Archive of Our Own

Susie walked away as she heard Kris walk towards the beach, she thought about earlier today. That's all she could think about. Noelle. It was awkward to say, but she would say today made her fall in love with Noelle. Just thinking about the girl made Susie smirk, as she passed by the flower store, she got lost in her thoughts.

7 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴

Susie had been walking around Hometown, a part of her told her to just leave and forget about it. If Kris isn't here, then what was the point? Noelle would probably ditch her anyway. Just like she did at her house just to talk to Kris. Just as she was about to return back to the Dark World to wallow away in some of Ralsei's cauldron made cake, she heard a familiar voice call to her.
"Susie."
Susie looked around, her heart started to slam against her rib cage. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴...Sudden panic set in.
"Susie!!" The blonde doe called to her, almost running to her. Susie wanted to tell her to stop.
𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳. "N..Noelle!" Susie said breathlessly, unable to calm her heart down.
Noelle embraced her. 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴. "I'm so happy to see you."
𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯. Susie finally let out a sigh, she was able to breathe. Susie hugged her awkwardly back, trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom that crashed upon her. "You too. I guess?"
Noelle pulled away with a smile, almost as if she were programmed to be doing and saying these things. "Would you like to hang out with me? You know.." A small blush appeared on her face, "Maybe as a small date?"
Susie's eyes went wide, she suddenly blurted, "S-Sure! Yeah, that'd be...cool! Yeah."
Noelle giggled, "Cool? That's all?"
"I'm not good with words okay..?" Susie grumbled.
"That's okay! I know what you mean, Susie." Noelle softly said, grabbing Susie's arm. "What do you want to do first?"
"Oh, I know what I want to do, but it might be too scary for you."
"What?! Nothing is too scary for me!! Especially with you. You know...to..protect me." Noelle mumbled the last bit.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing!" Noelle suddenly smiled again. It almost looked fake. "You lead the way! I kind of want it to be a surprise!"
"If you say so!"

* * *
Susie crossed her arms as they left the church, "Can't believe they banned us for that!"
"It was my idea, Susie! Don't blame yourself, okay?" Noelle scratched the back of her neck as they walked back up to the main part of town. Even her smirk looked fake. "If it makes you feel any better, Kris' brother actually got banned for the same reason!"
"Woah! With who?!"
"Oh...uhm..Someone who left a while ago! Went off to...college! To spread her wings."
"Oh, I see. Sounds about right." Susie shrugged. "Well, what now?"
"I'm actually kind of getting hungry. We should stop at one of the food stands!"
Susie stopped in her tracks, "Well, about that...."
"What's wrong? We don't have to! I know it was a stupid idea, I'm so sorry. We can do whatever you want to, just tell me what you want!" Noelle rambled, a very concerned expression on her face.
"Dude, calm down! It's way more me than it is you!" Susie held her hands to calm her down, "I just...I don't have any money. That's all. I don't need to eat anyways. I'll be okay as long as you are."
Noelle looked down. "Oh, well that's no big deal!" Noelle suddenly acted like her whole almost-breakdown never even happened. Susie was about to question it until Noelle pulled out a wad of cash from her skirt pocket, "Here! You can have this. I won't need it after today."
Susie looked down at the cash. How did a highschooler have this much money?! It's almost like she pulled out what she had been saving just for today. A part of her was screaming to take the money, she could finally buy new clothes, have food in the light world, and maybe make herself look nice enough to find a job.
6 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴
The dread returned. So did the slamming. 𝘖𝘯𝘦. The other part of Susie was telling her not to take it, 𝘵𝘸𝘰. Its Noelle's. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 . Not hers. 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳. Noelle is struggling just as much as she is. 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦. After contemplating for what felt like 10 minutes, Susie pushed Noelles hand away. 𝘚𝘪𝘹. "I can't accept that. It's yours." Susie said quickly with a sigh.
"But Susie, I really won't need it!" Susie looked up at Noelle, it almost looked like she was tearing up. "Please, just take it, I insist."
"No, Noelle. My final answer is no." She looked back down at the ground, trying to find a way to lighten the mood. "I...wouldn't mind you buying me something though.."
Noelle giggled, "I would love to."
"I'll pay you back one day, promise."
"You won't need to. Really."

