Chapter Text
“Pap, honey, what’s wrong?” you ask, alarmed.
“Human, Sans told me everything,” he sniffles. “I’m so sorry! How could I have been so blind?”
“Oh Pap, it's not your fault,” you tell him, sliding into one of the seats at the bartop. You sigh softly, “Your brother was the one who did this. You didn’t have any part of it.”
“But I should have KNOWN!” He wails, voice raising with his emotions. “The ‘extra work’, the fact he didn’t want you to go to the family reunions… I just thought Sans was being, well, Sans! Not cheating on you!”
You frown, brows furrowed, “Family reunions? Wait. he didn’t want me to go? I thought it was because it was a family only event...”
“It wasn’t! Our cousins have brought their significant others and I! I DON'T KNOW! I JUST THOUGHT-!” He just bursts into sobs, loud enough that you wince. You feel the burn of anger start to simmer back to life at the same time sympathy squeezes your heart. Papyrus gathers his wits about him enough that he adds on, “You have every right to be upset with me too but… But I can’t be here! I need to get away! At least for a little bit. Can, can I please stay with you? Oh-oh, I didn’t even ask you if you had found a place to stay. How inconsiderate of me, I can pay for a hotel? Or-”
“Papyrus, please calm down!” You finally manage to get a word in. “Take a deep breath for me, okay?”
You hear him inhale in an almost comically loud breath and then slowly let it out.
“There you go. Now listen, I did manage to find a place to rent. It’s pretty nice. If you want to come over I can text you the address?”
“Fantastic! I’m so glad and-and thank you!” Papyrus cries, much calmer than he was before, “I- I can grab some of the things that you didn’t take with you when you left! Do you need anything in particular?”
“Not that I can think of… anything that you know is mine that fits would be great."
"Okay! I can! DEFINITELY do that!"
"Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you soon,” You tell him. He says goodbye and you quickly send him the address. Now left to the silence of the cabin, you lean over and sigh. Then take another deep breath and let it out as a raspberry. Looking around you feel a lot of emotions stirring right below the surface, but you don’t really have time to unpack things mentally with Papyrus coming over.
“Alright,” you whisper to yourself, “Time to get some stuff done.”
It doesn’t take you too long to pull out the bags and boxes of your items into the cabin. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, most of the furniture at the Skeleton household had been Sans and Papyrus’s. You have plenty of nick-nacks, books and other small trinkets that you had taken some time to grab, as well as your electronics and gaming consoles. For the most part, the small pile of items that were just yours is kind of pathetic.
It’s easier to not think about it and instead focus on your next task: getting clean. You dig through your stuff until you find your overnight bag. Grabbing that and grabbing any other bag you can that you know have clothes in them, you head up to the bedroom. Although you do look briefly at the bed, longing for sleep on an actual bed, you instead turn into the master bath.
It’s lovely, with exposed wood on the far end and creamy-yellow walls for the rest. There is a large antique cast-iron tub with a shower attachment atop vintage blue, hand painted tiles. Matching tiles line the bathroom sink which is also a vintage piece.
You set your stuff aside and fiddle with the knobs for the shower settings. It takes a while since you like scalding showers, but once it heats, you jump in. It's incredibly relaxing due to the stress of the last 24 hours or so. Regardless of your time crunch, you give yourself this one pleasure, scrubbing yourself raw and then just sitting under the water until it runs cold.
When it does, you jump out, more refreshed than before. There's no towel there for you to dry off with, so you end up having to use some clothes to dry yourself off. You then quickly dress in a pair of joggers and an old black t-shirt. You don't bother with makeup or dressing up, just do the necessities. Sliding on a pair of sneakers you search up a place to buy food, cleaning supplies, and other home necessities.
There seems to be a Dollar Store and some kind of chain grocery store you aren’t familiar with in town in the same strip-mall not too far from the cabin. You grab your jacket, slide into your car and pull up the GPS on your phone. Steeling yourself for a long afternoon, you pull out of the parking lot and onto the drive out of the woods.
