It'd been four days since Sans was last seen outside, doing anything. At first, Papyrus thought not much of it. His brother was just being a lazybones as usual. But when Sans refused to eat, drink or even leave his room, Papyrus grew worried.

He asked his older brother if anything was wrong, on multiple occasions, but Sans would just reply with 'being a little tired, Pap' along with a strained smile. Papyrus knew his brother long enough to know that it wasn't Sans just 'being a little tired'. He spoke with Undyne and Alphys about it, and both had also tried their best to get the skeleton to come out. Well, if you count Undyne threatening to toss Sans out his own bedroom window if he didn't tell them what was wrong, then yes, Undyne tried her best as well.

But, nothing would've moved the skeleton, and he remained stagnant in his room, depressed and unhappy.

Papyrus decided to go ask Frisk and Toriel if they had any idea to why Sans was acting in such a manner. Frisk had shook his head, signing that he wondered what had happened, and when could Sans come over to help him out with his homework.

Toriel, however, looked slightly downcast at the taller skeleton, before telling him that she and Sans had spoken the night before he became depressed, but refused to say what they talked about, only stating that it had been her fault that he was this way.

After hearing what they had to say, Papyrus seemed to have a hunch to what may have happened, but if it seemed like he would be asking for details from his brother, he didn't see any chance of that happening anytime soon.

After Papyrus left, Toriel felt torn. She had never meant to hurt him, she had been delicate in turning down his offer, hadn't she?

Oh damn, this isn't what I wanted to happen!

'Mom?' Frisk signed to her, as they sat criss-crossed on the carpet, a coloring book open in front of them where a half colored house was shown. 'What happened with you and Uncle Sans?'

Toriel looked at her child, before sighing and sitting down. "Do you really want to know, darling?"

Frisk nodded, as they got up to sit in Toriel's lap, only to be cradled in their mother's arms. They looked up at her curiously.

Toriel, holding Frisk, began to recollect what had happened four nights ago, how Sans had asked her out to dinner, how and why she had to turn him down, and how she never expected him to react so badly.

When she started to blame herself Frisk had to stop her, signing 'if you wanted to go out with him, then you should've. No use blaming yourself about what he's going through. Besides Mom, are you okay?' They looked up at her with a fixed stare, as if saying 'try me'.

Toriel looked at her child, & held them close. "I am fine, my child. Thank you, but you mustn't worry about me. I had made my decision long ago-"

'but-'

"I don't want a new significant other, I'm too old for one, and besides, how could I love anyone more than you?" she cooed, as she hugged Frisk. Frisk didn't return the hug, rather, pouted and folded their arms.

"Oh? Now now, its not like I need another loved one to be upset with me…" Toriel teased.

'Loved one, huh?' Frisk teased back, wiggling their eyebrows suggestively.

This child... They were always a flirt, even now. 'You love Sans!' They eagerly signed, catching their mother off guard, as she turned a shade of pink. 'You do! You really do!' They grinned, as they scrambled out of Toriel's lap & began to taunt her slightly.

Toriel, trying to calm her blush, rushes after them. "That's quite enough, Frisk!" she says sternly, but her voice wavers a bit and her blushing face wasn't doing her any favors.

Frisk had ceased the taunting, still smiling, but they looked up to their mother with sad eyes. 'You deserve to love someone who loves you just as much, mom….' They signed, looking at her sadly. 'And you aren't old, you still are a lot of fun…'

Toriel silently picks up her child & holds them as she heads to the kitchen. Frisk continues to sign. 'I see how you act around everyone else, especially Sans. You have a lot of fun with him, telling jokes…he must like you a lot too if he asked you to dinner…'

"Enough of this talk, Frisk," Toriel murmured quietly, as she set them down at the counter. "as mature as you think you are, there are some things you are too young to understand…" she pushes aside their bangs and kisses their forehead. "Now, how about you assist me in baking a special butterscotch cinnamon pie?"

It was the fifth day when the kid decided to visit. Sans hadn't seen 'em in a while, and he's pretty sure they're drowning in homework that they needed help on.

He guessed it was for the best that the kid decided to visit him, rather than have himself visit them and encountering the Queen again.

wait, no, shut up. she ain't a queen no more, ya ass. stop being salty.

