...

Well.

Here goes nothing.

You approached Sans, clutching a small folded piece of paper in your hand tightly. He was sat on the couch checking his phone for something... he seemed casual.

How long would that last? This'd been bugging you for so long... you could hardly imagine his reaction. It was almost enough to make you nervous... He wouldn't freak out that hard, would he...?

...

...

Yes. He totally would.

You took a little breath and sat in his lap, shuffling your butt a bit to find the perfect position where his femur wasn't digging unpleasantly into you. It caught his attention alright- he grinned and turned off his phone entirely, instead placing it down to wrap both arms around you and press kisses to your cheeks and temple, a very pleased purr rolling out from his chest.

"hey baby." He said, huskily, kissing your jaw. The sound and gesture made you shiver a little, but...

... You had bigger fish to fry with him.

"... Can we talk?"

You made sure to keep your tone light and unthreatening... nobody ever wants to hear the dreaded CWT phrase, especially when they're in a relationship. You needed to make sure he stayed nice and calm for this.

No panicking.

His brow bones knitted together and his kisses stopped in a moment of confusion, face so close to yours you could feel his warm breath on your cheek, but he didn't immediately start to hyperventilate and talk about tying you up so you couldn't leave, so... honestly? A win in your books.

"mhm." He answered, simply, leaning back a little to observe your face.

... Probably looking for the telltale signs of someone who wanted to break up, or checking if he was in trouble.

Good thing you had none of the former and the latter wasn't something you needed to consider yet.

Yet.

"So." You passed the paper over to him, nervous butterflies continuing to squirm inside you. "... I-I applied for college."

...

He took the paper.

...

"Y-yeah." You continued, desperately studying his face for any sign of anger or betrayal. "I was accepted."

...

The silence kept stretching.

...

Suddenly, he turned to you, eyelights bright like stars.

"that's amazing!"

"Y... yeah?" You said, leaning back a little, voice almost uncertain but full of relief. You... weren't expecting that.

"yeah!" He grinned, corners of his eyes crinkling. "that's awesome!"

... You let out a relieved laugh, a big grin spreading on your own face too.

"You'll help me move stuff?"

"sure!"

You couldn't help it. High on relief and happiness, you grabbed his cheekbones and gave him a long kiss. You could hardly believe he was being so cool about this... his hands weren't even shaking as he held your waist! Maybe he was finally getting past his issues? Finally able to leave you alone for a moment without thinking the whole world was secretly out to kill you and take you away?

"I go next week." You said, against his cheekbone, slighting embarrassed given his response being so chill, looking away to the far wall. "Kinda... waited to tell you."

"yeah." He chuckled. The sound felt good through his chest. "thought i'd be weird about it and not let you go?"

You nodded, ashamed, looking down.

"don't blame you." He sighed, petting your hair. "but nah, i'm good."

... you just...

... You were so relieved at his cool response. You all but collapsed on to his chest, air escaping your lungs in a rush, weights of weeks of hiding it from him sapping away easily, unheeded and unneeded. You were finally able to let your guard down, and you genuinely smiled.

"so." He snuggled you closer. "what college?"

---

/

It was surprisingly easy to get all of your furniture into your dorm with Sans's help. Teleporting powers made moving pretty damn easy. Who knew?

Considering you didn't have anything when you first moved in with Sans, you were expecting your dorm room to be pretty empty, but he ended up giving you quite a lot of shit. A new dresser, bed set, hell, even a flat screen and a laptop. You weren't expecting all of these gifts, but he called them 'going away presents'. You weren't about to turn them down.

The weirdest part, was that he didn't even seem to break a sweat even after everything was done.

Guess you couldn't sweat from magic use. Either that or he was just crazy powerful.

"...Thank you," You said, once everything was all finished and you had hung up the last picture. It was of the two of you from your first date at the arcade. He took it when you were caught off guard, and you ended up really liking the picture.

"no problem." He seemed so calm and relaxed about this whole situation. It was strange, and you were honestly expecting him to to snap at some point. You knew how crazy and possessive he could be, so the last type of reaction you had expected was a positive one.

You were lucky.

You kissed him, knowing it was late and time for him to head back home. You needed to finish a couple of things anyways, and then head to bed.

