Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Your eyes burned from staring at your phone screen.

It was late at night as you scrolled through a few social media apps, liking whatever popped up on your screen that you somewhat enjoyed.

Every post being from friends you barely talk to, it seemed like they always had plans with others.

Yeah, they would always invite you out, but it always seemed like they were forced into asking you. You were probably being paranoid, but you weren't about to take any chances.

It always felt like a burden to hangout with other people, you weren't sure why.

You scrolled past a post of your friends hanging out with each other, they all smiled at the camera as they huddled up close.

You missed hanging out with them. They weren't mean, not at all, but you always felt so out of place when hanging out with them.

Soon enough a post actually makes you stop. It's an account you don't follow, your thumb hovered over the text as you fully registered what you were reading.

Roommate needed.

Reading more of the post you soon figured out that they needed an extra hand with some simple utility bills.

You couldn't help but question why they needed a roommate to pay for utilities and not rent.

It was interesting, you hummed quietly as you hovered over the post.

Fuck it, you thought to yourself. Your grandma told you that you needed to branch out and talk to new people, maybe this would calm your paranoia.

You clicked the profile of the account, planning on stalking the account before messaging them about the roommate situation.

Well, that was your plan anyway.

The account was totally empty besides that one post. They made a separate account to post a roommate ad? Wouldn't it make more sense to post it on their actual account?

It seemed sketchy, real sketchy.

You decided to bite the bullet, messaging the account.

“I saw your ad about needing a new roommate to help pay for your utilities, is that offer still available?”

You sighed as you sent the message, quickly shutting off your phone and placing it on your chest.

This was dumb.

Messaging someone who needed a roommate without knowing their face? Extremely dumb of you.

You jumped slightly at the feeling of your phone vibrating on your chest, picking up the phone you checked the notification.

“Yes! The roommate offer is still up! Are you interested?”

That was fast.

You read the notification over and over again before finally clicking the message.

“Yeah, I think I'm interested. I should have enough money to pay for the utilities, but it didn't say anything about rent though.”

You could even click out of the conversation before another text came through.

“Yep! We just need extra help with the water and electricity, we have the rent fully covered!”

You talked to whoever was running the account for a while, clearing up a few of your questions before they asked whenever you'd be free to meet in person.

You know it was stupid to agree, talking to a stranger online was stupid in itself. You simply took a deep breath before agreeing, making sure that the area would be public and full of people. 

Luckily, the person agreed; they even sent a cute smiley face emoticon.

Sighing, you fully put your phone down on the side of your head. 

You struggled to keep your eyes open as you thought about what you just did.

You probably just made a huge mistake.

This was a huge mistake.

Your right leg bounces uncontrollably underneath the table, making sure that the noise wasn't too noticeable.

You wanted to bite your nails, pick at the skin next to your cuticles; but you were in public, it would be gross and embarrassing to do it with others around.

Checking the time once more, you sighed. You definitely showed up earlier than you probably should have.

You couldn't help it, you were so excited this morning to get out of the house that you completely forgot that you were meeting in the afternoon.

You could feel the eyes of the spider monster who owned the small café, she walked past your table more than she probably should have.

She was about to walk past your table once more before the bell on the door rang, your head snapped up at the sound, trying your best to stay calm while looking at the door.

Two skeleton monster's walked in, and the woman perked up at the sight of the two.

“Welcome back, dearies,” she began with a smile, “do you two want your usuals?” 

“NO NEED, MISS MUFFET,” the shorter skeleton continued, “ME AND MY BROTHER ARE HERE FOR BUSINESS.”

The skeleton had a professional look, his outfit was clean and smooth. He looked like a businessman, very professional.

The taller skeleton didn't speak, he simply waved at the spider monster.

The shorter skeleton walked up to Muffet, talking quieter now that he was closer to the woman. He waved over the taller skeleton and told him something. The taller one nodded his head as he pulled out his phone, he tapped on it before showing Muffet the screen.

She looked closely at whatever was on his phone before she smiled widely, her fangs showing as she giggled.

“Ahuhuhuhu~! Of course,” she spoke loud enough for you to hear. “That human is over there, with the glass of water,” she pointed at you.

You would be lying if you said you didn't feel your anxiety spike as she pointed at you. This was probably the person you were talking to last night, although he seemed less professional over message.

Your eyes met the taller skeleton as he looked over at where you were. He seemed to stiffen slightly as your eyes met. He had a hoodie on with his hood over his skull, the skeleton had golden braces over his canines.

The smaller skeleton also looked at you before looking back at Muffet, he nodded his head as a silent thank you to the woman before walking over to your table.

