*WARNING PLEASE READ! I REPEAT: DO NOT SKIP THIS AND READ IT.*

This chapter contains stronger content than normal. IF you are uncomfortable with VIOLENCE and lots of SWEARING— STOP READING! This chapter will contain mild violence and more swearing then usual. PLEASE don't read the chapter and complain about it because you have been warned. I will post a quick chapter summery at the bottom, should you chose to skip the body of the text, so you won't miss anything crucial. I repeat, do NOT complain about what I wrote should you chose to read. You have the choice to skip to the bottom and to just read the summary, so you can't say I didn't warn you. It isn't as if the chapter is super descriptive towards the violence, I just thought I'd warn you.

There may be more violence towards the end of the story as well, so keep that in mind you young readers.

CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED!

———————————————

"What are you doing back so soon?" You couldn't help but ask, stepping into the light of the hallway with wide eyes. You shifted your grip on the vase so you could hold it in one hand, and smiled at him. Mitchell glanced up, features hard and eyes full of anger. You were a bit taken aback, and almost took a step away from him. "You should have texted me! I would have made dinner." You continued, refusing to let his attitude affect you. Maybe he just had a tough time at work? He had no reason to be mad at you... at least, not a reason he know of. That didn't explain why he was home so early. You quickly thought about where you'd put the photos from over Christmas, and all your gifts. They were still in your bag. Good. He wouldn't see them unless he dug through your stuff.

Mitchell said nothing, just dropped his suitcases with a heavy thump and brushed past you. He headed for the kitchen, and like a confused puppy you followed. You put the vase down on the nearest table along the way, wondering what in gods name was wrong with him. He looked disheveled, now that you thought about it, with a scruffy shadow beard and hair sticking up this way and that. He was wearing a dress shirt and slacks, but his tie was gone and his socks were mismatched. He was either very tired, or very angry when he got up this morning. Those were your best guesses, at least. He didn't say anything as he stomped through the kitchen, reaching for the cabinet where he kept a bottle or two of whiskey. That didn't bode well.

"Mitchell? Is something wrong?" You asked, twisting your ring on your finger out of habit. You didn't like how he was acting. He was making you nervous. You watched as he grabbed a glass and filled it with ice and whiskey, then downed the whole thing in one gulp. You suddenly wondered if you should leave. You'd just grab your purse and walk out the door. You didn't like it when Mitchell drank. Unlike the monsters, who got happy when they drank, Mitchell only drank when he was mad, and that usually made things worse. You shook your head. One drink wouldn't do much, right? "Please tell me what's wrong. Was there a problem at work? Is that why you're home early?"

"I'd say there's a problem." He growled, swinging his gaze to you. Like a deer in the headlights you locked up, but forced yourself to relax. He tone and gaze was threatening. He wouldn't hurt you... right? "But it sure as hell isn't at work."

"What's wrong then? I'll try to help if I can, but you have to tell me what happened."

"You know what happened. If you want to help you can clean up your act."

Wait. What? "What do you mean?" You said, trying to stay calm. You immediately jumped to the assumption that he found out about you hanging around monsters, but tried to convince yourself that was impossible. How could he have? 

"Don't act all innocent!" He exploded, pointing an accusatory finger at you. "You know what you've done wrong, so drop the act."

"I haven't done anything wrong." You defended yourself. And you hadn't. Not in your opinion anyway. To him, yes. You didn't know what he was accusing you of, so saying anything would just be an omission of guilt. A you realized that he was, in fact, very angry, and you didn't want to deal with him like this. "Look, why don't we talk about this tomorrow? That way you can have a good night's sleep. I'm sure you're tired from the flight and—"

"We're going to talk about this now." He hissed, digging into his pocket and throwing whatever was inside on the floor. Dozens of shiny photos flutter to the ground, scattering in no particular pattern at your feet. "Tell me what the hell you were thinking! And don't try to lie to me."