"I'll call you, okay?" You would want to tell him all about tomorrow anyways.

"mhm." He agreed. He was being so cool.

You were so proud of him. He had really grown up quite a lot, from the stalker creepy boy into somebody you really loved and trusted.

"Thank you. So much." You kissed him one more time before pulling away from him completely. A part of you really wished he didn't have to leave, but he couldn't stay here with you while he wasn't attending. He already asked.

He gave you a reassuring smile, and you were so happy he was on your side.

"...See ya," You said, almost reluctantly. You hadn't been alone in a long, long time. You weren't sure how you were going to do, but you knew you could try. He was always a phone call away if you needed him.

"later."

He teleported, and you were alone in an unfamiliar place.

---

You spent the rest of that afternoon fixing things. Making everything more comfortable, and rearranging the small things that felt out of place, or just not quite right. You went over your class schedule as well, so you wouldn't forget it while you were walking around campus and trying to find what came next. You were going to bring it of course, but already knowing what came next would save you a lot of time.

You hated to admit it, but you were definitely putting off going to bed. You were nervous about sleeping alone, since it had been so long since you had... you didn't even have your cat. She was still at Sans's house. You were completely alone.

...Maybe you should invest in getting a fish.

But sleeping was inevitable, so you eventually forced yourself to slip into bed. You lied there in the new sheets Sans had bought for you, and tried to push all of the fears out of your head. What if you got murdered here? Sans wasn't around to protect you.

...Right?

...He wasn't... 'watching you' like he used to, was he?

You had the urge to get up and check the closet and windows, but decided not to. If he was watching you, he would have already come in when he saw how uneasy you were. He could read you like an open book, and he would never leave you alone when you needed him.

...And God, did you need him.

You wanted to get your mind off of everything. Wanted to slip away momentarily... and just when you were considering masturbation to help but your mind at ease, the mattress shifted beside you.

Somebody was in your bed.

You sat up and screamed, ready to punch this person and threaten them with jail time and that your boyfriend would murder them, but they spoke up, and you were instantly silenced.

"just me."

It was your boyfriend.

You turned the lights on, and sure enough there he was. Laying in your bed and watching you with an amused expression. Apparently, he found your terror and momentary heart attack quite entertaining.

"...Sans!?" You exclaimed, exasperated. He wasn't supposed to be here.

He knew he wasn't supposed to be here.

"mhm." He hummed, casually, as if he had done nothing wrong.

"What are you doing here!?"

"sleeping."

...For fucks sake.

"Go home!?" Maybe you were right. Maybe he was watching you and decided you needed him.

Shit.

And you thought he was doing so good.

"this is home now."

...Oh fuck no.

"Mine, yeah! Not yours!" You were going to be in so much trouble if somebody found him in here with you. Not only was he a boy, but he didn't even go here!

"nope. we're roommates."

/

"..."

Uh.

"What?" You blinked, and you had no idea it was possible until now but you blinked aggressively. "No we're n..."

"i'm in the course." His sockets drifted almost closed. He seemed... He just seemed so happy. So chill, and relaxed.

And then you understood.

His lack of reaction, his happily helping you, giving you so much of the stuff in the house, talking about the course and all its classes, never answering your questions when you asked what he was going to do with his alone time... Even actually letting you leave.

It all made sense.

"... How... Y-you!?" Your voice was strained, hands and shoulders shaking in pure frustration. He'd tricked you! He'd tricked you into thinking you would be alone! He-

"i pulled some strings." He was still smiling at you. It made you irate . "the college is completely fine with us being roommates. don't worry, you won't get in trouble."

"You-"

"it's fine."

"For you, maybe! There isn't even enough bed space!"

He blinked his sockets open a little, moving his hands to rest the back of his skull on them in an infuriatingly casual position. "if sharing a bed is an issue i'll sleep on the couch."

"That's not the problem here!"

"did you eat?"

...

"..." Most of the anger slipped away in the face of the question you'd been dreading from him most. At least, over text, you could convincingly lie. You glanced away, starting to sweat a little. "... Yes."