You subconsciously sat up straighter as they walked closer, your leg wanted to bounce faster, but you forced it to stop bouncing all together.

“HELLO, I ASSUME YOU'RE Y/N?” The shorter skeleton asked.

“Hello, yes I am y/n,” you replied as you stuck your hand out for a handshake. “Were you the one I was speaking to last night?” You asked as he shook your hand.

“I'M AFRAID NOT,” he said as he gave your hand a firm handshake, “MY NAME IS WINE, AND THIS IS MY BROTHER COFFEE.” Wine introduced.

You gave a, hopefully, sincere smile at the two. “It's nice to meet you both,” you spoke truthfully.

“HOW ABOUT WE START DISCUSSING OVER SOME DRINKS? MUFFET HAS THE BEST SWEETS,” Wine asked as he sat down in front of you.

You simply nodded your head, maybe a drink would calm your nerves.

The meeting went surprisingly well, you found out how many people lived in the house and Coffee even had photos of the empty room they would provide for you.

Wine was also nice enough to pay for your drink, even after you protested against it.

“WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE FULL HOUSE AT A LATER DATE?” Wine asked as you three left the small café.

Your smile was definitely strained. Going to a house full of strangers, by yourself? No can do, you didn't feel like you were ready for that.

Coffee looked at you silently, waiting for your response; but before you could speak he seemed to understand.

He gently bumped into Wine’s arm, shaking his head as he flipped through the small notebook in his hands.

Coffee didn't speak at all during the conversation, he just pulled out a small notebook with prewritten words on it and showed it to Wine whenever he wanted to ask or clarify something.

Wine looked up at his brother, a questioning look on his face. Coffee flipped to a page in his notebook, showing it to Wine.

He read the page quickly, a quiet hum leaving him as he finished.

“MY APOLOGIES, I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW FORWARD THAT QUESTION WAS,” Wine spoke as he looked back at you.

“YOU, OF COURSE, MAY BRING A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER TO THE HOUSE AS WELL,” he clarified.

Your anxiety eased up at Wine's words, “thank you, I'll reach out as soon as I'm free? Does that work?” You asked with a, now, relaxed smile.

“OF COURSE! ALL IN DUE TIME,” Wine smiled at you, “I MUST SAY, YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT.” He said simply before his smile became wider, “IT'S RARE TO FIND A HUMAN AS RESPECTFUL AS YOU.”

Oh.

“Thank you,” you replied, you didn't want to mess up now.

Wine chuckled, his smile widening. “IT'S NO PROBL

EM, NOW,” Wine gestures to Coffee, “WE MUST BE ON OUR WAY, IT WAS WONDERFUL TALKING TO YOU.”

You nodded your head, waving as the two walked away.

Chapter Text

It's been a week since you've talked to Wine or even messaged the account again.

You've been trying to find someone who'd come with you to the house with the skeletons.

Your grandma was out of the question, she has too many physical problems that would just make you worry. Your father was also out of the list, he wasn't a fan of monsters.

You could ask your friends, but you didn't want to ask them to go anywhere after you've been actively ignoring them.

Grabbing the closest thing to your face, which was a pillow, you groaned into it. Why was being social so hard?

You wanted to sit in your loathing for a while, but you barely had a minute to think before your phone started vibrating.

Moving the pillow from your face you grabbed your phone and opened it. It surprisingly wasn't the account with the ad on it, it was one of the many group chats that you were a part of.

Melissa, one of the many girls that you barely talk to, messaged the chat. She tagged everyone in the chat for a massive party, you were about to swipe the notification before another message popped up.

“Y/N, you coming? Thought I'd ask since you barely talk to us, LOL.”

That strangely hurt..?

Why did that hurt? It was true, you don't go out of your way to talk to any of them.

You clicked on the message, trying to type out that you were free and would go out. Maybe this would be your big break, maybe you'll even ask one of them to come to the house with you to check it out.

“OMG they're actually typing!!”

“Holy shit guys!!”

Your thumbs stopped moving over your phone keyboard. Was it that surprising that you were talking?

Biting your lip out of nervousness, you deleted the message you were talking about. 

You didn't even think about what you were typing until you sent the message.

“Can't, I'm checking out a house that day, I've been really busy.”

You looked at your screen for a while, the lie that you wrote out was clear. You haven't been busy, the most you did this week was refresh your email to check if any of your job applications have been checked out by whatever place you tried to work at.

The worst part is that you now have to actually go to the house this weekend.

You sighed, you've already dug your grave, might as well lay in it.

