Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale

Continuity: Post Pacifist Run with hints of Genocide and other Runs

Cover: Sans drawn by: Fortisselle DevaintART, girl found on Pintrest artist unknown

Title: Absence of Fear, by Jewel

Absence of Fear

Chapter Four: The Perfect Boyfriend

X -x-x-x-x- X

I woke up in a cold sweat, my eyes darting around. My room was dark, save for a few vampire lights from varied electronics casting an eery blue glow.

Ugh, blue. Suddenly blue was my most hated color. I sighed heavily and checked my clock. It was Sunday. My one day off. The one day a week I have to sleep in.

And it was 4:23 AM.

I groaned and fell back on my pillow. I doubted I was gonna to get back to sleep but I did that thing where you lay down and hope you drift for a few minutes yet you never do 'cause your mind is racing. Spooky scary skeletons ran through my head as I tossed and turned, realizing for the first time how lumpy and hard my mattress was. And my pillow was unbearably hot. I mean really, is it that hard to find a cool spot?

Every sound my apartment made set me on edge. I was excruciatingly aware of every creak my neighbors made, every dog barking outside, every car passing on the street and my damn alarm clock ticking.

How the hell did I ever sleep with this much freaking noise?!

I sat up, yanking off the covers briskly and headed to the kitchen, making sure to stomp so everyone in the building could hear me. I made it to my Keurig and pressed a few buttons.

I would need lots of caffeine to survive this day.

After drinking my caramel macchiato flavored coffee, I set to the task of picking out my clothes for this...outing.

If I picked something pretty he would think I was serious. If I picked something slacker-y it would seem like I didn't care and was being disrespectful. I hung my head. I was actually debating outfit types as if this was a real date.

I finally settled on what suited me best. A nice, white dress shirt and jeans. Not too pretty and not too grunge. I looked at the clock. 6:52 AM.

Great. Now I had HOURS to just sit and wait for him to text. I chuckled. It really was a date.

So of course...I had plenty of time to wonder how I would break it to the sweet fella that I wasn't "madly in love with him." And do it in a way that wouldn't piss off his short but terrifying brother.

"I don't like you like that."

Papyrus bursts into tears.

I get slammed into a wall by a blue light.

I barely even knew Papyrus so I had no idea how he would take it. Would he be upset? Would he cry? Wait, can skeletons cry? My wording had to be precise.

"Papyrus, I barely know you. So how can I love you? That would take a lot of time..."

"Time we can spend dating, new girlfriend!"

How about... "I'm gay."

Then Alphys would think that and if I told her it was a lie...

Undyne suplexes me. "How dare you make something like that up!"

Does everyone's brains do this? Paint 800 different scenarios over and over? No matter what I thought up, my stupid head turned it into something bad. I looked at the clock again.

6:55.

"UGGGGGGGH!" I face-planted onto my couch. What was I supposed to do? Drive myself crazy until the guy contacted me? Which was beyond ridiculous. I mean, I only did that for guys I liked!

And then my phone buzzed, almost falling off my coffee table. I gasped and quickly read the text, seeing it was the guy in question at precisely 6:58.

Papyrus: Hello, Niki! I hope this isn't too early. You do get up early, right? Being a doctor and all...

I sighed.

Niki: No, I'm up. Couldn't sleep

Maybe I should break it to him now? Yeah, the best way to break up with someone is with a TEXT MESSAGE. I rolled my eyes. Buzz.

Papyrus: Why not?

'Cause I dread your brother brutally murdering me.

Niki: idk just noises keeping me up

A few moments. Why was my place so quiet now? Of course, not a single peep when I'm AWAKE.

Papyrus: Oh, I see. You should sleep with headphones on! My brother does that sometimes!

Yeah, I really wanna talk about your brother right now.

Niki: thats dangerous for ur ears

I hit send before I realized what I just said. Did they even have ears? Now that I think of it, I didn't even see ear holes in their skulls...

No reply and I prayed to whoever was listening that I hadn't made him mad. I could hear that clock ticking again. Fifteen minutes went by and I clenched my teeth. Oh, crap. Ohcrapohcrapohcrap. What was happening? Was he telling his brother how insensitive I was? How I insulted both of them at the same time?

Buzz. My heart stopped and I let out a breath.

Papyrus: I tell him that all the time and he reminds me we have no ears! LOL! Don't tell him I find that funny...

I nervously giggled to myself.

Niki: watcha up to?

