Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"marry me."

The skeleton twists the monster whiskey in his glass around with his wrist, enough it would tired your own wrist out. You woke up today, hoping it would not be filled with nonsensical bullshit, as it always is, but you knew better not to expect anything more. This, however, is the icing on the cake.

You slam the glass in your hand on the counter, as Grillby stands next to you, almost about to burst out laughing. Your eyes start to twitch in annoyance.

"Are you kidding me?," you spit out.

"c'mon, cherry. marry a skeleton, wontcha? i'm not as bad as you think," his face shapes into smirk. Your face deepens more into anger, maybe disgust.

"Now, you must be too drunk or you're just as much as an idiot I thought you were. Why would I marry you? The only good thing about you is your brother, and you can't even pay your tab," you shoot out.

"marriage fraud."

Your face calms down into a sense of curiosity. The skeleton puts his glass down, resting his shoulder bone on to the counter, skull resting into the palm of his boney hands.

"Marriage fraud, Sans? What are you implying?" the interest is there in your voice, and he can sense it.

"tibia honest, cherry, this bone-head here is actually a scientific genius. in the underground i used to do chem and dabble in experiments, all that stuff. i'm pretty smart, you know," he starts off.

You start to get aggravated again. And your eye twitches again. You have no time to sit here while he boosts his own ego.

"Get on with it, asshole. And stop calling me 'Cherry.' It's Cereza."

"no. cherry, listen to this. i recently applied for a job," I gasp mid-sentence at this revelation.

"hey-i'm not that much of a lazy-bones. i still gotta make the bag, especially for the house we built. property taxes and maintenance and shit. all of that was free in the underground so i didn't have to worry about it, now i do. so i applied to that prestigious university up in ebott city," he explains.

"Humans are greedy, capitalism and all that. Wait- you applied for a job at Seraphine Ebott University?" the shock is there in my voice. Seraphine Ebott University was a highly prestigious university in which you either had to be a valedictorian or extremely rich to get into. You would know, as you used to attend there on a full-ride scholarship to be apart of the university's swim team.

You loved swimming, practically devoted your whole life to it. Nothing meant more to you then feeling your arms and legs tear against the water at fast speeds, besting your peers in form, time, and becoming every competitors worst nightmare. 'The Demon Shark' is what they would call you.

You don't swim anymore. After THE incident, lots of nerves in your left leg were damaged. Doctors did what they could within in the limits of your insurance, giving you the ability to walk again, but in order to swim again, you would need more intensive surgery. As someone with no family and money, your dreams of swimming were out the window, you thought. That was until Sans finished his proposal.

"yep. turns out i was more then qualified and they were willing to hire me. but the dean there is racist as hell, it seems. told me that i could only start if i get married so i don't mingle with the human students' and accidentally create an interspecies admonition." He clicks his tongue, "and yes, he said that to my face."

You laugh, "Dude's always been a pervert, used to watch me at my swim meets."

Sans questions in curiosity, "so you know the dean? perfect, even better. you see, you would be perfect as we both benefit out of this. i get a really good job and one over that pervert dean by marrying a human, and you...." you anticipate his offer.

"get access to that amazing benefits package."

No need to think. "Deal, courthouse on Wednesday."

The skeleton sits up from his seat at the bar counter, putting his hands in his pockets. I turn around to wash the glasses left by other monster customers on the counter. The skeleton chuckles, "perfect. my number's on that napkin. text me and we'll discuss specifics." And within a second, he's gone within thin air.

Perfect. Grillby flickers over to me, "You sure?" he mumbles.

"He's a bum. I just know he'll treat me right." You smirk down at the glasses. This will be fun.

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The bar closes at 12 am, and you're often taking the dangerous walk through the dimly lighted town. Monsters have fully established themselves at the base of Mt. Ebott, making a beautiful yet small city with newly paved roads, sidewalks, and some new high technology that they created in the Underground. Yet somehow, no decent street lighting yet. You lived about 30 minutes away, but in the cold of the winter, it was never fun. You set your  headphones on and begin your walk.

You decide to text the number on the napkin. You create a contact for the skeleton, "bum skull."

You: Cereza.

bum skull: cherry

You: 💀👊

Anyways...what's your plan for this

bum skull: we get married... too much over text. i'm lazy, i'll meet you at muffet's for coffee nine'o cock

You: very funny. I hope you sleep miserably

bum skull: gn, cherry

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You walk into the warmth of your house, as the heat gives your face a nice tint of red. You throw your keys and purse on the coffee table, opening a can of beer that was left inside the fridge for days now. That's the only thing that's in there. You usually just get a meal from Grillby's, but it takes a minute to sink in that you do not have any groceries. You grunt, slamming the fridge door shut.

Your cat, Mii, comes rubbing up against your legs. "Oh Mii, you're so lucky you're a fat grubby cat," you sigh. You crack open a can of food for Mii, leaning against the counter watching her eat. You pull out your phone to check your bank account. 700$. Not enough. No groceries this time.

You sigh. No matter how hard you work, nothing is enough these days. You wonder often what life would be like if you were still able to swim. You hope that this marriage fraud shit will truly give you the chance to swim again. You'll marry all the bum skeletons in the world, if only you can tread water again.

You get ready to hop into bed, and as soon as you do, you try to let all your worries flow away, but you can still feel the stress on your shoulders. You reread over your messages with Sans...

You can't deny the skeleton is cute. That's the only good thing you'll say about him for now.

Chapter Text

You wake up to Mii's fishy breath in your face. "Mii... I'm sleeping..." The shorthair cat meows as you slowly wake up, checking your phone to look at the time. 9 am, whoops. You get up out of bed and slowly get ready, not giving mind to the skeletons time.

Your phone dings.

bum skull: i'm here...you're not. bout to find another wife

You: I overslept, I'll be there in 15 minutes

You put on your basic outfit of a pair skinny jeans, your worn out converses, and a hoodie. Your brown hair is up in a ponytail, nothing over complicated, as you have no one to impress. You walk out of your house, and it only takes you five minutes to get to Muffet's Bakery. You open the door to the familiar of smell of doughnut and spider, as you see the skeleton in the similar posture as yesterday. He has his shoulder on the table, holding his skull up with his palm, as he stares out the window outside. He's lightly tapping his fingers against the table.

You pull out the chair in front of him as you throw yourself into it, leaning against the back of the chair with your arms folded. His pupils glance at you, slightly annoyed, "took you long enough, even i'm not fashionably late." You sigh as you observe the skeleton. Blue hoodie, gym shorts... and socks with sandals. What did you think was cute about him? You snort at his get up.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look absolutely ridiculous?" you question.

"hey, socks and sandals work. sometimes my feet get cold. thats why i need a wife," he smirks.

You frown. "Okay, that makes no sense. Let's discuss this if we are actually going to do it."

"alrighty, i'll got the plan down to the T. first, you move in with me-" you stop him before he continues.

"Me? Move in with you, Ha!" you laugh. "Not happening."

"here's the thing...the dean plans on sendin' an interviewer over to see if i'm actually married, in a lovin' relationship n shit so he sees there's no chances of me hittin' on any of the students. so things will need to be believable."

He continues, "i'on plan on making this difficult on ya. i wouldn't charge ya as the house is paid off. you just gotta pay for your own food and necessities, pitch in wherever necessary for yourself. and tibia honest, it always looks like you're in a pinch. it's a good offer i'd say myself."

You sigh, taking a minute to think. Surely, not having to worry about rent would definitely be a game changer for you. A pro would be able to hang out with Papyrus, Sans's spunky little brother. He is sunshine on a rainy day, maybe a bit too loud but he always manages to make you smile.

You throw your head back and sigh, "Fine. But, I have Miitan."

"the fuck is a miitan?" the skeleton spits out.

"Miitan! My cat," you look at him, agitated. "Miitan goes where I go."

"that's fine. but we'll need to seal the deal by the end of this week. they want me to start workin' within the next two weeks. i talk to grillby already, you got the whole day off today and tomorrow, so we'll go to the ebott city courthouse early morning.

"Can we even get married? With the current state of monster civil rights and all," you question. Monsters have been pushing hard to be noticed by the country as "people". They've been numerous protests with Frisk, the human ambassador for the monster race, pushing the need for the state and country as a whole to establish and extend civil rights to monsters. You however, are not updated on the current situation.

"yeah, we got that cool ability a few days ago. i have a social security number now," he says proudly.

"That's not something to brag about," as you slam your face with the palm of your hand. You watch Sans as he sips on the extra large coffee he has sitting on the table. Your stomach growls, but not loud enough for Sans to hear it. You look outside, feeling the warmth of the sunlight hit your face.

Sans observes you, curious as to what's in your mind. You've always been an enigma to him. An asshole, but a strangely attractive asshole, with a mysterious air to you. He wants to lay you down on a table and pick you apart like an experiment, discover all your secrets and what you are. It's partly why he asked you into this arrangement, his fascination to learn the things he knows nothing about, and you're the perfect prey. He also heard passing conversations about your financial situation at Grillby's. Maybe he felt kind of bad. He'll never tell you that, though.

"How did you know I needed a full benefits package?" you pick his brain, considering he knew exactly how to entice you into this deal.

"monsters talk. i also heard you rantin' about the healthcare system."

You laugh. "what actually is it that you need 'insurance' for?" he questions. He still is not familiar with the ailments the human bodies experience. Or insurance. 

"Something happened to me a while back. Had to drop out of college and stuff. Insurance covers the cost for sickness, such as doctor's appointments and surgeries, at least for me to an extent. The nerves in my leg were damaged, the doctors only repair what insurance paid out." You sigh, you hate talking about this, genuinely.

"Seraphine Ebott makes millions of dollars a year. You might not need insurance, since you're a skeleton but I know Seraphine Ebott provides great insurance to their professors and spouses. That would be life changing for me..." you speak softly.

Sans leans into the table more, "then we're doin' this, cherry. make sure you buy a pretty white dress. we'll move you into my place after our wedding. be at the court house tomorrow at 10 am. oh, make sure you bring a witness to sign the marriage certificate."

Before you know it, Sans flicks out of existence, and you're left alone sitting in Muffet's Bakery. Little does Sans know that you have your ulterior motives behind this arrangement, too.

Getting revenge on the dean of Seraphine Ebott. You smile kicking back in the chair. Like you said, this will be fun.

Chapter Text

Trigger warning: SA, Sexual Harassment 

You spend the rest of your morning picking out a dress for the courthouse and pair of heels. If you're anything, it's spiteful and petty. You will show up to the courthouse slaying the house down, and it's somehow within in you to show off in front of Sans. If you're going to be his wife, he needs to know what he'll be handling.

You chose a flowing satin dress, that gives off all the cleavage you need. You were blessed with huge tits. Might as well show 'em off. You pick out a pair of single strap Mary Jane pumps. That's all you need.

As you get home, you are greeted by Mii. "Mii, my life is ending, but you will go on! No matter what, I'll protect you from the bummy skeleton who will be my husband tomorrow!" Mii meows back in response as you scratch her head.

You decide to spend the rest of the day getting rid of everything you don't need, and packing your stuff up to move. Better to be ready now than after your fake wedding. It also gives you time to create your masterful plot against Tyler Sinclair, the dean.

Tyler Sinclair. 35 years old. Nepo baby. A pervert, a racist, and the man who almost assaulted you around the time of your injury. You remember it all, vividly.

--------------

Three Years Ago

You walk into the dean's office slowly. You're getting used to walking again, and you wished to take a few more months before coming back, but Sinclair expressed his urgency to see you. Most likely regarding your incident. Hopefully.

You knock at the door. "Dr. Sinclair, it's Cereza."

He opens the door swiftly, almost throwing it open, "Cereza, how great it is to see you walking. Let me help you sit," he tries to grab your arm, but you politely decline.

"It's okay. I want to stand. What is it do you need me for?" you try to be kind. Sinclair doesn't have much patience for those with attitudes. His smile warps mischievously.

"You see, Cereza," he clicks his tongue. "We spoke with your coach. He said you won't be able to swim possibly ever again. Now, here's the issue at hand. If you don't swim, I'm afraid we'll have to revoke your scholarship. You'll have to pay your full tuition."

Revoke your scholarship? You can feel the anger running through your blood, "Dr. Sinclair, please! I've worked so hard. None of this was in my control! There has to be another way I can at least stay in school," you plead your case.

He nods his head back and forth. "Sadly, no." That sickening smile is still written all over his face. He continues, "I do, however, want to offer you something personally. Since I like you so much, Cereza."

It was quick, and next thing you know it, he has you pinned to the wall by your hands. You can feel his disgusting breath on your face, as you struggle to get out of his grasp. "Dr. Sinclair, let go of me, now!" you shout.

"Cereza, I have seen the way you look at me. The way you flaunt yourself for me at your swimming meets..." he chuckles. "I know you want the same as I do.." he whispers.

"Dr. Sinclair, what in the world are you implying?" you shout angrily at the accusation you have ever looked at this man in an attractive way.

"If you let me take you right now, I'll be more then glad to pay for your tuition, and if we come to an arrangement, and we meet more... I'll pay for all your surgeries as well." Disgusting. You want to kill him.

You think quickly, taking your good leg and kneeing him straight in the balls. He falls in pain onto the floor, "You fucking bitch!"

You run out of the office, your leg in pain, yelling, "Fuck you! Stay away from me!"

Sinclair yells back after to me, "Cereza Sterling! You are expelled from this university! Don't think that you'll have a future anywhere else after this!"

"Suck my fucking dick, Sinclair!" you shout back.

You picked up fighting classes after that.

-----------------

You almost throw down a mug you were packing onto the floor in anger, as your brain tugs at the memory. You WILL ruin him, but you have to figure out a way without it being at the expense of Sans job. You were nonetheless DETERMINED.

Chapter Text

You are awaken in the morning by your phone ringing. You answer it without looking at the person calling first. "cherry...it's 10:30am... dearest future wife. where are you~?" Sans sings, sarcastically.

"Oh...shit.." you croak. "Give me like, 45 minutes." You hang up instantly, throwing yourself together. You add white knee-high stockings with the Mary Jane's, some light make-up, and a messy bun with some cute flower clips in your hair. You grab your purse and keys, scrambling to the courthouse.

15 minutes into the speed-walk there, all that you can manage with your leg, you realize that you forgot one vital thing. The witness. You let out an "argh" and in fast minute thinking, throw half your body into the door of Grillby's. You look around the room, and in a rush you yell, "Jerry, come with me, you shithead!"

He gets up in protest, "You DON'T even CARE about ME! What do you WANT?!" shouting back at you.

"I'll literally give you 100$, hurry!"

In a few seconds, Jerry is scrambling behind you.

-------------

You arrive at the courthouse, Sans is there looking down at his phone, with a fish monster sitting next to him. You speed-walk up to him, and he looks at you in surprise. You look GOOD. You know it. It's written on the skeletons face.

The fish monster jumps up, "FINALLY!" She takes a minute to stare you down, "DAMN! Numbskull, you really snagged a pretty one!"

"pretty is all shes got-" he stops short. "cereza."

"What? What's the issue? Am I too hot to be your wife?" you say, ego bursting through the roof.

"why in the stars is fucking jerry with you?" he spits out. The fish monster shouts in unison with Sans.

"NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME," Jerry starts panicking.

"Ah dude, Jerry,  I freaking care, just shut up. Jerry is my witness."

Sans rubs his temples with his hand. "ok, ok. cherry. this is undyne, my friend from the underground."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Cereza Sterling." You hold out your hand to the fish, and she accepts.

"Name's Undyne. Don't be bothered with this dumbasses antics, it's not easy spending the rest of your life with a moron like this."

"You see, we are going to get along just great," you smile.

Sans eye-socket twitches, as he guides us to fill out the marriage certificate.  The lady at the desk is quick and fast, almost too stoic.  "Fill this out, this, this, and sign here. Give me your ID's," she says flatly.

You and Sans do just that. "Witnesses, sign here please." Undyne and Jerry both add their signature to the paperwork.

"Great. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Calisto. You are recognized by the state of Ebott as husband and wife. Please kiss the bride."

"what."

"What."

You both look at each other, then back at the desk lady. "When you get married in a courthouse especially to a monster, you got to show it's real. It's law."

You sigh, and look at Sans. He is in a casual dress shirt with, black slacks and a nice pair of dress shoes. You can admit, he does look handsome. With the sleeves rolled up, showing his arm bones. Very nice. That puts you in a good mood. Sans is on the short side, with your pumps putting you right at the perfect height.

You grab his bone-hands pulling him towards you, as you place a kiss directly on his teeth. A blue blush rushes across his face, as Undyne howls in laughter.

"Good to go?" you ask the lady.

"Go ahead. Congratulations?", she says, almost in a question. Your group walks out of the courthouse, as Jerry says, "Can I go now? With my 100$ dollars?"

You scramble your purse for cash, luckily you had kept some in your purse to pay some bills. You had Jerry 50$. "I've docked you for screaming in the courthouse."

"Wow, YOU SUCK!" he shouts, as he flails away.

"Yo, Cherry! Why the hell did you invite that guy? He sucks!" Undyne shouts.

"I was in a rush and he was a last resort...", you say solemly.

"you don't got any friends?" Sans questions.

"Nope. I desperately need a drink." You sigh, after all that, you wish for just something to wash the stress down.

"grillby's?" Sans offers. Your group agrees, as you walk to Grillby's.

Chapter Text

Undyne walks with you and Sans to Grillby's, but ends up parting ways. She explains that she 'forgot' she has a date with her girlfriend, and that the two of you "newlyweds" should enjoy a meal alone together.

You and Sans slide into the booth, most of the bar looking at both of you two in curiosity. No need for order-taking, as Grillby already knows your usuals. You rest your head in your palm, and take the opportunity to look at Sans. If he dressed like this everyday, you wouldn't mind him. He is looking down at his phone, and in that moment, you'd say the skeleton is a bit attractive.

You sigh, crossing your arms. He looks up at you.

"my bad. important text."

"Hm...cheating on me already and it's not even an hour."

"well, our marriage is not ordinary. we didn't get into this to act all lovey-dovey."

"So...you have someone else?" the thought annoys you, for a reason you don't know exactly why.

"sorta. someone i'm interested in, i guess." Your annoyance becomes visible.

"Why didn't you ask her to marry you?" you spit out.

"getting jealous now, are we?" he chuckles. You stand up from the booth, walking away from Sans, not meeting his gaze.

"cherry, wait- i was just pulling your leg-" Sans slaps his hand on his face. "wait, no! i didn't mean that either!"

"Look, I get it. We didn't get married for love or for possible romance. I don't have any intention of falling in love with you. I'm not capable of any of that," you say quietly. Sans rushes himself out of the booth, following you out of Grillby's. He feels the need to explain things to you, but you have no interest in hearing it.

"cherry-wait!", he shouts.

"It's Cereza! Sans, listen. I'm not going to hold you back. You deserve to be happy, with someone you like. I'm only just here to help you out, and hopefully get my surgery." You stop in your tracks.

"You don't have to feel like you owe me anything. I'm not here for romance. I'm not capable of romance. Pursue who you want, okay?" You walk away from the skeleton, leaving him where stands. When you look back, he's gone within the second.

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Sans slams down onto his lumpy bed after that interaction he had with you. Truthfully, he was just fucking with you, but you actually took it seriously. He was merely responding to an email that was regarding his start date for work. But what you had said was true, too.

He couldn't deny that he always thought you were attractive, and had a bit of a crush on you. However, your personality...was a bit off-putting. He had never met a person before that genuinely did not give a shit about anything, but at the same time gave a shit about everything. You're difficult to explain. And he desperately wants to crack open your skull, and find out what's inside.

It was merely infatuation with what he didn't know. He has no intentions of falling in love with you either.

Sans gets up from his bed, changing into his usual clothes. Papyrus is at culinary school, so he has time to figure out how to address this further.

Sans however, has never been skilled in emotional literacy.

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You slam the door to your house, as Mii pitter patters around the front door, ready to greet you. You fall to the floor, "Mii, this was a failure! Whatever, Mii! We will live on!"

You don't know what you were thinking. But it wouldn't be fair. Even though you have been incapable of harboring any feelings for someone since the incident with your leg, that doesn't mean you can stop someone else from having feelings for another person.

You just need this surgery, and Tyler Sinclair's downfall. After that, and recovery time, you can finally go back to swimming again. That was everything you truly needed. 

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The next day, you are awakened by a knock on your door. You groggily stand up as you don't pay attention to what you are wearing, only a t-shirt and underwear, as you rub at your eyes to answer the door. Mii follows suit with you. You open the door, squinting.

"cherry- oh man. go put some pants on, dude," he yells in a whisper.

"Whaddya want... I'm sleepin'..." you mumble back to the skeleton.

