"Sans." Sans stayed silent, his bones still rattling lightly in his jacket, his eyes closed tightly. Grillby watched a tear roll down his cheek and swiped it away with his thumb, his arms warm to the skeleton's cold body. The flame elemental had questions to ask, but knew that now was not the time for them. His flames flickered as he sighed.

"Have you eaten?" Sans, once again, did not reply. Grillby bit down his frustration that grew from the skeleton's cold shoulder (...ha..), pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

"One pun for yes, two for no." 

"For wheel, Grillbz.. I'm tired and depressed. I need an air pump." Grillby smiled a little at the heavy voice his friend produced, grateful that he at least responded. 

"That was like 3. But I'll take that as a no." Sans didn't react when Grillby stood, holding him close and walking out of the room. He did hide his face though as thoughts of his brother resurfaced in his mind, trying to cover up the weak sob that escaped him. Grillby's chest filled with another sigh, but he didn't let it out, instead carefully descending the stairs. 

When the monster's entered the kitchen, Grillby gently placed Sans on the counter, adjusting the slumping heap of the sad skeleton so he wouldn't slide off in all of his agony. After double checking four times that he would stay put, the bartender opened the fridge and scanned over the contents.

He couldn't tell what was more miserable, his best friend lamenting over a fight with his brother, or the fact that Papyrus had even taken all the spaghetti with him, leaving a half empty bottle of ketchup laying on it's side on the refrigerator's shelf. He closed the door and checked the cupboards, finding nothing more than an empty box of spaghetti noodles and a fossilized piece of cheese next to a small mouse hole. 

Hoping one day the mouse will become an architect and uncover the secrets of the cheese, Grillby glanced at Sans, still miserably staring blankly at his hands. The bartender sighed and rolled up his sleeves, heaving the short skeleton over his shoulder with a grunt. 

Sans' eye sockets widened in surprise, a flash of confusion flickering through his expression before it returned back to the empty, depressed look he had before. Grillby said nothing as he walked to the front door, kicking it open with his shoe and stepping outside into the brisk, but sunny, outdoors.

Sans fell limp as they left the house, pulling on his hood and staring at the ground as Grillby walked past the mailboxes outside of the skeletons' house, heading towards his bar. 

"Don't worry, Sans. I'll just put it on your tab." The elemental commented as he opened the entrance to the restaurant, a small bell at the top of the door jingling as they stepped under its threshold. Sans didn't reply, so Grillby closed the door behind them, checking that the sign in the window was flipped to the outside to say "closed".

Abadoning hope to a conversation, Grillby went to the counter towards the back and sat Sans on a stool, heading around the polished counter top to the other side and through double doors that swung as he went through. 

In the kitchen, Grillby heated the stove with his flames and got to work on making a meal, oil sizzled as he dropped slices of potatoes in it and seared a slab of frozen meat on the grill. After a few minutes, he returned to the lonely skeleton, placing a plate of hot fries and a hamburger in front of Sans. 

Reaching below next to the taps until his hand bumped a familiar shape, Grillby slid a bottle of unopened ketchup across the marble top, leaning against the edge as he watched Sans. 

The skeleton's gaze slowly moved down to look at the meal, blinking at it blankly. Grillby had a look on his face, somewhat puzzled, clearing his throat softly and telling Sans to eat in a gentle tone.

Sans sighed weakly and sluggishly moved his hands onto the counter, his sleeve on one of his arms catching on the edge and pulling it back a little. As he picked up the burger and tentatively  took a small bite, Grillby caught a glimpse of the white bones hidden in the depths of Sans' sleeve, immediately noticing what seemed to be amiss on the cartilage. 

Without saying anything, the bar tender leaned forward slightly more to peer at the bone, suddenly taken aback and shocked by what he saw. His first reaction quickly diminished into one of anger, he frowned and shot a very displeased glare at Sans, unable to understand why he would do such a thing to himself. 

