Chapter 39

Frisk finished his second helping and asked, "Do you think we should get Papyrus and Undyne? The tacos are gonna get cold."

"Nah, it's funnier to let 'em figure it out for themselves," Sans said. "Besides, I can't let you cheat on the bet."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said remembering what he and Sans had agreed earlier.

"Alright!" Sans and Frisk heard Papyrus yell from upstairs. "It is decided then! We shall throw Frisk out the window. Wait, where did he go?"

"I think they left, Papyrus," Undyne said.

Sans then started laughing and wouldn't stop while Frisk chuckled to himself. Papyrus ran to the banister and saw Sans laughing to himself with Frisk at the table.

"Sans!" Papyrus yelled while opening his fixing his door and letting Undyne leave in front of him. "Why didn't you tell us you made Frisk feel better?"

"Yeah, why not stop us so we don't waste our time?!" Undyne yelled.

"I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice," Sans replied.

"Sans, you are the worst!" Papyrus said as he stomped downstairs with Undyne in tow.

Papyrus walked toward the table, but Undyne walked to the door.

"I'm glad you're alright, punk," Undyne said to Frisk. "We can start training tomorrow."

"Undyne, where are you going?" Papyrus asked in confusion. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, don't you wanna eat with us?" Frisk asked.

"I ate while I was cooking," Undyne said turning to them as she opened the door. "Besides, I'm tired after all that planning. I'm going home to finish reading this manga and finish my therapy!"

"Okay," Frisk said. "See you tomorrow then. Goodnight!"

"Right back at cha, punk," Undyne said. "But beware. I'm not gonna go easy on ya. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Thanks for helping us out today," Sans said.

"No problem," Undyne said.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Undyne!" Papyrus said waving from his seat. "Please try not to lose my manga this time!"

"I'll do my best," Undyne said before finally leaving and shutting the door behind her.

Once she left, Papyrus served himself and inquired, "How are you feeling, Frisk? As your therapist, I am inclined to know."

"I feel a little better now," Frisk said. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Don't think twice about it, Frisk."

"Yeah, I'm still feeling scared and I started crying but Sans told me I don't have to hate myself anymore…"

"What?!" Papyrus said sitting back in a huff. "Sans, I thought I was supposed to be the therapist who made Frisk feel better. Not you."

"It isn't a one monster job, bro," Sans replied. "It's his mental health. We have to work together to make Frisk feel better."

"I suppose…" Papyrus said. "I suppose I have boosted his determination a lot already. I can let you contribute a little."

"Papyrus, I'm right here," Frisk said.

"Your point?" Papyrus said with his mouth filled with food.

"Never mind," Frisk said with a yawn as he hopped out of his chair. "I'm gonna go read. See ya later."

"Not so fast," Sans said pulling Frisk back into his chair by his soul before he could even leave the kitchen. "We haven't announced who won the bet."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said. "Who won? How long did it take Papyrus and Undyne to notice we were gone?"

"Only you would bet on something so childish," Papyrus said sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms in a huff.

"Let's see," Sans said pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Your bet was 15 minutes and mine was 30, but it looks like they were oblivious to us for 24 minutes. It's by a slim margin, but it looks like I win."

"What?!" Frisk exclaimed. "I should win! 24 isn't 30."

"No, but that doesn't matter," Sans said self-assuredly. "The bet was whoever's time was closest. 24 is closer to 30 than it is to 15. You lose, squirt."

"Crap," Frisk said leaning back in his chair like Papyrus was.

"Sans almost never plays fair, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Remember that in the future or you'll end up skinny dipping in the river in the middle of the night…"

"That was one time, Papyrus," Sans said. "Anyways, now that I win, Frisk has to do three favors for me."

"Alright," Frisk said. "I'll clean up."

"Who said anything about you needing to clean up?" Sans asked. "I said that was what I would do. You don't need to do it. Besides, you're too small to reach the sink, kiddo."

Frisk looked at their unusually tall sink and said, "Good point. What do you want me to do instead?"

"Truth or dare."

"What?"

"Truth or dare. Which will it be?"

Frisk thought for a moment. He had been telling the truth all day, and he was honestly getting tired of talking about his emotions. A dare would at least be more fun.

"I'll do a dare," Frisk said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Papyrus said in an unusually solemn tone.

"But I've been telling the truth all day," Frisk complained. "I wanna do something different."

"It's your funeral," Papyrus said. "Don't be too hard on him, Sans."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Sans said. "You ready, Frisk?"

"Yes," Frisk said with more determination than he had shone for a long time. "What do you want me to do?"

"Alright," Sans said pulling out his phone again. "I dare ya to call your girlfriend."

Frisk froze and his whole demeanor fell.

"What?" Frisk asked.

"You heard me," Sans said. "I dare ya to call your girlfriend, the girl who saved you with her freedom when you tried jumping off that building. Her name was Varda. Right?"

"How could you possibly know about that?"

"When you shared your memories, you shared a bit more than you intended to."

"Now that you mentioned it, I remember that, too," Papyrus said.

Frisk began blushing, and he said, "Varda…she's not my girlfriend."

"But you kissed," Papyrus said.

"Uh…that was…she was just kissing me goodbye as a friend," Frisk said quickly. "I didn't ask her to do that. I don't know why she did."

"Maybe because she likes you?" Sans asked.

"Awwww," Papyrus said. "That's so sweet. Do you like her?"

"No," Frisk said shyly. "We're just friends."

