To My Better Half- A Sans X Toriel Fanfiction

Chapter 2- A Terrible Misunderstanding

It took him so long to formulate a response, that he practically dropped the newspaper in his hands. "How... Did you... W-what gave it away...?" He asked, stuttering fiercely.

She shrugged. "Dunno."

'Liar', Sans thought, but he didn't say it. He decided he was done having this conversation, and proceeded to ignore Al. He didn't even really feel bad for doing it. He was more than a little mad at the lizard monster for not dropping the topic, like he would have for anyone else. She of all people should have understood his problem.

Eventually, she stood and left. Sans found himself much less interested in the paper, and tossed it to the floor irritably. He decided to go to Grillby's. If Frisk or Pap tried to talk to him, he'd probably blow up in their face, and start yelling, so he assumed it would be much better to just leave.

He teleported, no matter how exhausted it made him feel. He pushed through the door, trying for a light expression, as he sat down at the counter. "Hey, Grillby. I'll take a bottle of ketchup." The flaming bartender gave him a long, hard stare, before reaching underneath the counter, pulling out a plastic red bottle. Sans took it gratefully, and took a deep swig. The ketchup was room temperature, just the way Sans liked it.

After a few awkward minutes, Grillby took a breath, and muttered, "... What's wrong...?"

"N-nothing..." Sans lied, for what must've been the millionth time all day. It was beginning to get kind of irritating.

Grillby shook his head, but didn't press further. He simply supplied more ketchup when Sans ran out, allowing him to stay at the bar for nearly an hour after closing. Sans hadn't noticed the time, before Grillby placed a hand on his shoulder, and gestured towards the clock.

"I really should be heading home." Sans agreed, even though he desperately wanted to stay. Why couldn't he just have a few more minutes? Grillby must have sensed his friend's nerves, because he handed Sans an extra bottle.

"I'll... Put it on your tab." Grillby teased gently.

Sans grinned, and nodded. "Sure thing, buddy."

Sans arrived home to find Toriel pacing the living room, looking severely distressed. When she caught sight of him, she practically ran over to him.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" She yelled, throwing her arms around him. Sans honestly didn't know how to respond, so he just allowed her to squeeze the life out of him. Only after she pulled away did he realize she was... Crying?

"Tori...?" He was afraid to ask what was wrong. "Why are you freaking out...?"

She bit her lip, and didn't meet his gaze. "I couldn't find you anywhere, and you wouldn't answer your phone. From the way you were acting this morning... I assumed the worst. I'm... I'm sorry."

He wanted to comfort her so badly, but didn't want to cross her boundaries. As he thought about her words, he finally realized what must have happened. Al must've told Tori what she'd found out, and Toriel had assumed he'd purposefully fallen, and went into a panic trying to contact him.

"I was just at Grillby's." Sans muttered, "I wasn't going to... To fall." This was supposed to be comforting, but it just sent Toriel into tears once more. He gulped, fighting back a knot of sobs building in his throat, but when he tried to speak, all that he managed was a strangled cough. She opened her arms, offering a hug. Sans was very slow to walk into them.

Tori knelt in front of him, her hands clutching desperately at the back of his hoodie, as she held him in her arms. Sans couldn't believe how hard she was sobbing into his shoulder. It was heart breaking to listen to, but he couldn't just pull away. So he slowly brought his own hands to her back, and returned her embrace.

"I'm sorry." Sans muttered, his eyes glued to the ceiling.

She hiccuped, and buried her face deeper in the crook on his neck. "I'm j-just so glad y-you're okay..." Her voice was distorted by fabric. "I was so s-scared."

"I know." He said, awkwardly patting her back. "I know it. I'm so sorry."

At that moment, Sans saw Frisk bouncing down the stairs happily. When they saw Sans and Tori though, their expression dropped to concern. They walked over, and placed a hand on their mother's shoulder.

She whipped around, and stared at the kiddo for a second, before saying, "Oh... H-hello, my child."

"What's going on?" Frisk signed shakily, so much so that it was almost impossible to understand.

"Well... Um..." Tori looked to him for approval.

He sighed, and crouched down so he was eye level with the kid. "Listen, Frisk. Sometimes, when monsters are sad, they fall. I wasn't very happy today, so when I wasn't home, your mother thought I fell. Everything is okay."

The kid was too smart for his childish explanations. Their eyebrows knit together, and they signed, "So my mom thought you were going to commit suicide?"

Sans could barely force his smile to stay in place. "Yeah, kiddo."

"Well, that's ridiculous. You love my mom too much to do that to her!" They said casually. Oh man, that kid seriously had no idea.

Instead of responding, Sans just nodded. He didn't know If he could answer. Tori was watching Frisk sign out their thoughts, and seemed tied up on their last sentence. That was Sans' cue to leave. He cleared his throat, stood up, and began walking towards the stairs.

"Wait." Tori said, but Sans ignored her. He shuffled up the stairs, and into his own room. There, he was allowed to drop the smile. Did Tori know? Frisk had been pretty blunt with their answer, and hadn't specified whether or not Sans' love for Toriel was platonic or not. Though if the kid had said Tori and Sans were 'just friends', it wouldn't have been true.

Even though it was almost eleven, Sans just couldn't sleep. His heart was still pounding, and his mind was still racing. His life was officially over. He was almost positive that Toriel knew he had a crush on her, and he knew for a fact she would never return those emotions. So he was screwed.