"Sans, what is that?" Grillby asked in a low voice, the ends of his flames flickering a little more then usual, taking on a slightly reddish hue. Sans gave him a questioning look, unbeknownst to him that his sleeve had moved. When Grillby pointed at his arm the skeleton's face blanked, he nearly scrambled to cover it up, putting down his food and holding his arm to his chest protectively to hide it.

"Uh, j-just an accident.. A while ago.." He knew there was no point in trying to lie, he had already been caught, but he couldn't help but try to. His mind was producing another excuse when a hot hand grabbed his wrist and pulled it away from him, startling the skeleton. 

"Hey!"

"Hold still or I'll break it." Sans obliged, almost scared of how serious his best friend seemed to be about harming him if he didn't listen, he merely watched in guilt as Grillby gently rolled up his sleeve to expose tiny nicks in his bones, small cracks across the cartilage, and in some areas bits of it missing completely, caked in dust. 

"Grillbz, I can explain-" Sans fell silent after another glare from the flame elemental, turning his gaze away in shame. He didn't look up as Grillby continued to inspect the self-inflicted wounds, his features softening.

"...why?" It was a simple question, yet Sans, despite his efforts, could not answer it. He made no actions to respond, earning himself yet another one of Grillby's harrowing sighs, the one he let's out when he is thoroughly disappointed in someone. It made Sans feel like a child be scolded by their parent, suffocating under the culpability of his wrong doings. 

After what felt like an eternity of dread to the smaller monster, Grillby finally pulled back down the blue fabric to cover the depressing sight, his flames dimming. Sans forced himself to look up and try to catch the other's eye but his soul sank in his chest when Grillby didn't meet his gaze, the bartender's eyes closed instead. 

"Grillby.." Sans whispered, his voice almost a whimper, the fear of being rejected by what felt like to him the last person he had to turn to holding his soul taut. He was on the brink of giving up on himself too when Grillby's hand found it's way to his, holding it tenderly and forcing the chill in his fingers to ebb away from his bones.

Sans looked at their hands sadly, fighting the presence of tears in his eye sockets, begging desperately of himself not to cry. But he couldn't help it. 

He broke down sobbing, gripping the fire monster's hand like it was his last connection to the world, using his free hand to cover his face and muffle his hitching breath. He turned his head away, embarrassed that Grillby had to witness him like this, even though his friend didn't care.

A minute of quiet crying lead to Grillby leaning across the counter top to embrace Sans the best he could, not daring to leave him even for a second to get to a better position on the other side. He gathered what he could of the skeleton into his arms and laid his chin on the top of Sans' skull, their hands compressed between themselves.

He did nothing but hold the monster as Sans continued to grieve for awhile, murmuring things from "He hates me, Grillbz, he said it, he doesn't want me anymore" to "He wouldn't care if I dusted, he wouldn't even cry" to "I need you..". 

The final thing he said was that, which had at first brushed over Grillby's mind like the rest of what Sans said, the only responses he made were to deny what Sans proposed. After a few moments of more silence and some time for it to sink in, Grillby realized that what Sans meant was not his younger brother. It was too out of place, and directed in the opposite direction then the rest were intended. It tugged tenderly at him until he responded, surprised with himself that he did, since he had not even intended to do so.

"You have me." Sans trembled and laid against Grillby, openly expressing how much that meant to him with a soft nuzzle that provoked a quiet chuckle from the bartender. When Sans eventually quieted down, Grillby still refrained from moving away, perfectly content with the idea of staying there together longer, wishing that it wasn't such a drastic event such as the one Sans was going through that had brought them to each other. 

Author: I just realized Sans still managed to get away without eating XD oh well, he'll be fine. I hope this doesn't seem to be a small chapter, I kinda forgot what I had planned so I just improvised and think it turned out okay XD Next chapter will be Papyton so don't worry your butts off about it, except for the fact that I probably won't publish it for like.. ever again XD