I couldn't help asking; I was just too damn nosy. I mean, if he was sooo enthusiastic about me being his girlfriend, why did it take him so long to reply back?

Wait, what the hell am I doing?! Here I was; painting scenarios again, like with any man who didn't text me back right away. This was getting stupid. I am NOT his girlfriend!

Papyrus: I'm making breakfast for myself and Sans!

Oh. Now I felt really stupid.

Niki: making what?

Papyrus: Spaghetti of course!

I grimaced. Spaghetti for breakfast? Ugh, note to self; don't eat at their house. Of course, once I finish this I wouldn't have to worry about that...

Papyrus: I have to go wake up my lazybones of a brother to eat. I'll text you later to begin our date! I really enjoyed talking with you this morning. You're the best girlfriend! BYE!

My stomach sunk. Well, that tanked any plans I had to let him down gently. Here I was, chatting him up all friendly and interested and he thinks I still like him like that. Great, just great. I typed a simple -'k ttyl' and laid back on the couch.

This SUCKED.

He finally contacted me around noon and we were to meet at Alphys and Undyne's place. Maybe I could sneak in there and get my DVD... Although, I doubt Undyne would let me inside. I made the lonely drive over to their place, trying to distract myself with music. Everything on every station was a crappy love song.

"Our love hurts so much, can you feel it break?" I hated that one. It was so sad and the words right now made me cringe as I imagined making Papyrus cry.

I changed the station and the lyrics had gone from love to, "yeah, yeah work it more, all over the floor, strip those pants and rub it hard..."

I shut my radio off. Those were certainly not the kind of thoughts I needed about anyone right now, let alone a monster! Or a skeleton monster!

Not that things like that weren't happening already. Humans have a knack for making anything sexual and monsters were no exception. It was all over social media now, people claiming to be the latest sexuality; Undersexual, short for Undergrounder which is what some people were now calling monsters simply because monster seemed such a silly word for people to say.

Since there were so many monster types, it was easier to make a blanket sexuality rather than separate them into groups. Of course, no one was taking undersexuals seriously, most saying they were just doing it for attention. It was the new trend, after all.

It was obvious that a lot of humans that went after monsters like that, did it out of curiosity and lewd fascination. Since they technically weren't animals, it wasn't illegal. No one had made a law against it yet, though several middle eastern countries were speaking out against it and considering making it illegal.

It wasn't a crime but it wasn't accepted. 'Course, homosexuals and transsexuals still weren't completely accepted either. Hell, there was still racism for biracial couples. Seemed things like that would never change...

However, more people were fighting for human/monster couples. Conversations were happening much more quickly due to exposure on the internet. The LGBT were doing their best to help undersexuals get accepted, since undersexuals were also coming out as gay and trans and at one point a new hashtag on twitter went viral suggesting the LGBT become the LGBTU.

That hadn't happened yet. But there were all types of sexuality and honestly it was getting hard to keep up. I keep having to Google the new names I see on tumblr and Facebook.

I can remember one tumblr page I stumbled on. "I'm an asexual panromantic undersexual!" I chuckled despite myself.

I finally made it to the townhouse apartment and pulled into the parking lot. I sighed heavily and made sure my hair was right. I should at least look nice. I came up to the door and with a shaky hand, rang the bell.

After a few beats of my pounding heart, Undyne answered with a wide grin. "Heeeeellllooooo there..."

"Undyne!" Papyrus ran from the living room. "While I appreciate you answering the door, it is my date and it's rude for me to not have answered!"

Her grin looked strained. "But it's my home and a double date! It'd me even more rude for me not to!"

The lanky skeleton seemed to ponder for a second, then laughed. "NYEH HEH HEH! You are right, Undyne! How silly of me." He came up behind her. "Undyne, it will be hard for me to talk to her if you're standing between us."

Now her grin looked like a grimace. "Oh. SURE." She stepped aside only for the guy to grab my hand, causing my face to heat up again.

"Niki! I'm so glad you're here. I know dates usually happen at night but since you and Alphys have to work early tomorrow helping treat my fellow monsters and their injuries, I figured an afternoon date would be better!"

I blinked a few times looking at his gloved hand still holding mine. "Um...yeah...how thoughtful of you, Papyrus..."

He simply beamed at me. "Where should we go on our cool date?"

Suddenly I felt a familiar chill. Familiar in the sense that I had been introduced to it within the past few days. My head snapped behind me only to be greeted with two black eye sockets.

