This chapter was suggested by Lover_Of_Fandoms13 . I know that this may not be what you meant, and trust me; I had a whole other idea for this chapter BUT I've been wanting to write this kind of chapter for AGES so *shrugs*.

There's a bit of a trigger warning here. (This gives away the chapter too easily.)

~~~~~~~

No matter what happens. No matter what changes. No matter what the future holds.

Soulmates stay together. Always.

~~~~~~~

"Sans? Are you alright?"

My head turned to the goat monster beside me, who seemed concerned and worried.

Absentmindedly, I shook my head and grinned like I always did. "I'm fine, Tori. Don't worry about me." I reassured her.

Toriel shrugged. "If you insist," She replied as she continued eating her food.

That feeling again...

I sighed. It's been happening all week. Every once in a while, I would feel something strange on my body. That strange feeling would change every time; the first few times were small sensations on my neck, right below my chin. Then it escalated to even stranger feelings on my wrists, sometimes they were jolts of pain that lasted for a single second. Each of those sensations would last for a moment, then it would disappear completely.

This time, though, it wasn't on my body; it was on my soul. It was as if my soul had stopped pulsing like it usually would for a second. And I was certain that it wasn't my magic acting strangely.

Meanwhile, the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing echoed down the hallway and into the dining room. After walking down the stairs, a young brunette came back to the table and sat down next to me. Everyone was too busy talking with each other to notice her, but I certainly did.

"Hey kiddo," I whispered, nudging her shoulder a little. She only smiled weakly in response and went back to eating her spaghetti. I frowned.

Speaking of strange, I was starting to suspect that something was up with the kid.

For instance, like now; a few minutes into dinnertime when all of her friends came over to eat with her, she excused herself and went straight to the bathroom upstairs. Sometimes, I wonder why Papyrus and I even bought a home with a bathroom here on the surface, but I guess Frisk would need it. She's been sleeping over more often ever since she confessed to me.

But the thing was, she had been going there a lot more often lately. And it wasn't just for a few minutes; it would be for hours. So as much as I wanted to trust her, this was really... off.

After dinner, everyone dispersed to different parts of the house. Toriel and Asgore were washing dishes in the kitchen, Undyne and Alphys were watching anime together on the television in the living room and Papyrus was packing away leftovers from dinner into the fridge. I took this opportunity to talk with Frisk, who was already making her way back to her room upstairs.

"Frisk, wait!" I called out to her, cueing her to stop walking and turn around to face me. "Yes, Sans?" She replied, her voice sounding weak and tired; definitely not like usual.

I caught up to her and slowly placed a hand on her shoulder, my eyes gazing at her face. Up till now, I had never seen Frisk's eyes before; she always kept them closed and as far as I was concerned, she had never opened her eyes in front of anyone.

"Are you okay?" I asked in concern, tilting my head a little. "You've been acting a little bit... strange, recently." A sudden thought came into my head and I started to worry. "You're not feeling sick, are you?"

Frisk shook her head slowly, though she almost looked lifeless. "No, I'm fine, Sans. Don't worry about me." She smiled that weak smile again.

I still wasn't so sure about what she said. "Are you sure? You don't have a fever? Or a flu?" I tried to make her laugh with a pun. "You know, if you don't tell me that you're sick, I'll get the award for the Worst Bone-friend ever." I added with a wink.

"I'm fine, Sans, really." The human girl smiled, but she didn't laugh. That alone set a lot of red warning lights in my head. She always laughs at my puns. No matter how bad they were, Frisk always laughs.

I wasn't convinced by that smile. Not one bit. The concerned look on my face gradually changes into a stern look as I place my other hand on her other shoulder. She gasped in surprised and my left eye flares a blue glow.

"I'm not convinced," I muttered as I teleported the both of us into my room and onto my bed.

The human girl made a startled gasp and she clasped her hands together; in fear or not, I wasn't too sure. Just to be safe, my left eye stopped glowing and I used my magic to turn on the lights in my room. In the bright light, I could see that Frisk was starting to look guilty, and I decided to left her defiance slide. For now.

"Hey..." I whispered to her softly and sweetly. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I'm just worried about ya, kiddo." I heaved a heavy sigh and removed my hands from her shoulders. But as soon I do that, Frisk pounces on me and wraps her hands tightly around my waist, burying her head into my blue jacket. She doesn't say a word, but I can already detect guilt and fear from her.

My hands started patting on her back rhythmically, and slowly her grip on me became looser and looser. I smiled. It may take a while for her to cough up answers now, but maybe she would eventually.

