Warning- Parental abuse and Stockholm's syndrome (Kind of)

Sans' hand was outstretched still, hovering on the air where your shoulder was not a second ago. His eye sockets were wide with shock at your sudden movement, the lights mere pinpricks. Everyone in the room was frozen, every set of eyes planted directly on you.

"I-I gotta go." You choked out, grabbing your jacket and rushing to the door. Before anyone could call after you, you slammed the door.

It had been a few months since the barrier was broken. Everyone was just starting to settle down. You had been invited to Sans and Papyrus' house warming party. They were the last ones to officially leave the Underground, lagging behind to help the other monsters make their way to the surface.

The skelebros found a nice house in the town about ten minutes from Mt. Ebott, and within twenty minutes of all of your friends. It was a dream come true, or at least it should be. You could never hide this if everyone lived so close…

As you walked home, you felt tears prick your eyes. You had made a joke, and Sans has moved to pat you on the back. Instead, you flinched away so violently you knocked over the glasses on the side table. Everyone stared at you, not sure why you seemed to be afraid of Sans of all people.

You felt awful that you ditched out of the party without any warning, but you had already given away too much. You had told Toriel that, as much as you loved her, you had to go back to your human family.

The tears in her eyes almost made you reconsider instantly, but you were determined. You didn't know why you wanted to go back. You still don't know why…

Your train of the thought was cut off as your house came into view. No one from the outside would have been able to guess what happened behind the light blue walls and brown shingled roof. What was hidden behind the trimmed lawn and the light shining on the front porch.

Your first night back had been the worst in many years. Your father - god how you hated calling him that – was furious that you had run away for so long. You had been gone for almost two months. Do you know how hard it was to keep the police away? The school system? He has spit at you as you stood trembling in the kitchen.

How, you asked yourself that first night back, did you manage to push this out of your mind for those two months Underground? You came back because you owed your Father. He raised you, kept you healthy and fed and warm in the winter, even though he had to work extra to take care of you. You owed it to him to be a good child, even if you were almost an adult yourself.

The driveway was empty and the light was still on, so you knew he wasn't home yet. He almost never made it home until after ten in the evening anyway. Maybe he's staying at work later to get away from you?

You slipped inside and went to the kitchen. Despite eating at Sans' party, you were still hungry. The party had mostly appetizers, while you haven't eaten a full meal in a few days. To keep your father from getting upset, you only ate a little at a time.

Grabbing your sandwich and a drink, you slipped upstairs. Your feet landing exactly where you knew wouldn't make any noise. You locked the door behind you and sit cross legged on your bed. Your room was simple. You knew it could be worse. Your Father drilled it into your head at a young age that you were much better off than most people.

You had a simple twin bed in one corner, a plain blue comforter covering it. Your Father didn't care about the color of the blanket, as long as it was the cheapest. You has a plain brown dressed in another corner. A matching bedside table held a lamp with a clean white shade. You had a desk against the far wall, with another small lamp and some notebooks. The closet wasn't empty, but it wasn't full either. You had enough clothing to last one week, then you did your own wash.

The walls were a soft pink, left over from the little girl that lived there before you. The carpeting was white, but was now almost cream from years of shoes and sleepovers. Not yours of course. Your Father never let you wear your shoes in the house.

And you knew better than to bring friends home.

You managed to get a little nap before a car door slamming out front woke you. Jumping up, you felt your heart racing. You forgot to make dinner, you realized with a shot of fear. You raced downstairs and into the kitchen. You pulled out some tupper wear containers from the fridge and started making something quick.

The front door opened with a click and your father walked in. He was tall, as tall as Papyrus, with black hair speckled with grey. His eyes were dark and emotionless, the only sign he ever made any facial expressions were the lines by his eyes and mouth.

"I see dinner is not ready yet." He said in his gravely monotone voice. You let out a breath of relief. It was when his voice held emotion that you knew you were going to have a bad time. But you weren't out of the shark infested waters yet.

"I'm sorry Dad. I accidentally fell asleep when I got home. It'll be done soon though." You say, looking at his shoes. He taught you to speak clearly, but never look him in the eyes.