It takes you a few minutes to process what's going on, and you let him in to go put on some clothes and brush your teeth. In a few minutes, you're back outside in a crop t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"jeez, every time i see you, you're in some typa mess. what's up with you," he shoves his hands into his pockets, lightly embarrassed at the scene that you just showed him.

"You have never seen a woman half-naked before. It smells like that in the air." You turn around to Mii, kneeling down to scratch her belly that's up in the air.

Sans almost fights back until you pick up Mii from her front paws, holding her out in front of Sans.

"Mii."

His non-existent brow curls in annoyance. "mii?" he asks.

"Miitan. Isn't she cute?" you ask. "Miitan is the only thing I love in this world. All that I ask is that you treat her nicely. I'll be hurt if you don't." You kiss her forehead, as Sans sighs, relaxing his shoulders, as he starts running his phalanges over Mii's tummy.

"hi mii. you're so soft, and fat. you've been well loved, huh?" he chuckles.

You put Mii down. Everything is decently sorted out in boxes, only having about 4 boxes including the furniture in your living room and bedroom. You did not carry much as you never had much in the first place. Sans looks around in curiosity.

"this is all you got? i expected more from a girl," he questions.

"I never really had much. Besides, when you bounce around a lot, there's no point in carrying much."

"bounce around?"

"Yeah. Apartments in Ebott City can get expensive, and I've had unfortunate run in's with uh...shitty management?" You leave the explanation there.

"well, hopefully this helps your situation a lot more. i got a room ready for ya, and paps drove a small moving van here for you. i'll call him upstairs."

You put Miitan in a carry-on bag, to ensure she wouldn't get lost durning the move. You throw away the couch and coffee table, keeping the TV stand small flat screen you had for your Netflix shows. Papyrus runs upstairs, as you can hear his somehow heavy feet pounding onto the stairs.

"MRS. CHERRY! HOW GREAT IT IS TO SEE YOU," he bursts in. You start to beam. You like Papyrus. He's always been such a sweetheart to you, often stopping by the bar to have you try his newest recipes and progress in his cooking. It was a blessing in disguise sometimes.  If anyone could be your friend, it was Papyrus.

"Papyrus! It is lovely to see you," as you go in for a hug. Papyrus welcomes it with open arms, admittedly shouting in your ear, "MRS. CHERRY! I WOULD NEVER HAVE THOUGHT YOU WOULD ACCEPT MY LAZY BROTHER'S OFFER OF MARRIAGE! HOWEVER, THIS MEANS NOW WE ARE BROTHER AND SISTER, AND ALSO ROOMIES!"

You smile back again at him, "It surely does, little bro. You ready to help move out this stuff?"

"YES, BIG SISTER! OH!" he looks down at Mii, "WHO IS THIS FLUFFY FAT CUTE CREATURE?" he beams at Mii, stars in his pupils.

"That's Miitan! She comes free, along with me," you respond.

"A FULL PACKAGED DEAL, I SEE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL PLAY WITH YOU LATER, LITTLE MIITAN! WE MUST MOVE YOU TWO INTO YOUR NEW HOME!" he shouts.

Sans watches the interaction. Another good thing he can say about you is that you've never been mean to his brother. He likes that about you. You three spend the rest of the hour moving everything into the moving van. Sans makes it easier with his magic, as you can see has the ability to move objects around with a flick of his finger. Definitely impressive, but what was more impressive was the damn house Sans and Papyrus lived in.

It looked like a wintery cabin with a lot of extended features. A large backyard, a balcony, a long extended porch with a pretty outside couch set. The interior was bigger, however the skeleton brothers were leaving it a bit bare. The big living-room only laid a long green couch, with a table in the front, and the icing on the cake was the large entertainment set-up, featuring a 70 inch TV.

Sans moves all the boxes into the unused bedroom upstairs. You take a look around until Sans says, "well, this is basically it. you can take the rest of the day to peek around and familiarize yourself with everything."

You take Mii out of the carry-on, as she mews around, rubbing herself on every piece of furniture she could get her face on. Papyrus chases her around, shouting how much better and sweeter she is than the dogs around here.

"I MUST GO RETURN THE MOVING VAN BACK TO THE RENTAL PLACE! I WILL BACK SWIFTLY TO MAKE A LIGHT LUNCH TO WELCOME MRS. CHERRY TO OUR HUMBLE ABODE!" Papyrus shouts, running out the door with the keys to the van.

You sit down on the long green couch. You cross your legs together, throwing your arms across the back of the couch, laying your head back. You sigh, and you wish the tension in your leg would release. Moving the boxes most likely irritated it, and you can feel the small pangs of pain migrating throughout your muscles. You groan. Sans stands in front of you, looking down at you as you throw your head back up to meet his gaze.

"Why are you looking at me?" you shoot to him, as his stare is hard and you can't read his face at all. He grabs your hand, as you flinch, almost whipping yourself away, until he rubs the top of your hand with his phalanges. It's soft and almost comforting, the feel of his bones.

"close your eyes."

"Weirdo." But you listen. And as soon as you open your eyes, you see a beautiful ring. It is a silver band with a small red gemstone. It is not too overbearing, and suits you almost perfectly. You lift your hand up admiring it.

Your hand falls down as you fidget with the ring on your ringer. You are happy, and can't seem to contain it to maintain your bitchy facade. You smile warmly, looking up at Sans.

"Thank you, Sans. This is beautiful."

There's a faint blue blush on his face, as the skeleton returns the smile. "glad ya like it. you gotta have a ring if we are married. it suits you perfectly."

You ruin the moment by saying, "Now git. I'm going to nap before Papyrus gets back." Sans sighs, expecting the less from you as he walks upstairs to his room. You throw yourself around the couch, moving a pillow underneath your head. You are almost half asleep when Sans throws a blanket over your body.

"How nice.. of you," you grumble under your sleepiness.

"yeah, yeah. get some sleep, cherry."

Chapter Text

When you wake up, you can hear Papyrus in the kitchen. Sans is sitting down at the dining room table, with some books and papers. You look at your phone to check the time. 1 pm. You still have about two hours or so until your shift at Grillby's. You get up slowly as you shift over across from Sans at the dining room table. You cross your legs, picking up a piece of paper from the table.

"History of SOULs...What is this?," as you skim through the paper.

"about SOULs. everyone got 'em," Sans mumbles slowly, focused on what he's reading.

"MRS. CHERRY, YOU CAN'T GET MY BROTHER TO SPEAK AT ALL WHEN HE'S ENGROSSED IN HIS WORK. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SOULS, I CAN CERTAINLY EXPLAIN IT TO YOU!," Papyrus shouts from the kitchen. You look at Sans, dedicatedly looking down at the paperwork. You can't help but keep thinking every time you see him like this, he looks a bit attractive. The white t-shirt he has on oddly suits him.

You click back into reality, "I'm all ears, Papyrus."

"YOU SEE, MRS. CHERRY! SOULS ARE THE ACCUMULATION OF OUR VERY BEING! MONSTERS RUN SOLEY ON MAGIC, OUR SOULS BEING THE MANIFESTION OF THAT MAGIC!"

You take a minute to think, "Like how humans have blood and organs, you have SOULS and magic?"

"YES, EXACTLY! HOWEVER, SOULS ARE NOT EXCLUSIVE TO MONSTERS! HUMANS HAVE THEM TOO, HOWEVER WE ARE ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON OUR SOULS, WHICH IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT IN MONSTER SOCIETY. HUMANS CAN FUNCTION IN OTHER WAYS, BUT HUMAN SOCIETY HAS LONG LOST THE ABILITY TO UTILIZE THEIR SOULS IN THE WAY WE DO!" he shouts.

"Why's that?" you question. If the SOUL is such an important part of any existence, how come the human society has lost the function?

"WELL, FROM MY KNOWLEDGE ON HISTORY, HUMANS WERE ANNOYED THE MAJORITY OF THEM COULDN'T USE MAGIC! SO I ASSUME WHEN WE WERE LOCKED INTO THE UNDERGROUND, HUMANS DECIDED THEY WERE WAS NO BENEFIT TO REMEMBERING. HOWEVER, SINCE WE CAME BACK TO THE SURFACE, THERE'S BEEN MAJOR INTEREST RESURFACING IN THE STUDY AGAIN! HUMANS ARE EVER MORE INTERESTED IN SOULS."

"That's fascinating, I honestly had no idea." You read the page of paperwork. "When two monsters start to form a connection, they experience a strong wave of emotions...the two begin to explore the inner parts of each SOUL, and if the two are compatible, after a while, they can choose to form a SOUL-bond..."

"AH, YES! THAT'S THE WAY THAT MONSTERS GET MARRIED AND HAVE CHILDREN!" Papyrus sets a plate of spaghetti in front of you. "SANS! CLEAN UP THIS MESS AND EAT SOME LUNCH!" he demands. In a flick of a finger, Sans magic quickly organizes all the paperwork, the one in your hand being dragged into a folder.

"sorry. i was creating lesson plans. i'll be holding a class on SOULs as well, apart from chemistry, apparently."

You take a bit of the spaghetti, "It's okay. Papyrus, this is amazing. Thank you," you scarf it down, realizing you haven't eaten in almost two days. War is over.

You and Papyrus eat while making jokes and chit-chatting, while Sans sits there quietly, head in the clouds. You glance at him as he chews little by little, but he seems worried about something. You brush it off. Papyrus cleans up, and he eventually runs off for a class at culinary school. That just leaves you and Sans for another hour before Grillby's, alone at the dining table.

"you work today?" he mumbles, once after shifting through the papers he scattered around the table again.

"Yeah. In an hour."

The silence is killing you. So you pick his brain. "What else can you tell me about SOULs?"

"monsters have a solid white SOUL, humans are categorized by color and trait. cyan is patience, orange is bravery, blue is integrity, purple is perseverance, green is kindness, yellow is justice, and red..." he stops for a second. "red is determination."

"Can you see mine?" you ask.

"SOULs are private affairs, cherry. especially for monsters. we don't go showing our souls around unless we love someone or if we encounter, which is a battle or a fight between a human and a monster. encounters are not against the law currently but us monsters stray away. there's too much current stigma behind monsters right now..." he gets quiet as he focuses more on the papers in front of him.

"I see." You slowly get up from the table, as you leave Sans to his own devices. He doesn't notice you leave, as you decide to spend the next few minutes organizing your room. You don't have much, so you put together your bed and set up a few picture frames, as well as your TV. By then, it's time to leave, so you shove on your pair of jeans and sneakers. At the door you say, "I'll be back around 12 am."

"'kay." You shut the door to the house, making your way to Grillby's.

-----------------

It's 10pm, almost two hours till the end of your shift. Nothing eventful happened today, as it is a Thursday, and often not busy until the weekend.

"How's the wedding and move?" Grillby flickers. You snort at his question.

"Every woman's dream."

The bell of the door chimes, and you see one of the regulars. Not regular to the bar, but the regular human who comes to chase your tail on a weekly basis. You sigh while drying a glass. The man sits down at the bar stool in front of you.

"Regular, Ezri?", you ask. You often imagine Ezri with dog ears and a wagging puppy tail. But overall? The man is handsome, with shaggy blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and the buff body, as he's currently starting his career off as a police officer. "Please, Cereza." His imaginary tail is wagging.

"You're here to ask me out on a date again aren't you? Get on with it now."

"You know me too well, it's been months now. Have you considered at least one date," he whines. You have the perfect excuse now. You put up the hand that has your ring on it. "Sorry, Ezri. Taken."

He jumps up from the stool, "Whatttt! Since when? What the heck?"

"Yesterday."

He sits back down, sulking in the chair. "Give me whiskey please." He looks utterly destroyed. By the end of closing time, Ezri is still in a sad state. You ask him if he would like to go on a walk and talk things out for closure, and he agrees. You get a buzz from a text on your phone, but opt to look at it later when you get home, in order to focus on helping this poor man get over his crush on you.  "Come on, Ezri. Where do you want to go?," you sigh.

"Let's just keep going straight." His voice is deep and smooth. The night falls and it's quiet, with the hint of the summer breeze flowing into your nose. Ezri stops suddenly, pulling you into a nearby alleyway. He looks at you yearningly, as he pulls you into an embrace. "Ezri, what are you doing?" you shout.

"Cereza. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a creep. But you know I've always wanted you. You suddenly getting married like this won't deter me away. So please..."

I push him away, looking him in his blue eyes, "Ezri. I told you I don't want anything with you. I don't have feelings for you and I don't want a relationship."

"That's fine. Just one night. I'll make you the happiest in the world." He pleads, and it's tempting. A man is in front of you, saying he'll give you the world. If it's not the world, maybe it's a quick escape from everything that has been traumatizing you the past few years. The fear of your first relationship, the sadness of no longer being able to swim, the anger towards Sinclair.

You're a shitty person. You know that already, as you wrap your arms around Ezri's neck, leaning in. You almost touch his lips, until a flash of blue appears in front of you, and Ezri is on the floor.

the skeleton growls, "hey, i think i might have intruded. but when you pull a woman, especially my wife into a dark alley, i can't help but be concerned."

Ezri realizes what's going on, as he stands up going, "Ah man, I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me-" he stutters.

Sans eye lights up blue, as he whispers, "stay away from cherry. or you're going to have a b a d t i m e." Ezri takes the warning, as he runs out of the alleyway into the sidewalk. Sans grabs your hand as you slowly feel a black dizziness around you, and you find yourself lying in your bed, with Sans hovering over you.

"What the hell was that, Sans?" you growl, almost frustrated.

"that was me, stopping you from making a shitty choice. get a fucking grip on reality, cereza."

"The nonexistent balls to say that to me-What the hell were you doing there?" you bite back.

"i texted you that it was too late to walk home, and to wait for me. next thing i fucking see is you being dragged into an alleyway about to kiss some random meathead. i don't care what you're going through, cereza. everyday since we came to this arrangement, you're aggravating the shit out of me. being late everywhere, oblivious to shit around you, and now kissing sad little puppy boys in alleyways? don't you understand what could of happened to you?" he spits.

You turn his head away from him. "I just wanted one moment to forget about everything. If a man tells you he'll make you happy, and you haven't been happy in ages, and the one thing that made you happy was gone...Wouldn't you do the same?" you ask him, the sadness is in your voice but the words you say are contained of nothing.

Sans lifts himself up off the bed. "get some sleep, cereza." In his voice, it's clear it was demand. You don't understand the gravity of the situation. You realize you have no emotional literacy skills, either. 

Chapter Text

It was 4am that night, the events happened still plaguing your head. You pick up your phone, typing a message to Sans.

You: I'm sorry

He read the message, but doesn't respond. Eventually you fall asleep at 6am, after beating yourself up and questioning your life choices. You don't have work tomorrow, which means you won't be suffering off of no sleep throughout the day tomorrow.

--------------

Papyrus and Sans are downstairs in the kitchen, continuing their morning, early afternoon routine while you catch up on sleep upstairs. Papyrus is nagging at Sans to clean up his room and messes around the house as Sans lets it fly over his head.

In a random thought, Sans decides to ask Papyrus about you. Papyrus is a little bit more observant than him, and a little more in touch with his emotions.

"hey, paps. what do you think about cherry?"

Papyrus shouts, "WELL, I DO ENJOY HER COMPANY VERY MUCH, AND I AM HAPPY SHE IS OUT OF THAT LIVING SITUATION AND HERE WITH US!"

"what do you mean?" Sans probes Papyrus for more. He needs to know more. "ONE TIME I SAW MRS. CHERRY OUTSIDE OF GRILLBY'S! SHE WAS SITTING DOWN LOOKING A BIT WORRIED! SO I ASKED HER WHAT WAS WRONG," he says.

"mhm, continue-" Sans gestures towards his brother.

"SHE TOLD ME THAT MONEY WAS TOUGH AND SHE HASN'T EATEN IN ALMOST FOUR DAYS! WHEN I ASKED HER WHY, SHE SAID WAS TRYING TO SAVE FOR THE SURGERY SHE NEEDED, BUT SOMETHING KEPT RETURNING BACK TO BOTHER HER, LEAVING HER TO START OVER AGAIN!" Papyrus explains.

"I STARTED TO BRING HER MY MEALS WHENEVER I COULD! GRILLBY OVERHEAD THAT CONVERSATION AND MADE IT A POINT TO ALWAYS SERVE HER AN EMPLOYEE MEAL! I ALWAYS MADE SURE TO VISIT HER TOO, BECAUSE THE FIRST TIME I MET MRS. CHERRY, SHE SEEMED LIKE SHE WAS EXTREMELY LONELY. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO FEEL BETTER BY HAVING AN AMAZING FRIEND LIKE ME?" He exclaims, flexing his muscles.

He grows quiet, "Whatever Is Bothering Her, Won't Bother Her Here. I Know You Wouldn't Let That Happen." Sans's face grows surprised at his sudden softness.

"paps, do you like mrs. cherry?" he teases, emphasizing on the like.

"OH NO BROTHER! I HAVE SOMEONE I'M INTERESTED IN, HE'S A HUNK!" he smiles with a faint blush, stars in his pupils. Sans's pupils in return go black, not liking the fact someone might be harpin' on his brother. Papyrus leaves for culinary classes before Sans can protest or give an answer.

You groggily walk out of the room, stumbling over your feet into the kitchen while rubbing at your eyes, to get a glass of water. You accidentally slam your head on the fridge door in tiredness, and Sans observes you from the dining room table.

"you have to use your HANDS to open the door, cherry."

"Shaddup... I jus' need a second.." you mumble under your breath as your head rests on the fridge door. You step back, opening it as you pour yourself a glass from the pitcher. The cold water pours down your throat and into your belly, and you can feel yourself coming alive again. You can see a plate set aside for you with your name on it. You grab it and set down the plate and glass and begin to shove the pancakes down your throat.

"hey...paps told me something today. he said one time you told him that you hadn't a meal in four days. what's that about?" You look at Sans, and today he looks exactly the same, but had reading glasses on. It once again, oddly suits him.

"Oh, that. Nothing. I was just in a deficit with cash sometimes."

"why didn't you just get a better working job?" he questions.

"It's not that easy, Sans. Most people didn't want to hire me because of my incident, and I couldn't go back to college. Grillby's gave me a decent wage, but I was trying to save for my surgery."

"why do you want that surgery so bad enough to marry a random skeleton or to deprive yourself from food?" Sans is slightly annoyed, because he simply does not understand why a person would do that for swimming. He couldn't even swim himself.

You slam the fork down on the table, rubbing your temple, "You know Sans, I love the interview, truly. Whatever this is, I'm not interested in your probing. I just want to swim again, that's all. It's the only thing I have in this life. It's the only thing I'm good at. You don't have to understand it."

You get up quickly from the table, leaving Sans to sit there by himself and hop upstairs into the bathroom, slamming the door. You brush your teeth and hair, and go into your bedroom. At your local elementary/middle school, the monster principal recently built an indoor swimming pool for the children to promote exercise and activities. When you pulled the pity card to her, she agreed to let you use the pool on days the children did not have swim pool access. And you desperately needed to be in the water.

You pull your hair up in a tight ponytail, and on with your swimsuit. It's the black one you always wore when you were on the Seraphine Ebott team. It had an open back connected with a straps on both ends. It still fits you perfectly. You throw on a pair of shorts and your converse, walk down with a bag and towel. You leave the ring on your dresser, just in case.

You give Sans sideeye as you walk out. He chuckles, "eyes in front of you. you'll slam into another door again."

"Go fuck yourself." As you open the door, you slam it back, quickly scrambling down the porch stairs and onto the sidewalk.

-------------

The guard for the pool lets you in fairly easily, and you throw your stuff down getting ready to jump into the water. You canon-ball in, as you feel the water submerge your whole body. You finally feel somewhat safe and comfortable. You let yourself float, while doing your ritual of counting the lights on the ceiling, mind completely blank. And that is the way you wanted it.

You snap back into reality when you see a familar face, "Oh, hello, Mrs. Dreemur."

She face grows in disdain, "Oh please, Ms. Sterling, Toriel is fine. Dreemur is my... married name. I still very much do not like that man, currently. I  digress. How are you feeling today? You seem to always come when you're a bit stressed"

I sigh, standing up straight in the pool to move towards Toriel, who has moved to sitting on a towel with her fuzzy legs and feet resting inside the pool. "I've been better, I think. There's been a couple things bothering me lately. The past always seems to hurt more as things go on," you confess. Toriel always had a way of making you open up, as the mother always emitted a warm air, one that made you wish you had a mother to guide you.

"My child, don't I know that too well. What has been tugging at your heart?" she questions.

"You see, I'm not Sterling anymore. I got married in order to get the surgery I needed."

"Married? Oh dear...humans certainly do things differently. To whom?" the surprise is written over her face.

