelt the same. The air around you smelt like spaghetti with a really, really small hint of cologne. You wondered if Sans wore it.

He poured your glass halfway full and then his completely full.

You faked a pout, "Am I not good enough for a full glass?"

Sans smiled, "i thought we should start you off slow at first... that is, if you want to drink more afterwards."

You raised an eyebrow, trying to act confident, "I guess w-we'll see, huh?"

You grabbed the glass and raised it to your mouth. Your hands felt sweaty and resisted the urge to wipe your palms clean. You felt so nervous and felt like it would completely plausible if you died from a heart attack. (It wasn't.)

The vodka did have a smell to it, but it wasn't as potent as you assumed it would be. It smelt like alcohol. A definite smell of alcohol was there. But much less than something like rubbing alcohol.

You looked at Sans and watch him chug his all down in one gulp.

Can skeletons even...? Well. Of course they can. Sans drinks ketchup like no tomorrow.

Sans looked at you expectantly. You closed your eyes and did the exact same thing you just watched him do.

It tasted like fire.

Liquid fire.

Definitely wasn't anything like coffee, you'd give it that much.

You took a deep breath and practically slammed the glass down onto the counter. You thought you had maybe shattered it at first.

The taste, well, wasn't bad.

It was strong and definitely had a kick to it, but you were reminded of something sweet once the original fire went away.

You opened your eyes slowly and looked at Sans. His infamous shit eating grin had reappeared and his eyes were shining with amusement.

"how was it?" Sans said. You could hear his contained laughter in every word he spoke.

"It was strong," You coughed into your sleeve, "It wasn't bad though."

"wanna go for another round?" Sans asked cautiously, sounding like he might've been a bit nervous to ask, "it's all on you though. depends on if that sounds fun or not."

You took a second to contemplate and sighed, "Why not?"

Sans and you sat on the floor, leaning against his old couch. The vodka bottle still had more than enough liquor in it. Sans grabbed the bottle and poured a generous amount into each shot glass.

You eyed him curiously, "Haven't we already done, like. Three rounds already, Sansy?"

After the first few shots, you felt loosened up and talking was just... Easier. You didn't worry about what Sans or anyone else thought of you. Hell, you didn't even over contemplate every single word you said like always.

It was nice, you'd admit. You wondered if 'normal' people usually felt this way.

Sans seemed to be a bit more easygoing than usual, too. Which was honestly quite surprising, considering his usual attitude.

"wanna make a bet?" Sans snickered, "who can drink more?"

"That's a horrible idea," you said.

Despite what you might've said, you were able to chug down your entire glass in one shot. It still burned like hell, but you really liked the way it was able to make you feel.

Sans smiled, "i don't think you really feel like that though."

"Fine," you stuck your tongue out at him, "I want to do something rather than just blindly drink..."

"we can play a game," Sans suggested, "after every shot, we ask the other person a question."

"A question game?" you raised an eyebrow, puzzled by what Sans was suggesting, "What do you mean?"

Sans slumped into the ground more, seemingly relaxed, "you ask me a question, i ask you a question. you can always ask for a different question if something makes you uneasy."

"Should we start now then?" You asked, smiling shyly, "We did just take a drink, right?"

"sure," Sans shrugged, "you or me first?"

"I don't care," you answered.

"where's your favorite place down here?" Sans asked casually.

You took a second to answer, "I'm not quite sure, honestly. There's this one particular place but I can't remember the name of it."

"what did it look like?"

"It was when I saw you that one night," You smiled shyly, "It was a small music shop a few blocks away from my place. I've only been there once, but... It was really nice. I bought a CD there but I lost it..."

Sans's eyes widened, "oh, really? you left it at grillby's, i think. grillbz told me he found it after we left. i think it's in my room now."

You took a deep breath, "Thank you! Y-You don't have to go and get it right now or anything... I'll just grab it before I leave."

Sans shook his head, "your turn?"

"I'd ask where you favorite place is, but..." You winked at Sans, "I think I already know that..."

"How was the Underground?" you asked foolishly.

You noticed Sans tense up and you opened your mouth to apologize, "it was... dark, i guess."