"You're lucky that you're so privileged." His voice hitched a little and your heart skipped a beat. Instead of teaching you just how privileged you really were, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the kitchen to the stairs.

You sighed in relief as you started chopping up the leftover chicken. Within ten minutes, you had a plate filled with hot chicken and gravy, a healthy serving of mashed potatoes and steamed carrots. Your Father insisted on having at least one meat and one vegetable with every meal.

With weak knees, you made your way up to his office, the ominous door at the end of the upstairs hallway. You knocked twice, like you had been taught when you were a child. His voice called from the other side of the door, muffled by the thick wood. You opened the door and poked your head in a fraction.

"I have your dinner dad." You say softly.

"Speak up." He barked at you, not looking up from the papers on his desk.

"I have your dinner dad." You repeat, much louder. He finally looked up and saw the full plate in your hands. He motioned for you to bring the plate over but didn't actually say anything else to you. On your way over, you were so focused on making sure you didn't look him in the eyes, you tripped on the edge of the carpet.

You sprawl out, feeling the rug burn on your cheek as you skid over the carpet. The plate flew from you, splattering the rug and the front of the desk with potato and chicken. You let a strangled moan from your lips as you tried to prop yourself up, but something held you down.

Looking up, you saw your father standing over you, his foot on the small of your back. His emotionless eyes almost glowed red with his fury. You felt the blood drain from your face. You knew what was coming next.

"Stand, child." He ground his heel into your back before letting you up. You felt a drop of blood leak from the rug burn on your cheek. You must have worn away several layers of skin during your fall. It burned really bad.

"I-I'm sorry F-father." Your voice was loud, but trembling. It just made him angrier. Trembling and stuttering were just signs as weakness.

"Look what you have done, you ungrateful rat. You could be living in an orphanage. You could be living in rags. You could be starving and alone. But no, I took care of you. Gave you food and clothing and a room all to yourself. All I asked from you is to behave. To keep the house clean and make dinner every once in a while." He took a step back and a clenched a shaking hand into a fist before relaxing the fist again. "It seems you can't even do that."

He brought his right arm across his chest and let it fly, the back of his hand hitting your cheek, right on the rug burn. His ring caught the skin and you could feel the cut on your cheek grow.

"I'm embarrassed to be your father. From now on, call me 'sir' and nothing else. Understand?" He growled out, his voice gravely with rage. You nod your head frantically, hoping to avoid any more pain. "I asked if you understood." He grabbed the front of your shirt and threw you into the bookshelf. The impact jarred dozens of books to fall onto your limp form, the corners digging into your exposed side.

"Yes sir! I understand sir! I am very grateful for everything you've given me sir!" You burst into tears, the pain getting to be too much. The blood from your cheek started soaking into the nearest book. He roared when he saw his white pages being stained red. Rushing at you, he pulled you up by the front of your shirt again, picking you up so your feet dangled off the ground by several inches. You let out a quiet whimper. You still weren't able to look the man in the eyes.

With a growl, he threw you across the room, your back slamming into the desk. You could feel the hot potatoes and gravy smush into your shirt. You could feel your heart beat throughout your body, but the blood rushing through your ears prevented you from hearing anything well.

"Get out. Clean yourself up. Don't let me see you for at least three days. I better not have any reason to look for either." He growled out at you. Picking yourself up off the rug, you sprinted from the office to your room.

Since only the two of you lived in the large house, your room had its own bathroom, and you have never been more grateful. You locked the door again, the half-digested sandwich rolling in your stomach. You stripped the shirt off your torso and threw it into the corner of the room.

Going into the bathroom, you flicked on the light and felt tears well up as you look at yourself in the mirror above the sink. Your cheek was bleeding pretty bad, the skin shiny and red where it wasn't bleeding. You had scraped off several layers of skin. With a jolt you realized it would leave some sort of mark for years to come.

Your torso was already starting to color, your left side more tender than the right. You were afraid you might have broken a rib, but with some poking and yelps, you realized it was just bruised. With a solid hand, you wipe away the drying blood on your cheek.

