"Mettaton, Frisk, Flowey, and Toriel are here!" Alphys called from the front hallway.

Mettaton stopped counting the gifts on the table and rushed forward. "Frisk! I'm so glad you're here, darling, I missed you all day!" he cried as he embraced the child.

Happy birthday, Mettaton! Frisk signed with a big smile. Thanks for invite.

"Yes, indeed! Happy birthday, dear," Toriel said to Mettaton. "We've all got something for you, even Flowey."

"Yeah, I made it myself," the flower said somewhat proudly, waving a little wrapped package. "Happy birthday, bolts-for-brains."

"Great. I'm sure I'll love it," Mettaton laughed as he took the three of them into the kitchen. "You can put everything in the corner over there. I think everyone is here… except for Sans, which is ironic, considering this party is being held in his house. I think he fell asleep upstairs."

Mettaton looked over everyone assembled in the living room. He'd already had a big, public celebration earlier that day, and this evening he would celebrate with just his family and friends. The little party was being held in his boyfriend Papyrus and his brother Sans' house, since it was easier for everyone to get to than his own apartment. He smiled—from here he could see Frisk, Toriel, Flowey, Napstablook, Undyne, Asgore, Shyren, Shyren's sister Lemonbread, his cousins Maddie and Deedee. Alphys hugged Mettaton as she passed him to enter the living room with the others. Now here was everyone he cared about.

Well, everyone except—

He felt a pair of bony arms wrap around him from behind. Mettaton took hold of the hands at his sides and sighed, knowing exactly who it was.

Papyrus had to stand on the tips of his toes to put his chin on Mettaton's shoulder. "How does everything look so far, Mettaton?"

Mettaton knew he was referring to the glittery decorations, the gifts, and the cake Papyrus had made with Sans' help, but he only had eyes for the people who were there. "It's absolutely wonderful, dearest. Thank you so much for setting this up."

"Of course! Only the best for you," Papyrus beamed. "Now, where is that lazy brother of mine? I hope for his sake he didn't fall asleep upstairs again…"

"I think he did." Mettaton twisted his head back to give Papyrus a sympathetic look. "It's alright, though. Everyone's only just got here."

"No, it's not alright! I'll go up and get him." In a few minutes both skeletons were back down in the living room, Sans a little blue in the face.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled to Mettaton sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, honey. At least you'll be awake for the party!" replied Mettaton cheerfully. He felt like nothing could ruin his mood.

Papyrus cleared his throat, and everyone in the room fell silent. "Well! We're all here—finally—so I think we should go ahead and initiate the festivities! Mettaton, what would you like to do first?"

Everyone's attention turned to the robot. He actually blushed—normally he loved attention, but it was such a different feeling when everyone here knew him so well—and said, "Oh, I don't know. You all can help me decide."

Flowey voiced his opinion loudly. "I vote snacks and cake, I'm hungry!"

"You should have eaten dinner earlier!" Toriel scolded him, but couldn't keep a hint of laughter out of her voice.

Frisk looked at Flowey, then at Mettaton, and nodded.

Mettaton clapped his hands. "Food it is, then!"

The monsters all scrambled to the kitchen for fruit, chips n' dip, and junk food. Laughter sounded throughout the house as they all chatted and ate together.

Eventually, Papyrus brought out a big homemade chocolate cake with pink icing and twenty-five candles, one for each year Mettaton had lived. Everyone gathered close around him to sing "Happy Birthday.' With Papyrus holding his hand, Napstablook under his arm, Asgore's hand on his shoulder, Frisk hanging on around his waist, and the voices of everyone echoing in his ears, Mettaton nearly shed tears.

The cake turned out to be one of the best Mettaton had ever had. To him it was better even than Toriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pie—but then, perhaps that was because this cake had his boyfriend's loving touch. He ended up eating so much of it that his stomach ached a little when he was finished. He closed his eyes and lay his head on Papyrus's shoulder until everyone else was done.

"Bedtime, Mettaton?" Sans quipped. "I'm up for that."

Mettaton grinned despite himself. "You're always up for sleep, Sans," he retorted, rolling his eyes.

"There will be no sleeping! We have gifts to open!" Papyrus said loudly. He sounded almost anxious.

"Frisk wants you to open their gift first," called Flowey. Frisk swatted at him and blushed.

Mettaton smiled. "Then I'll do just that."

After clearing off the table, Papyrus and Asgore started bringing in the presents, all shapes and sizes. Mettaton didn't know if he were just imagining it, but it seemed like Papyrus was shaking.

As promised, Mettaton opened Frisk's present first, a small, square box. Inside the box was a necklace—a yellow stone roughly carved in the shape of a heart, attached to a simple silver chain. "My goodness, darling! Did you make this yourself?" he cried delightedly.

Frisk nodded happily.

"Where did you find such a pretty stone?"

"You know how sometimes at like, dinosaur museums and stuff, they sell those rocks, and you can pick up a bag and get as many as you want?" Flowey piped up as Frisk shook their head violently. "They got it from there."

"Well, I think that's lovely, sweetie," Mettaton told a blushing Frisk. "I'll wear this right now. Papy, can you help me?"

Papyrus did his best to hook the necklace around Mettaton's neck, but he kept dropping it. Now Mettaton knew Papyrus was shaking. "Are you quite alright, love?"

"Fine! Just fine." The skeleton's voice was about an octave higher than usual.

"Here's my present." Flowey shoved his crudely wrapped gift toward Mettaton. "Don't tear it."

"How can I get to the present if I don't tear the wrapping?"

"I meant don't tear what's inside, dummy."

"Flowey…"

"Sorry, Mom."