"no you didn-"

"I-it's too late to cook, okay?" You cut across him, lying down and rolling over so your back faced him and he couldn't see your expressions. It wasn't like you didn't like his food- you just couldn't deal with a giant meal right about now. Especially the kind that Sans cooked; crammed with vegetables of every and all kinds and made to be completely balanced and healthy no matter what way you tried to approach it.

"... ok." You heard shuffling as he rolled over to face you. "wanna order something instead?"

...

You blinked.

Say what?

You rolled back over, looking up at him with drawn brows. Even somewhere like here, in bed, he totally encompassed you with his sheer size.

"You... Wanna order something?" You were confused as hell.

"sure." He grinned, soft, glad you were facing him. "if it means you'll eat."

...

You sighed.

"Fine." ... "...Chinese."

Before you could roll back over again to reiterate your anger at him, he snuck forward a little and pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, clearly enjoying himself and happy to be here with you.

You huffed, not entirely unable to deny you felt the same.

---

Sans watched you eat, snuggled into your spot on the sofa next to him, staring at the TV with varying degrees of emotion. He was so proud of you, a very slight flush along his cheekbones and sockets glowing with an appreciative warmth... He had to try pretty hard to not be obviously staring so it wouldn't put you off your food.

He remembered when he first met you. All that time ago. He remembered when you wouldn't eat at all... When you couldn't bare the sight of a slice of pizza. When you couldn't touch even the smallest roll of sushi for fear of fattening yourself... When you ate less than half of everything put on your plate, anxiety clear on your face and in every tight muscle in your body...

And now here you were. With him. Comfortably tucking in to takeaway spring rolls with no worry, not caring what anyone thought.

... He relaxed into the cushions, sneaking an arm behind you over the back of the couch, playing with the end of a lock of hair that'd strayed from the rest of the bunch and staring at a spot of wall instead of the TV. He knew you'd be mad at him for coming anyway; that's why he didn't tell you, instead opting to just rip it off like a bandaid.

besides , he thought, finger curling in your soft locks as tension started to build in his system. i'm not ready to let her go. who knows what could hurt her the second i let her slip between my fingers? i trust her. i just...

His sockets narrowed a little.

this world took mom forever. i'm the only thing stopping it from taking her too.

You'd understand one day. He was here to look after you.

Eventually, you finished your food and headed off to bed, deliberately and adorably ignoring him getting in behind you. He chuckled as you turned your back to him... You were so cute when you were mad.

He wanted to wrap his arms around you and pull your squishy, warm body close, but... He had to give you a little space to let off some steam. He just faced you, smiling, happy to be near you.

It didn't take long at all to go to sleep.

...

But he woke up to very soft, quiet weeping.

Immediately, his sockets snapped open. It took him all of a few milliseconds to take in your vulnerable posture, back still to him with your legs up to your chest and your head down, hands over your ears. You were shaking like a little leaf and tiny apologies and begs to be left alone spilled from your quivering lips- your scent was heavy with fear and the bad kind of submissiveness that left a foul taste in the back of his throat.

"... shh, shhh..." He cooed, gently hooking his hand under your legs and rolling you to face him, pulling you close in to his chest and tucking his arms around you. You were almost cold to the touch... You flinched, a tiny, broken apology squeezing out.

It made him want to find your parents and stomp their faces so hard that their maxilla crunched and shattered under his boot like a dry cookie being snapped.

"it's me." He said, voice as soft as he could manage in his growing anger. "they're not here. i got you."

... He felt you move in his hold, curling closer to him, tiny hands balling in his shirt. You still shivered and shook like a bird in a cage but your tiny cries stopped... So he kept talking.

"they can't hurt you any more. i'm here." He closed his sockets and finger combed your hair as comfortingly as he could- it was working. You were calming. "i'm not going anywhere. ever. i love you so much and if anyone tries to hurt you i'll break them into tiny, tiny pieces. you're my everything."

The sniffles died away. You still shivered softly, but... you were clinging onto him like a little spider monkey, eyes shut and breathing evening out. He wasn't sure if it was the actual words he spoke or just the sound of his voice that helped you relax out of the nightmare, but either way...

... He kissed you. Just a little one, on your warm, slightly chapped lips.

He didn't need you to say it to his face- and it wasn't like you ever would, anyway. Too proud. But he knew you were happy he was here.

He liked that.