Chapter Text
“Are you sure you gathered everything you needed, honey?” Toriel asked for the third time in the last ten minutes, “how about we just go over the list again…”
Before Kris could interject, Toriel took a small sheet of paper containing all of the items they could need. She had already checked the list a good amount of times, but Kris figured she was just worried about them going out of town for three whole days. Noelle had found a nice house by the beachside, and begged her mother to allow her and some of her friends to go. Of course, the idea was immediately shut down as soon as Noelle brought it up, but luckily Rudy was there to encourage it as well.
“It’s just a few days,” he said, “she’s getting older, and needs to have fun at this age! ‘Sides, she won’t be alone, right sweetheart?”
And so, Carol allowed it, on the condition that Noelle called her every single day and answered all of her calls, which seemed reasonable enough for her. Kris accepted her invite gladly (mostly so that Carol knew she could trust that Noelle would be safe on this trip), and Toriel allowed them to go… but they could tell she was really worried.
“Go on, open your bag.” Kris reluctantly did as their mother said and watched as she went through their stuff. Again. “Let’s see here.. three pairs of shorts, shirts, your sunglasses, sunscreen, sun lip balm, bandages, bathing suit, shampoo, toothbrush, beach towel.. oh, maybe you should bring an extra towel just in case you lose this one-“
Toriel’s frantic rummaging was interrupted by a knock at the door. She sighed and closed up Kris’s travel bag.
“That is probably Susie. It must be time already…”
Kris went towards the front door and opened it, and surely enough, Susie was there waiting with a big backpack. She perked up as Kris opened the door.
“Hey! Figured you could use some help with your stuff. Noelle’s getting her car, and I figured we could use that time to go pick up Ralsei.”
Kris smiled up at her and nodded, going back into the kitchen with Toriel still checking everything “just in case”. Once she was done, she gave them their suitcase and walked them towards the door.
“Well, I suppose I cannot keep you here any longer… Hello Susie, I do appreciate you going with Kris. But you stay safe too, alright?”
“Uh, yeah! Of course, thank you, ma- uhm, Toriel.” Susie awkwardly replied, which earned a smile from Toriel. The latter looked towards Kris and opened her arms, giving them a sad look. Kris sighed, then gave her a hug. They could feel her almost squishing their entire body.
“You will call me as soon as you get there, will you not? Oh, Kris, you are growing up way too fast… this reminds me of when Asriel left for his first year of college! Please, do not leave your poor mother so soon.”
She held their face in her hands and kissed their cheeks over and over again. Kris grumbled and tried to pull her away, but there wasn’t much they could do besides endure this show of affection right in front of Susie, who couldn’t stop herself from chuckling a bit.
Once Toriel finally let them breathe, she gave them a small smile.
“Go on then, have fun with your friends. But do not forget to call and text me. I love you, honey.”
Kris nodded and looked towards Susie, indicating they were ready to leave. They turned back around towards their mother and muttered in a small voice.
“Uhm, I’ll call, don’t worry.”
Toriel seemed to beam at their words, a bigger smile appearing on her face as she waved them off.
“Go on, do not keep your friends waiting.”
With that, Susie and Kris started walking towards the school, since Susie said Ralsei would be there waiting for them to pick him up. It was nice to have him come out of his shell a little bit, especially considering he hardly ever goes out. He had helped Noelle plan this trip down to the smallest details as well, so everything should be perfect. Hopefully.
The pair arrived in front of the school and stopped by the entrance. Susie leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, looking around for any sign of their friend.
She muttered: “Huh, where is he-”
As if on cue, Ralsei walked over to where they were dragging along a wheeled suitcase along with a big backpack on his back. He waved as soon as he saw them, and the two waved back, with Susie calling out to him.
“Ralsei! Hey!”
“Hey, you two!” He sang, halting next to them as he smiled cheerfully.
“I’m sorry I’m late, I was just finishing up packing some extra things we might need!”