Tomorrow you had planned on hanging with Sans. You were supposed to be looking for a birthday present for Alphys, who was having a party on Saturday. You could probably skip shopping tomorrow, but that only left a week for your cheek to heal enough to cover it with makeup. You couldn't skip Alphys' birthday party.

You dug in your medicine cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit. Some medical cream, gauze pads and medical tape later, your cheek was bandaged up nice and tight. You realized there was no point in wrapping your ribs, so you just clicked off the lights and went to your dresser.

Pulling out an oversized sweater, you gingerly slipped it on. Your body was already starting to seize up, but you managed to crawl into bed and grab your phone. You hadn't told your father about the phone from Toriel, because he would have taken it from you.

Hey Sans. I can't go shopping tomorrow. I'll see you on Saturday. You sent the text before you would chicken out. His response was almost instant.

What's wrong? You left pretty quick earlier. Everything okay kid? He sent a second message a second later. Should I come over?

No. You sent the first message quickly, knowing if he came over it would all be over. Everything's fine. I'm not feeling well and don't want to go out tomorrow.

You sure? I can be over in a literal second.

Please don't come over. I'll see you Saturday. You click the screen off and put it under your mattress before curling up under the blankets. As you tried to fall asleep, you could feel the phone buzzing over and over again.

But nobody came to answer.

You managed to avoid everyone for the whole week. After you came back, your father told you he had pulled you from school. He told the school system he would teach you from home, but that was just so no one came to house looking for you. He never taught you anything.

The three das came and went, you dashing from a room as soon as you heard his footsteps, making dinner and cleaning the house like a ghost. You ordered something online and paid extra for the rushed shipping in order to get it by Saturday. You were really thankful your father didn't noticed small purchases on his credit card. He always made large purchases, so fifteen or twenty dollars here and there never caught his eye.

You had ordered a special DVD set of an anime you though Aphys and Undyne might like to watch together. It was violent, but also funny and points. It was the entire first season on only two discs, a great package.

It had taken you a while, but the nightmares kept you up, giving you plenty of time to make a special card for your favorite lizard monster. The party was in only a few hours, and you still wore the bandage on your face.

You had been trying to keep it covered so it would heal as much as possible. The main cut was healed, but the shiny skin and bruises stood out on your sickly skin. With light touches you dabbed on concealer until it was as covered as you could get it.

Half a bottle of makeup later, there was still a faint shadow over your cheek bone. If anyone looked close enough, it would be obvious you were wearing half a pound of makeup. You put on one of your better outfits, the one that was reserved for dinner parties and such, so you didn't embarrass your father.

Despite the scars left from your adventures Underground, the bruises from the falling books stood out bright and obvious. You also grabbed your jacket, to cover your arms. As long as you didn't take it off, no one should suspect a thing.

You pulled out phone out from under the mattress, checking it one last time. The morning you were supposed to go out with Sans, your phone had blown up with worried texts and calls from him. Thankfully, the monster battery never goes down at all. You had managed to convince him things were alright, but he still seemed off.

You father had left at dawn, leaving the house dark and cold. He never left the heat up, even if you were home all day. He said some people were living on the streets, and that even if the house was chilly it was better than what some had.

Sans had insisted on taking you to the party. You didn't have a car, and Alphys' house was the farthest away, almost twenty minutes by car. It would have taken you an hour and a half to walk, and Sans didn't want you walking alone to the other side of town.

You grabbed the wrapped present and your phone, going to the living room to wait. You weren't allowed to watch the television at home, which was why you catch up with Mettaton's shows at everyone else's house.

The house was silent as you waited, the only sounds were the clock ticking in the kitchen and your own breathing. Suddenly, there was more weight on the couch next to you. The sudden appearance of another body made you jump a foot out of your seat and fall to your knees.

"I-I'm sorry sir!" You hadn't meant to say anything, but it just slipped out. You knelt, wide eyes, staring at the sneakers connected to bone legs. Sans stared down at you, shocked and slightly frightened, his grin fading.

"As much as I get off being called 'sir'," He stared, his tone light but obviously forced. "I don't think that's what this is about."

