Kris looked up, eyes still glistening. "What do you mean, 'over?'"

"I'm just – I'm better now. I think. Um…" Suddenly embarrassed, Susie let go of Kris and looked around the room awkwardly. "W-We should probably get out of here. I kinda broke in."

"Yeah, I noticed," Kris chuckled, wiping his face on his sleeve. "I didn't think you knew how to do that anymore."

"Me either," Susie said. She led the way out of the spare room, closing the door behind Kris.

Susie and Kris made their way back down the hall to the front of the school. As they did, Susie snuck a look down at Kris. Long shadows stretched across his face, but in the occasional strand of moonlight that beamed through the windows, she could see that he'd stopped crying and was fixing his stare straight ahead. He seemed calmer than before, which was a relief.

When they reached the front doors, Susie held them open for Kris, letting him go through first. He did, walking out onto the front steps of the school, and Susie heard him shiver behind her as she carefully relocked and shut the doors.

"When was the last time you picked a lock?" Kris asked. "It must have been high school."

"Nah, I broke into an old closet somewhere on campus back in freshman year," Susie said. "That was the last time."

"Why?" Kris asked.

"Just curious to see what was in it," Susie said, walking down the steps to stand by Kris. "Hey, how did you get here?"

"I took the bus," Kris replied. He pointed across the lot at the only car in the parking lot – Susie's minivan. "Is that your car?"

"Yeah, I rented it," Susie said. Their plight hitting her at last, Susie deflated, losing a whole foot of height. "Fuck, we've got a long drive back."

"We can crash at my place," Kris said.

Susie gave Kris a worried look. "Uh. Will your mom appreciate that?"

"She's fine. She – already knows." Kris scratched the back of his neck, the implication of his statement hanging ominously in the air.

"What…does that mean?" Susie asked incredulously.

"I just told her earlier that we'd be visiting Hometown and asked if we could spend the night at her place," Kris replied. "She said it was okay."

"Oh. I…Wow." Susie sighed. "I really don't deserve you, Kris. Thanks. Seriously."

"It's no problem," Kris said. "Let's get going."

Susie nodded and led the way to the car.

~I~

Susie stepped into the house behind Kris, making sure to take her shoes off at the door. She shut the door behind her and followed Kris into the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, opening up the fridge and leaning in.

"Yeah, actually," Susie said. "What do you got?"

"Got some leftover burgers – some apples – a pie – " Kris grabbed all three and shut the fridge with his leg before shambling over to the dining table and dumping the food onto it.

"Should tide me over till morning," Susie said, licking her lips.

Kris smirked. "I'm having some too, you freeloader." He popped the burgers into the microwave and pressed a few buttons. He then started rummaging around in the drawers, and as he did, Susie noticed that the clock on the stove read 2:14 a.m.

"Shit, it's late," she said, half to herself.

"You've stayed up this late before," Kris stated, although to Susie it sounded more like a question.

"I mean – yeah, all the time. It's just…" Susie sat down at the table. "I dunno. I'm just really tired right now."

"You should eat something," Kris said, returning to the table with a few plates and a knife.

"Yeah, I know," Susie said. "Hey, I can – "

"Sit – " Kris rested a hand on Susie's shoulder and gently pushed her back into her chair. "Down. I've got it." He put the apples onto a plate and began cutting them.

"Okay…" Susie said, settling into her chair. "I-I'm really sorry for all the trouble."

"It's fine," said Kris, continuing to chop up the apples.

"You shouldn't have to – t-to – "

Kris paused.

He looked down at Susie.

She looked back up, and

chuckled.

She was being stupid.

"Nevermind," she said. "You do all the work, freak. See if I care."

Kris smiled wider than Susie had seen in months. He resumed cutting the apples.

~I~

After they finished eating, they crept up the stairs to Kris' room and settled in for the night. Susie got Asriel's bed, as she had many times before.

"Been a while since I slept on this thing," she said. She pressed down on it with one hand and heard the springs creak dangerously beneath. She frowned. "You, uh. Sure it won't break this time?"

"It never does, Susie," Kris said, his voice equal parts exasperation and sarcasm. "Despite your best efforts, your fat dragon ass has yet to crush it."

"Dude – " Susie started to roll her eyes, but couldn't help from breaking out into laughter.

Kris whipped around and pressed a finger to his lips, though he was smiling too.

Susie flipped him off and pulled back the sheets.

~I~

"So what's up?"

Susie sighed, gazing up at the ceiling. Outside, crickets chirped from the front lawn. Susie was wrapped from head to toe in Asriel's comforter.

Across the dozens and dozens of sleepovers they'd shared, a sort of ritual had developed between Susie and Kris. Toriel would put them to bed, and instead of sleeping like the good little children they weren't, they'd stay up. Kris had portable game systems, and sometimes they'd even sneak out the window to mess around in the backyard. Somehow, Toriel had never caught them.

Tonight, though, they were just going to talk.

Kris was still waiting for a response. Susie could take her time, though – the conversations that were held between these walls could be very personal, and that took time to come out – something that both Kris and Susie came to understand as they got older.

But Susie knew that tonight's conversation couldn't wait. Not anymore.

"Do you ever…" Susie stopped herself. "Do you ever wake up in the morning and…not want to get out of bed?"

Silence.

"Not because I'm tired, you mean," Kris replied.

"Yeah," Susie said.

She heard Kris shift about in his bedsheets from the other side of the room. Her heart pounded.

"Yeah, mostly in high school," he said. "Mostly before I met you. And Ralsei and Lancer."

