5 years later…

The dark and decrepit hallways of Toriel’s basement hum monotonously. The Ruins - believed to be long abandoned by most - look as derelict as ever, regardless of the fact that there are two occupants that reside here, staying hidden away from the rest of monster-kind. Hours would pass by before the droning silence is finally broken by the sound of faint footsteps walking down the long stone hallway towards the large door at the end.

Frisk walks at a slow pace - much slower than she used to when she was younger. By this point, her secret meetings at the door with Sans were so routine that she had a pretty good idea of how much time she had before she had to make sure she was back in her room, where Toriel expected her to be. Though as much as she might be looking forward to meeting up with Sans again, an uneasiness has settled in the pit of her stomach.

It’s been almost a year now…since Sans found out her secret. Since he found out that…she was a human. She still remembers it like it was yesterday. How scared she felt thinking that she was going to either lose her best friend or he was going to send the Royal Guard after her. But of course neither of those things happened. Sans made a promise…and he said he was still going to keep that promise.

But Frisk could tell that something was changing. She didn’t know or understand what it was, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it had something to do with her being human. Frisk clutched the book she was carrying closer to her chest as she continued walking towards the door. It was her mother’s joke book. She had brought it in hopes of maybe cheering Sans up. She knew he liked jokes and she thought that...whatever was going on…maybe some jokes would help Sans through it, like it did when he lost his father 4 years ago.

Frisk finally approached the door and slowly raised her arm to place a hand on it. She gave it a small, defeated push. She had already tried to open it so many times - but to no avail. She had pretty much lost all hope of ever getting out of the Ruins. Her and Sans had hopes…once. He had mentioned a project his father was working on. One that could break the barrier and then maybe Frisk would finally be free…but…

Frisk let out a small sigh and dropped her hand from the door. She looked down at the book in her arms, then back up at the door again - waiting for Sans’ signal that he was there. She knew it would be any minute now. It always was. 

Then, just like clockwork, there it was. A short, birdsong-like tune was heard coming from the other side of the door. Frisk’s heart leaped a bit, excited as she always was before she was reminded of all her concerns and the uneasiness came rushing back. She quickly returned their secret whistle.

“Heya, Frisk.”

Sans’ familiar voice came through the door, sounding ever so slightly dejected. Something Frisk had noticed a lot lately but never really said anything about.

Frisk smiled weakly, the uneasy feeling starting to grow a bit stronger.
“How are you doing, Sans?”

She was genuinely concerned about him. After the loss of his father things only seemed to get worse and worse - and after Sans found out her secret…she knew that’s when things started to change. When the dejection in his voice made the first real appearance. It’s only gotten more noticeable from then.

There was a slight moment of silence and a muffled sound of movement.

“I’m alright.”

Frisk didn’t believe that for a minute.

“How’s it goin’ in there?”

“Same as it ever is.” Frisk replied.

She let out a weak and obviously fake laugh. Sans knew she hated being trapped in the Ruins - that she longed to leave more than anything. But this wasn’t about her right now. She lifted up the joke book she brought slightly as if to show it off - even though she knew Sans couldn’t see.

“I…I brought my mom’s joke book. She’s written some new ones that I thought you might like to hear.”
She tried to sound excited. It was hard to cover up the layers of concern in her voice.

Whether Sans could pick up on it or not - she couldn’t tell. But another brief pause from him made her wonder. A small, single chuckle came through the door.
“I’d love to.”

Frisk’s smile widened a bit more. Maybe the joke book was a perfect idea to help cheer him up - whatever it was that was wrong. She quickly flipped to the most recent pages in the book to look for her favorite joke.

“Knock knock.”

Sans chuckled again, this time sounding a bit more genuine.
“Who’s there?”

Frisk started to feel a little more uplifted.

“Dishes.”

“Dishes who?”

Frisk couldn't help but let out a small snort.
“Dishes a very bad joke.”

She giggled. She loved her mother’s jokes just as much as Sans seemed to.

There was silence for a moment before she finally heard the faintest chuckle come through the door.