"To a monster, actually. I am Cereza Calisto now, regrettably..." you mumble regrettably under you breath.

"Ah... Calisto... Mrs. Cereza, did you marry Sans the skeleton?" she shouts, hand over her mouth. I give a small sad smile, and that confirms it for her.

"Oh dear...what a mess. I feel obligated to tell you now, but Sans and I had a little...thing after the Underground. It didn't work for obvious reasons, and we are still good friends. However, I know why it didn't work and I can't imagine what you could be going through now," there's a look of disappointment on her face.

"Geez, Toriel. I didn't expect that," you mumble again. You continue your thought, "You know my personality. I'm not that much of a people person. Too much goes in my mind to care about myself or other people, and I honestly don't want to bother myself with relationships. There's only a few things I want in my life. And that's just to swim again."

You get a little annoyed, "He bothers me. He gets me mad the way he probes into me like he cares."

Toriel sighs, "Cereza, truthfully, Sans is a bit of a conundrum. When we had our little thing, often, it would feel like it was some experiment to him. He is probably asking you questions because he has the constant need to figure out things he can't understand." She smiles at me softly, "Just play it safe, okay?"

"Thanks, Toriel. I'm going to head back now."

You get out of the pool, waving Toriel and the guard goodbye, feeling annoyed then before. An experiment, huh? Like you would ever give a chance to figure you out. You smiled, walking back towards the house. It's time to act erratically as you possibly can. Confuse the shit out of him until there's no tomorrow. That's another fun thing to add to your "To-Do-List."

Chapter Text

Trigger warning: PTSD, Trauma, Sans has anger issues :(

You walk into the house, kicking your shoes off and putting them right next to the door. Sans is still in the same place he was before, covering his mouth with his hand. You sit across from him, as he glances up at you. There's water faintly dripping down your body, almost in a way that's attractive, and your breasts sit in the bathing suit like that's the main event. Sans catches himself thinking that maybe, he might like swimming. Maybe if there's girls around.

You start up a conversation, "Hey, listen. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I'm not a good person to get along with, but I at least want to try to get along with you."

Sans looks up curiously, flipping his glasses off with his magic. "hm. what changed your mind?" he asks with a hint of a chuckle in his voice.

You smile softly, "I was thinking about my actions and I knew I should just take accountability and improve."

He looks at you oddly, more aggravated than before. He cannot for one second predict anything you might do. "'kay. well, we should prepare for the interview. they'll be here sometime on monday before i start working." He moves the glasses back on, as he hands you a sheet. "fill out all the questions on here so i know what to answer if they ask. and memorize this one that i gave you."

You smile trying your best to show any semblance of kindness left in you, to make a convincing performance.  You take the pen, looking at some of the questions.

Full name: Cereza Sterling

What is your favorite color? Red.

Favorite Food/Dessert: Coconut Custard Pie

Hobbies: Swimming, reading, watching TV

Family: No parents, one brother (presumed dead)

Current occupation: Bartender at Grillby's

Education: Some college

Some good qualities about yourself: Determined and hardworking

Something you don't like about yourself: The fact that I barely feel anything anymore.

Any other comments?: None.

You hand it over to Sans, and you look at his answer as he looks over yours.

Full name: sans calisto

Favorite Color: blue

Favorite Food/Dessert: ketchup

Hobbies: reading, stargazing, studying

Family: no parents, brother

Current occupation: professor

Education: doctorate in chemistry

Some good qualities about yourself: smart and good looking

Something you don't like about yourself: inability to empathize

It's weird. You two oddly have similar things in common. You set down his paper. He looks up at you. "any questions?" he asks.

"How old are you? You didn't put that on paper. And you have a doctorate."

"i am in human years, 29. but skeletons stop aging at a certain point. we don't die necessarily. i have a doctorate because i was in accelerated courses in the undeground. i'm considered a genius. i told you this before."

"Hm. Interesting. I'm 22. Do you have any questions for me?" you ask him, although you don't plan on giving him much to go off of.

"what this about not being able to feel much?" You knew he would be interested in that, and you're not sure why you put that there in the first place.

"Not much. Just a jaded woman, I guess."

"is that why you're always so mean and making terrible decisions for yourself?"

"I thought we turned a corner, now. I'm not going to do stuff like that anymore."

"i would hope so. i don't want people to think my wife is slutting around in alleyways." Your eye twitches. You hold yourself back. That's fine. He can say that. You stand up smiling, walking away from the table. Come Monday at that interview, you're going to make sure he stops probing at you and insulting you.

-------------

The weekend breezes by, and it's Monday morning of the interview. The whole time was spent being as nice and docile for Sans so he would not expect what you had planned for this interview. Papyrus was going to be included in on the interview, and as sad as you are to trick Papyrus into your idea, you just know it would make Sans lose all interest in you completely, and conclude his little experiment.

How low can you go?~ The song plays in your head on replay. Sans is already dressed, ready in his casual dress shirt and pants, the same on the courthouse day. You spent all morning in your room, with plans of making yourself seem like you were getting ready, but you in fact had on a ripped pair of jeans, a plain black cropped shirt. The opposite of the wife of a prestigious college professor would have.

It's time, as you hear the interviewer greet Sans as she walks into the house, "Hello Dr. Calisto! Thank you for having me today. My name is Steph Sinclair, and I will be conducting the meeting for my husband, the dean."

"it is great to meet you. this is my brother papyrus, and just give me one moment to grab my wife." He speaks out, but you are already halfway down the stairs. Sans looks at you with sweat on his brow, looking disappointed.

Steph looks at you curiously, almost like she recognizes you somehow, but can't put her figure on it. You recognize her too, but you love playing dumb. It's your favorite past time. You hold your hand out to Steph, "Hey, it's great to meet you. My name is Cereza Calisto."

"Thank you for having me today, Mrs. Calisto." Sans is sweating hard, as Papyrus is setting down snacks onto the dining room table. "PLEASE EVERYONE, TAKE A SEAT AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE! I HAVE PREPARED SNACKS FOR EVERYONE!"

"You must be Papyrus!" Steph says enthusiastically. "Thank you for joining us today." You all sit down at the table, as Steph shuffles around with her papers.

"Okay, so, I have a list of questions that were made for me to ask you. They are easy basic questions, similar to marriage interview questions. I want each of you to reply to each other question, so that I can know you have common knowledge and that I know the relationship is genuine." Steph explains. "I will start now with Sans, okay?" Sans nods towards her.

"How did you meet Cereza, Sans?"

"grillbys, the local bar. she started to work there once it opened up." She writes that down.

"Cereza, when did you start dating Sans?", she looks towards you.

"Eh, I don't know. I think it was when he made fun of my leg injury. I fell head over heels with him."

"Oh..haha! I see you have a fantastic sense of humor. Onto the next question now," she chuckles awkwardly.

Sans shoots you a "cut it out" glance, then returns to his smile back to Steph.

"When did you decide you wanted to marry Cereza, Sans?"

"her amazing sense of humor was part of it. but i knew i wanted to marry her when i saw how determined she was to grow as a person." He's reminding you of what you said, and you can hear it clear in his voice.

"What do you two have in common?" she gestures towards you.

"Well, we both love to garden, cook together, and take walks into dark alleyways to help with his research." You chuckle a bit at your response.

Steph is oblivious. "How nice is that!"

"Sans, what attracts you to Cereza?"

You can hear a bit of annoyance in his voice but he's doing his best to stay on his best behavior. "obviously, how beautiful she is. and how she always Keeps Her Word." He emphasizes again, on how you said you were going to try to be a better person to get along with. He's sweating profusely, as you smile at him warmly.

"Last question for Cereza. Do you two plan on having family in the future?"

Your smile grows toothy, "Oh, for sure. Sans says he wants five little babies, but I got a uterus as big for seven! Fertility runs in my family. Grandma had a whopping 10!" you giggle while slapping Sans shoulder. He barely moves, as his smile twitches

"Well then! I wish you luck on that. That's all the questions I have. Papyrus, would you like to add anymore in?"

"WELL, STEPH! I DO VERY MUCH ENJOY MRS. CEREZA! SHE'S BEEN AN AMAZING ADDITION TO THE FAMILY. THE ONLY THING I WISH I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO IS THE LOUD LOVE-MAKING! BUT THESE TWO HERE REALLY DO LOVE EACH OTHER! YOU CAN SEE IT IN THEIR EYES," he shouts confidently.

You hold back the insane amount of laughter, as Sans's pupils go black. He has officially clocked out of this meeting, as Steph could not contain her laughter. "Oh wow, thank you for that Papyrus. I think I have everything I need."

"For a skeleton, he really knows how to bring it to bone-town," you spit out between holding back your laughter. You let Steph out of the house waving her 'Goodbye'. You already know that Sans will get the job regardless, as Sinclair will see your name on the interview paperwork. He loves games. He'll pull right into it.

Papyrus looks worried as his brother tells him, "paps. how about you go outside for a walk for an hour or two? cherry and i need to have a talk."

"OKAY, BROTHER! I WILL BE BACK WITHIN THE HOUR!", Papyrus runs out as quickly as he can. You're standing with him in the living-room arms crossed.

"Next time before you try to treat me like I'm an experiment, at least know who you're playing games with, Sans," you spit at him.

You go to turn around, until you feel the snap and crackle of magic in the air, and next thing you know it you are glued against the wall with Sans magic, as he holds your hands back against the wall.

You start to panic. It's too similar. You need him to let go now. "Sans, I'm serious-please let me go," you shout, breathing getting shallow.

"what the fuck is wrong with you, cereza? genuinely. are you some sort of psychopath? you find joy in pissing and aggravating me?" he shouts, his right eye is flickering in a blue flame.

"Sans, listen, we can talk but please let me go-" your voice is almost in a sob, you are almost about to start crying. Memories and the trauma of Sinclair flash through your mind and your body, your breathing getting heavier.

"i just needed you to not fuck this up. and then somehow get papyrus to say some weird shit like that? you just keep stooping to new lows, cereza. you ever think this little act you have going on is the reason why you'll never be happy? so listen to me, you want that surgery? do as i say. are we clear?"

"Oh God, let me go, please. Please. Please," you break out into a sob, as Sans clicks out of his anger episode, realizing what he's done. He notices your shallow breathing, and the first time you have ever showed a genuine emotion.

"oh stars. cherry, i'm sorry, i don't know what happened, i-" You push him away from you. "Don't touch me, don't touch me ever again," you shout, as you run as much as you can away from him and out of the house trying to ignore your leg pain. You leave him standing there, pupils still black.

A smile cracks onto Sans face. As if he would ever lose interest after this. 

Chapter Text

You find yourself laying down on a park bench, your bad leg resting up as the random sprint made the pain shoot around on all sides. You sigh as you look up at the sky, the clouds moving by. It's super blue, and the warmth of the sun makes you close your eyes for a second. When you look up, you see the short skeleton's pupils looming down at you. You jump in fear. But you had some time to calm down. Sans is not Sinclair, and he didn't do that with the intention to hurt you.

You went too far, fucked around and found out. But it still doesn't excuse what he did. You both were wrong in that situation, however the two with no emotional literacy, would obviously not know how to communicate that with each other. You look away from him, "Why'd you follow me, asshole," you say quietly.

"move your leg, let's talk," he responds. You drag your leg off, hissing in pain, as he sits down a decent space near you.

"listen, i'm sorry for getting mad like that. i didn't mean what i said, but what you did was not appropriate, especially telling papyrus to say that to steph."

You sigh, "I know. I'm sorry. I just didn't like how you kept probing at me. A little birdie told me you like experiments. If you were actually trying to get to know me, I wouldn't mind, but I was just some type of observation experiment to you. I don't like that," you confess.

"heh, i guess you spoke with tori."

"I swim in the pool sometimes. We chat."

You close your eyes feeling the breeze on your skin.

"i'm not here to hurt you. it's true that im interested in cracking your brain open and figuring out how you tick. after today, i'm only more interested. its a thing i enjoy doing, as the fear of not knowing a person is what drives me insane. you are sporadic. sometimes i think you are attractive, then a total bitch. then you smile and i think you could be nice. then you ruin things again."

You look at Sans, "Do you care about me in anyway?" you whisper, fidgeting with the ring on your finger.

"as much as you let me care. how am i supposed to care if i don't know who you truly are?", he is blunt and honest.

You sigh, waiting a brief moment. Your hesitation is clearly there. You have never trusted anyone with yourself after the incident with your leg. What Sans says though is true. If you don't let people care about you, how is anything ever going to change? Maybe if it Sans...so you take the chance. A chance for once, to trust someone.

"You see, I didn't drop out from Seraphine Ebott. I lied. I was actually expelled." Sans looks at you as you speak, listening intensively, "After the incident with my leg, the dean, Tyler Sinclair, called me in to revoke my scholarship. When I told you he was a pervert, and watching me during swim classes, I meant it. He demanded sex from me, holding me against the wall, if I wanted to stay in school. I kicked his balls in and he expelled me." You laugh out loud.

"The reason why I can't go back to school is because Sinclair practically blacklisted me from every school in the country. The reason why I'm so broke is because every so often he sends a lackey to kick my shitty doors in so I have to move. Then goes all the money I saved for surgery."

"Sinclair will hire you. He'll want to play a game, and see who comes out on top. I don't have a solid plan, but part of the reason I married you was to ensure he loses everything."

Sans stands up from the bench, as he moves to stand up in front of you, holding his hand out. You take it slowly as he smiles at you, pupils glowing blue, "well then, cherry. we'll have to make sure he receives the punishment he deserves."

You hold onto his hand harder, "You mean that?"

"oh, fuck ya. that loser's going to get as many bones as i can to fit up his ass. he's going to spend some time in hell for tryna to touch my wife." Sans winks at you, giving you a big toothy smirk.

You stand up, only just a few inches shorter than him. You stare into his pupils. Then, you feel it. A wave of emotions, crashing into you like the first time you dove into a pool, won your first competition. The feeling of you treading water, cutting into it with your hands. The happiness you feel by floating in the scent of chlorine. You weren't swimming, just holding Sans hand so what is this?

You remember what you read from Sans's paperwork. When two monsters start to form a connection, they experience a wave of emotions, the two start to explore the inner parts of each other. It seems that applies for humans who are into monsters. Sans stares you at awe, and maybe he felt it, too. You smile at him, genuinely feeling warmth and emotion following through your body. "Let's go back home, my dearest husband," you chuckle.

Isn't communication beautiful?

Chapter Text

Trigger warnings: Abuse, Gun Violence, Stalker 

Sans is scared. No, terrified actually. It's been a week since the day at the park, when he experienced that wave of emotion when he was holding your hand. For him, it felt like the day Papyrus was born, when he finally graduated and finished his education, and feeling the warmth of the sun for the first time on his face. Happiness.

The connection wasn't what terrified him. It was the fact that you were being too nice. Smiling at him, helping him organize his paperwork, bringing him coffee. That's not the you he knows. And you've been waking up early to have breakfast with the boys. Not a single insult has passed your mouth. 

You were reading "A Game of Thrones" across from Sans at the dining room table. He can hear your turn the pages at a fast pace. The anxiousness gets to him, as he pulls down his reading glasses. "hey. why are you being so damn nice? and are you even reading that book?" he asks.

"Hm? Oh," you glance up at him. "Yes. Did I never tell you?"

"tell me what?" he curiosity is piqued.

"I was a valedictorian. I don't have any pictures from my high school days, but I read super fast and process things pretty quickly. I retain a lot of information, partly why I was accepted into university." You smile at him, "And for your first question, I've grown to like you. I consider you my friend. I like to be nice to my friends." You look down back at your book.

"how are you so simple, yet so difficult," he chuckles, slipping his glasses back, reading more research papers. You offer, "If you ever need help getting quick answers in a pinch, just pass whatever you're reading over to me. I can give a good summary within minutes, especially if it's over 200 pages." You wink at him, and he looks down, with a small smile on his face.

He hands you a 20 page document, putting you to the test. "look over this for me then, i want to see what you can do." You grab the packet from his hand, flipping through a page every five seconds. When you're finished in a record of one minute, you begin.

"This document is made by you. It is 20 pages containing experiments done by you and a Dr. Alphys that was performed in True Lab in the Underground. You used a machine called a "Determination Extraction Machine," made by the old Royal Scientist, W.D Gaster, in order to extract determination from humans and inject small amounts into monsters, hoping to manipulate monster SOULS into possibly breaking the magic barrier. Your efforts were futile as eventually, the monster SOULs reacted poorly, and ended up deformed or mutating with other monsters nearby them. Monster SOULS are unable to hold any consistent from of determination. Determination is exclusive towards humans, and is what allows their SOULs to persist after death."

"well done. seems like you're the real deal." He takes the documents back, as you smile back at him. He's waiting to see if you'll judge his past actions. See if you'll say something mean back, breaking this facade of being 'nice.' However, you just go back to reading your book.

"you have no questions for me?" he probes.

"No. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The document did not say anything about those monsters dying. I'm in no place to judge," you whisper, eyes looking down as you turn the pages of your book.

You're in no place to judge? Speaking of that, Sans realized he has never checked your SOUL. He has never checked your LV, or anything like that. Why didn't this occur to him before? He's been so busy with this whole job stuff and marriage fraud shit, he forgot to do the most important thing.

His eye flicks blue, your head is still down, and you don't notice the change of color in his pupil. His pupils go black.

LVL 2.

You look at him again, smiling, until you see his pupils are completely gone, like the last time he was upset. You frown. "Hey, what's wrong?" you ask sadly. "Did I do something wrong?"

Sans looks down at his research papers. "no. nothing at all."

-----------------

Sans is terrified. No, not terrified. He's in complete defense mode. He watches you on the couch, as you sit with your legs crossed, angled on your side, resting your head on your palm. The TV lights up your eyes, as a white haired woman on the screen walks into blazing flames.

You look up to him, smiling, waving him over. "Sans! Come sit. You'd love this. It's the best part." He doesn't want you to think something is up. So he takes a seat right next to you. "You see, Daenerys is a very special character. She's walking into the fire to give birth to beautiful dragons, that has been extinct for hundreds of years now." You whisper to Sans, but you can see something is bothering him, as he's just staring blankly at the TV. You take the remote, pausing the show.

"Okayyy...you've been out of it for some time now. What's wrong?" it's time for prodding. You trusted Sans with something about you, now you can only hope he does the same.

"when i was in the underground, i was called the judge. the humans who came around, i would judge them based off their actions. kindness, if they hurt a monster, etc. i have a special ability to see peoples stats and lv. lv stands for LOVE. its not what you think it stands for. it's an acronym for LEVEL OF VIOLENCE."

"to put it simply, i can tell if you killed someone. may it be monster, or human," he whispers. You respond by putting your head down, turning your face and head away from him.

"You definitely know how to make a woman stress the hell out," you say softly. "I'm not stupid. I know you might be scared of me, as you clearly can see my LV, or whatever."

You sigh. "Truthfully? I wish you never brought this up. I would have told you sooner or later, but now I feel forced. Because I would hate it more if you were afraid of me." You chuckle sadly.

"i'm sorry, but for my own reasons...for paps. i can't let my guard down until i know." You fidget with your wedding ring.

"Okay. Listen to Cherry, and her big ol' sad story."

---------------

Four Years Ago

You had just received your acceptance letter for Seraphine Ebott University. This was your new chance at life, after living in a shelter after being phased out of the foster-care system. You were going to succeed. In swimming and your education.

At the time, you were dating your high-school sweetheart, Fin. You were excited to tell him the great news, as you had not informed him of your plans of going to Seraphine Ebott. After all, it was extremely far away, and you didn't even think you had a chance. With swimming and being your high-schools valedictorian, your efforts bore fruit.

Telling Fin was the worst choice of your life. Part of you wishes that you had just picked up and left, never told him. Because the minute you did, Fin showed you a side of him that you didn't know he had. It was only the start of Finn's abuse. Until you left for Seraphine Ebott, he was constantly screaming you, asking you why you were trying to "escape him." Why did you want to leave him? You were happiest with him. He knew best for you, and he would provide for you. So why are you trying to leave him?

The screaming turned physical, and at some point, every time you saw him, he would leave a new bruise. He cried and begged you to forgive him every time, and you did. Because isn't that what love is? You hurt each other and forgive? You didn't know what love was. If this was love, you definitely did not like how it felt. So, you disappeared to Seraphine Ebott. Threw out your phone, leaving everything behind. You promised yourself to never bother with relationships after that. You just needed to swim. That was the only positive form of love you have ever experienced and ever needed.

One year later, you were preparing food in your dorm apartment, your flatmates were at class. You were by yourself, and that was the first mistake that day. Your flatmates had a habit of leaving the door unlocked. Second mistake.

