Four in the morning was not the best time for coffee, so you ordered a hot cocoa instead. You still needed some sleep before you went to classes tomorrow. Thankfully, your first one wasn't until ten in the morning.

You were too anxious to argue when Muffet refused your money and pointed you to the table Sans had sat down at. This was the first time you had really looked at anyone romantically in a situation where reciprocation was a possibility, and it was nerve-wracking.

When you were growing up, boys in the academy that you'd been attracted to inevitably were attracted to someone prettier or more popular or more outgoing. Or at least, someone who didn't spend most of her time studying in a corner.

The past few years since becoming an adult, there were only a few people you'd considered. All of them had either turned you down early on, when you started flirting, or were already in a relationship.

It occurred to you now what it meant that those rejections hadn't really hurt. Those had simply been people you were attracted to, not in love with. You hadn't been quite so invested in the potential relationship. Not like you were now.

Which made Sans's soon-to-come answer all the more terrifying.

What would you do if he said no? You couldn't just hide in your room for an eternity. What if he agreed? What if it didn't end up working out? You'd seen quite a few interspecies relationships that had only lasted a few months at best.

You sat down.

"I'M SORRY." He began immediately. "I SHOULD HAVE CORRECTED YOU BEFORE YOU LEFT. I WASN'T REJECTING YOU."

A nervous smile crossed your face as he stared at you intently. "I've come to realize that. I shouldn't have taken it in that way. Especially since you make yourself quite clear most times."

"I DIDN'T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR YOU AND IT FELT RUDE TO MAKE YOU WAIT THERE IF I WASN'T GOING TO HAVE ONE SOON." He explained. "IT'S JUST…I DON'T…PAPYRUS IS…"

"Papyrus told me some of it. I understand." Sans paused for a moment. "I kinda get it. You and your brother are close; he's important to you. I'd probably feel the same unease if you didn't like my brother and sister. But I need to clear that up. I don't dislike Papyrus. In fact, I think he's a pretty respectable guy in some aspects. I just don't trust him. And, he doesn't trust me either."

Sans's eye-lights flickered down to your chest. After the explanation from Chara, you finally understood what he was looking at. Souls were important to monsters, so you didn't feel any unease at his momentary gaze.

"TRUST IS IMPORTANT," He acknowledged. He seemed to debate with himself a bit before asking, "DO…DO YOU TRUST ME?"

There was no hesitation in your reply. "Yes."

Sans seemed to relax a bit as his eye-lights met your gaze. His smile grew. "I TRUST YOU TOO. I THINK I WAS WORRIED, BUT I KNOW YOU WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING BAD. YOU'RE RIGHT. PAPYRUS IS REALLY IMORTANT TO ME. WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER FOREVER. I TOOK CARE OF HIM WHEN HE WAS JUST A BABYBONES."

You found yourself tracing the top of your cup with your finger as Sans studied the grain of the table.

"I WAS SURPRISED WHEN YOU TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME. I MEAN, I HAD BEEN HOPING YOU FELT THE SAME WAY I DID," Your heart jumped into your throat at his admission, "BUT I GUESS I WAS SCARED. I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU, BUT I DIDN'T WANT THINGS TO CHANGE." He hesitated before spitting out the next words. "I WAS A COWARD, AND HURT YOU BECAUSE OF IT."

You reached across the table to grip his hand, causing him to look up at you again. You gave him a soft smile, and spoke in a voice that you were proud didn't waver at all, despite your nervousness. "How's about we try this again then? Hey Sans?"

He choked on his reply. "Y-YES _?"

"I'm in love with you." You repeated.

Sans's eye sockets closed, gathering magic as he replied, "I LOVE YOU TOO." Was he starting to cry? He caught your hand as you moved to pull it away so you could wipe his eyes. As if he were afraid you would disappear if he let go.

Suddenly the you knew the reason. You had disappeared. Last time after you said those exact words. You'd left when he asked you and locked yourself in your room for two days with your phone off. You'd only come out on the third day because Chara made you, and nobody else had gotten to see you until Fuku that night.

And you know he'd tried.

But you'd as good as vanished from him.

Your situation wasn't unique; he was just as terrified as you were.

You brought your other hand up, brushing against his skull as the magic gathered enough to form tears and began to streak down his face. His other hand moved to keep it there as your thumb brushed away the magic. You tugged on him gently, bringing his forehead to rest against yours as he let out the first sob.

"I'm sorry." You whispered to him when he released your hand to grip your shirt. "I won't disappear. I promise." You held on to him patiently as he sobbed quietly, awkward as it was over the table.

You had no idea what to say. After all, what does one say to the older sister who just squealed your ear off through the phone. Eve had called you without bothering to be able to put together a coherent sentence first.