"Well, either way," Sans said putting some numbers into his phone. "I think you should call her. She wanted you to."

"She is your friend," Papyrus said before taking a bite of his food.

"Whose side are you on?" Frisk asked. "I would, but…but I don't remember her number. I left it in my backpack on the surface."

"That's okay," Sans said punching in the last number. "I remembered it perfectly. You did stare at it for a long time on that bus."

"Sans, please don't…" Frisk said as Sans pushed the call button. "I can't talk to her!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Frisk," Papyrus said. "She's your friend. I'm sure she'd love to talk to you."

"That's not it…" Frisk said.

"Oh, she picked up," Sans said. "Putting it on speaker…"

"No," Frisk whispered.

"Hello, who is this?" everyone heard Varda say on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hey," Sans said. "I'm Sans, and I'm calling on behalf of Frisk…"

Frisk opened his mouth, but he was speechless. He couldn't make a sound.

"Awww," Papyrus said rubbing Frisk's head. "You really are smitten."

"Oh, God! Is he okay?! I swear if you're asking for ransom money I'm gonna find you and kick your asses! Where's Frisk, you dirty kidnappers?!" Varda yelled on the other end.

"Varda, no!" Frisk yelled. "I'm fine. I haven't been kidnapped. I've been adopted. That was Sans and Papyrus. They're my new brothers."

"Oh," Varda said. "Why didn't you say so? You sure found a home quick. It's only been like four days."

Frisk paused for a moment before he said, "For me, it has been forever."

"You sure are mysterious, Frisk. You're also weird. I thought you were running away from the police because you didn't want to go to an orphanage and get adopted."

"I was, but I changed my mind and found my two adopted brothers without an orphanage."

"Awwww!" Papyrus said after swallowing his food. Sans continued to sit in silence.

"Whoever you are I like you," Varda said.

"Thanks," Papyrus said. "I like you, too."

"What are your new parents like, Frisk?" Varda asked.

"We don't have parents," Frisk said. "We're all orphans, but Sans and Papyrus are grown-ups."

"Well, what are they like?"

"Uh…well…Sans is the oldest. He's 29. He is cool and easy to talk to, but he likes to make bad puns and pull pranks all the time. Papyrus is funny and goofy and kinda weird. I don't know how old he is…"

"I'm 19," Papyrus said in a huff. "And I'm not that weird…"

Varda laughed on the other end and said, "You two sound like interesting humans. You seem to be in good hands, Frisk."

"But…" Papyrus started to protest, but Sans held his finger to his lip to signal silence.

"I'm guessing you won't tell me where you are," Varda said.

"It's a town called Snowdin, but it's really far away," Frisk said. "I doubt you've heard of it…Uh, Varda, I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to come back."

"Don't sound so overdramatic, Frisk. I could always come visit you if coming back here is too much trouble."

"I don't know if you'd want to…"

"Of course, I would. We'd just have to make plans…Ugh! Alright, Mom. I'm coming! Sorry, Frisk! I have to go. My parents want to go out to get ice cream. I'll talk to you later. Do you have a phone? It's okay if you don't. You can borrow Sans'…"

"He has a phone," Sans interrupted. "I gave it to Alphys so it could get upgrades.

"Really?" Frisk asked.

"Yep," Sans replied.

"Sweet," Frisk said.

"Alright," Varda said excitedly. "Text me when Alphys gives it back to you. Okay?"

"Okay," Frisk said. "Good night."

"Good night," Varda said before hanging up the phone.

All the color flushed from Frisk's face as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't so bad, kiddo," Sans said in a satisfied tone. "Was it…?"

"YOU'RE SO EMBARRASSING!" Frisk yelled as he left the table, picked up his clothes and shoes, and stomped upstairs. "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!"

"You needed to talk to her sometime, Frisk," Sans said. "It was better to do it sooner than later."

"ARGH!" Frisk yelled back.

"Frisk, get back down…" Papyrus said.

"Let him be," Sans said. "He's mad."

Frisk walked into Papyrus' room, found his book, and shut himself into the middle bathroom.

"I'm surprised he cleaned up after himself," Papyrus said. "At least, he's considerate."

"That doesn't surprise me as much as you're surprising me," Sans said quickly changing the subject.

"What does that mean?"

"Papyrus, we just added a child to our family. You're adjusting well to being a big brother."

"Why, thank you, Sans! I have natural instincts. I also suppose you've been a good example from time to time."

"You can't fool me, Pap. I know it's been hard for you. I've been hard on ya, too. I'm sorry. Tell me how ya really feel. We have a plus one now, but you're my little brother, too."

Papyrus let his head fall onto his plate of tacos, laid his arms on the table, and sighed deeply.

After a moment of silence, Papyrus said, "I have no idea what I'm doing, Sans. All I want to do is make Frisk happy, but nothing I do is good enough. I make him a little happy, but then he panics, and I can't calm him down. I don't know how to, and you have to come in and do it. I'm supposed to protect him from what makes him hurt, but I don't know how especially when what's bothering him is inside his head. I'm a terrible big brother. I will never be as good as you are…"

"That's not true," Sans said. "You're doing much better than I did at your age. You're much kinder and more sensitive. He needs you as much as he needs me. Besides, Frisk is gonna need both of us to take care of him, Pap. Lord knows I can't do it by myself. You get to be my partner in crime now. It'll be alright."

Papyrus felt Sans reach across the table and rest his hand on top of his. Papyrus responded by looking up and holding his hand back while giving Sans a tired smile.