"Sans, I-"

"kiddo," Sans seemed to be pretending that he was comfortable with the question, "it's fine. the monsters were nice, they still are. me and paps lived in snowdin - which was winter all the time. it was pretty nice. i don't think i'd want to go back anytime soon though. asgore asked us all to go back in a few weeks, but i decided not to go."

"Undyne was telling me about that," you nodded, "I actually was going to ask you... Do you, maybe, want to fill in for her? It'd be nice to have someone there while she's gone. I didn't notice how much I needed the extra help."

Sans looked at you for a second and smiled widely, "sure, _. i'd love to. i can probably get a few days off."

"Do you still work at that hot dog stand?" You frowned, "It's been really cold outside."

"guess you'll have to drink another shot to find out," Sans teased.

This time, you filled up both of your glasses, accidentally spilling vodka on your tights and his pants.

You didn't notice Sans blushing and looking away.

"Dammit," you cursed quietly, "At least it's clear, huh? I'm sorry... I'm such a klutz sometimes..."

"nope, you're good," Sans muttered quietly, "it's fine."

"Alright, so you have to answer my question now," you smiled softly, feeling that awful hint of anxiety come up, "If you want to, that is."

"oh yeah," Sans seemed to be back to normal and you almost sighed a breath of relief, "i quit there a few weeks ago."

"What do you do now?" you asked quietly, worrying if you'd say anything upsetting.

Sans smiled at you, "alphys hired me on her team. i work at the same lab she does, but we haven't done anything real important yet. it's been cool though. we worked together one time in the underground."

"That's awesome," you admitted shyly, "I've always thought science was really cool. I'm just not smart enough to understand it most of the time."

"i think you're doing just fine," Sans ruffled your hair comfortingly.

"It's your turn, right?" You nudged him slightly, sitting up straighter.

Sans nudged you right back, "how'd you get your bookstore?"

You felt yourself freeze unintentionally, not really liking the answer for his question. You hadn't even told Undyne this yet, and she did work there. To be quite honest, you typically tried to not think about it... That wasn't fair though, considering how much you loved your mom.

That didn't change the fact that this was the exact question you didn't want to answer.

"hey, _," he put a hand comfortingly on your shoulder, "don't say anything if it makes you uncomfortable, remember?"

You took a deep breath, "I got it when I was nineteen. My parents called me up and gave me the keys one day. At first, I had no idea why. Why were they giving me the keys to the store they loved so dearly? They knew I'm no good with people, much less anything else. They gave me the keys and said I could do whatever I wanted, even selling it. At that point, I-I knew there was something wrong."

"My mom..." You felt your voice hitch, "She gave me a huge hug and told me she loved me dearly. She... She told me... She told me she had just been diagnosed with glioblastoma. It's... It's a type of brain cancer."

"_," Sans eyes widened, and you felt his hand on your shoulder tighten.

"She was beginning to lose her memory at that point too," you felt your eyes start to sting, "Mom couldn't remember small things first, such as where her favorite jacket was. It only escalated from there. She began to forget bigger things too. She forgot how she had met my father, all the way to forgetting the day I was born. The only thing she didn't really forget was all the good memories we all had in that stupid bookstore. I-I couldn't sell that stupid thing, even if it was my mom's dying wish."

You laughed dryly, "Mom finally got tired of all the pain she had, saying that it hurt so fucking much. And... And my mom... She... She finally killed herself one day." There was a brief pause. "I miss her so much, Sans... It felt like she died just yesterday."

You hadn't really paid attention but you noticed you were sobbing at that point, crying the tears you held in for years. Sans quickly embraced you, holding you tighter than anyone had in a long, long time.

Sans ran his hand through your hair and made shushing sounds. You laid your head against his shoulder as you tried to stop the oncoming waves of sobs. Sans didn't say anything, but his presence was comfort enough.

You tried to move away for a second after your tears paused, feeling bad you had just thrown all that heavy information at your friend. Sans wouldn't have it though, and he held you tighter.

You embraced Sans back, clinging onto him like a child. You sat there in his arms, letting the emotions you've hid away for so long finally take over.