You're running, out of breath but pushing forward. You can't stop now after you've come so far. The longer you go the better the chance that you'll make it if you don't collapse from exhaustion. You trip over something and fall face first onto the pavement, pain shooting through you. You're not healed from the last session yet.

Hands wrap around your neck and pull you up from the floor. His grip is so tight, you can't breathe. You claw at his arms desperately. "S-stop…" You choke out a plea.

"Did you honestly think you could do anything?"

"S-sans…"

"The skeleton's gone. You killed him remember?" You struggle to look to your side, where Chara is standing, twirling a knife in his hand, the tip piercing his index and calling out a string of blood down his hand. He tiptoes over to you, putting his arms around your struggling body, pointing the knife to your stomach. "He was on his knees, just waiting." He pushes it in, breaking the skin. "And you didn't stop." The blade sinks deeper, twisting around. "So why should we?"

Your vision is blurring, the torture unbearable. You want to scream but you're strangled. Chara's other hand reaches for your chest. "Your soul is ours now." He says as he pulls the knife up, opening you from your hip to your neck, leaving your heart exposed. Your father reaches into your chest and rips it out, dropping you to the ground.

There's blood everywhere. You should be dead by now, but you're not. You feel someone shaking you and weakly move your head to see Sans leaning over you, worry written all over his face.

"Star, wake up, you're dreaming." You sit up suddenly. You look around to see that you're in Sans' room. It was just a nightmare. But there's a sharp pain on your side and you cover the spot with your hands. It feels wet and sticky. "You're bleeding…" His voice is shocked as he looks at you, blood seeping into the shirt of his that you're wearing.

"What?" You bring your hand up in front of your face and sure enough, there's the metallic smelling substance all over it. "How…?"

"I'll go get Pap!" He quickly shuffles out of his room and you're left staring stupidly at your fingers, the ache on your side doing nothing to snap you out of your stupor.

It was just a dream…

"Sans, what's going on?" Papyrus's sleepy voice sounds down the hall, uncharacteristically quiet. When his groggy eyes fall on you however, he's jolted fully awake. "HUMAN! WHAT HAPPENED?!" He sprints to your side and starts casting healing magic around your injury, making it sting slightly.

You're still shell-shocked, eyes never leaving your blood covered hand. "I… was dreaming…" You tell yourself. The smaller of the two skeletons climbs onto the bed and intertwines his fingers with your gory ones, his other hand finding the crook of your neck shaking you slightly.

"Star, snap out of it, please…" You slowly turn your eyes to Sans.

"You're not dead…" Eye sockets widen and phalanges tighten around your hand.

"Of course not, why would you think I was?" He sounds alarmed.

"He said I killed you and then he stabbed me… But it was only a nightmare…" You sound so detached it's hurting his soul. "So why am I bleeding?"

"I'm taking care of you, you'll be fine. The wound is not very deep." Papyrus is back to being quiet, and not even the oddity of such a thing is enough to bring you back to earth. "Sans, what's going on?"

"I don't know. She was thrashing, I woke her up and she was like this." He explains, pulling you closer. Unconsciously you bring your bloody hand over to Sans' cheek. He doesn't shy away from it, instead leaning into it, despite the fact it stains his face a dark red.

"You're here…" You murmur, resting your forehead on his, closing your eyes.

"I'll always be here."

The magic dies down and the taller skeleton stands up, rubbing your back. "That should be better." You turn to look at Papyrus your thoughts starting to make some sort of sense.

"Thank you."

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS READY TO OFFER HIS AID!" He flashes you a bright smile but you can tell that it doesn't reach his eyes and you feel awful for putting him through this, even though you're not entirely sure what it even is.

He goes back to his room, presumably to go back to sleep, but you can't shake the feeling that he won't be sleeping anymore tonight.

Sans puts one arm behind your back and another one under your legs, pulling you up to his chest and carrying you to the bathroom. There he sits you down and soaks a small towel, cleaning your hand with it and then your face. The white cloth soon turns completely crimson. His fingers stop at the bottom of the shirt that is sticking to your skin, completely drenched.

"I can take care of it." You say quietly, but he shakes his head.

"I'm not leaving you alone." Slowly he pulls the shirt over your head and throws it to a corner of the room, making a point not to look anywhere but at your stomach as he rubs the wet towel over where the wound previously sat. It's still sensitive, not completely recovered as Papyrus isn't as skilled as Toriel with healing magic, and so Sans taps the cloth carefully over it in an attempt to not break the skin again.

When the redness has been washed away he peels off his blue jacket, staying in only a white t-shirt, and while looking at the wall drapes it over your naked shoulders, a soft cyan hue glowing over his cheekbones which you notice are still caked in your blood.

The jacket is warm around you, it smells like him. You wrap it over yourself and zip it up. Taking the towel in your own hands you softly wipe at his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He looks you in the eyes, his expression mild.

"For one I ruined your clothes. And I scared you, and Papyrus…" Your voice gets lower after each word leaves your lips.

"I'm just glad you're okay now. Papyrus is stronger than he looks. I'll make sure to do something nice for him." In spite of the situation a small smile spreads on your face.

"I'll get in on that." You set the dirty towel on the floor when you're done. "You said you had nightmares too. Why do they stop when I'm around?"