* * *

5 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴
While they were eating, they had found a place to sit down on the sidewalk. Noelle was talking about Dragon Blazers 2, and how she recently came across a character that she really related to. And, how she was really upset that they ended up dying in the ending. Susie was just sitting closely beside her, listening to her talk. The second she stopped talking, the feeling came. Susie looked down at her hands, what is going on?! Is she sick? Will she get sick? She cannot throw up near Noelle. She'd look so stupid. She felt time slow, as Noelle turned to her.
"This is the best time of my life. I can't wait to look back on it.." For Susie, time stopped. The people around her froze. All except for the girl lost in thought. Susie looked around, confused. "What about you?" Susie turned back to Noelle.
She was gray. Her hair was jet black. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦. Susie stepped back, she was in shock she couldn't speak. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘵.
"I hope you remember our time together. Because it means a lot to me. I hope you know that, Susie." 𝘕𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳..
"What...I mean..of course I'll remember! Look at you!" Susie sounded out of breath. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦. 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
"You really think so?" Noelle blushed and played with her hair, droplets of water fell out. It looked dirty. 𝘕𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
Suddenly, everything turned to normal. People were laughing around them, children were playing. Noelle was smiling down at her. "Let's make more memories before the sun sets. Okay?"
Susie let out the trapped air and took Noelle's hand. "Let's do it." Susie smirked, not wanting to let the doe down.

* * *

"Susie."
"..Yeah?"
"Can you do me one more favor?"
"Anything." Susie tried so hard not to sound desperate.
"Tell Kris to meet me here." Noelle paused. "Alone, please."
Susie's heart broke a little, but she would never admit that. "Sure, I can get them." She began to walk away.
"Susie, before you go." Susie turned around to look at Noelle. She stayed still. "I loved today. Thank you."
1 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳
𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. "Yeah, for sure. I had fun too. I hope you feel better Noelle, I'll see you at school tomorrow."