He couldn't really blame her, now, after thinking about it for days on end. She was old royalty, and he understood that maybe she didn't want to put any awkward distance between them after this. Its probably why she agreed to send the kid over in the first place, a sort of peace offering to try and salvage their friendship.

Despite his previous salty-ness, Sans didn't want to lose this close friendship with the goat woman. That was one of the very fears he had in the first place when he thought of asking her out. He didn't want to lose her over this, and if she won't have him as a potential boyfriend, then she'll keep him as a close friend. That much he wanted.

Sans put on his hoodie, slipped on his slippers, and headed downstairs to where the kid was waiting. He expected them to already have their work set out around them, comfortable enough for both of them to work on a solution together. What he didn't expect was see the goat mother standing with them in the living room.

She took one look at him as he entered, and he froze.

fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Sans felt like a deer in headlights, as they both stared at each other quietly, before she breaks her stare and smiles, warmly but slightly strained. "Hello Sans." She greeted, her voice not missing a beat.

"h-hey tor, how's it goin'?" he spoke out, rolling his shoulders to ease his tense bones.

"Everything's fine, I suppose. I sent Frisk away with Papyrus, I figured I would like to speak with you in private."

fuck. shit. shit fuck. "ok." He mumbled, shuffling over and taking a seat on the couch, slumping a bit.

Toriel smiled softly and took a seat as well, folding her hands into her lap neatly.

There was a tense silence in between them, broke only by the sound of the clock ticking away softly.

"…"

"….."

"….tori-"

"Sans I-"

They both began, before looking away sheepishly.

"g-go ahead, tori." Sans ushered, shoving his hands deeper into his hoodie.

"W-Well…alright then…"

uh oh, here it comes…

"….S-Sans…I'd like to apologize for how I've treated you."

wait.

pardon?

"I figured that I should've taken your feelings into more consideration-" Toriel continued, snapping Sans out of his reverie.

oh. oh no. she's throwing me a pity party.

"tori i gotta stop ya right there." Sans held up a hand, continuing. "ya don't gotta apologize for nothin'. ya did nothin' wrong. i know that, and so do you." He looked up into her eyes, praying to whatever god was up there, that he wasn't blushing. "it ain't yer fault if ya don't feel that way about me, so don't go kicking yerself over it."

Toriel looked down at the skeleton, before stuttering. "B-But-"

Sans shook his head & looked at her with a fixed but warm stare. "c'mon tori, it ain't like i'm losing sleep over ya." He actually was losing some sleep over her, but she didn't need to know that. "you're a stunner, tori, but i think i'll survive with a little bit of rejection." He teased, getting the goat woman to blush lightly.

"but uh, the only thing i'm worried 'bout…is…" he trailed off, as he looked at the ground.

"…is?" Toriel looked at him, cautious.

"….." he glanced back at her, and smiled sadly. "knock knock."

Toriel took a moment, before tentatively replying. "w-who's there?"

"scared of losing."

She blinked, and with a bemused smile she asked. "scared of losing who?"

"scared of losing you." Sans looked up at her, rubbing the back of his skull. Toriel looked down at her friend and fought back the urge to huge the tiny skeleman.

When she didn't say anything, Sans decided to pick up where he left off. "tori, you're one of my best friends, and i'd hate ta lose you to some stupid thing like this-"

"Sans-"

"n-no listen, the last thing i wanted was to make ya uncomfortable, and one of the damn reasons i didn't ask ya out sooner was the chance that i might lose ya as a friend-" he started rambling.

"S-Sans-"

"but i figured 'what the hell? it wouldn't hurt to try.' But then i went and-"

"Sans please!"

"what?!" he snapped sharply, before backtracking a bit. Toriel had looked at him, mildly taken aback at his tone. "sh-shit…sorry…got a little carried away…" he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Toriel regarded him warmly, and nudged him. "It's alright….I understand your fears….it's also the reason I came here to visit." She sat up a bit straighter, scooting over closer to him. "Sans, I do care about you. You are a good role model to Frisk, and a very valuable friend to me. I feared that perhaps things would change between us after what had happened, and that was the last thing I wanted. I…I really do want to keep this friendship with you…"

Sans, keeping his fixed stare on her, slowly removed his hand from his pockets & nudged her gently. "hey tori, s'okay…i mean, i'm pretty glad that the feeling, or uh, fear's mutual. and, tibia honest, i wouldn't be able to find another monster on this world that'll find my jokes very humerus-" He smirked as Toriel covered her smile & looked away.