"Hey, kiddo." The greeting was friendly, the face was not.

"Sans!" Papyrus gasped. "You're actually on time!"

The shorter of the two shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you have a nice date, bro." He winked and the lights were back in his eyes. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.

Papyrus seemed to tear up which answered my thoughts as to whether or not skeletons could cry...or at least this one could.

"Brother! This is the first time in five years you've put real effort into something and it's for me! I'm so touched..."

Five years? Since they came from the underground? Was Sans still down due to that teenager incident? People weren't even talking about that anymore. What did he mean, real effort?

Again, Sans shrugged. "It's cool. And hey, I've put effort into stuff."

Papyrus seemed to raise an eyebrow bone. "Like what? Sleeping?"

Sans leaned back on the heels of his feet, which I noticed were now adorned with sneakers. "What can I say? I'm so good at it, I could do it with my eyes closed."

The others groaned and I didn't know why 'til I mulled the words around in my head. I chuckled as I figured it out. "Hey, that's a good one."

His eyes flickered to me then back to his brother. Without missing a beat, he continued. "I'm even considering running my hotdog stand again, since now it's legal for monsters to be vendors."

I felt so dejected. Why did he hate me so much? I mean, I got him laughin' at the restaurant! He liked my jokes! What was his fucking problem?!

I sighed heavily and apparently that gained the attention of my beau. "That can wait until later. We are being rude to my date!"

Sans nodded. "Yeah, wouldn't want to be rude to your date." The way he said it. It was like he was saying dog or something else derogatory.

Oh, that did it.

I grit my teeth, fists clenching at my side. "Hey, pal..." I ground out tightly, picking my words carefully as his head snapped to mine. "You got...a bone to pick with me?"

Sans' eyes widened, the smile never faltering as Undyne slapped her forehead. "OH, MY GOD!"

After recovering from the momentary shock, he responded with. "Nope. Nothin' gets under my skin."

I thought about it and relaxed my shoulders as his joke set in. "Oh...okay...good."

"Oh, thank God, they stopped," Undyne sighed. Alphys came down the stairs in a pretty red polka dot dress. "Oh! That's my favorite!" Undyne ran up and gave her a peck on the cheek causing the dino-girl to blush profusely.

"T-Thanks, hun..." She looked around. "So are we ready to go?"

Papyrus looked at me. "That depends. Where are we going on our awesome date, Niki? Ladies choice!"

Aaaaand everyone was looking at me again. How did I get into this situation? I don't think I quite remember. I gulped and wrung my hands together...

Papyrus gasped. "Niki? Do you have doubts? Doubts about the great Papyrus being an awesome date? I can assure you-!"

"Howaboutawalkinthepark?!" I blurted quickly before he could continue.

He gasped now delightedly. "Oh, that sounds wonderful! A walk in the park it is!" He grabbed my hand again and pulled me outside. "We shall walk all the way there!"

"M-My car!" I yelped as I was pulled.

"Oh, don't worry! It's as safe with us as your DVD is!" Undyne teased behind me and I glared at the sidewalk.

Sans shuffled behind the girls. "Hey, Paps...ya don't need to hold her hand the entire way there, do ya? Might be smothering her a bit..."

"Oh! You're right, brother! I must give space when required!" The taller skeleton quickly let go of my hand, which was practically throbbing now. "I apologize, Niki!"

"N-No need to, sweetie. It's fine."

His eyes lit up, if possible. "Sweetie?! We already have pet names!"

I felt two pairs of eyes boring into my back and sighed. "I call a lot of people sweetie...it's a thing I do."

Papyrus paused. "Oh, all right."

He didn't sound sad or anything but I still worried I had hurt his feelings or something. We finally got to the park and it was a small simple one with a swing set and slide for kids, picnic table for adults and some benches. When I said park I thought one with a walkway or something...not an actual kiddie park, but this would be okay. We could walk around it or sit at the picnic table...and then I could totally break his heart...

"Okay...so...what are we doing here?" Undyne asked in a clipped tone. "I mean I was hoping a nice place to eat lunch or something that wasn't full of DORK!"

I grimaced as she shouted her last word, but Papyrus seemed totally unfazed, "Of course, Undyne! First a walk in the park then we eat lunch!" he answered her gleefully. "Come on!" He reached for my hand again but just as he did, I saw some blue rabbit looking guy standing off in the distance.

"Who's that?" I made sure to point with the hand he was going for.

