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It had been a long night.
Susie couldn't say that she got much sleep, but then again, Kris didn't really get that much sleep either. They probably got even less than her.
When her eyes slowly opened in the morning she immediately recognized the room. She was at the Dreemurr house and of course, as expected, in Kris' and their brother's room.
This was pretty normal to her, sleeping at her best friend's place. It was like a second home to her at that point.
The Dreemurr family was nice, but messy, far away from a perfect functioning family. Susie had recognized that by now. She had started to understand more and more why Kris had been struggling as much as they did, not only because of the stuff going on in their family but especially now after everything the two had been through.
Which reminded her again of why she barely got any sleep last night, as well as why she wasn't lying in Asriel's bed as she would usually, but instead next to Kris in their own bed.
Their mental health had been pretty bad recently. One would have expected that with their adventures being over and their life returning back to normal, their mental state would have gotten better, but that wasn't the case at all.
Then again, all the stuff that happened was pretty messed up and nothing that any teenager should ever have to go through. Their adventures had been mostly fun until things had suddenly gotten a lot more serious, and Susie would be lying if she said that it hadn't all affected her as well.
She definitely had her weak moments too, and Kris was always there for her, despite not really being in best shape either.
But Kris had been so depressed and tense that Susie sometimes barely knew how to help them.
Of course she always tried her best. Last night was one of the worst instances though.
Kris had been on edge through out almost the entire day, going non-verbal even more than usual. Susie noticed that they weren't feeling comfortable in school so she got them to skip class with her in favor of going to a quieter place. That only helped mildly though.
Then during the evening when they were back at Kris' place everything really went downhill, with Kris freaking out and mumbling things she barely understood, all the while seemingly struggling to breathe.
Susie had done her best to help them through it, to ground them by reminding them that they were both safe. She felt like she had gotten a lot better at comforting people over time, since she was certain that way back then she would have just made the situation worse if something like that had ever happened.
But seeing as Kris had basically clung to her she assumed that she had done most things right.
They had been awake for a while as despite the worst of it having passed pretty quick, Kris couldn't seem to really properly calm down for a while, which was why the two of them ended up barely sleeping.
Susie didn't mind that she had been kept up, it just hurt to see her friend in so much pain. To see how much they were still struggling with everything.
They always held onto her like a life line in moments like these, almost as if they were scared she would just disappear at any moment.
To be fair, the thought of her friends disappearing or something happening to them was also what always scared her the most, and what would leave her waking up in a cold sweat after a nightmare. So she could understand their desperation in those moments, their need for reassurance that she wouldn't be going anywhere. That's why she always made sure to remind them of exactly that.
Looking over at her friend right now she could see them sleep with their back turned towards her. She remembered falling asleep with Kris being cuddled up in her arms, and assumed they must have moved at some point in their sleep.
Susie rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, letting out a quiet sigh.
Kris' bed wasn't very big, the two of them barely fit on it. She didn't mind though, having her friend this close was nice in a way. It made her feel like she could look after them better, but it also made her feel somewhat comforted as well.
She let her eyes fall closed again for a moment, trying to relax as she waited for her friend to show any sign of being awake. She let out a big yawn, almost falling back asleep immediately but being kept awake by the thought of Kris potentially needing her when they woke up.
Not too long after Kris slowly but surely opened their eyes, only to quickly close them again and let out a quiet sound that definitely indicated discomfort.
To say that they were not feeling well was an understatement. They felt a sense of dread lingering in their stomach, making them feel somewhat nauseas. Their head hurt and their chest felt heavy with an all too familiar pressure, making them want to just fall back asleep to avoid feeling any of those things.
To put it bluntly, they felt like absolute shit.
It was a saturday morning, which at least meant that they didn't have school to worry about. Their biggest concern at the moment was that their mom could come in and try to get them to eat breakfast while their stomach felt so upset they weren't even sure they could swollow a single bite of anything.
However, Kris' thoughts quickly shiftened to something else the moment they felt movement next to them. That's when they remembered that they weren't alone, and the memories of the previous night flooded back, making them feel guilty for having kept their best friend from sleeping for most of the night.
It was kind of hard to believe that Susie was somehow still here with them after everything, that she had decided to stick around after everything that had happened.
All the secrets, all the lies... She somehow forgave them for everything and seemed to care about them even more, looking out for them, and just generally being an amazing friend.
Kris doubted that they truly deserved a friend like her, but they were also incredibly grateful that she was still there.
They didn't know what to do without her at this point.