You blamed Damien. There was no other way for her to know yet.

And if Damien had been involved, both of them had probably known the whole thing before you did. You might have been annoyed if you hadn't lived with it your whole life.

You set the phone down and waited for her to breathe properly. It took a few minutes before she did so with no hysterics. "Your first boyfriend! I'm so proud!" Eve finally shouted at you once she remembered what words were.

"Just my first?" You questioned, waiting for her to enter I-can't-tell-you mode.

As predicted, "You know I won't tell you. I mean your first boyfriend as you haven't had one before. No indication of the future. Besides, I don't even know. Damien doesn't tell me that much either." She paused for a second before continuing, "So what are you guys going to do for your first date?"

You glanced over to the large pile of sticky note possibilities you'd come up with of things you'd both enjoy. "Uh…about that…" you trailed off, not really wanting to try to go through it a fourth time.

"Try minigolf? Sans seemed like a pretty active guy."

"How did you even know that was in my pile Eve?" You interrogated as you fished the sticky note out from the pile. It had three different possible locations written on it for you to research and choose from.

"Dude. _. I'm your sister. A couple years of only seeing each other a couple times won't change that. I know you. Try not to overthink it too much. You like him. He likes you. Just let it evolve."

"Coming from all your relationship expertise?" You teased, crossing off one of the locations since it was closed after August.

"Hey, I'm getting married in a couple months. I have more expertise than you do." Eve protested. "Miss first boyfriend." She added, grumbling. "Speaking of, are you going to be able to make it?"

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, yes Eve. I will be at your wedding." You both paused for a few seconds before you asked the necessary question. "Will Mother and Father be there? We can't exactly hide your magic there. Or all the guests'. Or the groom's."

"Yes. They are attending. That's something we need to all talk about. I was planning to tell them the truth." Eve replied seriously.

You immediately mentally rejected the idea. It was so odd, as much as you insisted on the truth in most situations how this one could cause you so much panic. Eve was right though. You couldn't hide the truth forever, nor should you have to. There was no reason you should have to go against everything you believed in anymore just to keep two people happy that you barely cared about because they didn't even know you.

They couldn't touch you anymore. None of you. "I'm fine with it. During the family holiday then?" You suggested, voice much calmer than you were.

"I'll have to talk to Damien about it." You heard a door open and close in the background of the call. "Oh, hey Sweetie. I've gotta go, _. Good luck with your date!" Click.

You head dropped onto the table, straight into the middle of the pile of sticky notes.

Sans was, of course, stoked by the minigolf suggestion. So stoked, in fact, that he'd immediately turned and tried to invite Alphys along. Thankfully, she turned him down with a loud guffaw as you hid your beet-red face in your hands.

"_? WHAT'S WRONG?" He asked once he noticed.

You mumbled into your hands unintelligibly. Gently, Sans gripped your wrists and tugged them away from your face, squatting down a bit so he could look up at you. You hadn't known it was possible to blush even more, but the sudden proximity had proved the truth to you.

"She wants to take you on a date, Sans. Y'know, the kind that couples go on?" Alphys informed him, still highly amused.

Suddenly you weren't the only one blushing. Alphys strode away with a cackle.

You twisted your hands before Sans could pull away, catching his wrists in your grip. "So, yeah. Let me try that again. Would you like to go play minigolf with me? As a date?" You added this time, just to clarify.

Sans skull was the color of your magic as he agreed. You vaguely wondered what color his magic would be. Chara had told you that colored magic was different for monsters, as their Souls were all white.

The blush on your face didn't fade at all as you worked up the courage to hold his hand on the walk. You managed, lacing your fingers through his when your steps matched up correctly. You breathed a sigh of relief when his phalanges gripped you back.

Why did something so simple seem so, so intimate?

Undyne was in the middle of a precise calculation when Alphys burst in. With a sigh, Undyne resigned herself to asking the queen for yet another door replacement in the lab before turning to discover what had her fiancé so excited.

"Babe, you're never going to believe this!" Alphys was shouting.

Undyne lifted her coffee to her lips, waiting for her lover to get to the point. Alphys could be quite excitable about everything, and acting excited before she knew what it was about would inevitably lead to never finding out what Alphys wanted to tell her.

It had happened more times than she could count. Especially early in their relationship. Alphys would barge in, excited about something. Undyne would reciprocate the excitement and in all the intense blubbering, Alphys would forget what exactly she had been excited about in the first place.

Honestly, it was the best option to get excited only after she knew what she was supposed to be excited about.

"_ asked Sans on a date!"

Undyne almost felt sorry for the fact that she had just covered Alphys in hot coffee from spitting it out so quickly.

Almost.