Susie huffed in amusement “of course you were… we’re just gonna be gone for 3 days, y’know.”
“Yes, I’m aware…” Ralsei pushed up his glasses. Then, he took off his backpack and placed it on the ground, before opening it up and allowing his friends to check out the contents inside. “I just like being prepared.”
Susie kneeled down and started looking through the items. Kris followed suit and peeked inside, with Ralsei watching the two of them. Surprisingly (or not so surprising, considering Ralsei’s neat and tidy nature), all of the stuff inside was neatly packed and organized. Susie started naming what “extra things” Ralsei had packed.
“Sunscreen, bedsheets, a first aid kit… dude, an umbrella?? It’s not gonna rain!”
Ralsei turned away as he shrugged, seemingly a bit embarrassed “well, it- it’s just in case it does!”
Susie couldn’t help but laugh, “yeah, sure, dude. I didn’t think you were this paranoid.”
“I- hey! Now you’re just being mean for no reason!” Ralsei interjected, without much harshness in his words. Susie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Kris, what do you think? Is he paranoid?”
“Hm…” Kris began saying, pretending to think over this very seriously as they tapped their chin with their index finger. “Maybe an umbrella is a bit excessive.”
Ralsei huffed, not backing down as he smiled at the two of them “well, I suppose you and Susie will get soaked in case it rains.”
“If that even happens, dude.” Susie replied, with a tone just as teasing. The trio laughed, and she then closed up Ralsei’s backpack and tossed it over to him as she stood up “we should get going, Noelle’s probably waiting.”
Ralsei quickly grabbed his backpack, then slung it over his shoulder and nodded “Alright! I’m ready when you are.”
With that, they all walked over to Noelle’s house as they chatted. Kris noticed how talkative their friends were; much more than usual. They both expressed their excitement towards this trip, with Susie mentioning all of the things she wanted to do: such as jumping cannonball style in the pool, or playing volleyball together or having a scary movie marathon late at night for it to be even more frightening. Ralsei listened attentively, occasionally chuckling at her words, but refused to disclose any details about what they would be doing, considering Noelle wanted it to be a surprise, much to Susie’s curiosity.
As much as Kris denied it, this trip was all they could think about for weeks. They spent those weeks looking for a proper swimsuit (since the only one they owned was way too small now) and sunscreen for their human skin, impossible to find in Hometown if not for online delivery. It had been a long time since they had been on a vacation, ever since everything happened. But those rare occasions were full of adult supervision, so this is way better. Kris could do anything on this one with just teenagers. Including placing spiders on everyone’s beds.
Well, maybe not. Noelle would probably kill them, if she didn’t die of a heart attack.
“Hi! You guys made it!” Noelle’s cheerful voice called out, as the trio made their way over to her house.
“Hey! Uh- your mom’s not home, right..?” Susie questioned, in a slight wary tone.
“Uhm, no, don’t worry. She just left for work.”
“Your mom works on a holiday?” Ralsei pondered.
“Yeah, she hardly takes any days off… but that just means she won’t be here to see us leave, so that’s good!”
Noelle led them over to her car (which was really her father’s, but luckily Rudy was kind enough to lend it) and opened the trunk.
“Here, you guys can put your luggage in. We’re just waiting in on Berdly.”
“Ugh, I forgot he was coming too.” Susie huffed out. “Seriously, why did you guys even invite him?”
“Faha, he’s.. not that bad, Susie. I promise, he won’t ruin our trip.”
“I sure hope so, or his ass is getting thrown in the water.” Susie threatened.
Noelle chuckled and grabbed her phone, probably to text Berdly and ask him of his whereabouts. Meanwhile, Kris struggled with picking up Ralsei’s bag. Susie sneaked up behind them and grabbed it from their hands.
“Too slow!”
She threw it where there was room, with Ralsei wincing next to them.
“Be careful with that!”