They could feel her eyes on them, but they didn't turn around, their eyes still shut closed but their expression making it very apparent that they were awake since they knew they looked absolutely miserable.
It just wasn't fair.
Shouldn't everything be fine now that everything was over?
Why were they still feeling like this?
What's the point of gaining back their autonomy, defying fate itself just to get a happy ending, if they still couldn't feel truly happy afterwards?
"Kris...? Hey dude, you awake?"
Susie asked, receiving a small grunt from them as an answer.
They couldn't really bring themself to talk right now. Noises were all they could muster up at the moment.
It wasn't anything their friend wasn't used to though. She definitely didn't mind, especially now knowing that they were even more quiet when there wasn't a weird entity forcing them to talk.
"Not to like, push you out of bed or anything, but I'm pretty sure I can smell your mom making breakfast downstairs."
Kris curled into themself, pulling the blanket up further to hide from the world.
Just the thought of having to eat something right now made them feel even more sick.
The fact that they barely slept didn't help with them feeling ill either.
Susie's eyes furrowed in concern as she watched them, knowing that they should probably eat something and also feeling kind of hungry herself, but not wanting to make them sit down at the table with their mom when they were clearly not feeling well.
"I mean, I guess we don't have to go downstairs. I'm sure your mom wouldn't mind if we ate later."
There was no response, not even a movement. Susie decided to let them be for now, give them some time to properly wake up.
The room was quiet for a little while longer before Kris rolled over to look towards her. Susie smirked down at them, clearly seeing the pain in their tired expression but trying to act normal as to not risk making them feel even worse.
"Damn, you sure look pretty dead. Really living up to the title of the school zombie, huh? Well... without the school, I guess. Since there's no school today."
Kris looked right at her, a small amused smile forming on their face for just a second.
That little fleeting smile was a win in her book.
It definitely was a start.
After another moment of patient waiting Kris slowly managed to sit up, although that movement was enough for their expression to turn into one of discomfort again. They gripped onto the blanket, taking a deep, steadying breath.
Susie didn't hesitate to support them, gently putting a hand of their back. She looked at them with a mixture of irritation and worry.
"Still not feeling any better than yesterday...?"
Her friend immediately shook their head, continuing to take in a few deep breaths to fight both the suffocating pressure on their chest as well as their nausea.
They looked pale, which Susie found especially concerning.
"I'm assuming you don't want me to like... get your mom so she can check on you?"
Again, Kris gave an immediate response in the form of a head shake.
Susie wasn't surprised, but she still felt unsure of what to do. Calming them down when they were freaking out was one thing, but they looked physically ill. She didn't know shit about how humans worked and she was certain that Toriel would at least know a little more about that.
But there was no way that she was going to get their mother involved against their will, unless of course it was an emergency.
She watched Kris put a hand against their head, looking to be in pain, and luckily she didn't need any human knowledge to know what that probably meant.
"Got a headache?"
They slowly nodded their head, and even though Susie still hated seeing how unwell they were, she was glad that there was at least something she could hopefully fix.
"Want me to get a painkiller for you?"
Since Susie had been over at the Dreemurr's house so many times by now, she knew exactly where the medicine cabinet was. Getting them some medication was no problem for her. She just had to walk past the kitchen, meaning Toriel would likely see her. Then again, it might be a good opportunity to let her know that they were going to eat their breakfast a little later that day.
After a moment of hesitation, Kris slowly nodded again, and being the great friend she was Susie wasted no time getting up. Though she stopped by the door to look back at them for a moment.
"I'll let Toriel know to put aside our breakfast for later."
And with that she was out of the room and headed downstairs.
Kris let out a soft small sigh, being left alone with their thoughts for a bit.
They appreciated everything Susie did for them, she truly was the best friend they've ever had. Well, she was also one of the only friends they've ever had.
But that didn't change the fact that she was the greatest friend they could have ever wished for.
Kris let themself fall back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling while their breaths still came out somewhat shallow.
That feeling of pressure remained, like someone was squeezing their chest tightly, not enough to make breathing impossible but enough to make it incredibly difficult.
It was an unbearable feeling, yet it didn't want to leave them.
Sometimes it reminded them of the soul, making them feel like that damned thing was still in there even though they knew for a fact that it wasn't.
It was as if the memory of it's presence was taunting them in the form of this heavy, constricting feeling.
Only this time, they couldn't just rip it out.
The more they lied there thinking about this feeling, the more intense it became. It got so bad that they sat up as quickly as they had lied down, gripping onto the front of their shirt as they sat at the edge of the bed. Their other hand dug into the bed sheet as they stared ahead with wide eyes, taking in more shaky, shallow breaths.
