Not the best chapter, but bare with me, here.

And, um...excuse the time skip.

A year has past since then, Papyrus was now 14. Ever since Sclara died, he hasn't seen or heard from Ricky at all...in fact, nobody has. And while Papyrus hoped Ricky was doing OK, he was also happy that he didn't have to worry about being attacked by him, anymore.

Of course...he also had to get used to being alone, again. Often, he found himself cleaning the apartment on his own while Gaster and Sans were at work...Not that he minded, really. Papyrus actually liked cleaning, he often found it relaxing. He just hoped that he would be able to spend some time with his family again, one day.

Papyrus was walking home with a bag of groceries until he heard a nearby dog monster sneezing. The dog wore a white blouse and a light pink poodle skirt. She began sniffing the air before looking at Papyrus.

"Excuse me, Mr. Skeleton?" The dog called out. Papyrus looked around before pointing at himself. "You mean me?"

"Of course," the dog replied. "I just need to know where the Spider Bakery is. Can you help?"

"Oh," Papyrus began to smile, gesturing for the dog to follow him. "It's this way!"

The dog began to follow Papyrus through New Home. While most monsters lived in the capital, Papyrus has never seen this dog, before. Still...it wouldn't hurt to talk, right? He looked at the dog with a curious expression. "Um...If it's all right to ask, where did you come from?"

"We're from Snowdin," the dog replied, "My husband and I haven't been out here in a long time, so we thought we'd spend a few days, here."

"That sounds nice," Papyrus replied, his expression turning bitter. "Though between you and me, I think it's pretty boring out here."

"Well...I can understand that," the dog replied, "I'll admit it gets pretty boring having to stay in the same place all the time." She began to wink. "In fact, you could say we're always SNOWED in."

"Ugh," Papyrus placed a hand on his face. "Honestly, that sounds like something my brother would say!"

"I take it that you don't like jokes?"

"No, I like jokes...just not when they're forced!" Papyrus gave the dog a dirty look. "Believe me, it's bad enough that my brother thinks he's a comedian half the time."

"Oh...does he always get on your nerves?"

"Yes he does," Papyrus replied, he began to smile. "But what can you expect from someone named Comic Sans?"

The dog chuckled as Papyrus' face began to turn red. "Actually...forget I said anything!"

It grew silent for a moment, and Papyrus was willing to change the subject. Without thinking, he asked the first thing on the top of his head. "So what's it like in Snowdin?"

"It's very cold," the dog replied. "and you'll mostly find furry monsters over there. Dogs, especially."

"That sounds...interesting," Papyrus replied, shifting uncomfortably. "They don't eat skeletons over there, do they?"

The dog shook her head. "Of course not. In fact, we don't even have skeletons in Snowdin."

"I guess that makes sense," Papyrus replied. "You don't find many of them living outside of New Home to begin with."

"True..."

Eventually, Papyrus made it over to the spider bakery. He looked up at the dog, once again. "This is where you wanted to go, right?"

"Yes it is," the dog said, clasping her hands together. "Thank you, Mr..."

"It's Papyrus," the skeleton replied, shaking the dog's paw. "And you are?"

"I'm Dogaressa," she replied, "It was nice meeting you."

Papyrus bowed his head courteously as Dogaressa walked into the Spider Bakery. After finishing his good deed, Papyrus began to head back to his apartment. After all, he couldn't hold onto the groceries forever.

As Papyrus returned to his apartment, he wasted no time putting the food away in the kitchen. Once he was finished, he sat down and pulled out his phone. He began to call Sans.

"hey, bro!"

"Hello, Sans. Do you know when you two are coming back?"

"um...we'll be back, soon. just-"

Without warning, an explosion could be heard from the receiver...followed by screaming and yelling. Sans let out a hoarse growl. "just give us an hour or two. hopefully we'll still be together in one piece."

"All right, just be careful over there."

Sans hung up the phone before any more chaos ensued. Whatever was going on, Papyrus hoped that Sans and Gaster were all right.

Papyrus looked around, the apartment was perfectly clean for now. Not only that, it seemed like Gaster cleaned it before he left. With nothing better to do, Papyrus began to walk towards a nearby book shelf, digging through books until he found a small, black book. Strangely, it didn't seem to have a title on it. When he opened it, however, he quickly realized that it was one of his father's photo albums. It was probably best to put it back...

...But Papyrus looked through it, anyway. He found many pictures of his father. In some of them, he was standing with either Asgore of his Ex-wife (Who he could've sworn was Asgore without his mane...boss monsters were confusing). There were also quite a few pictures where Gaster stood next to another skeleton. This skeleton often wore a long red scarf, which was the same one Papyrus was wearing right now. It was safe to assume that this skeleton was his mother.