It was quick. Fin pulled up from behind you, pulling down onto the floor. You looked at him in fear, he was a mess. His hair full of grease, unshaved, and you still think even now, that he at some point had fallen into drug addiction. "Fin, what the fuck are you doing here?" You shout, as you scurry back away from him on the floor.

"Cerezaaaa. You look so beautiful today. Everyday. I've been watching you here at Seraphine Ebott. You've been looking so miserable! You're so lucky I came. I knew you needed me! I KNEW YOU DID!" he laughter is maniacal.

" F-Fin, what are you talking about? You've been watching me?" you stutter in fear. You did not see a single thing. You were oblivious.

"Cerie. It's time to come home with me. You need me. You realize now this was a bad choice." He pulls a gun out of his leather coat. "I'll have to do something we both don't want to happen if you don't let me take you home."

"No, no. I-"

"No? NO?" He shouts, gun shaking as he points it to you. You stand up slowly back against the wall. You have to think quick. Act quick. In the spur of the moment, you try grabbing the gun away from Fin. Third mistake. You attempt to turn the gun downwards and with your strength, almost succeed. Fin had other plans, as in an attempt to regain control, fires the gun, the bullet going straight through your leg. You fall down in pain and tears. But you were DETERMINED. Determined to not die here! You leg-swiped him down with your good leg, Gods blessing you with the gun falling right next to you.

You aimed it at Fin, pulling the trigger. When the ambulance and cops came, they announced Fin dead. The police did not press charges against you, as there were many witness accounts noticing Fin's stalker behavior, as well as his evidence on his personal devices, social media, and in his home of his threats to hurt you. 

Whatever Fin was trying to do, you think he succeeded. Swimming was the one thing you loved, and he took that away from you. That was the start of your trauma, and the day you threw away your emotions for the next three years, until you married a sarcastic skeleton.

--------------

You finish up your summary of the incident, as you quietly say, "I didn't kill him because I wanted to. I was just trying to protect myself."

Sans sighs, "jeez, cherry. i'm sorry. i didn't mean to make you relive all of that." You shake your head in response.

"No...I had to talk about it. I would have preferred it on my own time, but... I have never told this to anyone else. You are the first one," you wipe a tear off your face, giving a big stretch and a laugh after. "Wow, that felt oddly relieving."

Sans chuckles, "tibia honest...i expected you to be a crazy killer. but i'm proud of you. you've made a lot of progress, opening up and talkin' about your feelings. cleaning the skeletons out of the closet," he jokes. He pets your head as you start laughing.

"That pun really sucked." Sans looks at you and smiles, "cherry. you're safe here. hope ya know that." You nod back, "Yeah, I know."

"Sans?" you tilt your head over to him.

"yeah?"

"You and Papyrus are my family. I never had a family, but I think this is what it would feel like. I may have hurt someone to protect myself, but I'd never a day in my life, hurt you or Papyrus. Or any other monster. So, you can trust me."

Sans looks down from your eyes. It's not you he fears and doesn't trust. It's Frisk. However, the skeleton knows he can't compare the two of you. At least now he's on the surface, the longest he's ever been here for. So, he decides to shove the thoughts to the back of his skull. 

You two spend the rest of the night, popping popcorn into your mouths, as Sans bombards you with questions about Game of Thrones.

Chapter Text

A few days has passed, as you set a cup of coffee down for Sans. Today is his first day at the university, and you tried to psyche him up for it as much as possible. He's in the casual dress outfit again, and you simply just can't help but admire him. This time around, you start to notice every single little thing. His thick arm bones and the way his fingers are so beautifully long. And he added a lab coat to the get-up. That was icing on the cake. You try not to stare too long, taking your usual seat across from him.

"So, we haven't talked about our plan for Sinclair," you start off.

"how confident are you in being able to be in front of sinclair? i have an idea, but if you want to be involved, you have to be okay with confronting him. i'on want to put you in a terrible position where you're experiencing flashbacks."

You chuckle, your face turning into a devious smirk. "You doubt my acting skills, husband. I gave off a magnificent performance before, as you have experience."

"uh-huh...well. you might of got one up on me. if you can do that to me, it's definitely possible for morons like sinclair. its easy, you just torture him with your presence until he cracks. if he does anything to me or you, people of your university will beat on his ass till dawn."

"You think so? I always thought that the students of Seraphine Ebott were snotty and selfish."

"i actually pulled statistics off a poll they recently conducted. 60% students are in favor of monsters attending the university, and support the monsters civil rights movement. 'generation z' is woke," the skeleton says. You almost spit out your coffee. "It's okay, old man. You don't have to use slang. You're perfect the way you are."

"the 40% is violent though, i would know. shit was bad once we got out of the underground. tension is still there, but with over 50% of the student body in support, sinclair can't afford any shitty public moves." He points at you with his phalange. "you, though. buckle up. go by a new wardrobe." He slides a card onto the table. You swipe it off the table excitedly, no questions asks.

"Do I start calling you bone-daddy now?" you ask, half jokingly, half serious. "that's..." he says, faintly blushing. "that's up in the air. maybe if when you spend a certain amount, i'll be expecting it." You laugh a little too loud at his sudden embarrassment. You get up, wisping around the table, leaning towards his ear socket behind him. "Thank you, bone-daddy," you whisper into a giggle.

He clears his throat, the blushing on his face more obvious than before. "okayyy, i'm leaving now." He grabs the brief case, kneeling down to pet Mii goodbye. "miitan, control your mother." Mii meows in response, jumping up into your arms. You smile at him, "Have a good day. You're gonna do great. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise."

"don't you worry, my sweet cherry. my ego is as big as my bones." And within a blink of an eye, Sans is gone. You kiss the beautiful gloss of the American Express credit card.

------------

Shopping was too easy for you. Almost everything looked good on you, but you weren't going to abuse the privilege of the American Express card. Just a few things were fine, and you'd pay for the rest of your little wants with your paychecks. You had no rent to pay, after all.

You passed by a window in the mall, stopping to glance at your face. You looked better than usual, but your hair is long, wavy and thick. And it hasn't been styled for years. You notice the song playing on the mall stereo.

"Last I heard she was living, with a boy who acts his age. And I guess I'll just miss her, even though she isn't even really gone. But things are just different, ever since she cut her blue hair off."

You'll never be truly gone. But it's okay for things to be different. It's okay to let things change. So you walk into the nearest hair salon on the mall, plopping your ass down onto the chair. "Give me something for new beginnings." The stylist gives you just that, and as corny as you think it is, you'd like to think the hair being cut off is all the pain you have experienced in the past years.

And it makes you feel so much better. You walk out of the salon, feeling free and a lot less heavy. The stylist cut up to your neck where the shoulders meet. Previously, your hair was almost down to your ass, but the medium length and wispy bangs were cute and refreshing.

------------

You're standing with Papyrus in the kitchen, as he has you trying out new spaghetti sauce recipes. "Papyrus, trust me. If you add more vegetables to the sauce, it'll come out a lot more richer!," you argue.

"MRS. CHERRY, I APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT BUT I AM THE PRO HERE! TOMATO SAUCE ONLY NEEDS TOMATOES! OR ELSE IT'S NOT TOMATO SAUCE!" he shouts.

"Paps, who are you paying for culinary school? Because I'm going to beat their asses. Look, trust me. Blend up any vegetables you like, add in some herbs like basil, parsley, definitely pepper and you'll find what you're looking for."

He grows worried, "WELL, IF YOU SAY SO, MRS. CHERRY! I'LL TRY THIS TIME BUT IF IT DOESN'T WORK YOU HAVE TO ADMIT IM THE BEST SPAGHETTI CHEF EVER!"

You hear Sans in the living room, assuming he just got home since the sound of his briefcase slams onto the floor. You peak into the living room, as he's collapsed onto the couch, arms over the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "Oof, your brother's home, Paps. He looks like..."

"LIKE THOSE STUDENTS MADE HIM INTO SPARE RIBS."

You snicker, "Heheh. That's a good one. Let me go check on him." You walk over to Sans, standing over him, as you bend over slightly to look until his pupils. He has his eyes closes, but as he feels your presence he opens them slightly, revealing your smiling face looming over him. "Oh...they kicked your boney ass for sure."

"who knew college human kids were so...i don't even have a word for it." He rubs his temples with one of his hands. You plop down next to him, sitting in his direction.

"i think what pissed me off the most today, was there was this student who came in a baseball cap and sunglasses, and the minute he saw me, said i looked like 'dry-bones from super mario'. i don't even know what the hell that is."

You try not to laugh as you pull out your phone, Googling a photo and showing it Sans. He slaps his face with the palm of his hand. "oh jesus christ."

You pat his shoulder, "There, there, Professor Calisto. There's going to be a lot more of those. The best thing you can do is focus on teaching. Ignore those like sunglasses indoors, and focus on the kids who actually show effort in what you're teaching."

"cherry, one of them said, 'brooo chem is so boring they got a dead guy to come teach it.'" You couldn't contain your laughter after that, as Sans grumbles that it wasn't funny.

He looks at you while you're laughing, and he REALLY does like it when he sees you smile. Especially now that you're doing it from your heart and SOUL. He observes you again, noticing that something about you looks different. "hey, you cut your hair today?" he questions.

"Oh, yeah. It was time for it to come off. It was funny because a song made me do it last second, and it ended up being a good decision." Sans leans over and reaches up to grab a piece of the length near your shoulder. He twirls in his finger for a few seconds, moving his hand up to pat the top of your head.

"good. it suits you," he gives a sly smirk. You wish he was in his usual bummy outfit, because if he was, maybe you wouldn't be blushing as much as you were right now. "speaking of suiting, did you get everything you wanted clothing-wise?" You let out a little "oh", as you grab the card from the back pocket of your jeans. You hand the heavy chunk of card back to Sans.

"I did! Thank you so much for treating me. I got some nice things that will hopefully kill men where they stand," You smile at him.

"well then, that was phase one. i'm confirming with you again though, are you sure you want to play the game of 'ruin the dean'? it's not going to be easy. you might be put in situations of confrontation with the pervert. but i would never let him lay a hand on you."

"I thought about just letting it go. But truthfully, I don't want to. It's not going to stop him from doing it to other girls in the university, as he did it to me. He needs to go 'bye-bye' so maybe I can go back to fucking college," you express your will to Sans.

"gotcha. then, our main thing will be trying to get him to come forward about what he did. well, besides that, i also have more news. i was able to put you onto the insurance plan the uni offers, but benefits won't kick in for 90 days. so just gotta wait until then."

"Game of Thrones?" you ask excitedly

"obviously, put that shit on. i wanna see more of the hot dragon lady."

----------------

A few days pass, as Sans looks increasingly more tired every time he comes back from the university. His eye sockets are drooping, looking like he hasn't gotten a minute break. "Dude, are you okay? What are those kids doing to you?" you finally ask the skeleton, worried for his seemingly decreasing poor health.

"these kids...are evil..." he says exhaustingly. "i tried to set some class rules, i tried being mean. nothing worked. maybe im just not mean enough?" He takes a look at you, and an amazing idea pops into his head. "are you working tomorrow?"

"No. I'm on call for Grillby's. It's been slow so he said he'll call when he needs me."

"perfect, come to seraphine ebott with me tomorrow." Disgust written all over your face, "Ugh, why so soon?" Sans smirks at you, with his arms crossed. "no, trust me, it's going to perfect. you're gonna be do something you enjoy doing." You glance at him, eyebrow raised, "And that is?"

"being a world class bitch."

Oh, you're totally fucking in.

-----------------

You and Sans are in front of the door, you're dressed up extremely cute in the new clothes you bought, Sans instantly complimenting your style choice.

"ready to go, sweet cheeks?"

"Oh, I'm so excited. Bring me to Nirvana, bone-boy!," you shout. He wraps his arm over your waist. It's your first time teleporting somewhere with Sans.

"just close your eyes, it'll be a second. you might get really dizzy afterwards, but shake it off." You feel the world around you pull around, and the snap and crackle of magic around you. You feel the warm summer breeze on your skin, as you open your eyes to the beautiful greenery of Seraphine Ebott University.

Sans moves his arm around your neck, perfectly reaching. You are only just a few inches shorter than him. You know what he's doing.

"So that's your plan, Professor? Showing off the hot wife, so the kids won't bully you?" you chuckle in his ear socket.

He smirks, "you caught me. don't worry though. they don't know my wife is a professional bully." You hold the hand he has slinging over your shoulder.  "Ohh, don't worry husband dearest. I'll make sure those bad students never say a mean thing to you ever again," you coo jokingly.

You and Sans walk to lecture room, some students sneaking glances and whispers at the two of you. To get to the chem lecture class, you have to pass through a piece of the athletic center. The place where you used to swim. You glance while walking past. It's bad, but you missed the pool here. If only you could just dive into it.

Three familiar girls walk out of the pool, and you were too late to avoid their glances, until they are suddenly running towards you, already up in your face. You frown. "Like oh my god. Is that... CEREZA STERLING!" one shouts.

"You mean, the girl who shot that guy in Delta Dorm 2?" the other one shrieks. Last girl emerges before them, but this one you knew the name of. She was a freshman on the team before you ended up leaving. "Oh fucking joy. It's Cass. How are you?" your voice cracks in attempt to give off a fake polite voice.

Cass looks at you, smirking, "Cereza! How great it is to see you. So you're fucking dead guys now? Is that like...your thing now after what happened now?"

Sans looks at you, as you smirk back Cass, "You are so right, Cass. It's better than bragging about how hot your cousin is, and how you had sex with him that one Thanksgiving four years ago. Live but never forget! Inbreeding suits you, sweetheart." You begin to walk away, Sans follows suit.

Cass stutters as she spits out after you, "Monsters will fuck monsters, you fucking murderer."  You turn back, smiling at her, "Thank you! He makes me a very happy lady."

Sans chuckles, "what the hell was that about?"

"That's Cass. She was a freshman on the team when I was here. It's crazy she's still here, she's as stupid as a rock. She accused me back then of trying to steal her boyfriend. I didn't even know who the dude was, and he turned out to be like some football dude with negative IQ. Not interested."

"and somehow, she's still mad about that, it seems."

"I'm pretty sure that dude was her other cousin," you laugh out loud.

-------------

You and Sans reach the lecture room, as he throws his brief case on top of the chair. You sit on the teacher's desk with your legs crossed. He takes a baseball mitt out of the briefcase. "you're going to need this," he sets it down next to you.

"Sans, have they been throwing baseballs at you? The hell is this for?", you shout.

"that's why my eye sockets are all droopy, i spend most of the day fucking dodging the damn things. it takes a toll on the magic." You weren't going to let that slide. Especially from the rich brats at Seraphine Ebott.

The hours turns to 10 am, and the students coming pouring in. There's an eerie quietness as the students observe you sitting on the desk, Sans standing right next to you. You see the kid with the baseball cap and sports sunglasses, and he reminds you of the principal from South Park. He looks at you and goes, "Woah, who's the hottie? Finally something good in this class."

"that's my wife, brandon. take a seat." Brandon looks oddly agitated and he goes to sit all the way in the back near the window. As soon as the students settle in, Sans starts on his lecture. You stare at all the students with resting bitch-face, awaiting to see what antics they've been doing to stress out the poor skeleton.

"for today, all i have planned is going over the periodic table. from the pop quiz i did the other day, most of you don't even have the basic knowledge. once we get that down, we can move onto other concepts."

Sans turns his body to the projector, as he gives his lesson. It wasn't until you observed Brandon standing up, winding a ball into his hand. He throws it hard, and you don't think Sans sees it. You think quick, as you reach out your hand, catching the fast ball within your palm. It hurts so bad, you didn't have time to put on the glove. You keep the smile on your face, pain inside of your throat. Sans turns around quickly as he could, hearing the slam of the ball in your skin. He sees you with the ball in your hand. No way you caught it like that.

You stand up quickly, winding the ball back up, taking a step forward, sending the ball back flying almost near Brandon's face, as it hits through the window sitting behind him.

"Nice one Brandon. You want to fucking try it again?" you shout.

"No! No, I don't", he screams from the back.

"Take your fucking cap and sunglasses off you shitface. You're indoors for Christ sake!" you shout back him once more, as he scrambles to take the glasses and cap off. You jump on top of the desk.

"Close your textbooks, you assholes. It's time for a different lesson. A lesson to be conducted on classroom etiquette and how to treat your professors, since you could not be bothered the first time!" your voice echoes into the depths of the room, every student deciding against disobeying the woman who almost near took Brandon's head off in the back.

Sans stares at you in awe, trying not to look up the skirt you were wearing, so instead, he moves over to where he was standing before at the beginning of class.

"You see now, every time my dearest husband comes home from work, a job he so desperately wanted to get to teach his passion and love for science, he looks like complete shit. Totally stressed out. I'm such a good wife, so I come here to see what's going on. And turns out, we got Brandon over here throwing baseballs at my lovely husband. You fools doing God knows what else."

"So maybe, if you won't listen to him, you'll listen to ME. Everyone, let's follow Brandon's example. He has no cap on, no sunglasses, no sports equipment with him, and he's ecstatic to be here. Smile, Brandon!"

Brandon smiles crookedly at the class. "Let's start with that. Oh, trust me I know. College sucks. You want to be done with it, most of you don't even like science blah blah blah. Both of us couldn't care less. What you're not going to do is come in here disrespecting your professor, just because he looks slightly different. Newsflash, you all have skeletons."

"Here's the reality. You fail the class, your parents will get an email from the professor, that you actively failed, cheated, whatever the case is. Credit cards will go bye-bye. Your choice. Any questions?"

You sit back on the desk, crossing your legs and arms again, closing your eyes. The whole class in unison says, "No. We're sorry, Professor Calisto."

You scream, "I didn't hear you, Brandon!"

"I'm sorry, Doc!" he shouts from the back. Much better. "Class dismissed. Tell all your fucking friends no more class for today," you yell at the students, and they quickly scramble around for their stuff.

Sans moves in front of you. You look up at him smiling. Sans knows it for sure now, as his SOUL skips inside of him like a little kid running towards an ice cream truck. He's bone's deep in love with you.

Chapter Text

You and Sans are still the lecture room, and he has no idea what came over him. He walks two more inches towards you, as he slams his hands on the parts of the desk next to you. You uncross your legs, letting them dangle off the desk. You get a little bit nervous, and as you're about to ask him whats wrong, he grabs your thigh, throwing it around his waist, gripping tightly. With his other hand he throws in the back of your hair, pulling you down to his teeth.

You gasp in shock once you feel his teeth on your lips.   You kiss back, opening your mouth as you feel something enter. A tongue! You deepen into the kiss, as you wrestle with the skeletons tongue. The magic makes it feel like pop-rocks in your mouth. You kiss Sans for what only feels like seconds, but what was actually minutes.

You feel the snap and crackle of magic, as you find yourself at home on the couch. Sans releases you from the kiss, as you take in a deep breath of air. Sans looks at you, smirking, "a token of my appreciation."

You smirk back, "So if I do more of that, I get more of this?"

Sans pulls you back in whispering in your ear, "you don't understand how insanely fucking hot that was. if you keep on impressing me, i'll continue to reward you." Oh, boy. You push the skeleton onto his back onto the couch, and you lean in, attempting to shove your tongue back into his mouth, until there's desperate knocking engulfing the door.

"Fuck, cockblocked again," you mumble as you go to see who's at the door. Sans sits up, fixing his clothes for whoever is at the door. "Tori-" you shout.

"Oh dear, thank the Stars you're home! And Sans, too," she rushes in, a child following after her. Sans looks at Toriel and the small child.

"go do what you gotta do, tori. we'll watch the kid," he says in a bit of a groan. She thanks the two of you as she runs out of the house in a rush. Sans looks at the kid, as the kid smiles and starts signing to Sans. You're lucky you took sign language classes. "Hi, Uncle Sans! Mom had a work meeting, so I'm here to play!" the child says.

"c'mon kid. you gotta start going to school eventually.  there's someone i want you to meet," he takes the child's hand, leading them over to you.

"frisk, this is your aunt cherry. i got married recently." The child looks up to you in awe, as you crouch down signing and speaking, "Hi Frisk, my name is Cereza. You can call me Aunt Cherry."

"You don't have to use sign, I can hear you! I just don't like talking," Frisk signs. "Uncle Sans, how did you find such a beautiful aunt to marry?"

Sans chuckles, "magic, kid. what do you want to do today?" Sans talks with Frisk as you observe the two. Sans bones are tense and his face is like stone. You can tell that Sans feels some type of way about the kid. Frisk themselves, also have a strange aura coming off of them. What's this kids deal?