“Wow. Incredible.”

Sans laughed a bit more, and though that slight dejection was still there, his laughter made Frisk feel a little better.

She quickly moved onto the next joke…and then the next one. One after the other, she told various jokes and puns - some absolutely terrible, but those were her and Sans’ favorites - and Sans seemed to come back to his old self a bit. This went on for several minutes - possibly almost an hour - and though the dejection in his voice never left completely, it seemed to go away some, which is the best Frisk could hope for.

Frisk was laughing quite a bit at this point as she moved on to another joke..
“Okay, okay…here’s a really good one. What do you call a mushroom that likes to party?”

Frisk looked up at the door with a wide smile as she waited for Sans to follow up.

…

Silence. Odd…maybe he didn’t hear?
“Sans? A mushroom that likes to party? Don’t leave me hanging!”

…

Frisk put the book down. Did Sans leave? He wouldn’t do that…he’s never done that.

“...Sans…?”

“Huh? Oh - sorry, Frisk. Yeah I’m…I’m still here.” Sans finally responded.

“What uh…what was the joke?”

Did he just completely zone out all of a sudden?

That uneasy feeling crept back into the pit of Frisk’s stomach again.

“U-Um…A mushroom that likes to party…” She repeated again. 

Her smile faded somewhat. She wanted to ask if something was wrong but…she didn’t want to pry or possibly push Sans further away if she did.

“Hmm…what is it?”

He seemed like he wasn’t even paying attention anymore. Was he getting tired of the jokes?

“...A fungi…heh.” Frisk laughed meekly, hoping to hear Sans laugh again.

But he didn’t this time. At least not immediately. There was a brief pause again before she heard what sounded like an insincere laugh come through the door. Was it that bad of a joke? He usually loves bad jokes…why is he acting so weird all of a sudden…

Knots were forming in her stomach and she couldn’t hold it back anymore. She had to bring it up. Say something. She needed to know if Sans was okay. If THEY were okay

“Sans…is…are you…” She started, but wasn’t sure how to continue. She took a deep breath and tried again.

“E-Ever since…you found out that I was human…You’ve seemed…different…”

She paused to see if Sans would say anything to this. When he didn’t, she continued.
“I just…I know you told me it didn’t matter. That we would always be friends no matter what. But…”
She sighed.
“I…I don’t want to pry or anything I just…I’m just…”

Suddenly Frisk heard movement from the other side of the door. Something that sounded like Sans had stood up very fast. It was so sudden that even Frisk jumped ever so slightly.

“I gotta go, Frisk.” Sans said just as suddenly.

“Wh-huh? Sans??”

Frisk’s heart dropped. She knew she shouldn’t have asked about it.

“I-I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said anything I-”

Sans cut her off.
“We’ll talk about it later.”

And just like that - he was gone. She could hear his footsteps beginning to fade as it sounded like he was running - actually running - far into the distance. 

Frisk was at a complete loss for words. She could feel tears fighting to spill out. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop them as she clutched her mother’s joke book against her chest again and curled her knees up to rest her head on them. Had she really messed up that bad? Did Sans…not want to be friends anymore or something? All because she was human?

She thought back to her slip up almost a year ago. How she had let her guard down and said too much to the point that Sans figured out her secret. She wished that had never happened. She wished it more than she wished to be free of the Ruins. She’d rather be stuck in here for the rest of her life if it meant keeping Sans as her best friend. Did Sans hate humans that much? Was being friends with her that hard?

She shook her head furiously - trying to stop herself from spiraling down that kind of thought process. Maybe she was misunderstanding. Sans said they would talk later…so…later it is. Frisk slowly got up from the cold, hard ground and began making her way back towards the stairs.

Just before she turned the corner, she looked behind her one last time - down the long, dark hallway where she could just barely make out the door from this distance. She looked longingly at the door…hoping maybe she would hear Sans do their secret whistle to let her know he had come back. She waited just a few minutes more, but when she heard nothing, she let out a sigh and turned to make her way back to her room. Their secret meeting having ended far earlier than it ever had before.