Believe in Me

I Loved You

Blue rolled over, groaning slightly. Someone's arms came around him and he relaxed into them, planting a kiss on the bottom of their jaw before burying his head in their chest.

He heard a loud yawn from somewhere over his head, followed by Red's grumbly voice asking, "What time is it?"

Blue sighed loudly and didn't answer, choosing instead to seize the blankets and pull them over his face, effectively blocking out any sense of responsibility. Red truly brought out the Sans in him, he thought dryly as he snuggled into the other as closely as he could.

He heard Red snicker, then the blankets were taken out of his hands. Red lifted them up so that Blue was exposed to the light, but his only response was to crack one eye open and curl his fingers into the spaces between Red's ribs, effectively latching on.

"I think it might be time to get up, sweetheart." Red chuckled, trailing his thumb down the back of Blue's cervical vertebrae.

"You're not supposed to be the one who has to remind me," Blue grumbled, opening his other eye so he could properly glare up at him.

Red grinned and said, "Hey, it's not my fault you're finally turning into a lazybones. It was bound to happen sometime, ba--"

Blue gave a tired screech of indignation and let go of Red's ribs to prop himself up on his arms. "I am not a lazybones!" he protested, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that he immediately wanted to bury himself back into the blankets again.

Below him, Red was still giving him that infuriating grin, and Blue found himself losing his glare. Instead, he settled back into the other's hold, lowering himself carefully and letting out an exasperated breath. "Well, okay. But it's all your fault!"

Red laughed again, the sound full and unbridled. "I'll gladly take full responsibility if it means you stay right here with me," he said, smiling widely. Blue couldn't help his smile at that, turning to press his mouth to Red's chin again.

Red sat up slightly and reached for Blue, who was all too happy to oblige. He wrapped his arms around the tops of his fiancée's shoulders as the other planted a kiss directly on his teeth. Blue sighed happily as he pulled back, entirely content.

"I love you, Red."

"I...I loved you?"

Blue's words hurt like nothing Red had ever felt before. Loved. Past tense, as in, this is over. Not 'I love you', as he must have heard a thousand times. I loved you.

All he could get himself to do was nod, vaguely aware of Fell leaving the room silently, leaving them alone.

"But...why?"

Red hadn't thought his soul could break any more, but Blue just kept proving him wrong. "I don't know. I always thought you could do better," he managed to choke out, avoiding Blue's eyes.

He felt more than saw the other step closer, hesitantly laying a hand on his arm. "I didn't mean it like that." Blue said softly. "I was asking why...why I don't remember. If we were bonded, shouldn't we be connected? I know what you know and all that?"

Red still didn't want to look at him. He didn't want to see this Blue and remember that his Blue was gone, maybe forever. "It was cut away. We already saw that."

There was a sharp intake of breath, and he looked up to see the Blue's eyelights had blown themselves wide. "That's a huge section of soul for a soul bond..." he said quietly.

Red laughed shortly. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what Boss said, too. Said we were idiots for giving so m-much up. But..but you s-said it didn't m-matter because you would h-have given all of y-yourself if y-you could." He was sobbing now, heaving breaths ripping their way out of his mouth as he tried to keep his composure. Blue's hand against his arm wasn't helping, making him want to bury himself into the other and never come back up again.

"Can I see?"

He glanced up, barely able to hold his eyes as he made himself calm down. "See what?"

Blue took another deep breath, then said, "The soul bond. Yours, I mean."

Red stared down at his hands. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to pull out his soul for someone that used to be Blue, to let him taint what little he had left of the monster he loved most in the world. Then he made the mistake of looking at his face again. It really was still Blue, wasn't it? It was just...Blue from before they knew each other. The Blue that had nearly broken down his door because he thought he needed a friend. A ghost of a smile flashed across his face as he remembered.

He took his jacket off and started to drop it on the floor before having second thoughts and handing it to Blue. "Here," he said quietly. "Put this on, you've gotta be freezing. I don't think this'll hurt your ribs any." Blue accepted the jacket silently, sticking his arms through and wrapping it around himself. Red lifted his shirt slightly to reach underneath, ignoring Blue's shocked gasp at the scars that had been exposed on his spine. He drew out his soul, settling it into his palms, and held it out towards the other.

Blue looked down at it reverently, taking in the red point and blue curves, finally seeming to relax. Then, much like Red had done to him earlier, he pushed Red's fingers back around the soul and guided his hands back into his chest.

"Okay." he said quietly. "I believe you. How do we fix this?"