Alphys gasped. "Oh, the Nice Cream Vendor! H-He's back! Let's go get some nice cream!"

"Nice cream?" I asked slowly.

"Yes, you'll love it, Niki! It won't spoil our lunch!" Papyrus finally managed to grab my hand again and pulled me to the cart. I begrudgingly followed. Surely, Sans could see how much I didn't want to do this, right? I wasn't some brother stealing hussy or whatever he seemed to think of me.

When we got to the vendor I heard someone call out all their names. I turned to see a young child running up to us, a goat looking woman behind them.

I recognized them both. It was Frisk and her mother. How was this happening? How was I suddenly surrounded by all the people I saw at that damn trial?!

I held in a groan as all greeted the kid and woman. "Toriel! Frisk! We've missed you guys!" Undyne had Frisk in a headlock giving her noogies.

So Toriel was the goat lady. What a pretty name...

"We have missed you too," Toriel said with an aged but soft voice. Her eyes glanced at Sans and I swear I saw him bristle. "Hello, Sans."

He shuffled his feet a little. "Hey, Tori. How's things?"

She looked down at her hands. "Things...have been good."

"Well...good. Hey, kid," he turned his attention to Frisk. "You come here to get some nice cream?"

She nodded. "Yeah!" And her eyes fell on me. "Uh, who are you?"

"Frisk...do not be rude," her mother gently chided.

"Ah, yes!" Papyrus put his hands on my shoulders. "Allow me to introduce you! This is Niki, my cool girlfriend and we are on a date!"

Toriel looked confused and Frisk's face was how I felt; What the fuck.

The child shook her head and giggled. "Ummm, I thought you liked Mettaton?"

Papyrus stilled at the child's question and I swear I saw sweat build on his skull. "Metta...no! Niki is my girlfriend now! I WANT NICE CREAM!" And he turned to the vendor and ordered some.

"Yeah, right, nerd!" Undyne shook her head, laughing boisterously while everyone else chuckled and I couldn't help feel I was missing out on a joke of some kind. I watched as they all ordered what looked like Popsicle sticks and started unwrapping them.

"Niki, don't you want some?" Alphys offered.

I shrugged. "Sure." I stepped up to the really adorable vendor. "What flavors do you have?"

He smiled. "Vanilla, chocolate, blueberry, strawberry..." he trailed off. "Oh, and human soul substitute..."

I choked on my own spit. "What!"

Undyne started cackling again.

"Dude, don't broadcast that in a park full of humans," Sans chortled while me, Alphys and Papyrus looked horrified.

"What is that? Human soul substitute?" I asked, feeling a bit offended.

"Oh, man! I'm sorry! It's not really human soul it just tastes like it...kind of...not really. I dunno what human soul tastes like!" He held his head and cried. "All I know is a bought a ton of the stuff when we were trapped underground and I haven't been able to sell it since we were freed! I've run out of gold and I need to make money and monster vendors just became legal a few months ago so I'm trying to pass it off as a different flavor. Maybe if my old underground customers come see me they may want it...I have to make some money and all the other flavors cost money I don't have to make them and sell them!" He cried harder.

"Wait, are all these flavors you have here that stuff in disguise?" I asked, feeling sick.

He shook his head, tears flying off his eyes. "No! I spent the last of my gold on "normal" flavors...but I'm gonna run out soon and no one is buying from me anyway..."

I knew this would happen. I knew the undergrounders would start running out of gold. Here was the proof. This poor guy was trying to make back his money, and had resorted to selling something awful to do it.

"Well, we just did..." Frisk started. "Hey, I have an idea. Give me one fake human soul flavor." The other monsters gasped, me along with them.

"Frisk!" Toriel yelped, a hand to her chest.

"I'm not gonna eat it!" the child whined. "I just wanna help him out. Besides no one else is gonna buy that stuff and he's gonna run out of the others flavors if - when he gets more customers." She turned to the goat woman. "Mom...can we come by here every day to get one fake soul nice cream until his stock is all gone? That way no one has to buy it and he'll make money?"

Toriel smiled as only a mother could. "Yes, I suppose we can. What a lovely idea, my child."

The vendor was now crying happy tears, wiping them away hastily as he took out another stick, which looked like the color periwinkle.

Frisk beamed and paid for it going, "Ecch, I'll just go throw this one away..." and skipped to the nearest trashcan.

Sans had been eying the kid the whole time, and it almost looked like the way he had been looking at me. Like he was looking for...