Moving your thumb, you went to the other account to message your, possible, future roommates.

“I was wondering if this Saturday would be a good day to check out the house?” 

The response took longer than last time, but as soon as it came through your anxiety spiked.

“of course, you can even stay for dinner if you'd like,”

You debated screaming into your pillow.

Saturday came by faster than you would like.

It also didn't help that your father wasn't home to take care of your grandma.

You had to make sure that she was fed and took her medicine before you even thought of going into the shower. Her health was more important than yours right now.

Luckily your grandma was in a good mood today, she thanked you and told you to get ready without asking for anything else.

You loved that old woman with your whole heart.

Your shower was quick, you had to leave in under an hour if you wanted to make it to the address on time.

Drying your hair and getting your best outfit out of the dryer you quickly got dressed.

It was a simple button up with black dress pants, it wasn't the fanciest, but it should be good enough.

You grabbed your phone out of your room before walking into the living room, your grandma sat in her recliner quietly, watching some Christmas movies despite it being spring.

“Do you need anything before I leave?” You asked.

Your father hadn't come home yet, and you didn't want to leave your grandma alone.

“I'm fine, don't worry,” your grandma responded, her voice strained from old age. “If I need anything I'll call, okay?”

You looked at the old woman, her eyes locked onto yours. She read you like a book, you were nervous, not just leaving her alone, but leaving to go to a random house.

“Have fun, you deserve it,” she quietly said.

“Okay, I'll try,” you said just as quietly, “I love you.”

The walk to the house was long, it sucked, the warm weather made you feel gross.

You really should try to get your driver's license soon.

The driveway was made of asphalt, the opposite of your uneven gravel driveway that you grew up with.

The grass wasn't dead, some of the trees in the back were tall enough to see from the front.

It looked amazing.

You walked up the driveway, being careful to not step on the grass or touch any of the cars.

The outside of the house didn't look dirty, the walls didn't have a single stain.

You couldn't help but feel out of place here.

Ever in a million years would you think that you'd be able to live in such a nice home.

Your hands balled up, your nails digging into your palms. It stunk slightly, the feeling grounded you.

Taking a deep breath you rang the doorbell before you could run down the driveway.

It didn't take long before someone opened the door.

It was another tall skeleton. They had braces on their teeth as well as glasses taped on the side of their head.

“AH, YOU MUST BE Y/N!” He spoke with a smile as he moved out of the way of the door, “COME IN!”

You quickly followed behind the skeleton, your eyes drifting over his body.

He was definitely tall, taller than Coffee by at least five inches. He also had crutches, forearm crutches.

You looked away from the crutches, not wanting to seem rude. Your eyes took in the living room.

It was big, there was a large L-shaped couch with two recliners off to the side. The couch looked loved, but it wasn't dirty.

There were other skeletons in the living room, and you could have sworn you saw some more in the kitchen moving around.

How many skeletons were living here again?

“MY NAME IS BUTCH,” the taller skeleton spoke up once more. He smiled down at you, before turning his head to one of the other skeletons.

“SLIM? CAN YOU SHOW THE HUMAN THE ROOM THEY MIGHT STAY IN,” Butch asked one of the skeletons that were sitting in the living room.

One skeleton, who you assume was Slim, nodded their head before getting up slowly.

Slim looked weirdly similar to Coffee, the main difference was the lack of braces on his canines.

Slim walked up to you as Butch walked away towards the kitchen.

The taller skeleton looked down at you, he was as equally quiet as Coffee.

You wanted to speak, but as soon as you opened your mouth he quickly started walking to the stairs. Slim walked slowly, looking behind him a few times to make sure you were following.

Not wanting to seem rude, you quickly followed behind him up the stairs.

The house was really nice. The wood basically shined, it seemed polished. It was completely different from your house.

Slim turned left at the top of the stairs, his hands in his pockets as he stood still. He moved out of your way so you could walk up to the door.

Opening the door, your jaw almost dropped.

The room was bigger than you thought it was, the pictures Wine showed you didn't give the room justice.

The walls were painted with a nice cream color, there were two dressers plus a closet in the back right corner.

You walked into the room, looking at the queen sized bed in the left corner of the room.

“Oh, wow,” was all that you could manage to say.

The skeleton in the doorway snickered quietly, covering it up with a fake cough. Slim was smiling slightly, “not what you thought?” He asked, clearly amused.

You shook your head dumbly. You couldn’t fight off the amused smile on your own face, even if you didn't like anyone in this house, you'd definitely stay for the room.