Ever since having a SOUL became knowledge to you, it's almost like since then it's speaking to you. You watch TV as you observe Sans playing board games and cracking puns with the kid. Papyrus comes to take over, as Sans sits next to you on the couch. Frisk, the human ambassador. Cute little messy bob cut kid, with red eyes. The strange aura flickers into your nose. It smells like metal.

You sit there staring. Metal. The smell of blood? You know of the smell of blood. It's something else. Two hours pass of you lost in thought, and sooner or later, Toriel comes to get Frisk. You wave them 'goodbye' as you sit on the couch. You fidget with your ring, and Sans notices. "what's wrong? you've been off since the kid arrived.

"Sans, do monsters bleed?" The question throws Sans off guard. "no...we don't. but when we die, we turn into dust." The smell flickers into your nose, and then it clicks.

"Sans, that child... That child is a killer." He grabs your hand quickly and suddenly.

"how the hell do you know that?" he speaks almost bordering anger.

"Sans, that kid's got fucking aura. Like, maybe it's because I killed Fin that I can see it. But there was a scent that wouldn't get out of my nose. It reeked liked metal. What human blood would smell like but just slightly not that. What the fuck is wrong with that kid?"

Sans teleports you in his room, it's the first time you've been in here. It's musty, there's a treadmill in the middle of it and dirty clothes everywhere, as expect of the skeleton. "Dude, clean up in here!l", you start picking up random stuff on the floor and putting it in the hamper.

"cereza, you don't understand what you said, and how much it meant to me." He sits his bed, throwing his head in his hand. You approach him, sitting down on the lumpy bed next to him, mumbling, "How the fuck do you sleep on this thing? Anyways," you speak louder, "Sans? What's going on?"

He sighs, unbuttoning a button on his shirt for some air. "would you believe if i told you there was different timelines?"

"Timelines, universes essentially?" You question.

"yes. would you also believe it if i told you i remember some timelines? and in those timelines the kid killed the whole monster race?" You can see the fear written on his face. Something in your chest, you think it's your SOUL, pulses. "Yes, Sans, I would. Like I said, kid's got fucking aura."

He turns to you, putting his arms around your waist. "thank you, cherry."

"Of course. If you want to talk more about it, I'm always here. I care about you, Sans." You pat his back bones. "But we do need to talk about that kiss." You smirk at him. He releases his arms from your waist.

"what is wrong with two friends kissing for fun?" he winks.   You chuckle, "Nothing, but everything. Do you have feelings for me, Sans?" you question, a hint of sadness in your voice. Sans knew you had no intentions of falling in love with anyone, in fact he knew you probably weren't capable of it. You had never experienced love, and never had a definition of it. Today confirmed it for him, that he was falling in love with you. You both had made a connection, which was making it easier for you both to open up to each other, but he still knew. He still wanted you, especially sexually. So, in the spur of the moment, he decides to settle for less.

"no, i think of you as just a good friend. a good friend i would love to have sex with. you see where i'm getting at?" he lies through his teeth. And you don't notice. The idea he proposes, it's a good one. You smirk. Sex, friendship, no strings attached. "I see where you're at. And I'm there." You lean in, pressing a kiss on his teeth. "But at least take me to dinner first," you jokingly say.

"deal." Part of Sans regrets lying to you. But it's for the best. He knows you don't feel the same. And that's okay. "Sans?", you prepare to ask him a question, taking a shot in the dark.

"what can i do for you, sweet cherry?"

"Teach me how I can see my SOUL." You explain to Sans that ever since you felt the wave of emotions at park, you feel more of your SOULs presence. You express your interest in learning more about SOULs, hoping to become in-tune with yours in attempt to start healing from past trauma.

"cherry, bringing your SOUL out can be a difficult experience. many people freak out and become more disconnected and emotional. it could have opposite effect as well. but just a fair warning."

"Yes, I want to. I can't get more fucked up, can I? I just wanted to try. I feel like it's trying to tell me something."

"like what?", Sans questions.

"The path I need to take to heal my broken, lost, sexy heart."

"okay, moment ruined. get some sleep, we'll practice all of that in the morning."

"You know it's true!," you jokingly pout, as you pretend stomp out of the room. "Oh, and clean this place up! The hell is wrong with you?" Papyrus yells from the living-room, "SEE SANS! THANK YOU, MRS CHERRY!"

------------------

Earlier that Afternoon

Cass stomps to the deans office, raging over the interaction she had with you. She was going to make sure you never stepped foot onto this campus again, and your "disgusting" monster husband fired from the university. She knocks on the door furiously, "Dr. Sinclair? Dr. Sinclair!"

He opens up the door, "Oh, Ms. Trevor. It is not one of our meeting days..." he says with a disgusting smile. "But my doors are open anytime." Cass rushes in, locking the door, as she falls into the deans arms, kissing his neck.

"Dr. Sinclair! Today was just horrible. Why didn't you tell me Cereza Sterling was back on campus?" she shouts. He pulls Cass away, "Cereza..Sterling?"

"Yes! She's married to that new skeleton professor. Please, Dr. Sinclair. I don't want to see her ever again, she called me an inbred!"

"Well, isn't it true Cass? You don't have the best reputation, sweetheart. The only reason why students don't talk anymore is because of our little arrangement." Since you're back, he has no need for this little toy named 'Cass'.

"Cass, don't come back to my office. I have no need for little inbred girls with demands." He pushes Cass out of his office, practically foaming from his mouth. He looks at the picture of you from the first year on the swim team in his cabinet. "Oh...oh...Cereza. You came back to play. Let's see who wins this one."

Chapter Text

In the morning, Sans takes you out into the backyard of the house. He told you to prepare in comfort clothing that puts you more at ease. And then, the magic starts.

You and Sans are standing across from each other. "okay, cherry. close your eyes, just ignore everything around you and focus on your breathing, chest, and the air around you." You nod, following every word he says. "good. now imagine like you're reaching inside of your body, and just pull it out!", he shouts.

You imagine it in your head. You're reaching deep inside of the inner parts of your body, as the lighting around you goes black. You keep reaching into you grab onto something and pull it out. Your SOUL bursts out of your chest, as you fall to the floor onto your knees.

You look up at the deep cherry-red heart, floating in front of you. "Determination. Haha. That's just like me." Sans walks next to you, kneeling down to help you up. But you continue to sit on the floor, watching your SOUL bob up and down as it slowly moves towards you, wisping around you and Sans. It starts glowing, as the shade of your SOUL lightens softly.

You start crying, crying so many tears that you've been holding in for years. You grab the sleeve of Sans hoodie, pulling him down to sit with you on the floor, as he wraps his arms around you. "Oh, Sans. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. This is me, everything that I am. The accumulation of my very being."

"Everything is coming out at once. I feel all of it, all of my pain, all of my happiness, all of my fears. Finally. It's so beautiful. SOULs are so beautiful." Your SOUL finds its way back into your chest.

"you've always been beautiful, cereza. your SOUL is perfect. every single part of it. let's get you back inside." Sans teleports you onto the couch, and you fall asleep, dreaming about the beauty of the world, and all of its possibilities.

-----------------

You invite Sans to a walk towards a hidden lake near the base of Mt. Ebott. He accepts as you two talk about the little bits and pieces of your histories. Ever since meeting your SOUL, Sans notices you've been smiling a little brighter, and that's all he could ever want.

"you never talked about your brother before," he notes.

"Oh. Cristian?" you say softly. "He was my favorite person in the world. He was everything thing I ever strived to be."

"what happened to him?"

"My mom died giving birth to me. My dad was a classic romantic and just couldn't live without her. Cristian was 18 when I was born. I was a risky pregnancy but my mom really wanted to have me. When both of them died, Cristian was the only one I had. There's nothing more to it other than he just disappeared when I was 10."

You sigh, "I think he did it because he wanted to live. For himself. And I don't blame him for that. Imagine getting plopped an infant into your hands and expecting everything to make sense. He was just a kid himself. He was the reason I fell in love with swimming." Fell in love with swimming, Sans notes in his head. How is he ever going to compete with that? Sans can see the lake coming into the view.

"Swimming is love for me. The way it embraces my body. Floats away all my worries. And the sadness I feel when I have to leave, the way it leaves its memory on my body." Sans is walking in back of you, until you finally stop at the lake. You listen to the soft sound of moving water.

"Swimming has never hurt me. It has never left me. It has never betrayed me. We melt into each other and become one complete entity. And that's why I kicked so many people's asses. When you love something that much, you can truly let yourself go and become something new." Sans looks at you, as he feels his SOUL lurch in sadness. You'll never feel that with him. He wishes you did. He wishes you would look at him the same way you look at the faint ripples of the lake.

You take off your shirt, shorts and shoes. You had a bathing suit on underneath, as you slowly walk towards the dock. Sans follows suit. You stay on the shallow part of the lake, as you set yourself into the coolness of the water. "you know i can't swim right?" he chuckles.

"You don't need to swim. Trust me." And he does. He hesitant takes off his hoodie and t-shirt, showing you his ribcage and all the beautiful bones that make up his body. He follows into the lake with you. He can stand up perfectly fine.

"We can just sit here. I can't do much anyways." You close your eyes, feeling in the coolness and summer breeze. There's an odd brief of silence between you two.   "you know, i've been taking care of paps since i was 10." You look at him, listening intensely.

"my dad was the royal scientist, and just clocked out when my ma had paps. because she died, too. so he plopped paps down into my arms, said i was smart enough. and i wasn't but i made it through. it was hard but i went to school, and was able to give paps whatever he wanted and deserved. but i wasn't able to give him a life in the sun. i desperately wanted to destroy barrier."

"frisk came and did that. they destroyed the barrier five times, led us to the surface five times. then, with their determination, would rewind back time to do it again. but it wasn't always breaking the barrier. it was like sometimes they were possessed and would end up killing the whole underground. i saw paps die a few times, and the thought still haunts me."

You move behind Sans, hugging him from behind as you both stand in the water. He looks out into the bleeding sun. "i'm scared of going back. i'm scared of the kid rewinding back time again and again. because i've made it this far to meet you. and you're something i don't want to lose. there's more at stake now."

You whisper into his ear, "So just tell the kid that."

"wha-?"

"Talk to Frisk, tell them no more. There has to be a reason you're still here, and I promise you. Maybe the kid isn't as bad as we think. If they saved you from the Underground, maybe it wasn't them who was killing in the first place."

Sans is surprised. You, telling him to communicate? Impressive. He turns around, touching his forehead with yours, as he pulls you into a deep kiss by your waist.

-----------------

You're wet. Sans teleports you into his bed, both of you still wet from the lake. He presses you down, as you wrap your arms around his ribcage. "Can I touch you?" you manage to get out under the deep waves of kisses he keeps placing in your mouth.

"go ahead." So you do, you rub every part of his bones that interest you, as he groans into your mouth, wrestling with your tongue.

"stand up, now." You do as he says. "on your knees." You are your knees, his pelvic region right in front of your face, as you are anticipating what comes next. He pulls his gym shorts down, still wet from the lake. He exposes his pelvic bones as he chuckles, "heh, watch this, cherry."

With a snap of his finger and a little bit of magic, a perfect, magic blue cock appears. It's girthy, just the perfect kind of long, and made just for you. You groan at the sight of it, throwing your head back.

"God, fuck. How did you know blue girthy cocks are my favorite?" you whisper, touching the tip of it with your index finger. Sans hisses in pleasure, blue pre-cum dripping down.

"suck it, now. like your life depends on it," he instructs, putting his boney-hands in your hair, guiding your mouth into the tip of his length, opening your mouth and letting it glide in. Sans's hands bob your head back and forth, as you suck, kiss and lick every inch of the blue member that you can. Sans's moans are music to your ears as every time you move down his shaft, his gets louder and his face gets bluer.

"fuck...it's too good. but i gotta play fair. bend over the bed for me." You once again follow his instructions. You still have your bathing suit on, which makes this triple the times more hotter for you. Sans is on his knees in the middle of your legs, looking up at your ass and needy pussy.

"good girl. i want to see how wet you are." He moves the bathing suit to the side, revealing your drip soft lips. "when there's a waterfall, it would be impolite to not drink from it."

"What the hell are you making jokes about-Ah!" you moan. You can feel Sans tongue, suckling at your throbbing clit. He laps at it, inserting his tongue inside of your whole, and you throw yourself back in pleasure.

"that shut you up," he lets out, as he goes back to working his magic. You've haven't felt pleasure like this in your whole life. It's been too long, and you feel yourself about climax. Sans senses your walls tensing, so he removes his tongue from inside you.

"Hey, you asshole-"

"i said shut up. the only way you are coming is with me inside of you, understand?" he growls at you. You bite your lip. You love dominant men. Someone who's not going to take your shit.

"cereza, if you're comfortable, i want to pick you up and fuck you against the wall. can you do that for me, cherry?"

"God, Sans. Yes, I'm ready. Please hurry," you yelp, and Sans's magic supports you as he puts you against the wall, and you wrap your legs around his waist bones, arms around his neck. Before he continues, he pulls your bathing suit down your chest, revealing your breasts in all its glory. He fondles them as if it's the best thing he's ever touched in his whole 29 years.

"fuck, i can't wait anymore." he adjusts himself, tugging at your entrance. You're so fucking impatient, but you hold your tongue back. Until, he finally enters, stretching your insides out.

"fuckkkk!"

"Christ, Sans," you both shout in unision.

He starts thrusting, the lazy skeleton giving everything he's got into fucking you senseless. You go in to kiss him, moaning into every inch he has inside of you. You feel your walls tensing with every thrust.

"you're not allowed to come yet, i'm not done with you." He uses a significant amount of magic to push you down harder into his member, as you moan harder every time you feel his length reach the ends of your pussy.

"Sans, fuck- I can't," you practically scream in pleasure.

"i can't either, do it with me, cereza. i'm going to pour everything inside of you. i want to feel you come on my cock, made just for you."

In mere seconds, you both fall into bliss, as you both come, a whole wave of euphoria flowing through your body. You can feel Sans filling up your insides, as you both move down onto the floor, exhausted from your extra circulars. You look down, blue oozing out from inside of you.

"Dude...that's fucking awesome. It's blue," you chuckle, panting hard.  Sans is clocked out. You both move to his lumpy ass bed, lying down as he cuddles into your breasts. He instantly falls asleep. He doesn't realize it, but under his breath he whispers, "i love you." You hear it and look down at the skeleton, whispering back. "I know. I'm sorry."

In the morning, you act like you never heard anything. It's for the best.

Chapter Text

Time is flying by, as you already hit a month with Sans working as a professor. 60 days to go. And still no progress with Sinclair. That's okay, because good things come to those who wait.

One morning, you ask Sans to give you all the research and books he has on SOULS. That day you saw your SOUL has you obsessed with SOUL study, and what better to do in your free time then study? You sit there scanning over every single thing he has for days. Eventually, you finish every material he has, and you still are thirsty for more. You wish you could go back to college. You start thinking that maybe one day you can possibly make a career studying the existence of SOULs, human and monsters.

"you should come with me to class every week. to the SOUL introduction class i'm doing." You and Sans are sitting down at your usual spots at the dining room table, both knees deep in books and papers. "You mean it?" you perk up at his offer.

"yeah, it'll be fun. and you get to put my students in order. you should also go to the celeste rune library. they have tons of old material on SOULs that is basically untouched. then you can come back and tell me what you find," he chuckles.

"Oh! You just want to use me! That's fine. You give amazing sex, so I'll let you," you say jokingly. Sans blushes slight, returning back to his paperwork.

"Game Of Thrones?" you speak up.

"is there boobs in the next episode?" he asks.

"Oh, 100%."

"let's go," he throws his glasses and paperwork onto the table, and you run into the kitchen to pop some popcorn.

--------------

A few days later, you take the chance and walk into Celeste Rune Library. Sans is doing a chem class so you take advantage of the time to scan enough information into your brain. You follow Sans directions, as you navigate into a small corner. There, in all its glory, forgotten and unused knowledge dating back from the very creation of monsters. As you start scanning through the book, you find something. Apparently the name 'Seraphine' was the name of the Goddess who the myths say gave birth to the monster race. 'Seraphine Ebott.'

However your best discovery was a book from the 1800's. Back then, humans could use magic. However, many pandemics swept over the humans, as young children died of scarlet fever, the cholera epidemic. Eventually, most humans lost the ability to use magic, few maintaining the ability to do so.

As you kept reading, the book explains how each SOUL and every trait possessed a special kind of magic and skill. People with kind SOULs have vast knowledge in culinary and gardening skills, and the magical ability to fuse their cooking with healing properties. Many humans were known to treat minor ailments with their magic. Justice SOULs had the magical ability to read minds, becoming the main force in the justice system. Bravery SOULs loved to journey, as their magical ability allowed them to see and discover unknown places, using their SOULS as compasses.

You continue to read on. Those who possessed SOULs of integrity often had a strong sense of morality. They could move things with the flick of their  fingers. "Oh!," you gasp quietly. SOULs with patience of stood guard in Royal Kingdom's as their magical ability prevented anyone for gaining access into forbidden information and rooms, as you couldn't walk into it without getting hurt. For some reason, Perseverance was scribbled and faded out. You ignore it and continue on.

Determination. SOULs that were determined were extremely rare, and feared by humans and monsters. You continue on, worried for what's to come next. All SOULs are determined to live after death. However, determined SOULs had the ability to go back in time, like death had never happened.

"But how? The stupid book explains nothing!", you whisper shout. You here something twinkle behind you, but before you could look, an expected visitor appears into the cubby.

"Oh, Ms. Sterling. Or should I call you Mrs. Calisto?" Dr. Sinclair screeches. "It's a library, Sinclair. And yes, it's Calisto now." Your face is blank. You hate this guy, truly.

"Cereza, I have to say, it's amazing to see you. I could never have guessed you would run back to the university. You're lucky I am so nice and forgiving," he boasts.

"Okay? Am I supposed to thank you for trying to force me into sex?" you shoot back, eyes looking back into the book as you scan through the pages.

"Cereza, Cereza," he tsks. "You know that's not what happened. I'm not that kind of man! I would never have sex with a student, more or less on that killed a man in her very dorm." Your face scrunches up. This guy is a corny loser. You keep praying in your head for him to get out of here.

"Man, can't you see I'm busy?" you shout.

"Cereza! It's a library! You must keep your voice down. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be even allowed on this campus. And your husband wouldn't even be a professor here, as disgusting as he is. I'm only letting you two run around playing your silly game because I want to make amends."

"Kay." You say, hoping your disinterest will shoo him away. You pissed him off, as his shoe comes flying down on top of your book, slamming your hands underneath onto the floor. You sigh and look up at him. "Don't piss me off, Cereza-"

"oh, well isn't it the dean?", a familiar voice whips around. "oh, it seems like you're stepping on somethin'. you might wanna..."

"Oh, Dr. Calisto. How wonderful it is to see you." He smiles menacingly.

"i see you met my wife. beautiful, aint she?," he chuckles as he plops down next to you on the floor. He gives you a peck on the cheek. "whatcha readin', cherry?" You smile at him, returning the kiss back. You look up at Sinclair. "You done now?" you ask.

"For now. I wish you two a beautiful night." He turns around, walking around the chubby and out of the library. Sans flicks his fingers and all the books fall back into the empty spaces on the shelves. "i'm bet, cher. i need some head and game of thrones," he sighs as he leans into your arm.

"You're so annoying. Teleport me home, bone-boy." He winks, and within seconds you're in his bedroom, on your knees at the mercy of the sexy skeleton boy.

-----------------

A couple weeks pass. No run in's again but you see it. A yellow star. It's floating in the living room. You sit there, staring at it.

"cherry, what the hell are you starin' at?" Sans asks you after five minutes of you seemingly staring off into space.

"You don't see it?" you whisper quietly.

"see what?"

"Hm." You reach out and press it. Text appears in front of your eyes. FRISK LV 1. THE END. SAVE OR RETURN.

"Save."

The text changes. CEREZA LV 2. SURFACE - HOME. SAVE OR RETURN.

"Return."

"hellloooo? what the fucks wrong with ya?" Sans shouts.

"Oh. Sorry. Thought I saw a bug. What's for dinner?" you smile at him. Sans has nothing to fear anymore. You're in control now.

-------------

Two more weeks later, Papyrus is shouting at you, trying to convince you to accept the party invite Toriel extended out to you.

"Paps, I'm not a very social person. I'm just going to be a bitch and ruin the vibe."

"MRS. CHERRY, YOU ARE AN AMAZING PERSON IF YOU WOULD JUST RELAX AND OPEN IT! I PROMISE YOU IT WILL BE FUN, AND I REALLY WANT YOU AND SANS TO BE THERE SO YOU CAN MEET MY DATE-MATE!"

"Date-mate?!"

"date-mate!?", You and Sans both shout in unison. You almost collapse in your seat at the table. "I'm going to kill them!" You whisper.

