Undertale: Reason to Live

Chapter 39

"No," Frisk said shyly. "We're just friends."

"Well, either way," Sans said putting some numbers into his phone. "I think you should call her. She wanted you to."

"She is your friend," Papyrus said before taking a bite of his food.

"Whose side are you on?" Frisk asked. "I would, but…but I don't remember her number. I left it in my backpack on the surface."

"That's okay," Sans said punching in the last number. "I remembered it perfectly. You did stare at it for a long time on that bus."

"Sans, please don't…" Frisk said as Sans pushed the call button. "I can't talk to her!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Frisk," Papyrus said. "She's your friend. I'm sure she'd love to talk to you."

"That's not it…" Frisk said.

"Oh, she picked up," Sans said. "Putting it on speaker…"

"No," Frisk whispered.

"Hello, who is this?" everyone heard Varda say on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hey," Sans said. "I'm Sans, and I'm calling on behalf of Frisk…"

Frisk opened his mouth, but he was speechless. He couldn't make a sound.

"Awww," Papyrus said rubbing Frisk's head. "You really are smitten."

"Oh, God! Is he okay?! I swear if you're asking for ransom money I'm gonna find you and kick your asses! Where's Frisk, you dirty kidnappers?!" Varda yelled on the other end.

"Varda, no!" Frisk yelled. "I'm fine. I haven't been kidnapped. I've been adopted. That was Sans and Papyrus. They're my new brothers."

"Oh," Varda said. "Why didn't you say so? You sure found a home quick. It's only been like four days."

Frisk paused for a moment before he said, "For me, it has been forever."

"You sure are mysterious, Frisk. You're also weird. I thought you were running away from the police because you didn't want to go to an orphanage and get adopted."

"I was, but I changed my mind and found my two adopted brothers without an orphanage."

"Awwww!" Papyrus said after swallowing his food. Sans continued to sit in silence.

"Whoever you are I like you," Varda said.

"Thanks," Papyrus said. "I like you, too."

"What are your new parents like, Frisk?" Varda asked.

"We don't have parents," Frisk said. "We're all orphans, but Sans and Papyrus are grown-ups."

"Well, what are they like?"

"Uh…well…Sans is the oldest. He's 29. He is cool and easy to talk to, but he likes to make bad puns and pull pranks all the time. Papyrus is funny and goofy and kinda weird. I don't know how old he is…"

"I'm 19," Papyrus said in a huff. "And I'm not that weird…"

Varda laughed on the other end and said, "You two sound like interesting humans. You seem to be in good hands, Frisk."

"But…" Papyrus started to protest, but Sans held his finger to his lip to signal silence.

"I'm guessing you won't tell me where you are," Varda said.

"It's a town called Snowdin, but it's really far away," Frisk said. "I doubt you've heard of it…Uh, Varda, I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to come back."

"Don't sound so overdramatic, Frisk. I could always come visit you if coming back here is too much trouble."

"I don't know if you'd want to…"

"Of course, I would. We'd just have to make plans…Ugh! Alright, Mom. I'm coming! Sorry, Frisk! I have to go. My parents want to go out to get ice cream. I'll talk to you later. Do you have a phone? It's okay if you don't. You can borrow Sans'…"

"He has a phone," Sans interrupted. "I gave it to Alphys so it could get upgrades.

"Really?" Frisk asked.

"Yep," Sans replied.

"Sweet," Frisk said.

"Alright," Varda said excitedly. "Text me when Alphys gives it back to you. Okay?"

"Okay," Frisk said. "Good night."

"Good night," Varda said before hanging up the phone.

All the color flushed from Frisk's face as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't so bad, kiddo," Sans said in a satisfied tone. "Was it…?"

"YOU'RE SO EMBARRASSING!" Frisk yelled as he left the table, picked up his clothes and shoes, and stomped upstairs. "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!"

"You needed to talk to her sometime, Frisk," Sans said. "It was better to do it sooner than later."

"ARGH!" Frisk yelled back.

"Frisk, get back down…" Papyrus said.

"Let him be," Sans said. "He's mad."

Frisk walked into Papyrus' room, found his book, and shut himself into the middle bathroom.

"I'm surprised he cleaned up after himself," Papyrus said. "At least, he's considerate."

"That doesn't surprise me as much as you're surprising me," Sans said quickly changing the subject.

"What does that mean?"

"Papyrus, we just added a child to our family. You're adjusting well to being a big brother."

"Why, thank you, Sans! I have natural instincts. I also suppose you've been a good example from time to time."

"You can't fool me, Pap. I know it's been hard for you. I've been hard on ya, too. I'm sorry. Tell me how ya really feel. We have a plus one now, but you're my little brother, too."

Papyrus let his head fall onto his plate of tacos, laid his arms on the table, and sighed deeply.

After a moment of silence, Papyrus said, "I have no idea what I'm doing, Sans. All I want to do is make Frisk happy, but nothing I do is good enough. I make him a little happy, but then he panics, and I can't calm him down. I don't know how to, and you have to come in and do it. I'm supposed to protect him from what makes him hurt, but I don't know how especially when what's bothering him is inside his head. I'm a terrible big brother. I will never be as good as you are…"

"That's not true," Sans said. "You're doing much better than I did at your age. You're much kinder and more sensitive. He needs you as much as he needs me. Besides, Frisk is gonna need both of us to take care of him, Pap. Lord knows I can't do it by myself. You get to be my partner in crime now. It'll be alright."

Papyrus felt Sans reach across the table and rest his hand on top of his. Papyrus responded by looking up and holding his hand back while giving Sans a tired smile.