The subway is unusually quiet for a Saturday evening.

You sit down on a seat right by the doors, watching them close soundlessly. The subway is off in mere seconds afterwards.

It's quick business with subway trains. If you were just a moment too late, you'd be watching the subway go off by now. Not to say that it took them a while to come back, as it came by the half hours, but they were always in a hurry. You felt yourself wonder if they were on an automated schedule, with no one running the trains except for electricity.

You heard slight coughing from someone and turned your head at the noise.

Your blood ran cold as you cautiously moved around to check the entire subway car. It wouldn't have been such a big of a deal to you if there was many people in the train with you, but it seemed to be entirely empty save for you.

What was going on...?

You grabbed your bag off of the seat next to you and practically pulled the zipper right off. As you put your hand in and shifted through the contents of it, you thanked everything that you bought a small bag.

Where is it?

Ah, you thought, your fingers tightening onto a small box, There it is.

You pulled it out of your purse and stared at it.

"Prozac," You said quietly, despite the absence of anyone else, "Take one pill per day at the same time until box runs out. Talk to your doctor about another prescription a week before your pills run out."

You sighed.

"It better damn help. It cost me almost twenty dollars," you shoved it back into your purse, "Plus the judgement of the random salesclerk."

Although it had just barely been your second session with your counselor a near hour ago, he'd prescribed to you a month's worth of antidepressants. He said that it'd help both your depression and anxiety problems, provided you remembered to take it daily.

The counselor recommended to take those pills but also to still come see him weekly. While you'd much rather just go to the appointments alone, you promised yourself that you'd do whatever he asked you to. If you wanted to get better, maybe just trying antidepressants for a little while wouldn't hurt.

If you hated them, you could always just stop them.

(Although, you should definitely ask your counselor first.)

Before you knew it, the subway arrived at your destination. You grabbed your bag and walked out, trembling at the sudden cold. You found a vending machine nearby and bought yourself a small bottle of apple juice.

When you finally arrived back into the open air, out of the dark subway tunnels, you noticed just how dark it all was. You couldn't even see the moon, much less the stars, with the overcast in the sky.

You felt like a wimp, but it seemed pretty scary outside.

You shoved your hands into your pockets and rushed straight back home.

"COFFEE HUMAN, ALAS, YOU HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED HOME!" Papyrus shouted loudly, watching you pull up a chair and sit at the counter.

You smiled at him, "Hey, Papyrus. How has your day been?"

"IT HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARY!" Papyrus said happily, "BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU OR MY LAZY BONES BROTHER ALL DAY! EXCEPT FOR NOW OF COURSE AS YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN MY HOME BUT THAT IS BESIDES THE POINT!"

"Sans hasn't been home yet?" You furrowed your eyebrows.

"NO, NOT AT ALL!" Papyrus answered, "I WONDER WHAT THAT SANS IS DOING!"

You smiled slightly, worry taking over your emotions, "I hope he gets home safe..."

Papyrus stared at you for a moment, then suddenly shook his head, "HAVE YOU HAD ANY DINNER TONIGHT? IT WON'T TAKE ME A MOMENT MORE TO WHIP UP SOME OF MY SPAGHETTI!"

You nodded your head, not wanting to inconvenience the skeleton, "Yeah, thank you though."

Papyrus frowned.

"HUMAN?"

"Hmm?"

"ARE YOU FEELING QUITE ALRIGHT?"

"I, uhm," You paused, "I'm not quite sure."

"IS EVERYTHING OKAY?" Papyrus's attitude suddenly changed, his demeanor full of care and worry.

You nodded again, "I think so."

"DID ANYTHING HAPPEN?" Papyrus moved from his usual position in the kitchen to sit on the chair next to you, "YOU CAN TELL THE GREAT PAPYRUS ANYTHING! I DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE A FRIEND IN THIS POSITION FOR THE NIGHT."

"You're leaving?" Your voice carried a sad tone to it, which you immediately bit your cheek in shame for.

Papyrus heroically nodded, "UNDYNE AND I ARE HAVING A COOKING LESSON TONIGHT! WE'RE ALSO HAVING A SLEEPOVER! IT'S BEEN MANY MONTHS SINCE WE LAST HAD THE CHANCE TO DO THAT!"