"cherry, let's roll out, we're going to kick this guys ass."

"DEAREST SIBLINGS, DO NOT FRET! METTATON MAKES ME THE HAPPIEST SKELETON ON THE PLANET! I PROMISE YOU HE'S NOT A BAD ROBOT.

"mettaton?!" Sans yells at Papyrus.

"A fucking robot, Paps?!" you question.

"YES!" he has stars in his pupils. Sans is almost near crying, as you walk around the table to tap his back. Poor skeleton. You sigh, "Fine, I'll do it for you, Paps. Let's go party."

-----------

You sit in the 'Chariel' at Toriel's house. It is extra cozy, well-kempt, and there's hints of butterscotch cinnamon smells all around the house. You oddly feel comfortable here, as Toriel and Sans are both setting up decorations and snacks. Apparently the party is for the kid, Frisk's birthday. They are 13 as of today, so you and Sans got the kid a lego set and some miscellaneous board games you thought they would enjoy.

Sans and Frisk are bantering around, the child sneaking glances at me. They know what you did. You stare at the kid, as they go back to making jokes with Sans. He also glances at you, too. You give him a wink, hoping that it will motivate him to talk with Frisk.

You start to fall asleep, until Undyne bursts through the door, "SUP, NERDS! WE'RE HERE TO CELEBRATE THE TWERPS BIRTHDAY." Undyne picks up Frisk, throwing and catching them in the air as they giggle. A lizard monster walks in slowly, "H-Hi, I came t-too. H-Happy Birthday, Frisk!" You observe the monster, and Undyne looks at you.

"NO WAY! Cherry came, too. Cherry, this is my girlfriend, Alphys." Oh, Alphys. Sans's lab-mate. Sans lifts his hand up, "yo, alphys."

"Oh, S-sans. Is this the wife Undyne h-has told me about?" she approaches to you slowly, as she holds out her hand, fidgeting with her glasses. "My n-name is Dr. Alphys! It's g-great to meet you!"

"You as well! I've read a lot about you. I'm very interested in your study on SOULs. It's great to put a name to a face, finally."

You and Alphys spark up conversation, waiting for the rest of the party to arrive. Papyrus and Mettaton make their appearance, the robot having his arm linked with Papyrus's. "OH! SANS DARLING! WHEN DID YOU GET SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WIFE, WHEN YOU'RE SUCH A TERRIBLE MISERABLE COMEDIAN?"

"the only reason why you're still alive, is because i let you walk this earth." He smiles at Mettaton. Mettaton is too engrossed in a sudden pose-off with Frisk to react. You nudge Sans at his side-bone, "I like that guy." Sans face twitches. Apparently, we are just waiting for Frisk's dad, Tori's ex-husband and Frisk's friend MK.

Sans and Frisk go out to the backyard, as you assume that he's finally making the move to talk to Frisk. You follow them, as you see they are sitting down at the swing set, back turned against the door. So you stand there silently, as you eavesdrop.

"kid, i've been meaning to talk to you about something."

You can't see what Frisk is signing.

He sighs, "the truth is, it's about the resets. i've been wanting to talk to ya because...i don't want you to do them anymore. i forgive ya for all those times, but i don't want to go back. there's something here i really want to keep."

He chuckles, "kid, i've fallen in love. it's something you're going to experience one day, too. i want you to grow up, for real. no more resets okay? please."

Frisk signs. Sans face turns into worry.

"what do you mean, you can't do it anymore?" he questions the child. The two on the bench turn around to look at you. Your hair blows in the summer breeze, and you close your eyes. When you open them again, the two are in front of you."

Frisk signs, "You wrote over my save. I can't use my power anymore. Why did you do that?"

"cherry, what is the kid talking about?" his face is painfully worried.

"That day at the library, I read a book. The SOULs of determination have the ability to go back in time. So if they die, they can easier rewind back. They can SAVE at a certain point in time, and LOAD whenever they desire. Do you remember when I was staring at the wall?"

"when you saw the bug?" he questions.

"There was a SAVE point. I saved over Frisk's file."

Frisk looks down in sadness, "You took it from me. But it's okay. I deserved it.." the kid signs. "I was abusing my SAVES. I even killed people sometimes. You, Aunt Cherry...You can make sure we don't go back. So, thank you." The kid runs into your arms. You pat the top of Frisk's head.

"You have nothing to be afraid of anymore, Sans. Live." Sans wipes the sudden tears streaming down his face. Frisk signs, "I'll leave you two for some smooching time," as they run back into the house to celebrate their birthday.

Sans approaches you, pulling you into a kiss. "thank you. thank you, cereza. i-".

"I know." You two go back inside, holding hands. The rest of the party was enjoyable, as the rest of the Underground gang wishes you would become apart of their family. Your SOUL swells up, almost like it's about to burst. That night, you cuddle up into Sans lumpy bed. You feel normal. You forgot what it was like to have friends, to be around a group of people and enjoy it. Sans sleeps soundly next to you. This skeleton has showed you more, has given you more than you ever imagined. You know he loves you and could never hurt or betray you. 

You never knew love. You thought swimming was love, but you can feel your SOUL rewriting itself completely, preparing to shed into something beautifully new. You love Sans. You want to give him everything. But, your mind keeps rejecting it.

Why is this so hard? What are you missing?

Chapter Text

You only have 30 days before you can schedule your surgery. The time is fast approaching, and you find yourself shaking your legs in anxiety, because you have absolutely done nothing to take revenge on this guy, Sinclair. There's literally no ideas. One evening, Sans approaches you as you are shaking your legs trying to brainstorm an idea.

"cereza."

"What! I'm thinking of a good revenge plot story," you shout.

"the dean invited us to dinner with his wife."

"Which wife? The pig's got 17."

Sans chuckles, "he's only got one, cherry. i think it'll be good figuring out what game he's trying to play at." You can't deny it will be a great opportunity to shake him up. You worry about what could possibly happen, but you don't pay it any mind. You know Sans will protect you no matter what.

----------

That weekend, Papyrus drives you and Sans in his red sports car to the large mansion on the boujee side of Ebott City. Sans had bought you a beautiful, red evening gown and tried to reassure you that nothing bad was going to happen. But something in your SOUL was telling you that Sinclair was going to pull out something tonight, because that is simply the game that he likes to play.

You approach the roundabout to the front door, as Sans gets out first, opening the door for you. "Oooh, what a gentleman," you say sarcastically. He winks at you, as he gives you his arm to link around.

"cherry, i feel how worried you are. no matter how bad tonight goes, just remember you always have me." You smile at him as you two approach the front door. You weren't able to knock until Steph whips open the door, enthusiastically greeting you. "Hello, Cereza and Sans! How wonderful it is to see you. Please come in, we have a wonderful meal prepared for you."

"thanks steph, it's great to see you." You take this opportunity to make amends for the last time you saw her. "Hey Steph, it's great to see you, too. I wanted to apologize for last time we saw each other. I was being a bit of an asshole."

"Oh dear, no worries. I spent days laughing my ass off at it anyways." She guides us to the dining room that is wonderful set up with beautiful china, silverware, and decoration. "Dr. Calisto, how are you adjusting to the university? The kids can be a bit difficult especially with things they know nothing about. I hope there hasn't been too much trouble."

Sans chuckles, as we all take our seats the table. "s'all good. there was some barriers in the beginning, but my wife helped me through it."

"It's so great to have that support." You feel bad. This woman is too nice to be going through the shit Sinclair puts her through. You start to feel worse, when you notice that she has a baby monitor placed next to her. God.

Sinclair comes waltzing in, sooner or later. He has a small file in his hand that makes your SOUL lurch. He sets it down next to him as he starts one of his stupid rambles. "Mr and Mrs. Calisto! How wonderful it is to have you tonight. Steph and I were so excited to have you here."

You put on your best smile, you need your acting skills as much as you can. "It's nice to see you again, Dr. Sinclair," you say politely.

"Oh, have you two met before?" Steph perks up.

"Oh, dear! Have I ever told you? Cereza used to attend the university. However, she had to leave as she experienced a terrible injury and no longer contain her scholarship. Shame. If she continued swimming, she probably would have won national medals."

"Oh, lord. What happened?" she says, and you can see her genuine concern on her face.

"I got shot."

"No way! How?" she seems invested now. Maybe she doesn't get much opportunity to gossip?

"My ex was stalking me, came up behind me and while I was fighting him, he shot my leg."

"That's definitely not okay! I hope he's somewhere far away from you."

You fidget at your ring. "Yeah, he's far. Very far."

Sinclair claps his hands together, "Enough with that. Sans, tell me about yourself. You are a...skeleton after all."

"not much to say. i function like everyone else does. but i attended hotland university in the underground. there was lots of opportunity there so i was able to study a lot and get my doctorate on an excelled course. i am considered a genius," he smirks.

A housekeeper comes around, place salads on our plates as well as wine. You grab the glass and pour it down your throat in a second. That will throw the edge off.

"Cereza, what have you been pursuing the past few years?" Sinclair smirks.

"Home and family-making. After all, I can't go back to college." You shoot an anger glance at him. It's all his fault, after all.

"Oh, that's terrible to hear." You start to shake your leg in anxiety. This is going way too fucking slow. After a few minutes, the entree is served. You pick at the potatoes on the plate, as Sans is almost near devouring the steak on his plate. On the baby monitor, you hear a loud cry.

"Oh, let me go check on Kevin. He probably just needs to be soothed for a couple minutes," Steph says as she scrambles up the stairs in haste.

In a few seconds, the smirk on Sinclair's face deepens. You feel it. You feel the black, sticky smell in your nose, almost like melting rubber. You shoot up from your chair. Gripping the fork in your hand. Sans notices you, as he stands up on his guard as well.

There's a murderous look over your face. "What the fuck are you planning, Tyler Sinclair?"

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to show you some interesting things I found." He starts to laugh. "You see, I've done some digging, Cereza. I just knew in my heart I had to show you. You would be so happy."

"Get on with it, shitface. I have no fucking patience for this, currently." He takes a photo out of the folder. Your face turns to shock and almost near morbidly scared, as he holds up the photo. It was when you were 10, at your first swim meet. Cristian had a disposable camera that day, and he took a selfie with you and him. Cristian. His dark shaggy hair, scruffy face, deep brown green eyes. Your brother.

You start to shake. "I even found some more information about your brother. Did you know that he lives in Finland? Got married a few years ago? Has twin daughters?" Sinclair laughs.

"Poor Cereza. Abandoned in the foster care system. Stalked, shot in the leg. Banned from every college around the country. And her brother... tsk tsk. Living the life with his new family in Finland. How pathetic your life is."

You can't contain yourself. You lounge forward towards him, but Sans grabs you by the waist.

"cherry, don't do it. hurting him is not gonna make you feel better. we won't let him get away with this," he whispers in your ear. Sinclair puts everything back in his file, as Sans let's you go, teleporting next to Sinclair, swiping the file.

"i'll be takin' this. i assume you have copies anyways? while im next to ya, boss man. i just want to give you a lil warning." Sinclair backs up from him, as magic flickers and crackles in the air, the lighting around them both going completely black. "you continue stalking and hurting my wife, you're gonna have a b a d t i m e. that's a threat, sir. i'll be taking my wife back home now. i'll see you at the university."

Sans teleports over to you, and quickly grabs your arm, teleporting again back to the house and into your room. You run towards your bed, rolling into a ball as you replay everything that just happened. Cristian's okay and alive. But what hurts even more was the fact that he has a whole family, and he left you. He left you alone, with no one. Your SOUL feels like it's shattering into a million pieces.

You hysterically start to sob, as Sans cuddles up next to you, wrapping his arms around you, nuzzling his face into your neck.

"God, Sans. It fucking hurts. It hurts so fucking much. Why did Cristian leave me here, all by myself? Why is this happening to me?" you sob to the skeleton.

"cherry, i'm so, so sorry. i can't imagine how it feels. let it all out. i'll be here with you all night. i gotcha, you're safe here. you have me and paps now. we can figure all this stuff out in the morning."

You turn around to face him, as you cry into the dress shirt and blazer he wore today. You cry for what seems like hours, as you finally lose all your energy, falling asleep in Sans's arms.

Chapter Text

When Sans is at work, you dial the phone number in Sinclair's file. You don't care that it'll run up your phone bill hundreds, but you have to know what's going on? The phone rings for what feels like an eternity, until someone picks up on the other line.

"Hei? Kuka tämä on?," the voice says. It's a man with a deep voice, old and scruffy. "Oh fuck, it's a U.S number. Hello?"

You stay silent for a minute, not knowing what to say.

"Hello? You're gonna run up my phone bill if ya don't spit it out." You chuckle. You know now where you get it from.

"Cristian?" you manage to finally get something out in whisper.

"Yeahh? Who the fuck is this?" he has hints of annoyance in his voice.

"It's me."

"Who?," he says almost angrily. Until it finally clicks in. "Cereza...is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"How the hell did you get my number?" his voice calms down over the line.

"Was it wrong to call? Do you not want to talk to me?" you ask him. You thought he would be more happier to hear from you, or maybe he wouldn't be? That's a possibility, too.

"Of fucking course I'm happy to hear from you, dipshit! I spent years looking for you, Cereza. The states lost all your fuckin' records and they weren't able to help me locate you, since you were bounced around like a fuckin' ball all around Ebott City."

"I don't believe you. You're the one who left me here in the first place," you say to him. You have to be honest with him more than ever right now. It hurts too much not to.

"Cherry...listen. I'm sorry. I just want you to understand that I was young and depressed. Truthfully, I went to Finland willingly. I fucked up and wanted to go on this dumb trip with a woman I never was able to introduce you to. It was only for a week, and you were so independent, so I knew you would be fine."

"Cristian, I was fucking 10. The hell is wrong with you?" you shout back in awe. How can someone so smart be such an idiot to leave a 10 year old alone for the week?

"Everything was wrong with me. The chick I went with got me in trouble over there. I got caught up in immigration and everything...I couldn't go back to the States. I beat myself up every day for living you there."

"Yeah, I got shot because you left me here!" there a hint of sarcasm in your voice.

"Dude, you got fucking shot?" he says.

"Yeah, by my fucking stalker! In my leg! I haven't swam in three years because my cheap ass insurance wouldn't cover the costs of the rest of my surgery to pay for my leg! Then I got kicked out of a really good college because no leg, no swimming! Then, the dean try to solicit sex from me! And where were you? Shagging up having babies in Finland! You're a whore, Cristian!" you scream at him, letting it all out.

"Fucking hell, Cereza. I'm so sorry," his voice is in a whisper. "Come to Finland, Cereza. We can get your leg fixed. You can live with me."

"I can't do that. My life is here."

"You can get away from all that, Cherry. I want you to have a family, and be with family. Listen, this call is goin' on too long and wife's gonna be mad and I'm going to pay the price. Download WhatsUp so we can text and keep in touch. Consider it, Cherry. Please?" he says.

"Okay." You hang up the phone, as you crawl into a bed for a well-needed nap.

-------------

"Sans."

"what it do, cherry?" he asks, sitting on the couch watching an episode of Game of Thrones. "I'm ready to take revenge on Sinclair. But, I'll need your help."

"what do you need?" his voice and face gets serious.

"I'm going to be the bait, I just need you to catch him. I'm going to go to his office and try to strike one of his "deals." I need you to figure out a hiding spot in his office so that we can record him. However, we need a tech idiot to help us. I want to broadcast it to the whole college."

"you wanna know who's actually a tech idiot? brandon. and he owes me one for pegging baseballs at me, the douchebag. i'll get him in on it and we can figure out how. but when do you want to do it?" he questions.

"Sometime next week." You plop down next to him, laying your head down on his thigh-bones. He runs his phalanges through your soft hair. You look up at him, staring deep into his pupils, as he looks down at you.

"Do you want to have sex?" your smile turning into a devious smirk.

"oh fuck yeah, don't have to ask me twice, sweet cheeks."

------------------

"come on, cherry. lift your ass up higher for me." You follow his instructions as you lift up higher, your clit throbbing with the need for relief. Sans enters inside of you, inserting a couple fingers, hitting your sweet spot as you moan into every thrust he makes with his finger.

"humans got such as amazing sex organs, huh?" he removes his fingers as he leans over your back, tugging at your nipples. He twists and rubs, and you moan quietly as he nibbles at your ear with his teeth.

"see? beautiful. so wet and ready for me," he exhales as he moves back down to your pussy, aching and ready for his member. Sans positions himself against your entrance, as he demands, "say 'please', cereza."

"Please, Sans. I need you," you plead.

"this is the only way i can get you to be obedient, huh?" he buries his blue cock inside of you, as you throw your back back in sweet bliss. With every thrust he makes, you see stars.

He flips you over on your back, looking into your eyes. "S-Sans," you rasped out. He picks up the pace, sinfully sending more ripples of pleasure through your body. He nuzzles his face into your neck, bitting and kissing every crevice he can.

"fuck, cherry, i'm gonna come soon," he growled out.

"Please, inside of me", you blurt out between your moans.

You and Sans cry out as he does something unexpected, latching his teeth inside of your shoulder as his pulsing cock releases inside of you, both of you twitching in the pleasure from your orgasms.

Sans collapses on top of you, gasping from the amount of exercise he just did. He pulls you into an embrace, and you return it as you tap on his back.

"Good shit, bro."

"i fucking hate you so much."

You don't tell Sans that you spoke with Cristian. You don't know why. You just want all this to be over with Sinclair, so you can go back to living your life. Your SOUL pulses of the thought of Finland. You think it's trying to tell you something, but you ignore it. You have Sans, and everything you need here. Right?

As the days go by, there's still something missing. You can't seem to figure it out, and it's killing you inside and out.

Chapter Text

You go to the university with Sans next morning. He stops Brandon after class, and from the interaction that you had with Brandon, he has grown to consider Sans a role model. You become a big smug, knowing that threatening somehow worked in everyone's favor.

"Yooo, Doc. Whatcha need? You still gotta tell me how a skinny-bro like you got a hot babe as a wife. You gotta teach me your ways," as he throws his book bag over his shoulder.

"You'll never figure it out especially when you keep wearing sunglasses indoors."

"Sorry, Mrs. Doc."

"we have a bit of a favor to ask you," Sans cuts in, rolling his pupils. "i've heard your one of those tech majors?"

"Yeah! I be coding and all that stuff."

"do you happen to have the ability to broadcast a video onto the screens of the university and school site?"

"Yeaaahh? What are you getting at here, Doc?"

"To be honest with you, we don't like Tyler Sinclair. He's been causing me lot's of trouble these past few years, and we want to show him a lesson. It's a simple 'yes' or 'no." You move the conversation along. Everything has been making you anxious as of late.

"Fuck yeah, that's a yes. You know that dude has been putting me down since I got here! He thinks I'm stupid and stuff because I play baseball. He doesn't even know I'm a tech-bro."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, but give Sans your number. We're going to make plans to do this sometime next week. We'll keep you in loop on what day exactly we need you to broadcast everything. That's all you have to do."

He gives a thumbs up as he moonwalks out of the lecture room. You really have a big distaste for his personality, but maybe Brandon is somewhat of a decent guy. Probably just book-smart.

---------------

"are you nervous?", you and Sans are home, and he's laying on top of you on the couch as you watch Game of Thrones.

"Yes. I'm scared that at the end of the day, people are not going to care about what happened to me."

"you know that's not true. he has done this to so many more women, that's for sure. you shouldn't worry about anyone else. you are doing this for you, and that's all that matters. plus, i hate the guy, too."

You take a deep breath and let yourself relax. Sans moves up to your face, and you feel the soft feel of his skull pressing against your face. You can feel how much he cares about you. The simple words of "I love you," it's so easy to say. Yet, no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to get your brain to put the words into your mouth.

Maybe the surgery will fix your issue? You don't know. Maybe it's swimming you're missing.  A WhatsUp notification pops up on your phone. You look at it. Cristian is sending you pictures of the scenery and his cute wife. 

Cristian: Cherry 🍒, look how beautiful it is in Finland! My wife says 'hi'. She wants to meet you. Have you thought about what I asked?

You get off the couch, as Sans gets up looking at you curiously, almost suspiciously. "Sorry. Important message."

He's not stupid.

-----------------

After a few days, he finally gets the courage to ask you who the hell you've been talking to. Maybe it's his possessiveness, or maybe his jealousy, but he tries to not show it on his face. After all, you're not his girlfriend. His SOUL lurches inside of him and his gut sinks. He doesn't want to lose you. It's the happiest he's been in a long time. There's no fucking this up, no resets.

"cherry, you've been on your phone a lot lately. you don't have friends so what's going on?" You two are at your usual spot on the dining room table.

"I have a girlfriend now. Skeletons were so last week." You try to get out of this with a joke, but it's not working.