He held a hand out to help you up, but seeing you flinch away made him curl his fingers back in surprise.

"K-kid-"

"We should head out now. Don't want to be late to the first birthday party up on the surface." You plaster a bright smile on, not letting it show how much it hurt your cheek to smile. You got to your feet and grab your present before heading to the door. Sans shuffled behind you, looking around the house before following.

It struck him odd that the heat was down, and that there were no pictures of you anywhere. It was like you didn't exist.

You walked a few blocks to the nearest shortcut. You figured out near the beginning that Sans' teleporting powers and his shortcut powers were two completely different things. Teleporting took about three time the amount of magical energy as using a shortcut, so since he teleported into your house, he needed to take a shortcut so as not to pass out.

You walked in relative silence, neither of you making conversation for long. After about ten minutes of awkward three sentence conversations, you made it to the ally that held the shortcut. He took your hand and puled you through the almost invisible crack in the shadows.

It took a disorienting second before you made it to Alphys', or close to Alphys'. The shortcut let out at the bus station about a block from the scientist's lab/home. You stepped through the shadows after Sans, who was there to steady you.

"You wanna talk about that bruise on your face before we make it inside?" Sans asked without looking at you, He was standing under the awning of the bus stop, looking left and right down the street. You felt your stomach drop and your palms start to sweat.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about. There's no bruise." You weakly shot back, not prepared to lie.

"Listen kid, I'm lazy. Not stupid. I know a bruise when I see one, even if it's covered in makeup." He finally looked over his shoulder a fraction.

"I fell down the stairs, and didn't want anyone to worry." You said flatly.

"Let me guess. The stairs make you flinch away from any fast movement too?" He didn't say it with malice or sarcasm. He was never sarcastic, at least not that you could tell.

"W-what? Sans you're getting old." You try to make a joke out of it as you hurry across the street. You could hear Sans' heavy footsteps following close behind, but he didn't say anything about the old joke. Usually he gave a light "Oh hardy har har yes laugh at the skeleton." But no, nothing from the monster.

They walked in silence the last block to the house with the large shed out back. At first, it amused you that the shed was almost the size of the actual house, but you were used to it by now. You knocked on the door, plastering another smile on your face as you heard footsteps approaching.

The door was thrown open by a very loud, very happy fish monster. Undyne puled you in, her talons bruising your shoulder a little. You would never tell her – or anyone – that a good 90% of your scars were from her.

"Hey there punk! When I heard you were coming with this sack of bones I figured you would be late!" She threw her head back and laughed at her own joke, but the only reaction was a tight chuckle rom the skeleton in question. He muttered a greeting and shouldered past her.

Undyne stared after Sans with confusion before turning back to you. She gave a half smile and tilted her head slightly to the right.

"What's biting his bones?" She asked, but you just give her an uncomfortable smile and shrugged. "He's been acting weird since his house warming party. Speaking of which, why did you run out so fast?" She crossed her arms and looked at you oddly.

"Erm, I had to get home. My d-dad needed help with something." You shot her another smile and ducked under her elbow into the kitchen. The party was already in full swing, monsters and humans of all shapes and sizes filled the rooms.

Alphys had joined a team of local scientists when she moved in. Turns out, she really loved plants, so the local botanical researchers were more than happy to have an expert on monster fauna on their team, so you weren't surprised to see humans here.

The monster of the hour was in the living room, sitting in her favorite arm chair. She was chatting adamantly with a monster who had vines instead of hair. When she saw you, she hopped from her chair and rushed over. You had to fight back to urge to take a step back when she came in for a hug. She didn't seem to notice anything as you hugged her and wished her a happy birthday, but something told you there was another pair of eyes was glued to you.

"… Happy birthday to you!" Everyone sang, some of the younger monsters and Undyne purposely singing the last note in the wrong key. Alphys smiled huge and blew out her candles. Toriel made her a special cake in the shape of her favorite anime character's weapon.

"Aren't you going to have some cake?" Sans asked, suddenly appearing behind you. You nearly jumped out of your skin, your eyes instinctively tearing up in fear.