Mettaton gingerly took off the paper to reveal another piece of paper inside. He unfolded it to reveal a child's drawing of himself, with lots of pink and glitter. Mettaton was actually touched to receive something so heartfelt from someone who didn't particularly like him. "How lovely," he fawned. "I'll have it put on my bedroom wall."

"Oh, please," Flowey brushed him off. "I know you're gonna burn it first chance you get."

"I most certainly will not." Mettaton gently flattened the drawing out on the table. "Now who's next?"

Mettaton loved the rest of his gifts just as much as he loved Frisk's and Flowey's. He received more jewelry from Asgore, Lemonbread, Maddie, and Deedee; a few anime movies he enjoyed watching with Frisk and Alphys from Alphys; a song from Napstablook and Shyren, who performed it live for all of them; and some romance novels from Toriel. The gifts from Undyne and Sans amused him the most; Undyne had gotten him a shirt with fish bones on it, and Sans had given him a pink sequined whoopee cushion (Mettaton supposed he was lucky the prankster hadn't slipped it under his seat when he'd first sat down).

All in all, Mettaton was more than happy with all his presents. The entire day had been quite lovely, in fact. He smiled at his family. "Thank you all for doing this…" He was sure everyone could hear the wavering in his voice, but he didn't care anymore. "But I just want you all to know—this is going to sound really cliché—but the best gift I could ever receive is having all of you."

"Aw, you big sap, come here," Undyne said, and gave him a bear hug. Before they knew it, everyone else had gathered around Mettaton again and was hugging him with all their might.

"I really don't deserve you," Mettaton whispered.

"Of course you do, or else we wouldn't be here!" said Asgore.

They all broke away and Papyrus cleared his throat. "So—so aren't you wondering anything, Mettaton?"

"Like what, darling?"

Papyrus shuffled his feet. "Like where my present to you is."

Mettaton was embarrassed to admit he hadn't even noticed there wasn't a gift from Papyrus. "You don't have to get me anything, love. Just being yours is more than enough."

"Oh. Well, I did get you something anyway."

"Oh, really?" Mettaton raised an eyebrow. "I suppose it was too big to wrap, then?"

"Ah… metaphorically speaking, I suppose…" Papyrus took a deep breath and looked over at Sans.

Sans nodded his head as if to say, get going, bro.

Papyrus took another deep breath. He hoped Mettaton couldn't see his soul pounding. "So—so you and I have been together almost three years."

"Yes."

"We've… we've been through a lot together. We've stuck together through thick and thin… it's been a real adventure. Some of…" Papyrus swallowed. "Some of the best times of my life."

Mettaton hoped Papyrus couldn't see his hands trembling. Was this going where he thought it was going…?

"Mettaton—" Papyrus fiddled with something in his pocket. "Without you, I wouldn't know what I'm doing here. Your presence in my life is an incredible gift. And—and I thought—I was thinking about your birthday this year, and all that, and I wondered—what could I possibly give you that would come even remotely close to what you've given me?"

Mettaton couldn't breathe.

Papyrus closed his eyes. "And then—I realized."

Mettaton hardly dared to believe his eyes as Papyrus bent down on one knee in front of him and pulled something out of his pocket.

"Mettaton, the best gift—the only gift—I can give you… is my eternal love and adoration. And this—" Papyrus revealed a simple, beautiful diamond ring, set in gold, in a little silk box. "This is my token—my representation of that love, for you."

Mettaton barely registered the gasps from everyone around him, and the tiny squeals from Alphys.

"Will you accept this?" Papyrus's voice was barely audible as he looked into Mettaton's eyes. "Will you… will you please marry me?"

Mettaton fell forward out of his chair to kneel next to Papyrus. "Oh, darling…" he murmured, placing his hands over his boyfriend's.

Papyrus panicked. "Oh, no! I knew this was too much, why'd you encourage me to do this, Sans?" he yelled, glaring at his brother, trying not to cry.

"No, no! Papyrus—Papyrus, how could I say anything but yes?" Mettaton whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you!" he cried louder, taking Papyrus's face and kissing his smile.

Claps and wolf whistles echoed throughout the house. "Just had to show us up, didn'tcha, Pap?" shouted Undyne, giving Papyrus a huge noogie.

"Told ya he'd say yes, bro." Sans' permasmile seemed more genuine than usual.

"Shut up, Sans!" But Papyrus had never been happier that his brother had been right.

Mettaton allowed Papyrus to slip the ring onto his right ring finger. "My god, this must have cost a fortune." He reached up to stroke the skeleton's cheekbone. "You didn't have to do that, you know. Any old ring would have done and my answer would have been the same."

Papyrus leaned into Mettaton's touch. "I stand by what I said earlier—only the best for you."

Suddenly both of them felt themselves wrapped in a pair of big, furry arms. "You two will be so happy together!" they heard Asgore's deep voice sob. "You've already done wonders for each other…"

"O-okay, Asgore, and everyone, we should all probably get going now," Alphys interrupted. "These two are probably gonna want to celebrate by themselves."

"Guess that means I should go to Grillby's for the night." Sans got up off his chair.

Both Papyrus and Mettaton were tempted to retort, but Alphys wasn't exactly wrong.

Mettaton hugged everyone goodbye and thanked them all once again for throwing him such a lovely party. He and Papyrus stood on the front porch, holding hands, leaning their heads against each other.

"I'll never forget today, darling. Thank you so much," Mettaton sighed. "I love you, Papyrus."

"I love you too, Mettaton." Papyrus squeezed Mettaton's hand.

And with that, the newly engaged couple stepped back inside to begin their own private celebration for the love they would share forever.

oooooooooo

A/N: this was something I wrote a couple of months ago for one of my best friends! it was so fluffy and wonderful that I had to share it here, too.

I had this story in my head for a long time. it was nice to finally write it out.

hope you all enjoy!