“This is so much better than I thought,” you finally admitted. The space was big, definitely not a master bedroom, but it was bigger than your bedroom at home.

Slim kept a smile on his face, “yeah, we had to renovate to keep us all here,” he explained with a shrug.

You looked back at Slim fully, your amused smile still present, “How many people live here?” You asked. The ad said that the house had multiple residences but some of them weren't going to come back until later months.

Slim thought for a few moments, silently counting. “umm, twelve are in the house now,” he said before shrugging, “i think that only four people aren't here.”

Sixteen.

Sixteen skeletons in one house.

Sixteen people you'll have to meet at some point if you want to live here.

Maybe you'll be lucky, maybe they are as equally quiet as Coffee or Slim.

Those thoughts were quickly thrown out the window as more voices spoke downstairs.

Slim chuckled again, not bothering to hide his amusement this time. “don't worry, the louder ones are the nice ones,” he said with a smile.

You opened your mouth to ask more questions, but once again you were cut off.

“except Edge, you gotta watch out for him,” another skeleton asked.

This skeleton was only an inch shorter than Slim, but that was probably because he was wearing slippers and not tennis shoes.

Slim smiled at the voice, scoffing with amusement. “he's only an ass to you,” he said simply as he leaned on the doorframe.

The other skeleton playfully scoffed, “that's the worst lie you've told.”

“he's not that bad, he just has bad days,” Slim detected to you, “and from what i've seen, it looks like he's had a good day.”

The skeleton looked over Slim at you as he spoke to you, the new skeleton had an orange hoodie with brown cargo shorts.

A small tooth gap was shown as the skeleton smiled at you, “you must be y/n,” he said as he leaned against Slim.

“Yeah, that's me,” you couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. Butch knew your name, so did Slim, but this other skeleton did as well?

“my bro told me to come get whoever was upstairs for dinner, he's been dying to meet you,” he added with a chuckle. 

Slim shoved off the other skeleton with ease, “come on, we should get going then before they send someone else up here.”

He moved off the wall before going down the stairs. You quickly followed, not wanting to be separated from the skeleton who showed you the room.

Wine was the first skeleton you saw when you went back downstairs. He also noticed you, waving and smiling as you walked off of the stairs.

“I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN,” Wine said as he fixed his left glove. “YOU LOOK NICE,” he said as he took notice of your business casual outfit.

Wine smoothed down a crease on his right glove before looking back up at you, “COME, THE OTHERS WORKED HARD ON DINNER JUST FOR YOU.”

You nodded your head before you followed him. The heels on his boots clicked against the wooden floor nicely, the sound strangely soothing.

The kitchen was full, a few skeletons were walking around the kitchen. 

All the other skeletons were sat down at the long table.

You wanted to walk over to the furthest chair from everyone else, but before you could even take a step another skeleton popped up next to you.

“YOU CAN SIT BY ME,” the new skeleton spoke.

He was short, shorter than you by a few inches. His skull was round and his smile was also huge.

“I'M AZURE, BUT EVERYONE JUST CALLS ME BLUE,” he explained.

You wanted to deny his request to sit next to him, if you wanted to sit next to anyone it would be Coffee, or maybe even Butch. You knew you can't say no though.

You had

to make good first impressions, this was their house that they are willing to let you rent a room in. If you were to argue you'd look like an asshole.

You forced a smile, nodding your head in agreement.

Chapter Text

You ended up sitting between Blue and another taller skeleton, Papyrus.

Both of them welcomed you happily, giving you your plate of food first.

The plate held a large piece of baked spaghetti with smaller scoops of random sides. The plate was filled with food, it almost made you full just from looking at it.

Other plates got passed around the table as well as.. condiments?

You decided to not question it.

Everyone waited till the last plate was served before beginning to eat.

You grabbed your fork and began eating the baked spaghetti. It was beyond perfect. The top part of the spaghetti wasn't hard, the sides weren't unbearably crispy. It was perfect.

“Y/N,” Wine started, smiling over at you. “WHAT DO YOU DO FOR WORK?” He asked simply, it was just small talk.

“I work at a movie theater,” you answered simply.

Another skeleton spoke up, he was slightly shorter than Blue.

He had a red, gold, and black hoodie on the back of his chair, the collar of the hood had dark cream fur around it.

“the one down near MTT Mall?” He asked before taking another bite of his food.

You've heard of MTT Mall before, looking up pictures online whenever your friends would ask to hangout as a group down there.

“Not that one,” you corrected as you pushed the food around on your plate, “it's near the old shopping center.”

The skeleton looked questioningly at you.

