A Journey Together (Sansby)

❥ Chapter 11: A Dark Night

Sans remained quiet for the duration of the rest of his work shift.

There was in light in him that no longer was there, and Grillby had noticed this right away.

His smile looked empty, and his demeanor was much serious in comparison to how he had been acting earlier that day.

Grillby was worried, as this was such a drastic change of mood.

Did something happen while he wasn't paying attention?

"You okay? You've been acting awful strange..." Grillby asked, his eyes focused on counting the money he had earned in cash on that day.

Sans was quietly sitting on the stool next to his, also counting the money he had earned in tips.

"yeah... i'm fine. i just feel exhausted." Sans lied, not bothering to make eye contact with the bartender.

Gently, Grillby placed the money on the counter in a perfect stack, and turned around to face Sans.

"Sans... You know I'm here for you, right?" He said, a warm smile on his face.

Sans sighed, wishing he could confide in Grillby about the experience he had had earlier that day.

However, he was terrified of what might happen if he did that, and as a result, he chose to remain silent and leave Grillby in the dark.

He did not want to put him in any danger as well, as that would most likely be a breaking point for him.

"i know" he began, putting down the money in front of him.

"i really do appreciate that you are always so willing to listen me." Sans looked at Grillby.

There was a hint of sadness in his voice, and his expression seemed distressed.

It was almost like a call for help.

"but... i don't think i can tell you at the moment what is really bothering me right now, y'know." Sans continued. 

The elemental frowned, but nodded, not wanting to keep probing about Sans' current situation.

Grillby got up from his seat and took more money out of the cash register, proceeding to keep counting the earnings in silence.

Once Sans had finished counting his money, he got up from his seat and went to the back of the bar, where he hung up his black work apron in the suit closet.

There was a mirror hung on the closet door.

All Sans could do was stare at his reflection and loathe.

He was so angry and overwhelmed by everything.

He just wanted to call for help—scream until someone noticed his pleas for help.

━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━

"You're heading home?" Grillby asked, his voice exhausted.

"yeah. i gotta go take care of something." Sans answered, stopping right before the diner's exit.

"Goodnight, Sans. I hope whatever you're dealing with gets resolved."

"goodnight, grillbz. thanks."

Once outside of the diner, Sans took a shortcut to the local park and walked around in search of his presumable date.

It was one of those pitch black nights.

No stars could be seen—only a faint outline of the crescent moon could be seen beneath the clouds covering it.