You bent down, filled with curiosity and dread. The photos were professionally taken by the looks of them, and all done paparazzi, or stalker, style. They all featured you from what you could see, from different angles though never your front. In each, you were also always with, whether walking or sitting, your monster friends. You saw all of them in at least one photo or another, and all in places you recognized. The zoo, the skating rink, walking around outside, and so on. They started some time after halloween, and stopped a few days ago. There were even pictures of your going to and from Toriel's house, and of the snowball fight from a distance. "Where did you get these?" You whispered, feeling violated. You picked up a few of the photo's, hand shaking slightly.

"Does it matter? Explain, (y/n)! How could you hang out with these freaks?" He was almost yelling now. Something clicked in your mind. If these were paparazzi photo's, surely they'd be all over gossip shows and magazines. But they weren't, which meant they were privately collected.

"You had me followed?" Now it was your turn to yell, but in disbelief instead of anger. You stood up, clenching some of the photo's in your fist tightly enough to crumple them."Why?"

"Because you directly disobeyed me! I told you not to hang around those creatures."

"They aren't creatures they're my friends!"You snapped, going on the defensive. You knew Mitchell didn't like monsters, and you knew he had a temper sometimes, but you'd be damned if you didn't defend your friends to him. What did he know? They were wonderful people! Anyone could see from the photo's that you were always having fun with them. And why the hell had he even had you followed in the first place? In this case, he was a t fault, and you knew it.

"They aren't your friends. They don't even have souls." Mitchell hissed threateningly. You straightened your spine, refusing to back down. Any other day you might have, but not today. Somehow it felt like for the first time in a long time you could see things clearly. This was a whole new side to Mitchell, this venomousness, and you didn't like it at all. And what did he know? He'd never bothered to call you in the last few months while your friends had spent weeks with you in total! They probably knew you better now than he ever bothered to. The realization hit you like a ton of bricks, but you didn't bend or falter. Oh no, if anything, the weight made you stronger.

"Right now, I'm not so sure that's true." You snapped, narrowing your eyes at him. "My friends have spent more time with me in the last few months than you ever have! You didn't even call! If anything you're the soulless one!"

"Don't you dare compare me to them. I'm way better then they could ever be. I'm human."

"So what! You had me stalked Mitchell! I thought you trusted me?"

"Clearly I had reason not to." He retorted.

Well that hurt. You blinked in surprise, realizing he meant he never trusted you. How could he? Your emotions were turning into a jumbled mess, and you couldn't figure out one from the other. You did know you were outrageously angry right now, but under that you felt incredibly sad. "I can't believe you. If anyone shouldn't be trusting, it should be me! At least I keep you updated on what I'm doing at work! I'm not even sure what you do! Do you even work when you go to London?"

" I work damn hard and you don't need to know what I do. All you need to do is listen to what I tell you."

"I'm not a dog Mitchell! I'm a human being and I can make my own decisions."

"Clearly not." He hissed, narrowing his eyes to thin slits. You flinched back a little. Well, that hurt. It was more shocking and hurtful to hear that someone you'd trusted for years didn't share their trust with you. "You are not to see those things anymore. Not even for work."

The shock factor burned away under the heated rage that boiled in your blood. "I'm not a child anymore Mitchell! You can't forbid me from doing anything! You're my fiance, not my brother or guardian."

"Maybe I wouldn't treat you like a child if you'd stop acting like one!" He snapped.

"Maybe I wouldn't be acting like a child if you weren't acting like one yourself!" You shot back.

"I'm trying to protect you from them!" He yelled.

"No you're trying to control me." You screeched. "How could I have not see it until now." You shook your head, speaking half to yourself and half to him. "Your unwarranted discrimination towards monsters is blinding you, and you don't care about anyones opinion but you're own. Why won't you listen to me? All the monsters I've met are amazing, and they sure as hell aren't soulless. They're just about the kindest people I've ever met! You say you're trying to protect me but you're not. You're just trying to push your twisted sense of reality on me."