"I-I'm not hungry." You whisper, staring straight ahead, spine ridged and painfully still.

"You sure? I haven't seen you eat much than a few crackers." He rested a boney hand on your shoulder, causing you to flinch away again. This time, however, he didn't pull away in shock. He expected this to happen. "Why don't you come with me for a little bit?"

You wanted to run, to go to the bathroom and collect your thoughts, but he didn't let up the pressure on your shoulder. Not seeing much of a way to escape this, you followed your friend out the sliding back doors.

The backyard had a few party goers. There were half a dozen in the pool, and another ten or so on the patio milling about. Sans walked right past them, not even acknowledging them. He walked right through the grass directly to the shed. He typed something into a key pad next to the door, which opened with a faint hiss.

"Come on kid. I want to see something." The underlying tone of his voice made you freeze up, and you followed him without question. It was so much like when your father gave you instructions. You could feel the dread pooling in your stomach.

You followed him into the lab, the lights clicking on automatically as the sensors picked up your movement. He didn't look back at you, but you could see his fingers fidgeting as if he was fighting with something internally.

"Step behind the scanner please." He nodded towards a large screen in the corner of the room. You hesitate, not feeling completely comfortable being in Alphys' lab without her.

"Are we allowed in here?" You ask, trying to buy time.

"Other than Alphys, I'm the only on with 24 hour access to this lab. Just like in Hotlands. Now stand behind the scanner please." He was looking at the panel to the left of the scanner, not at you. You heard the command in his tone. You hurried to stand behind the scanner, some primal part of you afraid of what would happen if you disobeyed.

As soon as you were behind the screen, it hummed to life. There was a light buzzing and a light that went from the left to the right of the screen. You stood completely still, nervous what would happen if you moved. You had no idea what this scanner did.

After a minute of buzzing, the scanner quieted down and the light faded. Sans made a noise, but you couldn't see his face from where you were behind the screen.

"Come on out Kiddo. I gotta show you something." His voice gave away nothing, and again you were faced with a dilemma. You didn't really want to know what the scanner scanned, but on the other hand you were afraid of what would happen. You stepped out from behind the screen and walked over to where Sans stood.

He was holding a little screen in his hands, looking at some small writing scrolling from top to bottom. When he sensed you next to him, he turned so the screen was in your view. You didn't know what to expect, but seeing your soul on the little screen was not it.

It had been months since you last saw your soul. You haven't had any encounters since the barrier was broken, so there was no reason for it to be brought out. Seeing it filled you with a sense of nostalgia.

But it was different. Instead of it being bright cherry red, it was… smudged. The edges looked almost bruised, a darker brownish red seeping into the bright, healthy red. The surface of the heart was dented as well, knicks and dings decorating the small soul. You stared at it, not sure what this meant. Even in your months Underground, even with all the battled and injuries, your soul had never sustained any actual injuries.

"You see, although monster souls and human souls are very different, they do share several qualities. One of them, the most important in this case, is their ability to heal and bounce back. If a monster is hurt, it is quite easy for them to heal, same with humans." Sans explained, looking at the screen with uncharacteristic seriousness. "However, if something happens to them emotionally, the soul takes on physical damage. It's been a fond enigma for scientists for hundreds of years. Why does physical injury not affect the soul's appearance, but emotional hurt change it so drastically?"

Sans didn't sound like himself at all. You would have put money on this being how he sounded before he quit his job as a scientist, or rather left. Or kicked out. You never really knew why Sans stopped being a Scientist, only that is was something really scarring for him. He continued his science lesson.

"This has been seen mostly in abuse victims." You felt a sinking feeling in your stomach as he swiped through a collection of pictures. All showed various sized and colored souls, all with similar bruising and denting. "A soul, especially a child's, thrives off affection, trust and similar things. When a soul is denied these emotions, or are betrayed in a sense, they start to deteriorate. Most monster children in this kind of situation die from their soul just giving out before their abuser kills them outright."

He finally turned and looked at you, his eye sockets wide and his smile turned down at the corners. He placed the tablet on the table off to the side and turned to you fully. He put his hands out in an almost pleading gesture.

