A Demon's Redemption

The Next Morning

A/N: Trigger Warning! There is some mention of self harm in here, nothing too serious. Stay safe everyone. <3

•CHARA's POV•

Chara sat by the small window in they and Frisk's shared bedroom, they had not slept a wink since Sans last sent them up to their room.

"Why does he hate me so much, it's been years since we came up from the Underground, I haven't done anything lately. And yet, he still doesn't trust me at all." Chara thought angrily.

The sound of ruffling sheets was heard behind Chara, and they quickly left their chair by the window to go lay down in the bed. At the very least, they could make it seem like they got a full night's sleep, for Frisk's sake. Frisk had always worried about Chara; over whether they were fitting in with the family, feeling okay, and getting along with everyone at school. Chara might have been a soulless demon, but that didn't mean that Frisk didn't care about them. And as much as Chara hated to admit it, Frisk really was the only person that Chara truly considered family.

Sure, Toriel acted like she was Chara's goat mom, but Chara could tell that it was mostly for Frisk's sake that Toriel was putting up with Chara. And Sans was a lost cause to begin with; then again, Chara couldn't really blame him. After all, she had put him through hell for centuries, reliving the same horrible life over and over again, not being able to talk to anyone about what he was going through. Chara had tortured him till he broke down inside, and they had relished every minute of it...

"But why should it matter to me anyway, it's not like I need anyone. I got along just fine on my own for years. I'm the only family I need." Chara thought angrily.

Chara's thoughts were interrupted then by a very excited Frisk jumping on their bed.

"Get up sleepy head! It's Monday!" Frisk giggled.

"Of course, only Frisk could be excited about something as horrible as a Monday." Chara thought, amused at Frisk's optimism.

Frisk practically shoved Chara off the mattress in their attempts at getting the young demon to start moving. Groaning, Chara finally swung their short legs over the bed while Frisk lept onto the cold, wooden floor.

"Come on! Get moving!" Frisk whined impatiently.

"Fine, fine! Wait outside while I change." The young demon mumbled in an attempt to seem groggy.

Once Frisk left, Chara quickly changed from her warm pajamas into a long-sleeved sweater. Even though the hot summer weather was only just winding down as the school year progressed, Chara always wore long-sleeved clothes.

If anyone asked, they'd just say that: "As a demon, they're cold blooded and always slightly cold."

The truth?

...The truth is that the long sleeves of Chara's sweaters were not for warmth at all... if anything, Chara was often hot in them, but they put up with the uncomfortable conditions because of the sweaters' true purpose: to hide the scars... some faded, holding the memories of a dark past, and some newer, representing the regret and self-loathing Chara felt when she was reminded of the monster she had become...

"...Chara... you coming?" Frisk called through the door, slightly turning the handle.

Fumbling to pull on her sweater before Frisk saw, Chara hurried to the door.

"Ya ya.. I'm ready, uh... let's go..." They mumbled, brushing past Frisk in their hurry.

Once in the kitchen, Toriel greeted them with two large helpings of butterscotch pie.

"Just a little something sweet, to take the edge off of Monday!" She said with a wink as she set the two plates in front of Frisk and Chara.

Frisk, of course, dug in right away; but Chara, surprisingly, was not in the best mood for pie at the given moment. For you see, at that very minute a certain skeleton had trudged through the kitchen door.

Sans definitely looked a little worse for wear, even Frisk seemed to notice the dark circles that showed slightly under his already pitch-black eye sockets. Red eyes met black and white ones as Chara made the mistake of making eye contact with the sleep-deprived skeleton. An uncomfortable silence filled the small room as Frisk and Toriel noticed the mood shift that had been caused by Sans' presence. Chara was the first to break the stare, shifting their gaze down to their untouched slice of pie.

Thankfully, the awkward moment was saved by a certain goat woman.

"Here Sans," Toriel smiled, handing him a plate, "you look like you could use some sweets as well."

And with that, the morning continued in a somewhat normal manner as the unusual family finished getting ready for yet another week of school.

• • •

*peeks around corner*
...hehe... hey everyone...

So umm... it's been a while since we last talked.

It's not exactly the start of summer like I promised.

Here's the thing, I hit a wall with my writing. For some reason I just lost all motivation to write.

I'm sorry.

But I am going to try, I'm done with promises because I don't want to make empty promises and just keep breaking them. I will try though, I'll try my hardest to keep writing and to improve as I do! I won't give up on this fan fiction. I don't think many people will read it, and I probably don't deserve any readers at this point. But I'll continue!

Also, you might notice that so far this story has been a little dark, with the nightmares, arguments, and self harm mentioned. I'm just trying to plant seeds for things to be resolved later on, believe me, I know that Sans isn't all mean and angry all the time. I'm going to incorporate more fluff and funny moments as the story progresses. I just needed to get some things set up beforehand.

Also... I know that not many people read this. But I was wondering...

I'm trying my best to keep both Chara and Frisk's pronouns gender neutral (they,them). But sometimes it can be a little confusing using those pronouns for them.

Personally, I always thought of Chara as a girl, and Frisk being the gender neutral one. But I wanna know if you all think I should continue with they/them pronouns for Chara, or if it's okay if I use she/her for Chara. I think I'm gonna keep Frisk as a they/them either way. But it might make things a little less confusing if I could use she/her for Chara. Please tell me what you all think.

And I shall update soon!

Stay safe everyone, bai~
╰(*'︶'*)╯♡