“and you're here to help pay for our bills?” He asked suspiciously.

It looked like he was able to say more before he jumped in his seat slightly.

“ow-! what the hell?” He glared at the skeleton sitting across from him, Coffee.

Coffee was giving him a pointed look, silently telling the other skeleton to shut up.

You took a small bite out of your food so you didn't have to talk. You needed to calm yourself down before speaking again.

He wasn't trying to be mean or anything, the skeleton was just confused and wanted to know. It was a reasonable question.

You swallowed the piece of chewed spaghetti, your hands holding the fork steadily as you spoke up again.

“I have enough money for the rent at my home, I should have enough for the utilities here,” you looked up at the skeleton once more, “but I'm looking for another job, if that helps.”

“it's okay, kid,” a different skeleton spoke up.

He wore a nice blue hoodie, the color was slightly faded from use.

“Red's a real bonehead,” he continued with a snicker.

The other skeleton - Red - rolled his eyelights at the other skeletons’ pun. 

“whatever,” Red grumbled before taking another bite.

Blue quickly directed the conversation to something else, asking everyone how there day went.

Thankfully, the change in conversation was welcomed from everyone.

You also learned everyone's name as you listened.

Sans was the skeleton who called Red a bonehead and his brother was Papyrus, the taller skeleton with a nice white button up shirt.

Red's brother was Edge, he made dinner and was the one Stretch worned you about.

Azure, or Blue, was Stretch's brother.

Slim’s brother was Black, another short skeleton who looked like a weird mixture of Blue and Wine.

And finally Butch and his brother.

They both were bigger than the other skeletons, Axe wasn't as tall as Papyrus, but he was definitely taller than Wine. He also had a chunk of his skull missing, the bone around it cracked slightly.

It wasn't scary, it was more sad.

You didn't want to pity anyone, no one likes being pitied, but you couldn't help how your heart squeezed in your chest. Butch and Axe had more trouble eating than the others, Axe pushed his food around with his fork while Butch took small bites every few minutes.

The hold on your fork grew tighter as you held back speaking out loud.

You couldn't mess this up, the skeletons were offering you a room in their house for only a small price.

Blue's voice cut off your thoughts, “WHAT ABOUT YOU Y/N? HOW WAS YOUR DAY?” He asked before he took a bite.

Your mind went blank.

The most you did today was walk to the house, you didn't do anything besides hype yourself up and coming to the house.

You silently panicked, no way you were saying that out loud. That was just pathetic.

“Uh, nothing much,” you said, half fib half truth.

You felt a chill down your spine, the feeling made you shiver slightly before you spoke again, “I made dinner for my grandma before coming down here.”

The chill was gone, your back relaxing out of relief.

“YOUR GRANDMA?” Black asked.

His plate was empty, his arms were crossed as he looked at you from the other side of the table.

You nodded your head, “yeah, I live with her and my dad.”

Black seemed skeptical, his eyes narrowing slightly. “DON'T YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF HER?” He continued.

You looked down at your plate as you used your fork to twirl the cooling spaghetti on it, “no, I'm just there just in case my dad isn't home, but he usually is,” you said before taking a bite of spaghetti.

Black still looked unimpressed at your explanation, did he not believe you?

Before Black could speak once more Edge stood up, gathering the plates that were empty. He stopped at your plate, only a few small pieces of spaghetti and side dishes were on it.

Your hands dug into the fabric around your knees as you spoke, “dinner was amazing, thank you,” you said truthfully.

Edge didn't say anything, he simply huffed as he grabbed your plate. He left the dining room with long strides.

The feeling in your chest worsened.

Maybe you should text your grandma, see if she can call and take an emergency for you? She wouldn't mind right?

Your hand twitched slightly as it moved to your phone in your pants pocket. You're sure that you could text her without anyone noticing.

“don't worry ‘bout Edge, he's not used to compliments.”

You jumped slightly at the new voice next to you, your heart beating faster from the scare. Stretch must have walked over to you without you noticing.

He chuckled, “didn't mean to scare you, hun,” Stretch apologized with amusement. His hand rested against your shoulder as he continued to speak, “Sans wants to talk to you about something, thought i'd let you know.”

Your heart moved to your throat. You definitely messed up. Did you not make a good first impression? Were you too quiet? Oh god, you just wanted to leave the house and never come back.

“he's in the living room waiting for you,” Stretch clarified before taking his hand off of your shoulder. You expected him to leave after that, but he leaned down to look you in the eyes, “between you and me, i hope you end up living here.”

You looked blankly at Stretch after he spoke, was he serious?

