Chapter Text
You had it planned for weeks.
It started when you stopped taking the Zoloft your doctor had prescribed you. You forgot one day, and one day turned into two days, and two days turned into many days. You then stopped calling your parents, and only gave them one word text replies. You started skipping your classes and not talking to your friends-and this was college so nobody actually cared.
You had it planned for weeks.
You started feeling empty again. You hated your major, hated the expectations your parents put on you, hated the expectations you put on yourself-none of that had changed, but it all felt like it was crushing you. Whenever you got like this, whenever you caved into the pain and the urges, you called it the Asleep, a miserable phase that came and went where you were barely able to leave your bed. Usually a few cuts would cure of the Asleep for awhile, it would make you Awake again, but this time a few cuts wasn't enough for you.
You had it planned for weeks.
You didn't know how you ended up here. You were standing on the thick railing of the bridge connecting your college town to the next town over. The cool wind blew against your face. You knew you could take one step forward and end it all. End the Asleep. There was nobody around, nobody to stop you. Any car on the bridge would drive by too fast to notice you in the dark. It would be so easy to do it.
You raised your arms up, like that one scene in the Titanic, and hysterical laughter bubbled up in your chest. You went to move your foot of the bridge, but found that you were unable to do so. You looked down at the ground behind you in confusion, and saw a monster clinging to your legs.
A skeleton monster.
He stared up at you, his sockets were pitch black and there was a tight smile on his face. Was this the grim reaper?
"hey, you don't wanna do this, in the long run it's all water under the bridge, isn't it?" No, the grim reaper wouldn't be trying to stop you. This was just a regular monster, belonging to the large group of them that had emerged from the so-called Underground a few years back.
You continued to stare down at him, unsure what to do or how to react.
"i'm sure some people have told you to build a bridge and get over it but if you let me help you get down, we can talk about this and get you some help," The skeleton tried again.
You stayed silent, noting that the moonlight played pretty shadows across his skull.
"knock knock."
You finally spoke. "Who's there?" Your voice cracked; you hadn't used it in a long time.
"bones."
"Bones who?"
"bones upon a time there was a skeleton who saved a girl."
You cracked a smile, but it left your face as quickly as it appeared. "You should go, sir."
"it's sans, what's your name?"
"_____," Though your mind, usually so silent, was now telling you to not talk to this strange, kind monster.
"_____, why don't you come down from there and we'll talk a bit, yeah?"
"I think you should go, Sans, and pretend you didn't see any of this."
"i'm not going anywhere, sorry pal."
You sighed and looked away from him, back at the vast sea stretching out in front of you. You didn't talk or move. Neither did the skeleton. His arms stayed wrapped around your legs. You felt ironic, remembering how you previously compared your pose to the one in the Titanic; the position the two of you held now was more like that pose than anything you had before.
Your legs were starting to hurt. You sighed. "I'll come down if you let go of my legs," You said without looking back at Sans.
"if you try to jump after i let go, i can stop you with my magic," Sans warned you.
You had forgotten about that. Monsters had magic, and considering the human race's penchant for assholery, you were surprised some scientists hadn't tried to experiment with it. "Okay," You replied, calmly.
Sans gingerly let go of your legs. You turned around and finally got a good look at him-he was dressed in a thick blue hoodie with a pair of black joggers and pastel pink slippers. As you bent low to get down, Sans wrapped his arm around your back to help you carefully ease onto the ground. Once you were securely in place, he eyed you warily. "not a good idea for a girl to be out so late in a college town."
"Well, you know," You started sarcastically, "I wasn't planning on being out late."
He started walking down the bridge, nudging your shoulder to motion that you should walk with him. You did. "i don't feel okay leaving you alone."
"I'll be fine, the moment is already gone."
His eye sockets which you noticed had two bright spots of light, went dark again. "the moment never passes."
You walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "my brother and i have an extra room-"
"I live in a dorm," You interrupted him.
He gave you a sidelong glance. "anyways, we have an extra room and we're looking for a roommate. it would be great if you could live with us for awhile, rent will be real cheap."
"That sounds nice and all but-"
This time, he interrupted you. "listen, if you don't live with us, i'll call the police on you."
You froze, and stared at him disbelievingly. Noticing you weren't walking anymore, he stopped too and turned to look at you. "Are you blackmailing me?"
Sans grinned. "yeah, i guess i am." Then his smile suddenly dropped and he gazed at you seriously, "look pal, i wouldn't feel too great if you went and appeared on the headlines tomorrow."
"I'm fine," You hissed.
"you're clearly not fine," Sans argued back.
You thought about how much trouble you'd be in with your parents if Sans did actually call the police on you.
"Fine," You said, almost angrily.
"not fi-oh are you agreeing with me?"
"Yes," You grumbled, starting to walk again. You told yourself you were agreeing because you didn't want this skeleton calling the cops on you, not because you were intrigued by him. You told yourself you were agreeing because you didn't want this skeleton calling the cops on you, not because you were scared of doing this again. You told yourself you were agreeing because you didn't want this skeleton calling the cops on you, not because you were starting to feel something again.
"You aren't going to, like, murder me in my sleep, are you?"
"c'mon, why would i save you only to murder you in your sleep? i'll even help you move. my bro's gonna be so excited we finally found a roommate." Sans was looking at you, and when you turned to look at him, the lights of his eyes were so bright you were nearly blinded.
For the first time in a long time, you felt Awake.