Chapter 29

"Papyrus, for the last time, leave me alone!" Frisk yelled while he sat himself on the railing in front of Sans' room.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said quickly walking up the stairs. "I let you have your bathroom break. Now, come on. Let's get back to therapy."

"But your therapy is weird."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Will you two cut it out?" Undyne asked opening the door to Papyrus' room and leaning against the doorframe with his manga in her hand. "I'm getting to a good part and you're ruining my concentration."

"Are you reaching a spiritual revelation?" Papyrus asked.

"Oh, yeah," Undyne said diving back into the manga. "I'm about to see if Natsuki can bring forth heaven's ultimate power to kick the demon's ass!"

"See, Frisk?" Papyrus asked. "Someone appreciates my therapy methods."

"But I don't wanna be hugged anymore," Frisk whined. "It's weird."

"But hugs are therapeutic," Papyrus said walking closer to where Frisk was sitting.

"I don't care!"

"Too bad! I am your therapist and I say we are going to cuddle, young man!"

"NO!"

Frisk quickly bent over backwards until his hands were holding the bottoms of the railing. Then, he swung his legs up until his whole body had flipped over. Once he was hanging from the railing by his hands and facing the wall, Frisk dropped onto the ground.

Papyrus stood in annoyance mixed with amazement, and Undyne grinned from ear to ear.

"Impressive moves, punk!" Undyne yelled in approval.

"Thanks," Frisk yelled while standing up and running for his sweater and coat. "I used it all the time to get away from police on the surface."

"Nice," Undyne replied.

"Don't applaud his delinquency," Papyrus said stomping on the ground angrily.

"That's not what I was doing…"

"Frisk, get back here now!"

"No!" Frisk yelled in playful annoyance carrying his sweater and Sans' coat in a bundle under his arm, running for the door, and twisting the handle. "I'm going outside!"

Unfortunately for him, when Frisk opened the door, Sans was right there.

"Hey there, kid!" Sans said with a happy smirk on his face. "Whatcha you doin'? Are you two fighting?"

"Move it, Sans!" Frisk said in a panic while he tried to walk past him only for Sans to short cut in front of him again. "Your brother is trying to assault me."

"I am NOT!" Papyrus yelled from inside.

"You are SO!" Frisk yelled back.

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE SO!"

"Okay, what's going on?" Sans asked stepping in front of Frisk when he tried to walk past him again.

Suddenly, Papyrus scooped Frisk up from behind, wrapped him arms around his chest, and held him close while he rubbed his face against his hair.

"Hey!" Frisk yelled dropping his sweater and Sans' coat on the ground. "Papyrus, let me go!"

"Pap, what are you doing?" Sans asked while putting on his coat and shutting the door behind him.

"I made Frisk's HP go up by another point after Undyne and I told him we would go with him to the surface to pick up his backpack," Papyrus said happily while Frisk continued to struggle. "When I did so, I gave him a hug and that's when I came up with the best idea ever. The book I checked out on depression said children who are not given enough affection as babies withdraw and start developing illnesses. Frisk has been alone for almost 3 years and has missed receiving affection from others, so I figured out that must be why he's getting sick. To help him, I'm making up for it by giving him 3 years' worth of hugs so that he will stop withdrawing and feel less depressed."

"Sounds legit," Sans said.

"I know, right?" Papyrus said excitedly. "I've tried to tell Frisk the same thing, but he won't stop trying to run away."

"Because you're being weird," Frisk said.

"I am not…" Papyrus replied.

"Okay," Sans said sensing that an argument was about to break out again. "That's enough. I just got through taking the flower to Alphys and I'm beat. Would you mind calming down?"

"I will if he stops being weird…" Frisk muttered under his breath.

"Frisk, I am your older brother and you will let me show you affection," Papyrus said standing up straight and carrying Frisk over to the couch. "Alright, Sans, I was just gonna watch some TV anyway. Therapy is tiring."

"Right now, that sounds perfect," Sans replied making his way to the other side of the couch.

Papyrus laid down on the couch and held Frisk against his chest. Much to Frisk's chagrin, he started stroking his hair again while he used the remote to turn on the TV and watch Mettaton.

Frisk crossed his arms and said, "I'm not a cat, Papyrus."

"But you're as cuddly as one," Papyrus gushed while nuzzling his face against his.

"You really are, kid," Sans said. "I would know. He slept on me last night."

"He took a nap on top of me, too," Undyne yelled from Papyrus' room.

"Hey, Undyne!" Sans yelled back. "What are ya doin' up there?"

"I'm reading a manga to find God."

"Sweet."

"Wait a minute," Papyrus said to Frisk. "You'll let Sans and Undyne hold you, but you won't let me?!"

"He has a point, Frisk," Sans interjected.