"Sans?" Toriel's voice jumped both me and him. "Is something wrong?"

He shrugged. "Nah. Nothin's wrong. Been a while since I've seen 'er."

"Yes, well...you do not visit as often." A pause. "Frisk asks about you all the time. Frisk...misses you..."

He looked down at his shoes, appearing nervous. "Y-Yeah...I miss...Frisk too..."

Wait a minute. Was it just me, or was there an ex couple vibe going on here? "Are you two getting back together yet?" was the question from a young voice behind the two, startling both of them.

"Frisk! That was fast..." Toriel chuckled.

Well, I hit that nail on the head. Why shorty was so grumpy was starting to make more sense.

"Yeah, what; didja learn to teleport like your dunkle Sans?" he asked ruffling the girl's hair again.

"Stop!" she laughed, pushing him away. "No!"

"Dunkle?" I couldn't help but ask.

Frisk turned to me with a smile. "Yeah, I couldn't decide if Sans was my dad or uncle so I decided he was both; my dunkle!"

Dad? Sans was a father figure to this little girl? Oh, yeah. The grumpiness was really making sense now.

Sans had what looked like a blue...something on his cheeks. Like a flush...wait...Good Lord, was that a

blush?!

"Ehh, kid." One last ruffle. "I see you got your chocolate nice cream all over your face." He pointed at the offending stain.

"Oh, dear," Toriel laughed softly. "Let's go to the water fountain and clean it up..." she grabbed her daughter's hand.

"Don'tcha mean we'll goat to the water fountain?" Frisk asked with a wide smile but it fell when all her mother did was weakly chuckle. "C'mon, mom...you used to make that one all the time..."

Her fur bristled. "Yes, well..." Her eyes darted to the small skeleton then at the grass. "Let us go."

I heard Sans sigh and before I could say anything Papyrus came bounding up to me. "Niki! I have finished my treat and recycled all garbage. I even picked up some trash others forgot to throw away. It's a good thing we decided to come here so I could help them out!"

I smiled. "That's wonderful, Papyrus..."

"What now?" Undyne asked with an irritated sigh. "Nice cream is...nice I guess but I'd like a meal!"

I nodded. "I know a great...Italian restaurant down the street from here," I suggested with a wink seeing Papyrus jump with glee.

"Oh, wowie! This is the best day ever!" He gasped. "Wait! That child has thrown their fast food drink cup on the ground. I'll be right back!"

"Isn't my brother cool?" Sans asked and I was shocked he was asking me.

I blinked a few times. "Yes, he is."

He paused, it seemed a little unsure as he watched his brother pick up the trash and wave at the child who was running from him in terror. "Do...you actually like him?"

"Hard not to," I answered honestly. "But not like that."

An exhale of breath. "Of course not...so why haven't you told him yet?"

I put my hands on my hips, swinging them off to the side. "And when exactly do you want me to break your brother's heart? On his best day ever?"

Sans narrowed his eyes at me, though he still had that damn smile on his face. Was his mouth capable of any other movement? It seemed like it was but most of the time I'd seen him, he had a perma-grin. "My brother is more resilient than you think. Just tell him."

"Oh, okay. I'll just waltz up to him and tell him. When you specifically told me to do it in a way that wouldn't hurt him! Now you just want me to get it over with quickly. Make up your mind, man!"

"Look." I stepped back when those eye-lights disappeared again. "He's getting too attached to you already. Find a way to tell him the truth."

"Oh, you mean the truth that his brother hates me?" Did those sockets just get darker?I swallowed.

"Kiddo...if I hated ya...you wouldn't even be here." He blinked and the lights were back. "'Kay? We clear?"

I glared as best I could. "Crystal." This asshole just basically told me he would have killed me if he hated me. "So if you don't hate me, then what is it?"

He looked back to the taller skeleton. "Let's just say...I'm a protective older brother and leave it at that."

Older brother, huh? I pretty much guessed that. He totally had that vibe to him. "Sure." I sighed heavily as Papyrus came running up. "We'll eat and then I'll take him to the side and tell him, okay?"

Sans turned away from me with another shrug. "Whatever you say, Nicoletta."

Oh, we're back to THAT again. "Niki," I spat out.

He tilted his head back at me, a more joking grin in place. "I know your name, kiddo."

When we got to the restaurant, I noticed the four monsters I was with were the only undergrounders in the place. I gulped and tried to hold my head high as I asked the hostess, "Seating for five."