Susie snickered and attempted to throw another suitcase, but Kris grabbed it from her hands and threw it in themself. Susie took this as a challenge, smirked, and the two started throwing in as many bags into the trunk as possible, much to Ralsei and Noelle’s protests.
As chaos continued, Berdly’s figure could be seen from the distance. Noelle turned around and waved in his direction, smiling.
“Hey! Glad you could make it!”
“I wouldn’t miss out on this opportunity for the world, my dearest Noelle!”
Berdly said as soon as he reached the group. “Now, shall we depart-“
He cut himself off as he looked behind her, only to watch as Kris and Susie fought over the last piece of luggage. To everyone’s surprise, it was Kris who managed to grasp it and throw it onto the trunk first.
Susie then stared at Berdly… and grabbed the luggage from his hands to throw his two backpacks onto the trunk. Berdly let out a surprised gasp, before huffing out in annoyance. Once everyone’s belongings were in the car, Susie looked towards Ralsei.
“So?? Who won??”
“Uhm,” he started, “I wasn’t exactly counting… but probably.. Kris?”
Susie scoffed and crossed her arms while Kris snickered and stuck their tongue out at her. As they kept teasing her, Berdly turned his head towards Noelle, clicking his tone as he spoke.
“Noelle, I do quite trust your judgment… but must we really confraternize with those two no-brainers for the next three days? I mean, quite frankly-“
“Just shut the hell up and get in!” Susie yelled, shoving Berdly in the backseat and ignoring all of his protests. Susie then went towards Noelle again, a warmer expression on her face.
“Alright,” she began saying, “what’s the seating plan? Whatever you want, I’m good with it.”
Noelle looked down and fidgeted with her fingers slightly. She then responded in an unusual higher pitch:
“Uhm, me and Ralsei will go at the front, since we’re the only ones with a license… you and Berdly can pick whichever side you want in the backseat, and Kris… do you mind going in the middle?” Her tone got slightly lower, “it’s just uhm… you’re the shortest, so…”
Kris sputtered “wh-“, and then groaned in protest “Nooo… why do I have to be in the middle??”
Noelle chuckled slightly “I’m sorry, it’s just so that I can properly check the rearview mirror. I can give you DJ privilege though! Would that make up for it?”
Kris pondered it for a short moment, before nodding and agreeing to her offer, a bit too cheerfully. Luckily, Noelle didn’t seem to notice, or at least didn’t seem to mind. The latter clasped her hands together happily.
“Great! Everyone, get in!”
Noelle then closed up the trunk as soon as everyone was in the car. She went in the driver’s seat, with Ralsei setting up the GPS on the tablet of the car. Kris already grabbed a cable from the glove compartment and plugged it in to the car and Noelle’s phone with ease, so that they could put the music on. Noelle instructed everyone to put their seatbelts on, and then started the engine. Ralsei then spoke up.
“Oh! Everyone, how about we take a picture before we leave?”
He then pulled out a big Polaroid camera from his bag and raised it up for everyone to see.
“Oooo! Great idea! Everyone pose!” Noelle said full of glee.
Susie huffed in amusement “dude, of course you’d bring a camera. Alright.”
Ralsei raised up the camera some more in an attempt to catch everyone in the car. Through the lens, you could see his own smiling face, Noelle smiling with her eyes closed and doing the peace sign with both of her hands, Susie sticking her tongue out while forcing Kris to smile with her hands, while they hit a thumbs up, and Berdly holding his glasses down as he winks at the camera.
*Click!*
A picture came out of it, still with the black film. Ralsei carefully grabbed it and placed it facing down on the inside of his bag to let it develop. Noelle then shifted gears and looked behind herself.
“Everyone ready? We’ve got at least three hours ahead of us!”
“Ready when you are, m’lady!” Berdly gleefully announced. Susie rolled her eyes and smiled at Noelle.
“Yeah, hit it!”
At last, the group of friends passed through Noelle’s front gates and soon enough left Hometown, with a remix of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” playing. They were sure this would be the best trip ever.