"Don't you dare accuse me of being selfish!" Mitchell roared. "They aren't human. They're nothing more than abominations that should have stay where they belong. They don't deserve the same rights and treatment we do."

"Are you even listening to yourself right now? They deserve to be on the surface just as much as we do! The only difference between us and them is our appearances. So what if one of them looks like a skeleton, or a cat, or a lizard? They're just the same as us in every way that counts. They have families, they have friends, they have jobs and the work together, and they have feelings just like us!"

"They're monsters." They way he said monsters was clearly an insult, not a term for their species. You shook you head in disbelief, wondering how you could have been so blind and biased yourself. How could you never see the hate Mitchell had towards the monsters? You'd thought for so long it was just a dislike, but now you saw it ran much deeper then that.

"They aren't the monsters," you said, still shaking your head. "You are."

Mitchell's face contorted into pure rage, and before you could process what was happening or what he was going to do, the back of his hand cracked against your cheek. He hit you hard, hard enough to make you stumble and fall into the wall nearby. You crashed against it in shock, lifting a shaky hand to the burning pain heating up your cheek. You felt something wet, and knew the emerald ring he always wore on that hand cut your cheek. Shocked and stunned, your mind couldn't process what just happened. He'd never, never gotten violent before. Sure he yelled, sure he got mad, but he'd never actually hurt you physically. Tears burned in your eyes. Bitter, devastated tears. You took in deep breaths, trying to calm down, but to no avail. Gone was the anger, and the defences brewing in you, and in was the sadness, betrayal and fear. Tears slid free from your eyes, and you watched as Mitchell visibly shook in rage, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He looked ready to kill.

"Don't you dare compare me to them!" He yelled, crossing the distance between you and grabbing hold of you hair, close to your scalp. You cried out in pain and grabbed his wrist, trying to lessen the pain. You couldn't help but sob now. The tears shed from your eyes burned when they encountered the cut on your cheek. At this point you were in such a state of shock that your emotions simply shut down. You registered no emotional pain, despite the fact that you continued to cry. You were too concentrated what Mitchell was doing and how to get away. "I am nothing like them! I took you in, I took care of you! And this is how you repay me? By disobeying me?"

"Stop it!" You cried, trying to pull your hair free. You pulled at his hands, pushed against his chest, but he wouldn't let go. You were just hurting yourself. If anything your attempts were spurring him to shake your head, tugging your hair this way and that. You needed to get away, you knew that. You couldn't be here anymore. You realized you had no idea what he was capable of, and that made you very afraid.

"Where would you be without me huh? Those monsters are nothing compared to me! Nothing you hear! I've always been there for you, so don't you say I don't care out I'm soulless like them. You'd be nothing and nowhere without me!" Using your head he pushed you towards the wall, and you reacted just in time. Before he could slam your head to the wall you smacked both palms into the surface, halting your progress just centimeters from it. Your fight of flight instincts kicked in, and you knew you had to get out of here before this escalated any further. In an act of self preservation, you twisted in his grip, gritting your teeth and ignoring the pain burning across you scalp, before opening your mouth and bit into his wrist. Mitchell cried out as your teeth broke through his skin, and let go of your hair. You threw yourself back, out of his reach, and stumbled back until your back hit the wall across from him, shaking from fear. Mitchell held his injured wrist in his other hand, his venomous glare locking on you. He took a menacing step towards you, and your fight or flight kicked in once again.

So you turned and fled.