Papyrus didn't know too much about his mother, he was told that she died due to Soul Sickness. And because of this, Gaster worried that either of his sons could die the same way. However, Papyrus never worried about it, as he rarely got sick anyway.

As Papyrus looked deeper and deeper into the photo album, he eventually found pictures of himself and his brother as a pair of baby bones. Papyrus chuckled softly, it was hard for him to believe that he and Sans were the same size at one point. Nowadays, people would probably assume that Papyrus was the elder sibling, since his brother still looks somewhat like a child.

Papyrus put the book down as he started to doze off. There wasn't anything else to do in the apartment, so maybe a small nap wouldn't hurt...At least for now, it won't.

"pap, we're home!"

Sans walked into the doorway, only to be greeted by the sight of his brother sleeping. This was unusual for Papyrus, so he looked over at his dad with concern. "should we do something?"

Gaster smiled warmly as he grabbed a blanket from the couch and placed it over his younger son. (I believe it's best that we leave him be, for now).

"hehe..." Sans smiled pathetically as he sat down next to his brother. "it's gotta be boring without the two of us around, k'know?"

(I'm sure it is), Gaster signed, (Although...perhaps we should do something nice for him).

"all right, what'd you have in mind?"

(Perhaps next weekend I could take him to the lab, I know I used to take the both of you there when you when I didn't have anyone to watch you).

"you did, huh?" Sans asked as he placed a hand over his jaw. "though i guess after mom died, you didn't have much of a choice, huh?"

Gaster shook his head. (Regardless, I'm sure Papyrus will get along quite well with my assistants).

Sans shrugged. "hey, whatever floats your boat!"

(Well, in the meantime, why don't we try cooking spaghetti?)

"um..." Sans shrunk back into the couch, his pupils disappeared from his eye sockets. "what do you mean 'we'?"

(Well...you know how to cook, don't you?)

"it doesn't mean that i...- HEY!"

Sans struggled as Gaster lifted him into the air with gravity magic. He waved his arms helplessly as his father took him into the kitchen. "Come along, Comic Sans!"

Sans grumbled as he crossed his arms, he gave his father a dirty look. "ok, fine! but don't expect it to be any good!"

(I know), Gaster replied as he gently placed Sans back onto the floor. (Just do the best you can).

"Papyrus...?"

"Papyrus!"

"Wake up!"

"...Mm?" Papyrus slowly opened his eye sockets as Gaster continued to nudge him. He began to stretch, rubbing the back of his neck afterwards."How long have I been napping?"

(Ever since Sans and I came home), Gaster signed as he handed Papyrus a plate of some kind. (Here, your brother made us some dinner).

Papyrus looked down at his plate, noticing that Sans managed to cook some spaghetti. He took his fork off the plate and began to twirl it. Taking a bite, Papyrus thought that it wasn't too bad. The noodles were a little under cooked...but other then that, it tasted all right.

Gaster sat down next to Papyrus, crossing his legs while clasping his hands together. (So, Papyrus...Have you ever felt left out when Sans and I are gone?)

Papyrus couldn't help but nod. "Yeah, a little bit."

"Oh..." Gaster mumbled as he gave Papyrus an apologetic look. (I'm so sorry, my child. I should have asked you, sooner!)

"Dad, it's fine!" Papyrus said, smiling. "I know you have a job to do, and you wouldn't want me to ruin it for you."

(Actually), Gaster signed, (I was going to ask if you'd like to start "hanging out" at the lab with us, next week. You may not be my apprentice, but I'd be happy to spend more time with you, nonetheless!)

"Are you sure I won't be a distraction?" Papyrus asked frowning. Gaster chuckled as he lightly nudged his son's skull. (Of course not, you'll be more then welcome to vcome with me at the lab!)

Papyrus began to smile again as he wrapped his arms around his father's neck. "I love you!"

"And I love you...a skele-TON" Gaster said as he smiled widely.

"DAD, NO!" Papyrus protested as he scrambled from his father's grip. Gaster laughed as his son got away, which slowly turned into a series of coughs. Nonetheless, he smiled warmly as he patted his son's head. (Good night, my child).

Gaster started to make his way over to his room, leaving Papyrus by himself. While he may not be Gaster's apprentice like Sans, he was more then happy to spend time with him at the lab.

Papyrus stood up and stretched, making his way over to his bed room. He couldn't wait for next week.

...Welp, I'm sure we all know where this is going.