"Something happened to you yesterday, I can tell," Thalia states, stopping in front of me and grabbing my shoulders to look at my face.
"What? No! N-nothing happened..." I say unconvincingly, continuing walking down the locker hall, searching for my Phys Ed. classroom.
"Don't run away, I have the same class as you. You can't escape me," she says, running to catch up, almost tripping over a stray bag outside the change rooms.
I walk through a pair of giant double doors, leading into the gym. She runs after me, grabbing my arm and saying, "I'm not letting go until you tell me what's going on."
I roll my eyes at her and tell her, "Well then you're going to be holding on a long time."
She huffs a response quiet enough for me not to hear. I drag her, still holding my arm, into the centre of the room. She lets go when the teacher gives her a funny look.
It being the last lesson of the day, everyone is bored and tired. The teacher decides to go easy on us, announcing a game of dodgeball.
He sorts us into two teams, red and blue. Thalia is placed on the same team as me, much to my disappointment and her excitement.
As the game begins, she bugs me with questions, but I'm too busy dodging every ball in the room to answer her.
Since everyone saw my display in the cafeteria on my first day, people want to see how good I am at dodging soft, red, rubber balls as well.
Thalia squeals and covers her face with her hands, as the onslaught of balls reach me. I leap over the first couple, gracefully landing on my feet, before cartwheeling past another dozen, all heading in the same direction. I duck under another ball, thrown by a boy with good aim.
I hear him swear across the room. The teacher doesn't notice, and is watching me, entranced.
I dodge four more balls, and all of them are now on our side of the room.
Thalia hands me a ball.
"Throw it," she instructs me when I don't do anything. I hand it back, not looking at her. Confused, she tries to place it back in my hands, but I wrap my arms around myself and head to the back of the room.
She drops the ball, and runs after me.
"Are you okay Frisk?" she asks, concerned and confused.
I try to force a smile.
"I'm okay, don't worry about me," I tell her.
The bell rings for the end of the day, and she follows me out the door. We pick our bags up at our lockers and go out into the sunshine of the courtyard.
After a quick glance around, I see Sans standing at the gates, bending down, talking to a young child.
"Hey, that's Sans!" says Thalia, waving at him. He glances up and waves back. He looks at me and his face goes blue.
When we start heading to where he's standing, I hear the child say, "Why are you going blue?"
Sans steps back and goes even bluer.
"I-I'm not blue... am I?" he asks, awkwardly.
The child nods his head.
"And Halloween isn't until October," the child says, looking pleased with himself.
"Yeah, I know..." says Sans, looking confused.
"Then what's up with your legs?" says the child, pointing at Sans' skeletal legs.
I grab Thalia's arm, and run over to him. The child cocks his head at Sans, then just walks away.
" 'Sup," I say to Sans, panting.
"Hey Kiddo," he says, winking at me. I giggle and ask him, "What are you doing here?"
"Picking you two up, of course," he says, as if it's rather obvious.
"What did the kid want?" I ask, anxiously.
Sans shrugs and says, "Wanted to know why I don't have skin on my bones."
"What did you tell him?" I say, glancing over at the kid, now exiting the courtyard.
"Told him I was a monster."
"You told him, WHAT?" I shout, louder than I intended. Parents look over at me, disapprovingly.
I grin apologetically at them, then face back to Sans.
"Why would you tell him that?" I say.
"Welp, it's the truth," he replies, looking a bit embarrassed. "Besides," he says, grinning, "I'm going to your school, starting tomorrow."
"What?" I cry.
I leap into his arms, wrapping him in a hug.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask him, once I step back.
"To be honest, I didn't really think you'd react like this," he says, blushing furiously.
My face goes red as well, and I glance over at Thalia.
She's standing there, arms folded, eyes narrowed, silently judging me.
She smiles and says, "Why don't we head home then?"
Sans nods his head, and turns his back to me.
While he's not looking, Thalia nudges me in the ribs, a knowing smile on her face.
My cheeks burn even redder, but I follow her through the gates.
"I promised my mum I'd come help her with dinner tonight guys, so I'll just head to my house now okay?" Thalia says, skipping away, waving.
While Sans is looking at her, I poke my tongue out behind him, which just makes her grin even bigger.
"Okay, see you tomorrow then?" I call. She nods her head, then continues on her way.
When she's out of sight, Sans turns to me.
"Come with me," he says, holding out his hand. I grab it, going redder still.
There's the sound of static, and I find myself standing on a hill, looking down at our houses. I can see the golden flowers in front of my house, glowing in the afternoon sun.
I look over at Sans, who pulls me into his arms and wraps them around me protectively.
I sigh, and place my head on his shoulder.
We stare out at a perfect view of the golden sun, slowly fading across the horizon.
Sans then turns me around and looks into my eyes.
"We need to talk," he says.
I know what he wants to talk about, and I drop my gaze to my shoes.
"Please Frisk, talking about it will help you, I promise."
"Okay..." I whisper, feeling tears start to form again.
Sans wipes them away, and sits me down on the ground next to him.
"How long had it been happening?" he asks me softly.
"Years... I don't know the exact number..." I tell him.
"Do you know why?" he asks.
I put my head on my knees and try to stop the tears from falling again.
"They never wanted me. They always hated me," I whisper into the still air.
"You are an amazing person Frisk, I don't know how they didn't see that," he says, holding my hand. His face is bright blue, but his eyes are full of concern.
"They never took enough time to get to know me," I say, simply.
There's a long pause.
"Are they the reason you..."
His voice trails off. He didn't need to finish the sentence, I know what he means.
I take a deep breath and say, "Yes, that's why I fell."
Sans lifts up the back of my shirt, looking at the scars left there. I shiver as he strokes them, remembering the horrific nightmares that gave me these souvenirs.
"You know we all love you more than they did, right?" he says, caressing my cheek.
I nod my head.
"So why are you still crying?" he asks.
I shake my head, not knowing how to respond.
"I feel that I'm living in a dream right now, and any moment I'll wake up and find myself back in another nightmare." I say, eventually.
"Welp, if you ever do, just remember, dreams can come true," he tells me, bringing my face closer to his.
I smile through my tears and hold his hands close to my heart. He grins as well, and I brush my lips against his skeletal smile.
It's a long and sweet kiss, which I wish would last a lifetime.
When we break apart, his eyes are glazed over and his face is bright blue. I giggle, and my own face flushes redder.
I place my arms around his neck and put my head on his shoulder again.
He runs his fingers through my hair and closes his eyes.
We finally stand up, and I take his hand.
We both appear outside my door in seconds.
Sans turns to head into his own house, but I grab him by his jacket.
"Please stay with me tonight," I whisper.
He smiles and follows me as I open the door and go down the hall into my room.
He steps out as I get changed, and I'm lying down on the bed, when he returns.
"Papyrus knows I'm here," he tells me, sliding onto the bed next to me.
I nod and continue staring at the ceiling. The stars plastered onto it remind me of the waterfalls in the Underground, with the artificial stars shimmering over the crystal blue waters.
He places his arm above my head, then lies down next to me.
After a while, I sit up and slide under my covers, dragging Sans with me.
I wrap my arms around him and lie like that until I fall asleep.
No nightmares tonight.