Her eyes darted to the whole group then back to me with a disapproving noise. She guided us to a booth WAY off in the corner, away from anyone else. I felt so embarrassed. Not for myself, but for my race. To their credit, none of them seemed to be angry about her behavior or the looks they were getting.

I felt like shouting, "It's been five years! GET OVER IT!" but I just sighed and slunk in my booth instead.

Surprisingly we were seated almost like we had been at that Grillby's place, except with Sans and Papyrus in switched positions. I was glad Sans wasn't next to me this time but that also meant his eyes were on me now. Papyrus was next to me and seemed almost nervous. Poor guy, it was so sweet.

A waiter came up to us, a skinny boy with obvious guyliner on his eyes and a tattoo that was barely visible under his collar. His slicked back black hair glistened in the light. He so did not fit this restaurant and I smiled. "Hey, know what you want to drink?" He seemed totally unfazed by the four creatures sitting at the table and that made me smile more.

We all just ordered water, though Alphys wanted lemon in hers. We sat in uncomfortable silence after that. The place was nice, but more like an Olive Garden than a real authentic Italian restaurant. Most of the things on the menu could be pronounced by English speaking people so it wasn't that fancy.

"So Al tells me you're doing great as a resident," Undyne leaned on her elbows on the table. Her smile reflected the true nature of her questioning.

"Oh?" I smiled at Alphys. "Thanks."

She blushed. "W-Well you are. You've learned so quickly..."

Then Undyne dropped the bomb. "Wanna tell us why you're treating monsters instead of your own kind?"

I swallowed. Was it really so hard to believe? "Well..." I slowly started, "...someone has to. If no one starts the changes, they'll never come. I know someday there will be more humans willing to treat monsters. At least I hope so..." I nervously took a drink of water. "So my goal is to become a general practitioner; a family doctor. I'm not sure yet. I may wanna switch to treating kids."

Alphys lit up. "Oh, really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. That sweet little one Jethris kinda swayed me on that, heh." I shrugged. "But I'm not sure yet. I do know being a family doctor has always been my dream."

The table went silent as we all looked at our menus. I had eaten here once before so I knew the fettuccine alfredo was pretty good. Papyrus, at no surprise to anyone, ordered spaghetti. Alphys ordered eggplant parmesan and Undyne had the chicken parm.

Sans sighed and sat back in the booth. "Wish they had burgers..."

Undyne laughed at him. "You dork! Like they have burgers here!"

"Actually we do. We have an "Italian" burger," the waiter explained, making quotations with his fingers. He flipped Sans' menu to the right page. "See? It's a beef patty with Italian spices and stuff, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and tomatoes, with a basil leaf."

"Whoa," was the smaller skeleton's reply. "Come with fries or somethin'?"

The boy nodded. "Yup. Sprinkled with parmesan cheese."

Sans chuckled as he slapped the menu shut. "Sold."

The waiter nodded as he wrote down the last of the order and walked away. Papyrus sighed. "Honestly, brother! Are you so lazy that you can't look at the menu yourself!"

Sans shrugged. "I didn't see it."

Undyne snickered. "Yeah, 'cause that burger is on the kids menu."

"It is not," I snapped before I could stop myself. It wasn't on the kids menu. The kids menu had mac and cheese, chicken fingers and a regular burger. Undyne must have just assumed when she saw a burger listed there. Hate when people assume things...also hate when people stare at me which everyone was totally now doing thanks to my outburst. Three had shock stares and Undyne had a furious rage stare.

"Yeah, it is. I SAW IT," she seethed at me, fists clenching.

I gulped. "Nooo...t-that's a regular burger on the kids menu...the Italian one is a regular meal..."

I felt something shift at the table, something rise...and it was glowing in Undyne's eye. "Ladies...don't rattle your bones over me. I could care less where the burger come from, as long as it tastes good." Sans chimed in, still smiling but his eyes were darting between me and the fish woman.

"I ain't fightin' over YOU, you moron! Like I would ever! She just called me a liar!" She pointed a clawed hand at me as she finished.

I huffed/gasped. "I did not!"

"OH, MY GOD! See, she did it again!" She growled. "Like she has the right to accuse me when she's hiding stuff!"

The table went to ice when she said that, and there went Sans' eyes going dark again. Did he know what she meant? That she was talking about me knowing them from the trial? Or did he think she was gonna out that I wasn't madly in love with Papyrus? Either way, he wasn't happy and I gulped, looking down at my hands.