In another time.

~~~~~~~

I jolted from the bed, wide awake, my breathing rapid and my soul pounding in my chest. I could feel as if a headache was starting to form, but the strange thing was that it never happened to me before. Skeleton monster usually never get headaches.

After some time, my breathing slowed down to a normal pace but my soul continued to beat loudly in my ears. There was a frown on my face; this was one of those strange sensations again.

But it never happened at night before.

My thoughts were interrupted by an agonizing wave of pain rushing through my whole being. It felt like a tidal wave was enveloping my whole body, and it took me a long while to realise that the pain was coming from my wrists.

That's when I realised something else: Frisk was gone.

No... I widened my eyes in horror. No no no no no no NO!

I didn't even bother to grab my jacket that was lying on the bed right next to me. Instead, I bolted to the door and hurriedly sped to the bathroom at the end of the hall. As I had suspected, the light was on.

Frisk was inside. I should have known. Frisk was inside.

And it was so quiet.

My left hand shivered as I reached for the doorknob and attempted to open the door. Luckily, she forgot to lock it.

As the door opened, I could not believe my eyes.

The human girl was lying on the floor.

In the middle of a small puddle of her own blood.

"Shoot, no no NO!" I exclaimed at the sight of some small razor blades next to her, kneeling down to pick her up from the ground. I caressed her hair as I shook her body gently. Her face looked pale, she almost looked dead. "Frisk! Frisk, please wake up! Please wake up!" I called out to her, shaking her even more when she wouldn't respond. Why won't she respond WHY WOULDN'T SHE WAKE UP?!

... ... I should have known. I was so stupid and so oblivious... I had absolutely no idea-

COUGH COUGH!

The sound of choking coughs brings a sliver of hope into my soul.

Slowly, painfully slowly, I feel her body moving in my arms, her fingers starting to twitch and wriggle. Her mouth remained opened as she took in some deep breaths of air and her chest rises and falls as she breathes.

She gives me a surprise after a few breaths; by opening her eyes in front of me.

I only see them for a moment as she blinks once and closes them again. But one look is enough for me to fall for her even more; her eyes were beautiful.

Meanwhile, Frisk frowns, her head hung in shame and guilt. "Now you know..." She muttered to herself. "Now you know that I-"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She gasped. "Huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked again, pressing for an answer. "You could have talked to me, ask me for help, or-or ask anyone but why?" My voice is filled with pain, anger, shock and disappointment all at once.

"You wouldn't be able to change-"

"I DON'T CARE IF I CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING!" I yell at her, causing some tears to peek her eyelids, and I lowered my voice before speaking again. "I really, really don't care if I'm useless and I can't change whatever kind of situation you're in. All I want, is for you to talk to me." It is only at this moment do I realise that there are tears in my eye sockets, too. I grabbed one of Frisk's hands, ignoring the flow of blood from her cut marks, and held it against my cheek. "I want you to talk to me, kiddo,"

"Because I can't afford to lose you."

The tears in her eyes start to fall, and so do mine.

"Frisk, I love you and I never want to see you in pain, do you hear me?" I sobbed, squeezing her hand tightly. "If you're in pain, I feel hurt too, do you know that?"

She looks surprised, even though she was crying. "Really?"

I nodded. "It's how monsters like us love, you know." I explained to her, letting go of her hand and gesturing to my chest, where my soul was. "When monsters fall in love with someone, their souls become connected. Their emotions and feelings, they are almost always in sync."

"But, that also means that if one of them feels pain, the other will feel it too."

That's when Frisk lowered her head again, staying silent.

I sighed before pressing her forehead against my skull. "I'm not gonna ask how long, kiddo," I started. "I already have the answer to that. But I do want you to promise me this: if this ever happened again, if the urge to do this ever came over you again."

"You talk to me first, please."

She slowly nodded, lacing her arms around my waist again, her tears wetting my shirt and the blood trails on her arms staining my shirt. As I returned her hug, she cries softly in my embrace.

I plant a small kiss on Frisk's lips and that makes her eyes open in surprise. Before she could close them again, I stopped her. "Keep them opened, sweetheart. I love your eyes."

She blushes in response, a small smile slowly forming on her face. I smiled back and spoke softly. "Remember: I love you and I'll never ever abandon you, Frisk. Our souls are connected and they will never be split apart ever again."

Frisk nodded, her smile widening a little as we broke the hug. I gazed into her beautiful eyes as I continued.

"From now on, Frisk, we're soulmates, okay? And no matter what happens, no matter what changes and no matter what the future holds..."

"Soulmates stay together. Always."

... ...

"Okay." She whispered back to me.

~~~~~~~

Although I hated to hear her wince in pain, there was no way that the cuts on her wrists were going to stay exposed. I wouldn't allow it.

I wrapped the white bandage around the gauze on her cuts as gently as I could. From the corner of my eye, I could see Frisk biting her lower lip, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

I suddenly stopped bandaging as I touched her face, cueing her to look at me. "Hey," I whispered. "It's gonna be alright, okay? I won't tell anyone, I promise. This stays between us. It's going to be okay."

She nodded, a small smile peeking at her lips. I went back to bandaging up her wounds. As soon as I was finished, I placed the first aid kit back into the bathroom cabinet and helped Frisk stand up. Her legs were a little wobbly for a while; I guess she was still shaken up by what happened.

With her arm around my shoulder, I walked Frisk back into my room, gently placing her down on the bed as I crawled to her side. My hands pulled the covers over the both of us, and right after that, Frisk grabbed my hand tightly, almost as if I would disappear if she ever let go.

"It's okay, kid," I chuckled, turning my body to face her as I pulled her into another hug. "I'll be here, I'll always be here. No matter what."

I laid a kiss on her forehead and she nodded again as the two of us slowly drifted back to sleep.

~~~~~~~

;-;