His pupils drift to your chest. "Your soul settles mine down."

"How? And why doesn't it do the same for me?"

"Well, uh… It's complicated…" He picks up the bloodied cloths and starts walking towards the door and you get up to follow him.

"You used that excuse before already." You pull on his arm so that he turns to face you.

"First of all we should be figuring out how you got that lovely piece of work on your stomach." He points in the general direction of where the laceration was earlier. You can't really argue with that.

"I definitely dreamt that I got stabbed there, and it definitely hurt in the dream."

"Dreams can't hurt you though."

"Can't they?" You really can't be sure. Magic is a mysterious thing that works in mysterious ways. Who's to say that your nightmares don't come true? He stares at you strangely.

"No." He says simply, eye sockets narrowed. "What else happened in the dream?"

You think back, the details becoming fuzzy from the time you've been awake now. "Well, it was a jumbled up replay of memories in an order that isn't quite how it happened. My father was strangling me just like that day. But then Chara was there, saying I killed you. And he stabbed me where my father did the same way he did. And then…" You shudder as you recall it. "He opened me up like a pig for slaughter…"

"If what I think is right then it's a good thing I woke you up." Sans speaks quietly.

"And what exactly do you think?" The small skeleton looks at you in the eyes, his expression sombre.

"That you did this to yourself." Your mouth falls open. "Dreams can't kill you, but you can act them out. I speak from experience." It makes some sense, but you weren't the one wielding the knife. Chara was. As if he read your mind Sans offers an explanation. "Chara's soul was closely bound to yours, it might be that parts of him are still lingering inside you, taking a hold of you."

"So what you're saying is that he could still use me to hurt someone…?"

"No, but your subconscious is susceptible to influence. He's gone, but his soul left a mark on yours."

You throw your head back, exasperated. "And meanwhile I'm a danger to everyone when I'm asleep."

Skeletal arms wrap around you comfortingly. "It will go away, it just might take some time."

"How do you know that?" He shifts uncomfortably sighing heavily.

"I wasn't going to do this because it's kind of… I don't know… But you look like you need something to hold onto so…" You look at Sans expectantly. He grabs your hand and takes you to his room, stopping for a moment to take away the bloodied sheets and place them in a corner along with everything else.

He motioned for you to sit down and stood in front of you, bringing his hand up to his chest. There's a moment of silence and he pulls his hand away, a cyan heart following it out from his ribcage, filling the room with its light.

"Oh wow…"

"I don't go pulling out my soul for just anyone… Please be careful." Your eyes are wide and you're unsure of what to even do or say.

"It's beaut-" You cut yourself short when you notice something on it. Little ridges that look all too familiar grace its surface here and there. They look like… "Scars…?" You inadvertently raise your fingers over to it, careful not to touch it as you don't really know if you're allowed. The little heart seems to shake and lean into your hand, causing you to pull back quickly with a gasp.

"Heh, it does that around you. Trauma scars your soul just like blades scar your skin. But like everything else, it heals with time, leaving the memory, but building your character." The soul jumps to you pulling him with it. "Wow there!" He reaches for it and brings it back over, grinning sheepishly at you. "Sorry."

"Can you pull mine out too?" Your voice is quiet but curious.

"I don't know if that's a good idea…"

"Why not?" His cheekbones glow a navy blue.

"If our souls are both out in the open things might get… Hard to handle…"

You feel like a small child asking question after question to everything he says. "Why?"

"I'm sure you've noticed a pull in your chest even when your soul's inside you."

"Yes, but what could happen? And why do I feel it? Is it because of our feelings for each other?" The questions just keep forming in your brain, one after another, and you can't seem to stop yourself from voicing them.

"Starting with that last one, yes but it's more than that." He's holding his soul close to his chest, it seems agitated, like it wants to move around freely. "My coming to that park wasn't just a coincidence…"

You tilt your head to the side, your interest peaked. "What do you mean?"

The small skeleton looks away from you, seemingly embarrassed. "Have you ever heard of soulmates?" You blink at him. "To monsterkind it's not just a romantic way to describe long lasting love."

"So you're saying…"

"Our souls call out to each other in a way that's very hard to ignore."

"Is it just a monster thing?"

"No, but I think it's rare among humans, didn't even know it was possible between a human and a monster…" He chuckles slightly. "It's kind of amazing, your soul is something special. I'm lucky I found you…" Carefully he cups his soul with one hand lifting it in front of you. He points to a brighter looking line in the middle. "That's from when I thought I lost you. Still fresh. But they fade in time."

You feel an ache in your chest at that, tears stinging your eyes, threatening to spill out. "We're not so different you and I…"

Sans smiles at you, taking his soul back into his chest. "No, we're not…"

"So this was what you and Papyrus were talking about?" He nods.

"Paps is perceptive, I swear he knew it before I did. But I didn't want to tell you in fear that it would scare you off. It's not something to take lightly." He seems anxious all of a sudden. "You're not bothered by this are you?"

You laugh and lean closer to peck him on the mouth. "My soul is yours."

For a second you think you see his pupils turn to hearts. Sans crashes into you, bony arms holding you tight. "I will protect it with my life."

NOTE: Some anguish mixed with some loving confessions, but fret not I'll be spoiling you with fluff in the next chapters :P Hope you enjoyed reading, please leave some feedback if you have any