"What is your pops doing to you kid? And there's no point lying. I have the data that proves you have soul damage and physical damage." He looked at you with pleading eyes, and you wanted to lie, wanted to tell him everything was fine. "I see the way you flinch away when someone tries to touch you. When something moves too fast at you..."

"He doesn't do anything bad. I owe him my life. He keeps me warm, and fed. Gives me a room all to myself and clothing. He just has rules. It's my own fault that I upset him." You say quickly, wanting to clear the air.

"What does he do to you?" Sans sounded dangerous.

"He just reminds me how lucky I am." You say in a quiet voice.

"What?" He almost hisses out. He lifts a hand and brushed a gentle tough to your cheek. The cold bones felt nice against the bruise, but you flinched away out of habit.

"I dropped his dinner… He was reminding me that I could be living in the streets. He just wants me to stay humble. He says pride will be humanity's downfall."

"What. Did. He. Do." Sans ground out, no longer looking anything like the smiling skeleton you befriended.

"Back handed me and threw me into a bookshelf. It wasn't anything too bad. I had worse in the Underground." You say, slightly afraid of Sans now.

"How didn't we notice?" He asked, more to himself than to you. "Months… months… You've been living with that ass for months and no one noticed you were being abused." He slammed his hands on the table, causing the piles of papers to tremble and scatter.

"I'm not being a-abused." The lie caught in your throat.

"Bullshit kid. You and I both know that's a dirty lie." He wasn't growling anymore, but the pent up rage was obvious in his voice.

"You can't tell anyone."

"Why the hell not, huh?" He whipped his head around to look at you, blue fire crackling in his left eye socket.

"I need him. He takes care of me." You repeated the words that had been drilled into your head since your mother ran off.

"I need you. I can take care of you." Sans threw back at you. "What about Tori? Pap? Hell, even Grillby would be more than happy to take you in! We all care about you so much. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I let you go back to that house, with that man."

"There's nothing I can do." You admit, feeling guilty. "There's no way he would let me leave."

"What time does he get back from work?" He asked, his tone almost dead. He was looking down at his own phone, as if debating whether or not to call someone.

"Usually not until after ten." You respond, not sure why Sans wanted to know.

"Perfect. Come on kid. We have something important to do." He grabbed the tablet and almost ran out the door. You had to sprint to keep up.

"What about Alphys' party? We can't just leave!" You were out if ideas on how to make him stop.

"We've all guessed this is what was happening. We talked about it quite a bit after you ran off last weekend. Everyone's behind you kid." He grinned at you, and you felt your jaw drop.

"W-wait Sans!" You ran after him, trying to get him to stop. Sans was walking straight towards Undyne, who was standing behind Alphys. He nodded once, and her face went from a wide grin to a somber straight face. She nodded back once, and looked at you briefly.

Sans was suddenly next to you, grabbing your hand with his. Before you could ask what he was doing, you were back in your house. The lights were still off, the heat still down. Your father wasn't supposed to be home for at least four more hours.

The skeleton walked right up the stairs, and you automatically followed. He only spoke to ask you which room was yours. You pointed out the second door on the right, and he made a beeline for it. He threw the door open and his face went from determined to blank as he saw the bareness of the room.

He went to the closet and started digging around, but you didn't bother trying to stop him. They always said monsters couldn't hold determination in them, but Sans could be pretty damned determined when he wanted to be.

He grunted and pulled something out of the back of the closet. It was your old duffle bag. You only ever used it when your father had to bring you on trips. Since he refused to let you of the hotel room for the days of the trips, it was big enough for you to fill with plenty of things to distract yourself with.

Not bothering to ask you, he started tearing clothing off hangers and messily folding them before throwing them into the bag. Everything in your closet barely filled half of the large bag. He went over to the dresser and opened the top drawer.

He didn't seem the least bit fazed as he tossed your undergarments into the bag, along with your socks and shirts and pants. It seemed like you were frozen as he moved around the room with an eerie grace. He was like a cat that knew he had to seek and destroy.