It doesn't take you too long to pick up necessities from the Dollar Store. Bottles of dish soap and detergent, sponges and rags, dusters and toilet brushes. You even grab small but cheap packs of washcloths, towels, dishes and utensils, determined to buy better quality ones offline once you get back to the cabin. It's been forever since you've had to buy supplies from scratch and you've forgotten just how much you need to upkeep a household.
Sighing, you drop your supplies off at your car then move onto the grocery store. It takes you longer there, picky as you are when it comes to food. You grab some cheap staples, a bulk package of chicken, and some fresh fruits and veggies. Deliberating for a few moments, you throw a few boxes of brownies and a tub of ice cream in your cart as well. Fuck it, you had been cheated on and left a two year long relationship so you were allowed to fucking ruin your diet for a bit.
Huffing due to your lack of sufficient sleep, you practically throw your groceries in your car. You know you're quickly burning out so you take a few minutes to close your eyes. Even in the cold December air, just resting in your car’s seat feels amazing.
You must’ve drifted off to sleep at some point because once again you find yourself being startled awake by your phone’s ringer. It’s dark now and the sudden awakening combined with the change in lighting has you discombobulated. Floundering to find and answer your phone, you practically yell out, “Hello!?” when you do finally manage to get it.
“Hello to you too Human!” It’s Papyrus, his voice is a lot more chipped than the last time you talked to him. “I’m about an hour out from your location! Have you had dinner yet?”
Looking at the time you see that it’s only a little past 6. It was quite a long drive from his house to the cabin you were staying. Blinking slowly all you say is, “Are you even close to following the speed limit?”
“Nope!” You sigh. “But that did not answer my question! Should I grab something on my way or would you like to eat together?”
“We can eat together, I’ve got groceries and we can scrounge something up,” You tell him, turning on your car and getting ready to drive back to the cabin.
“Fantastic! Do not worry, I brought the pots and pans that you bought after my cooking lessons for you, so we will have plenty of stuff to cook with!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Red can't help but to bark out a laugh, as Lupin and him approach the doorway. Lupin is a good kid, he just had to make sure to wrangle Stretch in as he had a tendency to do first then think later.
It's a general (lighthearted) warning when he tells Lupin, "You both are sleeping at my house, so you better be on your best behavior."
They enter to find Stretch already waiting inside, observing the place and looking antsy in general. The diner has a couple of other families in it, but Red's regular spot is still open so he leads his group over there. They all slide into the booth and are quickly approached by Bug. They have a certain look on their face that Red can tell is due to the presence of Lupin and Stretch but it's quickly replaced by a charming grin.
"Good evening guys! Red," Bug says with a mischievous smirk on their face, "Looks like you're multiplying."
Red chuckles, "Nah, these losers wish they were me. They're my cousins, came in for a visit out of town. This is Stretch and that's Lupin."
"Howdy." "Hey."
"Well then, welcome to The 5 to 9 Diner. Here's our menus to look over. Tonight we have a special of chicken-fried steak and green beans. Can I get you all a drink to get started?" Bug says, running through the spiel.
"Coffee please, black," Lupin says. Stretch browses the menu, obviously panicking for a few seconds before saying, "Lemonade? Uh, please?"
"Sure! And the regular for you Red?" Bug asks, turning to him and he preens a bit under their gaze.
"You know me so well sweetheart," he intones dramatically. "By the way Bug, I like your haircut."
Bug reaches up to touch the tip of their bangs. It's shorter than their normal style, practically buzzed on the back and sides. They flush slightly, and give a small but genuine smile, "Thanks! Weather getting warmer and all that, I wanted something different."
"Well it looks good on you," Red says decisively. Bug's blush turns deeper, and they giggle slightly.
"I'll be back in a few with your drinks," they say before skittering off behind the counter.