"I hope you guys have fun," You said, "Tell Alphys I said hello."

"I WILL FOR SURE!"

"ANYWAYS, COFFEE HUMAN," Papyrus got back on track, "PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOUR MIND IS SAYING."

Turning your gaze away from the skeleton, you let out a small sigh, "I'm just..."

"I don't know if you've ever had this feeling, it's actually totally normal if you haven't... This feeling of hopelessness, I guess? Like nothing bad happens to you, and you might've had a good day while you're at it, but you just feel this constant... Emptiness."

You stared at the clock, watching the time tick by.

"I," You started, "..."

"I don't know. I'm sorry for being an inconvenience on you, Paps. I'm likely making no sense..."

"YOU'RE PERFECTLY OKAY," Papyrus put a gentle hand on your shoulder, "I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH BUT PLEASE DO NOT FEEL LIKE YOU ARE INCONVENIENCING ME OR SANS. BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT. THIS IS WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, _!"

You smiled softly, "Thank you."

"WOULD YOU, PERHAPS, LIKE TO HAVE THE SLEEPOVER WITH ME AND UNDYNE TONIGHT?" Papyrus asked, "WE'D LOVE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO MAKE EVEN BETTER SPAGHETTI! I DIDN'T GET MUCH OF A CHANCE TO TEACH YOU IT ALL PERFECTLY LAST TIME!"

"Maybe another time?" You said weakly, "It is quite late, I might have to go to bed soon."

Papyrus nodded, then shot up from his chair, "WELL, I NEED TO GO OVER THERE SOON. I CAN STAY WITH YOU IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO HOWEVER. I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE YOU ALONE SAD LIKE THIS."
You feigned a smile, "I'll be okay. I really appreciate you listening to me for a second."

Suddenly, strong arms embraced your form.

"Sans will be home soon," Papyrus said, his voice a whisper in your ear, "Remember this is also your home right now though."

You hugged him back, "Oh goodness, you're gonna make me tear up..."

Papyrus backed away from you, "WHAT?" His voice seemed to go back to it's usual tone, "DO NOT CRY MY FRIEND! THERE IS COFFEE, UHM! I THINK WE MIGHT HAVE SPAGHETTI! THERE'S METTATON MOVIES IN THE PANTRY, DON'T WATCH THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN A ROBOT AND A HUMAN THOUGH - WAIT, WHY WOULD MOVIES BE IN THE PANTRY? I'M SO CONFUSED!"

You giggled, "Ah, Paps, I was just teasing you. I'm okay! I won't cry! And I promise not to watch that movie. Is there one you would recommend in its place?"

"THE ROBOT AND THE SKELETON, OF COURSE!" Papyrus's face turned bright orange, "WAIT! DO NOT TELL SANS I SAID THAT!"

You raised an eyebrow.

"ALRIGHTIE, COFFEE HUMAN, I MUST BID YOU A FAREWELL! I WILL BE BACK HOME AFTER WORK TOMORROW!" Papyrus said, grabbing a bag off of the table.

You waved to him, watching him slam the front door harshly behind him.

Ah, whilst you felt yourself grow extremely exhausted, you knew tonight wouldn't be an easy night for sleep just from your feelings alone. What even had brought your sudden bad mood? That light hallucination of someone coughing? The prescription for your damned "crazy" pills?

Whatever.

It was almost midnight, you realized. You even had stared at that clock for a moment, not even paying attention to the time.

Something felt off.

Tonight was going to be awful.

You sat up from your chair, taking off your jacket and placing it on the coat rack.

Maybe you should've said yes to Papyrus's sleepover invitation. Even the cheerful, oblivious skeleton could tell just how awful your mood was that night. You know you shouldn't be alone. And, hell, you didn't even know when and if Sans was coming home that night.

Working as a scientist sometimes meant late, really goddamn late nights.

At first, it scared you dramatically with just how late it all seemed to be. But Sans tried to reassure that he was fine and that this schedule suited him better than his old one with his random odd and end jobs. (He said that he barely even got sleep when he didn't work where he was then.)

Still.

It kind of sucked.

Even if he went straight to bed, just having another person in the house made you feel safer. Your apartments were sort of the same way. Will and Emily were always right there, even if you didn't talk to them often. Being alone like this scared you. You felt like a child for it though.