The door creaked open as their friend returned with the painkiller as well as a glass of water, and she instantly looked alarmed the moment she saw them.
Susie especially didn't like the way Kris had their hand gripping at their chest, for a multitude of reasons.
She walked over and placed down the medication and water, before sitting next to the tense human who looked even worse than when she had left the room.
"Hey... You, uh... good?"
Her voice was soft as she was trying to soothe them, but she was extremely aware of how stupid her question was.
Kris stayed quiet, the nausea and tight feeling in their chest making it even harder to give verbal responses than usual.
When Susie realized she probably wasn't going to get a response she just gestured towards the stuff she had placed down on the drawer next to their bed.
"Uhm... well, I got you the painkiller. And a glass of water because I'm just that thoughtful."
She spoke playfully and wore a grin on her face, causing her friend to ease up just a little.
Kris took the medication and emptied to glass before setting it back down, their hand subconsciously wandering back to their chest.
Susie frowned before quietly asking another probably really stupid question.
"Do you still feel it...? Like, in your chest?"
Their breath hitched and she kind of regretted asking. It's only been about a month since they got freed of the soul, so it was probably still a very sensetive subject. But she was still curious.
"...not... literally."
Susie raised her brows in suprise when her friend spoke for the first time that day. Their voice was quiet and mumbly, but that was pretty normal for them. Although it was also a little bit shaky.
"What do you mean, 'not literally'?"
She asked, sounding somewhat irritated and confused.
"It's... not the same... That feeling... it's different..."
Susie listened intently, her gaze remaining on her friend who had their own gaze lowered as she continued to ask them questions.
"How does it feel now?"
Kris took a deep breath, their fingers once again digging into the front of their shirt.
"Tight... and heavy... makes it hard to breathe..."
The look of confusion and curiosity turned into concern once more as Susie listened to them describe this feeling.
They'd explained to her before how it had felt when they were possessed by that entity. It was definitely a different thing, but maybe it was still connected somehow? Maybe it was just a really weird form of phantom pain. It's not like anyone here was an expert on possessions and could confirm or deny that possibility.
Now, Susie would be lying if she said that she had never experienced weird stuff like that before when she had been upset, although in her case it was more her throat tightening than her chest feeling heavy. And it happened pretty rarely, too. She definitely had shitty things she struggled with that could also get pretty bad, but this was something she didn't really experience herself or know much about.
"Do you, like... know what caused it? I mean, right now specifically?"
Susie asked carefully, but Kris only shook their head.
This was pretty bad, she knew that much. Maybe there was a way to get help for them, but then they'd definitely have to talk to Toriel about it.
And even if they did get professional help, it's not like Kris could just start talking about possessions and dark worlds.
But maybe it was still worth bringing up if their mental and physical health continued to not get better any time soon.
As for now, all Susie could really do was make sure to be there for them and help make things at least somewhat more bearable.
Before she could even think about what to say or do next though, she felt Kris lean against her, their head now resting on her shoulder.
She looked surprised at first, but her facial features softened quickly.
"I'm dizzy..."
Kris mumbled quietly under their breath, causing their friend to frown once more as she put an arm around them.
"You wanna just stay in bed all day and chill? I sure wouldn't mind."
They didn't even have to think about that suggestion before knowing the answer.
"Yeah..."
Susie smiled at that, although said smile quickly faded when she heard Kris sniffling softly. She instinctively pulled them a little closer, almost in a protective way, and that was enough to break the dam and cause them to let out a quiet sob.
She let them cry for a bit, her protective hold staying firm. There was no way in hell she was going to let go of them now.
Their cries were soft and stiffled, but non the less heartbreaking to listen to.
Susie once again thought about everything that had happened, everything they had been through together, as well as everything she had found out about Kris from even way before they met, and it all just made the protective instinct in her grow even stronger.
Sure, she wasn't perfectly stable either. Far from it, actually. But that's why they had each other to lean on.
Kris was her best friend.
And nothing in the world was ever going to change that.
Once their crying had stopped and they managed to calm down a little, the two spend the day just relaxing in bed like they had agreed on.
It was still a rough day for Kris nontheless but being with Susie sure made things a lot better.
Most of the time they didn't talk, but they didn't even have to as their non verbal communication was more than enough for Susie. And anytime Toriel wanted something from them she would take it upon herself to do the talking for the both of them, which they greatly appreciated.
Eventually, around the late afternoon, the two teens fell asleep again, being cuddled up next to each other as they both felt at ease in each other's presence.