"What do you mean, Undyne?" Papyrus asked softly, well soft for him anyway and Alphys tittered.

"I-I'm sure Niki wasn't saying you l-lied, hun...she was just correcting y-you..."

Undyne crossed her arms with a rude scoff. "Which is just as bad."

"So..." my eyes snapped up at his low voice, "...are you hiding anything, kiddo?"

I sighed. I should just out everything all at once and be done with it. Yeah, I may lose my friend and my job but this was getting to be too much. I didn't ask for this! "Look," I started sharply. "I really wanted this to work out but I can see that it won't. I'm really sorry, Alphys...but I see your friends don't like me..."

Papyrus gasped. "I like you! Which of my friends do you think don't like you?!"

"Whoa, whoa, punk! I never said I didn't like you! Just that you're hidin' stuff!" Undyne countered, looking truly shocked. "If I didn't like you, I wouldn't even be here."

Those words sounded awfully like Sans' and it seemed monsters had the same way of thinking. So they didn't hate me or didn't not like me...

Papyrus still was upset. "Niki, who do you think doesn't like you?" Now I felt simply AWFUL. And I knew Sans was boring his sockets into my soul again and I just couldn't get away...

I had social anxiety in times like this and it was then I noticed my breathing had gotten harder.

"Hey, kiddo...I second what Undyne said. Don't worry so much," Sans finally said and I looked up seeing his eyes back again, the grin less menacing.

I took a big swig of water and sighed heavily. "I guess I was wrong, Papyrus...I'm sorry..." I said, deflated and numb.

"Don't apologize, Niki! You just thought wrong! I, the great Papyrus, know that all my friends are wonderful and would never do anything to make you feel unwelcome!"

Undyne and Sans looked immediately guilty, though with Sans it was a slump in the booth, no expression change, and Undyne just rubbed the back of her neck. "Y-Yeah, no we wouldn't, pal," she said more soft.

Seemed both of them had a weakness, and it was the guy next to me. Neither would do anything to hurt him and I guessed that's why they were so harsh with me. I had buddied up to the innocent lamb and they were the sheep dogs protecting him.

Although Sans seemed uneasy with me before this whole mess with Papyrus...and Undyne seemed to like me until she thought I knew about the trial... So I didn't know what to think anymore. Undyne had a reason maybe, Sans...didn't. This just gave him an excuse.

"I...need to use the bathroom," I finally said after another tense couple of minutes, to which my date seemed oblivious to as he rambled on and on about different kinds of spaghetti. He gallantly got up, gesturing like a prince to allow me to scoot out and I couldn't help but giggle at the display. "Aw, thanks..." I shot a brief look at Alphys as if to say "help" then went to the restroom as quickly as possible.

Once I was in there, I splashed some water on my face and started some good old fashioned pacing. "What am I gonna do now?"

The door slammed open, hitting the wall, causing me to jump and scream. "Okay, what's up?!" Undyne shouted and I was glad I was the only person in here. "What is the problem?"

I pulled at my hair. "Sans wants me to 'break up' with Papyrus and not break his heart or he's gonna kill me!" I finally broke down and admitted.

Undyne started cackling at my misery. "Oh, PLEASE! That dwarf wouldn't kill ya! That would truly break Papyrus' heart!" She stopped laughing. "Sans would never hurt his brother."

"But he wants me to..." I replied, hanging my head. That's when I noticed Alphys was in there too and both girls were giggling at me. "This isn't funny!"

"Um, yeah, it kinda is 'cause I can bet that Papyrus isn't really all that in to you," Undyne spat with a huge grin.

Alphys fumbled with her hands. "We talked about it last night and, um, w-we're both pretty sure that he's trying to make s-someone jealous..."

I blinked a few times. "Really? For real?" I panted. "And I've been having a fucking stroke over nothing?!"

Undyne slapped her knee. "Yup! Hilarious, ain't it?!"

I groaned as both girls kept laughing. Ya know, Alphys could be really evil when she wanted to be. "Okay, who is he trying to make jealous? That girl Frisk mentioned?"

Undyne raised an eyebrow. "Mettaton is a guy, and yeah, him."

I blushed a little in embarrassment and nodded. I could have sword that robot was a girl...he looked like one, anyway. "Oh. Okay. So...what's up? Mettaton is that famous robot in Japan, right?"

Alphys nodded. "Yes. He left and kind of h-hurt Papyrus...I think that's why Sans and Undyne are so...p-protective of him and the prospect of him having a relationship..."

