All I want for Christmas

Day 4: The first snow

Sans was lying in bed, just woken up by a particularly good dream. It had been three days since Papyrus had talked Mettaton into singing Christmas songs with him. Sans and Grillby had somehow managed to dodge Papyrus request to sing with him these last days, but his brothers happy humming still made Sans smile. Although he actually liked to sing too, and knew for a fact that Grillby felt much the same way, he couldn't bring himself to do it in front of anyone but the flame.

A quit sigh escaped him at the thought of his hot boyfriend. The skeleton was content to just snuggle a bit deeper into the covers and press himself into the heat of the elemental. It was the realization that said heat was apparently gone that made his eyes fly wide open.

Sans gaze traveled through the dark room, not jet able to focus on the forms and shapes around him. Grillby was never just gone when he woke up. At least not without a note or something like that. A panicked thought crossed his mind suddenly.

What if the kid had done something stupid?

In a flash of blue Sans was at the window, starring outside. The world around him was white, covered in... SNOW!?

The small skeleton staggered backwards. He didn't realize the houses outside weren't the wooden houses of Snowdin, but the familiar small buildings of their surface neighborhood. All he could see was the endless white of the undergrounds city around him. His mind was racing as it showed him images of everything he would have to go through again. He was back underground.

Tears were streaming down his face. All he was thinking about was Grillby, once again back in a state where he wouldn't let anyone touch him, not even the small skeleton, scared of burning them like he had during war. All he was seeing was Papyrus dust on the floor, the red scarf close by.

Sans fell to his knees, clutching at his chest, where the large diagonal scar was still visible, inflicted on him in previous fights that never happened, carved deep into the bone. His breath was growing quick and labored, his eye were shut tight.

The kid had gone back.

They were back.

Back to the hell he thought they had escaped for good.

"S-sans? Sans, are you alright?" A familiar voice behind him whispered. Sans opened his eyes in an instant, a blue and yellow light illuminating the space around him. He turned around in an instant, the force of the movement making his bones rattle.

In the doorway of the now bright room stood a worried and frightened looking fire elemental. He was at the skeletons side in an instant, pressing the small body to his own and stroking the back of his head comforting.

"Shhh Sans. It's ok. You're save. Everybody is safe." The flame tried to sooth Sans. He knew of Sans having nightmares, there were a lot of times he had woken up to the quiet sobbing of the skeleton beside him, but they had hardly ever set him off this bad before. It didn't help, that he didn't know what exactly had triggered Sans panic, so he couldn't figure out the right words to calm the small skeleton tell.

"g-g-grill-b-by......i-i... th-the kid..." Sans hiccupped through, violent sobs that overcame his body at once. He grabbed small fistfuls of the flames T-shirt and pressed his face even deeper into his chest.

"th-though-ght... res-set............-ou 'n-n p-pap... god." He pressed out. The words left a shiver crawl through Grillbys body, as he connected everything Sans was blurting out. The SNOW had set of Sans, of course it had. He didn't know much about Sans and the kids shared past or Frisks odd power of resetting, but he had heard enough to understand what was going on. He instantly pulled Sans even closer, ignoring the small sting the skeletons tears caused him.

"You're alright. We're still on the surface. Everything is fine. I'm still here. You're brother and Mettaton are sleeping in the room next door. They are fine." Grillby said as softly as possible.

"b-but th-e sn-now... how" Sans whispered weekly. Still pressing himself in the flames for all he was worth.

"It started this night. It's ok, it's normal. Even on the surface. It's just frozen, cold rain." The elemental mumbled. Stroking the shaking form of his lover slowly and careful. They remained like this for what seemed like an eternity, Sans sobs turning into occasional sniffles until they turned completely silent.

"thanks." Sans muttered finally, straightening himself a bit to look into Grillbys eyes.

"may have overreacted there for a bit, heh." The skeleton rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you ok?" The elemental asked, the worry still clearly audible in his voice.

"Yeah, it's ok now. Thanks grills." Sans stood up again, rubbing at the scar on his chest absentmindedly. Grillby frowned.

"Want some coffee? I just made some before I went to check on you" The flame suggested. Sans nodded, still looking a bit out of it. Grillby smiled warmly at him, before he picked his short lover up and carried him downstairs without receiving any kind of protest. He sighed internally. This would be a calm day. Hopefully Sans would be back to normal soon, then.