"Dang, Red, and Edge thought you needed our help? They definitely like you," Stretch says, peering over his menu and looking pleasantly surprised at the interaction. Red just shrugs, smiling to himself and pleased. It's not the first time that he was able to get Bug to flush like that, but validation is always nice too.
"Well he still doesn't have their phone number, so it can't be going too good," Lupin intones with a smirk.
"Ah shove it," Red grunts, good mood ruined and turtling into himself.
Stretch and Lupin both laugh at his antics, before Stretch swings the menu at Red saying, "Lighten up dude, we said we'd help, didn't we?"
Red grumbles more, getting ready to bite back another scathing reply when Bug appears, tray in hand. They slide each drink across the table with a small flourish, before moving the tray under one arm to pull out their notepad.
"Now now boys, no fighting at the table," Bug jokes with a grin, effectively stopping the trio in their tracks. "Now, do we know what we want? I know Red's order by heart."
Lupin and Stretch share another conspiratory look before ordering. Lupin gets some kind of omelette with lots of cheese and veggies and Stretch gets a grilled chicken sandwich with fries. It's always funny to Red that these two with the Personality Types they have are still so picky about food, especially when their brothers are so anal and yet practically ate garbage.
"Alrighty! I'll get this right in for you guys!" Bug says with a nod, turning to leave back to the kitchen.
"So did you hear the hottest gossip?" Asked Stretch after Bug's out of earshot, adding a few more sugar packets to his lemonade.
"Can't say that I have, what's going on?" Red asks, surprised by the change in conversation and taking a sip of his own drink. Lupin and Stretch just gave each other matching grins before leaning in conspiratorially.
"Nilla's got a girlfriend," Stretch started.
"She's smoking hot too," Lupin added on.
"So? Whoop-de-fucking-doo, Vanilla's got a girl. What's so special about that?" Red asked with an eye roll.
"Puff hates her!" Lupin almost shouted, practically squealing in his glee.
"Creampuff hates somebody? No way," Red said incredulously.
"But that's not the juiciest part," Stretch continued, "Apparently this is his second girlfriend."
"Wait wait wait, second? When did he get the first?" Now Red was lost. Sure there were some tense relationships between some of the skeletons, but something as important as a datemate normally didn't slip through the cracks.
"I dunno!" Lupin said, sounding way too positive considering the context. "Isn't that freaking wild?"
Red nodded and was about to say something when Stretch continued on in a more serious tone of voice, "But seriously, Puff is weirdly tight lipped about it. Like, we only found out because Vanilla and him were arguing about it pretty frequently."
"Wait so Nilla ain't even talked about it?" Red asked.
"No!" Stretch and Lupin chorused.
"Now that is wild," Red said, leaning back in his booth and chewing on the straw for his drink. "Why would he do that?"
"Dunno," Lupin answered this time, curling back into his own seat and taking a sip of his coffee. "It's weird though and I've never seen anything like it. Like, is Vanilla ashamed of his previous date? Why is Creampuff so upset about the new one? There's a lot to unpack there."
Red hums in agreement, "So how'd y'all even know that the girl is hot if Vanilla's being all sketchy?"
"Well, Creampuff is close to Sugar and Sugar tells Butch everything, and Butch hangs out with us on Game Nights so Lupin looked her up on Facebook," Stretch says.
"Well that, and Nilla said he was bringing her with him to the family reunion next week, " Lupin adds, showing off the text in the group chat.
"Oh damn, I muted the chat a while ago cuz I got sick of it going off all the time at work. Totally forgot about it," Red says, pulling out his own phone to look through the messages. It's a hot mess, with new messages coming in even now. He barely gets to glance at them before Lupin interrupts him.
"Yeah, the reunion is actually taking place at the Cleary Campgrounds this year. Cadet suggested it since you all live close by. Maybe you can invite your human too?"
Red scoffs but he feels magic rise to his face, "We'll see. I ain't even got their number yet. Plus, why would they want to go to the campgrounds when they live here?"