"(y/n)!" Mitchell yelled as you turned, snagged your cell from the key table nearby in a moment of clarity, and pulled open the front door. You heard him coming after you and spared no time sprinting out of the door, running for your life. "(y/n)! He yelled more insistently, barging out of the door after you. You gasped and pushed yourself harder, skipping the elevator and heading straight for the stairs. You slammed through the heavy metal door, then jumped down the stairs four at a time, grabbing the railings to swing yourself around each turn. When you got to the bottom you slammed into the wall, the turned and immediately fled through the door like the devil himself was at your heals. You could hear Mitchell yelling behind you, ordering you to stop. You ignored him, his voice simply spurring on your fear and desperation to get away. You sped past the shocked doorman, burst through the glass doors separating the lobby from the cold outside, and ran out into the streets. You had no destination in mind, you just knew you needed to get away.

"(y/n) wait!" Mitchell yelled, bursting out the door behind you. You didn't listen, you just kept running. Mitchell, realizing that you were too far away and faster than him, gave up and went back inside. You knew this because he didn't call out for you anymore,

Now that the shock had worn off, you could feel your emotions tearing themselves apart. You felt crushed and betrayed, angry at both yourself and Mitchell. You were devastated to how it played out, and you felt broken inside. Part of it was from Mitchell's uncalled for reaction, but part of it was because you'd been so wrong. You'd been completely wrong about his character, completely wrong about who he was. He'd kept that part of himself hidden around you for so long, or you'd just been too blinded to see it. He'd been your everything, taken care of you when you believed you had no one. You'd idolized him in a way, placed him on a pedestal you refused to let him fall from. You'd refused to see anything but the man who was there for you when your parent died. But now, now that pillar had cracked beneath it's own weight, tossing him to the ground. He was nothing like you thought, and for someone who prided themselves on being a good judge of character, this felt like a sucker punch to the stomach. Memories of your time with Mitchell flashed through your mind in quick succession, but instead of remembering them as you had in the past, you couldn't help but analyze everything and anything. Every smile, every touch, they all seemed rehearsed to you now. He never acted intimately with you, despite the odd kiss here and there, and never did anything but hold your hands, and only when you acted first. Each of his smiles, seeming kind then, seemed rehearsed now. You always said to yourself it was because he was a serious character, but you questioned that now. Clearly he wasn't as collected and serious as you thought. Now you knew that he was selfish and hid a violent nature behind his cold mask. And that left you to question everything about what you felt for him and what he felt for you.

Breathing laboured and knees weak, you finally slowed your sprint to a jog, then to a walk. Tears continued to spill from your eyes, and as you became more of aware of yourself, you knew that the salty liquid was freezing on your cheeks and eyelashes. Now, beyond the pain in your heart, over your scalp and on your cheek, you could feel the bitter sting of cold eating at your skin. It was late, it was cold, and it was dark. You shivered, wrapping your arms around your chest and rubbing quickly from your shoulder to your elbow. You didn't have a jacket, as you ran out without anything. No wallet, no keys, no shoes. All you had was your phone. You held it out in front of you, looking at the screen and pressing the button that turned it on. It lit up, and you just stared dumbly at the screen.

You should call the cops, you thought. Or go to the doctors or something. You blinked a few times, but couldn't seem to force yourself to press the buttons. Just three buttons, but you couldn't do it. You didn't know what it was, but you just couldn't seem to type in the number. Maybe it was because you were still too shocked, maybe it was because you knew if you did it would no doubt blow up all over the news, or maybe it was because you didn't want anyone else to know how stupidly trusting you'd been, and how you placed your trust in the wrong man.

So instead, you found yourself unlocking the phone, going into the contacts, scrolling down and hitting call before your really registered what you were doing. You weren't really aware of who you chose, you just lifted the phone to your ear and listened to it ring.

"hello?" They answered after the third ring. Sans, you registered. A sense of calm washed over you, just from hearing his voice. You sighed and relaxed, but didn't say anything. "hello?" He asked again after a moment of silence. There was a pause, then he came back. "kitten? what's up?" He must have checked his caller ID. You sucked in a breath, about to tell him everything. You wanted to, you really did, but as the words formed on your lips your voice wouldn't make a sound. Why, why couldn't you tell Sans, someone you trusted whole heartedly? Maybe that was why. Now that you were questioning putting your trust in Mitchell, you couldn't help but question everyone you ever put your trust in or thought was a good person. It was that you were questioning them, you were questioning yourself. "kitten what's wrong? are you okay?" He asked, like he knew something was wrong.

