When you woke the next morning, your head was pounding. You groaned and rolled to one side, stomach threatening to heave. The feeling passed, and you were regretting every decision you made last night. It was not a good idea to drink that much alcohol. You tried to open your eyes, and were rewarded by a too bright light and pounding headache.

Yeah no, you weren't ever doing this again.

"feeling a little under the weather there, kitten?" Sans asked from somewhere beside you. You grumbled darkly and rolled over, pulling the blanket tighter around you shoulders. "heh, well it serves you right. here." You blinked a few times and peered over your shoulder at the short skeleton. He held out a glass of water and two pills in your direction. "i hope you don't mind, Toriel raided your medicine cabinet for these when she woke up."

"It's fine." You mumbled, taking the pills and gulping it down. "What time is it?"

"around noon. i already cleared out most of the place- Papyrus is still passed out over there." He waved his hand in the general direction of where Papyrus was sprawled out across the floor. Around him was a collection of pillows and blankets, no doubt left by the other partiers.

"Ug," You groaned. "Thanks."

"no problem."

An awkward silence descended after that. Sans didn't seem to know what to say, and you were busy trying to figure out if you'd done something weird in your drunken stupor. As you thought you started to remember the pocky game, kissing Sans cheek, and the embarrassing dancing display. You groaned and hid your face in your hands. If Mitchell ever found out you were so screwed.

"I am so sorry about last night."

"for what?"

"Everything. God I must have looked like such an idiot."

"nah, only a slight one." He grinned. You glared at him from the corner of your eye, embarrassment and shame flooding your system. "anyway, don't worry about it. everyone got a little crazy there."

Just then Papyrus groaned on the floor miserably, saving you from further embarrassment. Sans glanced over at him and sighed. "welp, i better get this guy home. think you'll be ok on your own?"

"I should be fine as long as the room stops spinning."

"heh, it should soon."

You watched as Sans made his way over to Papyrus, and threw one of the larger skeletons arms over his shoulder. He smiled at you one last time before the two of them disappeared completely. You groaned and lay back down on the couch, rubbing your hand over your face. When you pulled them away, you noticed them smeared with blue paint. Great. You'd forgotten to wash it off before you went to sleep. Luckily the paint was water soluble and would wash off any fabric fairly easily. And the couch you were on was made of of leather, so that would be easy to clean. Casting a disdainful eye across the room you noticed the mess you and your friends had made. It was going to take you forever to clean up. Unfortunately you wanted nothing more than to stay on that couch forever.

Logic soon got the better of you and you stood, knowing some coffee would help with your hangover. You quickly made a pot, and upon loading it up with cream and sugar got to work figuring out what exactly could be saved, and what could be disposed of.

Finishing up your coffee, you deposited the mug in the sink and headed for the shower. You stood in the nearly boiling stream for at least a half-hour before exiting and getting dressed. Then it was onto cleaning. Yay.

"Which is why I'm not going to be back for a while." Mitchell finished from the other end of the phone receiver. You stuck your hand on you hip, looking at the calendar in disbelief.

"But nearly six weeks? Mitchell that's ridiculous! You've already been gone five."

"I know, but we're doing really great work here and don't want to disrupt the rhythm."

You shook your head slowly, feeling disappointed and a little angry. "Don't you want to spend Christmas with me? What about New Years? I thought you were going to come to my concert for once." As you stated, Mitchell had been away for five weeks so far. It was already the beginning of December, and he was still gone. Tacking on another six weeks meant he'd miss those important holidays.

"I do (y/n), I really do. But works just more important to me right now."

"Works always more important." You grumbled unhappily. You'd been so excited he was coming back after Halloween, only to be informed he was staying another few weeks. Now, all your Holiday plans were flying out the window. Maybe you wouldn't have been as upset if this hadn't happened last year as well. "When am I ever going to come first for you?"

"Don't start that up again (y/n). You know how I feel about you."