"Good point! Counterpoint, they live here so they will be close by," Stretch tells him.
Red rolls his eyelights again, starting to go through the backlogged messages. Most of them are just memes and weird pics that the family tends to curse each other with, but when he gets to about two and a half weeks ago, he runs into a pretty intense 'conversation'. He squints, scrolling up a bit more to try and catch the beginning of it.
"Huh," Red mutters aloud without thinking. Cadet had said something about not being able to take as much time off so they'd have to do something closer and then suggested Cleary. Edge had confirmed, not surprising as he probably wanted to show off the new house, but weirdly Creampuff had suggested one of their homes instead. Which was… unusual, as he was one of the family members that tended to enjoy camping the most. Then, surprising Red even more, Vanilla was the one to agree that camping sounded nice and that he was going to bring his girlfriend. From there things only got more heated and Red has to set his phone aside, deciding that now was definitely not the time to process this new information.
"Wild, right?" Lupin asks, and Red can only do this weird head nod-shake, as confused by the situation as it is.
"Maybe inviting Bug to that is a bad idea," Red says after a few quiet moments.
"Inviting Bug where is a bad idea?" Bug questions, seemingly showing up from nowhere and making Red jump slightly. They set the food on the table as they snicker softly at his antics making him flush hard. This only makes Lupin and Stretch laugh as well, obviously enjoying Red's embarrassment.
"D-damn it, doll. You almost scared the soul right outta me," Red says, willing away his blush as best he can. He can tell Bug is trying to stop their laughter by the way they bite their lip, but the curl of their smile is hard to ignore. Secretly, Red can't help but feel pleased that he made them laugh like that, but he won't admit to it with the other two boys around.
"Sorry," they eke out after a few moments to gather their composure, smile still playing on their face, "But what was I being invited to?"
"Red wanted to know if you wanted to come to a party we were having next week," Stretch steps in, "A bunch of family is coming by and it's normally a blast."
Bug's face gets that weird look to it again and Red can practically see them calculating something, gears turning in their head. They cock their head to the side and keep a jovial smile even if it doesn't quite look as real as before, "When is it? I actually took a few vacation days next week. Wednesday through Monday."
Lupin and Stretch actually look disappointed but Red slides back into the conversation, "Don't worry about it, Sweetheart. How about I give you my number and maybe we can figure something else out instead?"
That seems to ease them a bit, Bug's expression softening as they glance over at him. It's obvious that they're having some kind of internal debate as their face scrunches in thought for a while. Coming to some kind of decision, they rip off a piece of paper from their notepad and scribble something on it and hand it over to Red.
"Here, it's my phone number," Bug says with a smaller, more genuine smile. "I can't have my phone on me on the floor and I have a terrible memory. It's better if I give you my number instead."
Red swears his face is going to end up being permanently red at this rate, as he takes the slip into his hands. Stretch and Lupin look pleased as punch in the other side of the booth, elbowing each other and giving knowing looks, only adding to his flustered look.
"T-t-thanks Bug," he tells them, busying himself by putting their number in his phone.
"It's no problem!" Bug says earnestly, and it off the corner of his eye he sees them nod. "Now you gentlemen enjoy your food! I'll be back around to check on you later."
As they leave, Lupin and Stretch look thrilled, winking at him and generally congratulating him without saying as much. All Red can do is chuckle, quickly typing out a text before tucking into his food:
Red (6:47PM): hey, this is red. sorry if my cousins were too forward. and thanks for the blanket, it worked like a dream ;)
Even though Bug swings by multiple times to check on them and have small talk, Red doesn't get a response from them until later that night after the group had left and the diner had closed. When he sees it all Red can do is laugh; happy, relieved and excited.
Bug (9:22PM): Hey! It's alright. They didn't do anything wrong.
Bug (9:23PM): and I'm glad you like it and it worked! I had some extra money laying around so it was no skin of my nose ;]]c