If he didn't go to bed...

And if you were able to work up the courage...

Maybe you two could talk for a moment, just to get your mind off of things? He'd likely want to know what was going through your damned skull to try to help you, but you honestly were never sure of anything that happened there anymore.

Suddenly, the entire room was filled with a bright, flashing light. It was blinding, and you felt like you jumped three feet into the air. You screamed bloody murder, in spite of yourself. Soon afterwards, thunder filled your ears with enough force to make you fall to your knees.

Oh god, oh god, oh dear god.

Your heart felt like it was beating a million miles an hour.

That just proves my point.

I'm a goddamn child.

You took a few seconds to calm down, listening to your shallow breathing and the sounds of harsh rain beginning to pour down on the roof.

After a moment, you got yourself off of the floor - shaking out of surprise more than fear.

"Ah," You sighed, "That was awful."

You grabbed your apple juice out of your bag, popping open the lid, as well as your box of antidepressants.

Take it before I go to bed every night, alright.

I can just put this box on the sink in my bathroom. Sans and Papyrus likely won't see it...

Should I even try to hide it?

What would they think?

What do I think?

Before contemplating it anymore, you grabbed a pill and washed it down.

No time like the present.

The door unexpectedly shot open, the sound of rain becoming louder. A gust of cold wind made you shiver.

Sans appeared, his jacket soaked almost entirely in water, and closed the door. He took his off and hung it up along with yours. You heard him sigh deeply, sounding like he was in despair.

Apparently he hadn't noticed you when he first came in, as his eyes suddenly rested on your awkward self. He smiled brightly at you.

"hey, bookworm," His voice sounded gruff, tired, "didn't expect to see you up so late."

You tried to smile back at him, "Hey, Sansy. Late night?"

Sans nodded slightly, "i might schedule a date for my bed in a few minutes."

"I'd bed it'd like that," You added shyly.

He cracked another smile, "how was your day?"

Sans sat at the dining table, beginning to look through some paperwork that had been laid messily all over it.

"It was okay," You lied, "Yours?"

"alphys needed some extra help with some magic," Sans said quietly, "she doesn't have much of her own. i ended up tiring myself out..."

You raised an eyebrow, "You run out of magic?"

"it's like an rpg, i suppose. mages have a certain amount of magic points before they have to rest and slowly gain them back, right?" Sans smiled, looking at you, "that's how monsters work."

"I didn't know you liked RPGs," You laughed, "We should play one sometime."

"i'd love that."

There was a slight moment of silence as thunder started to act up again, and you grabbed onto the box in your hands tighter. There was gonna be a dent in it soon enough, if you hadn't already made one.

"Does that mean you had to catch a ride home?" You asked, wanting a conversation.

"yeah, alphys drove me," Sans replied, "i still ended up getting soaked."

It felt so awkward.

"Do you know what you're gonna do when the rest of the monsters leave? Is the science lab going to be closed for the week?"
Sans nodded, "can i work with you?"

You raised an eyebrow, but smiled, "I'd love that."

Sans smirked.

You bit your lip.

"Is everything okay?"

"yeah, why?"

"I... I don't know, I'm sorry."

"don't be sorry."

"I wasn't sure, because... I just..."

"Hmm?"

"If... If you weren't okay, you can tell me. You know that, right?"

"i know. this sort of thing though..." Sans started, "it doesn't require your concern."

"I think I'm gonna head to bed," You said in a rush, shoving your stuff back into your bag hurriedly, "Have a good night, Sansy."

Sans nodded, even giving you a bright smile in response, "night, _. sleep well."

"Also, Sans?" You began walking to your room, "Don't forget to go to sleep."

"you too."

You practically ran into your room, slamming the door uncharacteristically loud behind you.

Well, you had called it.

Tonight was fucking horrible.

Had you done something to upset Sans...?

It didn't matter, whatever had happened - the damage had already been done.

You were an idiot.

You threw your bag onto the ground and flung yourself into the comfort of the soft mattress. With just barely bothering to kick off your shoes, you put Toriel's lovingly made quilt on top of yourself and sighed at the warmness of it. You slowly felt yourself fall into an aimless, restless slumber.

You felt proud of yourself that you didn't cry yourself to sleep that night.