"Yet you can't even say 'love you'." He sighed heavily as you continued. "I was really looking forwards to spending the Holidays with you this year."

"I know, I was too, but I really can't get away."

"That's what you said last year."

"And I mean it. Look, I know you're disappointed about not getting your way but can't you just try to be supportive? This job means a lot to me."

"I might be more supportive if I actually knew what you were doing with that chemistry degree of yours."

"(y/n) don't even go there. You know I have to keep what I do a secret." You were silent, staring at the ring on your finger and wondering why you put up with this crap. "I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back okay?"

"Can I come to you then? We could spend Christmas together in London and then I'd fly back for New Years..."

He sighed deeply and you bit your lip. "No, (y/n) it's better if you stay home. Besides, don't you need to rehearse for the concert?"

"Yeah, but I can do that in London too. There's only one song that's completely new I have to learn and I already know most of the dances..."

He sighed again and you trailed off. You knew what that sigh meant. "I really don't think it's going to work. I'm sorry (y/n)."

"But..." You bit your lip, wondering if you should continue.

"But what?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping you'd want to make us public? You know, I could announce it on New Years and..."

"No, (y/n). I don't want to take that step until after we're already married."

"That's what you keep saying." You grumbled, disappointed.

There was some murmuring on the other end of the line and Mitchell sighed again. "Look, I have to run. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay," You sighed. "I love you."

"Me too. Oh, and before I hang up I need to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"You haven't been going anywhere odd, have you?"

For a second you tensed up. There was no way he could know you were meeting with the monsters, right? "No, just to work. Sometimes I go out, but just into the city." Somehow it was extremely easy to lie to him.

"Hm, alright. Talk to you later then." He answered indifferently.

And with that the line went dead. You sighed deeply, walking over to the couch and falling face first onto it. You didn't get it. What was so important about Mitchell's job anyway? He'd had it for about five years, yet it was still taking over his entire life. He usually went on at least four or five trips into London a year, and sometimes they extended over multiple months. You tried to be understanding, knowing your job also dragged you away for months at a time for tours, but that had only happened once so far. But not matter how hard you tried his work always seemed to come first. Despite that though, he refused to move to London. I told him that Chris could set me up with a manager in London, or that he could even follow us, but Mitchell still refused. He said we should stick to the city of our roots. I found this especially odd since we lived at the base of Mt Ebott, the very place where monsters came from. Sometime you really wondered how long you were going to continue letting him get away with this kind of attitude. Would anything even change after you got married? You hoped so, but couldn't be sure. Mitchell always seemed to retain his cold indifference.

With an annoyed groan you pushed your face into a pillow and kicked your legs against the couch. This was going to be such a stupid Christmas. Turning your head, you glanced around the messy room. As soon as December first hit you were digging through the storage cupboard, pulling out every Christmas decoration you could find. Mitchell had been scheduled to return on the fifth, but now that was up in smoke and you saw no reason to continue pulling them out. You had already half set up the fake tree and everything.

Now what? You thought. Of course, you'd have to cancel your reservations for the restaurant. That was going to suck. It was a super classy and super exclusive place that was extremely hard to get into. You'd already canceled on them once (because of last year) and now you were going to have to cancel again. You doubted they'd give you another chance. You'd also have to figure out what to do with the five extra tickets you had for the concert. You had planned to give them to Mitchell so he could invite some of his friends, but that plan was gone too.

Not one to let a little bad news get the better of you, you decided to get up and deal with the remaining day. You wondered if you should call some of the monsters up. Ever since Halloween, you'd been seeing more and more of them. It was great- you never knew how much fun it could be to have so many friends. Sometimes you'd go over to the skele-bros house for another one of their parties, or you'd go out and join them in some other sort of activity when you had time. Once you'd all gone to be a part of the audience of one of Mettaton's cooking shows. His special guest that day was Undyne. Things got a little crazy- they accidently lit the stage on fire and everyone had to be evacuated. It was a blast. Another time, you'd gone to one of Muffet's girls only tea parties. That was cool too, and you got some good girl time in. All in all this last month had been one of the best you could remember for a while. You'd met with them at least five times this month, and were starting to collect quite the photo album. Though you did use your phone quite a bit, you started bringing around your polaroid camera to entrench them in paper rather then digitally. Of course, you still scanned them into the computer so you could share them around. You considered them all to be among your closest friends now.