* * *

10 minutes.
She felt a pit in her gut; she felt as if something bad was happening. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Susie snapped to reality and saw the ice cream guy. "Hey, loser."
"Sup, kid? Where are your friends from earlier?" The skeleton calmly asked.
"They're just talking at the lake. I'm waiting for the ice cream, I want to surprise them both. They seemed kind of down today." Susie dug around in her pocket for any loose change from past adventures in the dark world.
"That's nice of ya. I saw how Torie's kid looked. I felt bad." They both paused for a moment.
"Hey, I know it isn't much. All I have is a dollar coin and a few cents. What can that get me?" Susie sighed, seeming guilty and a little desperate.
"Don't worry about it, it's on the house. I know ya ain't trying to use me." The skeleton leaned against the stand. "Say, if you were really trying to cheer them up, why aren't you with them?"
"Noelle said she wanted to be alone with Kris. I wanted to respect that."
"Understandable. But what if something were to go wrong? The lake is a dangerous place."
"Now who told you that? It's just a lake, and they aren't children."
"A dog told me." He said with a slight smile.
Susie looked at him, very confused. "A dog...?"
"What? Don't believe me?"
"You're damn right I don't. Kris was right, you are crazy."
The skeleton chuckled, his eyes went fully black and his voice got serious. "I'd go check the lake if I were you." With that, he disappeared.
"The hell?! What about the ice cream?!" Susie waited for him to return. No reply. "Son of a bitch." Susie muttered under her breath, "I wonder what that was all about."
Susie's gut feeling grew.
3 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴.
Like she was no longer in control of her body, she wandered back to the lake. Maybe they were waiting for her, and they resolved their issue. Kris was always good at that.
2 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴.
Kris' dad still had his flower carts out, the flowers were beautiful in the gold light. She would never say that though. She silently picked up a yellow rose, and a blue peony. Susie only knew the name of them because Noelle mentioned they were Kris' favorite flower.
1 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦.
Susie stood and looked at the flowers. She hoped they would like these since the stupid ice cream dude ditched her.
30 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴.
She walked down the row of trees, the wind was calming down. The feeling in her guy grew, her heart was racing. She looked ahead, neither of them were there. Why was she still walking? Both of them probably went home. It was getting late. Maybe Noelle was actually crowned queen. Susie started to feel bad that she wasn't there to see Noelle on stage in front of the whole town.
𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨.
5pm struck. Susie's heart sank as she saw something out in the water. It looked like Kris' sweater. And...𝘕𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. Susie set the flowers down on the table as she ran out to the water. What happened?! Why are they so far out?! So many questions ran through Susie's head. Susie wasn't good at swimming, but she tried her hardest to keep her head above the water and move as fast as she could. Her clothes were dragging her down, but she only had one thought. "𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦."She didn't remember retrieving the two when she woke up on the shore. She was breathing heavily and soaking wet. She held back tears as she looked at the two. What could she do to help? She doesn't know CPR. She doesn't know how to check the pulse. Especially on a human! She held their hands, both of them were as cold as ice. Susie hoped it was just the water; it was just the water that made their bodies cold! They'll feel warm soon! They have to! They..have to. They can't leave! THEY CAN'T LEAVE HER LIKE THIS!! Susie screamed as she started to break down. She didn't know what else to do. Susie's best friend is dead. Her...girlfriend is dead. She heard rapid stomping coming towards her, she quickly stood up as her head spun. "IKNOWWHATITLOOKSLIKEIDIDNTDOIT!!" Susie quickly yelled through her tears. She looked up and saw Asgore looking down at her. He gasped when he saw the two lying down behind Susie. He ran to them.
"What happened?!" Asgore exclaimed with worry.
"I don't...know!! I..I saw the..m..Out in..the water!" Susie was hyperventilating, she couldn't stop crying. She hated this feeling. Susie tugged at her hair as she collapsed onto the ground. Asgore was checking, double checking and trying everything he was able to do. He sighed, holding back tears himself. He didn't want to tell her, she was too young to be dealing with this. He saw Noelle and Susie hanging out earlier, his kid is dead. He wanted to hold the guilt for him and her both. But he couldn't. Asgore made a phone call as Susie stared at the bodies, sobbing uncontrollably. She had a hard time believing this was real. Why didn't they talk to her? How could she have not seen the signs? Why didn't she press more? She could've saved them! But she was too selfish and left!! Asgore picked Susie up off the ground and sat her down on the park bench, facing the sobbing girl away from the gruesome sight. He sat down next to her, rubbing her back as she cried.
"I know, I know. You did everything you could...You are so brave for trying to save them."
Susie saw red, she began to punch herself in the arm. "BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH!! THEY'RE DEAD!" Susie yelled, Asgore quickly grabbed her wrists.
"No no no! Don't do that! I know you are in a lot of pain right now! Hurting yourself more is not the answer!"
They were both interrupted by screeching tires and blaring sirens. The cops stepped out of their cars, as Noelle's mom ran to her daughter lying on the ground. This was the first time anyone had seen major emotion from Carol. Carol was screaming at her daughter to wake up, respond to her, do anything. But it wasn't enough. Noelle continued to lie there, lifeless.
The cops had to tear Carol away from her daughter. Toriel then ran to Kris, ignoring Asgore entirely. Carol was the one to get sense back into Toriel, they both held each other and Toriel cried. Carol looked lifeless and dead inside.
Susie was silent crying at this point; she was trying so hard to escape this nightmare. She wanted to go home. Back to Ralsei, Lancer, everyone who can't die. The cops approached her and Asgore, and asked both of them a few questions. It was hard for Susie to answer; all she could focus on was the cops putting her closest friends into body bags. After the cops left, Carol marched towards Susie.
"You..." Carol muttered through held back tears, "You took my daughter out today. Didn't you?"
"So what? She's dead now. If you're going to be mad at me, get a fucking time machine and get in line." Susie snapped back quietly.
"What did you do to her?" Carol huffed, "I do not care if I go to jail, I will make you suffer."
Asgore covered Susie with his arm, "Carol, she didn't do anything! The kid tried to save them!"
"Oh, can it, Asgore. You're the reason for my first daughter going missing. You're only covering the reason for the death of my second."
Toriel finally stepped in, "C, stop it. Please. Susie is a sweet kid; she would never in a million eons do this to someone..." Carol stepped away, glaring at Susie while she walked away. Toriel kneeled down in front of Susie. "Honey..Just know this isn't your fault."
"Everyone keeps telling me that!!" Susie stood up in a fit of rage. "I just..don't...No, can't. Believe that." She paused, Susie opened her mouth like she wanted to talk. Then she just shut up, like she has before. If she could be quiet before this, she can be quiet now. This isn't about her; two families just lost their child.
Toriel began to say something, but Susie didn't hear it. She didn't want to. Susie stood there, shivering in the very little light left from the sunset.
At least they died on a beautiful night

