The Lies Unturned. (Depressed Underswap!Sans)

Part 10: Protection and planning.

It had been a few days since Papyrus had found his brother. After having saved him, he needed to put himself on leave from his many jobs for a while until he was sure Sans wouldn't be harmed..

Millions of thoughts were still plastered in his mind, the sight of his brother hanging... He could never let that kind of thing happen again. As of right now, Papyrus had Sans sitting on the couch, as he paced around the room with his brother's phone in his hand.

Looking through the very messages Alphys had been sending to Sans.. as well as the voice recording. Why wouldn't Sans tell him about this? The taller skeleton just couldn't wrap his head around it. He'd always been there for Sans, why wouldn't he be now?

As Papyrus stood still for a moment to listen to the voice of Alphys, Sans sat on the couch, staring at the floor. He was lost in his own thoughts himself.. The smaller brother of the two merely couldn't understand why he was even saved..

But, surely by the time his brother was finished with his phone, he'd know. He'd be able to tell that Alphys was right. It would be too late.. Sans' eye sockets were empty, since he could no longer hold up his facade in front of his younger brother.

Part of him just couldn't bare the fact that Papyrus now had to concern himself with how he was feeling.. He really just wanted to leave Paps without the burden. To see Papyrus without so much as a smirk on his face was going to be hard..

Papyrus stopped the voice message and grumbled under his breath.. Alphys... To think he was just talking to her earlier, her acting like she was concerned for him, that deceiving little..

Papyrus' mental track of thought was cut short when Sans spoke up amidst the silence. "Br.. Brother..?" His older brother winced out, weakly due to his still hoarse breath from the rope..

Sans gulped a little, fearing to say what he wanted to. Part of him wanted to tell him not to worry about him, that everything was okay.. the other, wanted to tell him everything Alphys said outside of texts..

The small skeleton went to open his mouth to speak again, but it seemed Papyrus had already predicted what was going to be said. "No, I had no idea she did this.. Why wouldn't you tell me? Sans, she knows near nothing about you... She's making false accusations, you know that. You're the strongest person I know.."

Sans gulped once more and shifted his body on the couch.. his shoulders stayed slump down. He looked a little ashamed, noticing his brother was upset. He in fact, didn't notice Papyrus complimenting him at the end.. he looked down again, holding one of his arms where the bandages had been wrapped..

The tall skeleton merely sighed as he rubbed between his eyes, knowing he was going to have to kick things into gear... He put Sans' phone into his pocket, walking towards the kitchen. Sans reached up a little when he noticed, but he didn't say anything in fear of making Papyrus any more angry with him..

Meanwhile Papyrus really wasn't mad with Sans at all.. he was moreso upset about the Alphys situation. He didn't even think Alphys had it in her to be that pointlessly cruel.. And now, he couldn't just give Sans his phone back after that.

He sighed and quickly opened the fridge, grabbing himself a bottle of honey. He popped the cap open and poured some into his mouth. After shutting it back, he put it into his pocket. He sighed and leaned against the kitchen countertop, staring at his hands.

The tall skeleton merely shook his head. He should have noticed the signs far sooner... It felt terrible. To think he could've prevented the whole thing.. there was no reason why he couldn't have. Who knows how long that had actually been going on before he noticed?

Though Sans still sat on the couch, gripping the couch fabric tightly in his hands.. a single tear managed to fall down his cheek. He swallowed back a small sob before it could escape him. He felt so sensitive.. so weak. He was supposed to be strong.. No matter how he looked at it, and no matter what he did..

Why did he always feel that he wasn't good enough? What did he have to do to prove himself? Not even the queen of the underground thought he was enough for the royal guard.. what hope did he have.. Why did Papyrus save him? Part of him didn't even want to feel this way.. but he did.

Sans sat up a bit as he tried to take small deep breaths, slowly going to pick at the bandages underneath his long sleeves.. the bandages Papyrus had wrapped for him just a few minutes after he was found.. He just couldn't understand why Paps would put himself through all the stress to save him..

While Papyrus didn't know the full extent to the torment Sans was put through, he couldn't even imagine his poor brother going through anymore.. The only issue was the fact that it was Alphys. Alphys, the captain of the royal guard, with so many connections.. no matter how much he felt like he had to kill her, he couldn't.

So then.. How was he going to fix this? And, all the while, keep an eye on Sans to make sure he'd never think of doing that again? All of a sudden, when the tall skeleton put it all into perspective, he couldn't believe how much work he had to put into all of this now. His days of sleeping were over. Now it was time for the protection of his brother..

As well as planning to deal with Alphys.

{Author's note: Hello! Read or don't, I don't mind! All I wanted to say was that I have plenty of ideas for next chapters! I'm also planning to rewrite the first AND second chapter, since they're rather outdated compared to my recent chapters- If you're interested, I have an Underfell story you can read that's similar to this! It's a bit more violent, considering it is Underfell, so reader discretion advised! That's all I have to say, enjoy your day!}