"Same here, Sans." She said with a relaxed smile. "So, companions?"

"yeah, friends." Sans smiled up at her warmly.

"NOOO!" The two jumped at the sound erupting from the doorway, as Frisk was struggling, being held back by Papyrus, who shot an apologetic look to his brother.

"D-Don't do it! She really likes you back!" Frisk kicked around & struggled, trying to speak. They weren't used to speaking out loud, and they were steadily becoming red in the face. "Honest! She likes your j-jokes and thinks y-you're cute!"

"Frisk that's enough!" Toriel stood, blushing in the face.

"B-But it's true! S-She's just scared-"

"FRISK-!"

"-that she'll h-hurt you!"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Toriel screeched, as Frisk went quiet. Silence & tension hung in the air, before…

"pap, take the kid upstairs, show 'em your action figures."

Papyrus nodded, & gathered Frisk in his arms, before heading upstairs.

"…"

"…"

"…so, you think i'm cute, huh?"

Toriel turned back to him, but avoided his eyes. "I'm so sorry. You weren't supposed to hear that, e-especially after what we just spoke about-"

"tori-"

"I thought Frisk had understood the situation better than that-"

"toriel-"

"Even after I had spoken to them like an adult and-"

"tori!" she looked back at Sans, and saw that he had a serious, but cautious expression on his face.

"tori…..i ain't the type to pry, but…i wouldn't mind if ya told me how ya really felt 'bout all this…."

Toriel stared right back into his eye sockets, before glancing away, her shoulders slumping. "….I never wanted you to find out this way…."

Sans' eyes widen a little, but he kept silent.

"…Sans, since it's already out there, I…I do feel the same way…"

"then why-"

"Because" she cut him off, taking a seat in the armchair next to the couch. "I'm….Sans, you know who I am. You know what I've been through. And, I just figured, that you wouldn't need to deal with the extra baggage that is the "Queen of All Monsters." She slumped against the chair, covering her eyes. "I knew about what they spoke about me behind my back. I look young, but I'm centuries old. I'm not at all what you'd expect if you were to court me. I'm….I won't be able to provide you what you'd want in a relationship….no matter how much I'd love to…."

Silence had waltzed back into the room again, as the two let the words hang in the air.

When Toriel peeked out from behind her hand, she saw Sans standing in front of here with a frustrated and conflicted expression.

"…wouldn't be able to provide me what i'd want?! tori, i'm a god damn skeleton! and, knowing me, i ain't one to ask for much. tori, with you just being there by my side is all i'll ever need from yah. well, that, and a couple of uh, other things-" Sans said with a tinted blush, clearing his throat. "-but more importantly, tori…" he tentatively took her hand from her face. "if you think for a second that i care more about how ya look, then it's like you've never even met me." he paused, and stepped closer. "tori, I really do care about ya, more than i've cared for anyone. you honestly make the days go by easier, you're a wonderful mom and a fucking fantastic woman to behold-and for you to be scared of not ever pleasin' me is insane. i'm just a skeleton, a nobody, and you think you're not enough for me?! you're so goddamn compassionate, even to someone like me, i just-" he shook his head, holding her hand tightly as he tries to find the right words. "i…"

He felt a soft hand cup his cheek, as he looked at her. Toriel's eyes were full of emotion, but she wasn't tearing up. "I understand…" she mumbles, as she leans in & rests her head against his. A small blush grazes Sans' cheeks, but he stares into her eyes. "do ya really?" he mumbles back, shutting his eyes.

She nods against him, smiling sadly. "I do…and….if it's still up….I'd like to take you up on your offer for dinner."

Sans opened his eyes, gently pulling away from her, but keeping her hand on his cheek. "y-yeah tori…it never even left the table…." They returned each other's smiles, as they sat in comfortable silence.

"Told you it'd work…" Frisk mumbles from above the stairs, as they & Papyrus had peeked over from over the railing to overhear what'd happen.

"I underestimated you, Human! Now my brother won't be as lazy anymore!" Papyrus mumbles as low as he could, which was still fairly vocal.

"don't think yer getting' out of this, kid." They overheard Sans speak out from below, as Frisk groaned while a snicker was heard from Toriel.

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Still taking writing requests on tumblr pinkmousey.