A New Life

12- Mental Illness

TW: self-harming behavior

~☆~

"Sans, roll up your sleeve this instant," Gaster said, struggling to hold back the tears. He caught him, Sans knew it, but still wanted them his father to forget he saw anything. For the first time, he wanted the human to reset and end this month of him and Serif being watched constantly.

"Dad, seriously, it's nothin'!" 

"If it's nothing, let me look." Tears began rolling down Sans's cheek bones, causing Gaster to take a deep breath and kneel in front of his son. "I'm not mad, I just want to treat it. We need to be careful with any wounds you have."

Sans didn't roll up his sleeve, instead just flung himself into his father's arms into a hug. Gaster hugged back, picking Sans up and carrying him into the bathroom where the first said was kept. Sans insisted that he not waste his healing magic on him, so just some typical disinfectant and bandage wraps were used.

"I know this is hard for you, Sans, but this isn't the way to let all these emotions out. Talk to me if you want to, or I can find you something healthier to do. I'm not happy you picked up my smoking habit, either, but if that's what it takes for you to stop this before it gets worse, then do that instead," Gaster said, kissing his son's forehead and giving him a hug when he finished wrapping his arms. 

"Dad, can we not tell anyone else about this? Please?" Sans pleaded.

Gaster sighed, "okay, Sans, I won't tell. Though maybe me, you, and Serif should have a talk about maybe therapy and possible medicine in the future if you're up for it."

Sans nodded, "yeah... okay."

~☆~

"Serif, please, you have to eat something," River said as he attempted to hand his son a sandwich for lunch. Nobody has seen Serif eat in a while, and it was becoming concerning.

"Papa, I'm okay. I'll eat it later," Serif dismissed, knowing full well that he wasn't going to and was just going to grab Sans and head to Waterfall. 

River placed a hand on Serif's shoulder, "I'm not blind, Serif. This isn't good for you. We can start off with something small, but you need to eat before you leave."

Serif sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for food. He didn't see a point in it since everything could just start over all of a sudden in the blink of an eye. But he was kinda hungry, and River did seem worried, which isn't what he wanted.

Serif rubbed the back of his neck, "fine, maybe like a small bowl of grapes or something couldn't hurt..." River seemed happy with that answer, which made Serif smile.

"Tre la la~ Excellent. I'll make two bowls and you can bring one up to Sans too."

"Yeah, sure thing, Papa."

~☆~

"Come on! You can't just stay cooped up in this room forever, Serif!" Roman said as he watched his brother curl up further into his blanket. No response. Roman groaned and sat at his brothers' feet, looking at him worriedly. "Serif, I know that whatever you're going through is difficult, but you're just reminding me of how you used to be when we were with... him. I don't want to see you like that anymore." Roman paused when he heard a sniffle. "Oh brother..." 

Serif sat up and threw himself into his brothers' arms. "I'm so sorry, Ro! I just... I don't know what's wrong with me. Everything is just bad, and I just want this nightmare to end!" Roman gently rubbed his brothers back and lied his skull on top of Serif's.

"It's okay, Serif, I'm here. We're all here for you. Me, Papyrus, Sans, Dad, Papa, Grillby, Mettaton, all of us. You'll make it through this, I know you will. If you can come out strong after everything that happened to us before Dad saved us, then I just know you'll make it through this. And I'll be here to help you every step of the way." Serif clung to his brother as is he was his life support and sobbed, appreciating the feeling of not being alone. "I love you, Serif."

"I love you too, Ro."

~☆~

"Sans I swear to God you better come down out of that treehouse! And put out that cigarette too! I can see the smoke, so don't even think about lying to me!" No response. Papyrus sighed, "Well if you're not coming down, can I at least come up to check on you?" Nothing. 

Just out of pure concern to make sure his brother wasn't dead or passed out, Papyrus skillfully climbed up the tree and crawled into the treehouse. Sans, in fact, was physically okay, but was zoned out gazing at nothing.

Papyrus walked over at sat next to his brother, which seemed to snap Sans out of his daze and wipe away the tears he didn't know he shed.

"Hey, Pap. Whatcha doin' here? I thought you had a date planned with Mettaton?" Sans asked, trying to change the subject away from himself as usual. 

"I do, but we changed it to later today. Nappstablook needed some help at the snail farm. And don't try to change the subject!" Papyrus said, not trying to be too harsh with his already upset brother. "And put that cigarette out. I swear, you and Dad have the unhealthiest hobbies." 

Sans chuckled, "sorry, Pap." He took one last puff before putting it out. "Anyway, you never answered by question. Whatcha doin' here?"

"I came to check on you. You disappeared and I got worried. Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

Sans shook his head. "Nah, it's okay, bro."

Papyrus sighed. "Well, just know that I am here for you if anything changes. So is Grillby and everyone else."

Sans smiled and lied his head against Papyrus, "Thanks Pap. You're the best."

Papyrus smiled and wrapped an arm around Sans. "Anytime, brother."