If We Never Were

Ch. 3

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Remember Back When

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There was a brief moment of silence as Sans tried to search for words to say. He knows there is no easier way to do it but to put himself back again in the past. It feels like ages ago, when they were still young and carefree; naive of their true feelings for each other.

The skeleton closed his eyes slowly and took a shaky breath. Not for long, he found himself at the middle of a familiar green scenery.  Mount Ebott.

"Our home..." mumbled Sans.

He looked up at the blue sky and got mesmerized by the tranquility and calmness it brings to his wary soul. It was exactly the way he felt the first time he saw Frisk's smiling face back in the Underground, back at the very first timeline of it all.

"Saaaans!" Then he heard a high-pitched voice with an unmistakable frankness in its tone. Into his ears entered the familiar soundwaves that painted his cheeks a dark shade of blue. Who else could its owner be? But the young determined human herself, Frisk Dreemurr

Thud! Her body weight suddenly thrown at him from behind made him stumble face first on the grassy ground. Normal greetings already lost their meaning to Sans since the first time she decided to use pranks and surprises when meeting with him. Even though it gets physically painful at times, he couldn't deny how much entertainment he gets from her childish demeanors.

Frisk is unafraid to be reckless around him and he believes it shows how comfortable she already is around him. The moments when her sweet innocence shows, she becomes more beautiful than any living creature he has ever seen.

"Sans, the skeleton! Surrender now or face the wrath of the only human who freed your race from the underground!"

She tried to make it sound as confident as the way Papyrus could. Funny thing because his brother would do the other way around and copy Frisk's manners when they're together. The younger skeleton and his undying fascination over the human culture.

Back to the matter at hand, he's praying for his spinal cord not to break anytime soon. The human was sitting on his back; bare back with no skin and muscle to protect it. Compared to her weight, he's definitely just a twig.

He managed to get a grin on his face though, and chuckled under shortages of breath.

"Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do ta me? You can't even hurt a fly."

"I–hey, that's not true!" Frisk furiously defended. "Do you want me to show you who you're messing with, skull-head?"

"Woah! Brave of ya to call me names, kid. How 'bout we settle this the human to monster way? " he held up his hands pleading her to stand up, because she might be skinny but, she still has a considerably heavier weight than him and Papyrus combined.

"What do you mean?" Frisk hopped on her feet and Sans got up as well. "What do you have in mind this time?"

"Oh I just know a game for two that we can play to make things more interestin'"

"Okay but human to monster way? Please enlighten me with whatever that means."

Sans chuckled and Frisk pouted her mouth becoming impatient. He pointed at the green grassy hill not too far away from their spot.

"That's a pretty steep hill, isn't it?"

"Yeah and...?"

"We'll race up that hill. Whoever gets there last will have to carry the other all the way back down."

She blinked, raising her eyebrows with interest. A challenge is never rejected by Frisk, no matter how difficult or how easy it might be. Her determination will get her through it.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Game on!"

Sans grinned noticing the gleamer of excitement in her eyes. He knew he'll eventually have to lose the race in the end. There are only a few things worth sacrificing for in this world and one of it is his bestfriend's happiness. Then again, he didn't understand why that word makes every 'nerve' on his body cringe like nails on a chalkboard.

As he was about to speak, Frisk waved her hand and acted like somebody is coming from behind her skeleton friend. It was too late before he fell for her trap and when he turns back to her, Frisk is already marching her way up the hill.

"What- Hey! You lil' cheater! "

She laughed tremendously, her voice being faint sound in the distance is still clear as the day when he hears it. "I can't believe the incredible Sans actually fell for that!"

"Oh yeah? I'll show ya what's incredible. Just wait 'til I catch yaa!"

Sans storms after Frisk. His legs were lighter so he knows he could beat her easily but he slowed his pace anyway and chose to watch her giggle and skip meters away from him.

As if a rock fell from the sky and hit him, he jolted and stopped on his tracks. The wind blew harder, time slows down, a premonition appeared in his mind. While Frisk was basking in a gleeful path towards the hilltop, he's watching solemnly behind.

And that's when Sans' eyes started to shed some tears. Things began to get blurry, in a whisp of smoke the memories were gone. He was back in the hospital.

"I had to let you win, kid. I just wanted you to be happy. Even if I have to lose every time," he took her hands into his gaze stuck on a silver ring. "I'll always put your happiness first."

Sans couldn't bring himself to say it. No, maybe this is not the right time. He'll just have to wait a little bit more, when Frisk is right in front of him healthy and alive. That's when he's going to say his true feelings for her. All these years when he finally realized the reason why he hates the word friend.

Because he has always been in love with his best one.