I had avoided Sans all morning. He kept on giving me strange looks like he didn't understand why I was avoiding him. Maybe he didn't remember the night before. Maybe he didn't remember the alcohol scented threats he had sent my way or the wall that might as well have been my head.

He didn't remember any of it. He didn't remember any of it from last night or the nights before when he had arrived drunk and bitter. Papyrus had only intervened on his behavior once, and that had been the night I had gotten so scared that I had cried out.

I ended up having to beg Papyrus not to do anything about it since I knew that if he did anything, he would revert to his old ways. No one, particularly myself or Sans, fancied him doing that.

Papyrus headed out to work, leaving Sans and I alone. He looked over at me, speaking for the first time this morning, "What did I do, Frisk? Why are you avoiding me?"

"You don't remember last night?" I replied with my quiet voice.

"I went to Grillby's, and then I remember waking up." He paused, his expression changing to horror, "Did I. . .?"

I nodded. This wasn't the first time we'd had this chat. He shook his head slowly, walking over to me with caution. He hugged me gently, "I don't know why I do that, Frisk. I hope you know that, w-whatever I said, it wasn't true. I love you, Frisk. So, so much."

I hugged him back, nodding so that he understood I heard him. I knew that even before he told me. Whatever Sans he found at the bottom of a bottle was not the Sans I knew and loved every day.

His phone rang, startling the both of us out of the hug. He pulled away and answered it, going into the other room to continue the conversation.

I sighed and turned to the wall, grabbing the coat Sans had given me and putting it on. I zipped it up and wrote a note telling him where I was going, and opened the door, heading out into the snowy terrain.

I pulled out the small list from my pocket, turning right to head to the local store, run by the bunny monster who had slowly but surely grown accustomed to me. And not a lot of monsters down here did, so I was lucky that she had.

I avoided eye contact with the passers; even though I was out here often, I still felt like they were trying to kill me with their gaze. My pace quickened and I arrived at the store swiftly, pulling down the hood and kicking off the snow from my boots at the rug in front of the door.

I watched as her head popped around the corner of the first shelf and smile.

"Ah, Frisk!" Her rough voice called, coming out from behind the cash register.

I smiled at her, "Hello, Shopkeeper." She had never told me her name, which was odd for the level of friendship we had, but I never really questioned people's decisions in a place like this.

She saw my hand, which had now pulled out the small list, "What have you come in for?"

I folded it open, "Just a few things. I'm pretty sure I know where they are, at this rate." I laughed gently.

"Good. I'll be at the counter if you need me," She beamed and went back to stand behind the counter, organizing the small merchandise she kept at the front as "discount merchandise."

I went to get some frozen fruits and vegetables, which were in cute little bags that had frost on the indents of the material. I grabbed some uncooked spaghetti, tomato sauce, water, and then a few smaller items.

I hauled them to the front and paid her with exact change, taking the two bags and saying goodbye. I pulled up my hood and headed outside, having the same pit of anxiety in my stomach as before.

When I made it back to the house, I put everything away and began brainstorming for dinner tonight. Even though Papyrus would occasionally insist on cooking, I often took the job myself, since I was home pretty much twenty-four seven.

I unloaded the dishwasher, which had some odd objects like knives or spear tips from Papyrus' work, and then took a break. I pulled down a history book from the shelf, opening to the bookmarked page.

I felt like, in order to understand this place and it's people, I needed to understand the history. Even though it was long and tiring to read, I felt with every chapter I understood a little more about the skelebros and the whole Underground.

- | - 

After only a few chapters, Sans was home from whatever he had been doing. He hung his coat up and smiled at me, in a surprisingly good mood. He walked over and sat down beside me, asking, "Whatcha reading there, kid?"

I bookmarked the page and closed it so that he could see the cover page, "A History of the Underground. Even though it's not just about what's happened down here, it's about the war and before the war and--about everything, to be honest."

He nodded, "Interesting."

"You'd think, but sometimes it helps with putting me to sleep," We laugh and I put it on the table beside the couch, not wanting to get up yet.

"Who called you earlier?" I ask shyly, not wanting to intrude on his personal business but also being really curious about it, too.

"It was just Alphys. She was calling me about some strange movement near the Ruins. It was nothing, as far as I saw. Just her getting her brain in a bunch." He shrugged.

I agreed. It was nothing, right? If there was nothing there, it had to be paranoia or something else. I hope.