Stretch smiled at your, probably dumb, expression. His hand came up once more to pat your shoulder before he left the dining room.

You didn't know how to feel.

Sans wanted to talk to you about something, but Stretch liked you enough that he wanted you to fill the new roommate position.

Standing up from the, now, empty table, you pushed in your chair. You needed to calm down, your fingers twitched out of nervousness.

You were excited for the walk back home, the air would help calm yourself. You'd be by yourself, no small talk no nothing.

Your fingers stopped twitching, your hands were now steady. You were ready to talk to Sans, you were ready to be let down easily.

“when do you want to move in?”

What.

“Huh?” You asked.

Sans chuckled slightly, his grin relaxed as he looked at you. “when do you want to move in, kid? we'd love to have you as a roommate,” he clarified.

This isn't what you thought would happen, you for sure thought that you messed up something.

You cleared your throat, as you looked at Sans. “Before the end of the month, I don't have much to pack, so it shouldn't take too long,” you said truthfully, no point in lying about that.

Sans nodded his head in understanding, “okay,” he replied simply.

You realized that Sans was a skeleton of few words, unless he's making a joke or talking with Papyrus.

Speaking of Papyrus; he had been sitting next to Sans the whole conversation, the smile on his face didn't flatter once. Papyrus seemed over the moon by the idea of you moving in.

“THIS IS WONDERFUL,” he said as he clasped his hands together, “I SHALL TELL THE OTHERS IMMEDIATELY!” 

Papyrus stood up from the couch, quickly walking out of the living room to tell the other skeletons.

Sans watched his brother leave, the lazy smile still on his face.

Your hands were clasped together to prevent them from shaking. You never thought you'd get this far, you expected Sans to tell you that you just weren't what they were looking for.

You didn't know how to feel.

You'd be moving out of your house and moving into this house, with strangers.

The pit in your stomach grew when you realized how dumb you were for even responding to the ad in the first place.

Your thoughts were interrupted by Sans’ voice, “i wanna go over some ground rules, just so you know what you're getting into.”

You nodded your head, willing to listen to Sans rather than your own thoughts.

“okay, bedrooms are private unless someone gives you permission to go into them, basic stuff,” Sans continued.

“basement is off limits, personal stuff from the underground is down there and i just want that stuff to be for us,” he explained.

Okay, it made sense, you didn't like your personal items to be looked at and judged by others.

“Edge likes the kitchen clean, he'll wash dishes after dinner and stuff, but if you make lunch for yourself you clean up your own mess,” Sans said simply.

These rules were simple and really normal, it didn't seem too hard. You nodded your head in agreement, Sans relaxed slightly.

“good, we can talk about the utility bills whenever you move in fully,” Sans finished up as Papyrus walked back into the living room.

You relaxed, this all seemed easy enough. Follow the rules, clean up after yourself, and pay your part. Very easy.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” you stood up from the couch, and out of politeness, you held your hand out for a handshake.

Sans looked at your hand, his smile growing wider as he moved his hand to shake yours.

Pfft-

Sans chuckled at the sound, his eyelights filled with humor. “heheh. the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny,” he snickered out.

A smile grew on your face, it was funny, the tight feeling in your chest lessened at the lighthearted atmosphere. 

You chuckled with him, your face scrunching in amusement.

“UGH,” Papyrus groaned loudly, clearly displeased with Sans’ joke. “I'M SURE THE HUMAN DOESN'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR PUNS BEFORE THEY MOVE IN,” he said simply.

Sans just shrugged, pulling his hand away from yours, “come on Paps, they laughed, plus, you're smiling.”

“I AM, AND I HATE IT,” Papyrus huffed out, his smile still on his face as they playfully bickered.

The smile on your face felt real, not forced or anything. The nervous feeling you've felt the whole day dulled down as the brother's talked to each other.

You liked this.

Chapter Text

The last two weeks felt agonizingly slow.

The days felt longer than usual, the sun rising earlier and setting much later than it normally would.

No matter how busy you were, the days kept getting slower and slower.

Maybe it was your nerves. How long has it been since you took your medicine? It must have been at least two days.

Maybe that's why you're so out of it.

You quickly put the last hanger from your closet in the box you were packing, taping it shut.

Boxes were scattered around your room, the only thing left was the small bedside table and your twin size bed.

It looked almost the same as before.

The walls had always been bare, not being allowed to hang stuff on the wall because of your landlord.

You swallowed the lump on your throat, forcing yourself to leave the bedroom.