Sans went over to the desk and began going through the drawers. He gathered the notebooks, the paper, the pens and the pencils, the CDs and knick knacks you had hidden from your father over the years. They were all placed in the bag.

"Go gather your stuff from the bathroom." He said simply as he moved to fold up the comforter. You were finally released from whatever was holding you down. You moved to the bathroom, gathering up your shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, razor, hair brush tooth brush, and pretty much everything else in the room. There wasn't anything extra, just what you needed. The first aid kid, the toothpaste, your makeup for your wounds.

By the time you got everything together, he had the blanket and sheets folded nice and neat with the pillow on top. The room looked somehow barer now that everything was gone, other than the furniture and a few hangers.

Sans took the bathroom stuff from your arms and started loading the pockets on the front of the bag. When everything was packed away, he turned to you.

"Anything else you want to take with you?" He asked pointedly. You remembered something in his bedroom, which he never let you see. You rushed to his room and opened the door nervously. As if you expected him to be sitting on the bed, waiting for you.

You rushed to the dresser and dug through the jewelry box until you found it. A slender silver ring with a clear stone in the middle. Your mother's wedding ring. She left if when she left. Your father tried making her out to be the bad guy, but you were old enough to know why she really left. The ring was already strung on a chain, so you slipped it over your head and went back to your room.

Sans was standing by the desk, looking down at a piece of paper. He had written a note for your father. He had the bag slung over one shoulder. You went and grabbed the blankets. Carrying them under one arm. Sans grabbed your free hand. You got a quick look at it before he teleported you away. You only caught one line.

If you come looking, we'll go to the police about what you did.

He teleported you into a dark room. You saw a bare bed and an empty closet. Sans sagged onto the bed, the drain on his powers starting to get to him. He dropped the bag on the hardwood floors and chuckled quietly.

"Sans are you…" You wanted to comfort him somehow.

"Hehe just unpack kiddo. If we hurry, we can make it back to the party." He stood, swaying a little on his feet.

"Sans, where are we?"

"It's my spare room. You're stayin with me and Pap from now on." He walked to the door and flicked the light on. You blinked at the sudden light.

"Why are you doing this?" You ask, looking at your feet.

"Because kid. Anyone who messes with my family is going to have a bad time." He left the room, leaving you with a warm feeling in your chest. It didn't take you long to unpack, but then again you didn't really unpack much. You threw some of your things into the dresser, but you didn't hang anything up. You tossed the still half full bag into a corner before heading out the door Sans left through.

The house was instantly familiar, having helped set most of it up a few weeks prior. You could hear Sans in the kitchen, talking rapidly to someone. You couldn't make out what he was saying, but you could hear emotions in his voice.

"All set kiddo?" He asked. You didn't realize he noticed your entrance. You just nod, still trying to wrap your head around everything that's happened in the past… you checked the clock. The past forty five minutes. He teleported for a third time, landing you directly in the middle of Alphys' kitchen. As soon as the little yellow monster caught sight of the two of you, she ushered everyone out of the room.

"W-what happened S-sans?" Alphys asked, but her face showed she knew already.

"I finally got a confession. We moved everything to the spare room in my house. Hopefully nothing like this will happen to the kid again."

"Jeez punk. Why didn't you tell us?" Undyne leaned up against the counter and crossed her arms. You just shrugged and looked away.

"Well, we are here for you now, human. No need to worry ever again!" Papyrus came over and scooped you into a huge hug. It was one of the first hugs you've gotten in a long time.

"You know what Pap? I think you're right." You smiled, and for the first time in a while, it was completely real.

I've kind of been putting off the parental abuse chapters because I didn't think I would be able to write it well, but I tried. The next chapter is going to be a different type of parental abuse, but it won't be out for a few more days.

Thank you everyone for supporting me and my writing! I don't remember if I mentioned it in my last update, but I'm definitely getting better, mentally and all. Tomorrow starts my Spring semester and I'm really anxious.

Just the thought of starting classes makes my stomach queasy, so I wrote this out. I may just write the next chapter directly after I post this instead of eating dinner because I'm freaking out a little.

Until next time!

~Starlight