"i'm serious, cherry." He does his habitually thing of flicking down his reading glasses.

"It's just social media. Dr. Alphys went on that whole rant about it, so I downloaded it. I've just been bullshitting around with it, bullying people online. For funsies." You lie through your teeth, and you feel your SOUL jerk around inside of you. 

"don't bully people too hard now, you gotta save that for my students." He winks as he puts on his glasses again, going back to his book. It worked. Your phone dings.

Cristian: 🍒🍒🍒 Give me your answer, brat

You sigh. Your heart and SOUL is beating out of your chest. You know Sans will be so fucking sad, and you don't want to leave him. But you and everyone else can see that you are not where you want to be. You want to tell Sans you love him. You HAVE to change. And you can't do that here with Ebott. Leading Sans on for years until you figure shit out won't make either of you happy. So, you take the plunge. He might not ever forgive you. But that's okay. 

You: I'll come. Give me a few weeks to get everything set.

The relief flourishes off your body. You hate yourself. Planning to run away shouldn't feel that good. You sleep alone that night, guilt trickling off your spine.

Chapter Text

Tonight's the night. Well, today's the day. You wouldn't miss the opportunity for a 'Dexter' reference, but as much joking as you want to do, you can't help but feel scared. Confronting your assaulter and planning his demise has been nerve-racking. You try not to show it but as you and Sans are leaving to the university, he sits you down on the couch.

"listen, i spoke brandon. hes got everything set. hes gonna give me a camera and all i have to do is teleport in there when the time is right. we are going to do this, cherry. and i'll protect you no matter what," he takes your hand in his. "cherry, you've been makin' my life so much more vibrant. i hope you know that this is as important to me as it is to you. you'll always have me in every universe."

You pull him into a hug. Your SOUL screams, "I'm sorry." It doesn't dare pass your lips. Sans teleports you to Seraphine Ebott. You feel your legs shaking and you take a minute to breathe in the air of the university. You just got to bait him. Don't think, don't freak out. Nothing will happen to you.

"Sans. I'm going to do this. Catch every moment of it."

"we're gonna bring him down, cherry. you are the most determined person i know." You give him a kiss on his cheek bone. "I'll text you when I walk into his office. Use your best judgment when to come in."

"i gotchu, sweet cheeks," he winks, and within a blink of an eye, he's gone. You start your long, anxious walk to the deans office.

---------------

When you get to his office, you stand there looking at the SAVE point that is there. Your SOUL pulses, whispering to you, "Touch it." You take it as a sign. You can LOAD back if this goes wrong. That provides you some comfort.

"CEREZA, LV. 2 DEAN'S OFFICE - THE END." You return back, letting the dim lighting of the hallway flicker back into sight. You take out your phone, texting Sans. Then, you knock. Sinclair's face, disgusting as it is, comes into view. All you can smell is burning rubber, and it makes you sick. "Cereza...," his face warps into a smirk. "What a surprise."

"I just had to thank you, Tyler. Can I call you Tyler?", you say softly, giving your best smile. Disgusting. Disgusting.

"Of course you can. Come inside, dear." You step inside, and you hear the door shut and lock. The atmosphere and the smell of burning rubber is melting off the walls and off of his face. The memory of the room throws your vision in a frenzy, remembering everything you felt that day. Your fear, your sadness, and your angry. It reminds you exactly what you are here for, so you follow through. You must.

You feel the crackle and snap of magic in the air. It smells of blue raspberry, and that's how you know he's here. So you continue. "I just want to thank you for finding my brother. It took me a while to not be upset, but I realized how much good you did. I came here to tell you that."

"Cereza, how nice of you to say that. I know we haven't been on the best terms since you were expelled."

"I would like to talk to you about that. I would really like to go back go school. Just anywhere. Maybe you and I can think of something." What you are implying is disgusting. You're going to have to bleach your mouth after this.

"You were so reluctant last time! And now you approach me? How interesting," the smile on his face deepens, as the burning rubber smell gets more intense. You smile, now's the time to get him. "You tried to force me last time."

"And? Does that even matter now? You're here now out of your own choice."

"You pinned me against the wall and told me to have sex with you so I can get a surgery I needed. After I killed the person who shot me."

"You wanted it. Don't lie to yourself. That's the only reason why you're here now. Remember you're not special, Cereza," he chuckles as he approaches you. You stand still examining his every move.  "You were just one of the good looking ones. As are the many who come to my office looking for something."

"You were the one tempting me. Always in that tight bathing suit at your swim meets. The way you would look at me every time I talked to you, you were asking for it!" he shouts at you, almost too close to your face that the spit that flies almost hits you.

"So you finally admit it. You're delusional, Sinclair. Do you know how much I struggled because of you? How many times I had to move because you kept harassing me?"

"Cereza, you know I was just doing you a favor. All of those beaten down, rat infested houses you've living been in. Breaking down the doors and trashing everything you own was just a polite way of telling you to become someone worthy of more! But, you continue to act like a piece of trash with no self respect. For example, marrying that nasty bum of a skeleton. Those filthy monsters need to go back to the sewers they crawled out from."

"The only real monster here is you, Sinclair. You fucking reek of insecurity and the fear of being a lesser man. I really do hate to break it to you, but taking advantage of your students and sexually harassing them, ASSAULTING them, it only just makes you a predator. You're fucking pathetic."

Sinclair keeps smiling. It's almost maddening. You find yourself in the same position you were in the past. Sinclair had shoved you against the wall, and you feel your breathing shallow, as this time, he has a knife against your neck.

"You keep testing me, Cereza Sterling. How about I send your head back to your brother in Finland? Wouldn't that be a lovely reunion gift?", Sinclair is manically laughing.

You close your eyes and breathe. Snap, crackle, and pop.

"hm. i'on think so, bud." The lighting in the office goes dark, as Sinclair feels his sins crawling on his back. You crack open your eyes and see the faint glow of Sans pupil.

"let's have a little bit of a lesson time, mr. boss man. i feel like you need a lil bit of educating." Sans SOUL comes out from his chest, as Sinclair turns around to him. You've read about this before. Sans is about to start an ENCOUNTER. Sinclair's SOUL pulls out of his chest. Sinclair drops the knife, turning around from you. You walk around and get behind Sans, as you look at his beautiful white SOUL with a hue of blue.

"Isn't that interesting, husband dearest?" you chuckle, looking at Sinclair's SOUL. "you see, boss man. that's your SOUL. we all got em. but yours..."

"It's the color of tar. You have nothing inside of you. No redeeming traits. No good inside of you. Damn, you suck."

"What the fuck is this? What are you two on?," he screams at the two of you.

"yo, cherry, wanna see me scare the shit out of this guy?"

"Oh, hell yeah. Show me what you got, bone-daddy!"

Three large skulls start to form above Sans. You can't describe what it looks like, but you have never seen Sans use offense magic before. You gaze up at the floating skull-like creatures.

"these are my babies, my gaster blasters i call them. you know boss man, i would hate to use them. i'm not really what you call a killer. i'm more then capable of becoming one though, especially when you threaten the love of my life." You wrap your arms around Sans neck, giving a middle finger to Sinclair.

Sinclair backs up to the wall, as he slides down in fear. You can hear the tremble in his voice as he shouts, "Get those things away from me, monster!"

"Aw, he's going to piss himself. How nice."

"big baby man, big baby man!" Sans antagonizes him. "so, do you want me to show you how strong they are. you can take a couple blows with 20 hp. i would love a new punching bag."

"No! No! Stop, I'll do anything," Sinclair whimpers against the wall.

"aw, being pinned against a wall and fearing for your life isn't that funny huh? i think im a funny guy. i can always hit the funny bone in the right place. but this isn't a joke, bud. what's the lesson we learned today? and how are we going to apply it to our sad pathetic life, baby man?" Sans chuckles as he aims the blasters at Sinclair.

Sinclair sits there, shaking, unable to let a word pass by his mouth. "Truth is, we recorded that whole interaction. Had it streamed onto all the college TV's and website. We did all the work for you, Sinclair. You just have to deal with the consequences of your actions."

Sans MERCY's Sinclair. "you should take something from my book. maybe learn a lil bit of MERCY."

"You two, you're going to regret this! I won't let you get away with this," shrieking from the floor, Sinclair scrambles up from the floor, running out of his office. You hear loud yelling of students in the hallway. "time to ditch this place for now." Sans grabs you, teleporting you back home, as you both collapse against the couch.

You pull up the school website and forums. There are many comments about what the students saw, each seemingly giving their full support and sympathy.

hotgrill124: Did you guys see the live stream today? I always knew he was doing some sus shit in that office!

Techdude97: I hate that guy, dude! He was always picking on me, dude! I also hate how racist he is! Dr. Calisto is an amazing dude, dudes

casserole652: He did the same thing to me... I used to hate Cereza Sterling but I can't believe she was going through the same thing I was. I feel so bad

MineCraftSteve79: I looked into Cereza Sterling. She was stalked by her ex and he attacked her in her dorm! Shot her in her leg and she defended herself! Imagine being kicked out of college because you wouldn't shag the dean after getting shot and shootin' someone else! She deserves some type of justice!

Sans looks at the comments with you, a lot of people sharing your experiences with the dean. The storm was created, now all that was left was it to rain, then let the calm settle over. That was only the start of it. The rain continued for a few days before you ever had some type of relaxation.

--------------

Students were seen protesting on campus for the dean's removal from his position. They aren't taking well to the comments made about Sans, and the whole school is making movements on sexual coercion and manipulation to get justice for the women on campus who were affected. There was...a lot. You find comfort knowing there was people who shared your experience and trauma, but sad at the amount of woman who he hurt and manipulated.

For a few days, you sat on the couch worried about Finland. You were going, but you still didn't know what was next for you. You had married Sans to get your surgery, and none of this is making sense to you anymore. In the morning, when Papyrus goes to grab the mail, he hands you a hard envelope. When you open it up, finally your insurance cards are in there.

"heh, long at last, huh?" Sans chuckles.

"Yeah."

"you know this isn't the end, right?"

"Of what?"

"you can stay here. i want you to stay here with me. just because this surgery is happening sooner or later, doesn't mean it'll change how i feel about ya."

You look at him, "How do you feel about me?" You've always felt how he felt, but for some reason, you needed to hear him put it into words. You're both standing up, and he wraps his arms around your waist at your back. He rests his skull on your shoulder.

"i love you. you're the whole world. i love when you bully people. i love how soft you become when you grow to like people. i love how far you've came and opened up. i love your body, the way it moves, the way your hair and eyes look in the sun, the way the whole world stops every time i see you in a new outfit."

"you have become some irreplaceable to me. i've already decided i'd wait for you, no matter how long it would take. i'd rather nothing else. no one else." He still has his hands wrapped around you. You break apart to kiss his forehead.

"You're so stupid," tears falling down your face.

"i know. the stupidest skeleton loves the stupidest emotionally illiterate woman in the whole word."

"That's not nice. I have emotional literacy!"

"nah. but that's okay. that's one of the things i like about you."

You two decide to lay in bed for a nap. Sans holds onto you as you both cuddle, and he starts to whisper in your ear,

"cherry, do you think after all this is over, i should start a department on SOUL research? it'll take a lot of pushin' and effort. but i want to share my knowledge and the beautiful things about SOULs to anyone i can." You smile at the idea. You have grown to love SOUL research. If you could go to college, you would have loved to take classes. Maybe even major in it?

Chapter Text

A few days after the storm, your phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking with Cereza Calisto?"

"Yes...? Who is this?"

"My name is Steve, I'm apart of the legal team at Seraphine Ebott University. We want you to come into the university to meet with us, as we are aware of the current situation that has happened between you and the dean, Tyler Sinclair. Full disclosure that he has been permanently removed from his position, as his wife, now Steph Sloane, has taken over the role. She wishes to speak with you regarding your interactions with Sinclair."

"Women in power. Nice. What exactly does she want to speak with me about?", you question.

"She wishes to offer you condolences as well as compensation."

"I'm on my way now." Sans is at the university already. So you hop, skippity, and jump to whatever fortune awaits at Seraphine Ebbott University.

------------------

"Please, sit down Mrs. Callisto," Steph gestures to the chair in front of the newly repainted and decorated office. She took no time. Legal team sat on the other side, chairs pulled next to her. Legal says whatever is said in this conversation is confidential and will not be logged.

"So, I wanted you to come in today to say...thank you and I'm sorry."

You clear your throat, "Thank you?"

"Oh, dear. I knew he was doing that for a long time, but I was scared because he was threatening me and little Kevin. I was stuck and couldn't do anything. It was paining me my entire time with the man. In many ways, I hated him, too. I hated him because if there was anyone more qualified to take this position, it was me. My father though, he just doesn't like women, but I slithered my little way into this office. And now it's pink!", she claps her hands in excitement.

She gets more serious. "Seraphine Ebott University is the epitome of beauty, knowledge, success and strength. The Goddess Seraphine, embodied everything that she was, and now, I'll focus on making sure the university embodies her every virtue. Starting with you. You took a jump and faith, you and your husband. It cost a lot of determination," she winks at you.

"So, here is what I am proposing. Seraphine Ebott University will pay you one million dollars in reparations. We will also reenroll you into this college, at no cost. You will be able to finish out the rest of your two years at Seraphine Ebott for free. Tuition, books, supplies will be paid for by Seraphine Ebott University. If that works for you, Mrs. Calisto, we can have the papers signed and the payout sent to you within the week."

Your jaw drops. WOMEN! IN! POWER!

"Steph. Thank you so much for this. However, I have a few requests."

"What can I do for you?" she smiles gently as her lawyers prepare their pens.

"I would like to resume my education on my own leisure. Not now, maybe in a few years, or whenever I'm ready. I hope that's fine."

"Of course! I do not plan on giving up this position, like ever in my whole life. You will have my number, so you can call me when you want to reenroll."

You nod and continue, "I want monsters to be welcomed into the university. Staff and students. My husband Sans also has plans to create a new department on monster and SOUL research. If you don't know what that is, he'll educate you. When the time comes for him to do his proposal, I want you to give him no hassles."

"Deal. I can definitely do that for you, Mrs. Calisto. If that is all, we just need a signature and my lawyers will draft up the papers. Do not worry. You are not sworn to any secrecy. Talk your shit about that man all you want!," she giggles.

You thank Steph for all she's done. You sign the papers, instantly making you a millionaire?

----------------------

You find yourself at the mall, wandering around trying to find something you want to buy. The world is your oyster, but you also know self-control. You should learn investing and all that. Stocks are cool? You don't even know how they work.

You stop by a jewelry store. When you peek in, you see a beautiful wedding band, similar to yours in style, embellished with a beautiful blue gem stone. It's perfect, and you feel your SOUL pulling out to it. "You want that ring, lil' lady?" the jeweler asks, he takes it out, setting it down onto the counter. Sans fingers are not average, normal skeleton fingers. They mimic human ones in thickness, but are just straight bone. You and him have similar sized fingers, his being a bit larger. So you slip it on and there's a bit of space. You know this would be a perfect fit for him.

You nod your head, "Yeah, wrap this one up for me, boss."

------------

That night, you invite Sans out for a walk around Mt. Ebott. The summer skies are at their full beauty, and the mountain was perfect for something special. You two walked around, chatting about Game of Thrones for a bit, until you two found the perfect spot for lying down and staring at the stars.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"you know, back in the underground there was this place called waterfall. kinda mimicked spring time. but there was these gems in-bedded into the rocks. sometimes i would stare at them, tricking myself into thinking they were stars."

"I can't imagine how hard it was to live without the sun. Sometimes, it makes me feel guilty."

"nah. don't worry about it, cherry. you didn't even know we existed."

"No. Cristian would read me story books but I was always like 'Nah, that's not real. Santa isn't real either'." The skeleton chuckles, "don't tell paps that."

"this is the longest i've lived on the surface for. everyday has been unpredictable. ever since you have came into my life, i have never felt so safe and secure."

"You've done a lot for me too, Sans. More than you could ever think of. I'm bad at showing my emotions and saying how I feel." You pull out the ring box from your pocket. "I got you this. Give me your hand." You two are still lying down on the ground, so he lifts his hand up in the air, he closes his eyes for the surprise effect. You slip on the ring, bringing the hand that you have yours on up to his. He opens his eyes, seeing the beautiful gem matching his SOUL glistening with the stars.

"Hopefully, maybe this shows you how I feel?," you say to him.

Next thing you know it, Sans is hovering over you, as he presses his teeth against your lips, as you open wide, accepting his blue tongue, entwining it with yours. Your skin prickles with the feeling of magic, as you deepen into the dance of the kiss.

"i'm going to show you much i feel about you, no complaints. i'm going to fuck you right here."

You bite your lip and nod, as he goes right back to kissing you, lifting up your skirt. His fingers rub your folds over your underwear, as your breathing deepens. He stops for a second, lifting your shirt and bra up. He stops kissing you, placing his teeth and tongue onto your nipples, as he moves his fingers back down, this time inside of your underwear.

The sound of the forest around the mountains cricket with bugs and the sound of the wind. Outside is making this much more erotic, and you let your worries of someone overhearing you or finding you float away. It's just you and him, and that's all that matters right now.

Sans flicks your nipples around with his tongue, teasing them, as his fingers slip into your entrance, as you rock your hip back and forth with his rhythm.

Sans teases you, "hm, someone is very needy today. you like being teased and fingered outside."

"God, yes. I need you to fuck me already, please."

"i'll be nice and let you choose how i fuck you," he purrs. You find a soft spot on the grass, getting on your knees. Sans pulls down his gym shorts, revealing the thick blue member you've been desperately aching for.

"Please..." you plead to him. Sans teases you more, rubbing your clit and entrance with the tip of his length. You get impatient, shoving your hips down, feeling the magic tingle inside of you. You take initiative and start to move, Sans shutting it down.

"no, cherry. i wasn't ready, yet. i'll have to punish you." He buries himself deep inside of you, as he does very hard, slow strokes. You whimper with every stroke he does, your eyes seeing more stars than there is in the sky.

"Fuck, Sans. You always make me feel so good, I don't want it to stop," you feel intoxicated with everything that is Sans, and you cry out for him. The faster he picks up his speed, the louder the moans you release from your mouth.

You can feel Sans tremble and quiver, knowing he is almost at his limit. "fuck, cherry. every bit of you feels like fuckin' heaven. i could fuck you all day long." His voice gets raspy, as he spreads your ass out, admiring his dick moving in and out of you.

"Sans, I'm going to-," you moan out loudly, hearing the sound of your voice echo throughout the forest.

Sans jolts as he leans forward, wrapping his arms around your stomach, as time slows for you both, reveling into the pleasure of your orgasm. You and Sans quickly grab your clothes, as he teleports you both back to your bedroom.

You cuddle up to each other, as always, Sans nipping at your neck. He whispers softly, "i love you." You love him too. You can only hope that he understands. You still don't tell him about Finland, or the talk with Steph. 

Chapter Text

Cristian: 🍒Cherry🍒, I purchased your ticket. I emailed you the flight pass, it's in a week and a half. Eevi and I are so excited to see you. Don't worry about furniture or anything, we have a room already prepared for you, Eevi had so much fun decorating. Anyways... I'll be there to get you at the airport. Fuck you, brat

You laugh at the 'fuck you'. That was Cristian's way of saying he loved you. You know where you get it from. Sans knocks at your door, and when you open it up, he's in his handsome dress shirt and pants. You will only have a little bit of time to admire him, so you soak it in as much as you can.

"Hey, before you go to work, can we take a picture together?"

"ohhh, you want to savor my handsome looks and use me for material?"

"No, asshole. I want to create memories with you."

"i'm already memorable with this di-"

You wrap your arm around him pulling his cheek against yours. You snap the photo with your phone, and it's cute. Super cute. You set it as your wallpaper and lock-screen.

"hey, cherry. did your schedule your surgery?" he questions.

"I did. The doctors are familiar with my situation already. Everything is covered, including aftercare and therapy." You lie. You didn't call them. You didn't schedule the surgery.

"nice! this is really happening. i'm happy for you. when's the date?"

"A week and a half."

Papyrus runs upstairs, "WE MUST CELEBRATE! I WILL PREPARE THE PARTY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!  TORIEL WILL LET US USE THE SCHOOL POOL! I WILL PLAN THE GREATEST POOL PARTY FOR THE GREATEST FUTURE OLYMPIC SWIMMER!"

You laugh at Papyrus's declaration, "Olympic swimmer? Maybe." Papyrus runs back downstairs, screaming on the phone to Undyne about the party. Undyne is screaming so loud too, you can hear her from the phone. It will be a great time, you know it.