Frisk was definitely by far the closest to you. Though you needed a translator, you and Frisk had just hit it off and become closer and closer. She was like the little sister you never had. Toriel, in that sense, became your surrogate mother. She was always kind and compassionate, making you feel accepted and loved even though you'd only known her for a short while. Asgore also became like a father to you. He was quiet and soft spoken, but was sturdy like a rock and commanded the respect of everyone he met. He was always trying to make everyone (especially Toriel) happy. Now Papyrus, he was the little brother in the family. The lanky skeleton had also claimed a special place in your heart through his constant energy and love of spaghetti. He was innocent, but tried his best at everything making him oddly endearing. Alphys was one of the ones you were more distant with, kind of like a distant cousin or something. She didn't really talk much, but when she did you knew it was from the heart. Mettaton, of course, was your constant companion, both in and out of work. Without him, you wouldn't have even met the others and for that you were grateful. Undyne was like the crazy cousin. Though you hadn't exactly gotten along at first, she was one of the closest to you now. She was sturdy, dependable, and would fight for her friends no matter the situation. She also wasn't afraid to get in your face and tell you what was what. Muffet, Nabstablook and Temmie you didn't see as often, but you still considered them to be friends who you invested your trust in completely. Then there was Sans.

Out of all of them and other than Frisk, Sans had quickly risen up as your best friend. He was lazy to an annoying degree, but he was also kind and ridiculously funny. If you were in a family, he'd definitely be the crazy uncle no one knew what to do with. As you grew closer, the two of you started texting more and more often, and when you hung out with the group you always joked around with him for the longest periods of time. You felt comfortable around him, but as of late that feeling was starting to be replaced with a kind of discomfort. You couldn't quite figure out what the feeling was, and you never really noticed what Sans did exactly to start the feeling up. It was like a fluttering or heat to your cheeks. Usually you just ignored the feeling though, and got on with your days.

After a few minutes of being lost in thought and leaving your finger hovering over some of their contacts, you decided against calling someone and to just take the day for yourself. You needed some R&R, and that called for some quality time with the couch. Why give up the perfect opportunity for a (movie/tv show/anime) marathon?

Later in the afternoon, you were lying on the couch browsing through Netflix lazily with a thick facial mask smeared over your face. You hated the stuff because it made your skin prick and tingle, but it was the price of beauty. If you didn't apply the substance onto your face at least once a week, your makeup artist, Cindy, would have your neck. So, fearing her wrath, you dutifully applied the stuff each Friday for at least a half hour. You finally settled on re-watching Sherlock when your phone began to buzz. You paused the show, then looked at the screen of your phone. It was Sans, surprisingly. "Hey Sans, what's up." You answered, smiling a little and wondering why he of all people would be calling you. Despite your ignorance, you heart still did a stupid little flip flop when he answered.

"not much," He answered, sounding bored (as per usual). "what's up with you?"

"Hm, not much either. Just relaxing mostly."

"cool, cool."

"SANS WHO ARE YOU ON THE PHONE WITH?" Papyrus yelled in the background.

"kitten, er, (y/n)," he answered casually.

"OH! ARE YOU ASKING HER ABOUT TOMORROW? DON'T FORGET TO ASK HER ABOUT TOMORROW!"

"why do you think i called her?"

"What's happening tomorrow?" You asked, a little intrigued.

"Frisk's birthday. she-" There was a bit a rustling, like someone taking the phone away, then Sans saying, "Frisk she can't see you through the phone. would you give that back? no, don't take it to Papyrus. give it here." You smiled as you listened into the interaction then realized what Sans had said before getting cut off. "sorry bout that, the kid got a little excited."