Susie hummed back, to let Kris know that she'd heard him.

More silence.

"So what's up?" Kris repeated.

Susie groaned. "I don't know, I just – shit." She sat up a little. "Dude, I'm really fuckin' sorry for what I did back at the apartment. I-I was – "

"It's fine," Kris said softly.

"No. It's not fine." Susie rested her head in her hands. "I've been – fuckin' around, thinking about friends I'll never see again – I didn't even notice that you were right in front of me the whole time."

Outside the window, the crickets chirped.

"I'm really sorry, dude," Susie said quietly.

"It's okay," Kris replied.

The crickets hushed for a moment, leaving Susie to her thoughts, her beating heart, and the sweat rolling down her face.

Fuck, this was hard.

But she couldn't stop. Holding in everything had almost consumed her. She had to keep talking.

She had to tell him everything.

"A couple weeks ago…well, I think it was a couple weeks ago…" Susie gulped. "I, uh. Cut myself. Or something."

More silence.

"Oh my god are you serious."

"Yeah," Susie croaked. "I'm fine, it wasn't – I wasn't serious, I don't think – didn't even draw blood, so it barely counts, ha ha – I-I just – "

"Susie – "

"Kris, I'm fine – "

But Kris had already gotten up from his bed. She heard him walking across the floor towards her.

"Kris, seriously," she said, turning to face him. "It was one time. It didn't leave any marks."

Kris stood there for a moment, framed by the moonlight from the window. It might have surprised Susie had she not known Kris as well as she did, but the human didn't look sad or concerned in the slightest. Instead, his eyes had that blank, intense look he sometimes got in them when he saw Berdly picking on people in high school. There was an odd sort of determination to them – actually, he almost looked angry.

"Susie, do you have any idea – why would you – "

"I know, dude," Susie hissed. She turned away. She couldn't meet his eyes. "I know. I'm sorry."

Nothing but the sound of Kris breathing. Then:

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I don't know what I was…"

After another moment's pause, Kris went back to his bed. She heard it creak as he laid back down. "…Sorry."

"It's fine," Susie said, so quietly it came out like a growl. "I shouldn't have doneit."

"No, you shouldn't have," Kris said. "Next time – please just tell me before it gets that bad again, okay?"

"I know. I know," Susie said. She sighed. "I'll do better."

Kris shuffling again. "It's not about doing better, it's just…" He trailed off. "Yeah."

Susie exhaled. "Yeah."

The crickets chirped again. Susie wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed tightly. Her breaths were coming in and out through clenched teeth.

Forcing her mouth open, Susie took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. The world evened out around her. She settled into the covers a little more.

"…I'm sorry about how it ended with Ralsei and Lancer."

Susie's eyes blinked open. "What? Oh – " She rolled over so that she was on her side, facing Kris. "Don't worry about that, dude. It happened – "

"I still feel bad about it," Kris said. There was an uncharacteristic crack – almost a whimper – to his voice. Susie heard him sniff audibly.

Her heart ached.

"I felt it," Kris said. "We were growing up. I know we said we'd never talk about this, but the Dark World – I don't know if it's real or fake, but it's connected to us, somehow. Or maybe it's just connected to me. I don't know. But at a certain point, I just couldn't go back to it anymore. I – you – we were too old, somehow. We weren't kids anymore.

"I felt it coming on for a while before it ended for good. So I was ready for it. I guess it might've looked like I wasn't sad, but I was, even if I didn't show it. I just…knew it was time to move on. And you…"

Silence.

"You didn't want – I was – I couldn't understand why you didn't feel it. Why you didn't know that it was all going to end, one day. I was – frustrated with you – "

Silence.

"…probably because I couldn't express my own sadness in the way that you did."

The crickets chirped quietly.

Somewhere along the way, Susie had started crying, too. She wiped her cheeks, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside her.

"Heh," she chuckled. "Come on, man. You're turning the school bully into a crybaby, over here."

"You're not a bully, Susie," Kris said. "You haven't been for a long, long time. You've changed a lot since high school."

"Yeah. You too," she replied.

"You know who really changed?" Kris said suddenly, sitting up. "Berdly."

Susie laughed uproariously into her pillow, completely and utterly sidelined by the name drop.

"Dude – " Kris sat up in his bed, getting ready to whip his pillow in Susie's direction. "Shut the fuck up – "

"F-Fuckin' – Berdly, dude," Susie managed, still laughing. "He was such a shithead. Remember when he asked Noelle out to the prom?"

Kris sighed. "Yes. I do."

Susie sat up, emboldened by the agreement, and by the memories that connected them. "He wrote a poem and everything! And the fuckin' suit?"

"What a simp," Kris said, shaking his head.

"Hah." Susie sighed and laid back down, the tension all but gone from her body. She privately thanked Berdly for the laugh. "He was so shitty. I'm glad he's better now."

"Eh. He's still shitty," Kris said. "He's just a lot more aware of it, now. And aware of other people."

"Yeah, I guess so," Susie said. "He grew up."

The crickets chirped, and Kris smiled pleasantly.

"We all did."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

It's been a little while, but here's the next chapter!

Life is really really hard for me right now, so I unfortunately can't commit to a consistent update schedule. From now on, chapters will come out when they are ready and no sooner. I hate to say something as self-serving as that, but taking the pressure off is really the only way I can continue writing the story well and, honestly, writing it at all.

If anything changes vis a vis me getting a new update schedule or anything else regarding the fic, I'll edit this notes section. Until then, thank you so very much for reading the story up until this point. Sooner or later, we'll reach the end together!