Your dad was passed out on the couch, his chest rising and falling as he snores. Your grandma was also asleep on her recliner, her head rolled back with two blankets over her body.

You looked at her for a while, making sure she was still breathing.

She was.

Your grandma was breathing and she is okay.

No need to wake her up.

You shook your head. You really need to take your medicine.

Papyrus had told you that Slim would be picking up you and your belongings.

It was just you on the stoop in front of the door, waiting for Slim to pull up into the gravely driveway.

It was nice out at least. There were barely any clouds in the sky as the sun beamed down at you.

Your hair stuck to your face from the sweat that ran down your forehead, who knew carrying five boxes would be so hard?

Your elbows were resting on your thighs, your hands holding your head up as you continued to watch the street.

Your neighborhood wasn't horrible, just old. All the houses looked the same except for the lucky homeowner next to your house.

You didn't know the full story, but apparently your neighbor had won a mini lottery, not enough to live the rest of your life off of, but enough to renovate the house.

It made your house look smaller in comparison, but you couldn't really complain.

A truck rumbled against the gravel, making your head snapping up to the noise.

The truck was nice, nicer than the old rusted one in your driveway.

The truck was a dark purple color, it almost looked completely black. You couldn't name the truck off of the top of your head, that wasn't really something you had knowledge of.

Slim had parked in reverse, the trunk of the truck closer to the house, probably to make it easier to put your stuff in the back of the truck.

Slim had gotten out of the truck, going around it to open the trunk as you picked out some of the lighter boxes.

Picking up three light boxes you walked up next to Slim. “Thank you for doing this,” you said truthfully as you set the boxes down and pushed them to the back.

Slim just shrugged before walking away, grabbing the last few boxes that were definitely heavier than the ones you picked up.

“it's no skin off of my bones,” he joked as he pushed the other boxes in front of the ones you put into the trunk.

“didn't know you lived all the way out here,” he stated before continuing, “you walked all the way to our house?” He asked as he pushed the tailgate up.

“Uh, yeah, it was a nice day,” you said simply. “It wasn't that bad,” you clarified as you walked to the passenger side of the truck.

Pulling open the door you pulled yourself up into the truck easily as Slim continued talking. “i'm sure it was okay in the morning,” he started, “but you walked home by yourself when it got dark out.” Slim spoke simply as he pulled out of your driveway.

Your hands gripped the fabric of your shorts, playing with the loose denim silently as you thought to yourself.

It was dumb of you to walk home by yourself at night. You've heard stories from your past classmates and from your family, it was the one thing that was drilled into your head at a young age.

“Yeah, pretty dumb of me,” you finally stated after thinking for a few seconds.

Slim just shrugged, “dumb, but brave. don't sell yourself short just because it wasn't the smartest choice,” he spoke as he continued to drive.

“speaking of bravery,” Slim smiled before he continued, “is that your main soul trait?”

Your fidgeting stopped as you looked at him, “soul trait?” You repeated, “is that a part of monster culture?”

Slim moved his shoulders in a shrugging motion, “kinda, humans used to care about their soul traits before we were forced underground.” Slim glanced at you once more before continuing his question, “do you know what your soul traits are?”

“No, I have no idea what my soul trait is,” you continued, “they never taught us what souls were.” You explained as you continued playing with the fabric on your shorts, watching the trees and other houses pass by.

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet, the truck's engine purring as the wheels ran over gravel and cracks in the road.

It was nostalgic.

It reminded you of when your dad would just drive nowhere specific. The open parking lots that your dad would randomly do donuts in, making you laugh from the rush.

Soon enough the truck pulled up into a smooth driveway.

The ride was a lot quicker when you weren't walking.

Slim pulled out the keys to the truck before he got out with you following along with him.

He pulled down the tailgate before pulling himself up into the truckbed, moving the boxes and stacking them for you to pick up.

Your hands twitched slightly, you ignored it, simply moving the boxes to rest on your forearms to hold them.

Slim had grabbed two lighter boxes while you held the rest, you didn't mind nor care.

He had walked up to the front door, opening it and holding it for you to walk in. Walking into the house you heard Wine's familiar voice.

“FORCING THEM TO CARRY THE HEAVY STUFF, WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?” He scolded Slim as he grabbed most of the boxes in your arms.

You smiled at the soft scolding Wine gave Slim, it was lighthearted and clearly in a playful way. It was rather sweet to you.

“Thank you,” you told Wine. He just smiled at you before quickly walking up the stairs with the boxes, Slim followed him with a bored expression.

You sat down on the floor with scissors next to you. Empty boxes to your left and the last box in front of you.

You didn't want to open it.