"I felt bad last night and Undyne was feeling bad earlier," Frisk said defensively. "But you don't feel bad and I feel fine, so LET ME GO!"

"No, you don't," Papyrus said. "You're still depressed…"

"But it's weird…" Frisk said while kicking and squirming more furiously than ever to get out of his arms.

"Okay, that's enough," Sans said standing up on the couch. "I'm sick of listenin' to ya bicker."

"Finally…" Frisk said hopefully.

Sans then immediately short cut so that he was sitting on top of Frisk's legs.

"Hey!" Frisk yelled in annoyance.

"There, that's better," Sans said happily.

"Yay!" Papyrus squealed joyfully while cuddling Frisk more snugly. "We're a brother sandwich!"

"Get off me!" Frisk whined.

"No can do, kiddo," Sans said while pulling off Frisk's shoes and socks.

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked before Sans laid his head down on top of his torso and wrapped his arms around his waist like a pillow.

"I'm just getting ready to take a nap, kid," Sans said. "I'm exhausted."

"You know that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Papyrus said while yawning and turning off the TV while scooting his body down until his head was resting against the couch's arm and pulling Frisk back, so his back was resting completely against his rib cage.

"I object," Frisk said with more annoyance in his voice than before.

"Overruled!" Sans and Papyrus both said at the same time.

"Jinx, you owe me a soda," Sans said playfully.

"Dammit," Papyrus said to himself.

"I'll just go get the soda…" Frisk said trying fruitlessly to squirm out of Papyrus' grip again.

"Not now, Frisk," Sans said grabbing Frisk's right hand. "Right now, it's nap time."

"You're so weird."

"Hey, you've reminded me. There's something Alphys wanted me to give ya."

"What?"

Sans let go of Frisk's hand and pulled a bottle of medicine out of his pocket. After reading the label to make sure it was the right bottle, Sans unscrewed the bottle and handed a tablet to Frisk.

"What is this?" Frisk asked.

"It's a vitamin tablet," Sans said. "It's iron to help rebuild your blood supply. Alphys made it herself. Swallow it. It'll help ya feel better."

"If you say so," Frisk said reluctantly.

Frisk eyed it curiously for a moment before he dropped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it.

"Good boy," Sans said closing the bottle and putting it back into his pocket. "Now, let's go to sleep."

Sans wrapped his arms around Frisk's torso again and shut his eyes.

Frisk groaned in annoyance and asked, "Can't you two just let me go upstairs or something? This is weird."

"No, it isn't, Frisk," Papyrus said opening his eyes. "It's treatment to help you feel better. Sans used to hold me like this all the time when I was younger, and it always made me feel better when I was upset."

"True story," Sans said without opening his eyes.

"Really?" Frisk asked looking over his shoulder at Papyrus in bewilderment.

"Frisk, didn't your parents ever hold you or give you any hugs?" Papyrus asked.

"Of course," Frisk said. "They gave me hugs all the time, especially my Mom. She loved giving hugs."

"Then, why do you keep calling us weird?" Sans asked resting his head on his arms on top of Frisk's torso.

Frisk turned around, looked down sadly, and said, "I don't know. I guess I'm just not used to it. It feels kinda overwhelming."

"Care to explain?" Sans said gently.

Frisk looked up at Sans and said, "Getting this much attention feels really, really weird. Since my parents died, I've just been wandering around and doing whatever I've wanted. Hardly anyone has paid any attention to me. It was kinda like that down here for a while, too, except more people were okay with talking to me. But now, everyone wants to pay attention to me and take care of me and make me feel happy. It's nice, but it still feels weird. The last time I got this much attention was when my parents were still alive."

A few tears fell involuntarily from Frisk's eyes.

He tried to wipe them away quickly and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know why this keeps happening."

A bony hand reached around from behind and used his sleeve to wipe the tears.

Papyrus said, "It's okay. That's the saddest story I think anyone has ever told me. You would have to still be heartless not to cry at least a little."

Frisk looked back at him and smiled sadly through the tears.

"I say this calls for more hugging," Sans said.

"My thoughts exactly!" a voice from upstairs yelled out.

Before any of them had time to react, Undyne jumped off the second-floor railing and tackled everyone on the couch.

While Papyrus and Sans groaned in pain, Frisk said loudly, "I'm being squished."

"What kind of attitude is that, punk?" Undyne asked situating herself on her back on the other side of Papyrus and Sans and letting her arms rest on top of Frisk. "You need to let yourself feel loved or you will never feel well enough to get your backpack! Is that what you want, mister?"

"No…" Frisk said nervously while Papyrus shifted himself into a more comfortable position and Sans laid his coat over Frisk and rested his head on his torso again.

"Then, stop your complaining and let us cuddle you while we take a nap. NOW NAP!"

"Okay…" Frisk said with a shy smile shutting his eyes and letting himself rest with everyone snuggled against him.