Undyne snorted.

I sighed heavily, slumping my shoulders. "Okay, so I'll tell him that I know what's going on."

"T-That may hurt him too! Two rejections in a row!"

"Yeah, duh. Whether he likes you or not, rejection isn't fun."

I secured my purse on my shoulder. "It isn't rejection. I know what to do." I walked past them briskly and marched up to our table. "Papyrus, can we talk...alone for a minute?"

Sans shifted and went stiff as his brother got up from the booth. "Of course!"

"Let's sit over here for a few..." I gestured to a table away from the booth, ignoring how Sans was just glowering at me...with a fucking creepy ass smile. Egh.

As soon as we were sitting, Papyrus held his head and moaned. "Oh, I must tell you the truth, Niki!" Well. This may go easier than I thought. "I don't feel the same way about you as you do me..." My moth opened to speak and he stopped me, dramatically placing a finger over it. "I know you must be devastated to lose such an amazing catch as the great Papyrus, but I cannot feel the same as you! I tried, but I couldn't...I'm very sorry, Niki."

I chuckled. "Papyrus...I think you just wanted to maybe forget someone you really do feel that way about?" He turned orange in his cheeks again. "Perhaps a famous robot monster named Mettaton?"

Even deeper shade. "Well...he doesn't like me..."

I patted his hand. "How do you know? Did he say that?"

He shook his head. "Well, no. But he left for Japan and hasn't been back for two years! And I thought we were such good friends!"

"Tell ya what...do you have any social media?"

He nodded then gasped. "Excellent idea, human! We will take selfies of us together and he will think we are together and be green with envy!"

"Well-" Before I could protest, he took out his phone and snapped a pic of himself grabbing me and holding me squashed up against him. "Hey!"

He quickly pressed some buttons and bounced in his seat with glee. "Wowie! Now he will think I have moved on with my new girlfriend! This is a great plan! Thank you so much, Niki!"

I stuttered. At least he didn't really think I was his girlfriend. And I could tell his over protective brother all this. I was relieved all in all and smiled. "I guess that's fine. So we're cool? And you know I'm not really your girlfriend?"

He nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes! Thank you!" He jumped up from the seat, pulled me into another squashing embrace and ran back to our booth.

I rubbed my shoulder. "Ow." I yelped as another pain shot through me as Undyne slapped the same shoulder.

"Great job! Seems you're cool after all!" She laughed and walked over to our table just as the food was arriving.

Alphys gave me a sympathetic look. "We saw the whole thing and, well...you did do good."

I walked back to the booth with her, seeing Papyrus was now sitting in the corner next to his brother. Sans had apparently moved to let him in. Alphys and Undyne took the other side so now my two choices were sit next to Undyne or sit next to Sans.

Undyne was tearing apart her chicken, crumbs flying everywhere. "Sans, don't be rude! Give our new friend space!" Papyrus spoke with a full mouth, making Sans scoot over further.

"Sure," was his only response.

I sighed, not wanting chicken parm all over me and sat next to Sans. Not like I hadn't before, and now I felt so much better. Even so, he wasn't being any more welcoming to me. "So we fixed it..." I softly said as the other three had their own conversation.

"Yes, I heard. Way to go."

His tone was clipped and seemed even more angry, if that was possible. "What's wrong?"

He picked up a cheesy fry. "Oh, nothing. You just gave him hope that he may wrangle in that self centered jerk that hurt him two years ago. No biggie."

I gasped. "What?"

He shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "Mettaton is even worse."

I narrowed my eyes. "Worse than what? Me?"

He said nothing and my blood boiled. Oh, that was it. That was fucking it. This little shit was gonna get it. Bad time? I'll give you a bad time, asshole! I sat and fumed the whole lunch, barely touching my food.

Oh, he was gonna get it.

OH.

~TBC

A/N: Soooo...I'm lookin' here and I see...37 reviews, 49 faves and...73 follows!? HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS! I am speechless on how well received this has been! Thank you soooo much!

So this was kinda more filler and all that junk but at least we know Papyrus isn't getting hurt...though another skelly may be soon lololol

Again thank you for the kind responses!

Also, I am on tumblr as dezzydoesthings. It's basically a UT blog right now, lol. I reblog lots of funny things and Snas pix so feel free to check me out! See ya next time!

BTW, I would like to come out as an undersexual...thank you for your support during this confusing transition...