Scissors grasped in your hand, you moved so the scissors were open fully. Sticking the blade into the tape before slicing it open, the zipping noise was oddly satisfying.

Putting the scissors down, you opened the box.

Two medicine bottles, and one weekly pill planner sat at the top. Grabbing the bottles and pill planner you looked further into the box, a smaller box sat at the bottom. You knew what it had in it, but the dread of opening it still lingered.

You shook your head, grabbing one of the pill bottles and opening it. Your fingers grabbed one pill as you looked around the room.

No water.

You sighed, putting the pill back into the bottle and closing it as you got up off of the floor.

As impressive as it is to dry swallow a pill, you weren't one of those people who could do that.

Opening the door to your new room, you nearly ran right into Blue. You nearly jumped out of your skin, no pun intended, when you saw him. Blue didn't notice, and if he did he didn't mention it.

“Hi! I Was Just About To Knock,” Blue said before continuing, “Came To Check On You, You've Been In Your Room For A While.”

You just smiled awkwardly, “oh, that's nice of you.”

“I Know,” Blue offhandedly said with a proud smile, “Are You Hungry? We Just Made Sandwiches For Everyone If You'd Like One.”

You thought for a moment, you have to go to the kitchen anyway to get water, it wouldn't hurt to eat something before taking your medicine.

You nodded your head as you closed your door behind yourself, “sure, I could go for a snack right now.”

Blue's smile widened as his left hand rested on top of his collar bone, “Of Course You Would!” He announced smugly, his words made you chuckle slightly as you followed him down the stairs.

Only one skeleton sat in the living room, Coffee was scrunched up into a ball on the couch. His sketchbook peeked out from behind his knees as he continued to scribble something into the book.

Coffee didn't look up, so you didn't wave at him, there wasn't really any point.

Quickly walking into the kitchen you see Black and Axe.

Black was leaning against the counter next to the stove and Axe was sitting at the dining room table. Blue grabbed a plate filled with, what you assumed to be, hot ham and cheese sandwiches.

Black spoke as you took a sandwich, “How Are You Adjusting To Your New Room?” You could tell that he was asking just to be polite.

“It's been good, almost done unpacking,” you said offhandedly before taking a bite out of your sandwich.

The bread cooked perfectly as you bit down, the satisfying crunch filled your ears. This was the best hot ham and cheese you've had in forever.

“Oh wow, this is really good-” You said before taking another bite.

Black just huffed, turning his skull away from you to look out the window. Blue smiled at his reaction, “He's Just Being A Sour Puss, Don't Mind Him,” he said smugly as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

Blue's words got a chuckle out of Axe. His laugh was deep and raspy, like he had a scratch in the back of his throat he couldn't reach.

Black had started scolding Blue, the words blended together in your mind as you continued to eat. The banter felt nice, even if Blue was being a smartass. It was funny, the insults and back and forth weirdly calmed you.

It seemed like you enjoyed it so much that you didn't notice Axe had moved to stand next to you.

His hand reached for another sandwich, grabbing it before handing it to you. You looked up at Axe confused as you took the new sandwich from his hand. He just smiled, his grin was toothy and wide. “you haven't eaten since you got here,” he explained simply.

“Oh,” you said as you looked down at your second sandwich, “thank you.”

Axe just smiled again as he brought his hand up to your shoulder, gently putting it before he pulled away and left the kitchen.

You left your door open slightly as you put away your clothes into the closet. The closet was pretty as well, the dark wood contrasted nicely with the cream colored walls, the closet even had a small storage compartment at the bottom.

Clothes got put away quickly, you only grabbed whatever fit you and was clean back at your old house. Your sneakers were placed in the top drawer in the closet.

You smiled, your body relaxing as you looked around the room once more.

Old drawings from old friends taped up on the wall, some Lego sets resting on top of the dresser, and the two pill bottles on the bedside table.

Your smile faded slightly as you looked at the bottles.

Your eyes moved back to the closet then back to the medicine.

Quickly grabbing the bottles you opened the closet again, almost yanking the bottom drawer out of place. You shoved the bottles into the drawer before closing it, you sighed as you closed the closet once more.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Taking a deep breath you grabbed your phone, opening up one of your social media apps and opening one of the most recent group chats.

“Hey, anyone want to hangout later? Go to MTT Mall or something?”

It was quiet for a moment until your phone started blowing up.

“Really?”

“You aren't fucking with us?”

“About time”

More text came through, multiple people asking if you really meant it while only one other person was asking for everyone's schedule.

You smiled as you fully closed your bedroom door.