"Wait, Frisk's birthday is tomorrow?" You clarified, jumping off the couch and running to the calendar hanging by the door. Yup, December 4th was marked off as Frisk's birthday. You groaned. "I totally forgot."

"well good thing i called." There was a pause, the Sans was speaking to Frisk again. "yes, i'm going to ask her. would you stop trying to grab the phone?" His voice returned. "sorry again. anyway, Frisk wanted me to invite you over for her birthday party tomorrow. do you think you'd be able to come?"

"I WANTED TO INVITE HER TOO!" Papyrus cried out from wherever he was. You smiled again as Sans shushed him. It was funny how the two seemed to try to talk over each other when one was on the phone.

"so?" Sans asked you.

"I'd love to come! What time should I be over?" You were so glad you had tomorrow off now. You wondered for a small second why it was Sans calling instead of Toriel, but then remembered that Frisk spent a lot of time over at the brothers' house. If she was there this weekend it'd make sense.

"uh, i think everyone's planning to come here around 11, right kid? no, wait, they're coming at 10 sorry."

"Awesome! I'll definitely be there."

"cool. see you then i guess."

"Definitely! Oh! Before you go can you ask what Frisk wants for her birthday?"

"sure." He relayed the question to Frisk, and then told her answer to you. "she says she'd just be happy with you showing up, but she also likes animals and candy. she's not really giving me a specific answer."

"That's alright! I better run then, I have some last minute shopping to do."

"heh, yeah. see you tomorrow. Frisk says bye as well."

"AS DO I!" Papyrus' voice rang through the speaker.

You laughed lightly, "Bye."

As soon as the call cut off you were running to the bathroom and jumping into the shower. You needed to wash the goop off your face, and figure out what you were going to get Frisk. You ran over what you knew about her, trying to think of a meaningful gift. You knew she was a fan of yours, so maybe you could give her a CD or poster. But that was too basic. Then you remembered the box of old accessories you kept. You weren't allowed to keep the outfits from concerts past, but you were allowed to keep some of the accessories! The outfits were all stored carefully in a warehouse instead so they could be preserved and reused. You pulled the lid off the box and dug in, trying to find something you thought she'd like a wear. Eventually you came across a cute flower clip- it was a frilly pink flower made of stiff fabric with a black ribbon dangling down the side. It also had purple and blue beads stitched into the flower to make it sparkle. What made this flower special is it was worn for your first concert with Mettaton. You loved it, but felt like Frisk would appreciate it more.

Now that you had one gift down, you quickly got dressed and headed out to find another. You were sure just the flower would be fine, but wanted to add a little something to it. So you went out, headed downtown and started just wandering around.

After a few hours of window shopping and nothing to show for it, you were exhausted. You wracked your brain for something, jumping for stuffies to books to clothes, but nothing seemed right. Now you were sitting a park bench, wondering what you were going to do. I guess I'll just give her the hair pin then. As you sighed, a passing bus caught your eye. Or at least, the advertisement plaster all over the side did.

New at Mt Ebott Zoo! Come and see animals from all over the world. Special monster pricing Sat-Sun!

That's perfect! You thought excitedly. Sans did say that Frisk liked animals, and you bet she'd love to go to the zoo for her birthday- especially if it was with all her friends. You quickly went online using your phone, checking the ticket prices and times. As the plan took root in your mind you quickly realized you'd need an accomplice. Decisions made, you dialed up Sans, knowing he'd be the best choice in helping set this up.

"sup." He answered after the third ring.

"Hey Sans. Sorry for calling again, but I wanted to ask you; how does Frisk feel about the zoo?"

"the zoo as in where they keep all the animal's?"

"Exactly!"

"i'm not actually sure, i don't think she's ever gone."

"Perfect. So, I have this idea I want to run by you..."