* * *

Susie returned to the dark world. She was upset, and suddenly dry now. Ralsei waited for Susie in the hallway of the castle.
"...Susie?"
"What."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"How do you even know what happened? You weren't even there!!"
Ralsei stepped back, "Susie, I felt it...And, unfortunately..I knew it would happen."
Susie glared at Ralsei. "Excuse me..?"
"I wanted you to have a good time!"
"I could've seriously saved them.."
"I know you loved her!!"
"This isn't just about her."
"You had a fun time with Kris.."
"We could've had more."
"Susie, you cant keep thinking like this."
"Maybe if you had thought about what I told you, and kept your DAMN promise then Kris would still be alive and Noelle and I..we...could've.."
Ralsei slowly stepped towards Susie, "Susie...I'm sorry."
"No, you are not! If you really cared so damn much, you would've told me earlier to stop them! Maybe then, they would've talked to me about how they felt...And neither of them would've killed themselves." Susie started to break down again, she just wiped the tears from her eyes.
Ralsei was almost at a loss for words, "I..Can't tell you why. But one day, I really hope I can tell you why I couldn't interfere."
"I sure fucking hope so." Susie's voice was breaking. Her legs were shaking. She was just..a mess. A girl who needed to be comforted. Instead, she got a lost girl and a lost friend.
Ralsei put his hand over his heart, "Susie, please, get some rest. I'll make pancakes for you in the morning...You need it."
Susie just nodded and walked down the hall to her room. She didn't dare look at Kris' room as she passed by. Susie entered her room and slammed the door behind her. As the door slammed, she let it all out. She punched herself, her walls, her bed, pretty much anything she could find to take her anger out on. Ralsei would heal her in the morning anyways.
After her hell of a mental breakdown, she climbed into bed. She pricked her fingers on her bed, in hopes this was all just a really really bad nightmare that she would wake up from. Susie eventually wrapped her bleeding fingers into her blanket and tried to sleep. As she was falling asleep, she heard footsteps. Susie tried to ignore them; she figured stress hallucinations and all that. The footsteps only got closer and louder. Susie finally turned over "Ralsei, I already told you I don't want to-" Susie screamed and almost fell off the bed.
It was Noelle. The gray Noelle. This one had wings, big wings. The white eyes stared into Susie's soul, but strangely, they calmed her. "Are you okay?"
"N...Noelle...I thought..you-"
"Died?" The gray Noelle let out a small, distorted laugh that almost sounded like the Knight. "I did."
"Dude...why didn't you say anything..?" Susie said with a shaking voice.
"It was a matter of Kris and I. Not you. It could never be you." The Noelle cupped Susie's cheeks. "It had to be done. I'm sorry for leaving you."
Susie started to cry again, "If...you're here now..Can you at least stay?"
"Not for long..."
"Okay! Then stay for now!" Susie exclaimed, grabbing her arms. "Please."
She thought, then nodded her head. "I guess I could."
"...Okay." Susie climbed back into her bed and lifted the covers for Noelle to enter.
Noelle got into the bed as well. Susie didn't care that she was getting the bed wet. Susie held Noelle close, even though she drowned, she still smelled of various holiday scents.
Both of them lied there, listening to each other's heart beats. When suddenly Susie spoke up, "Hey, Noelle?"
"Hm?"
"Before I fall asleep, and you go...There's something I wanted to tell you today..That I didn't get the courage to say."
"Anything..." The goner said softly on Susie's chest.
"Okay, I'm not very good with words..I never was, so..The best way that I can put it is..." Susie kissed Noelle on the forehead and looked at her in her beautiful white eyes. "I love you, Noelle."
Noelle blushed a little and smiled for the first time that night. "I love you too, Susie."
After that, they stayed silent. And a little while later, Susie fell asleep. Noelle quietly exited the bed. She pulled a yellow and purple rose out of her skirt pocket and placed them on her bedside table. Noelle kissed Susie on the forehead one last time before she exited the castle and flew off into the night.