"I'm... I'm fine." You finally answered, trying to keep your voice from shaking. "I'm sorry I called you so late."

"you don't sound 'fine.' did something happen? where are you? i'll come get you." He immediately asked and offered. Though you tried to keep your voice even, you knew you'd failed spectacularly. 

"I'm fine, really. I'll... call you tomorrow, okay?" You said, wiping the tears from your eyes.

"no, tell me where you are."

"Bye..."

"don't hang u—"

You pulled the phone away from your ear, and hit the end button. His voice cut off, and you were left alone. What else could you do? If you couldn't trust yourself, then how could you put trust in others? How could you believe in that trust? You didn't know what to think or believe anymore. It felt like something broke inside you, and you didn't think you knew how to fix it. It was like a hole had opened up in the middle of your chest, something that sucked in every emotion and every sensation until you were left with nothing but a hollow shell.

Sullen and empty, you shuffled off into the snow, heading somewhere you could be alone, because really... who would really miss you?

———————————————

*CHAPTER SUMMARY*

So in this chapter, Mitchell comes back to the apartment. He and (y/n) then get into an argument, and Mitchell reveals that he's had someone follow and take pictures of (y/n), recording her time with the monsters starting from when they went to the zoo. Some choice words are thrown back and forth, Mitchell accusing the monsters of being, well monsters (but not in a good way) and (y/n) jumps to their defence. Eventually they start fighting about Mitchell not trusting (y/n), and he says that she only needs to listen to what he tells her to do. He tries to forbid her from seeing the monsters again and saying he's trying to protect her. (y/n) refuses to listen, saying he's not trying to protect her but control her. The fight then progresses to Mitchell claiming the monsters don't deserve the same rights humans do, and (y/n) continues to defend them. She then says that the monsters aren't the "monsters", but Mitchell is. He then proceeds to backhand (y/n) across the face, grab her hair, yell at her, and try to slam her into the wall, while (y/n) tells him to stop. (y/n) retaliates when her fight or flight instinct kicks in, and bites Mitchell hard enough on the arm to make him let go, then makes a run for the door. She escapes into the night, upset about her misplaced trust and Mitchell's change in character. Walking through the snowy, dark streets with nothing but her phone (i.e. no jacket, shoes, or wallet) she ends up foregoing calling the cops as she blames her self for his judging Mitchell so badly and doesn't want the story to hit the news. (y/n) ends up calling Sans for comfort, but instead of saying anything about what happened, hangs up after realizing she doesn't know if she can even trust her decision to trust the monsters. She decides that she can't even trust herself right now. The chapter ends with her shuffling off into the night, alone and feeling empty and devastated.

Now it's time for the Author's note!

I'm going to say this again, please please please don't moan and groan about what I wrote in this chapter. If you didn't like it, I warned you ample times before it even started. If I get to many comments bashing the chapter, I will honestly think about taking it down.

Anyway...

Another big thank you to all you lovely readers! I can't help but feel super happy when I see that I have loads of new notifications! It lets me know you guys are liking the story and I love reading your comments! I hope those of you who chose to read through the chapter enjoyed it! As always let me know what you think in the comments, vote, and stay tuned for the next update Monday April 18th! You guys are the best! 

Also quick a apology: I know I said I'd get the Sans perspective chapter up soon, but I've been busy with final projects so just keeping going with the story has been hard enough! Luckily I'm done with school after this week, so I'll be able to post more! (Hopefully) So far the line up seems to be chapter 13, then 10 and 11, and finally 2 and 7. Don't forget to cast your vote on the author's note that mentions it!

Cheers! Author out!