-------------

Over the weekend, Papyrus and Sans take you to the school pool. Everyone there greets you, as you see that the whole pool area is decorated in your favorite color, with cherry patterns everywhere. There is a snack table filled with your favorite, coconut custard pie, as well as various finger foods Papyrus had made.

Everyone is here. Toriel, Asgore, Frisk, Undyne, and Alphys. Mettaton avoided because obviously, he doesn't do good with water. Frisk runs up into a hug, as they sign, "Aunt Cherry! We are so happy you are finally getting your surgery!"

"Thank you, kiddo. Have you been good? Doing okay?" you ask them, since the last time you saw them was a bit heavy. "I'm doing so good! I'm happy. Thank you, Aunt Cherry." Frisk runs off joining Asgore, Toriel is giving him side-eye as much as she can. You walk next to her, whispering, "Give the guy a second chance, Tori. Let him prove to you he can do good."

"Mrs. Calisto, don't tempt me now. He needs to do a lot more to gain my trust back." You giggle approaching Undyne and Alphys. "Yo! Cherry! Finally you can get rid of that stupid leg!"

"I'm not cuttin' it off, Dyne. Just getting it fixed up."

"E-either way, we are so happy for you! You can finally swim again!" You stand there talking with all your friends for a while, until Undyne picks you up, throwing you into the water. She jumps in after you, as Alphys climbs down on the latter. Frisk jumps in the deep end, Toriel warning them to be careful. Papyrus jumps in with his floaties on, as Sans sticks with his feet in the pool.

"Don't be a party-shitter." You walk over to him in the water.

"LANGUAGE!", Toriel and Papyrus shout. You give a small "sorry."

"you know i can't swim. i'll just sink."

"Easy fix." You grab his leg pulling him in. You pull his legs around your waist, as you tell him to hold onto your shoulders, and you'll float around with him. He rests his head on your shoulder, as you sink into the smaller end of the pool.

"this is nice. it's warm."

"Toriel did good with the heated pools."

You enjoy the rest of the party, burning every second of it into your memory. You might not experience this ever again. You have done so much. You've made friends, and although your mind is still fucked up, you feel in love. Now it's time to heal and find yourself, so you can come back, hopefully, confident in yourself and ready to love another person. Ready to love Sans, with your heart, SOUL, and mind.

Papyrus takes a picture with you and everyone. After the party, he hangs it up in the living room. Sans stands next to you, holding your hand as you stare at the photo with a sad smile on your face. He can feel you drifting away.

"hey. you won't leave, right?" his SOUL pangs in sadness.

You look at him, still smiling sadly. "No, I won't." You lie. You still can't bring yourself to be honest. You don't understand it yourself.

--------------

On the day of the "surgery", you pack a small duffle bag. Your wedding dress, some important things. Sans doesn't bother to look inside the duffle bag. Miitan purrs up against you. You haven't seen much of her at all since you moved here. Likely because she has grown cozy with Papyrus, and has been strutting outside, living her best independent life. Keep your cats indoors, kids.

You hold Miitan in your arms. "Mii. I'm going to be gone for a bit. Wait for me, will you? I'll come back. Make sure Papyrus takes care of you." Mii meows, almost giving you the 'okay'. You set her down as she runs off, most likely to play with the other cats in the backyard.

You sit down at your bed, you still have a couple of hours before you go, so you sit down and write a letter to Sans. You owe him something. You had told him the surgery was a few hours earlier than the flight.  You fold the letter onto of your dresser. The fears consume your mind, so much that the room feels like it's closing in on you. You go downstairs and sit on the couch with your duffle bag.

Sans sits next to you, "nervous?"

"Of course."

"you'll be okay. i'll be with you throughout everything."

You kiss his teeth. "Thank you."

"ready to go?"

You nod. It's time to go.

Chapter Text

Sans teleports you to the hospital. You turn to him putting your head on his forehead, pressing your lips onto his teeth. He returns it. He takes your hand into his.

"you'll be okay. i'll come see you in a few hours?" he whispers.

"Okay."

You walk into the doors of the hospital. Sans whispers, "i love you." You turn around, and he's already gone. You stand in the waiting room of the hospital, staring off into space for a while. You pull up the phone, ordering an Uber to the airport. You scoff at the prices. You open WhatsUp to text Cristian.

You: Heading to the airport now

Christian: Bitch

You: Whore

You chuckle, but it doesn't last long. You miss Sans already, and this is just the start. Your phone dings, so you head into the Uber outside. 40 minutes until you reach Ebott State Airport. You will be okay. Not for a while. But you'll be okay.

----------------

Sans is restless for a couple hours. It gets the best him and he ends up at the hospital, pacing around in the waiting room. It's a leg surgery, not fatal. But something has been off about you for the past couple weeks. You said you won't leave. He trusted you enough to not lie.

Sans paces back in forth a little more, until a concerned nurse finally comes. "Um, sir? Are you okay? Can we help you with something?" she tried her best to be polite, nonetheless still concerned.

"oh, im fine. my wife is getting an operation done. just a bit nervous."

"Oh! I see. If you can give me her name, I'd be more then willing to check in on her."

"wouldya? her name is cereza calisto." The nurse runs back, in a few minutes, she looks genuinely concerned.

"Mr. Calisto? We do not have a patient here under that name. I double checked with the doctor who schedules surgeries, and there was never a Cereza Calisto who made an appointment. Are you sure you have the right hospital?"

"what? yes, miss. i dropped her off here this morning?" he feels his SOUL in his gut. The receptionist shouts from the desk, "Are you talking about that pretty lady? Short hair? She sat in the waiting room for about 10 minutes until she left in an Uber."

Sans face starts to grow into more of concern. What the hell happened to you? You said you weren't going to leave, he knows you wouldn't lie!

"thank you ladies, i gotta go find my fucking wife," and in a blink of an eye, he's gone.

-------------

Sans ends up inside of the dean's office at Seraphine Ebott. Steph is at her desk, typing up paperwork as jumps in her chair.

"Jesus christ! You scared the shit out of me, Professor. What do you need?" she laughs a bit to shake off the fear.

"where is cereza? where is my wife?", you can hear the anger in his voice.

"Sans, I did not do anything to your wife, if that's what you're implying. Did she not tell you of the meeting we had about two weeks ago?" she sighs, a bit of concern on her face.

"no."

"She settled for reparations. A million dollar payout from the university. And she was allowed to attend the university, full tuition paid. She told me that she would prefer to come back in about two years, or whenever she decided best. Do you really mean that she did not speak with you?"

"no. she didn't. thanks steph."

"I'm sorry, Professor. Take a week off? Figure things out." She says softly.

Sans teleports back into the house. It takes him everything to not smash the TV in. He runs up to your room, trashing everything trying to find out a sign of where you went. Wedding dress and most clothes out of the closet. He looks at your dresser, and runs to pick up the letter that's there.

He reads it, as intensely as he can.

Sans,

If you are reading this Sans, then you must have noticed quickly that I'm not at the hospital. I wrote this letter because there was so many things that I wanted to tell you, so many things I wanted to be truthful about, but my mind and my heart wouldn't let me say it to you.

I've been struggling a lot for a few weeks now. I think it's because I know that for a long time, and after everything I went through, even though I have grown, it is still hard for me to express my emotions. I still feel broken in many ways, and nothing I did, or you would do would fix what I felt was missing. Even I myself did not understand what exactly it was. I did not think it was fair to keep leading you on, especially after you telling me you would wait for me. By then, I had already decided to leave.

The day you had asked me who I was texting, it was Cristian. The first time he asked me to come to Finland, my SOUL flipped. It was like it was telling me to go, and I felt guilty. I did not want to leave you, but something was telling me that if I went to Finland, I would be able to find what I was looking for. So, I'm setting off. I plan on getting my surgery down here, with Cristian.

I want to become a person who can look at you, and tell you that I love you. With no doubts, no fears. I want to be a person who understands who they are, who isn't confused about what love is, and is ready to give everything to you. That's the truth. I have loved you for weeks now, and I'm sorry that I was never able to tell you in person.

In the end, we kinda got married for no reason. I'm sorry for all the shit I did to get you angry. I'm sure that I was a burden, and that being with me was your last ditch option. Being with you was the best thing that ever happened to me. I know you said you'd wait, but do what you need to do. If I'm not back within like five years, definitely ditch my ass. I won't forget you, and I'll be back for your boney ass once I figure my shit out.

Cristian tells me 'Fuck you' when he wants to tell me he loves me. Fuck you. I love you.

P.S Make sure Paps takes care of Miitan. She's fat! She should be skinny-Mii by the time I get back.

Cereza

"you were never fucking burden, you dumb woman. no emotional literacy what's so ever." Sans crushes the letter in his hands. He wipes the tears falling down his face. They can't seem to stop. He loves you, more than anything in this world. He'll wait for you. Five years, 10, 20.

He walks outside, looking up at the sky. Miitan brushes up against him, picking her up in his arms. "your mama is the worst person ever. but i love her. i'll love her until the world ends." He breathes in the fresh air.

It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, the flowers are blooming...on days like this, when you two look up at the sky, remember you'll always be connected. No matter where you both are. And one day, you'll see each other again.

Chapter Text

The announcer blares through Mäkelänrinne Swimming Center.

"Welcome everyone back again for the Finnish Swim Championships. This year we have some very interesting competitors. We are on our last race for the day, as American Star, Cereza Sterling has dominated through most of her meets this year, earning her top spot here at Championships. If she wins this final race, freestyle at 800m, she will be the champion of Finland." The other announcer chuckles, "Cereza Sterling? How did she find herself all the way here in Finland?"

"According to sources, Sterling moved to Finland to reunite with her brother. She had stopped swimming due to her leg injury, in which Finnish experts were able to repair the nerves in her leg. With a year of rehab she was back on the water, dominating most of Finland's meets. She's here today, ready to tread the water."

"That girl...she's definitely a character."

"She does have a sly mouth. However, her swimming talent may get her noticed by Olympic teams, especially if she has plans to move back to the United States. Moving onto the other competitors here today..."

You ignored the announcer. Sly mouth? Ha! The next time you see that guy you're gonna show him how it really is. You stand next to your coach. "Cereza, God, please. Do NOT pick any fights with Freja." Robert's face is stern as can be, and you give him side eye.

"Rob, I like you. Do not fuck with me today. It's a very important day for me."

"I know! You're going to be Finland's national champion. You're gonna win this, Cereza."

"No, I know. I'm not talking about that. Let's finish this up, Rob. Aren't you coming back to the States with me? We got a flight to catch."

"You're my whole career, Cereza. I obviously have to go where your dumbass goes. What is the rush for?"

"I got to see my husband." Rob's face goes white. "Cereza? Cereza, husband? HUSBAND?" He yells after you as you get ready to line up. You put your googles on and set yourself on the diving block. Freja, your natural sworn enemy since you came to Finland, stands next to you. "I'm going to win this, you foolish bitch," Freja whispers to you.

"You're going to eat my shit, Freja. I won't let you ruin this day."

The buzzer sounds, and you're diving into the water. You feel it embracing all around you. You're going to fucking win this, and fly back to Sans. You let the water engulf you, and the love you've had for him the past two years fill your mind, body and SOUL. You're going to go home, as the champion of Finland. Freja is eating your shit. You hit the other side with a great distance away from you. Your SOUL is guiding you, bursting of determination. You make it back, in your record time of 44 seconds.

"And that is it, folks. Cereza Sterling is officially the champion of Finland, beating her record time of 46 seconds to 44. America is going to have the best time with her."

You jump out of the pool. "ROB! YOU GOT MY BAG?!" you scream. He's running towards you with your duffle-bag. "Cristian is waiting outside, let's go!", he throws some flip flops at you. Someone throws the medal and trophy you earned at Rob, and he catches it with ease at you run out of the swimming hall. You forgot one thing, though.

"FUCK YOU, YOU NASTY BITCH FREJA!", you scream as you dive into Cristians car, Rob following suit.

"You ready, sista? Mrs. Finland Swim Champion?" Cristian shouts.

"Dude, stop fucking around! Go! I got a hot skeleton monster husband to get back to."

Cristian speeds to the airport, and as soon as you get there, you run out to bag check-in. Rob is pulling both suitcases, visibly pissed. "You two just made it time," the lady at the desk says.

You look at your phone before you get onto the plane. It's text from Cristian,

Cristian: I'll miss you, you stupid sister. I'll come visit soon as I get immigration sorted out.

You put your phone away, as you grab your old wedding dress and outfit from the duffle bag, and head into the small bathroom to get changed. When you come out, everyone is looking at you weirdly. Rob hands you your medal and trophy.

"You ready?" he asks.

"Oh, hell fucking yeah."

----------------------

It's been two years since you had left. It was business as usual for Sans, doing everything he could to get you off his mind. He had managed to pitch the idea to the dean of his idea for his new department to the dean pretty easily. Steph had approved funding for it as well as letting you hire professors of any choosing. He obviously chose Dr. Alphys of course. Educating humans on SOULs was going to be fun for him. He noticed monsters on campus sooner or later. The population had grown into the university, the students getting along very will and mingling through races. There's a few interspecies couples now, and Sans is glad to see it.

Steph had told him you had a part to play in getting the department passed. Even if you weren't there, you still had your influence on things. It made him miss you even more. On the days he got really lonely, he would stare up at the sky, knowing you were out there somewhere, hopefully doing good for yourself.

It was a normal day for Sans, and it was time for the summer semester at the university. It's a long couple of summers without you, and he was preparing for another one. The summer where he met you, and fell in love with you was always playing throughout his mind. The days went by fast. Papyrus would tell him to stay hopeful, but this time around he was feeling quite defeated.

The students come trickling in as he snaps out of his thoughts. The little brats. Someone look the same as Brandon, which annoys him, but he lets it slide. Brandon turned out to be one of his best and favorite students.

"alright kids. welcome to the summer session of the SOULs department. for the next couple weeks we'll go through the fundamentals of SOULs, their existence, various types of traits, and the history of monster..." the lecture continues on.

-------------------

Your Uber drops you and Rob off at Seraphine Ebott University. Everything is exactly the same, maybe a lot more...pinkish. The flowers show that Steph had something to do with the gardening. You do notice that there's a lot of monster-kind walking around. You nod in acceptance.

"Go fuck around, Rob. I'm going to go see the dean."

"Jeez, I guess I'll go fuck off."

You run in your heels to the dean's office, maybe skipping and you knock on the door with great force. Steph opens the door in surprise.

"Oh dear! How wonderful of a surprise this is, Mrs. Calisto. I see you have returned for your little adventure. Sans will ought of be very excited."

"I'm here to surprise him, Steph, but first I wanted to get started on my enrollment paperwork." You smile, walking into her office and sitting on the comfy chair.

"What do you have there, Mrs. Calisto? Is that a medal and trophy I see?" she smirks.

"I'm the champion of Finland. Here to bring honor and success to Seraphine Ebott's swim team."

"Glad to have you back, Mrs. Calisto. I'm getting started on your paperwork. I just need your signature and I'll fill the rest out. What do you plan majoring in?"

"SOUL Studies".

Steph hollers, "Funny, Mrs. Calisto. I'll let it slide, but don't let the students know you're married to the professor. And make sure he grades your papers fairly."

"I'm a genius, Steph," you sign the papers she handed over to you, "I'll pass, anyways. What lecture hall?"

"Same one, sweetheart. Go get your man!", Steph winks at you, as you run out of the dean's office in your wedding dress from two years ago.

"I'm coming for you, Sans Calisto!" you shout running down the hall.

You run past the swimming hall, into the lecture hall building. You smell faint blue raspberry, as you stand in front of the same lecture hall that Brandon was throwing baseballs at Sans in. You take a deep breath. You stand at the door, confident and ready. You're ready to begin your life, loving Sans and making him the happiest damn skeleton in the world. Your heart and SOUL feels full, full with DETERMINATION.

You whip open the doors to the lecture hall, as Sans is mid sentence, "perservance has been lost to history, but we are still trying to figure out-" Everyone turns their heads to you, as Sans turns his back to see what is causing the disturbance.

"Oh my. It seems like I am fashionable late. You see, I was super busy." Sans pupils widen, as you walk down the stairs to the rows of lecture chairs.

"Hey, professor. My name is Cereza Calisto. I am a new student apart of the SOUL Studies department." His eyes soften as he stares at you in all your glory, in the same dress from two years ago.

"I was in Finland. Winning this cool ass swim trophies. Did you know that I'm the champion of Finland now?" The students are still there, as Sans speaks up to them, "class, you can leave for the day." They do not hesitate, as they run out of lecture hall, closing the door behind them.

Sans approaches you, as you hand him the trophy.

"I just had one question for you Professor Calisto." Your face is beaming, full of life and glow.

"and what might be, mrs. calisto?", he puts the trophy on the desk, then puts his arms around your waist, looking into your eyes.

"Will you marry me?"

"hell fucking yeah."

---------------

One year later

"We must do your... hiukset? Now, Cherry!" Eevi yells at you, as pounds of make-up is being smeared on your face by Cass.

"Hair, Eevi. You're doing so good though," Eevi has been trying her best with her English, and she's the cutest thing ever. You would never think about bringing her down.

"God damn it, Cereza, stop moving," Cass yells. "Why am I even your friend, you freaking suck."

"We both were traumatized by the same man, and I've grown to like you, Cass. Thanks for being here."

"Ugh. I like you, too." She keeps patting down various products on your face. Once everyone finishes up their work on you, it's finally time to get in your dress. You did not want to go to traditional, so you found a red dress that highlighted your body perfectly. You were so ready for this. Ready to spend the rest of your life with the skeleton you loved.

Cristian walks in, as he came to check up on Eevi. "Damn, sista. You look terrible!" Cristian chuckles.

"Leave! Go be Sans's groomsmen, shit face!" you shout at him.

"No fighting!", as Eevi intervenes.

"It is almost time, you idiot woman. Are you ready for the rest of your life?" Cass is shoving all the makeup in her bag, as she is your maid of honor. You kinda had no one else to choose. That's okay, though Eevi and Alphys will be standing with you as your bridesmaids. 

"You ready to go?" Cristian holds out his arm for you to take. He will be walking down the aisle with you,  then taking his place with Sans groomsmen.

"More than ever, brother."

The music starts to play, you chose "Dearly Beloved," from Kingdom Hearts as it was you and Cristian's favorite game growing up. Sans turns around to look at you, the brightest smile on his face. When you reach and stand in front of him, he whispers to you, "you look so fucking gorgeous. i cant believe i have the honor of spending the rest of my life with you."

"You look dashing yourself. I'm the lucky one."

Asgore stands in front of you and Sans, "Howdy! Friends and family. I am here today to help celebrate and connect these two beautiful SOULs in the most important moment of a monsters existence. A SOULbond."

"As you already know, these two goobers have already got married the human way. They have opted to show you the beautiful process of a SOULbond, in front of all their loved ones. Before we begin, would you two like to say anything to each other?"

"I'll go first. Sans, when we first met, I thought you were a bum. The day you asked me to marry you, it turned out to be the best day of my life. It allowed me to get to know you, to experience your love and care, and made me set off to become a better person. I stand here, ready to devote my everything to you, and I will never leave your side. Again."

Sans hollers, "my turn. cereza, when i first met you, you were a raging bitch. it took me days to figure you out, but at the end it was simple. you are a bitch, with a beautiful heart and SOUL. you have made everyday we spent together the happiest days of my life. i stand here, ready to devote my everything to you. i will never leave your side."

Asgore clears his throat, "Well then! If you two are ready, please bring out your SOULs!"

You focus, releasing your SOUL of determination from your chest, Sans releasing his pure white. The humans gasp in awe. "I know! Super cool right?" you say into the crowd.

"For the next step, it is easy! I will simply put an abundance of magic into fusing your SOULs together. You will be connected to each other for eternity, you will experience each other's memories, know what each other is feeling, until the day you both meet your end. Do you accept?" Asgore waits for your answers.

"Yes."

"yes."

"Then I shall begin." Magic snaps and crackles in the air, and it smells of flowers, buttercups to be exactly. You look at your SOULs as you feel yourself connecting with Sans, in ways beyond possible. It is quick, and you fuse in him, feeling all his love for you. It is endless, beautiful and beyond words. You see in his memories how he looked at you, how beautiful you thought you were, how much he yearned for you the years you were gone. You saw him growing up with Paps, the beautiful Underground, unknown to the humans. You felt the sun on his face for the first time. It was so beautiful, and it brings you to tears.

Sans experiences the same. He feels all your fears, all of your pain, and he sees you healing from them. All the work you put in while you were gone, all the tears you shed missing him, and the pain from physical therapy. He saw you, the way you would smile when you were Cristian would hold your hand taking you to the park. He felt you falling in love with him, and the endless affection you feel for him.

You and Sans pull each other into a kiss, as everyone claps. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. And you couldn't be more happier.